Chapter 5: From Then and Now

We got hit directly by the five dragon’s attack. Or so they thought.

There was a huge explosion. A blinding flash covered the skies, and then smoke spread the area quickly.

In the nick of time, Airelina returned to her human form, and made a free fall with me to avoid the flying projectiles, and then hugged me tight. She’s…she’s soft. But it’s not the time to savory the feeling! We’re in midair, and we’re falling! My mouth failed to scream because I was stunned. Everything’s happening so fast!

Cybernetic white wings emerged from Airelina’s back, a lot similar from her wings in her dragon form. She moved her wings to cover ourselves, making a cocoon made out of steel.

“H-Hang on!” She said to me.

Then there was a huge impact. I think we finally crashed to the ground. When she opened her wings, I realized that we landed just beside the power plant. We left a small crater on our crash site.

“Amphere…”

It was Airelina, lying on the ground. I knew that her whole body is suffering from immense pain because of our crash landing, but I think she’s not in grave danger. But I know… all her nerves are aching… She…She protected me. She took all the impact by herself.

I rushed to her side and took her hand.

“Airelina!”

Her consciousness faded out. She was still breathing, but she’s extremely strained and exhausted. I have to take her to a hospital!

A red dragon which was covered with crimson gravel flapped its wings and landed beside us. It was definitely a flame dragon. An early adult man wearing a militaristic blue leather uniform jumped out from the top of the earth dragon and approached me.

That’s definitely a dragon knight!? What will I do now without Airi? Fighting again would be reckless! I have to run…but my legs aren’t listening to me!

He raised his index finger to his lips and made an “Ssshhh” sound. Then he immediately carried the fainted Airelina on his arms.

“I’m here to help you.”

I am a bit cynical in this man. He’s one of the dragon knights who fired upon us earlier. Maybe they wanted to imprison and extract information to an accomplice of a terrorist… But I have to obey; I don’t have power to defeat a dragon and a dragon knight. Man, what did I do with my life?

“It is a long story, but I will explain later. But all I can tell you now is that I will help you. I already rescued your comrade who was stuck in the power plant.”

We were delivered to a nearby hospital with his flame dragon. There, Airelina and I got an immediate proper medical attention. Airelina got a lot of serious damage, but I just have a broken rib and a hurting neck.

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I didn’t even notice that the right part of my forehead was bleeding. I don’t know why I tried to help those terrorists. Just by thinking of it makes me feel so dumb and worthless. I suddenly regretted being heroic.

“My name is Estoff Wraith, a member of the Pentagram Imperial Knights.” The dragon knight who helped me said. “I know that you’re innocent and just got dragged into some shocking circumstances. But I’ll have you know that I am on your side. To the outside world, I am a prestigious dragon knight. But in the shadows, I am known as the leader of the Arcadia. Due to my incompetence, one of my comrades got killed, and I am sorry for that. ”

“So you’re a terrorist too?” I tilted my head obliviously.

“Ssshh, don’t talk so loud!” He said. Then he locked my head to his arms. Ouch, my neck hurts!

“We are currently short in members and I saw you fight Kyle unarmed. We need you in our group.”

“Sorry I’m not interested in your idiotic clown acts.”

“You are the one Airelina chose to be her knight, and that makes you a very special person. If you consider joining us, I will refer you to the Dragon Knight Academy.”

Dragon Knight Academy… It is said that it is easier to find a needle in a haystack than to enter that Academy. Only a chosen few are even allowed to take the entrance examinations, and the elite among the elites are the ones who are lucky enough to enter a prominent institute. Entering that school the best route for nobles like me.

Not only that. I also dreamt to be a Dragon Knight someday.

If I became a Dragon Knight, I can get rich in just a small amount of time. People will look up to you for being powerful and honorable. Children will idolize you for your good deeds. But joining a terrorist group seems to cut off the advantages.

“I’ll think about it.” I gazed on the floor. “Why do you care for dragonoids so much?”

“The same as you care for Airelina. It’s like an instinct which will just come and consume your mind. I can’t leave dragonoids suffering. I know that if I didn’t do something, my honor will be stained. I don’t want to leave a bad aftertaste for not doing what is right. Maybe it’s the power of the Vesryn Pulse.”

Days have passed. The conspiracy behind the power plant; “Dragonoids as the horrific source of power behind”  became the headlines of newspapers, and the Dragonoid Rights Activists demanded the shutdown of the power plants that uses radiation crystals, which was done almost immediately.

Sir Estoff Wraith covered the news in order not to expose Brow, Airelina and I. The secrets of the terrorist group Arcadia was never disclosed to anyone. The famed hero Kyle Leviticus never submitted a testimony against us for some hidden reason, or maybe he doesn’t have any solid proof.

Sir Estoff referred me to the Dragon Knight Academy without me knowing it. He asked the consent of my parents for me to enter the Academy which they immediately approved. He never said anything about working under a terrorist group so obviously my parents accepted.

Because of this, I was forced to accept his proposal. Airelina and I entered the Dragon Knight Academy and studied there for two years until now. The terrorist group Arcadia was inactive for that span of time, and I’m afraid that Estoff is just waiting for me to graduate before making another dumb inhuman actions.

Sir Estoff justified himself by saying “At least we don’t kill people.” Yeah, but your terrorist group will have numerous cases of arson. And that involves paying a lot of money.

Arcadia’s goal is to liberate all dragonoids from the harsh imperative of mankind. They condemn dragonoid slavery, prostitution and abuse. And they are mainly the Dragonoid Rights Activists. The young duchess Corasell was one of the nobles who support these activists.

For the past two years I studied with Airelina. We got emotionally closer to each other so I prefer to call her Airi so that I will save saliva. But she chose to call me Amphy. I don’t like that name, so I’ve been correcting her for years, yet she seems to keep it that way.

Airi doesn’t seem to look like a terrorist. She looks so innocent, yet she has a harsh past that she never bothered to tell me. But deep inside her adorable crimson eyes, is guilt. I can tell because I signed a contract with her, to be his Dragon Knight. Our heart can beat in sync, and I can feel that we are strongly connected.

From then and now, we faced many trials and tribulations in the Dragon Knight Academy.