Dragon's Hope

Alex stood there with no idea what to do, he was twelve now standing at 1.6 meters he was slightly tall for his age, his mop of platinum blond hair he kept cut short due to it getting in the way during combat was messy and wild, he sported a lean but muscular build for his age very little was left of the baby fat. His bright golden eyes and slightly pointed ears added a slight exotic hint to his look, overall he was developing into a very handsome young man.

The problem stemmed from the two crying girls in his arms he sighed to himself and squeezed the girls tighter.

"Anna, Lily look at me", he said somewhat forcefully, "A pair of emerald green and sapphire blue eyes locked on his golden orbs, "this is going to happen no matter how much we don't want it to but both you need to awaken and you will be asleep for most of the time, once you have completed your acclimatization period you can come see me at the Academy I should be in my final year there".

"Really we can come see you at the Academy?" the girls chimed out simultaneously.

"Of course, I'm going to miss you both terribly", on impulse he bent his head down and planted a kiss on Lily's rose-coloured lips then before anyone could react he kissed Anna. Both girls blushed furiously, after all it was their first kiss on the lips, then buried their heads against his c.h.e.s.t small smiles showing on both their faces.

The girls had been upset ever since they were informed of their awakening and Alex departure, they had spent as much time as possible with Alex over the past three days which given that puberty had started kicking in led to some awkward moments. The worst one is when the girls had crept into Alex bed to snuggle up like they had done in the past, he woke up in the morning to a curious but not unpleasurable feeling, raising his head he saw two very curious faces poking at the tent in his pajama bottoms. His face had instantly turned bright crimson.

"C could you two stop that" Alex stuttered

The two of them jumped in surprise both of also flushing crimson as an awkward atmosphere pervaded the room, the door opened and Mira stepped in seeing three crimson faced youngsters she sighed slightly grabbed the two girls by the scruff of their necks and left the room with them.

Back to the current situation the two girls had stopped crying after getting their kiss, Alex gave them one last squeeze and gently pushed them towards Mira, all the a.d.u.l.ts had grins on their faces from the antics of the youths.

"Remember what I told you kiddo, do not reveal your internal magic unless it is life and death and never reveal you're a dragon tamer", Zakath told him

Alex nodded his face solemn, as his thoughts wandered to the conversation from two years ago.

Hubert chimed in "Keep in mind while there is little the Academy can teach you regarding magic never underestimate people they can surprise you sometimes".

Grinning, "Sure thing Uncle Hubert", Alex nodded to his magic teacher.

"Don't let me hear you lost to any of those pups at the academy, even without magic you're more than skilled enough to defeat the teachers let alone the students", Melli added her comment into the mix.

"Sure thing Aunt Melli" Alex beamed at her.

Turning to the towering dragon behind him, "You ready Uncle Cain?"

"Sure thing whelpling" Cain rumbled.

Alex and Kayla scrambled up on top of Cain and settled in for the flight to Valents Grand Academy. Recalling is geography lessons Alex pulled up a general map of the continent in his head. There were four main powers on the continent, the largest and most diverse was the Valent Kingdom which took up almost a third of the landmass all by itself, it was by far the most racially diverse including you could find practically any race on the continent living there. Dragonsmount which is where Alex was living is part of a neutral territory between Valent and the Coalition to the south. The Coalition is a bevy of smaller kingdoms that banded together so as not to be swallowed up by other larger forces, and is ruled over by a council of lords.

Thinking to himself *this trip would take weeks on the ground good thing uncle Cain was happy to give us a lift*

Alex called out "How long will the trip take uncle Cain?".

"About 3 hours whelpling".

Alex felt a tap on his shoulder he turned around to see Kayla looking at him with her steel grey eyes. "Where's mine?" Kayla asked.

"Your what" Alex asked confusion plastered on his face.

"My kiss" Kayla said blushing.

Smiling Alex pulled her into a hug and gave her the same kiss as he gave Anna and Lily. *So soft* he thought.

Kayla blushing furiously put her head on his shoulder and muttered, "Much better now we are all even", as her tail swished behind her in joy.

Anna and Lily watched until they couldn't see Cain anymore suddenly they felt a hand pat them on the head, looking around they see their grandfather looking at them as he pats their heads.

"Don't fret too much little ones, you will sleep through the next three years so it will only feel like he has gone for two", Zakath said soothingly

Both girls humphed

"Once you have transformed it will take a year before you can revert back to your human forms and you will need to practice using your new bodies as you will be much stronger than you are at the moment. Don't fret to much over Alex although he doesn't realize how strong he has become there are few people who are his match, he will be safe at the Academy".

"Aunty Melli wins against him all the time though" said Anna

Zakath laughed, "Your aunt Melli is also known as Lady Melliandra the reaper of the battlefield one of the strongest fighters on the continent if not the strongest".

Both girls turned their gazes to Melli who simply nodded.

Holding down his laughter Zakath continued "Old Hubert there is also known as the Omni Magus one of the strongest practitioners the Mage Academy has ever fostered, and lastly this reprobate here was once known a the alchemy god or should it be goddess now" Zakath sniggered into his hand.

"It was an unforeseen outcome one day I will replicate it and revert back you ass". Reeves grumpily stated.

Back with Alex and a few hours later.

"There is the capital of Valent" rumbled Cain as the city came into view "Just a few things to make sure you're clear on, the city is a mix of good and bad at all levels, so remember to be cautious while not everyone is your enemy it doesn't mean they are your friend, but I guess learning how to tell is the reason you're here whelpling. You will be living in the academy dorms during your stay here, your food and uniform will be provided and you will be given a small amount of money each week for personal use. One last thing Alex you are forbidden from joining any guilds or leaving the city until my nieces get here".

Alex nodded, he was kind of expecting that.

Looking down at the city from above he could appreciate its scale it wasn't a fortress city, there were no outer stone walls protecting it, he could make out the top of an inner wall however so it would be safe to say that it used to be a fortress city but expanded well beyond its scope.

"The academy is located in the inner city which is protected by a magical barrier luckily I have a pass that allows us to fly though" Cain said as he flew at a much slower pace so as not to appear to be attacking.

Smoothly gliding over the wall Cain banked slightly and headed towards and impressive set of buildings with expansive training grounds.

"Oh it looks like the training ground is in use so we can't land there, do you mind hopping off near the front of the building and I'll join you" asked Cain

"W wait what?" stuttered Kayla, "We are jumping off, this is way to high".

"Ups a daisy" Alex chirped as he picked up Kayla in a princess carry and proceeded to hop off the back of the dragon, and once he was far enough away from Cain created an air platform to land on and absorb the shock then he simply started stepping down from the sky.

"You forgot about my air steps didn't you" quipped Alex to a somewhat fl.u.s.tered Kayla.

Kayla just crossed her arms and pouted "Idiot".

They reached the ground around the same time as Cain did, then with impeccable timing a man bustled out of the main building and greeted them, "Welcome to the Grand Academy".