Draeyer Academy (Rewrite)

Chapter 28- Not a Doormat

Alec drowned out the sound of Headmaster Donovan's closing speech for the welcoming ceremony for the semester. He sat between Gael and Kreis, unashamedly using them to hide from the stares he was receiving from practically everybody in the auditorium. Being stared at was a common thing and he eventually got used to it. The problem was the stares he was receiving from the students and staff, were mostly different from the looks he received in the past. Looks of hate, anger, fear, and envy were something he was used to. The way the students and staff looked at him...

I get the feeling I'll get swarmed if I get separated from Gael and Kreis.

When he saw a silvery thread extending from the...intellectually challenged draeling towards the student named Rei, he couldn't stop himself from finding out what it meant. He suspected that the thread was an indicator of Bonding between a drae and their Draeyer, and he was proven correct at once.

Although, he was unsure about the details. The thread did not exist the entire time he held the draeling, at least until Rei appeared. To see the thread, did he need to be touching the drae, and did the potential Draeyer need to be in the vicinity? If so, how close did the potential Draeyer need to be? Will there be only one thread, or will there be more for each drae?

Alec was burning with curiosity. Ever since he confirmed that his power leaned towards empathy instead of control, he was eager to learn more about draes that nobody else knew. There were so many things that they did not know about draes, as they were averse to non-Draeyer humans coming to study them. This was a very sad fact, considering how important they were in keeping the Skylands from plunging below the Infinite Sky.

"When are they going to stop staring?" Gael said, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looked to his right and found him glaring at people from the corner of his eye.

"Probably never," Kreis said from his left side. "Alec did do something amazing earlier."

"You just got here! How do you even know about it? It hasn't been an hour!"

"Everyone's talking about it."

"Those loudmouthed kids!"

"Overprotective."

"Stop it!" Alec said through gritted teeth. "If you're going to bicker, don't do it when I'm between you two."

The two stopped talking and turned to him. Kreis looked amused, immensely enjoying the situation. Gael looked both concerned and angry, but mostly concerned. He reached up and patted Alec's shoulder. "Don't worry, Alec. I'll make sure that you won't get swarmed."

So, I will get swarmed if I get separated from these two.

He sighed. Hiding from a crowd of people was not a problem. But he was a staff member of the academy, not a hunter. Escaping and hiding away was inconvenient in so many ways.

Why couldn't I control my own curiosity? I should've just kept it to myself.

But if he had not done what he did, he had no idea what would've happened to the little draeling. Would the baby have Bonded with Rei eventually as was indicated by the thread, or he would not Bond with Rei at all?

He wanted to know.

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After the headmaster's closing speech, people started leaving the auditorium. He sighed in relief when none of the students swarmed him like they expected. It was thanks to Gael's cold smile that drove them away. Unfortunately, Gael and Kreis were called by the headmaster, and so he was forced to be left alone with the rest of the staff in the lounge. He sat on a single-seater couch, reviewing Gael's lesson plan for that afternoon all while ignoring the stares.