Echoes of the school bell and the morning announcements drifted to their ears. The Watsons exchanged glances, knowing that reaching Stellaerio in another twenty seconds was impossible.
Well, mortals definitely wouldn't make it on time.
But none of them were.
Two TinXi. One dragon. Good enough.
Inhaling a deep breath and lifting their legs as high as ninety degrees, they dashed toward that direction.
The security guard gave the rusty gate one last pull before heading back to the guardhouse to enjoy his freshly brewed mocha latte. His hand was still on the lock when the Watsons leaped over the barrier, landing on the opposite ground.
The slack-jawed guard was slapped with a sudden gust of wind. It blew away his black cap, revealing the messy strands on his half-bald head. When he turned around to check the time, he saw the minute hand move to 7:30 AM only a few seconds later.
They were right on time.
"Huh... That was very... very close." Kingsley wiped the sweat dangling down his chin.
"Yes... We don't usually run this fast, not even when chasing those Mynheex." Lyn chuckled, walking ahead along the open walkway.
Assembly was canceled. Stopping in front of 5 Lilium, Miracle was taken aback to see the seat beside hers empty.
'Rex absent?'
Was it because he was angry at her for missing their meet-up last night? An anonymous wave of guilt churned in her as she thought about all sorts of danger he might be exposed to.
Kingsley took a step forward and held the door open. He lowered his hazel-brown eyes to meet hers, trying to understand what was wrong. Rather than speaking it out, she shook her head and faked a smile.
Steady, thudding steps approaching from not far away stopped Miracle from asking anybody in the class about Rex. She dropped her bag on the floor and rested her chin on her palm, pretending to focus in class like a student had to.
Miss Nancy entered, holding a stack of books with terms like chemical reactions and chemistry equations printed on the stems. Though she always tried to make the class interesting, it just didn't work out as she expected. Miracle never managed to listen to her lessons. Now with this "Rex-thing" going on inside her mind, the more she couldn't concentrate.
'Rex, please be okay,' she prayed.
For two periods, she stared at the board, at those symbols which certainly made no sense to her. It was taking forever. She was so lost in her thoughts that she was barely on the same page. The four beakers Miss Nancy sketched with the chalks were nowhere to be found on the sheet she was looking at.
She stretched her neck in Jessamine's direction to catch a glimpse of the correct page number.
Jessamine noticed and slid her book nearer to the edge.
'49. Okay.' Miracle flashed her an OK gesture.
The same friend winked and arched her tattooed brow when she saw the empty spot beside her.
'Rex?' her gaze asked.
Miracle shrugged and looked away a little bit too fast. Not to offend anybody, but to avoid the uneasiness rising in her again.
Right after the second period ended, Miracle went away. The class felt suffocated. She needed to breathe, and the rooftop was the only place in school where she could take a break from her life as a human. Obviously, she couldn't transform into a dragon. All she could do was lie on the ground and stare up above, into the world where she belonged.
Sometimes, this was more than enough.
"Maybe Rex just happened not to be well today." Stretching out her hand, she stroked the wide sky.
Knobby clouds were scattered across, painting a distinct difference between the arctic blue and the white. It was as beautiful as always.
Sudden familiar clink caught her attention. Miracle crawled her fingers, reaching for the piece that fell out of her pocket—the half-Magnolia jade. Holding it up high, she watched the weight sliding to the middle of the blue yarn, shimmering under the sun. Her lips quivered, parted, and shut. Once again, tears welled up in her eyes as the scene she feared flashed across at the back of her mind...
"Myn... Mynheex is evolving..." he whispered, coughing up blood. "H-Humans wouldn't believe us..."
His bloody hand slid down her trembling cheek, only to leave the tint.
"Xiao Xun! No, you're gonna be okay... You're gonna be okay!" She grabbed his wrist and pressed onto his chest, trying hard to cover the disappearance of his pearl.
"You know I'm not... Xue Er."
"Xun, please..."
"I'm s-sorry, Xue Er..." His face grimaced in pain. "Sorry that I… I lost..."
"No, you didn't! Please hang in there. I'll get Master to do something!" She stood to leave but Xun held her back.
"It's useless... My pearl is gone," he uttered. Horns were protruding from his forehead, melting away his remaining disguise. "Fallen angels took it away."
"I'll get it back for you." She clasped his scaly palm and muffled against it, "I'm going to get it back for you. So, please... D-Don't leave."
He flashed a weak smile at her, and the hand in her grasp fell to the ground, marking the end of his thousand years of immortality.
"XUN! XUNN!"
She shook his lifeless body drenched in a pool of red, watching the human figure slowly dissolve into the blue dragon she cared about deeply. "XIAO XUN!! No... D-Don't go. I... I promise I'll get it back for you!"
She waited.
And waited.
But there weren't any responses.
Because there wasn't going to be any.
Her childhood friend was dead.
"There she is!" A familiar voice pulled Miracle back to reality.
She blinked away her last hints of tears. "What's the matter, Lyn?"
With arms akimbo, she grumbled, "You've just made Kingsley and I ran around the whole school looking for you! What in the world are you doing here?"
"Exactly. We thought something bad had happened to you! You scared us out of our wits!" her brother continued, panting.
"I..." Miracle wanted to say something but Lyn cut her off.
"Whatever. Let's go! Class started already!"
'Already? Had it been that long?' she thought.
They fled down the stairs, and their speed increased every moment as they thought about the next lesson after chemistry on Wednesday.
History—taught by the most unamiable yet youngest teacher, Maddie.
"All right. So can anyone briefly tell me about the history of Syihuex Island?"
His voice escaped through the door the moment they reached their class.
Afraid that their breaths were going to expose the fact that they were late, they held them in. Kingsley pushed the back door slightly, trying to get a chance to sneak in.
Unfortunately, as the door widened, a loud, sneaky sound drifted across the room. Everyone turned around and saw the three of them.
So, yes. They got caught.
Red-handed.
Kingsley hissed, "Damn you. FRICTION."
Maddie glared at them with a pair of mysterious eyes. "Miracle. Lyn. Kingsley. Out."
He increased his tone when they didn't inch. "Well, if none of you are deaf, do it now."
Hopelessly, they exited the class. Kingsley was complaining about how stupid the door was, and that someone should take the initiative to apply oil or grease to it. True enough, they could've easily succeeded if the door didn't make any noise.
But on second thought, missing history class? It was a reward.
The clock slowly ticked away as they waited for the lesson to be over. A short nap would've been possible if Maddie's sound waves hadn't diffused from the room. Miracle peeked through the glass lite.
Surprisingly, he wasn't teaching. He was telling stories.
Lyn and Kingsley leaned against the wall, not interested in what was going on in the class. However, Mr. History was talking about the things Miracle had always wanted to know—myths, in mortals' perceptions.
She moved her ear closer.
"Anyone of you heard about Long Sheng Jie?"
"Long Sheng Jie? What's that?"
"Wait..." Jessamine said. "I heard of that name before. My mom used to tell me when I was a kid. I think it's something about dragons?"
"True." The teacher agreed and further continued, "Long Sheng Jie was said to be a whole new world where celestial dragons lived. During ancient times, dragons were well-respected and worshipped among the people. According to mythological experts, these dragons were once humans. They sacrificed their lives and freedoms to protect the weaker ones. For hundreds of generations, people practiced the culture of praying to dragons as their God. But somehow everything fell apart, and eventually, humans stopped believing in them because they felt dragons and the remaining myths were lies trying to be the truth. And this explains why in today's reality, majority of the humans hold onto the fact that dragons are just characters in stories. Moreover, there isn't any solid evidence proving the creatures' existence, unlike dinosaurs."
For once, everyone was fully awake during history class.
"You mean myths are real? But even the definition says it's a false belief idea." It was from Jordan, Jessamine's deskmate.
"But don't forget there's another definition which says that myths are traditional folktales that have been passed from generation to generation. Who are we to question their validities when the stories existed before most of you..." Maddie cleared his throat. "I mean, before most of us were born?"
"Nobody in this generation prays to myths anymore, sir. This is such a joke. We barely pray to any gods or goddesses..."
Somebody asked another question, "If they were real, do they still exist then?"
Miracle heard the teacher chuckle. "Maybe?"
He was about to proceed with his story when a loud scream pierced through and interrupted the lessons all of a sudden.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Miracle jerked her head from the door. Students from the remaining classes ran out in a hurry. Some tripped, and some knocked into one another. But nobody stopped to get the apology. They looked terrified as if they had a hunch about what happened.
She followed behind at once. Breathing through her parted lips, she was slowly losing hold of her steady heartbeats. The beast in her was seeking to be freed.
But she mustn't.
Too many humans.
Under the bright sun, right in the middle of the assembly ground, Miracle hesitantly came to a stop. The place was crowded, overwhelmed with noises and cries of the intimidated students. When she saw the victim lying dead in the puddle of red, a sudden loss of hope and faith surged in her heart. She darted her eyes in nervousness, looking at the demonic wound on him.
"Oh, dear! It's happening again!"
"History is repeating. The rumor is real!" another voice said.
"But this time, it happened in broad daylight..."
"I'm scared..."
"Please... I don't have time for this..."
"Don't hurt me. I'm here only for the grades. Nothing else!"
Lyn sucked in a deep breath and pushed her way through the crowd to get to Miracle at the frontmost line. When she saw the familiarity in the victim, her legs turned to jelly, tumbling her to the ground.
"Oh, God. Please, no..." she wept.
"Lyn? What's wrong?" Kingsley came up from behind.
She pointed to the heartless boy.
Kingsley drew in his body for a closer look, and the next second, tears seeped in from the corners of his eyes.
"Shit..." he lamented. "P-Peter?"
They killed him. They killed his buddy! Kingsley crouched by his bed, his fingers trembling as he slid open the wooden memory box he treasured. Looking at the photos, nostalgia streaked through him when he saw the particular piece. His stream leaked. It was the first surprise birthday party Peter held for him. The memory said it all—whipped cream smeared everywhere, chocolate cake smashed flat on the table, and Peter standing behind Kingsley, holding another lump of cream in his hand. Lyn was at the side, joining their friend for another cream attack on her brother. Everybody was happy. Nobody was leaving. "I'm sorry, Kingsley." Miracle broke the silence after staying in his room for fifteen minutes. He ignored her apology. "You know what he said here?" Running his fingers across the picture, he traced the features of his dead friend with deep affection. "He said 'Oh, come on, Kingsley! Birthday cakes are never meant to be eaten. They're meant to be ruined for greater happiness
Lifting his head, Hayden stared into the realm laid above the thick layers of grayish clouds. His sorrowful hazel-brown eyes poured out layers of bitterness nobody understood. 2019. It had been eighteen years ever since they parted ways. Back in Ring of Deity, he remembered how it ached his heart, watching his pal imploring Felynx to let him go... "I… I can't do this anymore, Felynx. I-I can't do this anymore..." Yisroel knelt and fixed his dejected gaze on the ground. Felynx's silk robe brushed past his trembling arm. "Get up, Yisroel," he commanded, turning away. "You know you can't escape from this. His Majesty wouldn't allow it." "O-One… one by one sent to me." He gulped the sour lump down his throat. "One by one vanished also because of me." There was a hint of despise in his voice as he glanced over at the iced cuboids hung deep in the wall. He hated himself for failing to bring them back alive. "Everybody wants a happy ending…" Felynx stared into the deserted fountain ou
"Gosh, Miracle! I really don't have an answer to that!" Lyn exclaimed, squeezing out too much anti-acne cream on her palm. "How can you not know? You've been here longer than I do!" Miracle shot up from the turquoise queen-sized bed and threw a pillow in her direction. "Being here early doesn't mean I know everything!" She twisted her body and dodged the hit. "It's clear that Mynheex has gotten so much stronger than before. We could hardly trace them out even if they were to disguise themselves among the humans," she said, tossing it back. "That's why I'm asking if they have any marks!" "Trust me." Lyn stomped toward Miracle and snatched her pillow. "We don't know any more than you do. This is the first time somebody actually asked me this question. We all know how dangerous it is to catch a glimpse at their marks even if they have one." When the room fell into silence, she continued, "Miracle, Mynheex ate too many humans. They conceal their breath of immortality so well that it's
That scream didn't sound friendly. Startled, Hayden cracked the glass he was holding. Tea mixed with blood coursed down his tensed arm. The twins frowned, watching the silver smoke around the ceiling tangling into a confused mass. When they rushed to the door, their jaws almost dropped to the floor upon seeing the unconscious Melvin. His arm was draped over Miracle's shoulder. "What happened?" Hayden asked, keeping his scratched palm behind his back. The wound was closing. What should she say? If she were to say the truth—that this human boy could see the barrier when he wasn't supposed to—he was surely getting chased out of the house. "Nothing serious. Just a mild heatstroke," she said simply. She didn't want to tell them what exactly happened yet, though it might be a mistake keeping them in the dark. Lyn raised a brow. "Mild? The scream—" "Now that we don't have to worry about the mortal overhearing us," Miracle cut in before she had a chance to further her doubts, "let's c
Cold sweat rolled down the bridge of her nose to her shivering chin and pattered to the fallen Magnolia. The drip was so clear in her ears that she could barely hear anything else. Melvin hit the bull's eye. Her heart was leaping into her throat. Hundreds of excuses ran through her mind. She needed something to cover up desperately. Anything at all. Miracle poked her nails into her palm to pull herself together. "W-What? Melvin, what are you talking about?" Her voice cracked as she stammered to finish her sentence. He remained quiet. His ebony eyes were darting around wildly. "Dragons in this generation? Melvin, are you serious?" she said, increasing his doubts about dragons' existence while taking a step closer to the door. Though she had always wanted mortals to acknowledge the presence of dragons, now was certainly not the time. Moreover, when their doubts were literally everywhere. Melvin outstretched his leg and flashed in front of her. He didn't sound convinced. "But
Standing in front of Stellaerio, Miracle stared at the peculiar building with complicated feelings. The stained white crescent hung on the main block resembled the loss of hope in starting afresh. Caws of crows flying past the swaying trees further gloomed the surroundings. Rather than a school, it looked more like a place of life and death. When Miracle reached the second-floor corridor, she headed to the punch card rack and heaved a sigh of relief. It was a Saturday, and Maddie was in the school. While she was still feeling good that her trip to Stellaerio on the weekend didn't go down the drain, a piece of paper flew in her direction and landed next to her feet. A shiver ran down her spine the moment she flipped it over. Her throat constricted, and a twinge of guilt gripped her heart as the words read aloud in her mind. It was the same announcement from that day. 'Xiao Xun, they were the ones you died protecting…' Right then, pictures of the deceased started to merge into
Whatever he said was too real to be claimed as a made-up story. "How did he know about the tragedy?" she murmured, stepping out of Stellaerio. Wandering along the streets, Miracle clipped the diamond pendant with her lips while immersing in her train of thought. Far ahead, the soothing color combination of the clouds brightened the rows of houses and shops. Lilac hue topped the orange, overtaking the rest. The evening had descended. Three black pigeons on the overhead cable flew across the sky upon seeing their flocks approaching. When a young man in a teal coat picked up his incoming call, he forgot that his office bag was unzipped. The documents kept inside were scattered everywhere on the road. They smashed toward the accelerating car that was trying to get past the yellow light. The man immediately surged forward to save his papers. The driver honked. 'Free me.' Miracle snapped back to reality, frowning. "Who is that?" A strong wave of mortality breath registered its presen
"She went to Stellaerio? On a Saturday?!" Lyn freaked out. "Did she tell you why?" Hayden flashed him a questionable look. The decrease of warmth in his voice slapped hard on Melvin's face. Kingsley leaned against the couch; his legs outstretched. "I hope it's not a trap you set." "I swear upon my life," Melvin hissed, "… that I'll never do a thing to hurt her again." The Watsons were back just a few minutes before Miracle did. She was outside, hesitating to enter as she lowered her eyes to the bamboo scroll in her hand.'Should I let them know?' she thought. When the noise in the house turned louder, she quickly unrolled the piece and tucked it inside her pants. She pinned the hook of her vintage belt to an inner notch, securing it tightly. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself together and creaked open the door. "I'm back." Four pairs of eyes switched to her as one. The sudden change of pressure crawling in the air put a pause to their heated conversation. Miracle choked on