Hey you guys! If you're an old reader rereading, you'll notice the chapter's a bit different. Well that's because it's been edited! Some parts have been reworded, some parts have been added, some have been deleted altogether. But it's still the same story you all know and love, promise! The whole story's getting a revamp, and when it's all done it's going to be just plain awesome.

Hey guys! Jenn here. So I picked up Wizard101 again the other day and a few ideas popped into my head. I have no idea if I'll continue this beside SAS - I guess it depends on the reviews and how many people enjoy it.

Personally, I love Wizard101. I wrote a very amateur fanfiction for it a few years ago, and this is partially me bringing back old characters with a bit more spice and a bit less drama and random mood swings this time around. The story was really Sue-heavy and the plot jumped around like mad. I don't really like it anymore, but the ideas... maybe I'll bring some back. Sola and the Six will remain for sure.

Destiny Dawnriver was the original main character. (She opens the story here, but she's not the main character. Sorry Des!) The story was titled "Descendant of the Dawnrivers". Kane was her love interest, as he is here - they're the only canon couple making a comeback. The only real difference in the main four is that Jasmine and Sarai aren't friends before the story begins and Jasmine isn't a Krokotopian immigrant.

But yeah, Destiny was very Suish. Halfway through the first book (there's literally 300 pages of this shit not counting the second series), she's revealed to be a goddess's counterpart. Oh, but not just any goddess - Serenity, who had the power of the three elemental schools combined. In the end, she defeated Eriat who was supposed to be Malistaire's counterpart but was someone else's entirely. There was also a thaumaturge that was forced over to Malistaire's side, an evil plot to invade Earth that was never tied up, Marleybone was skipped over completely... yeah. It's really bad. I believe there was another goddess with power over the Myth, Life and Death schools who also had a counterpart (Leesha) and in the second half of the second book there was a lot of kissing. A lot. There were like eight kisses in the final battle.

...I was in seventh grade. Sue me.

Enough with the rambling. Just trust me, you don't want to read that. (I guess you could to have a good laugh, but I'm not putting it up here. It's getting locked in the vault forever. :'D) Just enjoy the fic you came to read, alright?

Destiny Dawnriver brushed her hair out and slipped her shirt on. "Today's Initiation for the squirts, right?" she asked as she reached for her pants.

Destiny's boyfriend, Kane Moonshade, leaned on the wall outside her bedroom. He had come to pick her up, as he did every morning on something important. "Yeah," was all he said.

Destiny huffed, looping her tie. "I still can't believe Ambrose came up with that stupid older-student-new-student plan. I mean, let's be real. We've got more homework. More responsibilities. More everything! We don't have time to look after squirts."

"I know," Kane sighed. They'd been over this already, several times, but it was good to let Des vent. She was always grumpy in the morning anyway.

Destiny slipped on her boots and reached for her beret, adjusting it at a skewed angle as always. "Besides, with all the rumors floating around..." She stepped out, dressed and equipped, worry in her eyes. "The rumor we heard in the Atheneum..."

Kane nodded with a serious look in his gorgeous amber eyes. "I know. And nobody's been able to prove or disprove it."

"It's the disprove part I'm worried about."

"Then stop worrying." Kane dropped an arm around Destiny's shoulder, holding her to him comfortingly. "Initiation's today. We'll get paired up with whoever, give 'em a tour, and they can fend for themselves."

Destiny rolled her eyes, grabbing her broom on the way out. "You're sympathetic."

"No more'n you. What was your plan? Fake sickness and not show up?" Kane laughed, a good-natured sound.

"Hey!" Destiny said, mocking offense. "That was a good plan compared to yours to abandon the Trackers and stick 'em on some other kid!"

"That so would have worked!"

"It so wouldn't have!"

Kane laughed again, but he stopped as his Tracker began to beep. "Aw, man," he muttered, drawing it out of his pocket and checking it. "Something came up, and if I don't take care of it now, I'm going to be late."

Destiny sighed. "Alright. I gotta practice broom-flying anyway. Your style of flying doesn't exactly work for me."

Kane grinned. "But it's such a good style..."

"I don't think anyone'd consider crashing into everything in sight a good style."

Kane rolled his eyes and kissed Destiny on the cheek. "This shouldn't take that long anyway. Andrew says something breached the Atheneum. It's more likely he's just exaggerating."

"Go take care of it, Kane." Destiny waved and watched her boyfriend's smile disappear into mist as he teleported away. She sighed and sped down Firecat Alley. She needed speed to work off the weird feeling creeping its way up her spine.

Triton Avenue always had some great hills. She'd go there.

Erin Soulstone stepped out of her house for a breath of fresh air. Someone almost ran her over instead.

"OI!" she shouted. "Watch where you're going, huh!?"

The person slowed down, and Erin caught her breath. It was a pyromancer, obviously (they all had the same taste in colors for their clothes), and she was pretty. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back and spilled over her shoulders. She had big aqua eyes and an angelic face. She was one of those top students, the ones everyone wanted to be. That much was obvious from her pink-and-yellow military uniform. She knew how to look good; that was obvious in the straight tie and the beret angled just so on her head. No doubt about it; she was a Dragon, an elite of the elite. Her grades and performance meant she went on special missions for Ambrose. If the rumors were true, Dragons like her were investigating the expelled Death Professor.

The pyromancer sat up cockily on her broom and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry I missed," she said, looking bored. "I was aiming for you, not the road."

Erin flushed with anger. "You shouldn't go around running people over, someone might summon thundersnakes on you!"

The girl looked her up and down, and suddenly Erin felt self-conscious. She picked at her clothes; the unisex uniform didn't look that bad, right? Her mom had tailored it to fit her just right and everything. Then the pyromancer looked back at Erin and smirked. "Right. You could summon a thundersnake. Novice."

Erin flushed again, this time in embarrassment. She should've known that a master student would be able to tell when a student was bluffing. Especially when they were bluffing about the fact that they had even completed one year of Ravenwood Academy. Erin hadn't even seen Headmaster Ambrose in person yet. But school started today, and with luck she would be able to find out what her magical alignment even was.

The Dragon girl seemed to decide she was finished with Erin. She turned and sped away on her broom without getting into the regulation streamlined position. How'd she even pass her flying exam? Erin thought as she ran back inside to grab her books, which she'd forgotten. It was her first day of school and she didn't want to be late.

"Erin!" her mom called, bustling in. "You're going to be late! Here, let me fix your hair-"

"My hair's fine, Mom!" Erin said hotly. Her mother was still treating her like a little girl even when she was thirteen, and she did not appreciate it. Erin swatted her mother's hands away from her bright red hair as she attempted to come near it with a wand. Having her hair magicked was just another reminder that Erin didn't have a drop of magic in her veins anyway. But all the Soulstones - Mom, Dad, Jonathan, Kaitlyn - were diviners. It was only natural to assume that Erin was a diviner too; the general suspicion was that Erin was underdeveloped. The only problem with that theory was that underdeveloped wizards could use their powers by age seven at the latest. Poor Erin hadn't shown any magical power at all for thirteen years, and she wasn't expecting to start now.

Erin had lived on Triton Avenue with all the other diviner families her whole life, but she had never felt... comfortable. The air smelled like ozone and it made her nervous. The constant thunderstorms terrified her, though everyone else loved them. Small differences, but they were big enough to make Erin feel awkward and out of place. Her mother, father, sister and brother didn't understand at all. They loved Triton Avenue, said it was the place they felt they belonged. Erin cherished nights she slept over at friends' houses; anything to get off this road.

Great, she thought as she picked up her Storm book and headed out the door to the Initiation Ceremony. I'm going to be the first kid kicked out of Ravenwood because I can't do magic to save my life. She hastily smoothed out her uniform. The purple long-sleeved shirt fit fine, as did the pants. The geometric shawl was a little skewed, so she straightened it. The yellow circle in the center of the shawl gleamed. The strips of cloth on the front and back were weird; Erin felt like she was wearing a fashionable loincloth. She hoped she wouldn't trip over it. There were seven variations of the uniform, one for each school, and Erin disliked the Storm one the most.

How fortunate that that was the exact version she was wearing.

Kaitlyn and Jonathan were waiting for their younger sister. Erin was convinced it was only because Mom had asked them to give her a few words of encouragement. They looked up as she walked out of the house, playing a game of toss-the-spark. Kat and Jon were twins, and they looked it. They both had long brown hair, tied back in matching ponytails. They both had the same electric blue eyes that sparked with mischief. And they both had the same indispensable talent for Storm magic. They'd been all over the Spiral, though they had not yet become Dragons, and Erin was pretty sure that was going to change any day now.

"Hey there, Er," Kat said with a fake grin. "Ready to take 'em on?"

"No," Erin said, glaring at them with contempt. "Don't bother giving me the pep talk Mom wrote out for you and leave. I'll tune it out anyway."

Jonathan's grin slipped off his face in less than a second. "Fine, twerp, don't take our encouragement." In an instant, Kat and Jon were back to being the annoying, pompous jerks they always were. Ugh, they acted like they were the greatest thing that graced the Spiral since the Raven had given birth to Sola and the Six! Erin was so, so, so sick of them flaunting how amazing they were in front of her. She wanted to yell in protest, run back inside and complain to her mom about them. But, of course, Mom wouldn't listen. Mom would tell Erin that she was being silly for complaining about her wonderful siblings. Ugh. The redhead steamed as the twins strolled away in their usual haughty manner. Jon and Kat could go fuck themselves for all she cared.

Erin ran to the tunnel that led to Olde Town. She waved to the Guards on her way, hurrying through the Shopping District and into Wizard City Commons. She slowed down, trying to remember which way to go. Let's see, Mr. Lincoln was always in Golem Court so... this way! Erin needed to register with Mr. Lincoln before heading to the Initiation Ceremony in Unicorn Park.

Erin walked up the road, past the Fairegrounds, and through the tunnel to Golem Way as the Golem Tower came into view. She frowned, remembering how the Golem family had recently disappeared and the Tower had been closed off. Something was amiss in Wizard City, and Headmaster Ambrose wasn't talking.

She shrugged and glanced to the right, expecting Mr. Lincoln, the registrar pelican, to be standing there. Instead, Headmaster Ambrose leaned on his staff, muttering to his pet owl, Gamma. He stroked his beard, peering up at Golem Tower through his monocle. His pointy hat quivered with his every move. His robe flashed and sparkled as each silvery star and moon caught the light.

Erin blinked. This was an unexpected development.

"There's something amiss today," Ambrose muttered to his plump pet owl, craning his head look all the way up the tower. Erin realized he hadn't yet noticed her. "Something is wrong."

Gamma fluttered in the air. "Are you sure, Ambrooooose?" he hooted.

"My eyeglass is never wrong." It was only then that he noticed Erin, standing there, looking awkward. "Oh, hello, Miss..."

"Soulstone," Erin offered.

"Miss Soulstone," Ambrose completed, nodding. "Why are you here?"

Erin blinked. "I came to register with Mr. Lincoln, but he doesn't seem to be here..."

Ambrose sighed. "Mr. Lincoln is waiting at Unicorn Way to register students with more efficiency. It would be best that you..." He trailed off and looked at the sky.

Erin looked up as well. Storm clouds were blotting out the sun's rays at an unnatural pace. It was almost as if they were being... magicked into place.

Erin's first thought was that Jon and Kat were to blame, and sighed in irritation. How far were her siblings going to go to annoy her?

"Jon? Kat?" she called out, figuring they had to be nearby. "This is lame, even for you."

No answer.

The first drops of rain hit. Erin was used to getting wet, but... this wasn't diviner rain. It felt... off.

She looked at the ground and yelped. All the grass was dying as the rain fell upon it. All the stones were turning black at its touch.

Definitely not diviner rain.

"We should get inside," Ambrose muttered, facing the Tower. "Oh, I do hope the Golems took care of that infestation problem..." He gestured to Erin to come forward, pointed his staff at the door, and shot a bolt of light at it. There was an almost-inaudible click, and the door swung open. Erin followed him and Gamma inside, but not before looking up.

Her heart leapt in her mouth. The shadow on the top floor was unmistakable.

Natalie Emberweave ran into Unicorn Way, past the two Dragons guarding the door.

Wait, two Dragons? She slowed down and looked. One of them was a pretty blonde pyromancer, the other was a necromancer with some style. She had light brown skin and icy blue eyes. Her ragged black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. What the heck were Dragons doing guarding the tunnel?

The pyromancer noticed Natalie staring and sighed, as if this sort of thing was a regular occurrence. She snapped her fingers, sending a spark flashing in front of Natalie's eyes. "Oi, keep moving squirt," she said with irritation. "Quit gawking and go get signed in."

Natalie stuck her tongue out. "Someone got on the wrong side of the bed this morning." She noticed the girl was sitting up on her broom, which was both stupid and dangerous. The other girl was at least in regulation position.

"Get a move on," the pyromancer repeated, a bit more firmly. "You're going to hold up the line and the whole Initiation Ceremony."

Natalie looked around. She was pretty sure that unless Erin wasn't here, she was the last one in. The ceremony waited for no one; that much was clear from Headmaster Ambrose's announcement two weeks ago. She didn't want to cause trouble at the start of the year, or she'd be branded a troublemaker. The thought of being under close watch by all her teachers was rather unappealing.

"Sorry to cause trouble!" Natalie gave a polite smile and a wave before turning to run, snickering at the pyromancer's face. Whatever she had been expecting, niceness was not it.

Natalie ran up to Mr. Lincoln, signed the registrar book and joined the crowd in Unicorn Park. All around her were the same worried faces she'd seen on her best friend's face - Erin Soulstone. The poor girl had been flat-out terrified at the thought of entering this crowd. She had said she was just scared of bumping into any conjurers in the crowd, but Natalie knew better.

Natalie had known Erin since they were children. Sure, they'd grown up on different streets - kids in the pure-magic families tended to do that. Pyromancers stuck to Firecat, and diviners stuck to Triton. But it was easy to meet halfway in Olde Town. A few gold pieces in hand, they'd run to the Fairegrounds and stay for hours, riding the merry-go-round and playing games.

Of course, the early years were far behind them. Natalie frowned as she remembered how badly things had gone for Wizard City in the last year or so. When Professor Drake of Life died six months before, Professor Drake of Death disappeared. Not long afterwards, monsters and undead escaped the dark and dirty streets. Together, the creatures stalked the streets. They seemed to congregate where their magical alignment was strongest. The creatures caused endless trouble to the families on those streets. Most monsters were tough anyway, but when monsters were your own alignment they were a lot tougher. Conjurers were forced to duke it out with trolls and cyclops on their way to work. Thaumaturges battled through waves of snowmen just to take a morning walk. Natalie herself had had to deal with some major baddies.

The monster problem was getting so bad that some families were leaving the streets altogether. Many were renting apartments in the Commons until everything blew over. This made Natalie sad; families leaving ancestral homes was heartbreaking. The Emberweaves, fortunately, were a tough bunch. A few wooden constructs and skeletons didn't bother them. But Natalie's parents were concerned for their youngest daughter. So Natalie had been signed up for a dormitory much like everyone else at Ravenwood. Wizard City had to be the most laughed-at World in the Spiral because they couldn't control a few monsters.

But as Natalie looked around her at the crowd, she noticed not all the new students looked like native Wizard City-goers. That girl, there, had pale skin like the humans in Marleybone. That boy's upturned eyes meant he was definitely of Mooshu descent. That girl's beautiful eye makeup had a Krokotopian flair. They all had to be transfers from other Worlds in the Spiral. This wasn't new to Ravenwood, of course; transfers were common. Ravenwood was both cheaper and had a better reputation than their competition, Pigswick Academy. The weird thing was, Natalie had never seen this many transfers from so many different Worlds before. Where she was standing alone, she could pick out at least four from every World, and there were probably more.

Natalie blew black hair out of green eyes. Her bangs were getting too long, and she needed to get a haircut soon. Unlike Erin, Natalie practiced magic each day by trying to style it each day without setting it on fire. She had succeeded in the last few years; the rest had been a little unluckier and often required a diviner to summon some rain. But she preferred her hair in a short bob with bangs cut just above her eyes. She was a little tanner than pasty Erin, but they had the same green eyes, which was a little creepy. Erin had once asked Natalie if there was the possibility that they were sisters. They dismissed this theory two hours later after Erin burned herself for the fifth time trying to hold fire.

The crowd was getting a little restless. Where was Headmaster Ambrose? Where were the Professors? A few of them pointed to the sky and voiced their annoyance as it began getting cloudy and dark. Thunder rumbled and lightning lit up the clouds overhead.

Something moved in the cloud.

Natalie's head shot up and she stared. She had seen an indistinct shape for almost a second. Something was there, she knew. Something a little bigger than a human with wings.

More somethings moved in the cloud; that much was obvious from the next lightning flash. Some students shouted in fright as they saw the shapes. Restless murmurs swept through the crowd.

Then the rain began.

One of the girls in a theurgist uniform screamed in pain as the rain splattered on her skin. Then, one by one, other theurgists joined her, yelling and crumpling to the ground. None of the other students seemed to be affected by the rain. Some pyromancers tried to shield themselves from the beginning downpour before looking mystified.

Natalie looked up again, grunting in displeasure as raindrops fell on her skin. Pyromancers despised getting wet, and Natalie was no exception. But... something was wrong with this rain. Usually pyromancers were the ones to cry in pain when rain began, but she and the others in her uniform were just fine. Only theurgists were being affected. She glanced down at the ground.

The grass was dying.

The gears in Natalie's brain started turning, making sense of the situation. Pyromancers not affected... theurgists are... grass dying... no. "Get all the theurgists in the gazebo, now!" she shouted, trying to be heard, but the crowd drowned out her voice as they panicked. Deciding to take action, Natalie grabbed the first theurgist she saw - the first that screamed - and led her to the gazebo.

The girl sighed in relief. Her chocolate brown hair had plastered itself to her face, and Natalie could make out some gold beads in there. Her brown eyes showed her terror, but relief started to fill them as she realized she was out of the rain. "Thank you," she said breathlessly.

"Don't mention it," Natalie muttered. She waved to get the attention of another student, a sorcerer. The boy nodded and shouted out to the crowd. It wasn't too long before the gazebo was looking green with all twenty theurgists packed inside. Relieved that they were alright, Natalie returned her attention to the strange shapes in the clouds.

Her stomach dropped as the first one came into view and flew towards what she presumed was Golem Way. A second one followed it, and the rest, maybe a hundred strong, came flapping towards the students.

How is that possible!? she thought, panicked. They were all on Dragonspyre when it was destroyed!

But here they were. Living, breathing legends. Hungry for blood.

Draconians.

Ambrose snapped his fingers and the torches inside sprang to life. Erin blinked in the sudden glare.

"I'm sorry, Miss Soulstone. It seems you may miss the Initiation Ceremony," he said, looking at her. "The rain outside is not ordinary rain, nor is it safe."

"...Sir..." Erin said, looking terrified. "I-I saw a shadow on... the top floor..."

Ambrose frowned. "A shadow?"

"It looked like him."

Just like that, Ambrose's concerned face vanished into a mask of determination. "You wait here, Miss Soulstone. I will go investigate."

"You're going to leave me down here?" Erin said, sounding incredulous. "Sir, what if something happens to you!?"

"I can manage," Ambrose said, smiling. "I am, after all, the Headmaster of Ravenwood, and my first priority is the safety of the students. Wait here." As if he had resolved the matter with those few words, he turned and started up the stairs.

Erin waited a few moments to ensure to herself that had been what she had seen. She didn't want to believe that she had seen him.

The entire Spiral, she knew from her brother and sister, was in turmoil. Every economy was turned upside down as races rose against other races. The cat gangs in Marleybone, for example, had been acting up as of late. They'd even banded with the rats, who were ordinarily the cats' mortal enemies. That was all Kat and Jon had told her, though. The rest, they said, was "top secret." They wouldn't say who was causing this trouble in all the Worlds or exactly what was going on.

But Erin thought she knew. Everyone knew, really, without being told. Not even Ravenwood, the master of cover-ups, could explain away a giant hole. Especially when said hole was where the Death School used to be. And especially when the hole appeared just after the Death Professor had a nervous breakdown.

Everyone at Ravenwood knew the name Malistaire Drake.

He had been the Professor of Death until his wife, Sylvia Drake, died without warning. That night, a mysterious earthquake rolled through Wizard City. That was odd itself, as earthquakes weren't possible when the City was a floating World in the center of the Spiral. By morning, the Death School and its tree were gone, a huge gaping hole in their place, and so was Malistaire. Rumors in Wizard City flew left and right, saying that he was responsible for the damage in other Worlds. The only response about the whole mess was the mysterious sudden formation of the Order of the Dragon. They refused to say what their work was, but everyone knew it was to investigate where Malistaire had gone. He had taken some important secrets with him, and his intent to cause chaos was obvious.

Erin knew, without a doubt, that she had seen Malistaire's silhouette on the top floor. It was dangerous to leave the Headmaster alone up there, but he had told her to stay put. If she disobeyed him, he could expel her on the spot. Then again, if she stayed, there might not be a Headmaster of Ravenwood anymore.

After a moment's debate, Erin shot up the stairs.

A minute later, she slipped through the open door at the top of the tower. Malistaire stood on the other side of the room, wearing his customary black-and-gold cloak. He clutched an ash staff that had a draconian perched on the top. He had become gaunter than when Erin had last seen him, and his mustache and goatee had become longer too. His hairline had receded a little bit. He had developed a pasty complexion to the point of looking almost... grey. Other than that, he looked almost the same as he did six months ago when his wife had died and he had vanished into the night.

Ambrose hadn't noticed her yet. "You are no longer welcome here!" he growled. "Why have you returned?"

Malistaire sneered. "I'm here to resolve our unfinished business!" He gestured to Erin with his staff. "Is that your latest student?"

Ambrose turned, noticing the girl for the first time. "I told you to stay downstairs!"

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not sure you should be alone with him!" Erin shot back.

Malistaire rolled his eyes. "My henchmen will see to that annoying brat." He snapped his fingers and two draconians burst through the ceiling. Erin screamed in surprise. Two creatures of legend were settling into the ground right in front of her. Before Ambrose could make a move to protect her, the first draconian flew towards Erin.

Erin screamed again and scrambled to the side as the draconian bounced off the doors and rebounded towards her. She tripped and the monster flew over her.

She heard another screech and rolled away as the second draconian ripped up the floor where she had just been. Leaping to her feet, Erin sprinted to the other side of the room in a panic. She blindly grabbed an object off the shelf and threw it. The book bounced off the draconian's snout and it snorted in surprise. That didn't stop the second one from shooting forward and throwing Erin into the wall. She cried out in pain and hit the ground.

She heard growling behind her and rolled again, but not fast enough. She felt her uniform rip as the draconian tried to dig its claws into her back. It almost succeeded as she felt her back explode in pain. Erin yelped and shot a leg out to the side on instinct. It hit something hard. The something grunted, and then cold claws clasped around her boot and she yelped again.

The draconian heaved Erin into the wall, and she blacked out for a moment. When she came to, the first thing she saw were small, stiff rectangles of shiny colored parchment. Treasure cards.

"Use those!" Ambrose grunted, throwing Malistaire off him with his staff. The old man was tiring fast.

Erin snatched up the parchment and ran as fast as she could, and not a moment too soon. The first draconian crashed into the wall behind her where she lay just a second before and the other one was getting ready to spring. She groped for the temporary wand her dad had bought at the cheap pawn shop in the Disctrict. It was for emergency purposes only, he'd said, and this seemed to qualify as an emergency. She glanced over the cards - the colors told her that two were Fire spells and one was Myth... she swore. Myth!? It didn't matter; to her these were as useless as paper anyway. All she could do was keep running, so she did.

Ambrose glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "What are you doing, child!?" he shouted. "Use the spells!"

"I can't!" Erin yelled, too focused on running for her life to explain any more. Grabbing another book, she turned on her heel and threw it like a frisbee. Her fragile luck held and it hit one of the draconians in the eye. It squealed in anger and bumped into the second one, blind, enabling Erin to gain a safe distance and finally reach the doors.

Locked.

Erin swore again and kept running.

She crashed straight into something black. Malistaire turned around and growled. "You idiots! I told you to take care of this brat!" he yelled to the draconians. He turned away from Ambrose and faced me, eyes glowing. "You, child. Remove yourself from this place." Without another word he clicked his fingers and Erin felt sharp claws wrap around her shoulders.

"NO!" Ambrose yelled as Erin was lifted into the air, kicking and screaming. The draconian sailed through the jagged hole in the roof of the Tower and into the pouring rain.

"Let go of me!" Erin yelled, squirming in the draconian's grip. The draconian ignored the girl and instead flew over Wizard City, cutting over Ravenwood. Erin swore she saw her brother and sister look up through Bartleby's branches, but it was difficult to see through his leaves.

She stopped looking down as the draconian flapped higher, seemingly flying towards a large, dark red cloud.

Erin did a double-take. Wait, that's not a cloud. Clouds don't have that many wings... gods, they're all draconians! She looked down on Unicorn Way and her heart skipped a beat.

What's going on!? What are they doing!? She squirmed again. A girl shouted down below. Someone else screamed.

The draconian chose that time to fulfill Erin's request.

Kane slashed at another draconian with his sword and fell back a few steps.

"Outta the way!" he shouted to the others, focusing and summoning his phoenix, Fira. He pointed her in the right direction and the flaming bird attacked the draconian her master had summoned. His fellow Dragons scattered to avoid the flaming trails Fira left.

He cursed. Andrew hadn't been exaggerating at all; somehow, the draconians had gotten past the seals on the doors. Kane and the rest of the fifty-second unit were doing their best to hold them back, and it wasn't going well.

"Everyone back!" Andrew yelled, his sword glowing gold with pent-up mana. Every Dragon recognized what he was about to do and stood back, most still firing spell after spell at the oncoming draconians.

Andrew swung his sword towards the draconians and jumped back himself. His orthrus, dubbed Janus, clawed its way out of the ground at the light of the summoning moon. The two-headed hound howled at the moon before attacking four of the draconians. Two of them fell to the ground, coughing and hacking as they dissolved into husks.

Kane fired off another burst of flames. The draconians had never, never invaded the Atheneum before. He didn't even think it was possible, with all the seals on the doors that only a wizard could open. But they were here alright, and they had to be pushed back before they could reach the Basilica, the hub for the World. It led to everywhere else in the World, which would cause serious problems for the Necropolis and the Academy.

"Hold them back, I'm calling for backup!" he shouted. The other five Dragons shouted their acknowledgment.

Kane backed out of the fight and tuned in to Destiny and Jasmine. Guys? Are you there?

Jasmine's panicked shout came back to him. Yeah we're here - ah! You finished in the Atheneum yet?

Yeah, we could really use your help about now! Destiny yelled.

Kane almost jumped in surprise. What was that he was hearing in the background? Fighting, growling, screeching, screaming. What's going on there!? I thought you two were overseeing the Initiation Ceremony?

We were, until a freaking huge cloud of draconians decided to show their faces! Destiny shouted. Kane heard her cry out in pain. There's like a hundred here or something, probably more on the ground and definitely more in the sky. They're scaring the crap out of the squirts.

Not to mention there's way too much for two of us to handle, Jasmine added. Kane, please. We need backup now.

Er, Kane muttered glancing behind him at the other Dragons. We're sort of in a pickle ourself, but we'll get there as soon as we can.

What's more serious than what's going on here? Everyone is supposed to believe that draconians are mythical creatures! Jasmine snapped. It's kind of hard to keep up that image when said mythical creatures are attacking students!

Students who seriously suck at defending themselves, Destiny muttered.

The draconians breached the Atheneum. We're barely holding them back ourselves, Kane admitted.

Something weird is going on, Destiny cut in. Why have they never tried breaching now? And why are there SO MANY OF THESE THINGS?

Kane felt a chill run up his spine. Malistaire was planning something according to our intel, remember? Something big. I think this is his plan going off without a hitch.

Then we have to put a hitch in i - Destiny, your left, YOUR LEFT! Jasmine yelled.

Thank you! Destiny yelled back. There was the sound of something screeching of pain. Then Destiny muttered, Wait, what's tha - oh gods. No. No, no, no.

What? Kane and Jasmine asked at the same time.

Then Jasmine said incredulously, Is that a girl being held by a draconian?

No, that's a girl that's falling through the air and going to DIE! Destiny shouted. Kane, take care of the Atheneum and get here ASAP!

The soft humming in the background cut off, and Kane knew Destiny and Jasmine had cut him off.

He frowned. What could Malistaire be planning? He was obviously trying to throw Wizard City into a panic so he could do whatever he wanted undetected, but what was it he was trying to do? And why target the new students? Probably to send a message, he reasoned. Look what I can do to your children and you can't stop me.

"KANE! WE COULD REALLY USE MAX HERE!" Elana screamed.

Kane snapped back to reality. Right, there were draconians trying to get in. He turned on his heel and sprinted back to the fight, holding his sword out to one side, calling Max the helephant to his side as he ran.

Natalie swiped at another draconian with her wand, but they kept coming. She cursed.

Where were the adults!? Any adults? Anyone? No. Everywhere she looked, there were draconians attacking new students who could barely defend themselves. She suspected that only a few actually knew how to use magic. The amount of rocks students were throwing at the draconians confirmed that.

Luckily, the Emberweaves believed in training early and did so at home. Natalie obviously couldn't summon a firecat yet, but a quick burst of flames was easy enough. Unfortuately, a glance around the park was enough to confirm that the students wouldn't last much longer. The students were outnumbered three to one and getting beaten back fast.

Natalie threw a rueful glance at the Theurgists cowering in the gazebo. If they could come out, they could give us a winning edge, but this rain...!

It didn't take an idiot to realize the storm had come from a necromancer. The grass was dying, the flowers were wilting, the theurgists were in pain. Duh. But no ordinary necromancer could have summoned a storm this powerful, this big, this fast. And she didn't know any necromancers who could summon - and control - a horde of living legends either.

Out of the corner of her eye, Natalie could see the two Dragons that had been guarding the entrance. They were in the thick of the fight, with blades whirling and magic spewing, but even they couldn't dent the draconian force. Summoning a big spell to turn the fight around was out of the question too; the students were panicking too much, running around. Too easy to cause scores of casualties. Sometimes the jerk pyromancer girl would raise her sword, and a sunbird would fly out of nowhere. The sunbird would swoop at a draconian to cause more damage. Sometimes the necromancer girl would call a bigheaded vampire to cause more damage herself. Slowly but steadily, the two girls sliced the draconians apart. But they weren't going fast enough. It was too little too late.

Two more draconians flew overhead, probably the two that had flown away before. Natalie spared a fleeting glance at the two, and then spared a bit more than a glance.

One of them had a student grasped in their claws. It was a girl, she could tell that even when she was that high up. Besides, someone could easily tell from the long red hair that was bright even in the storm. And they were a diviner, which was pretty obvious from the choice of purple-yellow uniform.

Something clicked. Red hair. Someone absent. Wearing a Storm uniform.

"ERIN!" Natalie yelled.

The theurgists screamed as one of the draconians swiped at the gazebo, ripping out one of the support beams.

And Erin fell.

Natalie's heart stopped. Thoughts of battling the draconians were driven from her mind. All she could think about was saving Erin. She had to stop her before she made a sickening crack on the yellow stone. Wait no the way that she was falling, it was obvious Erin would be impaled on the unicorn statue's horn-

Coherent thought became all but impossible for the pyromancer. Natalie scrambled over draconian and student alike. Anything that moved got a blast of flame in the face. Anything to keep her eyes locked on the rapidly descending scrap of red hair. "ERIN!" she screamed again.

She pushed past the jerk pyromancer, who seemed to be going in the same direction. "Do you know this girl?" she yelled, pointing at the sky. Natalie barely managed a nod, a small flame of hope igniting somewhere. Maybe a Dragon could help save her friend. She was sure a Dragon could save her friend.

Destiny bit her lip. Bella, she knew, was the only one strong enough to carry the girl to safety. But there was no way Des could summon her in time, nor was there room to summon her. "I'm sorry," she yelled, taking another swipe at a draconian. "I'm sorry."

Natalie froze up. This girl would do nothing. Yet she was sure that the girl could do something. But she chose to do nothing, instead fighting for her own life instead of saving someone else's. Selfish. So, so selfish.

Natalie's pulse roared in her ears. Nothing. She could no nothing. Nothing to stop her best friend from dying, be it by impalement or impact trauma. Memories flashed in front of her eyes faster than she could make sense of them.

Natalie's hope rode in on a purple-yellow blur. She later realized that someone in the crowd had managed to summon their broom. Erin was ripped from her fall seconds before getting a horn through the torso. Unfortunately, the blur couldn't seem to keep their broom up after that. Erin and rescuer hurtled towards the ground and tumbled onto the cobblestone.

Natalie could have cried in relief, but she didn't. Instead, she faced the draconians. There were more that were asking to have their rear handed to them.