Chapter 35 “Plotting and Planning”

Rain dripped down her fingers, passing along them and down onto her sword, flowing across its sharp blade. Akira stood, legs apart as she stared at the two people kneeling some way in front of her, their hands bond behind their backs, their faces both filled with different expressions of fear, disbelief and horror.

 The drops of rain that fell into Akira’s eyes didn’t seem to bother her and she did not even blink once. It was when one looked closer at her eyes that the realization that something was not quite right would hit. There was something off about their normal blue color, something different.

“Kill them!” the command was spoken with a tone of authority, a tone of satisfaction, of glee and of delight. Delight not at the command itself, but at the knowledge that it would be followed.

Without the slightest hesitation Akira began to walk forward, adjusting her grip on her sword so that she would be able to send the killing blow with the slightest flick of her wrist. Her steps were full of purpose, of confidence, as she approached the two people before her, both of them watching her with disbelief in their eyes.

“Akira, please,” one of them whispered.

Akira didn’t even blink as she continued on her path. A few meters before them she lifted her blade, pointing it at the first one. The green eyes that stared at her pleadingly had no effect and Akira's face remained expressionless, not even a hint of pity in her eyes. As she didn’t break her step the smaller of the two figures turned her head to face the other beside her.

“This isn’t how I saw it end, Dominique,” she whispered, her eyes filled with grief.

Dominique stared back at her.  “It’ll be okay Gina, It’ll be just fine,” and yet, even as he spoke, he had the sinking feeling that it would not be okay.

Slowly he turned his head back to look at the approaching figure Akira. His eyes widened as she approached Gina and then suddenly thrust her blade forward. As the blade slashed through the air Gina kept her eyes on Dominique, a small brave smile on her lips.

In the background, stood a great white dragon, watching, sadness in his eyes. And yet he stood, not moving to do a thing, not trying to stop his rider.

“Akira,” he thought sadly. And yet he knew, no matter what he said, Akira would not listen to him. For the Akira he knew, was no longer here.

As Akira’s blade approached Gina, Dominique smiled encouragingly and then suddenly, he jerked his hands free. The rope he had been working on being loosened up to the point that he could slip his hands free. Before the Watcher behind him could react he had put one hand on Gina’s shoulder and the other into his pocket.

As his fingers enclosed around the dragon scale he kept there it seemed as though both he and Gina began to shimmer and Akira’s sword seemed to pass right through Gina without doing a thing. A moment later, both Gina and Dominique seemed to had completely disappeared, the rope lying on the Academy roof the only sign that they had been there.

Akira stared in surprise while Nemis’ mouth gaped open and the Watchers and Night Riders shot each other looks, seeming uncertain of what to do.

“Well well,” Steeson did not seem in the slightest bit upset. “It looks like they got away.”

“We can follow them, finish the job!” Nemis spoke up. “With the dosage you created throughout the night we could go to the Academy in the past and take care of them once and for all, wiping out that threat!”

“Nemis!” Steeson whirled to face Nemis, angry that he would so carelessly mention the dosage out in the open.

After having seen Dominique time travel the first time, Steeson had realized that one did not necessarily need the Rider of Legend and her Dragon to be present. He had heard rumors that Dominique had been given a scale form the Dragon of Legend which gave him an idea of part of the way Dominique had travelled.

The scale was part of the Dragon of Legend and so served its purpose, giving Dominique half of the equation he needed to be able to time travel. As for the other half, it was Deception who had made Steeson aware of it. Dominique would have been a Rider of Legend had he been given the chance, therefore he had the blood of a Rider of Legend.

How Deception had known this Steeson did not know nor care, yet her knowledge of this gave him the idea that as long as one had a scale from Redemption and a vile of blood from Akira, time travel could be available to anyone.

 “I apologize,” Nemis quickly said, realizing his mistake.              

“It is fine,” Steeson waved it off. “We do not know if it works yet anyway, besides, why waste our time with the past when we have to plan for the present? We have a big day tomorrow, let us prepare for it.” He shot a look over at Redemption to see the dragon staring at him in defiance. Steeson only raised an eyebrow mockingly. As long as he controlled Akira, Redemption would not be a problem.

Turning back to Nemis he spoke, “let Argos know that he is to let the public know that tomorrow, there is going to be a very important announcement to the entire city.”

Nemis nodded and turned, hurrying towards the trap door to do as he was told.

The rain seemed to suddenly cease, yet Steeson did not notice as he turned to find that Akira was looking at him expectantly, waiting to be told what to do.

“Tomorrow,” Steeson told her fondly as he walked up to her and laid one hand on the side of her check. “Tomorrow everything will finally be as it should.”

One moment it was raining, the next it was dry and the sun was shining.

Dominique barely took a glance at the empty Academy roof as he turned to Gina and worked on the ropes that bound her hands.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

For a moment Gina did not reply, staring at the roof as though still trying to take in the fact that they had just travelled through time.

“How did you…?” she began, turning her eyes onto Dominique.

“I winged it,” Dominique smiled weakly.

Gina nodded before her eyes widened. “Sky!” she scrambled to her feet and looked around in a panic for her dragon.

“Gina, Steeson has them, I’m sorry,” Dominique told her.

“No!” Gina turned her panicked eyes on him, the fact that she could not feel her dragon’s presence terrifying her.

“We’ll get them back I promise,” Dominique told her.

That seemed to calm Gina down. “Akira…” she shivered as she wrapped her hands around herself, “she was going to…”

“She wasn’t herself,” Dominique told her firmly.

Gina looked at him, her eyes serious, “I thought I was going to die.”

Dominique did not reply.

“Gina? Dominique?” at the surprised voice both Gina and Dominique whirled around to see that Will was standing there, half way out of the trap door, looking as though he had just been coming up to the roof. He was staring in shock and surprise from Gina to Dominique.

“I thought you two had…” he trailed off “Wait, have you been here the whole time?”

Gina and Dominique shot each other a look.

“Will, where’s Brandon?” Gina asked.

“Down with Seth,” Will shrugged as he stepped out onto the roof, “They are trying to figure out what to do next. I mean since we thought Dominique was gone and all we didn’t know how we were supposed to get to the future so…” he never got to finish as Gina rushed past him and made her way down the ladder.

“Hey what…?” Will began.

“No time to explain but we have a major problem,” Dominique told him before he followed Gina.

Will only paused a moment before followed, wanting to find out what was going on.

Gina tore through the Academy, heading for the room they always gathered to discuss strategies. Brandon needed to know what was going on, just what Steeson was planning and that Akira had fallen under his control.

She rushed through the Academy, pushing students that got in the way to the side. Dominique followed her lead, leaving it up to Will to apologize as he hastily tried to keep up.

Gina did not bother to knock as she threw open the door to the room she knew Brandon would be in. She burst in, skidding to a halt just in time stop herself from colliding with Seth who turned to stare at her, disbelief written on his face.

In the room Brandon stood at the far end, looking more than worried, something he rarely did. Seth, who was still staring at Gina, had been standing across from him while Drake casually stood to the side, seeming to have been allowed into the conversation they had been having. Yet upon seeing Gina Drake’s face filled with relief.

“Gina!” he exclaimed as he ran towards her, his arms spread out to hug her.

“Not now,” Gina replied as she held out her arm. Her hand landed on Drake’s face and she pushed him out of the way, making him blink in surprise.

“You’re back,” Seth spoke slowly as he stared right into Gina’s and eyes. Seeing no black ring he looked relieved. Dominique appeared behind Gina with Will right behind him.

“Are you okay?” Seth asked.

Gina nodded rapidly.

“What were you thinking?” Brandon exploded making both Gina and Dominique cringe. Will quickly shut the door as to not let anyone outside overheard.

“Going to the future like that?” Brandon continued as he stared directly at Gina. “You irresponsible, troublesome girl!”

Gina hung her head.

“It was my idea,” Dominique quickly spoke up.

Brandon turned to glare at him. “Yes, I would expect such stupidity from the likes of you. Do you have any idea what could have happened had you…”

“He has Sky and Breeze,” Gina spoke softly and Brandon at once trailed off. Out of all people he knew what it was like for a rider to lose their dragon.

“I’m sorry,” he said, calming down somewhat.

“No,” Gina shook her head, “It’s our fault,” she turned her eyes onto Seth. “You were right in trying to stop us, we should never have gone…” she trailed off and Drake carefully came up beside her before slinging a comforting arm around her shoulder. Gina leaned into him, closing her eyes as she let out a mournful sigh.

“What happened?” Seth asked before Brandon could.

“He has Akira,” it was Dominique who spoke. “He’s controlling her,” he added the words everyone in the room had been dreading.

Seth stared at Dominique, the words not seeming to sink in while Brandon suddenly looked more tired than he ever had. Gina saw the wrinkles on his face and for the first time realized how old her mentor had grown.

“So he has her, and thus he also has the Dragon of Legend,” Brando murmured as he turned away, seeming to not want the others in the room to be able to read the emotions running through his eyes.

Seth angrily shook his head. “No,” he walked to the wall and angrily punched a fist against it before he followed up by laying his forehead against the wall and closing his eyes.

“I still don’t get it, why Akira?” Will spoke up. “Why would he bother to control her when by killing her he would have the one person who could seriously challenge him out of the way?”

“Don’t you see?” Gina murmured. “The Dragon and Rider of Legend are the one dragon and human that everyone listens to. They have the authority. What better way to gain the ear of the people than by having the Rider of Legend under his command?”

Brandon picked up in Gina’s tone that she knew something almost immediately. “What does he have planned?” he asked.

Gina shot a look at Dominique. “He’s going to have Akira announce to the Academy City tomorrow that he and her are equals. He’s going to reveal Deception, what then, I’m not sure,” she said softly.

“The people will accept him and Deception without question as they will think that Akira will have done the same,” Drake realized.

“He also mention ruling the Lands throughout time, past present and future or something like that,” Dominique added.

Brandon closed his eyes. “This is just what I was afraid of. With Akira and Redemption’s ability to travel through time Steeson will have unlimited access to the Lands.”

The room lapsed into silence. Will shot a look at Dominique to see that he was staring at the ground. Drake’s arm tightened around Gina as though trying to offer her comfort while Seth stayed where he was, with his eyes closed and his forehead leaning against the wall.

“We cannot let Steeson have Akira make that announcement,” it was Brandon who spoke up. All heads except Seth’s turned towards him to see that there was a glint of determination in his eyes. “For if Steeson gets the future to accept him and Deception then there will be little that we can do to oppose him. We must stop him at all costs!” He turned to look at Seth, “But I am getting to old of this. Seth, I trust you to figure out what to do.”

Seth turned his head from the wall to shoot a surprised look at Brandon.

“Make a plan, take a few of the more experienced Academy students if you must, but try to involve as few as possible,” Brandon continued, his eyes steadily holding Seth’s. “You must find a way to stop Steeson and Akira tomorrow at whatever cost. Do what you must to try and get Akira back.”

Gina shot Drake a surprised look. Since when did Brandon willingly give control of a mission entirely over to a student?

“Seth,” Brandon spoke. “You know the layout of the Academy, you’ve been to the future, but most of all, you know Akira the best, find a way.”

Seth nodded.

“What about the council?” Will asked.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them,” Brandon responded with a grim smile. “Now do what you can, figure something out.”

Seth turned to the others, determination filling his face. “Will, Drake, you know which students to gather. Meet me in the stables.”

Will and Drake nodded. Drake gave Gina one last squeeze before he turned and together with Will left the room.

Seth turned to Gina. “Get the group from the future, at least those willing to help, we’ll need their knowledge.”

Gina nodded and turned to hurry away.

“And don’t worry Gina,” Seth added, “We’ll get Sky back.”

Gina smiled slightly. “Sorry about knocking you out before,” she said without turning around.

“Yeah, well I’m glad we have healers around,” was Seth’s response.

With a smile Gina disappeared from the room.

“And you,” Seth turned to Dominique who was already beginning to wonder if this was the part where he was going to get yelled at. “I need to know what the security at the Academy was like, how Steeson responded to you coming.”

Dominique nodded, somewhat surprised that Seth did not shout at him.

“Tell me on the way to the stables,” Seth told him motioning to the door.

Dominique nodded and headed out of the room. Seth followed, yet at the door he paused. “Thank you Brandon,” he said softly.

“I trust you boy,” was Brandon’s reply.

Seth nodded and walked from the room. He fell into step beside Dominique and the two walked down the hallway.

“Steeson plans to call together the entire city tomorrow?” he asked.

Dominique nodded. “As many as he can. He’ll gather them all in one place and make the announcement from a balcony that was added onto the Academy some time back, at least that’s the only way I can see him being able to address them all at once.”

Seth nodded. “So there will be a large crowd,” he said thoughtfully. “That should make travelling through the city easier. Even in larger numbers we won’t be noticed.” They rounded the corner and approached the lift.

“When you went towards the Academy, how many tried to stop you?” Seth asked as he and Dominique came to a stop. The lift was not there so Seth pulled the cord and the two boys waited.

“No one,” Dominique answered the question. “Steeson let us get all the way into the Academy roof. I should have seen it as a trap but I wasn’t thinking about it…”

“How many came then?” Seth asked, cutting him off.

“Enough to surround us,” Dominique answered.

“Weapons?” Seth questioned as the lift appeared. There were three students in it and both Dominique and Seth waited for them to step out before they got in.

“The usual,” Dominique said, “Shockers and poles, though they did have two I haven’t seen before,” he added as the lift began to descend.

Seth suddenly seemed interested.

“Both were handled by Night Riders,” Dominique began to explain. “One was looked like a Shocker but shot a net instead. That’s how they got our dragons,” he frowned at the memory, “They glowed blue at one point, almost like the electricity from the Shockers.”

Seth frowned. As the lift came to a stop he and Dominique got out and headed to the next one beside it. Luckily it was already there so they did not have to wait.

“What about the second?” Seth asked.

“It was a whip,” Dominique said. “It too glowed blue.”

“Like the Shocker balls?” Seth asked.

Dominique nodded.

“So Reaper metal should be able to help against it,” Seth murmured, “Our weapons will do then.”

Dominique shot Seth a look, wondering how it was that he caught on so quickly.

“So Steeson let you get all the way to the Academy first,” Seth continued.

“Yeah, it was a trap,” Dominique nodded.

“Or he just wasn’t worried and has dropped his guard,” Seth replied.

Dominique raised an eyebrow.

“He knew two of you could do nothing against him,” Seth said. “He wasn’t bothered, yet still he sent a few Watchers and night Riders just in case. Had he thought you could do a thing though, he would have most likely sent more. Having Akira under his control makes him think that now nothing can hurt him.”

“Can it?” Dominique asked.

“That depends,” was Seth’s reply. “But him thinking that he is untouchable is currently his greatest weakness. It is our opening, we must exploit it.”

Dominique furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what Seth was going on about. He shot a look at the other boy, wondering what was running through his head, yet Seth said nothing more after that, seeming deep in thought, and so Dominique never asked.

The two made the rest of the trip to the stables in silence.

Upon reaching them they already found a group of students waiting and it wasn’t long after that Gina appeared with the group from the future, all of them except Lindsy, and Will and Drake appeared with a few more.

While Seth made his way to the front Dominique took a quick glance around. Doing a rough count he estimated there to be around thirty eight students altogether including the ones from the future. He frowned. It definitely was not a large number.

Silence suddenly descended over the students as Seth stood up on a bale of hay so that they could all see him. Behind him a few dragons peaked curiously out of their stables, interested in what was going on.

All eyes turned expectantly onto Seth and Dominique could not help but wonder at how he seemed to have a sudden air of authority about him.

“Rumors have been going around for a while now, rumors that there have been moments where Akira has travelled to the future. A future where a new black dragon and rider have appeared,” there was complete and utter silence as all eyes were glued on Seth as he spoke. “I’m not going to lie to you,” Seth continued, his eyes moving over the group below, “These rumors are true.”

Murmurs broke out and students shot each other glances. Most of them had suspected truth after Will had attacked Drake, yet no one had been one hundred percent sure as Akira and everyone involved with the time travel had not ever bothered to explain to entire truth the other students, trying to keep them out of it.

“And yes,” Seth raised his voice so that he could be heard, “This new rider, by the name of Steeson, has found a way to control other riders and through them their dragons.”

The murmurs became louder and Dominique wondered what Seth was doing. He was surprised when Seth did nothing but calmly stood where he was, watching the reaction below him. He let it go on for a while and then suddenly, all by itself, the crowd fell into a hush and all eyes turned back on Seth.

“Akira went to try and stop Steeson, yet in the process she too, has fallen under his control,” Seth continued softly.

No one spoke. No one could find the words. The shock was clearly written on the students’ faces.

“Steeson has not yet fully revealed himself to the riders of the future yet,” Seth continued. “He has not let them know the truth about who his dragon is. Yet he plans to do so tomorrow. Using Akira he wants to make the future accept him as their ruler.”

There was a silence in which one could hear a pebble drop.

“If he succeeds,” Seth met the eyes of a few of the students, “then the future will accept him, and if they do, nothing will stop him from using Akira to come to our time.”

Students began to murmur once again.

“I’ve asked you to come here because we,” Seth continued, ignoring the murmurs, “are going to stop him.”

That was when the stables burst into chaos. Students began to shout questions, trying to be heard above the others while others began to talked heatedly with their neighbors as they argued about Seth’s announcement.

Dominique stared from the chaos to Seth only to see that Seth had casually leaned against the wall of a stable behind him, seeming completely unconcerned about what was going on. He had let his head drop somewhat, causing his brown hair to fall into his face, hiding his eyes and thus making it impossible to see what he was thinking. How he could stay so calm made Dominique only shake his head.

“Are you crazy?” he heard one of the students ask. “Go to the future to stop some new black rider?”

“There’s no way, not if Akira is on his side,” another agreed.

“Hey, we went up against Haiden before, so what’s to say we’ll fail this time?” another argued.

“Yeah, but do remember just how many died in that battle?”

“How can a new black rider even exist?”

“If Akira and Redemption failed there is no way!”

And so it went on.

“Who says we won’t fall under his control?” someone asked and most of the students nodded in agreement.

“He needs close contact to turn you,” it was Gina who spoke up.

“And how would you know?” someone accused her.

“How are we even supposed to get to the future?” another asked.

“This is completely crazy,” someone said and there was a chorus of agreements.

“Alright!” it was Drake that seemed to decide to do something. “Listen up already!” he yelled as he climbed up beside Seth on the bale of hay. “Hey!” he tried again. No one listened.

Gina rolled her eyes and shot a look at Anita who stood beside her. With a nod both girls lifted their fingers to their lips and let out a piercing whistle. At once silence fell throughout the stable and Drake shot a nod of thanks to Anita and Gina before he turned to the crowd. Seth did nothing to intervene.

“Almost all of you here,” Drake began, “Remember the days Haiden still lived. You were here, lived through it, experienced the fear. You all knew how strong he was, and yet you followed Seth into battle against his forces without question. You knew you would most likely lose your life yet still you went. You went to rescue Akira. Well guess what? She needs our help once again and we have the chance to help before things get out of control!”

“Yeah, but five hundred years in the future?” someone shouted out.

“You let Seth lead you in a battle against thousands of Haiden’s forces. Are you telling me you are too scared to follow him five hundred years into the future?” was Drakes comeback.

There was silence, a silence during which Seth looked around at the students gathered in the stable. Drake was right. Most of them had been with him in the battle against Haiden. They had fought then for a hopeless cause, he was sure they would do so again and as though to confirm his belief all eyes suddenly turned towards him.

“How can we help?” one of the students asked, speaking on behalf of the entire group.

Seth smiled slightly and Drake nodded at him before getting down from the bale of hay, leaving Seth standing alone.

 “I will be honest with you right from the start. There will be blood spilled, we tried differently before but it can no longer be avoided,” Seth told them sternly as he looked over each and every one gathered before him. “In the future they have weapons they can shoot from a far. They are more effective than our bows and arrows. There are forces under Steeson’s control who will try and stop anyone who tries to interfere with him.” He paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

“I asked Drake and Will to call you guys because I know you,” as he continued he never broke eye contact once. “We’ve fought together, watched our comrades die and yet we still lived on. We have faced tragedy, and it was that tragedy that has taught us how to survive. You all know what it is like to face your enemy on the battle field, I’m asking you to do it once again.”

There was a moment of silence before there were nods and murmurs of agreement all around.

Seeing that they were with him Seth nodded gratefully.

“What’s the plan?” someone yelled.

Dominique raised an eyebrow, wondering what Seth’s reply would be. Surely he hadn’t already thought up a plan in the time he had talked to Dominique until now.

“Tomorrow, Steeson will gather the entire city together. We will split up into groups,” Seth surprised Dominique as he began to speak smoothly without even a hint of hesitation. “Each group will have one person from the future to guide them. With the large crowds gathering to here Steeson speak we will not be noticed. Steeson will most likely have most of his forces out to watch the large crowd so that no fights break out. That will leave the Academy itself only lightly guarded. I’ll take the first group and attack the Academy in the courtyard. Attacking openly will make him think that we are using the courtyard as a distraction and our aim is to attack in full elsewhere. The small group will hide our true numbers and Steeson will not be worried about taking care of it, he’ll be more worried about the direction he’ll think we’ll really attack from, which to him will most logically be from among the gathered crowd. Therefore he’ll send only a small group of his men to take care of us, leaving the rest to watch the crowd. When they come, we will attack in full and have the advantage of the surprise.”

Dominique stared at Seth in disbelief. When had he come up with this?

“In that time we will break into the Academy from the roof and the courtyard. With us holding the only two entry and exit points of the Academy Steeson will be locked in and unable to send for reinforcements. It will take some time for his men on the outside to realize what is going on. It is then that I’ll ask you to keep Steeson’s new forces out and maintain a hold of the roof and the courtyard while a group of us will search for Steeson himself.”

Dominique’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“We leave at first light tomorrow, dress in your battle gear. Dragons will have to do without armor; it would be too noticeable if they wore it. Also, you’ll have to hide your battle clothes under another layer. Weapons should be kept out of sight, just so that we don’t stand out too much” he paused. “Anyone who does not want to be a part of this does not have to, yet know this, if we cannot stop Steeson now, we may never have the chance again.”

There was silence. Students glanced at each other yet none made the move to leave.

“Any questions?” Seth asked. No one spoke up. For who could after Seth had explained his plan to them with such confidence?

“Okay then,” Seth smiled. “Will and Drake will arrange the groups. The member from the future will tell you everything you need to know about how to behave in order to go unnoticed until the appointed moment. Other than that, be ready to leave at dawn.” Without another word he jumped from the bale of hay and Drake immediately got up on it and Will followed. The two began to shout instructions, ushering students around.

Seth himself just stood to the side and watched and Dominique took the time to go over to him.

“How did you think that up?” he asked Seth.

“It’s called tactical thinking,” Seth didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Yeah but I didn’t even give you that much information!”

“You gave me enough,” was Seth’s response.

“And you seriously think your plan is going to work?”

Seth turned to look at Dominique. “Don’t you?” he asked.

“Yeah but…I mean is Steeson really going to go for it?”

“Steeson may have been watching us all this time, studying our moves, but I’ve been watching him to. He’ll go for it. After you told me he didn’t try to stop you from getting to the Academy I’m sure of it.”

“Seth?”

Seth and Dominique both turned to find that Gina had approached them, leaving the other students to split into groups. She had a worried look on her face.

“Seth,” Gina spoke softly. “You left out one important part of the plan.”

Seth waited for her to continue.

“What do we do once we get to Steeson?” Gina asked. “I mean Akira will most likely be with him and she’s not herself anymore. Steeson has her completely under his control. How will you stop her from killing you right there and then?”

“I’ll find a way,” Seth told her firmly.

“Seth, she tried to kill me, what makes you think that we have a chance of getting her…”

“Gina,” Seth looked at her with determination in his eyes, “I said I’ll find a way. Besides, I’m counting on a little help from the inside.”

Gina cocked her head and Dominique shot Seth a questioning look.

“Akira may be under Steeson’s control but Redemption is most likely still himself. This mind control only seems to work on riders in full, dragons are only affected in that they have to follow their rider’s commands. While Redemption has to follow Akira’s commands I’m sure he is fighting it, trying to get through to her. He’s never given up on her before and he won’t start now,” Seth explained.

“Emerald never got through to you,” Gina warned. “What makes you think Redemption could succeed?”

“I don’t know Gina,” Seth told her suddenly sounding tired. “But I can only hope. We have to do what we can. We have to try”

Gina paused before she nodded. “Okay Seth. If you say so.”

“Right, Will is finishing up with the groups,” Drake spoke up as he suddenly appeared beside Gina.

“You think they’re all with us?” Seth asked as he shot a pointing glance at the students that were now huddled in different sized groups.

“Hey,” Drake spoke as he laid an arm on Seth’s shoulder, “Half of the students at this Academy followed you into battle against Haiden. We trusted you then, we still do now.”

Gina nodded.

Seth smiled before he turned and headed over to Will who was waving at him, seeming to have a question.

Dominique at once turned to Gina.

“He has a plan of how to get into the Academy but not what to do when we actually find Akira?” he asked in disbelief. “That’s suicide! There’s no way we’ll stand a chance against Akira if…”

“Dominique,” Gina told him sternly as turned to face him. “I’ve known Seth as long as I have been at this Academy. In all that time I have not doubted his judgment and leadership once. I won’t start now. Besides, we tried it our way and things didn’t work out. I just want to get Akira and my dragon back, at whatever cost, don’t you?”

“Yeah but…”

“If Seth’s plan won’t work, then no ones will,” Drake spoke up as he slung a hand around Gina’s shoulder. “Now, how about you get you into a group and then have a lovely supper of splodge? Tomorrow, we’re going to battle,” he sounded somewhat excited at the thought.

“Alright future husband,” Gina suddenly grinned. “Lead the way.”

Dominique stayed where he was, watching as Drake led Gina away. He shot another glance over at Seth to see that he and Will were currently talking to a group of three guys. Shaking his head he wondered how it was possible for Seth to come up with such a plan in such a short time. He didn’t want to admit it but Seth sure was something, it was just too bad that the guy had to be with Akira.

With a sigh he turned away. He could only hope that Seth’s plan would go without a hitch the next day, for if it didn’t, he did not want to consider what would happen then. Failure was not an option.