All eyes turned at the arrival of the new people. Through the front doors, after a rhythmic knock on the brick walls greeting them, they could finally make it to what seemed like the lobby. Well, not after going down few distances underground through steep stairs. Fortunately, Leon was taken away from some other door. The five could not interpret what would have happened if these human revolutionaries, who had great knowledge of Dragonesians, would have seen a Dragonesian entering the premises of their organization. Not to mention, being human revolutionaries, their hatred towards Dragonesians was considerably stronger.

There were couches spread all over the white washed lobby. Alana almost started thinking that Luxuria's obsession with the colour white was getting out of hand. But at least few walls were painted grey, along with the grey marble floor. Little pots of plants too were present to provide a bit of touch of decoration to the monotonous lobby. A smile formed on Alana's lips thinking how Leon would have gotten excited at witnessing the herbs surrounding him.

"Lucian, is that you? You have changed so much over the years."

The blue eyed boy's gaze fell upon the unknown boy who had come out of nowhere to greet him. At first, he could not recognize who he was. Hence, Lucian asked, "I am sorry, do I know you?"

"Yes you do!" The boy laughed wholeheartedly, "How could you forget your school friend? I am Clyde Arlio. Ring a bell now?"

It did ring a bell. In fact, the name did more than just ringing a bell, inside Lucian's mind. It infuriated him to the point where he wanted to kill the boy. But he knew that making such a stupid move at the moment would only lead him and his friends from getting kicked out of Bronte. Thence, the boy simply ignored Clyde and went to the opposite direction.

Meanwhile Cynthia, who had been under the presence of crooked, shabby, dirty places, almost her entire life, was overwhelmed witnessing the cleanliness. She had always been very fond of keeping things and rooms neat and tidy, and now finding herself in such a place made the idea of leaving Bronte not very likeable anymore.

When the man with the trimmed beard had personally taken upon the job of introducing Alana and her friends to the people present there, Cynthia began to wander around the huge lobby. She waved at a red haired girl, when their eyes met. The girl, who was reading a book prior to that, returned back the sweet gesture.

The people seemed genuinely nice. They were literate too, it appeared. Some were discussing serious matters regarding Dragonesians, some enjoying their alone time and some, simply chatting without a care in the world.

It was like suddenly she had joined a...family. A big family.

"Oops! Sorry."

Cynthia groaned in pain due to the sudden collision. She rubbed her forehead which had hit something hard. Probably, another forehead.

The girl looked up at the owner of the voice. And when she did, she was in awe.

The young boy, who appeared no younger than Cynthia or even her eighteen-year-old friends, was in one word... gorgeous.

His golden locks fell over his crinkled forehead, which had frowns written all over it. Whereas a nervous and apologizing smile ornamented his cherry lips as he offered his hand to the wonderstruck girl.

"I am sorry," the boy apologized at once when he had managed to pull Cynthia from her sitting position, "I don't know where my mind was—"

"Hey, hey, it's alright," Cynthia interjected the rambling boy, "I should apologize too. I wasn't quite looking to the front either."

"Well, we are equal then, I guess," the boy chuckled deeply making fluttering butterflies dance inside Cynthia's tummy.

"Are you alright though? Is your forehead hurting?" the boy inquired while his concerned filled eyes roamed over Cynthia's face, "Maybe you could put some ice."

"I am alright, thank you." It was unusual for Cynthia to blush at a question of concern, but the teenage girl was surprised to find her reddened cheeks.

"Hey, Sir's calling."

A third voice called for the boy, who replied with, "Coming in a moment!"

"I'll have to leave now," the boy smiled at the flustered girl, "I hope to see you around soon."

And with that, he ran off. But not before turning around, and sending a charming wave with that dashing smile of his, at Cynthia.

While Cynthia stood still, and reprocessed the previous events, someone gave her elbow a light nudge. The girl looked beside her to find Lena with a teasing beam on her face.

"Someone seems to have developed a crush at first sight."

"Oh shut up," Cynthia grumbled under her breath as she sped up to join the rest, all while desperately trying to tone down her red cheeks.

However, the girl was unaware of the pair of burning eyes, squirming in enviousness while watching the subtly giggling girl.

Leon woke up from his deep slumber.

His eyes scanned the unknown room in desperate search for water. The quenching thirst was enough to make him want to die. His throat was now drier than the desert, Leon thought. Fortunately, he found a jug of water placed on the bedside table. Without any thought, he grabbed the jug and chugged down the water from it. The Dragonesian boy was so thirsty that he did not even consider pouring the water into the adjacent glass, first.

Choking, and coughing terribly, he vomited blood which soon spread over the blanket covering the lower half of his body. Leon peered inside the jug when a foul smell invaded his nostrils. Soon enough, he found himself staring into crimson blood. The sanguineous jug broke apart as soon as it collided with the floor due to Leon's harsh throw. Breathing heavily, he frantically attempted to rub off the fresh blood coating his lips. To his surprise, the more he rubbed, the more he found his hands being covered with blood.

In addition to his newly found misery, Leon eventually came to a conclusion, in regards to his current location. It was his room. The room where he had spent eighteen years of his life. Leon's room back in the Dragonesian Palace, where suffocation had become his friend.

"Did we all get caught?" Leon could not help but think as he climbed down from his king sized bed and his bare feet touched the cold wooden floor, "What if they face execution?"

Leon at once ran towards the locked door and turned around the knob before everything was too late. To his disappointment, the door seemed to have been locked from the outside. Leon grabbed his hair in absolute exasperation, while pacing around the room and trying to plot ways to escape from his room.

That is when his glance fell over the balcony. He ran towards the balcony and stared down into the dark bushes. If he could transform into his dragon form, then it would be easy for him to reach down there. But that was the thing. Leon had figured out that he could not transform according to his will, like other Dragonesians. And if he jumped, there was a possibility of his bones breaking.

"So be it," Leon murmured before stepping back, taking a deep breath and making a run towards the railing. And finally, the crimson eyed Dragonesian managed to jump over the edge before landing swiftly onto the ground. To his surprise, neither did he injure himself, nor was he hurt.

Nevertheless, it was not the right time to ponder over his vanished pain. Leon dashed through the bushes surrounding the Dragonesian Palace and into the starry night, when his eyes caught something. Something horrendous.

There was no doubt that the five figures standing with their hands tied behind their backs were Alana, Lucian, Lena, Cynthia and Cora. Each one of them had blindfolds over their eyes, preventing them from seeing what they were going through. And then Leon witnessed his paralyzed brother—no—Eluscan rounding them like a predator, on his feet.

Cackling evilly, he snapped his fingers. Within the blink of an eye, the blade which was hanging over their heads, beheaded them. Leon had to put up a palm over his mouth to muffle his blood-scorching scream while tears streamed down his eyes. When he succumbed to his unconsciousness, he had thought of waking up somewhere safe and sound with his friends around him. He had never even imagined witnessing his friends die the first thing when he woke up.

Trembling, Leon collapsed down onto the ground, his eyes not leaving the heads of his deceased friends squashed. Before he knew, slowly, his eyelids closed again.

"Leon, you are fine, wake up."

Vague murmurs surrounded him as he tried to pinpoint the voice. A sudden shot of pain went through his forehead when memories of his dead friends flooded his mind. Sudden jerks caused him to shake unknowingly.

Finally, his eyes opened wide and he found himself staring right into the bright light of a bulb. Well, before the relieved face of Alana came into his view.

Alana Thornheart was not dead.