The academy had never looked so alive.
For weeks, whispers about the Dragon-Bonding Ceremony had filled the stone corridors stories of glory, destiny, and dragons choosing their human partners. Students traded rumors as if they were precious treasures by dawn, the whole campus pulsed with excitement.
Now, as the sun rose above the towering gates, the great bells tolled deep, resonant notes that made the ground hum from every hall, students streamed into the Grand Arena, a place vast enough to fit an army.
Alex had expected something solemn, maybe quiet. Instead, it was like stepping into a festival.
Banners of red, gold, and sapphire hung from marble pillars, each enchanted to ripple even without wind. Floating lanterns drifted overhead, glowing softly in the morning light.
Music from spectral horns echoed through the air while illusionary dragons made of fire and smoke spiraled above the arena.
The noble families had turned the ceremony into a spectacle they arrived in shimmering carriages pulled by winged beasts, wearing robes stitched with mana-thread that caught the sunlight like molten gold.
Their laughter carried through the crowd sharp, confident, untouchable.
Among them, the common-born students stood stiffly, clutching their uniforms some looked up in awe; others looked down, already aware of where they stood in this hierarchy.
Alex kept his hood low his fingers pressed against the case that held his egg though "his" felt like a lie. It didn't feel alive just heavy, cold , Silent.
Beside him, Mira adjusted her gloves and gave him a sidelong glance. "Don't let them get in your head," she murmured. "Bonding isn't about status Dragons see deeper than bloodlines."
Alex forced a small smile. "You sound sure of that."
"I have to be," she said, her tone carrying a flicker of uncertainty that betrayed her own fear.
He didn't reply words couldn't steady the storm inside him every heartbeat echoed with the same question what if my dragon doesn't answer?
The arena quieted as Headmaster Thalos stepped into view his crimson robes trailed behind him like tongues of flame, his staff burning with golden light. When he spoke, his voice carried effortlessly to every corner.
"Students of the Academy of Fire, today marks a sacred rite one older than kingdoms, older than thrones. Dragons have chosen companions among mortals for ages untold warriors, mages, kings, and scholars all began here, in this moment."
A low murmur rippled through the stands.
Behind the Headmaster, a procession of attendants wheeled in long stone platforms, each carrying several glowing eggs.
They shimmered in colors no mortal paint could capture sapphire, crimson, emerald, obsidian, even translucent white each pulsed with its own rhythm, like hearts beating in harmony with the world.
"When your name is called," Thalos continued, "step forward let your spirit guide you when the egg responds, the bond shall be sealed by flame, by will, and by fate."
A faint wave of magic rolled across the arena the air grew heavier, crackling with life.
Alex's pulse quickened he could feel the energy old, powerful, watching.
The first name was called.
"Nerissa Velora."
A noble girl with silver hair stepped forward gracefully she placed her palm against a sapphire egg the shell blazed with light, forcing the crowd to shield their eyes. When it shattered, a small water dragon emerged, coiling around her arm like liquid glass.
The stands erupted into cheers.
Then came another name a proud elf boy his egg burst in flames, revealing a hatchling whose roar shook the arena. Again, applause.
The nobles bonded one after another, each spectacle grander than the last. A trail of dazzling lights and fiery births filled the air with heat and wonder.
For the common-born students, however, things went differently.
When a farm boy approached a green egg, it flickered weakly, then went still. Another girl, trembling with hope, touched a white one nothing. The audience murmured cruelly.
"Unfit."
"No dragon would waste its bond."
"Pathetic."
Each failure deepened the invisible divide between noble and commoner.
Alex clenched his fists every unresponsive egg made his stomach twist tighter. He wanted to believe Mira's words, but doubt whispered louder.
Then the Headmaster's voice rang again.
"Kaele Veynar."
The air shifted.
The cheers began before Kaele even moved his golden hair caught the light as he descended the steps, the faintest smirk playing on his lips. Nobles leaned forward eagerly; even the teachers watched closely.
He walked past the rows of eggs until he stopped before one massive and radiant, streaked with crimson and silver veins.
The moment his hand touched it, a blinding flare of fire erupted. The crowd gasped as cracks raced across the shell, and with a thunderous snap, a flame wyrm emerged scales glowing like molten metal, wings sharp as blades.
The dragon's roar drowned out everything.
"Incredible… a wyrm at hatchling stage?"
"The Veynar bloodline truly is blessed!"
Kaelen lifted the creature proudly. Its molten eyes glowed the same gold as his. When he turned toward the crowd, his gaze found Alex.
And he smiled.
It wasn't kind.
It was a blade sharp, deliberate, and cruel.
Alex felt that smile like fire against his skin.
"Alex Rowen," the announcer finally called.
The arena quieted.
Alex's heart skipped. He forced himself to walk, step by step, as whispers followed.
"That's the late awakener."
"He'll embarrass himself."
"Watch his egg won't even stir."
He reached the row of eggs the instructor at his side nodded. "Follow your instinct. The dragon that belongs to you will call in return."
He tried to steady his breathing his eyes drifted over the glowing shells red, blue, green, white all humming faintly, alive with power. But none spoke to him none drew him closer.
Then, at the far end, almost hidden in shadow, he saw it.
A single egg, dark as night, streaked with faint veins of violet light that pulsed like stars in deep water. It looked forgotten lifeless, dust gathering at its base.
The nobles chuckled. "That one? It hasn't reacted in years."
"Perfect match for him dead like his talent."
Mira, watching from the crowd, bit her lip.
Alex ignored the voices something in his chest tugged not loud, but real a whisper brushing his mind.
He stepped closer, kneeling before the egg its surface was cold painfully so but he didn't pull away he pressed both palms against it, closing his eyes.
Please.
He reached inward, toward the flicker of flame that had awakened in him days ago. He poured every ounce of will, of longing, of belief into that contact.
The world held its breath.
Seconds passed. Then minutes.
Nothing.
The egg stayed still.
Whispers broke into laughter.
"Called it!"
"Even the rejects reject him!"
"Pathetic commoner!"
Kaelen's laughter cut through all others sharp, victorious. His dragon growled beside him, as though mocking Alex's silence.
Alex's chest burned, humiliation choking his words. His hands trembled, but he refused to pull away.
He pressed harder "Come on," he whispered under his breath, voice breaking. "Answer me… I know you're there."
Still nothing.
Finally, the instructor laid a hand on his shoulder. His expression was pitying, gentle, but heavy. "That's enough, Alex."
Alex lowered his hands his heart felt hollow the laughter behind him rose louder crueler.
He straightened, forcing himself not to bow, not to cry every step back to the line felt like walking through fire.
Then.
A flicker.
It was so faint he thought he imagined it.
But as he turned, the egg pulsed once a soft, violet glow under the dark shell. The light faded almost instantly, like a heartbeat missed by the world.
No one else noticed. Not the nobles, not the teachers, not even Mira in the stands.
But Alex felt it.
Something inside that egg had moved.
He froze mid-step, the faintest spark reigniting inside him.
You're there, he thought. Aren't you?
But the glow didn't return. The egg went still once more.
The Headmaster moved on to the next name, and the ceremony continued the laughter, the cheers, the triumphs but Alex heard none of it. He stood in silence, the echo of that pulse still beating in his mind.
That night, the academy was ablaze with celebration Nobles threw feasts in their dorm halls, dragons screeched in joy above the towers, and the sky was painted with fireworks.
But Alex sat alone in his room.
The shadows from the flickering candlelight stretched long across his desk, where the dark egg rested in silence. He hadn't let the attendants take it away. Somehow, he couldn't.
He reached out, brushing his fingertips against the cold shell.
"You felt me, didn't you?" he whispered. "Even if no one else saw."
Silence.
He leaned back, exhaustion heavy in his bones for a long moment, he just watched the faint starlike veins shimmer under the moonlight filtering through the window.
"I'll wait," he murmured. "No matter how long it takes."
The room fell still. Outside, a dragon's roar echoed distantly noble hatchlings testing their new wings.
But within the egg, hidden from sight, something stirred.
A spark. A heartbeat. A whisper in a tongue too ancient to name.
And for the briefest instant, a soft violet glow pulsed again unseen, unheard as if the egg itself was listening.
Waiting.