"Theo!? Theo??" He hears her worried screams in the middle of the chaos: flames and ashes everywhere, the cry of soldiers fighting, and the sound of steel from their swords crashing, and also the growl of brutal beasts filling the sky.
"Mom!" The little boy runs through the burning furniture in the grand hall. Any normal person there would be fainting from the hellish heat and the smoke entering their lungs, but not that boy; he just looks very worried about his mother.
She appears through the ashes like a phoenix: tall, long reddish-black hair, pure glowing crimson eyes, and beautiful like the flames of a bonfire. "Theo!" She runs toward the little boy and kneels to check his body. "Are you hurt?"
"Mom… where's Dad?" Little Theo asks while looking behind his mother's shoulders, seeing shadows fighting in the ashes. His mother gently holds his face and kisses his forehead. "My good boy, don't worry, we'll protect you."
Little Theo is only a few years old, but he already understands what is happening. Yet, he can't do anything as his mother pushes him toward the fireplace and, with a wave of her hand, makes a translucent red crystal box appear, just big enough to protect his small body.
"You'll be safe here," his mother says in a loving tone and then closes Theo inside the crystal box. He extends his small hand and touches the glass, trying to reach his mother, causing tears to fall from her eyes and evaporate instantly. With a sad expression, she also touches the crystal with her open hand directly against Theo's. "I love you, my dear baby boy."
Theo can feel all of his mother's unconditional love through her tone and expression, but still she turns away and leaves him, making his heart ache like never before. He can only remain there in that box, watching his mother run toward the flames while her voice echoes like a storm, casting words in an ancient language like thunder. "Per pactum primordium… Pyra Zhar omnis surgit…"
"WORLD-CONSUMING PYRE!" From inside that crystal box, Theo hears his mother's final chant and a sea of fire rises, devouring everything in its path…
...
"NO!" Theo shouts and opens his eyes, realizing he is no longer that scared little four-year-old boy, but a young man who just turned eighteen. He's no longer in that burning hall but in a luxurious carriage, and there is a beautiful woman with silver hair looking at him; in fact, her face is so close now he can perfectly smell her perfume, and somehow, it smells like roses and mint.
"Another nightmare?" The woman asks in a tone both curious and sorry, and as she moves those juicy pink lips, Theo feels the mint perfume become more intense, which starts to awaken powerful feelings in his body. He then shifts on the comfortable seat and tries to put some distance between his face and the seductive woman's. "It was like before… I was in the hall, and fire took over everything."
"Hmm…" The woman sits back on the bench across from Theo, crosses her long legs that can be seen out from beneath a luxurious black dress, and begins caressing her delicate chin while staring at him with a thoughtful expression. "Was it your mother or your father this time?"
Theo tries his best not to be hypnotized by those beautiful legs, and part of him wonders if the woman does such things on purpose to tease him. "My mother; this time it was she who told me to enter the crystal box."
The woman's grayish eyes seem to glow as they remain fixed on Theo. "Last time it was your father; it seems your memories were heavily damaged, perhaps by the trauma, or maybe by something else… These dreams you're having are mixed fragments of what really happened, making it impossible to get a clear picture of the situation."
"My parents were murdered, and my home turned to ashes, Eruina, that's what happened." Theo's brown eyes begin to glow red, not with blood but with a yellowish-red light like living flames. He clenches his hands into fists while hatred burns in his heart. "But it won't go unpunished; I'll find everyone who was involved, everyone who betrayed my family, and make them burn for that."
Eruina watches Theo's expressions with expectation and fascination, her tongue dancing around her lips almost as if savoring something. "Your desire for justice is totally valid-" She begins to speak, but he interrupts her. "Revenge! I don't want justice, I want to destroy them and everything they love."
"Fine, fine!" Eruina chuckles while raising her hands. "I don't care how noble the feelings in your little black heart are when you're burning your enemies."
The flames in Theo's eyes slowly fades and he throws a cold glance at the silver-haired woman. "Of course, as long as I fulfill my part of the deal, right? Don't worry, I may not have anything of value left, but my word is something I never go back on."
Eruina shakes her head with a clearly fake upset expression. "Ouch, do I really seem that kind of person? I truly want to help you, Theo. It's not all about deals and rewards." She speaks in a gentle tone and gives him an even gentler smile. "You can trust me, my dear boy, I'm a kind soul."
"Really?" Theo also smiles, but the kind of sarcastic smile that makes his cold beauty even more striking. "Funny you say that, because there were a bunch of other orphans in that hole where you found me, and I don't see any of them here…"
"Kukukuku~" Eruina giggles and claps her hands gracefully. "You got me, very good! Truly, I'm not that charitable, am I? But my word is just as solid as your desire for revenge. I really want to help you, Theo, not because I have a generous heart, but because we have a deal, and that doesn't mean I'm using you, just that we're allies with well-defined benefits. You win, I win, we both win."
Theo tries to see through Eruina's seductive gaze and all that flamboyant attitude, looking for something false, a malicious intention. But he can't see anything beyond what she shows. And since she pulled him out of the gutter a week ago, the more time he spends around her, the more he likes her exotic personality.
Without realizing it, Theo ends up staring not just at Eruina's lovely smile, but also her huge, fluffy mounds, and she notices it quickly. "Do you like what you see?" She asks in a provocative tone, making Theo feel guilty and quickly turn his face away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."
"Fufufufu~" Eruina giggles even more seductively as she stares at Theo with a piercing gaze. "You don't offend me, my honest boy. It's completely normal for beautiful women to attract stares like that from men, especially a woman like no other, like me." She pauses, and a dark purple glow appears in her eyes, creating an aura so powerful it makes even the air feel dense.
"But make no mistake, I don't allow just anyone to look at me like that." She smiles confidently, and the glow in her eyes vanishes along with that frightening aura. "Learn something, Theo: if you want to look at a woman like that, make sure she takes it as a compliment, or at least that you can defend yourself in case she tries to kill you for that, hehe."
"..." Theo had been expecting something more orthodox, like don't stare at women with lustful eyes, but that sounds much more like something Eruina would say without a doubt.
As the mood turns awkward with Theo unsure of what to say, Eruina makes a light gesture with her hand, and the carriage curtains on Theo's side open, revealing tall, luxurious walls and high trees behind them. "We're already on the Academy's territory." She comments as she looks at him. "Do you remember everything we talked about?"
Theo nods quickly, but Eruina still gives a concerned expression. "This won't be a walk in the park, Theo; unlike what most people think, the Academy is not just a place to refine magical and physical skills or to earn a dragon. It's a true jungle, the playground of nobles, where the weak are devoured by the strong."
He listens carefully to Eruina's words, and she continues explaining. "When we get there, you'll be alone and against all kinds of nobles. With this pretty face and without a powerful family name behind, you'll be a target for many of them, especially those from powerful Houses with influence that goes beyond the Four Kingdoms."
"You couldn't use your name to give me some protection?" Theo asks, and Eruina laughs sarcastically. "My name? Haha! Oh, boy, I abandoned my family name years ago to conquer the world with nothing but my power and superior intellect. I could absolutely make people fear even looking at you, but that kind of thing is strictly against the Academy's rules…."
She pauses and winks at him teasingly. "For my plan to work, we need to follow the rules, or something like that, and people can't know that I favor you until you've earned your place under the sun. You must do exactly as I told you and advance quickly until you're eligible as an apprentice, and then crush all your current peers like cockroaches under your feet, and only then will I officially take you as my apprentice and be able to favor you in every possible way." At the end, she flashes an even more seductive smile, making a heat rise in Theo's chest.
"Don't worry, I know how to take care of myself," Theo says in a confident tone. "I've been on the streets since my parents died, and all kinds of people have tried to hurt me, but they always end up in ashes."
"Ah, about that…" Eruina takes a silver necklace with a moon pendant from her pocket and hands it to Theo. He extends his hand and takes it, feeling a supernatural cold seep from the necklace into his warm body. Before he can ask what that is, Eruina speaks. "That has a powerful restrictive enchantment; you'll feel some discomfort at first, but it will keep your flames under control; we don't want an incident that reveals who you are to everyone. Unless you want the emperor's assassins coming after you in your first week of classes."
Theo doesn't like the cold coming from the necklace, but he still puts it around his neck. "Got it, keep the flames under control and don't draw attention."
"Fufufu~" Eruina stares at Theo with a funny expression, making him confused. "There's no way you won't draw attention, dear. But that's not a problem, after all, this is the Royal Academy of Dragon Riders." Eruina points to the other window of the carriage, and the curtain opens, revealing a gigantic castle atop a mountain on the horizon, with several enormous creatures flying in the sky. "Anyone who passes the entrance tests is special in some way."
Theo is impressed by the magnitude of the Academy buildings, but even more by the mystical creatures flying around the towers and breathing blasts of fire and ice. Seeing those pure crimson flames, the flames in his own chest become excited, and not even the cold necklace on his neck can stop his blood from boiling in his veins.
"Dragons… real Dragons, they're so…" Theo is left speechless, and Eruina laughs. "Scary?" She asks, and he smiles. "Beautiful, majestic, just like in the legends. I wonder if I'll be accepted by one of them. I mean, what kind of Dragon would make a Pact with me?"
Eruina stares at Theo with a thoughtful expression until her eyes start to glow and her lips curl into an expectant smile. "Based on the heat of your flames, a very hot dragon, I suppose."