“The month is over,” Kris frowned looking out the window of Sori’s dorm.

“Yes,” Sori nodded, “Jihu said that the council will be here in a few hours. I’ll talk to them a little, make it look like we actually talked about this. Then we’re going to the outdoor auditorium behind the school. They’ll announce that I’m joining, I’ll say a few words about how honoured I am, and then my freedom is officially gone.”

“You could run away,” Jessica suggested, sitting down beside Sori on the couch, “no one will blame you.”

“The council will,” Chen added, “but who the heck cares what they think? Not any of us.” The others who had gathered – Suho, Hyoyeon, Hyuna, Luhan, Xiumin, Leo, Lay, Heesun, and Lina – all nodded in agreement.

“I care,” Sori frowned, “and Lay? Jess? You two should care, too. The council can do things to hurt both of you to punish me. They can hurt your families. You know I’m right.”

“This whole thing just doesn’t feel right,” Leo frowned, “something just feels off. I don’t know what, but that’s what I feel.”

“They want to use me as a pawn,” Sori frowned, “that’s what feels wrong.”

“I don’t know,” Leo muttered. Something told him it was more than that.

“How many people are going to be in the audience?” Suho asked, “Just a few loud mouthed shifters? Or a few gossips from all the species?”

“Probably the second,” Xiumin frowned, “they’ll want word to get out as fast as possible.”

The group fell silent. Sori glanced at the clock, thinking about how many more minutes of freedom were left. The others wondered if maybe they should go with her. Sori had made it very clear that she didn’t want to see them there, that it would make things hard and she didn’t want to be reminded of what she was losing. And yet they couldn’t just sit there and let her face her fate alone.

“It’s time,” Kris spoke up, pulling out his phone to check the text he’d just gotten, “the council just pulled in.”

“Alright,” Sori took a deep breath to calm herself before walking out. Everyone watched her go, an air of sorrow taking over the room.

“I’m going to the medical building,” Suho announced.

“I’ll go with you,” Hyoyeon said, getting up and following the dragon out.

The pair were silent until they got to Yuri’s room.

“How is she?” Hyoyeon asked, sitting down next to N.

“She’s a little more clearheaded,” Hyuk replied.

“She said a full sentence,” Kai added, “you know, one that actually made sence and wasn’t a jumble of random words.”

“Good,” Suho smiled slightly before dismissing the two werewolves from their job of watching N.

A few days prior, Yuri had woken up from her medical coma. However she wasn’t of the clearest mindset thanks to all the painkillers she was on. Most of what she said was nonsense, the product of drugs and her telepathy which she couldn’t control thanks to the drugs. At current, she was sleeping. Suho figured that was the best thing for her.

“Sori’s gone to meet the council?” N asked, not looking up from his hands.

“Yeah,” Hyoyeon nodded sadly, “by the end of the day, her freedom is going to be gone.”

“It’s not just her freedom,” N sighed, “it’s everything. Her freedom, her life, and her future are going to belong to the council. Nothing is going to be left.”

“I wonder,” Suho mused, “how long before the rest of us become like that. Me? Jessica? Chen and Kai?”

“Considering who their father is,” Hyoyeon said, referring to the Kim brothers, “those two are going to end up just like Sori.”

“I hate this,” N growled, “how can they do this to her? To you guys? To the others? To us in general? It’s not fair!”

“Calm down,” Suho told him, taking note of how N’s aura changed. The dragon had been noticing this kind of change a lot the past few days. N’s aura kept changing from fae, to dragon, to werewolf, to fallen and back before changing to something else. Right now, it said he was a dragon. Suho had been tempted to ask Jihu about it, but since the older agent hadn’t said anything before he let it drop, thinking that he wasn’t meant to know.

“How can I calm down?” N hissed, his skin starting to become scales and small bolts of electricity zapping along his forearms and hands

Hyoyeon noticed this and rushed to put space between herself and N. Dragons were known for having nasty, violent tempers and she’d had first-hand experience with their tempers a few years prior when she’d gone on an ISBIP mission with Suho and Kris. The pair had almost drowned and torched her at one point by accident when they lose their tempers.

“Calm down,” Suho growled, his own dragon starting to rise to the surface, “or you’re going to hurt someone. Control your dragon, N.”

“What?” N blinked, surprised by Suho’s comment. The scales faded and the electricity faded. Suho and Hyoyeon both breathed sighs of relief, knowing that the potential danger was over. Suho’s dragon retreated as well.

“Your aura says you’re a dragon,” Suho explained, “your skin was turning to scales and you had electricity forming around your hands.”

“Really?” N looked over his hands and arms, looking for either of the things Suho had talked about. He even lifted his shirt to see if the fabric was hiding anything.

“It’s all gone now,” Hyoyeon said, “because you’re calm.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” N questioned.

“We dragons aren’t known for our temper control,” Suho explained, looking embarrassed, “it’s taken me years to get as in control as I currently am. It took me so long that I didn’t start attending Dark Lake until I was fifteen. Even then I still have slips.”

N opened his mouth to say something else when Yuri suddenly sat up.

“Sori!” she shouted, “save Sori. Not safe. Killers are here.”

“What?” Hyoyeon rushed to Yuri’s side, taking the other girl’s face in her hands and turning it so they were looking in each other’s eyes, “what are you talking about, Yuri? Is Sori in danger?”

“Sori,” Yuri started to explain, but her eyelids grew heavy as the pain killers drew her back into their embrace, “dangerous people.” The fae’s eyes closed and she fell back asleep. Hyoyeon carefully laid her back down on the bed.

“What did she mean?” N asked the two agents, “Is Sori in danger?”

“They’ll be making their announcement soon,” Suho said, turning to face the window. From Yuri’s room, one could almost see the outdoor assembly area that sat behind the school through the trees. Suho could make out a couple of people running to get a seat, meaning that the shifter council would soon inform everyone of Sori’s new spot on the council.

“Let’s go,” Hyoyeon and Suho were already out the door before N had finished talking.

The three started speed walking, but then Suho noticed a shape moving through the forest behind the auditorium. He paused his movement, Hyoyeon and N bumping into him. The other two looked to see what had made the dragon stop and all three watched the shape moving. They could hear the start of cheers coming from the auditorium. The figure vanished and they looked at each other, unsure as to what they had seen.

Suddenly, the wind shifted and Hyoyeon tensed.

“Suho,” she said, voice panicked, “I smell a gun.”

The three took off running, already knowing that Sori was the target. As they got closer, N saw that Sori was in the middle of the stage, taking into the mic. He knew that he wasn’t moving fast enough to get to her in time, that he had to be faster. If he had of been paying attention, he could have felt his body changing, altering itself so that he could make use of his werewolf powers. More specifically, his werewolf speed.

N heard the gun shot.

Sori felt something knocking her to the ground.

The crowd screamed in panic and the council members rushed to take cover. (A/N: was very tempted to end things here)

Sori and N looked at the wall behind them to find a bullet logged in the wall, roughly where Sori’s head would have been had N not knocked her to the ground.

“You’re safe,” N sighed, resting his head on her shoulder, “I save you.”

He was idly aware of his ghost appearing, praising him for protecting Sori.

“She’s important for what’s coming,” the ghost said, “and so are you. The enemy is gathering, N. our world is in jeopardy. This is not the end. There will be more attacks, more lives put at risk. You must be ready to fight, N. You and all of your friends must be ready.”  

A/N: This is one intense chapter, huh? Sori almost dies, the ghost giving N a warning about a major fight coming. A fitting song for what’s to come: ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ by Jeff and Casey Lee Williams. Wrote this whole chapter with that song playing lol. Please comment, subscribe if you haven’t already, and don’t forget to check out ‘Dark Lake Academy Extras’ for extra chapters and content. Lots of love to everyone who reads and supports this story!