“Are you Seks?” the little human girl asked.

The drakin smiled, fully conscious of the grin of his race seeming terrifying to some humans. The girl however, took no notice, or rather, did not seem to care.

“Yes,” he replied. “I am he.”

Barely his waist height, she stood on tip toes and held out a single stalk of viola. “Thank you for saving my uncle at Hirule's Holdings!”

He took to flower between his fingers, careful not to clip the stem with his claws. “You are very welcome, young lady.”

The little girl bowed a final thanks and ran off to her parents who waited for her further down the platform. Seks twirled the flower in his had, looking at the petals move to the spin.

Trini Alquin practically tackled into his side with a hug. The girl's short red hair was the perfect foreground to welcome Fall. Her casual dressing of grey shirt, maroon pleated skirt, and basic shoes and puffy socks belied her tactile upbringing. And though he was a head taller, he felt she encompassed his whole world.

She gave him a sharp-chinned tomboyish smile before kissing him on the cheeks. “Is that girl trying to steal my boyfriend?”

“If she was, she'd have to try a lot harder.” He returned her affection with a gentle nuzzling of her hair to which she giggled.

“Still, my boyfriend the hero.”

The couple picked up their luggage and headed further down the station platform. Around them, commuters bustled to-and-fro as a steam engined locomotive pulled into the station with two long pull of its horn and the chugging of its pistons.

Longinus was the only train in Ciara at the time. A marvel of modern engineering and a testament to progress, the train ran the longest non-stop track in the world between Aleynonlia and Rubicum. Made of iron and copper melted down from weapons left from the war, with cabins of woods salvaged from the destruction, Loginus is a symbol of progress and peace over violence and conquerors.

While the eastern continent of Eltar had multiple trains, those ran on heat produced from biofuels and could only last for as long as there were solid fuels to burn. Longinus however ran on crystal energy. A train powered by magic required only mages of energy based elements to be stationed onboard to recharge the crystals. The success of the train had pushed forward a second track to be built, scheduled for the next year. However, until then, only one train leaves between the two country every other day.

Seks said, “Not a hero. I mean, Four-Chan was with me as well. Just lucky, or unlucky, to be there depending on how you view the thing.” He rubbed the bump at the back of his head he had gotten from the fight.

They passed by their fellow schoolmates from other classes. Dolf was seeing his classmates off, the ban from participating in the tourney having taken full effect. However, he glanced at the passing Class C students and gave a curt nod of acknowledgement. The rest of Class A and B's students stared in a mixed of coldness and begrudging acceptance of their existence.

Shimona Zettai skipped up to the couple. “Wow. I've never seen them act so nice to us before. Are behemoths flying now?”

“Morning, Shimona,” Trini greeted.

The two girls talked across Seks but the drakin did not mind. Trini continued holding on to his arms as they crossed the station towards the rest of their class already waiting at the end. Once they got close, Shimona split off from the two and ran forward excitedly to join their classmates.

“Is this your first time taking the trains too?” he asked.

“No,” Trini solemnly replied. “My parents would take me with them on their trips to Rubicum when the train was first installed.”

“A perk?”

“More like a nightmare,” she laughed bitterly. “Being stuck for a day and a half with them yet having nowhere to run is excruciating.”

Seks never understood the trouble of having a complicated family. For one thing, he never had one. Drakins from Drakspire were raised communally, with the eggs kept in the incubatory until they hatched. Afterwards, the entire society helped raised them. If any adult drakin so chooses, they could karal a young into their lounge and treat them as equals in a pack. For them, familial hierarchy meant nothing. They were born equal and raised equal. Their legacies were the only things to forge themselves.

But that did not meant that he could not empathise. He listened to his love speak of her past for nights and days on end. And while she never said much to him after in terms of thanks, he thought that just having someone to hear out her woes were a much needed comfort for her.

Four chimed as the couple reached them. “I see you've gotten some hero's love too?” She pointed to the flower in his hand. She however, had an entire bouquet in hers.

He shook his wings in slight jest. “I can't help my irresistibility.”

Nos weighed in, “We have the entire carriage to ourselves, it seems. Guess there are some advantages to being in a small class.”

“Alright, seems like everyone's here!” Pempe called. “Let's load up!”

They began bringing their belongings onto the train. The tight entrance corridors meant that Seks stood outside passing the luggage to Trini and her into the cabin in a chain. As they did so, hushed voices floated form down the platform and Seks turned to a group of three, two humans and one drakin, walking towards them. The crowd of people parted, watching the trio with whispers and reverence.

Seks immediately got on his knees. “Loch Tehir,” he greeted his loch.

Tehir was the ruler of Drakspire and in turn, the leader of the drakin race. His scales were dark and reflected white like shadow fire and his skin a silk grey. They were rare colourings for a drakin though it enhanced an imposing palette to those who saw him. Similar to other drakins, he wore lightly with a black loincloth wrapped around his waist decorated in golden embroidery of the legendary dragons of yore. Like Seks, Tehir was chosen as a guard by the previous loch. During the Second War of Gods, Tehir was one of those who fought on the front-lines against the gods and alongside the Clovers, and when the loch of the time died, he was assigned to be the new loch, albeit temporarily. However, that restriction had long since lifted as time and time again, Tehir had proved he was more than capable of leading his people, even managing to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

“On you feet, Seks,” Tehir stated. “Have I ever wanted to see anyone on their knees to me? Especially you?”

“No,” Seks got his feet and gave a small bow. “You're not like that, I know. It's just... habitual.”

“It's habitual to bow to your father figure?”

“That's not...” he glanced into the entrance corridor and saw Trini hiding behind the wall, a grin on her face as she listened to their every word. “That's not what I meant.”

Tehir laughed. “Don't be nervous, Seks. I'm just here to see you off and tell you how proud I am.” The older drakin placed a hand on Seks's shoulder. “You'll be the first drakin to graduate from the academy, and the first to take part in the tourney within a team of Spellblades from around the continent. You do well, taking on the mantle of harmony. When people see you, they will be reminded that no matter what we may look like, we are all the same underneath. Take heart that you hold that truth well.”

“Thank you, my loch,” Seks lowered his head again. “I will do my best to live up to your expectations.”

The drakin ruler clicked his tongue which snapped almost like the cracking of bones. “Always so formal.” Tehir smiled before turning to leave. “Miss Alquin, please do continue watching over the boy. Maybe get him to relax every now and then.”

Trini grimaced from her hiding spot before letting out a chuckle.

“He can be a handful and hard to read, but he means well at heart.”

“Will do, sire!” she replied excitedly.

The two humans that came with him smiled and thumbed Seks up respectively before following behind Tehir as they left the way they came. “Good job at Hirule's Holdings! We'll come see your matches once the tourney starts!” They parted with the congratulation.

As he watched his loch and guardian leave, a sense of melancholy descended upon him. He felt his shoulder sag under an invisible weight, his mind running through his loch's statement to him. You do well, taking on the mantle of harmony.

For drakins, a mantle was a statement of an individual's growth into adulthood. It was a cause or an ideology that each drakin had chosen to fight for throughout their lives. In the distant past, an adult drakin would be given a literal mantle to wear, but that tradition had long since faded. However, the idea that a drakin would have to choose a 'mantle' to carry once they've aged tagged heavily on him.

“Wow,” Trini started, stepping out of the carriage. “I knew you and Loch Tehir were close, but your father? Why have you never mentioned it to me?”

“He's not actually my father,” he replied.

“Because drakins don't have parents?” She wrapped an arm around his. “But I'm guessing he raised you or something, right?”

“Yes.”

“Still, he's a really relaxed person. I expected, I don't know, someone serious. A lot unlike you.”

He looked to the flower still in his hand before replying, “Well, I am his legacy.”