Starsky Academy

23.

All I want is for Lana to be safe.

It already hurt enough to be away from her, but it scared me knowing that she'd most likely come after us, and I feared that if she did that she could get seriously hurt, or worse. 

Since Rainsong and I were taken, our life has been living hell.

Each day, we are forced to expend all of our energy burning away the prison for Erridor. If we don't, one of the soldiers working for Duke whips us, burns us, or even just attacks us until we continue. At first I tried to rebel; in fact I still would be if the men didn't threaten Rainsong's life. I guess that was the only thing that got me to work - her safety.

I've tried to escape. Believe me, I have. But it just doesn't work. Duke has put up an incredibly strong magical barrier around the fortress. At any given time ten of us mages are working to uphold and even improve the strength of it. If I could escape my prison at night, there wouldn't even be a chance for me to break the barrier.

The only way to get in is if you're given permission.

Not only that, but the barrier prevents me from talking with Lana. I don't know how it does it, but somehow the signals we usually transmit are broken and deflected, and if I even try it leaves my head reeling in pain. 

I've met some of the other dragons here, too. I'm trying to think of their names - Sahara was one of them, Zyta another, and there's also this dragon named Erberos. Erberos, like I, fights. He doesn't seem to have anything to lose, so every time he fights until he cannot stand, but the very next day he's put through the same torture again.

Things aren't looking up.

At night, back at the Academy, I loved to watch the stars. Sometimes I would talk to Lana until she fell asleep and then I would just lay on my back and think. I've always loved the sound of crickets, too. The way they chirp and sing all night, and how a warm summer breeze is always a cause for music to them.

Here, I cannot see the stars and I certainly can't hear the crickets.

At night it's silent, well, for the most part. Some dragons cry for their riders. Some have been taken from the wild and they cry for their families, their packs. I stay silent, because nobody can hear me anyways. 

I don't know what to expect for the future, but I just hope that the ones I love will stay safe. I don't care about myself, at least not as much anyways, but if Lana and Rainsong and everyone else I love is okay, then I shall be too.