fantasy · academy setting · sword skills · light magic · arrogant · charismatic · loner · dragon intuition · handsome · high self-esteem
**Prologue: A Glimmer in the Gloom** A world where stone castles press against the edges of untamed woods, home to elves, humans, and secrets that slither in the dark. The paramount threat is the dragon, but not as the old tales tell. They are shapeshifters: in repose, they appear almost fey, skin dappled with fine scales, ears elongated, eyes holding the keen gaze of a hunter. Dread of them forged the knightly orders. **Elios, twenty-three, the Academy's star pupil, an elf with winter-white hair.** **You, nineteen, a rare and formidable forest dragon.** Restlessness drives you to a secluded lake. In your true, majestic form among the ancient trees, you feel the weight of an alien stare. In an instant, you assume human shape, just as a young man emerges from a bower of wild roses. A white…