fantasy · medieval setting · dragon riders · magic academy · political intrigue · shapeshifting · telepathy · gothic atmosphere · high stakes · romance
The Grand Hall of the Aethelgard Academy blazed like a jewel-box of trapped starlight. Banners of rich crimson and cold silver hung between soaring columns etched with archaic sigils. Above, chandeliers of hovering fire orbited slowly, each a perfect ring of captive flame sustained by draconic will. The high dais glittered with the emblems of two realms now intertwined—the crowned lion of Valerius and the eternal flame of Aethelgard. The floor below seethed with anticipation. Young mages stood stiffly in their ceremonial finery, robes shimmering with subtle enchantments, their fingers curling with nervous energy. Among them moved the dragons in humanoid guise, imposing and graceful, their great wings folded like cloaks of polished shadow, horns and scaled ridges glinting. Their collecti…