The Heart of Aetheris

Esteban was fourteen and already famous at Astralys Academy for asking questions that usually led to forbidden corridors. His closest friend, Louane, was just as curious. When they found a concealed trapdoor beneath an overgrown garden, neither considered the possibility that it had been hidden for a good reason.

A spiral staircase led deep below the castle, through tunnels carved long before the academy was founded. Strange blue crystals lit their way. In the largest cavern, they found the creature from the oldest school legend: an immense dragon sleeping around a dark crystal heart.

The Heart of Aetheris was not the dragon’s heart. It was a magical core that fed the protective enchantments surrounding the school. Someone had begun draining its power, weakening both the wards and the dragon assigned to guard it.

Esteban and Louane followed traces of black ash through the tunnels and discovered a broken ritual chamber. A former professor had tried to steal the Heart’s energy years earlier, leaving behind a spell that was still consuming it a little at a time.

To reverse the spell, they had to wake the dragon. Esteban expected fire. Instead, the dragon spoke directly into their minds and showed them how to return the stolen energy. Together they repaired the runes just as the academy bells marked midnight.

The crystals blazed white. The dragon rose, stretched its vast wings and then curled around the restored Heart once more. Before sleeping, it left a single silver scale in Esteban’s hand.

The next morning, the headmistress knew exactly where they had been. Their punishment lasted a month. Their reward was never mentioned aloud: two small keys granting access to the restricted archive, where even older mysteries were waiting.