Ambushed

Unedited

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For the next four days, class continued as usual. Instead of joining a club, Atlas went to tutoring with his former tutors to help him keep up his grades.

Ronan wanted to join him at first but was kicked out after the first day of study sessions because he was not helping Atlas. He was even distracting Atlas, which made him and the teachers angry!

Once the weekend came around, some students stayed at the Imperial Academy or went back to their families if they were from the capital.

This weekend would also be Atlas and Cyrus’ first time at the Dragon Temple, so they needed to go back to the Alnhart’s estate to talk about those details with Sirius and Duke Everet.

Luckily, Sophie and Ronan would be going to the Dragon’s Temple with them, so they were able to go to a new place with people they knew.

“Atlas, are you ready?” Cyrus knocked on Atlas’ door. “Can I come in?”

He was ready to go so he knocked on Atlas’ door to make sure that he was at least awake.

“That’s fine!” Atlas shouted from inside of his room.

Atlas was still in his pajamas but he was standing at his bed, looking at three outfits that he could choose from. He didn’t know what kind of place the Dragon’s Temple was, so he didn’t know what to wear.

Cyrus saw he was conflicted and didn’t waste any time to help Atlas pick. He chose a white, gold, and purple formal outfit that was a match to his own outfit. Cyrus was wearing the same clothes but wore black, gold, and purple.

For some reason, Cyrus liked darker color clothes while Atlas liked to wear lighter colors. Still, it suited their personalities, so there were no complaints from them or their families.

“Thank you, Cyrus!” Atlas was honestly grateful that Cyrus was always there to help him. “I like that we match.”

Cyrus also liked to match with Atlas. “Mmm, me too. Well, since you have your outfit, change into it, and then meet me in the hallway.”

After that, Cyrus left the room so Atlas could change in peace.

Atlas put on the outfit that Cyrus picked out for him and grabbed Lapis to put on his head. Sir Walter and Star were going to be walking beside him. Even though he could hold Sir Walter, he liked to walk side by side with Star so he made sure he was the same size as her.

He met up with Cyrus in the hallway and the two walked to the front entrance. It was early in the morning, but the Dragon’s Temple requested that they would eat there, so Cyrus and Atlas complied with their request. It was to avoid trouble with the temple.

Outside the Alnhart mansion, two carriages were surrounded by knights from the Imperial family and paladins from the Dragon’s Temple. It was a joint escort to ensure Cyrus and Atlas’ safety because they were expecting assassination attempts from the Holy Kingdom.

Since Sophie and Ronan were tagging along, they were in separate carriages. Cyrus went to sit with Sophie while Atlas sat with Ronan. Plus, Ronan’s carriage was bigger to accommodate Sir Walter and Star.

Ronan sat on one end of the carriage while Atlas sat opposite of him. Atlas saw that Ronan was dressed formally, but he had a laid-back and lazy air to him. It seemed Ronan saw this as a vacation rather than a serious excursion.

“I’ve been to the Dragon’s Temple many times so if you have any questions, you can ask me,” Ronan said after Atlas got comfortable in the carriage.

The carriage was slowly leaving the Alnhart estate and would take 40 minutes to get to the Dragon’s temple. It was plenty of time for Atlas to ask questions.

“Does the central Guardian Dragon live at the Dragon’s Temple?” Atlas wanted to know because he wanted to meet with the Guardian Dragon.

He hasn’t met one yet, but Mama Sohtris said they had a lot of wisdom and could teach him more about the world. She also told them to take care of him and Cyrus.

“Sometimes. Usually, the Guardian Dragon lives on a nearby mountain, but occasionally, the Guardian Dragon will go to the Dragon’s Temple or the Imperial Palace when he’s bored. Lately, he’s been staying at the Dragon’s Temple.”

“Have you met this Guardian Dragon?”

“Of course. I have been asking them for tips during my growth period. This Guardian Dragon was the one who told me I was closer to dragons than I was to humans…”

“Closer to dragons?”

“Yes… My disinterest in human society stems from the strong dragon’s blood I have. Well, that’s what I was told anyway. At least I am capable of falling in love, which is something both dragons and humans are capable of.”

“Well, that’s good at least.” Atlas was a bit confused as to why Ronan gave him a look after saying that he could fall in love, but he went with it.

Ronan wanted to hit his head against the carriage walls, but he felt it wasn’t Atlas's fault.

Every time Atlas asked him if he liked him, he would always say no, so why would Atlas look at his hints and think that he liked him? He felt stupid but he didn’t know how to confess.

The two sat in the carriage awkwardly, occasionally trying to bring up topics until they did not know what else to say.

*****

Halfway to the Dragon’s Temple, the carriages came to an abrupt stop. Sir Walter and Star, who were lying on the carriage floor, sat up and looked at the left window.

On the left side of the road, it was covered with trees because of the large city park. This park was often used for picnics and scenic walks, but it was also the perfect place for assassins to hide.

This was taken into consideration when discussing Atlas and Cyrus’ safety, but it was the only road that they were able to take between the Alhnart Estate and the Dragon’s temple. Still, they felt it was better to eliminate the danger as soon as they could.

[Atlas, let me go out there and help.] Sir Walter said, looking determined to protect them. [Star will stay here. I trained her well, so she is more than enough to protect the carriage.]

“I understand. Thank you, Sir Walter! Do not let anyone die.” Atlas was always worried about the lives of the people around him.

He knew that the trips to the temple would be dangerous, so he did his best to learn healing magic. It would be good if he didn’t have to use it today though.

[No problem. I won’t.]

After that, Sir Walter opened the door of the carriage using magic and leaped out. As his paws hit the ground, his body quickly grew larger, showing his might as a Divine Beast.

“Looks like I won’t be needed.” Ronan jokingly said but his face was cold and his eyes looked ruthless.

Atlas knew what kind of person Ronan was and didn’t comment on it. “Sir Walter has always been reliable. He can defeat multiple S-ranked magic beasts and monsters at the same time. Even then, he does it without breaking a sweat.”

“Then it’s good you had Sir Walter protecting you while you were in the Great Dragon Forest.”

Atlas thought so too. Without Sir Walter, his time there would be miserable if he survived on his own.

Meanwhile, Sir Walter could see 20 assassins emerging from the trees. The Holy Kingdom thought they could overwhelm the Alnhart family with more people, but they did not know that the Imperial family and the Dragon’s Temple sent their knights and Paladins to protect Cyrus and Atlas.

With Sir Walter on their side, the Imperial Knights and Paladins felt a burst of morale akin to their general being on the battlefield.

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Grandpa Marky: Hey y'all! Sorry for the inconsistent updates. I got some bad writer's block on this novel. Even though I have an outline and a rough timeline, writing in the details can get a bit difficult for me. Updates will be a bit more random for this novel until I can get into the groove of writing again.

Anyway, that's it for me. Thanks for being patient and I hope to see you all in the next chapter! Have a lovely day/night my beautiful grandchildren.