They left the realm soon after, on the backs of their respective creatures, and stood in front of their instructors. Alexander shrunk into a more acceptable form, a lion with a golden and black mane, larger than any other lion ever seen. Meredith and Cedric remained as they were, still impressing the staff, but not as much as the legendary Alexander.
Every cohort was assigned a teacher to guide them through their 12 years of study from the age of 5 when they began. Their teacher was Miss Elia, a young magician, fresh out of her university specialisation. She was a powerful commoner who worked half her week for the magical tower and the other half at the academy. She stood in front of three rather powerful children and let her eyes move to Isla and Alexander. "Well, Isla, you've outdone yourself once again." She sighed as she petted the head of the child. She bowed lightly before addressing Alexander. "It's an honour to be in your presence, Sir Alexander. Will you remain in this form?" She gulped as the lion stared down at her.
"Yes, I fear too many issues will occur if I remain in my dragon form." He answered, his voice resounding through the space around them.
"That sounds like a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, we cannot introduce this pair to society yet either, but young Isla will grow to be even more brilliant one day." She moved to the other two children quickly.
"I see Augustus, you've found the legendary Madame Meredith! We're blessed by your presence Meredith, it's truly astounding that you have paired with our lovely Augustus, just like you paired with his great, great, great grandmother so many years ago." Meredith let Augustus lean into her.
Finally, Miss Elia stood in front of Cedric, a creature she had only read of once before. The mystical crossbreed of a unicorn and pegasus. "Sir Cedric, we're so happy for you and Penny! She's a lovely girl, isn't she?"
"There is no one more worthy of my presence, her control over her immense wind power is unparalleled. I thought she was an adult." Penny lay atop him, tired from the day.
Miss Elia was unsure of what to do, usually the paired animals would go to the stables or back to the woods where they would live until they were called upon. However, for the higher level pairs, which usually occurred for royalty, they would be allowed to stay in the dorms with their students. "Well, it looks like I will have to fill out some paperwork." It was unusual for so many high-level pairs to occur in the span of two years, beginning with the water Phoenix, Rodrigo, whom Theo was paired with, and now to these three. She knew all the Royals paired with dragons too, due to their prowess over light, so she knew it was going to be chaotic.
The pairs began shrinking, Alexander became a lion cub, Meredith turned into an adorable cat with the same colouring as herself, and Cedric shrank into a beautiful pearly albino peacock. Just as Rodrigo had shrunk into a smaller Phoenix for Theo. The students were sent to their rooms, where the arrangements had already been made for their pairs to stay close to them.
All three children fell asleep immediately after their baths, their pairs sleeping beside them like pets. Isla and Penny woke up with the sun, while Augustus took his time getting ready. They were to stand outside with Miss Elia, waiting for all the other students to complete the challenge. The students who failed were not asked to do such a thing, they would get to once they succeeded. Two other students had joined them, they were three years older than Isla, Penny and Augustus, but held no scorn for their juniors. They were simply impressed.
Hours later, another dragon descended onto the land in front of Miss Elia, with Princess Genevieve on it. All the Royals had been trained in their powers since they were young, so there was no doubt they would make it through this challenge. The dragon was young, not nearly as sizeable as Alexander, but magnificent nonetheless. "This is Leonara, my pair." Princess Genevieve presented, proud of her beautiful pair. Leonara was completely golden, with beautiful blue eyes, she looked like she was made of gold.
"What a beautiful pair you have, Princess Genevieve. Will she be staying in your room with you?" Princess Genevieve's room was an entire floor large, each Royal child was given a floor, as requested by the king. Thus, Leonara would not have to shrink unless she chose to do so.
Before the Princess could answer, Leonara's form began to change into a smaller one, she transformed into a glittering leopard. Genevieve grinned at Miss Elia before turning to the other students, she immediately went to Augustus. "Of course, you beat me." She groaned, a playful nature in her voice.
"Congratulations on your magnificent pair, Princess Genevieve." He smiled politely at her.
"Who did you pair with?" She asked him.
"My pair is Meredith." He replied as a cat slinked around his legs before climbing up his body.
"Just like your ancestor! How wonderful. I'm quite excited to be the first to pair with Leonara, she's quite the dragon." She smiled at the creature next to her who moved to the lion cub and albino peacock in front of the two commoner girls, a lazy Meredith joining them. "Leonara? Why are they all gathering? I thought only pairs of equal power... fraternised?" She watched as her leopard seemed to cower in front of a lion cub, curious to see it and doing as it wanted.
She watched as all the animals seemed to fear the cub, they all fraternised while it would growl or join in as it pleased. She quickly called for Leonara and left the scene, confused by what she had seen but ready to rest after a long two days.
Prince Henry was the next to descend on a platinum dragon, Beatrice, followed by his sister Princess Margaretta and her dragon whose scales looked like diamonds, Friedrich. Their dragons also chose to size down, both transforming into leopards like Leonara had chosen to do. Fourteen other students found their pairs, and all fell into a deep slumber. Most students pairs chose to reside in the beautiful stables, which acted more like a resort for the paired creatures.
Next, began their training.