Dragon Academy

by Devonnie Asher

  What did this mean? Had the scar healed badly?

  As if hearing my question, the man in black answered.

  “You’re dragon marked.”

  Chapter 3

  “Dragon marked?”

  The word sounded so familiar, but the details were fuzzy. Dragon Science was stricken from the curriculum in Tertaro Schools, and the books available for sale in Khiv were much too expensive.

  “This dragonling has chosen you as it’s rider,” It was a new voice.

  One of the other soldiers had spoken. He stood a few heads taller than me, and his expression held more warmth than their commander’s. His superior snapped around, staring daggers in his direction.

  “For whatever reason, the dragonling thinks you are capable of taming it,” he said, not even trying to hide the contempt in his voice.

  The weight of his words sank in my stomach like a vat of bricks in a lake.

  “What? No!” I shouted, my throat trembling. “I haven’t been to a Placement School. I, I can’t—”

  Another mirthless laugh from the commander chilled my blood.

  “Perhaps you should have thought about that before you went poking around where you didn’t belong!” He spat, taking a menacing step towards me. His eyes communicated everything he didn’t say.

  The world was spinning, fading.

  It was like some sort of sick joke. To be dragon marked was exactly what I wanted. It was the goal that I had been going after day and night for the past few years.

  But to get it like this was a death sentence.

  Without Placement School training, I wouldn’t last a day at the Academy.

  “Unmark me and take the dragon,” I said quickly, looking down at the mark on my hand. It seemed that whichever way this ended would mean my death. But I would take swinging in Fury Gallows over falling off a dragon any day.

  The room felt too cold.

  A sly smile formed on his lips, and that’s when I noticed how much he looked like a fox. He seemed to be considering my offer, fingering the hilt in his scabbard.

  “Dragon marks can only be broken in death,” the soldier with the warm eyes spoke up again, glancing quickly between the commander and I.

  I couldn’t stop the shiver that snaked up my spine.

  “Skreeyah!” Her voice sliced through the heavy silence his statement had brought on. The dragonling had planted itself between the soldiers and I, hissing and roaring.

  The commander looked between us, a deep scowl forming on his face.

  “Pack your things, and meet us in the village square in two hours,” he said without looking at me. “You’re coming with us to the Academy.”

  The trio and their dragons left quietly.

  IT FELT LIKE I WAS trapped in a nightmare—watching myself underwater, nothing but my own hyperventilation in my ears. The first few minutes I had pinched my skin raw.

  Hakan had given me a satchel. After filling it with my clothes and shoes, there was little else I wanted to bring with me.

  The cause of my suffering sat on my bed, watching me with bright eyes. I wanted to be mad at her for ruining my plans. But she was too cute. I couldn’t stay angry at her for long.

  “Hakan gave me most of these things,” I explained to her. “It doesn’t feel right to take them.” Plus, there wasn’t much to take.

  The books on the shelf above my bed were either school books or ones on alchemy—Hakan had demanded that I learn how to make basic first aid potions before I started going on missions. The hand-carved clock on the nightstand had been his wife’s and I think he had given it to me because he couldn’t bear the reminder of her.

  Seven years of my life fit in a half-empty satchel, another reminder that I didn’t really belong anywhere. I sat on the bed beside the dragonling, and she scurried over to rest her head in my lap. Solemnly, I pet her head.

  The weight on my chest was getting heavier by the second. I was being flung into the Academy with no Placement School training. Even with it, I would’ve been at a disadvantage. Most cadets started training for Dragon Guard service as soon as they could walk.

  I may as well have been packing the clothes I would be buried in.

  A tugging on my skirt drew my attention. The dragonling was looking up at me with a goofy smile on her face, swishing her tail about excitedly. She was so happy, and it ached that I couldn’t remember what that felt like.

  Looking at her this way, it was like I was seeing her for the first time.

  She wasn’t white—her body was more of a back-lit ivory, that had an odd luminescence that would’ve tricked you into thinking her skin was paper-thin. Tiny scales made an intricate lattice over every inch of her, darkening slightly along her underbelly, feet and tail. Her wings were still tightly curled and pressed against her body.

  Lightly, I traced the outline of a furled wing.

  “What should I call you?” Her eyes widened.

  “I found you in a patch of Ignatia flowers...”

  I ran a finger along the stub between her eyes.

  “How about Ignimitra?”

  She wiggled and licked me so much we fell over on the bed.

  With her, this whole ordeal was just a little better.

  Thinking about it made my stomach lurch. Overnight, my life had been uprooted again. This was too much like what had happened the day the news came that my father had died.

  The day it happened, I’d just come home from school bursting excitement about being selected for the Fast Track Training Program. A note from my mother crushed my spirit. From a hastily written note, I learned that my father had died and that she had left for her own safety. Without me. By nightfall, our entire town knew. I was chased out that very night, with nothing more than the clothes on my back and my knife. Luckily, Hakan had found me the next day.

  He could never replace my father, but he had taken me in at a time when the people I trusted didn’t dare touch me with a long stick. Being an orphan was worse than death in our country. I couldn’t think of any outcome that would have been better than the life he had given me. He had saved me.

  Now, I was on the cusp of any entirely new life.

  “Why did you choose me?” I asked.

  It had been weighing on my mind from the moment I realized that she had marked me. She stilled from rolling around in my lap.

  “Do you really think I’m worthy of you? Now? Without any training?” Images of Ignimitra growing to be as big as the commander’s dragon with me on her back filled my mind. Did she think of that too when she marked me?

  A paw hit my chest. I glanced down, unsure of what she meant.

  That’s when I made the connection that her forepaw was over my heart.

  She chose me because of my heart.

  Ignimitra’s belief in me stilled the storm in my stomach. If she felt this way about me, I owed it to her to give this my best. My father had been in the Dragon Guard. This was my heritage. It was in my blood.

  HAKAN WAS WAITING FOR me in the kitchen, sipping from a bottle.

  He met me with worried eyes, a crease in his brow.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Stupid question. Can’t you see?” He snapped, slamming the bottle on the table.

  I flinched, more from shock than fear.

  His anger instantly faded into something else, and he almost stepped on Ignimitra rushing over to me. A hug from Hakan was...strange. But I accepted it, because strange seemed to be my new normal.

  I stood like that for a few heartbeats, inhaling the familiar smell of his allspice soap. He didn’t have much words, but his hug told me what he meant. He would miss me. He was scared for me. He felt like this was his fault.

  “You didn’t fail me,” I whispered against his shoulder. “You brought light to my life after Diosyn died,” his voice cracked.

  Hakan never spoke of his dead wife. What I knew of her had been siphoned from eavesdropping on conversations that happened in the market and his workshop. Diosyn had pas
sed a few months before he had taken me in, from a strain of the Dragonavirus that he had been unable to cure.

  His eyes were damp when he let me go.

  My heart ruptured at that moment, an itch snaked up my throat, seemingly emanating from the pain I felt in my lungs. Ignimitra’s warm body wrapping around my ankles stopped the wetness pooling in my eyelids.

  “You’ll do well, Kaos.” He rested his hands on my shoulders. “It always was your destiny; it is in your blood. Those of us that are chosen, always are.”

  I managed a weak smile.

  “I named her Ignimitra,” I said, stooping to pick her up. “For the Ignatia flowers.”

  “A fine name,” he said warmly, giving her a chaste pat of the head. “I won’t keep you much longer. You’d better be on your way. Take this with you.”

  He handed me a tattered envelope and a small, jingly pouch.

  “Don’t read this until you’ve settled in,” his voice was low. “You’ll need money, at least until you receive your first stipend. That should be enough for a few meals for you two, and whatever you’ll need to make yourself comfortable.”

  “No,” I said, shoving the bag back. “I have savings, I’ll use it.” As for the letter, Hakan had a habit of writing down everything. Knowing him, it was probably advice. Kind of like the letter he wrote me when I graduated Finishing School.

  “Please, Kaos,” He said weakly. “This is my act of goodwill.”

  Reluctantly, I took it.

  As if on cue, my stomach growled.

  He gave me a knowing look, then a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

  “I will write to you as soon as I can.”

  With Ignimitra in my arms, I made my way to the local inn to get us something to eat before meeting up with the Dragon Guard soldiers.

  HIDING IGNIMITRA IN my rucksack turned out to be the easiest way to make it in-and-out the inn without startling the villagers. The only problem? She was bigger than yesterday and more curious. The sight of me throwing slices of meat into my rucksack must’ve raised eyebrows, but if they noticed they didn’t say.

  In fact, they were oddly more attentive to me—I got almost twice as much food as I paid for. It was only when I walked down the main street that the realization hit me.

  They were scared of us.

  Ignimitra’s head hung out of my pack, looking around at the village wide-eyed, too absorbed in the new sights and smells to realize the stares we were getting.

  The remnant of this morning’s dragon attack was still fresh. The smell of soot and ash was high in the air. Homes were crushed and charred, and the streets eerily emptier than usual. It didn’t take long for them to put two and two together.

  The villagers knew that we were the reason for the attack.

  Despite Pyralis’ burgeoning dragon army, it was rare to see one if you were Tertaro. Only Deftero, Lyteri and lucky Trito grew up around dragons, as the first three Orders had the knowledge, money and connections to care for and tame the impressive creatures. A dragon attack like the one we had caused were the stuff of nightmares for these villagers. Ignimitra and I were easy scapegoats for the pain and fear they were feeling.

  I picked up my pace, running through the streets to the village square. My heart was loud in my ears. I was no longer welcome here.

  The square was the center of the village. The three cobblestone roads met here, encircling a marble fountain nearly two stories high. It was said to have been carved hundreds of years ago, when the first settlers made this place their home.

  It was here that I found the Dragon Guard soldiers.

  Their dragons were drinking from the fountain, while they sat outside a nearby stall.

  Ignimitra tensed against me as we approached.

  Now that they weren’t in the confines of my bedroom, they didn’t seem as menacing. At least, that’s what I thought until the commander rose from his stool and my heart jumped. Contempt cloaked his aura.

  “We will be flying to the Isle of Un,” he began, regarding me with his cold, viridian gaze. “You’ll be riding with Sergeant Larsgard,” he jabbed a thumb toward the soldier who had defined the bond between Ignimitra and I.

  When I met his gaze, my heart jumped again.

  In this lighting, he looked like something out of a dream—tall and broad shouldered, with his dark blue hair in a ponytail and friendly charcoal eyes. I looked away from him just as he smiled. My body was reacting in a way that I didn’t expect.

  I hated it.

  “We’ll make it to Un sometime after nightfall.” The commander’s voice was curt. “Let’s go, men.”

  AFTER INTRODUCING HIMSELF, strapping down my satchel and seating us on his dragon—Ignimitra had traded the comfort of my rucksack for a harness that strapped her to the dragon’s saddle—Sergeant Larsgard climbed up too, sitting right in front of us.

  We were nestled in the dragon’s shoulder blade, and he held onto the spikes that ran along its back for support.

  His dragon was bigger than the commander’s, with rich seaweed colored scales, that faded to sage at the tip of its tail and underbelly. Spikes adorned its flat, wide head and traveled down it’s back and tail.

  “Ready your dragons!” The commander shouted, then a curious thing happened.

  I watched as some of the dragon’s spikes grew to create a hedge around us. Ignimitra seemed just as fascinated as I was, and if it weren't for the harness she would’ve fallen off its back trying to get a better view.

  “Alpha three!” Was the next cry and all three dragons moved in sync into a formation.

  The ground shook with each step they took, and I saw the villagers beneath us scrambling inside and peering out of windows.

  “Soar!”

  Slavidi’s wings sounded like whip cracking the air, and after a few more beats he was airborne. We followed; the wing beats were so loud that I covered Ignimitra’s ears. The other dragon was close behind.

  The village got smaller and smaller until it was just a cluster of houses. The noise of the dragon’s wings died down once we had stopped ascending, replaced with the sweet whistling of wind as we flew.

  The landscape below us had become a watercolor painting of dark green, gray and brown.

  We were flying!

  Ignimitra seemed just as thrilled as I was, her mouth open and tongue billowing in the wind. I loosened the braid in my hair and shook the kinky curls free, relishing the wind caressing my scalp. The air up here was crisp and clean, tickling my nostrils.

  My father had taken me on my first dragon flight when I was just old enough to speak. The wind in my hair, the sun on my skin, the warmth blossoming in my veins; it was like coming home after a long journey and realizing that you didn’t have to feel nostalgic anymore.

  “You’re enjoying this,” A keen tone cut through my thoughts.

  I opened my eyes to see that Captain Larsgard turned to stare at me, his lips pulled back in an amused smile. Heat flushed my skin; I tried not to meet his gaze.

  “It’s okay. I felt like this on my first dragon flight too,” he said. “It was like I could tell this was where I was supposed to be.” Then he added it with a chuckle, “It helps that you like it. You’re going to spend a lot of time up here in the Dragon Guard.”

  Being in the air had been a welcome distraction from everything going on. Now, it was back to the forefront of my mind.

  “You really think I can make it into the Guard?” I asked.

  He seemed more forthcoming with the truth. Pin pricks lined my skin when I thought of what would have happened had I asked the commander to unmark me.

  He chuckled and nodded.

  “In the mission briefing, they’d told us that an expert thief had made off with a rare dragon egg.” His smile was wide now. “If you could’ve outsmarted the guards, I think you can make it here. But, don’t tell anyone I told you that.”

  The smile appeared before I could force it away.

  “You never told me your name.”


  He turned around almost completely now. We were face-to-face.

  “Kaos. Kaos Kressin.” Ignimitra jumped. “And she is Ignimitra.”

  “Nice to meet you both. I’m Avek, and this is Nurik.”

  Just then, Nurik bellowed, shaking the saddle. Ignimitra yipped in response.

  Avek and I laughed.

  “My first week at the Academy was hellish, and didn’t get much better after that,” Avek said when we had fallen quiet again. “But don’t forget. Your dragon chose you. She believes in you.”

  It was a novel thought, but to hear it from him made me feel like I could scale Pyra Volcano with my bare hands. I glanced down at Ignimitra, her eyes shining with childlike amazement as we flew through thick cloud cover. Whether I liked it or not, the scarlet thread of fate had bound us tightly together.

  She was my partner now, and it didn’t matter if I was prepared or not.

  WE MADE IT TO THE ISLE of Un a few hours after the sun had set. Dragons had exceptional eyesight even at night, making the trip easier than if we had to rely on our own eyes.

  There was little visibility as we descended. All I knew about the Isle of Un came from the little they told us in geography class—it was a mountainous island just off the main land in the Great Pyralian Sea, home to two villages and the Dragon Academy.

  The twinkling of lights below us were all I could make out in the moonless night. We flew for a few more minutes, until we started to descend even quicker. It was then that I could make out Slavidi and the other dragon already on the ground.

  Nurik landed heavily, shaking Ignimitra out of her sleep. Before we could even dismount, the commander appeared on the ground below us. Whether it was speed or stealth, it startled me.

  “You will be in Sergeant Larsgard’s care tonight. At sunrise he will escort you up to the Academy,” He said to me. Then, turning to Avek he said, “Report to me when you arrive tomorrow. Private Zan and I will be returning tonight.”

  Then, he disappeared.

  The crackling of dragon wings sliced through the air again, then they were gone. I wasn’t one for pleasantries, but something about his curtness made me uneasy.