Avek had been especially compassionate with us—seeming to even honor the promise he had made. That didn’t help my whirlwind of feelings. My emotions teetered between an uncomfortable fire, or the same indecipherable feeling that had drawn me to him in the first place. It was hard to dislike the man completely, and I hated that.
On our final training day, we recapped everything we had learned.
An odd anticipation filled me. By dawn the next morning, we would be on our way to the Drakkendom of Hydralia. We knew all the possible dangers, but there was still no way to know exactly what would happen. Everything could happen, but also nothing at all.
Ignimitra and I were at a disadvantage, but I trusted her with my life. If we had to die, I was happy that I would be dying with her. As we retired to bed that night, it crossed my mind that maybe my father had felt this way about Jairyn.
Maybe he was happy that he had taken his last breath with him.
WE GATHERED ON THE grassy plateau under a bloated gray sky. Fog still hung thick in the air, a bitter chill on the wind. I hadn’t slept much, and my breakfast had been largely untouched. Solra didn’t eat much either, but Irikai scarfed down his breakfast and ours.
My mood hadn’t infected Ignimitra. It took a lot of shaking to wake her up, and at breakfast she had two trowels of charcoal. If I was being honest, it was her calmness that heartened me most. If she was confident, then I could be the same.
Avek addressed us before we took off.
“You three have made it this far. You can make it farther,” he said. “The next few days will feel like the longest of your lives, but you have everything you need to survive this. Remember your training.”
Oddly, his words calmed my heart.
A group of cadets and their captain took off before us, flying opposite to where we were heading. Each group got their own assignments to different parts of New Terra.
Our foursome took to the air soon after. We climbed quickly, higher than I think we had ever flown. There was a special air current at this altitude, one that would take us quickly to our first destination.
The trip would be done in stages, with a stopover at Fire Star Island, a small island just inside Astraphotian territory. It was home to a Pyralian military base, and was the only friendly spot on the journey outside of our destination. Fire Star Island was a day’s journey away. From there we would travel to Hydralia, flying as high as possible over Astraphotis to avoid detection. That leg would take us a day and a half.
As we glided through the thick cloud cover, it dawned on me that this test was just a taste of what Dragon Guard soldiers dealt with every day in the field. Just a taste of what my father felt. I glanced behind at Solra, then at Irikai. They and their dragons wore looks of determination.
“We can do this, Ignimitra,” the wind carried my words away. “I believe in us.”
THE FIRST LEG OF THE journey took us over the open water of Fire Country. There was little to see, just Pyralian ships patrolling the water below us. We changed altitude repeatedly, Nurik tracking the air current. Ignimitra handled it better than I expected.
This was a dangerous mission, but I felt bored out of my mind. What did soldiers think about during these long flights? Every thought that sprung to life in my mind seemed strange to think about during a time like this.
I suppose a clear, bored mind was always better than a preoccupied one.
When Avek signaled that we were approaching Fire Star Island, I couldn’t hide my smile. From above, it was just a colorful mound of dirt in the pristine ocean blue.
Fire Star Island looked as big as the Administrative District, with a jagged rocky coastline protecting it. A long pier stretched from one end, where a few Royal Militia ships were docked. A tall, thick wall encircled the entire island, with canons perched on every corner. Royal Militia soldiers marched along the wall. As we got closer, I realized that the canons were trained on us.
My heartbeat quickened.
Didn’t they know we were friendly? My grip tightened on Ignimitra’s reins.
Just then, Avek caught my attention. He was fumbling with something on Nurik’s saddle. Another tense second passed—the soldiers were scrambling to their stations, some loading the canons. Then it was over.
A huge red cloth unraveled from Nurik’s saddle, bearing the Dragon Guard insignia.
The soldiers recognized us.
I released a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Why hadn’t he unraveled the flag sooner? Any later and we could have been shot down. I was angry, but bit my tongue. We landed in the courtyard in the center of the island.
Within the walls were a network of red-painted metal buildings, each of them with the Royal Militia emblem burned into the door. We didn’t get off our dragons, only Avek did.
Seven soldiers marched out of an elaborate three-tiered building across from us. Six of them looked like the personal guard of the one dressed in the dark red armor. He carried a sword adorned with more ribbons than I could count.
Flashbacks of the low-ranking soldier I had faced off against in the Ruins came back to me. Back then, I never imagined that we would ever be on the same side. At least, not any time soon.
We were out of earshot. The conversation wrapped up quickly.
Avek came back, and we alighted.
“They only have two rooms available,” he said. “The general wasn’t expecting us until next week. Some mix-up with the communication.”
“Aren’t two rooms enough?” Irikai asked.
Avek’s lips hardened into a line.
“Two beds too.”
The words were barely out of his mouth.
“I’ll share with Irikai!” Solra said.
She was wearing a cheesy grin, Irikai coloring slightly. What? Why couldn’t we just split it by gender?
“Looks like you’re with me, Kaos.”
I froze.
No. No, no, no. NO!
I had managed to survive sharing a room with Avek once before. But sharing a bed? That was uncharted territory. What were the chances that a military base had beds big enough for us to sleep without touching each other?
“What about our dragons?” I asked, exploring my options.
Maybe I could sleep with Ignimitra.
“They’ll have to sleep out here in the courtyard,” Avek said. “The soldiers will light the fire-pit to keep them warm.”
That didn’t sound too fun. My arms and legs felt numb, my heart thrumming a beat I felt on my tongue.
Ignimitra had been fitted for a saddle just in time for the trip. I retrieved my supplies from there, just as the soldiers were approaching in pairs, carrying trowels of charcoal.
I hugged her goodbye, then reticently followed Avek. Solra and Irikai trailed behind us. My only comfort was the fact that I was tired. Tired enough to fall asleep quickly, even if I was falling asleep beside him.
The buildings on Fire Star Island were nowhere near as luxurious as the ones at the Academy. I found myself longing for the fresh mountain air as Avek led us through a maze of dark, metal corridors. It was like traversing into the heart of the earth.
He knew the place well.
Each corridor looked the same—too narrow for two people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder, and windowless. It was a good thing our trip was short. This thing must have felt like a kiln when the sun was high in the sky.
“Rushing and Wilder, this is your room.”
We were standing at a T-junction in the hall. He pointed to the leftmost door.
“See you in the morning Captain, Kaos!” Solra said, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile. Irikai gave us a wordless goodbye, before the two of them disappeared behind the heavy metal door.
Was this their way of telling me that they were in a relationship now? I’d have preferred a simple conversation to this. Avek was still standing in the middle of the corridor.
“After you,” he pointed to our door.
I slipped past him, braci
ng myself for the reveal of the room.
It was tiny. Nondescript metal walls, metal floors. A skin rug was in the center of the room, and a cluster of white-light bulbs hung from the ceiling. There was a single round window that looked outside, but all that you could see through it was that wretched stone wall.
There was a narrow bed under the window.
One pillow.
One woolen blanket.
Sharing that bed with Avek without touching each other would be impossible. If we were to share, I’d have to sleep on top of—
“I got my sleeping bag,” He interrupted my thoughts. “So, I’ll take the floor.”
He stepped around me to lay out his padded sleeping bag. I should’ve been happy at his solution, but I couldn’t find my voice.
“The showers are just down the corridor, all the way at the end,” He was unpacking his satchel now. “You’d better take a shower before the guard changes, if you want some privacy.”
If he was feeling anything, it didn’t show. But I couldn’t manage to even come up with a response. I stowed my pack under the bed after taking what I’d need for a shower.
Somehow, I would have to find the courage to face him.
But not today.
Chapter 20
“Kaos,” a voice filtered into my consciousness.
It felt familiar, but also a little strange. I felt it reverberating through my head.
“Kaos, it’s almost dawn,” the voice said again. It was soft, tickling my ears.
Dawn? I turned the word around in my mind till it clicked.
Dawn.
We were on a mission, and I was probably oversleeping.
The voice was Avek’s.
My eyes flickered open, and I rubbed them to get a bearing of my surroundings. My heart screeched to a halt when I put it all together.
Avek’s arm was around my shoulders, my head on his chest. We were wrapped up in the blanket, and my leg was on top of his? Oh, heavens. How long had we been like this?
It started coming back to me. How I worried about him catching a draft from sleeping on the cold floor, how I had offered to share the bed with him last night. Tired Kaos always makes the worst decisions.
I shot up out of bed, scrambling away from him.
“Kaos, look out—”
Dong.
A sharp pain sliced through my forehead.
I groaned as shock waves of needle pricks swam in my vision. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw the culprit. The porthole opened in, and I had just slammed my head against it.
With a sigh, I turned around to look at Avek.
His dark blue hair shot up in all directions, the remnant of sleep still in his eyes. He had worn a thin undershirt to bed, which in the light from the porthole I noticed was a bit too thin—I could make out the ripples of all his muscles.
“You ought to pay attention to where you’re going.”
Before I could protest, he was in front of me, examining the blow. Never mind the fact that his palms were burning holes into my cheeks.
I scoffed, trying to bat his hands away, but he wouldn’t budge.
“It’ll bruise,” He mumbled. “You can see clearly, right? And you’re hearing me okay?
I nodded.
“How many fingers are these,” he let go of my face, moving back to hold up eight fingers.
I squinted. “Two?”
The shock on his face turned into a grin when I smiled.
“Don’t scare me like that,” he said.
The air in the room shifted.
We were a handspan apart, but it felt like I could hear his heartbeat. Or maybe it was my own. It was like a magnetic pull, to touch him, to say something to him. The way his charcoal orbs raked over my skin like he was committing it all to memory—I knew he felt the same way I did. But missions didn’t leave allowance for feelings like this.
Ignimitra and I were already in a precarious position. I didn’t need Avek making things more complicated.
“I showered first yesterday, so you can go first today,” I said, breaking the spell. “I’ll pack up our things.”
Avek sat there for a few moments, just staring. He left the room wordlessly.
I wanted to scream at the heavens. Avek just couldn’t be static, could he? There was always something with him. Something that turned everything on its head the moment I thought I had it figured out.
I hated it.
THE PLACE WHERE I HIT my head had swollen blue. It was just below my brow line, impossible to cover with my hair, unless I cut some outrageous bangs. It didn’t take Solra long to ask about it when we met up for breakfast.
“What happened to your face?” She squinted, leaning over the metal table.
Everything in this place was made of metal. Everything except the perimeter walls. At least the mess hall had huge windows—there was enough light and sea breeze flowing through that I didn’t feel as stuffy as in the room.
Avek was wearing his best oblivious face. The corner of his mouth twitched.
“I sleepwalked,” I lied.
I jumped out of bed because I woke up entangled with Avek, and hit my head on a porthole, just didn’t seem like a story I wanted to tell.
“Huh,” She forked some food into her mouth. “What did you hit it on?”
“The porthole was open,” I said, glancing at Avek. When did he open it? “I didn’t remember.”
“I have salve,” Irikai said. “I’ll give you some.”
I nodded, thanking him. Solra didn’t seem satisfied, in fact she glanced between Avek and I a few times before she returned her attention to the plate of food in front of her. Usually, I would have tried to convince her. Or at least deflect the conversation to whatever the hell she and Irikai had done in their room to warrant the pinkish flush of her skin.
Right now, it felt like nothing mattered. My stomach was in knots about our mission.
By tomorrow, we would be in the Drakkendom of Hydralia. Today, we would fly through Astraphotian territory. If anything bad was going to happen to us, it would happen in a few short hours.
WHEN WE TOOK TO THE skies after breakfast, the air was colder than I’d ever felt it.
The weather in Lightning Country was naturally volatile—storms over open water, spontaneous thunder and lightning—even without lightning dragons manipulating it. They could strike us out of the air easily if we were spotted.
Even Avek, who had way more experience than us, had never gone up against a lightning dragon. I only knew of one person who ever did, and they had killed him. Fortunately, there was thick cloud cover between us and the land below.
As we flew, I was alert to every sound. The rumble of thunder in the distance. The distant dragon calls. Our flight was quiet, our dragons limited to a single wing beat per minute.
Having a fusion bond was invaluable. For all I knew, everyone was having silent conversations with their dragons, whereas I couldn’t talk to Ignimitra without risking getting us all discovered.
We were far away from home, sneaking through the skies, high above people who would have had our heads if they discovered us. Through the power of our dragons we were able to do something so daring, with a good chance of getting away with it. For all the tactical classes we had at the Academy, none of the teachers had ever come close to explaining being in the field quite like this.
I closed my eyes, feeling the cold wind on my skin. It brought back memories of my first flight on Ignimitra. This flight was different, but in a good way. Ignimitra and I had gone through so much together. We had risked our lives, and now we were doing it again.
That’s what it really meant to be bonded to a dragon. Going through hell and back, then growing stronger because of it. Ignimitra already knew this, though. She always knew, I was just catching up.
I knew that she knew exactly what I was feeling, and I couldn’t hold back my smile.
WE HAD BEEN FLYING high and fast for longer than I could keep track of. I knew that a day ha
d passed, for the sun had been replaced with stars. But I couldn’t tell what part of the night it was. I had been waging war with sleep for a while now, so Ignimitra must have been tired too. Her wing beats were lazier, her speed slowing ever so slightly. I didn’t know much longer we would have to hold out.
A while later, Avek signaled us.
The four of us began to descend below the clouds.
The pull of sleep was burned out of my consciousness by the anxiety of dipping below the cloud cover. There was a chance that we hadn’t made it as far as he thought—after all, it was supposed to be a day and half’s flight to Hydralia—and if we showed ourselves too soon, we were sitting ducks for the wicked lightning dragons.
There was only the expanse of the black ocean below us, and a heavy, heavy fog.
Nurik continued to descend, hurtling towards the fog. We all followed, but my heart was in my throat. When we broke through the fog, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Beneath it lay a glittering city.
This was my first trip outside of Pyralis. There was little that I could see in the darkness, but I was able to make out the veins of a city that looked completely different from ours.
The houses were arranged in neat rows, with light colored roofs and angled pathways that joined them together. The network of houses and roads and gardens all formed a semi-circle around a grand house. It was many stories high, with a great light shining from its tower. It sat above everything else, accessed only by a huge staircase.
Somebody important must have lived there, and that was where we were heading.
THE GRAND BUILDING was alive with festivities, apparently for us.
Women wearing colorful dresses danced and sang, putting garlands around our necks and kissing our cheeks. They moved in sync to an electrifying drumbeat produced by a thirty-piece band. A procession of men carrying a golden palanquin emblazoned with the Hydralian crest appeared out of the commotion.
Dragon Academy Page 20
