by Katie Pottle
“Yeah, Cadin?”
“Do you have a second if I come down?”
“Sure.”
Cadin picked up Gur who had climbed up to the sill and plopped him on his shoulder before heading to the back valley.
Tal turned around at his approach. “What do you need, son?”
Cadin reached into his pocket and pulled out his medallion. Pain and longing both flashed across his father’s face.
“I have been trying to figure out a way to wear this that does not leave me vulnerable.” He rubbed the back of his neck where the chain had ripped into the skin and muscle before breaking.
To Cadin’s relief, his dad only nodded and pulled over two worn stools. Cadin sat and handed the medallion over when Tal held out his hand.
He eyed the lines and lifted his hand up and down, as if determining the weight. He pinched the metal between his fingers and Cadin held his breath as his dad tried to flex it. It did not break or falter and he looked up into his dad’s deep green eyes when he handed it back.
“I have an idea or two.”
“Great, because I am kinda stumped,” Cadin admitted.
“When your mom and I designed this, we didn’t know what Path you would choose. Now that you have declared Warrior Path—we could incorporate it into a piece of armor or weapon for you if you wanted.”
“Yes! That is it—I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!” Gur jumped up at Cadin’s excitement and started chatting in his ear. Tal laughed.
“As far as armor goes, I feel that I can heat it enough to give it a slight curve to fit on a shield, breastplate, or even an armguard. I’m not too sure where it would go on a weapon—but we can figure it out if that’s what you want.”
“Hmm.” Cadin scratched Gur’s head as the dragon played with the medallion. “The breastplate sounds cool, but we don’t use them that often, and I’m still growing…I hope.”
Tal chuckled and reached over to mess up Cadin’s hair before he could dodge. “No doubt about it, kid. I mean, you do have my genes after all.”
Good point, Cadin thought as he looked at his dad’s strong shoulders. Tal was only slightly shorter than most other men on Glade, but was stronger than many with rippling muscles across his shoulders, back and chest. If Cadin grew up to have a physique anywhere close to his dad’s—a chest plate wouldn’t last long on him.
“I think I like the idea of an armguard the best!”
“Nice. I’ve been working on some new innovative armguard technology for the Co…client…and I can make one with a new breathable and removable insert.”
Cadin eyed his dad. He knew Tal had seen Master Sanjen over the summer and that he was making armor for the Core; but he hadn’t realized that Tal wasn’t supposed to talk about it. The Core seemed to have a lot of secrets. “That sounds amazing, dad. Thanks.”
“No problem, kid. Let me take some measurements and we can get started.”
CHAPTER FOUR
First Qualifier
“Hey, wait up!”
Cadin turned around to see Lep, his mom and sister walking behind him.
“Hi, guys,” Cadin said. “Charlie, I haven’t seen you for so long!”
“Hi, Cadin,” Charlie said with a big smile. “Can I see your dragon?”
“Sure, but we have to keep walking. We have Qualifiers today!”
“I know, I know! Leppy doesn’t talk about anything else!” She gave her best big girl scowl.
Cadin smiled as he knelt so his shoulder where Gur was perched was about eye level with Charlie. Lakie hovered close by, looking like she was ready to intervene if the dragon attacked her daughter.
“Don’t worry,” Cadin said to Lakie, “You know Gur adores her.” Gur had hopped from Cadin’s shoulder to Charlie’s and was affectionately nibbling her ear. Charlie giggled and shrugged her shoulders as they picked up the pace.
“It tickles,” Charlie said, light curls bouncing in time with her laughter.
“I know why we're late,” Lep said as he nudged his little sister, “but why are you so behind?”
“Had to help my dad last night and I overslept.”
The school was in sight, and only a few stragglers were hurrying through the entrance.
“Oh, we gotta go,” Cadin said as he gently pulled Gur off Charlie’s shoulder. “Bye, it was good to see you,” Cadin said to Charlie and Lakie as he and Lep ran towards the school.
The entrance hall was empty. Gur wrapped his tail around Cadin’s arm to hold on while they sped down the hall and towards the School Core. Breathless, they peered inside the double doors. The entire school was assembled inside.
“We have to find our class,” Cadin whispered as they snuck inside. All the instructors were getting up from their groups and walking towards the front of the large room, where a platform was set up. Some of the instructors from the back of the room jumped up and flew over the students to the front.
“There,” Lep said, pointing to Instructor Kade who was flying to the stage.
“Where did he take off from?” Cadin asked.
“Over there I think.”
They picked their way across the room, consciously avoiding Gregor’s class, and swinging around to the back of their group. Xeno waved them over, and asked where they had been.
“Got here late and couldn’t find you guys. Have they gotten around to the Qualifiers yet?”
“Naw, we just got started.”
“Sweet, we better find Sun.” Cadin stood on his toes. A bright yellow Aura ebbed and flowed next to a white Aura. They shifted to the front of the class, and found Sun standing next to Bart.
“Bart, they’re here!” Sun whispered a little loud, as some people near her turned around. “Where have you been? We would have had to forfeit this round if you hadn’t shown up!”
“Sorry. It’s not like we are that late.”
“Sorry, guys. Do you know which challenge it is?”
“Well,” Sun said sinking low, “I overheard a couple of the instructors say they like to start the team challenges off with the schools ‘strengths.’ I assume they are talking about green Aura strengths, which will be really hard for us to win.”
“Why?” Lep asked.
“Well, green is the strength of the students of the Guard Quad in general—or more specifically those with green Auras. Take a look at our team—only Lep has a green Aura…and kind of Cadin. That already puts us at a disadvantage, and on top of it, most of the older kids have more experience.”
Cadin searched his Aura for the ‘green’ qualities. He was still good and turned his attention back to the Qualifiers. Sun smiled at Cadin, probably recognizing his Aura check. His team were the only students that knew anything about his Aura suppression.
“Oh, yeah,” Lep said, looking a bit dejected.
“But if we can place,” Cadin said, “then we would have a huge head start.”
“True,” Sun agreed.
“We are just going to have to try our best,” Bart chimed in. “And even if we don’t place, we still have four more Qualifiers.”
“Welcome to the school assembly,” Headmaster Tripharian said. The room noise rumbled down to a soft hush. “The Calvarian Commons Games or ‘Com Games’ is a huge event for all Warrior Path and Guardian Path students this year. The Warrior Path Qualifiers start today and Guardian Path Qualifiers commence on Thursday. For those of you with other Paths in mind, I will make the general announcements first, and only keep the students trying to qualify for the Com Games here for the latter part of this assembly.
“First of all, classes will go on as scheduled today, though there will be some classes teaming up, and some substitute teachers, as we will need some of our fine instructors for the first Warrior Path Qualifier. Those of you entering this challenge will be excused from all afternoon classes.
“Secondly, there will be a Guardian Angel seminar in this room next Friday during the free period. We will have guest speakers with wonderful stories about Eart
h, humans, and their guardian experiences. I strongly suggest everyone try to attend, though it is not mandatory unless you are participating in the Guardian Qualifiers.” Cadin wanted to attend the seminar, but it interfered with the Challenge Club.
“Thirdly, an optional field trip touring downtown is set up for this Wednesday. You must sign up by today. Now, for all students and instructors not involved in the Games, you are free to go. If your homeroom instructor is a part of the Warrior Path Qualifier, you have free time to study.”
Half of the students left the large gym. The non-winged students bottle-necked at the doors on the ground, while instructors and winged students flew out through several of the upper level openings. Headmaster Tripharian motioned for everyone remaining to move up to the front. Instructor Kade was one of four instructors remaining. Instructor Nightan also kept to the stage, crossing his beefy arms and glaring with hooded eyes into the remaining crowd. Cadin was unsure how someone as grumpy as Nightan became a high school instructor.
“And now for the rules for our first Qualifier, I hand you over to Instructor Kade.”
“Thank you, Headmaster Tripharian,” Instructor Kade said as he stepped forward. “This Qualifier will begin after lunch. You will check in with your team of four together at the Yi Field Stage. Remember your team must place first, second or third to earn a qualifying place and points towards your overall ranking for the Com Games. And now for the challenge,” Instructor Kade paused. Cadin found himself leaning forward in anticipation.
“We are going to start off with the Green Qualifier of guarding!” Everyone broke out into a loud cheer, though Cadin’s team was a bit more reserved.
Instructor Kade held up his hands for everyone to quiet down before he delved into specifics. “The other instructors and I have set up the field so that each team will be responsible for protecting or ‘guarding’ five of your team’s statues. Your team will choose team statues which will be used throughout the Qualifiers at the check in today. It is tradition for Warrior Path teams from the Academy to act as your opposition. They are graded on their efforts and will not go easy on you.
“The only other specifics I can give you now about the challenge are that you will have access to land and clouds as well as the school artillery. This exercise will be timed, and your team will earn points according to how well you protect your statues. No team or proxy is allowed near the field before check in. It will be considered cheating, and your whole team will automatically be disqualified. Good luck to everyone!”
After the meeting let out, Cadin’s team instantly started talking about strategies while walking back to the Dragon’s Den.
“Well, there are four of us, and five statues,” Lep said to the group. “What if we each take a statue to protect and just forget about one? Four out of five is not bad, right?”
“I think there will be more to it than only standing in front a little statue for few minutes,” Sun said.
“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll have to put up cloud-walls and all sorts of things,” Bart chimed in as they approached the ‘T’ in the hall that branched off to the wingless part of the school.
“Hey, newbies!” Someone called out from the winged corridor. Gregor and his team were leaning up against the walls, as if they too had been talking about their strategy. “I wouldn’t waste too much of your time with this dream of yours about qualifying, let alone winning a Fast Track on the Warrior Path,” Gregor said in a bored voice. He was not even looking at them when he spoke; instead, he looked down at his hands as he clipped his nails with a pocket knife. “I mean, this one isn’t even strong enough to keep a mixed Aura. Loser.” Gregor’s eyes had lifted to glare at Cadin.
His pulse quickened and face flushed. A hand gently squeezed his shoulder.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Sun whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment “Whatever,” Cadin said as he turned to walk down the hallway and away from the bulky fourth year. Cadin checked over his shoulder. To his relief, Gregor was not following them. His energy rippled—the blues within his Aura wanting to shine. Cadin took a few deep breaths, and as they walked on his control solidified.
“Okay, back to business,” Sun said as she brushed her light hair out of her eyes. “Let’s all think of what we know so far about protection strategies and skills during our morning classes, and meet at lunch to talk over them before the Qualifier.” Everyone agreed as they all broke apart and headed off to their first classes of the day.
Concentrating during his morning classes was proving difficult. Cadin kept thinking about the upcoming challenge and at the same time Gur was racing up and down his arms as Lep kept nudging him in the back and passing him ideas on a sheet of paper. Luckily two of Cadin’s best subjects were Metal Shop and Cloud-creature Biology, so he was not too worried about falling behind due to one day of poor concentration. He finished a metal and leather collar for Gur that finally kept Gur busy as he searched for ways to take it off. He even successfully identified cloud-worms and which creatures they most likely fall prey to when Instructor Falen caught his wandering gaze and tried to catch him off guard. Finally, class finished and he and Lep met Sun and Bart after grabbing lunch. They headed for Yi Field.
As they approached the stage, Cadin recognized Clare, the secretary who had retrieved him from Instructor Nightan’s group the first day of school. She was sitting at a table that was full of finger sized figurines.
“Let’s check in and then organize which of us is good at what skills so we can have some kind of plan going into this,” Cadin said.
They all followed him up to Clare’s table as he smiled and gave her a shy wave.
“Hi.”
“Why hello there, Cadin. Do you like Instructor Kade’s group?”
Cadin smiled, flattered she remembered who he was. “Yes, thank you, Miss Clare. We’re here to check in for the Qualifier.”
“I will need everyone’s name and for you each to sign here please.” She indicated a spot on a yellow parchment with ‘Q 1—Green’ written at the top.
“Group name?”
They looked at each other and shrugged.
“Um, sorry we don’t have a group name yet.”
“One is not required until after you qualify; let me know if you think of one. Now, as you are the first group to check in, you have your pick of team statues that will represent you through the Glade Qualifiers.” She swept her hand over table where many figurines stood. “As you can see, Glade has many fine cloud-creatures to choose from.
Gur perked up as he ran down Cadin’s shoulder and jumped onto the table.
“Gur!” Cadin yelled as he made a grab for him. Gur was too fast and dodged to the left and made a deliberate run through the figurines. Cadin gave a second attempt and this time got a handful of dragon. Sun was laughing, and Cadin tracked her gaze to find that Gur had grabbed up the dragon figurine and was now chewing on one of its legs.
“Stop, Gur! Bad dragon!” Cadin said as he took the figurine out of Gur’s grasp. The figurine now had a stump for a left forearm. Clare’s eyes were wide. It also didn’t help that Sun was still laughing.
“Well, I guess if it is okay with you guys,” Cadin said as he gave a pointed look at Sun, who then tried to stifle her laugh but ended up snorting, “we will take the dragon figurine.”
“Great.”
“No problem.”
Sun could only nod in agreement.
“Okay, so what is each of us good at?” Sun asked as she pet Gur.
“Well, you are obviously good at archery,” Cadin said as he drew in a dirt patch with a stick. Under Sun’s name he drew a bow and arrow.
“I am decent with a shield and spear,” Bart said.
“Good,” Cadin said as he drew.
“Oh, I am good with the cloud-balls,” Lep said, “and you are good at cloud-walking.”
“Yeah, I wonder how much we might have to cloud-shift.” Cadin was worried that with keeping his mixed Aura under wraps
that he would suffer from a lack of energy.
“Hmm. Yeah, I am decent at the basics,” Bart said, “and so are most of the third and fourth years. The second years will probably have a big disadvantage there.”
More groups showed up and picked their figurines from Clare. Soon the instructors emerged from behind the stage, and Gur climbed back on to Cadin’s shoulder, sensing his anticipation.
“Welcome to the first Glade Qualifier!” Headmaster Tripharian said. Everyone quieted down and gave their attention to the Head Master. “I am happy to say that this year we have twenty full teams, which I believe is a first. We have Instructor Kade to thank for much of the new excitement brought to these Games, including allowing second years in.” There was a bunch of cheering from the younger students, though some of the older students fluffed their feathers defensively.
“Wait till we beat ‘em,” Lep whispered to Cadin. Cadin gave him a silent knuckle bump before Headmaster Tripharian finished. The Head Master gazed over at Instructor Kade, who was engaged in a conversation with a Core officer.
“Look, that's Jim from the outpost,” Cadin whispered to Lep.
“Oh yeah. I wonder what he's doing here.”
Instructor Kade glanced at Headmaster Tripharian, waved Jim off and stepped forward.
“Protection!” Instructor Kade said loudly, startling some of the students nearest to him. “That is the task of the day. Each team has picked out a representative animal statue. You will have five such statues today, all approximately shin height. Each team will have a chance to enter the battle zone behind me and five minutes for set up. You will be tasked with protecting your five statues from any damage for five minutes. The statues keep internal count of total damage taken and your rank will be measured accordingly—first place for the least amount of total damage and so on. Damage is expressed as Units Of Damage, or UOD.”
“I would like to introduce you to your attackers for the day—the Warrior Path angels from the Academy.” A group of highly armored and equipped warriors marched out from behind the stage and stopped at attention in a perfect line.
