With a sigh of mock irritation, I take the form from him. “I guess I’ll fill it out...”
“You’d better! Otherwise I’ll put spiders in your bed!”
“Fuck off!”
He reaches into his pocket again and gives me a pen. “Fill it out now. Mr Knight has to collect them in a few minutes.”
“Alright, calm down. I’m going.”
The form is only ten questions, and I have to rate each from excellent to unsatisfactory. It shouldn’t take long to fill out.
“Are you struggling with the questions?” he mocks.
“What would you rate your mentor’s attitude to your learning? Oh, this is easy! Unsatisfactory...” I tick ‘excellent’ and pull away when he tries to grab the form.
“Haze!” he whines.
“What would you rate your mentor’s attendance? Unsatisfactory again...”
“Come on! Stop teasing!” Snatching the form out of my hands he relaxes upon realizing that I’m joking.
“You wanted me to fill out the damn thing and now you’re snatching it away – make up your mind!”
I fill out the rest of the form with little joking, and once I’m done I sign the bottom. Gratefully, he takes the form from me and hugs me quickly. We spot Mr Reedman approaching, so Marco quickly straightens up and stops grinning.
“You and Aqueous need to be sharper; one of you is creating more water than the other, which could be perceived as a sign of a weak bond between you.”
“What would you suggest?” My gaze flicks to Mr Reedman, who is watching us with an amused smile on his face.
My friend hesitates for a second, making Mr Reedman smirk. “Watch each other carefully. Your body language gives away how powerful you want your element to be.”
Thankfully, Mr Reedman starts to walk away. Eruption, however, hangs back a second to hiss at my partner, his mouth glowing orange in a warning. Aqueous says nothing, just ignores the threat and turns to me, his eyes lit up in excitement. This makes Eruption snort and lumber away, his tail swinging back and forth as a sign for everyone to stay away.
My friend sighs as Eruption moves out of earshot. “Fucking hell, they are scary.”
“Everyone knows that at this point, I’d hope.”
Sinking to his knees, he pats the ground next to him. “Come on, we look like idiots just standing around and doing fuck all.”
As I sit next to him, his arm snakes around my waist. “You’ll do fine, Haze. I’ll take you out to dinner beforehand, okay? It’ll calm your nerves.”
“Fine. But I’m paying for myself.”
“Fuck off. I’m paying. I’m a gentleman.”
“You’re not even remotely a gentleman. The last time we went to dinner you called me fat.” I wriggle out of his grip and cross my arms.
“Rocky got me back for that. I couldn’t walk for hours.”
“Maybe if you didn’t make stupid comments he wouldn’t have had to kick you in the balls.”
“It really hurt! You just laughed!”
“I found it hilarious. Highlight of my night.”
His arm wraps around my waist again and he pulls me close to him. “So... I’ll see you at five? Preferably without Rocky? My balls can’t take another kick.”
“Fine. I’m paying for myself.”
* * *
“Fourth and final ice Elemental: Isabella Hughes.” The invigilator calls for the last ice Elemental, who walks in fearfully with her partner.
I’m next.
It’s unnerving to be sat out in the hall just outside of the classroom. My leg is bouncing wildly because I’m so scared of what will happen. The questions are fired at us at random. The exercises we have to do change each year. They can be either hard or easy, and I heard last year had the easy questions. This just means there’s more chance of my Year getting the difficult questions and exercises.
Aqueous places his foot on my knee again until it stops bouncing. He then nuzzles me softly, though his wide eyes give away his nervousness.
This could go horribly wrong.
The other water Elementals are also panicking, so at least I’m not the only one. My stomach churns as loud noises erupt from the classroom; the girl must be onto the exercise portion of the exam now. I stroke Aqueous’ neck to calm myself down, but it does little to help as he has gone rigid, listening carefully to what’s happening inside.
The room goes silent as the girl walks out, standing proudly and handing the invigilator a certificate. It is quickly signed and the girl is dismissed, beaming as she and her partner trot down the hall.
Deep breaths. No crying, no panicking.
“First water Elemental: Hazel Adams,” the invigilator calls, holding the door open for me.
Here we go.
The classroom is tiny. Chairs and tables have been pushed against the walls. The only piece of furniture left in its actual place is the desk, which all eight dragon training instructors are huddled behind. Their faces are expressionless. They seem bored.
“Miss Adams,” Mr Reedman passes sheets of paper down the line of instructors. “Before you perform the physical aspect of the test, we need to ask you a few questions about your relationship with Aqueous.”
I nod quickly, sitting down in the seat in front of the desk. Aqueous stands behind me, his head resting on my shoulder to make me feel calmer.
“Don’t worry,” the Electricity Instructor, Mrs Butala smiles. “They won’t take long. We’ve got the right answers here, you just need to say the right one.”
Mr Reedman glares at her before clearing his throat. “How long did Aqueous stay in the cabin with you?”
“Um, seven months.” I quickly re-count in my head, relieved that I came up with the right number.
“Has your bond decreased with him since you’ve been separated?”
“No.” Aqueous grunts his approval behind me, making some of the instructors smile.
“How much, in total, did Aqueous earn while working on the expansion to the Cindaraan headquarters?”
Fuck.
Where did that question come from?
My head starts to fill with numbers as I try to think. I got the bank statement last week, but I didn’t realize I had to memorize the stupid number!
“You obviously don’t know, so we’ll move on.” Mr Reedman crosses something out on his sheet. “The next few questions are for Aqueous.”
At least I get some time to clear my head.
My companion follows Mr Reedman to the board, staring at three coloured sheets of paper: one red, one yellow, and one green.
“Green means excellent, yellow means satisfactory, red means awful,” the short man says. “First question: how would you rate Hazel’s care for you? Be honest.”
Without hesitation, Aqueous touches the green paper with his nose.
The short man rolls his eyes before continuing. “Second question: how would you rate Mr Knight’s teaching of you and Hazel this year?”
Oh fuck.
Don’t be cheeky!
My companion looks Mr Knight up and down before touching the red paper. The teachers look astonished, and I feel like sinking through the floor.
“Care to explain, Hazel?” Mr Knight glares at me, his fingers tapping on the table impatiently.
“Um...”
“Don’t ‘um’ me. Dragons learn from their partners! So, come on, tell me about how awful my teaching was.”
“That’s enough, Mr Knight!” Mr Stirling intervenes, slamming his hand on the table and making everybody jump. “This is an exam. Try to be professional.”
The room goes dead silent, before Mr Reedman clears his throat. “Last question: how would you rate Hazel’s relationship with her mentor?”
My companion again touches excellent, and then trots back behind me, licking my face to seek my praise.
“Now, the physical examination.” Mr Reedman sinks into his seat, his cold eyes locked on me. “Both of you take a few steps back and spread out.”
<
br /> My heart pounds once more as I stand there, waiting for further instructions. Aqueous obviously left his nerves outside; his eyes are now cold and determined.
“First of all, both of you create a ball of water,” Mr Knight asks coldly.
I do as he says, the sphere hovering just above my hand. The instructors quickly scribble notes, before telling us to stop.
“Next, create an air bubble around your heads.”
I remember when I used to struggle with this in the river; thankfully, those days are long gone. The bubble forms perfectly around my head, and I pop it with my finger when they finish their notes.
“Finally, a defensive water armour.”
I sink to the floor and allow a layer of water to shield me. Marco and I worked for weeks to perfect this; I knew it would come up. The instructors whisper to each other as Aqueous and I stand up. He noses my hand softly as they stop talking and face us again.
“All those in favour of Aqueous and Hazel failing?” Mr Reedman asks, putting his hand up.
Mr Knight and the Earth Instructor, Mrs Farmer, put their hands up, but I can’t help grinning when everyone else keeps their hands down, passing me.
Mr Reedman sighs. “Well done. Here is your certificate.” He pushes it onto the floor, making some of the instructors tut. “Go get it signed and leave.”
28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Yay! Celebratory kiss!” Braith screeches, throwing her arms around me and puckering her lips.
“I’d rather not.” Giggling, I push her face away softly, making her pout.
“I knew you would pass.” Marco wraps his arms around my shoulders and ruffles my hair.
“I just need to go home and feed Normie; he’s probably hungry by now.” I duck out of his grip and they both follow me down the street.
Damayanti trots beside Aqueous, smiling and trying her hardest to keep up a conversation. My companion doesn’t realize her affection towards him. I’m afraid he sees her as nothing more than a friend. I think he’s still hung up on Winter.
Marco chooses to stay outside as Braith and I go inside to feed Normie. My friend jumps on my back playfully, giggling and stroking my hair. When I open the door, our mouths hit the floor.
Someone’s vandalized my stuff.
My duvet lays in tatters and the stuffing of my pillow is scattered across the floor. My old textbooks are torn and thrown across the room, with my clothes cut up and hanging off the bed.
“Oh my...” Braith jogs up to my bed and starts picking up my clothes.
For a few seconds, I just stand there. What am I supposed to do?
“Hey, what are you...?” Marco notices my stuff and his lips purse into a tight line. “Who would do this?”
My feet finally work again, and I walk slowly over to Braith and start helping her. Everything is ruined; even the painting of Aqueous is covered in pen and has been slashed. With shaking hands, I start sorting through anything that might have survived. Even Normie’s toys have been destroyed. I spot my furry friend huddled under Wes’ bed, his bright blue eyes widened in fear and his claws digging into the floor.
“Here...” I hold my hand out to him, and he sniffs it cautiously before slinking out and clinging to my body, his ears pressed flat against his head.
“Haze? Are you okay?” Braith rubs my back softly.
Cuddling Normie close, I mutter: “No.”
“Look at this,” Marco kneels beside me, holding a scrunched-up note in his hand. “'Commoners don’t deserve to pass exams‘.”
“So, whoever did this is a little shit?” Braith strokes Normie in my arms, one hand balled into a fist.
“Obviously,” he snorts. “We need to find out who did this.”
“I need to replace my stuff,” I retort.
My friends help me get to my feet and lead me towards the door. Our partners look surprised as we approach them, but Aqueous is the first to notice Normie clinging to me. He noses his friend and starts muttering to him, so I let the cat climb onto my companion’s back, meowing and hissing in distress.
“There she is!”
We swing round as a group of people carrying sharp sticks and pipes surround us. I back into my partner, who is swinging his head back and forth, growling at each person. I grab Braith and we cling to each other, our hearts beating wildly as we scramble to think of a plan. One person grabs Marco and drags him out of the circle, throwing him onto the ground behind them.
“Don’t hurt him!” I cry as one of their dragons pins him to the ground.
Drea roars and swipes at one of the strangers, sending him flying into a wall. Instantly she’s swarmed by the remaining dragons, buried underneath their scaly bodies.
“Shut up, bitch,” one of the boys says. “We’re here for you, not them.”
“What do you want?” I squeak as the circle becomes tighter.
“Stop trying to climb the social hierarchy. You’re poor. Deal with it. Don’t take our jobs and our money and then throw it all in our faces! The hierarchy is in place for a reason, and you obviously needed reminding of yours!”
“Consider this a warning,” another person says. “Pass any of your exams next year, and you won’t live to your eighteenth birthday.”
All of them back off, throwing insults and waving their weapons in front of my face as they leave. The dragons let Drea and Marco up, before launching into the air and screeching loudly, twirling and darting around in the wind.
* * *
“It’s okay, you can stay in the hotel until we can get you new bedding,” Rocky whispers, kissing my cheek softly and stroking my hair.
“Maybe it would be better to stay with us,” Marco suggests, not meeting Rocky’s glare of disapproval. “Then we can keep her safe.”
I haven’t got over what just happened. All that over a stupid exam. They have no right to trash my stuff over it. Marco called the Head Instructor and explained what happened, but they refused to pay for the damages. Instead, they said they would pay the strangers for any distress my exam caused them.
Cheeky shits.
“We can go shopping!” Braith exclaims. “You need new clothes; nothing escaped unscathed.”
I’m barely listening to her. Next year, if I don’t fail everything, they’ll kill me. The trouble is that I want to do well; I want to leave this place at nineteen with good qualifications so I can get a decent job and earn a good wage. I don’t want to have to struggle to feed myself for the rest of my life.
“Haze?” Marco nudges me softly, but I can’t look up at him. “I know you’re scared, but we won’t let anything happen to you or Aqueous, okay?”
“They’ll kill me next year,” I sniffle.
“No, they won’t.” My brother pushes my friend away when he gets too close. “They’ll have to kill me first.”
“They probably will.”
“Gee, thanks. I’m glad you have so much faith in me.”
Braith sighs. “It’s stupid that people in your own Year are throwing their weight around just because you passed a minimal test. They’re so up themselves.”
“I agree.” I smile slightly as she starts tickling my stomach, only to have Rocky gently push her away.
“What are you doing?” my brother asks.
“Huh?” I look up at him, only to realize he’s talking to Marco.
My friend is rummaging through my bag, pulling out various notes and chucking them on the floor. “They were shoving notes in Hazel’s bag as they left; she dropped it on the floor.”
The certificate.
Mr Reedman won’t give any proof of me passing if it’s been damaged.
Panicked, I crawl up to my friend and start throwing stuff out of my bag, looking for the yellow piece of card. He gently tilts my head up, and I’m relieved to see it’s already in his hand.
“What are these?” Braith starts reading through the notes, chucking them away in disgust. “Oh fuck!” She jumps back at one, her hand over her mouth in sh
ock.
“What? What is it?” Rocky peers at it, ripping it up angrily. “Stupid idiot.”
“What is wrong with that guy?” she screeches. “He’s sick! It’s tiny! At least let it grow a little first!”
Marco groans. “That’s not going to start up again, is it?”
“What?” Rocky and Braith shout in unison, the same disgusted look on their faces.
“I can’t use my locker anymore. Great.” I sigh and let my friend hug me from behind.
“Hey, I’ll clear it out for you,” Marco rubs my back gently.
My brother’s expression quickly returns to anger. “This has happened before?”
Uncomfortable under his gaze, I duck my head. “Yeah, after Sadie... You know.”
My brother opens his mouth, but Braith cuts him off. “Anyway, Haze. Come on, we need to get you some new clothes. What you’re wearing is literally all you have, including your underwear.” She yanks me to my feet. “I’ll get her to the hotel by eight. If you’re scared of her being alone, then Haze and I will have a sleepover.”
“Naked pillow fights?” Marco asks hopefully.
Braith winks at me flirtatiously, making me blush. “I hope so.”
Rocky doesn’t look impressed at all, with his arms crossed and his lips set in a thin, tight line. “I’ll go shopping with her. She’s my sister.”
“Oh? So, you’ll help her get fitted for new bras, will you? And help her pick out new underwear? And help her get into dresses?” Braith’s words make his face go bright red. “She’s developed a lot since you last saw her naked at five years old. Let the girls take this one, Rocky.”
This shuts him up, and even makes Marco snicker at how uncomfortable he is.
“Come on, we’ll see them later.”
* * *
“You look super hot in all of this,” Braith reaches into a bag and waves a bra around her head. “Your boobs are growing, Hazy, I’m impressed.”
Embarrassed as people stare, I sigh: “Braith, put that away.”
“Killjoy,” she mumbles, but puts it back anyway.
My companion is carrying Normie’s new bed in his mouth, while said cat snoozes on his back, enjoying the free ride. Thankfully, after hours of shopping we’re finally done. It’s just bedding I need to get now, but that can wait until tomorrow.
Elemental Dragons Book 1: Blood and Water Page 22
