Dragon Slayers

by Kristin D. Van Risseghem

  The green color in his eyes swirl. I’m not sure if they have been doing that since he woke, but now with the sun rising and providing more light, I can see them. They’re fascinating to watch.

  “Because no one killed the dragons yesterday, does that mean that you guys didn’t graduate?”

  “I’m sure we’ll have more opportunities.”

  Then he leans in and closes the distance between us. A light kiss presses against my lips. My body responds immediately. He begins to pull away, but I place my hand on the back of his head and bring him back to my mouth. He’s uncertain for a second, and then he’s not.

  His tongue slips into my mouth and tangles with mine. A growl escapes from him. A sigh from me is my answer. My fingers thread in his hair and lightly tug on the ends.

  Bronx breaks away and kisses along my jaw line, down my neck, and across my collarbone. My hands leave his head and grip his shoulders and then run along his back. They stop when they reach the course material of his bandages.

  Geez, Brooklyn, he’s injured.

  I push on his chest. He’s heaving, and I’m panting when we put on the breaks to our make out session. Did I want him to stop? I need answers from him or Manny about what I heard in the tunnels. I won’t be with either one of them if they are lying to me.

  “I should get back to my room since you seem to be doing much better now.” I grin.

  “I’ll see you in Skills.” He waves and closes his eyes again.

  Besides, I do have to get ready for class. It’s been three days that I’ve skipped my early morning workouts. I can almost guarantee that Bronx would think if we continued down the path of getting all hot and bothered that would’ve been our exercise.

  Boroughs, now I’m thinking like him.

  Noelle is waiting for me outside my room when I approach. She’s already dressed in jeans and a light hoodie, with her bag lying next to her. Her short legs are tucked under her body, and she is leaning against the wall.

  “Hi,” I say. “Have you been here long?”

  “Only since my first text to you.” I blanch. She couldn’t have? “Gotcha. No, I just got here. I was about to pull out a magazine and wait.”

  “What are you doing up so early?”

  “Getting a head start on the day. Now that we’re in Level Two, there’s a lot of us who are putting in extra time in the gym, reading, or practicing magic.”

  I frown. I’m going to have to tell her.

  “Let’s go inside.” I unlock the door and wave her to go ahead of me. “Sorry for the mess. I haven’t been here in a while.”

  “Yeah, been out with your boys.” She sits on the bed and unlatches her satchel. “Since I’m your best friend, I’ll give you the cliff notes to history.”

  “Thanks. I didn’t get a chance to read anything.”

  “I didn’t think you did with your hands full between your two Third Years.” She winks as she hands me a three-page summary of the ten chapters I was supposed to read. “As payment for that, tell me about dinner with Manny and all the deets about Bronx and what’s going on with him.”

  I proceed to tell her about Bronx and the kiss. She doesn’t comment. Moving to Manny’s portion of the story, I regale her with little information and then how Staten showed up and they took off. What I didn’t mention was where they went, and when I arrived, a naked man was there. I picked up telling her about the hot kiss that Manny gave me.

  “Oh, so you kissed both on the same night? You naughty girl. And here I didn’t think you had it in you. So, you’re taking my advice and dating both?”

  “Manny did call me his girlfriend to his brothers.” I tug on a pair of jeans and pull out a shirt from the drawer. “And after last night with Bronx, I don’t know.”

  “Wait, brothers? They aren’t related; they don’t have the same last names.”

  “They aren’t, but they think of themselves as much. I guess they grew up together and are really close.” Taking the brush, I quickly run it through my locks and finish it in a ponytail. “But I do have something to tell you, Noelle.”

  “Geez, that sounds ominous.”

  “It’s not bad, really, but ...”

  “Just rip it of like a wax strip.” Her eyes fall to the floor. Does she know?

  “Promise me you won’t tell anyone, including Sax,” I plead. “I don’t know how people will take it, and I’m already on the outs with a lot of them. I don’t need to give them more ammo to dislike me.”

  Noelle’s eyes pop up and meet mine, and then she nods. “I promise not a peep.”

  “Yesterday when Mr. Lorimer and I walked around the room, he made me list the students who don’t have magic. I can see the magic in people. I’m sorry Noelle, but—”

  “I don’t have any, do I?”

  I shake my head and take her hand. “But listen, I don’t know anything about this and neither did Mr. Lorimer, so maybe you’ll still get it, and I’ll see yours later. I could be totally wrong, too. Whatever happens, I’m here for you. We can train together, so you become the one female everyone wants to beat in Skills and while they are focused on that, you and I can train in secret to get your magic out.”

  “Okay.”

  I know she’s disappointed, but we’ve got a game plan, and no one needs to know about it. I’m going to do everything within my power to help her.

  “Come on, let’s go grab some food, so I can read these pages before class.”

  Noelle is my lifesaver, and I will be hers. Mrs. Mercer gave us a pop quiz on the fourth and fifth chapters’ material just to see who read at least half of the assignment.

  The instructor drones on about learning from mistakes from our past, which is why history is a Level Two and Three course. We need to understand where we’ve been to see the now and into the future, or so she says. It kinda makes sense.

  But even so, the class is really boring. I think we need to go on a field trip or something, so we can see the actual progress we’ve made. Oh, maybe to the weapons facility to watch how they melt and make them. That’d be cool.

  To take my mind away from the boring subject, I focus my attention to Bronx. I know where I stand with Manny. He’s sweet and has a hometown boy quality about him.

  Whereas Bronx, once I got through his playful banter, he’s really a standup guy. Things are raw and urgent with him, while safe and traditional with Manny.

  Two very different individuals and I have the hots for them both. But why? I’ve never felt whatever this is with guys before. Could it be more than just attraction?

  “You coming?” Noelle asks. “You should wipe the drool off your face, too, if you’re planning to leave class any time now.” She points to her lip. “Thinking about your boy toys? Hmm ... which one, I wonder?”

  “I have ninety minutes to figure something out before we see Bronx again. I don’t think I’m ready to face him.”

  “Be tough. Let him come to you. I take it since you’ve been daydreaming the last half hour, you missed the new assignment?” She beams. “Figured. The next ten chapters, and there may or may not be another quiz on Friday.”

  “Great. Let’s go to magic class. At least I’m not falling behind in that one.”

  “Nope, Miss Prodigy you’re not.”

  “Sorry.” I put my arm around her shoulders. “I forgot for a moment, but don’t sweat it. We’ll work on it tonight. Okay?”

  We head down the hall to Magic. The room is divided with the magic users and the ones still practicing to find it. I leave Noelle and join my now larger group. Not only is Reist sitting with us, but another boy and two more girls.

  Reist smiles at me when I choose to sit next to him. After rescuing Manny and Bronx yesterday, I thought he might be mad at me today, but all seems okay. If Noelle and Bronx think he has the hots for me, should I do anything about it? I don’t want to lose him as a friend, since I have so few of them anyway. He needs to know that nothing will ever happen between us, nothing that he wants anyway.

&nb
sp; Mr. Lorimer instructs everyone to keep focusing to call their magic. Then to our group, he tells us to practice tossing it to each other and to feel what it’s like borrowing and losing magic.

  “Brooklyn.” He waves. “Can I see you a moment?”

  Geez, again? Every day he keeps singling me out, the longer the distance I need to close the gap between myself and the rest of the room. He has to understand that. Wasn’t he a teenager at one time?

  “Sure.” I stand and leave the group and head out into the hallway. “What’s up? Did I something wrong?”

  “Not from what I hear. Mr. Morris told me what you did yesterday during the mission. Can you tell me what you did and how it felt?”

  I wring my hands and then notice what I’m doing. “I, uh. Well, I’m not really sure. No one else was going to try to save Manny or Bronx. I was scared, frustrated, and mad. My magic flared and shot toward the dragon’s head.” I kick at the floor and still don’t meet my teacher’s gaze. “It didn’t do anything, but I kinda felt a slight connection with it. Not with magic per se, but I think the dragon comprehended I wasn’t going to hurt it. As soon as the haze settled around him, he took off. Like he knew that it wasn’t safe for him anymore.”

  “You are far too advanced for this class. While I understand that you don’t know the basics, you’re going to out shine the rest of the students. Maybe that’ll be a good thing if they strive to come up to your level, but I feel that it’ll be a detriment to you in the long run. I want you to take private lessons.” I gulp. I don’t want private lessons from him. “From one of the brightest magic users that I’ve seen, until you,” he continues.

  “Okay.” I can’t really say no. “Who am I going to train with?”

  “Staten Rockers.”

  Boroughs!

  “I’ll let him know to expect a call or email from you to set up a schedule. He’ll report your progress to me, but if you have any questions, my door is open. You may continue with my class until you have a designated time set up with him.” He waves me back into the room.

  It’s like the Academy is also telling me to be alone. Everyone is singling me out.

  I trudge back into my group, Mr. Lorimer trailing me. I stay quiet and watch them with the task. Reist glances my way, but I shake my head. I don’t need to announce my departure. I’ll tell him and Noelle later.

  Brian and Chris have managed to toss their magic flame to each other. It must not be as difficult as I thought. I concentrate on them, their magic, and the rest of the kids. What I refuse to let myself think about is Staten. I don’t know how we’re going to train, let alone be in the same room when he can’t stand the sight of me.

  One of the new girls in the group throws her magic to Reist, who catches it with ease. She’s cute with a short pixie hairstyle. Her eyes keep darting to my friend. Does she like him? He is a great catch. He’s nice and will be a good leader. So why don’t I like him?

  Reist pitches the magic back to her and calls his own. He floats his flame in front of me. I don’t raise my hands quick enough, but that doesn’t matter. The magic doesn’t touch me. In fact, the entire group’s flames are suddenly extinguished. I feel it in my chest when it’s absorbed, like someone slams their palm into me.

  In my open hands is a green fireball, the color of spring grass.

  What the boroughs?

  “What was that?” Reist asks when class is dismissed. “I felt your pull in my mind and didn’t have a choice but to surrender my magic to you.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” I say.

  “What did Mr. Lorimer want?” Noelle asks. “I saw you guys leave the room.”

  “Believe it or not, I’m to have personal training with Staten Rockers.”

  “Really?” Noelle pulls me close. “That’s number three.”

  “Oh, no. He hates me. There will be nothing more than magic training with him. I highly doubt he will anyway even though Mr. Lorimer says so. He can’t stand being in the same room with me, and I have no idea what I did to him.”

  “I guess you’ll find out right now since he’s heading this way.” Reist points. “Yeah, I’m going to make myself scarce. He kinda scares me.”

  “Coward,” I yell at his retreating back.

  “Yep, I know when I’m defeated.”

  “I don’t think he does,” Noelle says. “He’s still has it bad for you, Brooklyn.”

  “I’ve heard that I’m to train you per the request from your magic instructor,” Staten says. He completely ignores my friend.

  I lift my head to meet his eyes. He will not bully me. “Yeah, I just got that word, too.”

  “Um, I’ll leave you guys then.” Noelle waves, mouthing that she’ll meet me in the Lounge.

  “Before dinner, we’ll meet for an hour.”

  “Fine. Where?”

  “You’re in Skills the rest of the afternoon, correct?” I nod. “Then we’ll use one of the vacant rooms in the Training Center, so I don’t have to traipse all over campus to find you.”

  “Beginning when?”

  “Today.” He turns and stomps back toward the direction he came from.

  I won’t let Staten spoil the great day I was having. Okay, it really isn’t a great day. It started going sideways the moment I stepped into history class. But waking up next to Bronx was heavenly. Getting recap notes from Noelle was great; my girl is watching out for me. And that’s about all I can say that’s a positive. Everything since then is firmly in the negative column.

  Walking into the Lounge, it takes a while to spot my friends. They sit in the far corner, near the windows. I stroll through the lunch choices and decide, then I grab a snack and two bottles of water, for after Skills.

  After I lay down my tray, Noelle asks, “When are you meeting?”

  “After Skills,” I huff. Childish, I know.

  “Dinner then homework?”

  I nod. Staten is cutting into my personal time with Manny and Bronx. Maybe that’s his point. I fist my hands. If that’s the case, he has some nerve. I’ll talk with my boys about it. Maybe they can get him to change the time. Why couldn’t he use the time I normally have magic class? If he’s the top Third Year magic user, then maybe his schedule is not normal.

  Shoveling down my food, I listen to the table’s gossip. The upcoming weekend party is still a hot topic, and I have no plans on attending it. Besides, it’s at Madi’s room, and I don’t need to be anywhere near Miss Snooty Pants.

  “We’re going, right?” Noelle asks.

  “Wasn’t planning to.”

  “But you have to,” she whines. “Wasn’t one of the reasons you didn’t have any friends was because you never left your room to venture out? You never attended any parties. Well, now is your chance to let everyone know that you can be fun, and you’re not some stuck up rich girl from the Upper East Side. We can pick out our clothes Saturday afternoon, help each other get ready, and then go. It’ll be fun. Please say you’ll go.” Her eyes plead with mine.

  “All right. Fine. I’ll go.”

  “Yippee!” She winks at Reist. “We’re going to have a blast.”

  Something is up with those two.

  “So, you finally managed to convince her to go?” Reist asks Noelle.

  “Yep, it wasn’t that hard,” she says. “Challenge was thrown down and I won.”

  “What?” I ask.

  “Reist here didn’t think you’d actually go.” Noelle takes a small bite of her egg salad sandwich. “We put a wager on it.”

  “And what were the stakes?” I glare between them.

  “If you show up on Saturday, then he has to do the timeline for history,” Noelle says as she pops a carrot into her mouth. “If you don’t go, and I know you will because you wouldn’t bail on me, but if for some reason you ditch your best friend then he gets a date with you.”

  “I see.” Staring at Reist, I smile. “You better do a fantastic job on that timeline for her. Us girls have to stick together.” Turning back to Noe
lle, I say, “Like how fancy is this party?”

  “Probably casual. I’m sure you have something in your closet to wear. If not, we can go shopping Saturday morning.”

  “I’m going to go outside for a bit.” I rise and lift the tray.

  “Do you want some company?” Manny is standing directly behind me. I should have known it was him by his lavender scent. “Hello.” He plants a small kiss on my cheek. “Here, let me take that.”

  Before I can object, he’s carrying the tray to the trash receptacle. “Sure, if you want to,” I say, following him. “How is Bronx feeling?”

  “He’s a lot better than yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to thank you for attempting to save him. Staten told me that you went to his room to check on him.”

  “Yeah. It’s no big deal.”

  “Well, you must have done something right because Staten said that you did a great distraction spell. Or an attempt at one.”

  “He said that?” Manny nods. Maybe I’m cracking through his exterior. “Well, I’ll be green as a dragon.”

  Before long, we’re outside enjoying the clear and sunny day. The weather is warm, and I’m glad I have a T-shirt on. We continue on our way to the steps of the Visitor Center that is used for both the college and the Academy. The top step has a great view of the entire campus. It’s one of my favorite places.

  “I hope you know that if you don’t want to be exclusive with me, you don’t have to be,” Manny says. “I know Bronx comes off as a flirt, but I think you could have something really nice with him.”

  “Have you talked with him?”

  “No, not at any length, but he asked about you this morning, and he normally doesn’t do that about girls. They come and they go out of his life. Honestly, it’s hard for us to keep track of. But since you’ve entered his life, he hasn’t mentioned any other girl. He hasn’t been seeing anyone that I know of. And I think that’s a good thing. So whatever you want to do, will be fine with me.” He takes my hand and rubs small circles near my thumb that’s comforting and familiar. “He’s family, and we support each other.”