Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (35 page)

“Fight’s over,” I growled at him. “So cool off.”

I turned around to find Felix struggling to get his feet. His cheeks were swollen and his nose was bleeding from being punched in the face so many times, but he looked like he was going to be fine. At least, fine enough to take a swim. I grabbed him by the collar, and threw him into the water fountain, too.

“You jerk!” He yelled as he came up for air. “What was that for? I thought you were on my side!”

“Sober up. You’re embarrassing us all and acting like an idiot,” I snapped as I glared at him.

That shut him up. He stood knee-deep in the water fountain, soaked to the bone, staring at me with his mouth hanging open.

I got a round of applause as I climbed the stairs back to the balcony. Julianna hugged me, which was weird, and it took me a while to pluck her arms off from around my neck. I wasn’t used to being accepted by anyone, let alone a court full of noble guests. Normally they would have treated me like a filthy rat. But it was nice to see them all smiling at me. I kind of enjoyed it.

“Nice one!” Lyon laughed as he patted my shoulder roughly. “They’ll be talking about this for years!”

“I hope not.” I stole a quick glance at Felix as he struggled to climb out of the water fountain. “I don’t think his ego could take it.”

The party finally ended as the sun began to rise over the ocean. Nobles staggered to their suites in the duke’s castle, or were escorted to their carriages to start the long journey home. The ballrooms and gardens were eerily quiet and empty. They were also a complete wreck, and servants were already beginning the long process of getting them cleaned up again.

Lyon and Jace didn’t waste any time retreating to their rooms to sleep off the night’s excitement. I was exhausted, too, but I couldn’t calm down enough to try sleeping just yet. My exchange with Beckah had me contemplating how I should handle my dreams. I was starting to wonder if she was right. Fighting these nightmares wasn’t getting me anywhere. Maybe if I listened to them, I would finally get some answers.

I was in a daze as I changed out of my formal uniform and into some casual clothes. I started looking for a quiet place where I could sit and think. That’s when I found Felix.

He was standing alone on one of the balconies attached to his wing of the castle. His shoulders were hunched as he leaned against the tall stone railing, staring into the glare of the rising sun. His face was bruised up from his fight with the infantryman., and his formal uniform still looked damp from his swim in the fountain.

When he noticed me staring at him, Felix let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I walked over to stand next to him. “I’m sorry about throwing you,” I said.

He shrugged. “I deserved it. We’re fine. Besides, everyone seemed to like your little fire show.”

“Why did you get so drunk?” I dared to ask. “You could have gotten seriously hurt. That guy looked like he wanted to kill you.”

Felix’s eyes closed slowly. He hung his head, and wouldn’t look up. “I got called away from the party for a few minutes last night,” he replied. “I guess you were outside beating those infantrymen to a pulp.”

I could hear some kind of tension in his voice. It was strange, though. It didn’t sound like anger or frustration. It was disturbing, and I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Why? Did something happen?” I dared to ask.

He laughed hoarsely, but it was an eerie, humorless sound. It gave me chills. “I guess you could say that.”

We stood there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the distant roar of the waves against the cliffs. The sun was warm on my face, and it made the tops of the waves look like ripples of light. Seagulls made lonely cries as they rode the strong winds. The cold sea air cut right through my clothes and chilled me to the bone. I could only imagine that Felix was freezing since his clothes were wet.

“My dad died last night,” he said at last.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It didn’t seem possible. No one had said anything about anyone dying last night.

Felix didn’t look up. “Mom called for me not long after the ball started. She said it had just happened, but not to tell anyone. She didn’t want to ruin the party. She wouldn’t even let me see him. She made me go back, so no one would suspect anything was wrong.”

His voice cracked and I saw his shoulders tense up. His jaw clenched. He was trying to keep it in.

“Can you go see him now? I’ll go with you, if you want,” I offered.

“What’s the point?” He frowned harder. There was a quiet rage in his eyes. “He never liked me, anyway. I was always a disappointment to him.”

Without thinking, I put my hand on Felix’s shoulder. I could sense his pain and grief. It shocked me how intensely those emotions surged through me, resonating in my mind almost like the way Mavrik used images to speak to me. It made my heart surge with shared grief, and without realizing it, I started squeezing his shoulder really hard.

“That kinda hurts, dummy.” Felix was looking at me curiously.

I snatched my hand away. I felt the coldness of the air rush back over me suddenly. “Sorry,” I muttered.

Felix looked away again. He stared out toward the sea with the wind blowing in his shaggy hair. “Anyway, now I have to decide if I’m going to stay here and take over the estate, or return to the academy.”

I didn’t want Felix to stay here, plain and simple. We had started this journey through training together, and I wanted to finish it that way. But I couldn’t tell him what to do. It was his life, and I knew I had no right to impose my selfish opinions on him.

“What do you think I should do?” he asked without ever looking away from the horizon. I was surprised, and a little suspicious he could read my thoughts. “I know you well enough by now to be able to tell when you have something on your mind. So just say it and quit making all those weird faces at me.”

I joined him in watching the waves. “I can’t tell you what to do, Felix. It’s your life, and your choice. So do whatever you think is best, and I’ll support that.”

He didn’t reply.

“But if you want my honest opinion,” I added. “I think you have to at least ask yourself if you would regret quitting or not.”

He nodded a little, although he still didn’t say anything. I didn’t blame him for that. He had a lot to think about now. As of this morning, he was heir to everything we were looking at. All this land, the castle, and the towns inside the Farrow estate belonged to him. Felix was a duke now, and he was going to have to deal with that eventually.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when we finally got packed up and ready to make the long flight back to the academy. Jace said we could have given it another day, since we would have a short break when we got back, but we were all ready to get back to work. So after lunch, we loaded all our gear, checked our saddles, and took off toward the western coast.

Felix left with us.

We didn’t arrive back at Blybrig until well after dark. Other riders were still coming in, taking their time putting their dragons to bed in the Roost, and hanging up their saddles in the tack room. I stuck closer to Felix than usual. He didn’t talk much at all, not even to the instructors who kept giving him compliments on how great the ball was. He wasn’t his usual smiling self, not that I expected him to be.

I didn’t ask him about deciding to come back to training, either. I knew he had his own reasons, and I wasn’t going to assume that anything I had said made a difference when it came down to making that choice. I was glad he came back, though. I couldn’t imagine returning to the academy without him.

We were given a few days of rest before training started up again, and even then, it seemed unusually calm. Even Thrane had backed off his game a little bit, and didn’t torment me as much as usual. All the instructors were acting kind of tense, and even though no one said it, I had a feeling it was because of what was happening with the animals in the kingdom.

As the interlude approached, that tension only got stronger. Rumors started filtering in about more and more attacks. A flock of birds had slaughtered a whole family on an open road near the royal city. Horses were throwing off their riders and trampling them to death for no reason. Wolves, mountain cats, and bears were roaming the cities without fear. Even a farmer outside of Mithangol had been trampled to death by his cows.

“It’s like the whole world is going crazy,” Felix muttered as we stood outside the dormitory.

We were watching the last of the fledgling students take off. It had taken almost a full week for all of them to clear out of the dormitory. Last year, Felix, Lyon, and I had left with them for a three-month break in training while the avians were put in their battle scenario. This year, all we could do was watch.

“I hear they’re worried about the dragons turning on us next,” Lyon murmured like he was afraid someone might hear.

“I don’t suppose you could talk to any of them and make sure they’re not about to go homicidal?” Felix sent me a sarcastic smirk.

So far, no dragons had been effected. At least, not that I could tell. “I think they’re just as scared as we are. These animals aren’t doing this on purpose. The ones I interacted with couldn’t even answer me when I tried to call to them. It was like they were possessed by something.”

“Possessed? By what?” Lyon stared at me with wide, haunted eyes.

“I’m not sure,” I answered. “It felt like chaos.”

Felix made a groaning noise. “Great. Well that’s peachy. No wonder the instructors are on edge. If the chaos is spreading, then putting us on the Canrack Islands could be like throwing us in a meat grinder.”

I shuddered at the thought. It was almost time. We had two months of intensive interrogation training left, and then the battle scenario. The anxiety was so thick in the air, it literally made me nauseous.

“They won’t let us go unless they’re sure it’s safe, right?” Lyon fidgeted nervously.

No one answered him. I wanted to believe the instructors wouldn’t toss us to the wolves like that—literally. Except this was supposed to be the most intense training we ever endured. It would make or break us. So maybe it wouldn’t matter. They might send us there regardless.

“We have to be prepared.” Felix let out a noisy sigh. “Nothing else we can do but hang on, and brace for whatever comes our way.”

Those words rang in my ears like a reminder. Ever since we’d gotten back, I had been trying to follow Beckah’s advice about my dreams. I was trying, but it wasn’t going well so far. Every night when I got into bed, it felt like I was bracing for impact. Watching that scene play out crippled me with fear, and it always made the dream start to fracture and fall apart. I didn’t know how I could overcome that, except that maybe eventually I would get used to seeing people being butchered mercilessly like that. If I saw it enough times, then it wouldn’t scare me anymore. I didn’t want to get used to something like that, though. I didn’t want to end up like Thrane, who actually seemed to enjoy watching other people suffer.

The next morning, the call to arms sounded earlier than usual, and we all gathered in the breaking dome. With all the fledglings gone, our group was smaller, but far more serious than usual. The instructors stood before us as we got into a block formation, and none of them looked pleased. Commander Rayken addressed us the same way he always did, giving a short speech on the glory of the dragonriders and how we should all be proud to be standing in this company. I was eager for him to get to the point.

“By now I’m sure you have all heard the rumors circulating about the mysterious animal attacks happening throughout our kingdom,” Rayken said with a grim expression. “No doubt, you are all wondering if this will have any effect on your training. I’m here to tell you that as of now, it doesn’t change anything. There have been no reports of attacks in our immediate area, so for the time being, we are going to carry on as normal.”

A few of the instructors, including Jace, shifted uncomfortably. They didn’t look happy with that decision. It made me nervous to see that they weren’t all in agreement about this.

“Some of you already know how things will progress from here, but for those of you who don’t, listen up.” Rayken continued. He didn’t seem eager to dwell on the topic of the animal attacks any longer than was necessary. “As of right now, everything changes. You are being groomed for the frontlines of combat, and we expect a premium level of performance from every single one of you. There will be no more scheduled morning calls. No more scheduled meals. You are guaranteed nothing, and expected to be prepared for everything. As of this moment, you are no longer boys in training. You are men. You are soldiers. Everything you do will decide whether or not you graduate and join your brothers in battle.”

Commander Rayken went on like that for almost an hour. He explained that we were going to be issued our go-bags with all our survival gear in them, and we were expected to have them ready to go at a moment’s notice. Our combat training would be intensified, and for the first time, we would be learning complex aerial attacks using dragon fire. Very little time would be spent in the classroom, and no day would be the same. That comfortable rhythm of class, food, and rest was officially over.

It was a lot to take in. Everyone looked slightly rattled when we were finally dismissed. We filed toward the dormitory, and lined up in the dining hall to be issued our go-bags. Each bag was exactly the same, and I recognized the tools from our survival training class. There were a few new items, though. There was a thick, coarse brown cloak tied up in a bundle. It was plain and felt like there were several layers of some kind of padding inside, so it was pretty heavy.

“It’s waterproof,” Felix announced as he unrolled his and tied it around his shoulders to test the fit. “It’s for camouflage on the ground, I guess. Or you could use it to make a small shelter.”

We spent the rest of the day sorting through our bags, and standing in line for more new gear. We were issued thicker boots with steel toes made into the leather. We were also given our shields, daggers, and a generic-looking sword.