Exordium (Emberhold Academy #1)

14. Reverie

Chapter 14

Reverie

I flew through the obstacle course. I was pissed that I didn’t dodge the dart that got me in the shoulder. I had let my concentration slip for one second because I stepped on something sharp.

Damn it! My clothing choices had come back to bite me in the ass. My parents would be so disappointed in me. I wouldn’t make that mistake again and would ensure that Nathan and none of my new friends would either.

Taking a deep breath, I headed into the tunnel. I had heard about this from my parents. Pop said it was one of the most challenging parts of the training. The tunnel of fear.

Fourteen-year-old me was sitting in my yard petting a Bat-Eared Fox. Things like this happened all the time at my house. My Grumpy’s power seemed to call animals from everywhere. I had no idea how he got here, but the species were native to Southern Africa. I had researched it when he first showed up, curious about the little guy.

Stroking his ears seemed to soothe me as much as it did him. I had a tough day at school. There was a dance this weekend, and I’d been so excited about going. My good friend Marcus was on the cheerleading squad with me and asked if I wanted to go. Marcus was gay and made no bones about it. Even for a guy so young, he was comfortable in his skin. Mom talked to me a year ago about not forming romantic relationships. I knew I would leave for Emberhold in four short years, and I understood that my parents didn’t want my heart to break. Marcus asking me to the dance was awesome because we were just friends, and there was no chance of anything romantic. Per usual, Nathan ruined it for me.

I was putting books up in my locker when Marcus approached me and said he wasn’t going to the dance. When I asked him why, he gave a lame excuse about forgetting a project he had due on Monday, I knew it was all bullshit because Nathan was standing a few lockers down, staring at me with a smile on his face. I was so tired of his crap. Fighting my feelings for him was exhausting. Especially since I had to fight both of our feelings. Nathan had upped his campaign at the beginning of the year and hadn’t let up. I hated school now. I had friends, but they didn’t understand why I wouldn’t date Nathan. Some of them were downright assholes about it. I knew it was jealousy since they would give anything to have his attention.

Hearing the door to the house shut, I looked up and saw Pop heading my way. Sitting beside me, he asked, “What’s wrong, Tator Tot?”

“I was going to the dance tomorrow, and once again, Nathan ruined it. I sighed. I know it’s silly compared to everything all of you deal with, but I just wanted to experience things like a normal human.”

“It’s not silly. You’re allowed to have ordinary experiences. I need to visit this kid, maybe as a Siberian Tiger.” He transformed just his face and let out a roar.

I started laughing, “I would love to see that. He would shit his pants.”

“Reverie Cleopatra Hawthorne!” Pop frowned, trying his best to look stern. He failed miserably. “Your mother has much to answer for where your language is concerned.”

I just rolled my eyes. My middle name was ridiculous. Mom told me Cleopatra was Aurathion and a distant relative. I knew bullshit when I heard it. Knowing Pop wasn’t nearly as offended as he tried to act, I ignored his outrage.

“I’m just afraid of losing my friends, of never getting to experience everyday human things, disappointing y’all at Emberhold, giving in to Nathan, and being heartbroken when I leave. Sometimes, I want to hide under my bed and never come out.”

“Honey, you must face what scares you. Fix the things you can and accept what you can’t. Every person you know fears something.” He smiled softly.

“That’s not true. You, Grumpy, and Mom aren’t scared of anything.” I said in a quiet voice.

“It is true. I hate to break it to you, kid, but we’re scared of many things. One of the obstacles we had to defeat at Emberhold made us face our fears. The Academy makes you face and understand what you fear to help you through initiation. I found it to be the most challenging thing I had to do up to that point.” Pop frowned, obviously thinking about losing two Faction members.

“What did the Academy show you?” I questioned.

“What my life would be like if I never found a Faction,” Pop pulled me into a hug.

“That was your greatest fear?” I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“At the time, yes. Both of my parents were Passive since they never found a Nexus. They loved each other deeply but never got to experience their power. The thought of that terrified me.” He grimaced.

“How did you get through it?” I asked softly.

“I realized that being afraid won’t help change the outcome of anything. If I stayed Passive, I could help our people in other ways. It didn’t mean giving up our culture. I had to realize that fixing the things I could and accepting what I couldn’t was the only way to deal with my fear.”

“Luckily, you found Mom,” I smiled.

“Exactly. I was worrying about something that hadn’t even happened yet. I was fortunate that Adelaide always ran late and crashed into your Grumpy in the hallway. When she looked up at us, I knew we had found our Nexus. Her only fault was, and still is her foul mouth.” He said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Mom has told me that story so many times,” I said dreamily. “It’s so romantic.”

“Not long after, we met your other fathers, Sly and Rue, and our Faction was complete.” He smiled in remembrance.

I pondered my solution outloud, “Well, I can’t appease my friends, but I guess if they don’t respect my decisions, they aren’t my friends anyway. I can act by going to the dance and having a good time with my real friends,” I said hesitantly, looking at Pops. He smiled at me encouragingly. “And I’m going to put in the work so I can kill it at Emberhold; lastly, I can’t control Nathan’s actions, so I’m just going to roll with it as they come.”

“You never need to worry about disappointing us. We’ll be proud of you if you put forth your best effort. We all love you very much, Tator Tot.”

“I love y’all too.” I replied, so happy I had been gifted my wonderful parents.

The darkness was absolute. I couldn’t see anything. Moving carefully forward, using my other senses, I could hear water dripping and feel cool air blowing on my face. The farther I walked, the lighter it became until I could make out shapes.

Suddenly, I heard Nathan calling for me in a frantic voice. I panicked and started running in the direction his voice was coming from. How in the world did he get in here without ShitStorm seeing him?

“Reverie, hurry!” Nathan yelled, sounding pained.

I felt like I was flying, moving so fast I could barely see my feet. Coming into a large, cavernous room, I saw Nathan being held between several robed figures. The robes looked like the ones worn by the Council during ceremonies.

“Let go of him!” I demanded. This couldn’t possibly be real. It had to be an illusion. The figures holding Nathan pushed him to his knees. Oh shit, the Council must have found out the truth about Nathan and that we formed a Faction without the ritual.

“Please don’t hurt him. It was an accident.” I pleaded.

Just then, I heard my mom say, “It’s ok, sweetheart. They were bound to find out the truth. We’ll never regret covering for you.”

I saw two more robed figures standing next to my parents, who were in chains. My fathers were struggling trying to reach my mom.

A booming voice from one of the robed figures said, “You are all found guilty of perpetuating a lie and keeping vital information from your people.”

“No, they aren’t at fault. It was all me! Please let them go!” I begged.

This had to be the Academy. Fight this, Reverie, it’s not real, I kept chanting. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried blocking it all out. Hearing footsteps, I opened my eyes.

One of the dark figures stepped up, and flames shot from his hands, disintegrating my mom on the spot. My fathers started screaming and fighting the men holding them, trying to get to me. The men pulled out knives and slit both of their throats simultaneously. Blood began gushing out onto the floor and running toward my bare feet.

Nathan broke free running in my direction. The man that could weld fire turned to him, and flames shot out again, turning my beloved Psycho into ashes.

The heat from the flames and the smell of burnt flesh was overpowering. I could smell the coppery scent of my fathers’ blood, feel how sticky it was coating my feet. This wasn’t an illusion! It had to be real, all my five senses confirmed it. I fell to my knees sobbing, closing my eyes tightly so I couldn’t see the bodies of my fathers and what was left of my sweet mother and the man I loved.

Suddenly, I felt a rough tongue lick my face, from chin to forehead. Opening my eyes, I saw a creature I had only heard about in stories.

Seeing a Fellat shocked me so much that I snapped out of my grief and realized it had been Emberhold all along. The smell and feel of the blood disappeared, and the illusion was broken. My greatest fear was the Council discovering my secrets and taking the ones I loved from me.

Feeling the great beast snuffling my hair brought me back to reality. What in the hell was he doing here? Where did he come from?

“I’m here because I felt you calling me, Nexus.” Looking around to see where the voice was coming from, I realized it was just me and the Fellat here. “My name is Pantar, so you can stop referring to me as the Fellat.” How in the hell was he speaking to me telepathically? I thought frantically. That was Grumpy’s ability.

“Calm down, Nexus. I can speak to you because you have the ability inside to communicate with animals. It can be found in your ancestry.”

This was incredible. “How are you here? I thought your entire species were all killed during the war.” I couldn’t believe this. Using his tentacles, he helped me to stand.

“Nexus shouldn’t lower themselves so.” He took me to task, “especially one such as you.” Answering my question, he said, “Most of my kind were killed trying to defend the Nexus we had bonded with during the war. Luckily, my Dam hadn’t found a Nexus worthy; already bred and close to giving birth, she found a safe place deep in the Cimmerian Forrest. We stayed there until we were old enough to venture out on our own.”

“But how are you here, at the Academy?” I asked.

“I felt you. Your power is incredible. I deeply regret not finding you before you started your Faction.” Pantar replied without completely answering my question.

Still shocked at this turn of events, and the illusion I had experienced fresh on my mind, I begged, “Please, you can’t say anything. Nobody knows!”

“Silly Nexus, I can’t communicate with just any Aurathions,” he rolled his eyes. “ And I am insulted that you would think I would betray you. “ I sighed at my stupidity.

“That’s true, I suppose, and I’m sorry.” He was so beautiful, and his fur looked so soft. I hesitantly reached up to touch him and he lowered his great head so I would have better access. His back leg started tapping, when I scratched behind his ears. Seeing such a vicious-looking animal looking so adorable made my heart melt and a smile come to my face.

He shook his great head and said, “OK, enough of that. We need to get you out of here, and I would like to make our bonding official.”

“How do we do that? My mom had a Fellat, but it was killed defending her Faction. She doesn’t talk about her, and since we thought your kind extinct, there was no need to discuss the bonding process.” I was excited and scared all at the same time.

“That is understandable. The process is quite simple. All it takes is a small bite, and the bond snaps into place. ”

I winced, looking at Pantar’s sharp teeth. But the honor of bonding with this great beast made me push the fear to the back of my mind.

“I’m honored you chose me, and I’m ready when you are,” I told Pantar.

Leaning down, he took my wrist delicately between his teeth and bit down gently.

I felt the bond snap in place immediately. It was like a warm balm to my soul. I felt a burning between my breasts and a swelling of my power in my gut. Pantar bent his front legs and bowed his head like I was royalty.

“I am honored to bond with you, Nexus, and will protect you and yours all the days of my life.”

“I accept your vow and promise to honor you and your kind until my last breath,” I said. Not knowing where the words came from but needing to say them.

Standing, Pantar decreed, “It is done. Now, let us leave this place.”

Coming out of the tunnel, I saw Zeke hit Instructor Storm and knock him on his ass. I couldn’t help clapping at the fantastic sight. I don’t know what he did to piss Zeke off but whatever it was I’m glad I didn’t miss the awesome sight of that bag of dicks laying on the ground bleeding.

The guys turned to look at me, and their mouths dropped open in shock. I guess it wasn’t every day they saw someone walking around with a giant tentacled beast at their back.

Things were about to get real. There would be no doubt about my Nexus status now. The time had come to own my shit, and I was ready for it.

With Pantar by my side and my Faction coming together, I was going to be just fine.