Chapter 15
Iknow Auranius is friendly—or should be—but I’m about to pass out in terror.
The huge dragon lowers his head and opens his gigantic jaw displaying his sharp teeth, each bigger than my head, and roars.
The sound is terrifying, but it’s nothing compared to the horrific stench coming from his breath, something putrid and foul, worse than piles of rotten fish. Worse than anything I’ve ever smelled.
I flinch backward, but Alayel holds me in place, then steps in front of me.
“Easy, there,” he says, the voice soothing as if he was trying to calm down a sad child. For some reason, it manages to calm me.
Auranius roars again.
“Easy,” Alayel repeats in that same lulling tone. “We’re your friends. You know that, don’t you?”
Auranius sniffs Alayel, as if trying to find something, then roars again and stomps his feet, breaking some of the stones paving the street.
Alayel continues, “You want to go to your lair now, don’t you?”
The dragon shakes his head, as if confused or angry, then opens his jaw again.
“Easy, now,” Alayel coos.
A man in a red robe—an acolyte—comes running, holding a golden thurible burning some herb I don’t recognize.
Auranius turns to him and growls, but after a few seconds, the dragon blinks, his eyes softening.
I suppose the scent is soothing him, and I take the opportunity to step back even more.
To my relief, Auranius takes flight and disappears in the sky.
My body still trembling, I turn to the acolyte. “Thank you.”
The man nods and walks away.
“Let’s get you inside.” Alayel’s tone is harsh, urgent, already walking back to the academy. “It’s the hatchlings. He must have smelled them on you.”
“But he was… aggressive.”
“Maybe he thinks you hurt them or something. I don’t know. You’ll need to change clothes and clean up next time you leave the academy after you touch the little dragons.”
My legs are still trembling, even though we’re walking fast. “You think it would be enough?”
“It should be, if you get rid of the smell.”
A nervous chuckle leaves my lips. “I almost fainted back there.”
“I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
I almost tell Alayel that if Auranius wanted to hurt us, there would be very little he could do, and yet, he did calm down the gigantic dragon. “How did you do that? Soothe him? Is it something you learn in the academy?”
He shrugs. “No. We learn to kill dragons, or rather, try to kill them. I just… improvised. Figured it was worth a try. I’m glad it worked. Now, next time you think I don’t care for you, please remember that I stepped between you and Auranius, and consider how many people would do that.”
“It was quite brave, Alayel. Thank you.”
He grins. “See? One more item for my incredible list of talents.”
“I’m highly impressed.”
We enter the academy and climb back through the same staircase. When I get to my floor, he says, “See you later.”
Before we part, he pulls me in, plants a quick kiss on my lips, then turns away and keeps climbing.
Shaken, I bring a finger to my mouth, the feel of him lingering there. Such a casual, plain kiss, and it left me shaken as if a whirlwind caught me. Perhaps it’s because it’s the kind of kiss that couples give each other, knowing they’ll have many, many more kisses.
And he stepped in front of Auranius for me.
Still, the first thing I want to do is clean up and change. I wouldn’t want to risk Auranius breaking a window and finding me here. As much as I doubt he would truly hurt me, that roar was enough for an eternity of nightmares.
Celine is staring at herself in the mirror, smoothing her plain but pretty pink dress with her hands. She’s been fidgety with excitement since she mentioned the upcoming beach party that second-year recruits are organizing.
According to her, recruits always celebrate the night after attacks. It’s the ideal time to do it because they know Auranius won’t sleep right away, and it’s also an opportunity for them to celebrate being alive.
I’m glad to be alive after my odd encounter with our dragon guardian, even if I didn’t tell my friends about it, afraid to implicate the hatchlings by mistake.
And I’d love to go to the Outer Beach and see the stars, something I haven’t done in a long time.
Celine turns to me and Nelly. “How do I look?”
“Great,” I say. “You know, despite torches or jars, I’m sure the beach will be dark.”
I’m just wearing a plain white linen dress, knowing it’s a casual celebration. Of course, I washed my hair and scrubbed and scrubbed every inch of my skin to get rid of the baby dragon scent.
Celine glances at the mirror again. “I still want to look good.”
Nelly is sitting on her bed, watching us with an amused expression. “Thinking of impressing someone special?”
“No.” Celine looks down, thoughtful, her face serious, until a smile graces the corner of her mouth. “But I wouldn’t mind having someone special to impress.”
“Come on!” Nelly slaps a hand on the mattress. “Are you going to tell me you’ve been here for a year and haven’t impressed anyone?”
Celine scrunches her face. “Have you seen the male recruits? Wine isn’t enough.”
We all burst into laughter.
“And yet you’re still excited!” I say, glad to see her in a cheerful mood, but a little puzzled.
“Oh. I haven’t told you!” Her grin is cheeky and mischievous. “It was meant to be a surprise, but… yes, let’s leave it as a surprise.”
Nelly gets up from the bed. “Now you’re telling us or I won’t let you leave the room and you’ll miss the party.”
“Then you’ll miss it too,” Celine says.
“Don’t try my pettiness!” Nelly waves a finger.
“Fine, fine.” Celine laughs, then lowers her voice. “They’ll have star nectar.”
The words are supposed to mean something, but I have no idea what. Nelly’s jaw drops, so I’m assuming whatever Celine mentioned is quite impressive, and now I’m debating feigning excitement and waiting until the party to find out what she means, or confessing my ignorance and sounding like a fool.
Celine tilts her head as if to see me better. “Mayara, you never heard of it?”
My foolishness is obvious, I suppose. “No. What is it?”
“I never had it.” Nelly shows me her palm as if justifying herself.
Celine looks up, her countenance dreamy. “It’s a drink. Tastes all right. But it makes you relaxed, happy.”
“Like wine, then?” I ask.
“Sort of. But also different. You feel things more… Colors become prettier, touches feel nicer. If you’d like to take a tumble with someone and forget all about it the next day, it’s the right drink.”
I grimace. “That sounds horrible.”
“I don’t think so,” Nelly says. “Sometimes you need an excuse to do things you wouldn’t normally do.”
Her words make no sense. “But if it’s something you don’t want…”
Nelly half shrugs. “Maybe part of you wants it, and then you make all the other parts shut up and stop annoying you.”
I’m still not convinced. “Won’t they yell at you the next day?”
“Sure.” Nelly grins. “Then you shrug and say oops, too late.”
“I see,” I say. “But you don’t have any experience with star nectar.”
Nelly bites her lip. “It’s expensive.”
Celine nods. “Yes. The sentinels get it, but only after the attacks, so they forget, celebrate, and all that. Someone smuggles it for us.”
“Do we risk getting in trouble?” I ask, suddenly worried.
“No.” Celine clicks her tongue as if the idea was absurd. “I think the academy encourages it, but it’s second years or by invitation, so the younger recruits don’t participate.”
“Understood.” I nod. “But I just want to see the stars and the ocean and relax. I’m not going to drink anything weird. Can I still come?”
“Of course, silly. Nobody’s going to be shoving star nectar down your throat. Now come and let’s celebrate.”
Celine walks to the door, as if she wasn’t the one taking forever getting dressed and looking at herself in the mirror. Nelly and I follow her, even if I’m second-guessing my decision to come and the kind of party it’s going to be.
Also, I haven’t seen Alayel since our brief kiss, and I can’t help but wonder if he’ll be there—and what might happen.
The path to the Outer Beach goes through a tunnel carved at the bottom of one of the hills surrounding our city, and I hold a portable lumos lantern as we cross it, the roar of the beach waves greeting us.
Despite my misgivings about illicit drinks, I’m glad to be out of the academy and about to see the ocean again.
I’m also glad that all my washing and scrubbing worked; Auranius hasn’t noticed me.
The last thing I want is another face-to-face with that gigantic dragon, even if I appreciate all he does for our kingdom.
The sand stripe of the Outer Beach is much wider than usual, with the lower tide of the evening.
Beyond the merciless waves, the ocean stretches to the dark horizon, reflecting the trail of stars above.
The waves themselves carry a faint brilliance; this part of the water has fewer lumos algae than the bay, but enough that stars seem to blink within the depths.
I haven’t been here at night in such a long time.
The last visits were with Marcus, and we barely enjoyed the spectacular view, as we were more interested in finding a private place away from prying eyes, all the while keeping our ears perked for any bell, for any sign that we’d need to seek shelter at a moment’s notice.
What a great reminder that I haven’t had sex in a while.
Some bonfires light the sand, and I turn to Celine. “Do you know which one is ours?”
She points to the back of the beach, on the west. “Last one.”
We take off our shoes and walk where the water meets the sand, tiny waves wetting our feet as we pass two bonfires surrounded by people.
“Do you know who they are?” I ask.
“Not sure,” Celine says. “Some sentinels, other recruits, people from the city. Have you been here at night before?”
Heat rises to my cheeks. “Never for a party.”
She smiles. “Let me guess. You came for the bushes.”