Chapter 36 Sage
Lucian seemed lighter after he spoke with his parents and I was happy for him. There wasn’t much we could do without his tech and I still wasn’t all that sure what Elliot and Petros were planning. All they would tell us was that when they crashed our class, it was game on.
I tried asking Morgana, but she said they were being secretive because they were trying to impress her.
She did tell me that historically speaking, when Loki was being helpful, it was dramatic and messy, but it always worked and Petros had grown up on the streets and learned to steal from the best. She had no doubts he could go up Lola’s trousers and steal her burner phone without her noticing and no, she wasn’t going to curse his dick for it because he wasn’t going to enjoy it like that.
While we waited for Lucian’s tech to come in, we were all focusing on Adrian. I just had this gut feeling he was important. We were trying to help him shift and get answers. We honestly didn’t know if he was a reincarnation like the rest of us or just another regeneration of the original phoenix.
We were also trying to help Lucian shift, too.
We actually had an entire group of people out there with us now that they weren’t under Lola’s spell.
The rest of my class was excited about being magical.
They wanted to get familiars or shift if they could and they were doing everything they could to make that happen.
We were all meeting on the enormous field where our magical combat classes were held and they played rugby.
Mazen, Ari, and Khalid were leading the extra classes on shifting.
Ivar was out with his goats because honestly, he was obsessed with them and had them with him at any opportunity.
My crows seemed to know when I needed them and that was when they showed up.
They seemed to enjoy the shifting lessons. Two landed on my shoulders and the other perched on tree to keep watch. They preened when I scratched their chests.
“We’ve been looking into the phoenix.”
I’d asked them to. Not just in case Adrian was the answer to ending this, but because I would imagine if I grew up thinking my parents left me in a warehouse and set it on fire, I’d like some answers once I was an adult.
I might not have mastered the veil-walking part of my banshee abilities yet, but my crows could.
I was also used to telepathic communication now and not blurting my questions out loud where everyone.
“Anything?”
“We found a few shades in the veil that have met one. They all said the phoenixes viewed it as a curse. Not just because they can’t be killed but their tears can heal almost anything.
People tried to capture them and torture their tears out of them for profit.
They were recluses. They only ever came out at the end of their life cycle because they needed someone to care for them when they were babies. ”
“So, Adrian is probably not a reincarnation, he’s a regeneration. Do you think there are other phoenixes out there in hiding?”
“We think one of them was supposed to raise Adrian and keep him safe, but something happened.”
“Adrian has the birthmark, though. It’s why he ended up here.”
“That’s a mark someone has been reborn. Reincarnations have it, but technically, a phoenix should, too.”
My conversation was interrupted when one of my classmates kind of exploded into a giant dragon and knocked everyone over.
Then, they panicked, and we all had to get out of their way so we didn’t get trampled or smacked with their tail.
Khalid instantly shifted and started herding Liam and me towards a tree.
Adrian took the dragon’s tail straight to the chest and went sailing into a tree. Yeah, his neck was broken, and he was definitely dead again. We needed to calm Astrid before she accidentally killed someone who wasn’t going to come right back.
“Sing!” I yelled at Liam.
We were told Liam could force a shift, but it wasn’t good for the animal. It was different when he sang. He wasn’t giving an order and forcing anything. He was soothing the beast and letting them know it was okay to let their human come back out.
Before Liam could even open his mouth, a bunch of dragons from the other side of the school spilled into the clearing and surrounded Astrid. They started this rhythmic chant in a language I didn’t know.
Astrid immediately calmed and eventually shifted back. One of the men yanked their shirt off and pulled it over her head. They all bowed to her in reverence. Yeah, Astrid was like Lucian to the dragons. Hopefully, Blaize learned his lesson and didn’t send her a dick pic.
“What the fuck was that?” Liam asked.
“Dragon tongue. You wouldn’t get it. It’s how we get the younglings to change back when they shift for the first time. You have to speak in a language the dragon understands.”
“Shit, did I kill Adrian, too?” she moaned.
Ivar shot her a murderous glare, even though it was clearly an accident and Adrian wouldn’t stay dead. Before Ivar could get a little stabby, Adrian burst into flames and sat back up covered in soot.
“No worries, Astrid,” Adrian yelled. “Your dragon is sexy.”
Alexios blew out an irritated sigh.
“Last night, he was trying to coax Iman in the shower for a fuck and slipped and cracked his head open. He regenerated with a boner and immediately wanted to fuck again.”
Then I realized Lucian wasn’t here. I grabbed Khalid and Liam, but Lucian definitely wasn’t here.
“Where’s Lucian?”
I was in a panic. I knew he had speed healing, but could he survive getting crushed by a dragon? My crows started flying towards me, corralling something. It was Lucian! He’d shifted for the first time in the chaos.
“Oh, you’re so cute!”
Serious, his bat was adorable. He let out a squeak and clumsily landed on my shoulder.
“He’s terrified and upset by the indignity of it all,” Liam said. “Let’s get him back to our dorm and help him shift back.”
Khalid could help, but we were going to need Darian for bat stuff.