Chapter 8 #2
She narrows her eyes and dissipates any minimal confidence I had.
“It’s everyone’s first day in this class. In fact, I was explaining how you’re expected to be punctual.” She looks me up and down. “What section are you in?”
How do I answer that? “Cleaning crew,” I mutter.
Giggles echo in the room, and heat rises to my face, the sting of humiliation oddly painful. There’s nothing wrong with the cleaning crew, but it doesn’t seem like it.
The woman walks back to her desk and looks at an open book. “You’re Mayara of the Earth?”
The sound of my name in this place feels incongruous, strange. With a shaky nod, I mutter, “Yes.”
“Take a seat. And make sure to catch up.”
My vision is suddenly blurry, perhaps because I don’t want to face all these people laughing at me.
Having to find a place among them makes my insides cold.
For a moment, I wish I could hide somewhere far away, but then I remember how much I wanted to be here, how much I need to keep trying, and I look at the tables again, searching for an empty chair.
A hand up in the air, waving, catches my eye.
To my surprise, it’s Celine, wearing the academy uniform, her blond hair tied in a ponytail, sitting by a girl with wavy, brown hair.
I’m glad to see at least one familiar face and approach their table, which is the one closest to the front.
I don’t understand why Celine, a second-year recruit, is taking this class, but I won’t complain.
Depending on how the day goes, I might even thank Foros.
Under the scrutinizing watch of the instructor, I take a seat silently, unable even to say hi or ask the girl anything.
“And why are you here?” Instructor Katrine asks.
It takes me a second to realize she’s staring at me, and I’m not sure what kind of answer she’s expecting.
“I… was told to come to this room,” I say.
Katrine lets out an annoyed huff. “That’s obvious. Now, what brought you here, to the Sky Academy?”
That’s an easy question. “I want to protect my kingdom.”
“That’s what you think you’re expected to say. But what’s the truth? Underneath it? What brought you here?”
There’s a challenge in her countenance, in her eyes. I don’t know if she’s challenging me to be absolutely honest, or if she wants to hear a specific answer.
I choose honesty. “I want to fly.”
She nods. “Like most. See? You’re predictable.
And what always surprises me is how few of you give me the answer that encompasses your main goal here.
Your main job.” She points to the back. “Young man over there. Thomas, right?” A brown-haired young man nods, and she asks, “What did you say you wanted to do?”
“Kill some dragons.” He says it with a delight that makes me nauseous.
“And he’s right,” Instructor Katrine says.
“That is your main goal. Some of you may fly, which is dangerous, but necessary, while some of you will operate weaponry. Your goal? To eliminate as many dragons as possible. To do that, you need to learn about them. And that’s why, if you want to succeed as a sentinel, you want to pay a lot of attention to this class.
The more you know about dragons, the higher your chances of killing them, or at least surviving your encounter.
Soon, very soon, you’ll be out there, fighting, and what you learn here might be the difference between life and death.
Life and death,” she repeats the words slowly. “Nothing could be more important.”
Solemn silence fills the room as the weight of her words settles in.
I think about the dragon who saved me, and the thought of killing him fills me with horrifying revulsion, but then I think about the dragons who chased us, and the idea doesn’t pinch me from the inside. If it’s either them or me, the choice is obvious.
The instructor smiles. “Now, I don’t want you to think I don’t like dragons. Quite the opposite. I absolutely love dragons. Adore them. But I’m here, teaching you to kill them with no hesitation. Is that a contradiction? No. And I’ll explain to you why.”
I recognize her voice then. She was the woman who came into the room with the eggs, who wanted to keep them from dragon jaws.
I perk up, wishing I could ask her thousands of questions, and yet aware that I can’t let her know I had access to that room.
Still, I’m sure I can learn a lot with her, perhaps even try to understand what happened when that dragon healed me.
Instructor Katrine walks back and forth in front of the board, letting her words simmer, perhaps watching our curiosity rise, then asks, “Can anyone tell me why Auranius is so much bigger than the riders’ dragons? Raise your hand.”
I want to raise mine, but I’m not sure I know the right answer. All I ever heard was that he is special, blessed, or something like that, and I don’t think that’s what she’s looking for.
Celine has her hand up, and Instructor Katrine points at her. “Not you. You know everything already.”
The second-year recruit brings her hand down, a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, as the instructor points to someone else.
A girl with curly hair answers, “He was blessed by Vigorlu.”
“Right.” Katrine snaps her fingers. “But the question remains. How exactly was he blessed? I’ll venture that while Vigorlu played a part, the greatest gift was not from him, but from Foros.
He was lucky that he was not taken by a rider.
That’s the main difference between Auranius and the others.
Riding a dragon sounds harmless, right? You might even think that the dragon and the rider are friends.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The riding bond is not a cute alliance between humans and dragons, no.
Far from that. It’s bondage, and only one half of the bond is paying the price.
Dragons, in the Kingdom of the Riders, are slaves. ”
The word hangs in the silence following it, as I consider it, and think back again to the dragon who saved me.
If that rider who tried to kill me was bonded to him, then they had different goals, and the dragon acted out of his own will.
At the same time, if they can have free will, why can’t they free themselves?
Come join us? I’ll have to find a way to answer those questions.
“Slaves, yes,” she repeats. “Make no mistake. Think about the dragons beyond the wall. They could be grand and impressive and free. Instead, they’re these pitiful killing machines, used and abused until their early demise.
The process of bonding is painful and horrific, and the riders start early, when the dragons are nothing but eggs. ”
Maybe that rider was there to start the bonding process? That’s horrific.
Katrine sighs and smiles at the class. “So, again. The riders mistreat and enslave their dragons. That explains how wise, beautiful animals can act like mindless, ruthless monsters, attacking us whenever they have the chance. It’s sad.
Revolting. And that’s the answer as to why you should not hesitate to kill the invading creatures.
Think of it not as violence, but as mercy.
You’ll be doing them a favor by freeing them from their harrowing bonds of servitude. ”
She lets the words hang in the air again, which seems to be her specialty. I still think about the dragon who saved me, and how he was able to disobey his rider. Was he in pain? It didn’t look like it, but what do I know?
“Does anyone have a question?” Katrine smiles in a way that makes it clear she would prefer no one did.
“I do.” A girl in the back has her hand raised.
Katrine glares at her. “Go on.”
The girl brings down her hand slowly and clears her throat, likely regretting her audacity. “Can’t we… Can’t we save the dragons? Some of them, at least?”
The instructor closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then says, “Yes. Obviously. We’ve all asked ourselves that.
Who wouldn’t, right? The riders are awful to dragons, so all we have to do is free them, right?
They’d probably even defend us out of loyalty, gratitude.
It makes a lot of sense. Can anyone guess why it won’t work? ”
Celine raises her hand, but lowers it, I guess remembering she’s not supposed to answer, and then the same girl says, “They’re… too far gone? Is that it?”
“Yes.” Katrine nods. “Their minds have been absolutely shattered by the time they come to attack us. They’ve become weapons of destruction, bonded to our enemies. The only mercy is death.”
“What if…” I realize I started to ask a question, even though it might not be a great idea. All eyes turn to me, and I have no choice but to continue. “What if we got young dragons? Or eggs?”
Katrine frowns as if considering a strange question.
“Yes, that’s a possibility, but a difficult one.
For one, stealing dragon eggs is almost impossible.
Still, for theory’s sake, let’s assume someone was able to get those precious eggs.
The challenge now is to keep them alive.
Auranius will protect them, of course, but the invading dragons will be merciless.
Remember that they’ve been conditioned to kill.
A dragon who was not raised by them will be considered an enemy.
It will be their main target. When Auranius sleeps, we’ll need to be careful with our defenses and protect the young creatures.
If the hatchling can survive, it will become like Auranius, one of our dragon protectors, albeit a little smaller, at least in the beginning. ”
“So the dragon wouldn’t be bonded?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “We’re not brutes, and wouldn’t impose such suffering upon our own dragons.”