Chapter 14 #2
“Doesn’t Mallor want to expel you?” I’m starting to think that the strict commander might have good intentions, but I don’t want to say that to her. “Maybe you should—”
“No. I have nothing else. My hope is that Instructor Katrine will make me her apprentice. There are more ways to fight the riders, don’t you think?” The glint in her eyes is one of hope.
“Of course. You’re very smart, and Dracolius is lucky to have you.”
“Yes, and I’m counting on Foros.”
The unreliable god. My stomach twists, but then I consider that she’s here, she’s taking first-year classes again, and she’ll likely become a scholar.
I smile at her. “I can’t wait for you to answer all my dragon questions.”
“Oh. We could study now. Do you want to go to the library?”
I glance at the gliders and the lesson I wish I was taking, despite all the dangers, but I suppose I’ll have more chances to watch it. Learning more about dragons could really help me make sense of things.
“I’d love to,” I reply.
She leads me up the stairs to a long hallway, then to a gigantic wooden door. My heart speeds with anxiety as I wonder what kind of knowledge hides behind it, how many books, how many stories.
When she pushes the door open, my shoulders drop. The room is barely larger than Katrine’s classroom, with three bookshelves lining the walls, holding about a hundred books at most. Dozens share similar covers, and I wonder if they’re multiple copies of the same text.
A woman sits behind a desk and raises her eyes to us. “Yes?”
“We want everything you have about dragons!” Celine says, her tone excited.
“Over there.” The woman points to the bottom of one of the bookshelves. “That’s where we keep the dragon manuals.”
“There’s really no other book?” Celine asks.
The woman pauses and points higher up on the shelves. “You can check Riders’ Culture. That should have some more information.”
Celine nods, pulls one of those dragon manuals off the shelf, and places it on a circular table. As I sit to look at the book, I realize it’s identical to the one we saw in class, and can’t believe that it’s all they have.
“Is there another library?” I ask.
“I don’t think so. Not in the academy, at least.” She taps the book. “But it should be enough, for now.”
“Don’t you already know this book by heart?”
Celine blushes. “Not every little detail, no.”
“But you know a lot more than I do. What do you find the most interesting?”
She taps a finger on her lips, thinking, then says, “Not interesting, but useful.” Her fingers shuffle the pages quickly, until she comes to a diagram. “Their most sensitive parts. Where you can hurt them easily.”
The drawing shows a top view and bottom view of a dragon, with some circles.
She points at them. “Eyes, of course. They’re soft, and blinding them can be very helpful.”
My stomach twists. I picture Ava and Vos, their eyes so full of innocent trust.
Celine continues, oblivious. “The tip of the wings is good too. You’d think you should try to cut the whole wing, but the upper part is thicker.
The tips are thinner, and you can mess with their flight.
Tails are the same. Now, the scales are hard, and you won’t be able to do much, but if you can hit the dragon, the part between the head and the body is what you want—closer to the body. ”
This talk twists my stomach as I think about the hatchlings and the dark dragon, but I force myself to listen. If I ever face the enemy’s beasts, I’ll need to know where to strike.
I swallow. “You sound as if you had killed dozens of dragons.”
She shakes her head. “Frankly, I hope I only see them dead. That, I’d like to do: dissect them. Learn some more.”
Unease settles over me at the gruesome image that flashes through my mind, and I try to change the subject.
“How hard are their scales? Like iron?”
“I’d say more like wood. Still not something you can simply cut through with a sword, but a ballista projectile can pierce them.”
“Do we learn what happens during the invasions? How many dragons enter our skies, how many are killed?”
“That’s for when you truly join the Sky Guard, after the second year. For now—”
A bell rings. A bell I know well, and my body stiffens. Unless this is something else. “Is this…”
Celine’s eyes widen and she straightens on her chair. “Yes. We need to return to the dorm.”
“The dorm? That’s what we do during an attack?” The idea feels bizarre. I thought the academy would take the opportunity to instruct us.
Celine nods. “If we’re not assigned anywhere, yes, unless we’re too far. The castle is sturdy and well protected.” She gets up. “Let’s go.”
Another bell rings, and this time it feels even louder, igniting the vivid memory of me shaking with fear, having to comfort my brother. But this castle is a hundred times sturdier than the Grease & Spice, so I should be safe. I just hope Kaio is indoors and that they have time to bar the windows.
We walk out of the room in calm steps, and Celine says, “Whenever there’s an attack, one thing we cannot do is run. If we’re caught running…”
“Let me guess. You get expelled.”
She cocks her head. “Or spend some time in prison. It’s weird that they’re attacking during the day, isn’t it? It hasn’t happened in what? A few years, I think.”
My body chills all at once, and I pause. There is something different this time. Something they want in this castle.
The hatchlings.
“I have to go somewhere else,” I mutter.
“You’re not supposed to.”
“I’m sorry.”
I find the closest stairs to me and rush down the steps, descending quickly, but not fast enough to get expelled for running if someone sees me.
In the basement, guards are pouring in, and my breath comes easier. No rider yet. The hatchlings are protected. Still, I need to see the little dragons.
I show the guard by the door my brooch, but he shakes his head.
“Nobody goes in or out. Not while the attack’s happening.”
I want to complain, convince him to let me through, do something, but then I consider the number of guards protecting the corridor, Mallor’s words telling me that this is a trap, and figure that the little dragons are protected. Plus, opening the door could expose them.
Still, anxiety is gnawing on my bones, the memory of that rider still fresh, raising goosebumps on my skin. And yet, what can I do? It’s not like I’m stronger than these guards.
I climb the stairs again, hoping Ava and Vos will be safe. My brother then comes to mind, and my chest tightens. I pause. He knew what to do when the bells rang, and Laristella had a procedure in place in case an attack happened during the day. I have to trust that he’ll be fine.
We survived ten years in that restaurant, after all. Still, I can’t help but wish we were together now, but this is what happens when each of us goes our own way. One day he’ll be far from this continent, and I won’t be able to check on him. The thought brings me a bittersweet kind of joy.
For now, there’s nothing left for me to do other than return to the dormitory, even if I can barely believe that the academy doesn’t use this opportunity to instruct us.
I always thought we’d see what happens during these attacks, perhaps even analyze them.
Instead, recruits remain buried within the castle walls.
The bells keep ringing once every minute to remind us that the attack is still ongoing, the sound muffled and distant instead of the sharp chime I used to hear in the restaurant, as if the attack was happening far away rather than outside our walls.
When I reach Celine’s floor—my floor now—the corridor’s empty, as I assume everyone has gone to their own dorms, and it’s what I’m about to do, despite all my anxiety.
“Mayara.” A lovely voice I know well.
I turn and see Alayel walking toward me.
“I was looking for you,” he says.
I raise an eyebrow. “Afraid I’d get lost?”
“Afraid you’d be out there, battling dragons with your bare hands.”
“I think I’d use a dagger, at least.” I laugh, then stop. People might be dying out there.
“Come.” He takes my hand, the gesture feeling oddly natural, even if it makes my heart jump and sends a jolt of electricity through my body.
He’s already leading me to the stairs when I ask, “Where?”
“My room. It should be our room, but anyway. From where at least we can see some of what’s happening.”
“Please tell me you brought down the shutters.”
He grins. “Most of them, yes.”
“How did you know I would like to see what’s happening?”
“I didn’t. I wanted to look outside, but I also wanted to make sure you’re safe, and if you’re with me, I’ll be sure of that.”
His words warm my heart, and his hand in mine brings me enough comfort to ease my anxiety.
We soon reach his room, which is mostly dark, lit by lumos lamps, except for one shutter that’s only partially lowered. I sit beside him on the wooden floor, from where we look through the uncovered bottom of the window.
From this angle, I spot some six dragons, all with colorful scales, flying around Dracolius City. Some twenty gliders are in the air, with a few jumping from the Outer Hill from time to time.
The only visible ballista tower is burning, but there’s no other fire anywhere. Everything looks peaceful, as if what was happening in the sky was a dance.
“Have you seen this before?” I ask.
“I didn’t have this room, but I’ve heard that they go for the towers first, but only attack the gliders when they get close to them. It seems to be true.”
A dragon dives onto the bay, engulfing a boat in flames.
Another clips a glider with its wing, sending it into a sickening tilt.
The sentinel, still strapped in, fights to right it, but the glider spirals down and disappears from view.
My heart clenches. Nearby, two gliders crash, wings snapping, the riders falling on the city.
A dragon flies by a glider, and a flick of its tail shatters the bamboo wing.
The sentinel hangs on, descending slowly, and I hope whoever was there survived.