Chapter 5 Dragontail Atrium #2
His gaze swept across us. When it landed on me, something inside me stilled.
"Your sigils bind you," he continued. "Break that bond, kill a fellow Dragontail, and your magic turns to ash. There is no forgiveness.”
I brushed my mark, a faint green shimmer etched into my skin. At least, I reasoned, he couldn’t kill me. Not without obliterating himself in the process. But then I remembered his words in the library: There are worse things than dying.
"You will not prevail here through rhetorical acumen or bloodline prestige," Lorik continued.
“Victory in Dragontail derives from the deliberate cultivation of existing arcane capacity.
We do not teach you new magic as a primary function.
You will learn to command what already resides within you.
You are here because the Siren identified valiance, not compliance.
Your training will interrogate that trait to its foundation. "
A second voice intervened, clipped and crystalline.
"Rory Rey," announced the Moonveil female with intricately coiled braids threaded in silver. Her demeanor exuded clinical poise, and she was undeniably beautiful. “Dragontail doesn’t promise growth. It guarantees confrontation. To wield magic here, you must be strong, not just in power, but in body and mind. You’ll train in martial arts five days a week at sunset, no magic allowed. My role isn’t to shield you from what this breaks down in you, it’s to make sure you survive it. ”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She kept them on Lorik, like she was searching for something he wouldn’t give her.
“They sure are sleeping together. Right?” Shakari whispered quickly.
I didn’t answer. But the ache beneath my ribs tightened.
For Sunheart heirs, love wasn’t a choice. It was an assignment. A tie between nobles, not hearts. I was promised and promises bound tighter than affection. But Rory and Lorik didn’t have to pretend. They could just choose. That made me jealous, in a way I didn’t want to name.
The last mentor stepped forward. Ugo Zeyu.
Bigger than most doors. His skin bore lightning-shaped runes, glowing faintly as they spiraled down his chest and arms. His hair was tied back in a warrior's knot, black as night.
His features were sharp, and his eyes bright gold.
A Sunheart. He had stood beside Lorik when I first saw him in the courtyard.
"Your bodies and minds belong to Dragontail now. You will fight, bleed, and grow in the Halls of Mirrors every single day. That is where you will be broken and rebuilt. All the legion trains together regardless of your year,” he said, his voice a low thunder that rumbled through the atrium.
A few students shifted nervously. I felt it, too. The weight of it felt inevitable.
Ugo’s gaze swept over us like a slow blade.
“What they’re saying is simple if you’re not strong enough, you won’t survive the Dragontail Trials coming mid-year.
Twenty-four hours in the King Forest to prove your physical strength, magical ability, and valor.
Three separate tests. Fail any one of them, and you’re out. Out of the legion. Out of the academy.”
That part lodged in my chest. I hadn’t thought that far ahead when I’d desired to be in Dragontail. I’d never trained for real combat, even if I believed I could be powerful.
Professor Hog’s voice cut in, low and uncompromising.
“The Dragontail Trials are not a game, nor a rite of passage for the faint-hearted. They are combat in its truest form, steel, claw, and magic against the deadliest dragon illusion magic can conjure. People have bled on that ground, and more than a few never rose again. Every bruise you earn here, every spell you cast, every strike you take, treat them as steps toward survival. These classes are not drills. If you want to walk away whole, you will use every moment, every lesson, to sharpen your skill and your will until neither can break.”
Lorik’s mouth curved but not in kindness. “Don’t worry. You’ll still get your general first-year classes with Emberkeep and Auroric. But make no mistakes, your focus is combat and magic-wielding. You’re here to be warriors.”
I looked at him, my stomach tightening. Maybe he didn’t need to kill me. He could just wait for the Dragontail Trials to do it for him.
Professor Hog gave a final nod. “Well, that’s scary enough of the first-years. If you have questions, bring them to your mentors first. If they can’t resolve them, then come to me. That concludes your orientation. You’re dismissed. Report to your classes.”
The silence shattered like glass underfoot, replaced instantly by a rising rush of whispers.
First-years surged toward the entrance where counselors were being assigned, Shakari among them.
A moment later, she came sprinting back, excitement and worry tangled in her expression.
I already knew what she was going to say before the words left her mouth.
“My counselor is Ugo… and yours is Lorik Draventh.”
Of course it was. I’d told her about him and our encounter on our way to the atrium.
How he seemed to hate me for reasons I still didn’t understand.
How Thalen had offered me almost nothing in the way of explanation.
Whatever grudge Lorik held against my family, it would find me now.
And if I were ever going to prove I was more than the legacy I carried, this was where it would begin.
Shakari clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s steal a little freedom before it’s gone.”
“I’ll catch up,” I murmured. My gaze already locked on Lorik.
She followed the line of my stare and softened. “Whatever your family did to him… It’s not your fault. You know that, right?”
I didn’t move. Didn’t say a word.
“You want me to stay?” Shakari asked.
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like he can kill me.”
She didn’t answer right away. Just gave me that look, the one that said she didn’t entirely believe me but was choosing to trust me anyway. Then, with a half-smile and a flick of her braid over one shoulder, she turned.
The twins followed without a word, their boots echoing as they slipped into the corridor beyond.
I turned and made my way toward Lorik Draventh.