Chapter 8 Myelas
MYELAS
The sickening ache in my gut made it hard to concentrate, Izzy was too far away.
Safir had been so very wrong about the bond.
And despite knowing Izzy was strong and capable, thinking of her in the capital, surrounded by elves, made my mind spin with scenarios of doom. If they found out who she was…
I understood now why she’d begged me to be careful not that long ago. She’d feared what would happen to her if I died. Now I feared the same.
I’d accepted my role in Izzy’s life. I would serve her for as long as I could, protecting her and comforting her…
till she decided she no longer needed me and was powerful enough to break the bond we shared.
It seemed inevitable. She’d be a queen someday — if all our plans worked out — and when she was, she wouldn’t want some insignificant shifter by her side.
She wouldn’t need my comfort. She’d have a whole harem of men to pleasure her and tend to her every whim.
Stronger men than I. So, I’d take what I could get for as long as possible, but that wouldn’t be long if she died before all our plans came to fruition.
Hence, I was more than a little distracted during the morning’s sparring session. And in my job, any distraction during training could be fatal.
It was a good thing I wasn’t fighting Artol.
The wolf shifter was vicious and had it out for me.
When we were young, he’d beaten me all the time, but as I’d slowly grown into my power and gained my shadow abilities, I’d started to win against him every now and then.
That had only made him more vicious and vindictive.
Of all of my cohort, he was the one I feared the most. He often said he’d gladly kill me, to be rid of the weak link in our team.
Today, I fought Saia, an eagle shifter. She didn’t have it out for me, like Artol did, but of all my cohort, she was the one who beat me most often.
I relied on agility and stealth to win, hiding and striking from shadows, whittling my opponents down.
But Saia was equally as agile and the most perceptive of our group, meaning she often saw through my faints and ruses.
Since it was still midmorning, the shadow of the high wall around the practice yard stretched long enough for me to find it and quickly shadow-step away to avoid hits or get into position. But my distraction this morning meant every time I did, Saia was ready.
I emerged from shadows once more to attack her from behind, but she spun and raked me with her talons, tearing my practice armor to shreds and scoring three shallow bloody lines across my chest.
She pressed her attack. Since we both had wings in our hybrid forms, we flew over the yard.
She forced me higher, out of the shadows and as soon as she had, I was done for.
She wouldn’t kill me, like Artol might, but I’d not be coming away from this practice session with just the wounds I had. She’d make sure I was truly defeated.
There was no calling surrender in these fights.
The fight only ended when our cohort leader said it did.
And my leader was a particularly vicious snake shifter named Essyma.
She let Saia tear into me, while I sought to dodge and flee.
It was only once I was at my limit, exhausted and shredded, that Essyma ended the fight.
Saia and I landed, but I couldn’t even stand, falling on my ass as soon as I did.
Artol laughed.
Svek, the last member of my cohort, a giant bear shifter, came to me and helped me up. “You’re getting better, stronger,” the big man tried to reassure me. “But you’re still relying too much on shadows to win. You need to find other ways to fight or—”
“Or you’re going to get yourself and your teammates killed when we’re in a real fight,” Essyma hissed.
“What if we are attacked in broad daylight? What then? At night you may have the upper hand—” she didn’t even sound convinced of that, “—but during the day, you’re weak as shit.
” She shook her head, disgusted. “I should kill you now and put you out of my misery.”
“I’ll happily do it, chief,” Artol said with a grin, showing off his long, sharp teeth.
“And you’re a little too aggressive and bloodthirsty,” she chided Artol. At least I wasn’t the only one getting yelled at. “You could learn a bit of Myel’s wariness. One of these days you’re going to charge into a fight you can’t win.”
Essyma looked at all of us. “You’re all shit. Saia’s the only one of you with any real potential. Svek’s afraid of his own strength, Artol charges in no matter the situation, and Myel is only a moderately viable warrior at night. Fuck me, I’m doomed.”
As far as motivational speeches went, that one sucked.
It was Essyma’s job to be hard on us, turn us into hardened warriors, but still…
“It’s nearly noon. Grab some grub, then head to your afternoon patrols. I’d better see improvement tomorrow or I might report the whole lot of you to the commander.”
None of us wanted that. Being reported to the commander meant only one thing: you weren’t capable, and if you weren’t capable you weren’t needed.
And since a shifter’s only purpose in this world was to serve as front line troops and cannon fodder, if you weren’t needed for that, you were simply executed so you weren’t dead weight.
Admittedly, it was a threat Essyma made to us nearly every day, but today, I took it to heart. I hadn’t done well in that fight and couldn’t afford another bad day. I had to live, for Izzy.
I trudged away, aching and bleeding, to the infirmary, where I’d be stitched up and bandaged, but not magically healed. And while I was there, hissing through the process, since painkillers weren’t wasted on shifters, I couldn’t stop thinking about Izzy.
Perhaps if I sorted through my thoughts now, today, I could function tomorrow. I didn’t think it likely my mind would let go so easily, but it was worth a try.
My feelings for Izzy hadn’t changed, I loved her.
The trouble was, no matter how she felt about me, she didn’t need me.
I wanted to protect her, but she had a dragon for that now.
And the bond would ensure I remained her lover, but she had an incubus and a seraph to tend to those needs as well.
The mate bond was the only thing keeping us together. And for now, I’d take it.
But the thought — the worry — I couldn’t seem to get rid of was: what will happen once she’s fully trained, once she’s come into her power and position?
She knew who she was now. It was only a matter of time before she had the power to break our bond.
Only a matter of time before she’d need to present herself as a royal, and having a shifter lover would only harm her image.
I’d vowed to serve her for as long as she’d have me…
but that had been back when she’d not been aware of her heritage.
Now that she was, I couldn’t help but wonder how limited my time would be.
And if I couldn’t serve her, was of no use to her, not needed… perhaps I’d let Artol end me. Before Izzy had come into my life, I’d been nothing. Without her, I’d be nothing again. Life wouldn’t be worth living.
While I wallowed in self-doubt, the three bells of a campus-wide announcement sounded. To ensure everyone heard these important updates and couldn’t ignore them, announcements were sent directly into the minds of all those on campus by a powerful sylph.
“Attention all Veilblood Academy staff and students. It has come to our attention that Sa Brown Izzy is a half-blood elf. As such, she is to be exiled immediately. A reward of a thousand gold is offered to anyone who brings her to campus authorities.”
Fuck me, a thousand gold? That’s a fortune. Everyone on campus would be hunting Izzy!
“However,” the announcement continued, “our generous and gracious princess Saldrea has offered an alternative option for this mixed blood wretch. If Sa Brown Izzy turns herself in to the main administration building by or before seventeen o’clock then she’ll be granted leniency.
Princess Saldrea offers trial by combat, in the form of a dominion match.
Sa Brown Izzy will be allowed to form a team and take on the princess and her team.
If Sa Brown Izzy wins, she will be granted a stay of exile and allowed to continue her education at Veilblood Academy.
She will, however, be confined to campus and escorted to the human realm upon completion of her time here. Thank you all for your attention.”
I couldn’t make sense of this. Why would Saldrea offer such a thing?
Then it hit me. Saldrea was hoping for one of two outcomes, both of which would get rid of Izzy, while leaving Saldrea blameless.
Either Izzy didn’t turn herself in and was exiled…
or Izzy took the offer, and Saldrea “accidentally” killed her during the dominion match.
Fuck me, this was bad.
I needed to prepare myself. If Izzy was going to be exiled or flee back to the human realm, I’d have to go with her. That would be the safest option, not that Izzy would take the safe option, given what I knew of her.
I couldn’t see Izzy winning a dominion match against Saldrea and her goons, all of whom were experts in their respective elements. Izzy was still too new, too fresh. Her chances of winning would be slim, especially with Saldrea out for blood.
First, I needed to let Izzy and Safir know about the announcement, since it wouldn’t have reached them in the capital. I took out my phone and quickly sent a text.
I prayed Izzy would take the easy out, but that was selfish. It would mean we could be together… forever. She wouldn’t need to learn her nymph or elven powers, just live as a human, with me by her side.
But I had a feeling Izzy would choose to fight. It was in her nature, who she was. And if she did, I would support her, even if victory wasn’t a sure thing. But I had to believe she’d win… because if she didn’t… if she died... I’d go mad or follow her to the grave.