Chapter 51 Kailin
KAILIN
"Those who greet the first light with vigor, reap the day's best rewards."
—By an unknown, confused soul
The blaring alarm ripped through my consciousness like dragfire, yanking me from a dreamless sleep. I bolted upright, heart pounding, momentarily disoriented in the unfamiliar room.
The academy. Right. I was a cadet now.
"Rise and shine, cadets!" A voice bellowed from the hallway, followed by the thunderous pounding of a fist against our door. "Physical training in twenty-five minutes! Anyone not on the assembly ground on time gets latrine duty for a week!"
Across from me, Shovia groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. "Is this some kind of a joke? We just fell asleep."
She wasn't far off.
Instead of going to sleep right after curfew like we should have, Shovia and I had talked late into the night, and now we were paying the price.
I had intended to wake up early and write in my journal, but that wasn't going to happen now. I barely had time to run to the bathroom and brush my teeth.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, wincing when my feet landed on the cold stone floor. "Get up, Shovia," I yelled over the blaring alarm. "We have twenty-two minutes left, and there are only five sinks and five stalls in the girls' bathroom. There will be a line."
I took my training uniform out of the wardrobe. A pair of sturdy cargo pants and a long-sleeved fitted shirt made from stretchy fabric. Regrettably, we got no new boots and had to wear the pair that we'd been issued for the pilgrimage.
By now, they were properly broken in and no longer caused blisters, but they were far from comfortable.
As I changed, I caught a glimpse of myself in the small mirror mounted on the back of the wardrobe door. My hair was a tangled mess, and dark circles shadowed my eyes.
I looked exactly how I felt, like I'd been trampled by a herd of mountain goats. No wonder Alar hadn't been overcome by passion last night.
I wouldn't be either.
Thankfully, the screeching alarm stopped the assault on our eardrums, and I let out a relieved breath. It would resume in a few minutes, but I was thankful for the reprieve.
Shovia groaned as she dragged herself out of bed. "I survived the Shedun bombing of the square and two acts of sabotage on the pilgrimage, but I think this place might actually kill me."
I snorted, twisting my hair into a quick braid. "You are supposed to be the tough one out of us. If anyone has a chance of finishing this course and becoming a rider, it's you."
She shot me a baleful look. "I never said I wanted to be a rider. That was Morek. I was supposed to be in the Spy Corps, remember? Going on adventures, seducing foreign dignitaries—not running up mountains at the crack of dawn."
I didn't bother reminding her that she had been chosen by Elu, and to grumble about it bordered on blasphemy. She was too grumpy to hear that right now.
The alarm resumed its ear-splitting screech for another minute and then cut off again, leaving an almost painful silence in its wake.
"Twenty minutes!" someone barked in the hallway.
To Shovia's credit, she dressed fast, and a minute later we joined the stampede of other bleary-eyed cadets toward the bathrooms.
I caught sight of Alar and Codric a few doors down, both looking far more composed than I felt, probably because they had woken up before the damn alarm and had already finished their morning routine.
Alar's eyes met mine, and a small smile touched his lips. Even this early in the morning, it affected me in the same familiar way.
I quickly looked away.
"Not now, Kailin." Shovia elbowed me in the ribs. "Your face is turning red."
"Shut up." I rubbed my bruised ribs.
Thankfully, there was no line, and we were out of the bathroom less than five minutes later.
We joined the stream of cadets rushing toward the assembly grounds that were conveniently located outside the Citadel's second level on its east side.
As we spilled out of the building, the cold morning air hit me like a slap in the face, and I had to squint against the wind as I took in the large flat area that had been carved out of the mountain.
The trail snaking up and away from the structure was much steeper than anything we had climbed during the pilgrimage, but it was wider, allowing for several people abreast.
Instructors stood at the front, watching with feigned stern expressions as we formed ragged lines.
They were probably trying hard not to laugh at the ragtag group of fumbling cadets who were tripping over their own feet.
"Elucia's finest don't look so fine right now," Shovia murmured under her breath. "Not much of a deterrent for the Shedun. If they saw us now, they would not hesitate to attack."
Captain Odinah seemed to share Shovia's opinion as she paced before us. Her expression was harsh, her uniform was immaculate, and she looked like she'd been awake for hours, waiting for the opportunity to whoop fresh cadets' asses.
"Form a semi-circle around me," she commanded.
With only twenty-four of us, there was no point in standing in formation like the infantry forces would do.
There were thousands of them.
"Welcome to your first day of training, cadets," she called, her voice carrying easily across the grounds.
"Some of you might have been thinking that the hard part was over—that having been chosen by Elu was the defining moment of your lives and the rest would be easy.
" Her lips curved in what might have been a smile on someone else's face.
On hers, it looked more like a predator baring its teeth. "You were wrong."
A collective shiver ran through the group of cadets.
"Being chosen is merely the beginning," she continued. "Now you must prove that you deserve the honor of bonding with dragons and that you have what it takes to become defenders of Elucia." She gestured to the mountains rising behind her. "We start with a simple run to assess your fitness level."
Simple. Right. There was nothing simple about running in this thin mountain air, especially after three days without food and barely any sleep.
"The route is marked," Captain Odinah said. "Follow the red flags to the summit and back. Instructors will be stationed along the way to monitor you." Her gaze swept over us. "This isn't a race, and tripping up your fellow cadets will get you automatically disqualified. Now, go!"
Had it ever happened that cadets had tried to sabotage each other?
I was still trying to wrap my head around what she'd implied when her call to action took me by surprise.
There had been no countdown, no further instruction—just a sharp command that sent everyone but me surging forward toward the trail.
Thank Elu for Shovia giving me a push to get me going.
I fell in step beside her, trying to keep up as we began the ascent. The path started out reasonably wide, but I could see it narrowing further up, twisting between jagged outcroppings and along precarious ledges.
Even after all the training I had done and the three-day pilgrimage, my lungs started burning almost immediately, the thin air insufficient for the demands I was placing on my body.
Each breath felt like inhaling fire, and we'd barely begun.
"Pace yourself," Alar said beside me. Despite the exertion, his breathing was controlled, his stride measured.
I should listen to him and let Shovia go ahead with her long legs and resilient lungs.
"Easy for you to say," I gasped. "You seem to have recovered from your altitude sickness," I teased.
He ignored my teasing. "Just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. You made it up Mount Hope, and you can make it up this little hill."
"Little hill?" I wheezed, casting a glance at the imposing peak looming above us. "Has the altitude affected your vision?"
He chuckled, the sound delighting me more than it should have. "Stop talking and save your breath."
"Yeah, you too."
The trail steepened, and we all struggled to keep moving.
Codric and Morek had surged ahead, their longer legs eating up the distance.
Shovia, unsurprisingly, kept pace with them, and I would have felt left behind if not for Alar, who stayed with me, though I could tell he was deliberately slowing his pace to match mine.
Part of me appreciated the gesture, but another bristled with foolish pride.
"Go ahead," I managed between labored breaths. "Don't slow down for me."
Instead of answering, he shook his head, a stubborn expression on his handsome face.
I didn't have the lung capacity to argue with him, but I planned to give him a piece of my mind over breakfast. He shouldn't jeopardize his position in the Force on my account. I would be fine with whatever position I got, but I knew he had loftier aspirations.
The altitude continued to take its toll as we climbed higher. The thin air made each breath a struggle, and dark spots danced at the edges of my vision. I'd grown up in these mountains, but even my slow pace was brutal after everything we'd been through.
Around me, other cadets were struggling as well. Some had slowed to a walk, others leaned against rocks, gasping for air. A few had stopped entirely, bent double as they tried to recover. The instructors stationed along the route watched impassively.
"Keep moving, cadets!" one shouted as we passed. "If you can't run, walk, but don't stop. You can rest when you reach the summit!"
The summit.
It seemed impossibly distant, my legs felt like lead, and my lungs felt like they were filled with shards of glass, but something stubborn in me refused to stop. I would keep moving even if I had to crawl to the top.
Thankfully, there were no steep drop-offs on the sides of the trail, so my fear of heights didn't kick in. If I'd had to battle that as well, I'm not sure I would have been able to.
That didn't last long, though, and at the next bend the trail grew steeper still, narrowing until we were forced to proceed in single file. The drop to our right was dizzying, but I kept my eyes fixed on the path ahead.
After riding a dragon, this seemed almost manageable.
Almost.
My heart stuttered whenever a loose stone skittered over the edge, disappearing into the void below, but I kept moving, my determination fueled by nothing but pride.
When we finally reached the summit, I was ready to collapse. My lungs heaved, desperate for oxygen that wasn't there, and my legs trembled with exhaustion. But I'd made it, and I wasn't the last one to do so either.
"Water," an instructor said, thrusting a flask into my hands as I staggered to a stop. "Drink slowly. You have five minutes to rest before heading back down."
I wondered why they hadn't told us to bring canteens. Perhaps they were going easy on us the first day.
Easy. Funny. That almost wrested a chuckle out of my parched throat.
I took a careful sip, the cool liquid tasting wonderful.
Around me, other cadets were in similar states of exhaustion, some sprawled on the ground, others bent double with hands on knees, heaving.
Alar stood nearby, his breathing heavy but controlled.
He caught my eye and gave me a nod that somehow conveyed both approval and concern.
How was he doing so well with his altitude intolerance? He should have been worse than me, not better. Did he still have the medicine Lysara had given him?
He must have.
The descent was easier on my lungs but harder on my already-aching legs. Each step jarred my knees, and I had to focus to keep from stumbling on the loose rocks. By the time we reached the assembly ground, my entire body was one big ache.
Captain Odinah stood waiting, her expression revealing nothing as she watched us stagger in. "Well done, cadets. Clean up and report to the mess hall for breakfast," she announced. "You have thirty minutes."
Thirty minutes to shower, change, and get to the mess hall. It might as well have been thirty seconds for how impossible it felt in my current state.
"I think I'm dying," Shovia groaned as we dragged ourselves toward the dormitories. "Actually, no. Death would be a relief at this point."
I had a feeling she was exaggerating for my benefit, so I wouldn't feel bad for being among the last to make it to the top. I hadn't been the absolute last one, but that wasn't much to be proud of.
"Stop being so dramatic," I said. "You did so much better than I."
"That's not a relevant rebuttal. Both of us feeling like we are dying doesn't make it any better."
She had a point.
As we hit the showers again, I no longer cared about parading naked in front of other girls. All I cared about was for my turn to arrive. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. There were only ten girls among the twenty-four new cadets, and there were five shower stalls.
The hot water was a blessing on my aching muscles, and since no one was waiting for me to be done, I stood under the spray for as long as I dared, letting it wash away the sweat of our morning exertion.
Would they do this to us every morning?
If so, taking showers twice a day would become the norm for me because I was sure I would need to shower again by the end of the day.
I wondered who was supposed to take care of the laundry. Would we be doing it ourselves, or was there dedicated staff for that? For some reason, I had a feeling that we would be doing our own laundry. This was Elucia after all, and we were not pampered people.
As we made it to the mess hall, the smell of food hit me hard and my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I owed it for the three days of fasting.
The place was buzzing with activity, with cadets from our group and the two before it filling the long tables, the clatter of utensils and murmur of conversation creating a backdrop of white noise.
I spotted Alar sitting at a table near the windows, a place saved beside him, and my heart did that stupid flutter again.
"Go on," Shovia nudged me with her elbow. "Your breakfast date is waiting. I'll sit with Morek and Codric."