59. The Ceremony
H arrison stood at the bottom of Aeden’s bed wide-eyed and wired, his hair messy with sagging bags of purple forming under his eyes as Aeden came around.
Aeden stretched out before laughing. “That’s not something I wanted to wake up to this morning,” he said. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?”
“At this stage, I don’t know. I’m too excited to sleep. Today is the day, Aeden. Today is the day where I will finally meet my Aer-Kin, where we all will.”
“Harrison!” Serene called out before throwing her pillow across the room. It wrapped around the side of his head with a dull thud. “It’s too early for this shit.”
It wasn’t often that Serene swore, but she also wasn’t a morning person, so being woken early by an erratic Harrison on the day of their bonding was a sure way to get her fired up .
“Sorry,” Harrison said, picking up the pillow. He glanced at Aeden sheepishly, and for a moment, Aeden worried that Harrison would smell the pillow.
“Don’t you dare!” Serene scolded. “Give me my pillow back right now.”
Harrison tossed it playfully to Serene. “Come on, get up, all of you, how can you all want to sleep when this is the most important day of our lives?”
“Fuck off, Harrison!” Kaden Boltsmith shouted from the far corner of the bunkhouse.
He was more forthcoming than Serene and opted to launch a boot at Harrison, which bounced off his back with a thud.
One thing Aeden had come to realise was that he definitely needed his beauty sleep.
Kaden was the kind of student that liked to keep himself to himself, but he also preferred a quiet space, so being in a bunkhouse with Harrison was probably not the best thing.
Harrison gave Aeden an expected look, which told him he had little option but to get up and out of the bunkhouse, and for Harrison’s safety, Aeden happened to agree with him.
“Okay, I’m up!” Aeden said, sitting up straight and stretching out his arms. He had been given the day off from cleaning the saddles in the garrison because it was the bonding ceremony, which had surprised Aeden given he was already bonded.
This morning was his one chance for a lie-in, and now that was gone.
“As are the rest of us,” Vivienne said as she sat up. “Suppose we best all get ready for the ceremony.” She was unusually nervous for someone who, out of all of them, came across as the most confident and self-assured. She avoided eye contact and instead stared at the floor for a few moments.
“You okay?” Aeden asked .
“It’s a big day, just quietly hoping that we all make it through the ceremony,” she said.
“You will have the best chance of all of us,” Serene said, offering her friend a smile. “We were told the ceremony would start shortly after breakfast, so I guess the sooner we get ready and eat, the more time we have to prepare for what’s to come.”
They all headed to the dining hall together, and when they had arrived, they soon realised that they weren’t the only ones getting up early. The atmosphere was charged to say the least, with nervous excitement buzzing around the dining hall.
For once, Aeden found himself not worrying about himself or Nyra, but that didn’t mean he was relaxed; he was far from it.
The bonding ceremony was dangerous. They had been told on so many occasions the risks that were involved – Aer-Kin hatchlings attacking the proposed student, the physicality of the bonding process, and the connection with the Weave.
They may have been as prepared as they would ever be, but Aeden spent the entirety of breakfast doing his best to calm Vivienne, Serene, and Harrison’s nerves.
From across the hall, he could see Cassian talking at the Scouts table with a silent Rowan beside him, staring blankly ahead.
The four of them now stood outside the Great Hall in nervous anticipation of what was about to come.
Everything they had been training for had built up to this moment.
Aeden found himself basking in the fact that for once, he had nothing to worry about.
Other than patching things up with Nyra, that was.
He hadn’t seen her since yesterday, and she was purposely keeping her guard up, not necessarily blocking Aeden out of the Weave completely, but putting up enough resistance to let Aeden know she wasn’t ready to talk.
The large oak doors were closed shut, lending an air of mystery as to what was waiting on the other side.
“How much longer are we going to have to wait?” a frustrated Harrison said. “This is unbearable.”
“Tell me about it,” Serene added with a huff of discontent.
All the students had been instructed to wear their combat training clothes, so they all stood in their black combat pants, boots, and tops as they waited for the doors to open.
Vivienne was quiet, even by her standards, having hardly spoken a word most of the morning.
The colour of her skin had drained like she was ready to pass out at any moment.
Harrison somehow managed to look even more feral than he had earlier that morning as he stood, nervously tapping his foot on the marbled floor.
The open space in front of the Great Hall echoed louder and louder as more and more students joined the waiting group, nervous chatter amongst them all.
“Come on, hurry up,” Harrison said, “I don’t know how much longer I can wait.”
“As soon as they’re ready, the doors will open, and you’ll soon know who your Aer-Kin is going to be,” Aeden said, placing a hand reassuringly on Harrison’s shoulder and giving him a squeeze.
“That’s easy for you to say,” he said, “you already have Nyra.”
Aeden couldn’t argue. “And trust me when I say, that’s where the hard work starts.
” He thought about all the experiences he and Nyra had already shared, both positive and negative, their training, and how their Weave had developed.
Pride swelled in his chest as he purposely reached out to Nyra, not to speak but to share what he was feeling.
“The mood sharing is the hardest thing to wrap your head around,” Aeden said. “Understanding what is my own and what is Nyra’s has taken the longest to get used to. I still don’t think I’m fully used to it now,” he said. “You’ll all understand what I mean soon.”
With a clunk and a groan, one of the large oak doors slowly peeled backwards, followed by the other.
On the other side stood Lyric, his hands tucked behind his back.
He smiled, but there was a dullness in his eyes as he spoke.
“Right, this way, everyone,” he said. “Please form an orderly line.” He pointed to the chairs that were lined up neatly on either side of the hall in long rows, which reached about halfway down the Great Hall.
“Offence and Guardians over on this side, Scouts and Supports on this side.”
“About bloody time,” Harrison said, pushing into the students in front of him in a vain attempt to get everyone moving.
“And here it all starts,” Serene said as she followed closely behind.
Vivienne had a vacant look about her, still quiet and unassuming. Aeden gave her a slight nudge and said, “Are you okay?”
Vivienne shook her head as she snapped back into the room, offering Aeden a feigned smile. “I’ll be fine,” she said, clearing her throat. It was the first time she had spoken since breakfast .
She set off following Harrison and Serene, who were now both further ahead of them with Aeden walking beside Vivienne.
Large blue banners with the academy’s crest lined the walls on either side.
In between them, torches were lit, but these were not needed as it was still morning, and natural light beamed into the room.
Despite its Gothic look, to Aeden it was stunning as he took the opportunity to admire the workmanship that had gone into crafting all of the detailed stonework. It was as if the room had been carved out of one large piece of stone, beautiful and mesmerising.
The chairs stopped halfway into the room, where a large metal fence stood running from one side of the Great Hall to the other. They were similar to the gate of Nyra’s pen, and judging by the size of them, Aeden imagined this would be where the Aer-Kin were brought into.
Director Vale stood in the centre of the enclosure with her hands placed delicately in front of her.
She was wearing an all-black robe, complete with oversized hood that draped down, sitting between her shoulder blades.
To her left and right were more members of the faculty, each of them wearing similar robes.
Aeden wondered why Lyric was dressed in his usual attire and not in the ceremonial clothing like the other members of the faculty.
As Lyric had said, both sides of the chairs had been split in half, creating four quadrants, one for each of the classes.
The Offence class and Scout classes were in the front two quadrants, with the Guardians sitting behind the Offence class and Supports behind the Scouts.
Harrison and Serene were already at their seats when Aeden and Vivienne sat beside them.
One by one, the students piled into the Great Hall, the noise building as the hall became full. Lyric moved to the gate but not before stopping at the bottom of the row where Aeden and the others sat.
“Good luck,” he said with a smile, “I’m sure you’ll all do great. We have a great bunch of Aer-Kin for you to bond with.”
“Thanks, Lyric,” Serene said, “that’s really kind of you to say.”
Lyric gave her a polite bow before continuing up the small walkway between the chairs and taking up position by the hulking frame of Master Storme.
When the final students took their seats, the groaning of the oak doors was followed by the loud thud of them closing.
Nervous chatter continued amongst the students until Director Vale gave a subtle nod to the back of the room and raised her hand for silence.
“Today is the greatest day of your lives,” she began.
“Today is the day where you will be eternally bonded with your Aer-Kin.” She took a moment to look around the room at all the nervous faces that greeted her.
“Not all of you will be successful, and as such, your time at the academy will draw to a close. You’ve spent the term building up your strength, preparing yourselves for what is to come.
If you fail on this day, there is no second opportunity.
I will not lie to you, bonding through the Weave is extremely dangerous.
Your life will be at risk if your body and mind are not prepared to form this sacred bond. ”
Director Vale wasn’t doing well to quell the nerves of the rest of the students, who looked on in horror. To be fair, this was information that each and every one of them should have already known. After all, they’d had it drilled into them for the last two months since their training began.
“Master Ember has been carefully looking after the Aer-Kin as they hatch and sorting them into the right classes for you today. As is customary at Aviara Academy, I invite those of you with special dispensation to stand up. You will already know who you are.”
Aeden caught the subtle shake of Lyric’s head as Director Vale spoke before looking down at the ground.
There were five students from the Offence class, two from the Scouts, and one from the Guardians. No one in the Support class stood up.
Aeden was surprised to recognise that the two students who had stood up from the Scouts were Rowan and Cassian.
“Aren’t you pally with those two?” Harrison said, leaning into Aeden. “Didn’t realise they were from money.”
“Neither did I,” Aeden said. Special dispensation meant those with deeper pockets got the first pick of the newly hatched Aer-Kin, something that frustrated Aeden. They had the opportunity to get the strongest Aer-Kin not because of ability but because of their wealth.
“If you would all care to enter the pen,” Director Vale said, directing them with her hand.
Lyric opened up the gate, and the standing students all made their way to the front. Kael entered the pen with a swagger that infuriated Aeden. Of course he would get first pick .
“Good luck, and may the gods favour you,” Director Vale said as the students passed her. “Master Ember, if you could bring in the first group of Aer-Kin. Let’s start with the Offence class as is customary to our tradition.”
Lyric shuffled away to the eastern side of the room, where there was an opening Aeden hadn’t noticed before. His echoed footsteps faded before returning. The chittering and grumbles of the Aer-Kin he had fetched bounced into the hall as a new wave of nervousness fell over the room.
The Aer-Kin entered the pen first, rushing into the room as they nudged one another and snapped their jagged little teeth in challenge. These were not calm. They were boisterous and full of energy.
A large Aer-Kin with obsidian scales bounded into another, a flicker of red coursing through the gaps like lava veins on the side of a volcano.
It was muscular, with thick legs and a proud chest. It snapped at another well-built Aer-Kin, this one a light grey colour, with light blue streaks running down its sides.
Two large, pointed ears protruded from its head, and its scales were more jagged and prominent.
A copper-coloured Aer-Kin that was slightly smaller in size with spiky ridges down its legs stomped ahead. This was followed by a thickset Aer-Kin that was earth coloured as if it had been rolling around in dirt, a small thin ridge running from the front of its head to the back.
Finally, a charcoaled-coloured Aer-Kin raced through the centre, jumping past the copper Aer-Kin with ease as it flapped its thin, veined wings. It landed delicately, barely making a sound before padding to a stop when Lyric called out with a whistle .
All the younglings gathered in the centre of the pen as Lyric raised his hands in the air, moving towards them. The obsidian one snapped towards him and took a step forward, but Lyric simply growled back.
It wasn’t the response Aeden had expected, but it worked as the feisty Aer-Kin reluctantly backed down and fell back into the group, not without a warning snarl towards Lyric, who still had his hands in the air as if he were a puppet master and all of the Aer-Kin were on strings.
Director Vale turned to face the pen, moving so her back now faced the rest of the students in the Great Hall. “Kael Blackthorn, if you would like to step forward. It is time for you to bond with your Aer-Kin.”