by Viola Grace
The small moment of contact sent a trip-hammer of emotion through Kabyl. She had met her other grandparents once, but now, she was complete. All the people who mattered to the people who mattered to her were accounted for.
Her grandmother paused before they released their hands. “Would you like to meet your biological father?”
“Would it make a difference to anything? He refused the woman carrying his child because he thought she was beneath him. That really doesn’t impress me much.”
The judge nodded. “Fair enough.”
They stood with each other, and Trin came up with the little miss of the house on her shoulders. “Well, Kabyl, are you ready to return to training?”
“Please. Cities feel strange.” Kabyl smiled.
Trin lifted her com, and she made a call.
“How long will it take you to get back to the training center?” The judge was concerned.
“If she is calling who I think she is calling, about five minutes.”
Kabyl left her grandmother and went to thank Creata, asking her to pass on her thanks for the bed for the night to Vasic as well. As she spoke, the curling shadow appeared in the garden, and Eltrinia walked toward her.
“Kabyl, you didn’t have to dress up for me.” Eltrinia’s buckle-on dress that left her leggings and boots exposed was a vibrant blue today.
“Well, nothing is too good for my friends.” Kabyl smiled.
Trin laughed.
The judge came forward and took Kabyl’s hands. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
“My mom will be happy to hear that we did.”
Her grandmother paused. “I am sorry I wasn’t there when you were a child.”
Kabyl blinked. “You were. Not in person, but you are there. Mom tells us stories about you and keeps you as a real presence in our lives.”
The judge blinked rapidly and released Kabyl to wipe at a tear. “Thank you for that.”
“I swore today to tell the truth.”
The judge gave a watery smile, and Kabyl nodded to Trin, bowed to Creata, and carefully pried Amesthet off her leg to give her back to her godmother with a kiss and a pat on her little head.
Eltrinia grinned. “You don’t need to say farewell to me. Trin has given me images of the facility where I am transporting you.”
“Just... out in the open?”
“Yeah, we should get there around lunch. Ready.”
Kabyl looked around and gave a small wave before she took Eltrinia’s hand. “Rea—”
Smoke swirled around them, and the capital was gone.
Chapter Nine
The training center was bustling with the physical activity of the course. Kabyl turned to thank Eltrinia, but she winked and disappeared.
“Ambermarle! If you are done looking fancy, get your gear on and make up for lost time!” the instructor shouted.
She nodded and ran off to the barracks and changed into her normal shirt, pants, and boots. Time to sweat.
The instructor yelled at her to run the course and then do a ten-kilometer sprint. She got on it.
Elioth sat with her, and he asked, “How was it?”
“It was fine. I went into court, swore to tell the truth, and I did. The defense tried to pull a little trick, but I was able to spot it before I said anything that would hurt the prosecution.” She smiled.
“Well, don’t leave us hanging.” Echo smiled.
“Ah, he was using a magical projection. My senses told me that he wasn’t there. The air didn’t move right in the room if you know what I mean.”
Echo nodded. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Echo had all the hallmarks of an eagle shifter. She would know about monitoring the movement in the air.
Elioth smiled. “Ah, so it was moving through him.”
“It was, and there was a weird energy around him that he didn’t normally have.”
Yelwin leaned in. “How did you sense it? Smell? Taste?”
“It felt like the charge in the air before lighting.”
His eyes widened, and he nodded. “I definitely would feel that.”
Elioth asked, “Everything else went well?”
“I would say so. He has been sentenced to death, so that is a result.” Kabyl ate her meal, and she could feel the curiosity in Echo and Yelwin.
She looked at Echo. “What?”
“You haven’t really given the details.”
“Someone let magic get out of control because they didn’t read the fine print, and it cost the life of forty settlers, miners, and squatters. The magic was working its way toward the larger group of life signs.” Her tone was flat.
Echo blinked. “Were the victims anyone you knew?”
“Yes. I knew over half of them well, and the rest of them had been to my parents’ general store.” She finished her water and sighed. “At least that is over now.”
Elioth patted her on the shoulder, and she smiled at him.
“Thanks.”
He nodded and continued to eat his meal.
The no-contact policy was something that her father had suggested. With few females being accepted into training, her father had recommended that they didn’t come into close contact during the time at the base. The instructors might not appreciate their growing contact, so they had ceased most contact before that flight.
They only had a few weeks to go, and then, they could get back to what seemed to be a glacial courtship. Just her style.
“Did I miss anything?”
“No. They alluded to an announcement of final assignments today, as well as some community training.” Elioth smiled. “I think that one of those will be interesting.”
“No other clues?”
He shook his head. “No, I believe that they were waiting for you to return. We will hear about it tomorrow.”
“Good. I am a little numb from the last few days. I think I am going to be able to get a full night’s sleep tonight.”
The group chuckled. Sleep was the one thing in short supply.
They sat in a classroom, and the instructors were seated to one side with the commander standing at the front of the class.
“Cadets, you are about to get into your first team-building challenge.” He paced back and forth at the front of the class. “You will have a week to prepare for this, and here is the interesting bit. You can use your beasts for it. All of your additional skills will be allowed.”
He nodded. “We are going to divide you by home geography. There are going to be six teams of four, and each team will have to complete the course completely. That means, no member of your team can be left behind. Afternoons will be for you to work as a group, mornings are still training. You will not be allowed to see the course, and any traces of any of your team members will lead to a severe delay in your starting time, which will endanger your possibility of completing the course.”
He looked them over. “So, now, we will announce the groups. You will each have a new base to work from so that the more nocturnal beasts will have a chance to practice in coordination with the others. At no time are you to wander into the territory of another training group. To do so will result in instant expulsion and banning from another application to this program. Each of your teams will be assigned to an instructor to verify that all members of the team participate equally. Each of you should be able to haul your team members to safety in either form.”
Kabyl didn’t make a face, but she wanted to. There was no way her team was moving her. That was an unfortunate truth. She was going to have to work on locking into a more mobile form.
Kabyl and Elioth were already a registered team. It wasn’t a shock when they were assigned together. When Echo was added to their grouping, it seemed that things would be fine, but it was Ormin’s name that was the last one called for their group.
Kabyl kept her mouth shut but mentally groaned. Of course. The one idiot who kept getting in her way was going to be part of her success or failure in training. Just like
in actual reality, you can’t always pick your team.
The instructor in charge of them beckoned, and they got to their feet and followed. The briefing was quick. “Get your gear and line up here.”
There wasn’t time for anything else, so they sprinted to the barracks, got the packs they needed, and lined up in front of their instructor. Ormin was last but only by a few seconds. His drive to win might work in their favour.
Two of the huge transports trundled up and stopped. The instructor had his own pack and took them to the second vehicle, where they waited for the two other teams who were travelling with them to jump on board.
The other groups were chatting, but Kabyl’s group was silent. They were waiting. Ormin took the hint in her expression, and he clenched his jaw.
They stopped, and the first team was dropped off, their instructor leading them into the woods.
The transport rolled along, jerking and heaving, releasing the next group into the wild before it lumbered onto a road that hugged the side of a cliff, and it slowly crept forward.
The instructor grimaced and held on. “Due to the unique nature of one in this grouping, a bit more distance and some higher walls are required so that the final examination is fair.”
The road was barely wide enough for the vehicle, but they continued on for another forty-five minutes before the vehicle rocked to a halt in an abandoned quarry.
When the vehicle disgorged them, they walked toward the bunkhouse and dropped off their packs. There was a heavy canvas that separated Echo and Kabyl’s part of the room and their separate bathroom. The place was huge. Kabyl started smiling. If she kept to low flight, she would be able to do some actual normal exercise. Her dragon was humming with excitement.
The instructor met them outside of the barracks and smiled. “This is where you finally get to show each other what you can do. The first one out of the box, so to speak, will be Echo.”
Echo straightened. “Just transform?”
“Show your team what skills you have that are useful.”
Echo nodded.
She took a deep breath, ran a dozen steps, and shifted into a golden eagle, huge wings flapping away.
She screeched and picked up a chunk of rock in her talons. She carried it and changed direction as she let it go, smashing the rock into the wall. It left a sizable hole. She had been moving fast.
She wheeled around and glided in for a landing with a neat twitch of her wings. She was human again in under a minute.
“Good. Now, Cadet Ormin. Your turn.”
Ormin nodded, and he stepped aside and stretched, changing into a midnight lion, which matched the dark streaks in his normal hair. He roared, bounded off, and uprooted a tree with his jaws. He shook the tree violently and sent the branches snapping. He then dropped the twenty-foot tree and scampered into the woods.
The scamper caught Kabyl by surprise, and when he came back with a bunny in his mouth, she had to cover her mouth to stop her grin. He carefully let it go, and the little critter hopped back to the woods the moment it touched soil again.
He shifted back to human and walked toward them with a cheerful strut. His attitude was top that.
Elioth stepped forward and grabbed his belt buckle. It snapped into a bow, and he focused on generating an arrow that struck the tree Ormin had uprooted, and it shattered.
He then put his bow away and ran three steps into the woods before disappearing completely. Kabyl could see him. His heat signature glowed bright, but her dragon couldn’t catch his scent. He smelled like trees.
She watched him move through the treeline and hide behind the rocks until he dropped into position behind the instructor. The instructor whirled and then took a shaking breath. “Impressive. Well, that only leaves Ambermarle. Your father is a wolf, I believe.”
She nodded. “He is. But, this is where genetics have played a funny trick.”
She walked a good distance away, and Ormin was standing with his arms crossed while Echo’s face was curious.
Kabyl nodded to Elioth, and then, she let her dragon out to play.
The icy cold ran over her skin in the most comforting way. She flexed her wings as they took shape and shook her head, loving the feel of the icy struts down her neck, the icicles that she had in lieu of fur or spikes.
She launched upward but kept below the ridge as she circled the area, exhaling and freezing rocks before turning and hitting them with a second strike that shattered them. The dragon exhaled a spire of ice, and she landed, smashing it with her tail before taking her human form. She kept her wings on to scale with her human body and flapped them a few times as a trial before letting them disappear, and then, she walked back to the group.
Echo and Ormin were shocked, the instructor was impressed, and Elioth looked smug.
She walked to Echo and said, “So, you can see why I was hungry.”
Echo paused for a moment before she let out slightly hysterical laughter. When she finished cackling, she said, “Yeah, that would explain it.”
Ormin looked pale. “So, you could have...”
“Snapped you? Probably.” She shrugged. “I have been focusing on only utilizing human strength, but it isn’t easy.”
The instructor clapped his hands and said, “Impressive one and all. Now. Since you know what each other are and how you can move, you need to learn how to work together, using all of your shifted or enhanced skills. That is what this time is about.”
A slow smile came over Ormin’s face. “We are going to win.”
Elioth chuckled. “She hasn’t lost a fight yet.”
Kabyl held her hands up. “I am not really built for small spaces. The trick is going to be finding out what I can do along the run of the course. If you are willing to help me, I am going to try.”
Elioth put his hand forward, Ormin put his on top, Echo on top of that, and Kabyl caught on and put hers on them all.
“It appears that we have a team.” The instructor chuckled. “Now, go and gather firewood for this evening. We have a lot of work to do.”
Kabyl grinned. This was something she knew how to do.
Chapter Ten
Kabyl felt free for the first time since her transformation. She hacked at the trees, froze and snapped branches, and kept an eye out for any predators or spies in the forest.
Elioth picked up armloads of wood, as well, and he smiled. “This feels very familiar.”
She drew lines with frost and snapped dead wood from the live trees. Elioth liked to keep an eye on the trees, and as she didn’t want to freak him out, she focused on keeping the trees healthy.
The other two were gathering wood as well, and when they had armloads full, they walked them back to base.
Kabyl winked at Elioth, grabbed a deadfall oak, and walked back to the base camp with it on one shoulder, and she had an armful of kindling under the other.
The piles were assembled, and the wood would have been enough for two to three nights when everyone had amassed their contributions. Ormin grumbled. “Why are we doing this?”
Kabyl stared at him along with Elioth and Echo.
The instructor filled him in. “When you are in a town or community and are having to follow a predator into the woods, you are going to need to keep yourself warm, cook food for yourself, or for anyone who needs comfort in the dark when you can’t get them home.”
Ormin frowned. “Comfort?”
Kabyl sighed, “Lost children, assault victims, teens who got into something that no doctor would recommend. You have to keep them safe, warm, and under your guidance at all times. You also have to be prepared to defend spouses against each other, mediate marital quarrels, and get in between neighbors. That is what peacekeepers do where I come from, along with the regular fistfight suppression and drunk on the sidewalk.”
Ormin rubbed the back of his head. “I just picked this career because my mother always wanted a peacekeeper in the family.”
Echo blinked. “That isn’t a great reason. This is
a stressful occupation, and you need to have wary empathy with the people you deal with every day. The only ones you can trust are your family, and only if they have come from outside the community. You are a professional outsider. You have your partners, your family, and you serve the community. That is it. There isn’t much else. You have to know them, inside and out, and know when there is a disturbance to their patterns.”
The instructor looked impressed. “That sums it up fairly well.”
Ormin frowned. “I thought we were like the senate guard.”
“We are. We just go places other than the capital. All other places.”
They stood and looked at each other.
Kabyl asked Ormin, “Are you still in this to win it?”
He cocked his head. “Are you really a dragon? An actual female dragon?”
She inclined her head. “I am. It wasn’t my choice, but here I am. Ready to walk in my father’s footsteps.”
“You were willing to do this as a human? Knowing what you were up against?” Ormin narrowed his eyes.
“I was. My dad made sure that I knew what was going to happen when I went in for training. The kind of men who chose this as a profession when all they wanted to do was bully and control those around them. The others who wanted to be part of an elite community, and the ones who just want to help. I know about the motivations of those who have stepped into this training center, and I know how to tell them apart.”
She smiled. “It isn’t a dragon thing, it’s a lady thing. With the men outnumbering the women six to one, learning how men think and act is required learning. My mom taught classes with my dad at school.”
“Enough for now. There will be plenty of time to discuss this sort of thing during and after dinner.” The instructor stepped in and broke things up and then set them all tasks to accomplish by sundown.
There was a fire pit to dig, meals to prep, and water to fetch. It was time to do the normal day-to-day of being in the wild.