by Viola Grace
For Kabyl, it was just an ordinary day.
The week flew by. Every day they got up and did the standard physical drills, ate breakfast, went through the basics of learning how to deal with drunk suspects or psychos, then had lunch. The afternoon was high-speed hide and seek in the woods, in all of their shifted forms.
Kabyl had a heckuva time with moving around until she got the hang of using her wings on her human form and tagging her teammates with balls of frost to mark them. She started with Echo. There were other eagles in the area, and Kabyl didn’t want to give her a chance to blend in.
Echo shot up above the trees, and Kabyl followed her, turning her body and wings for maximum speed. It worked too well and overshot the surprised eagle. Kabyl braked and turned around, getting hit in the chest with the beak and body of her shocked friend.
Kabyl caught her, marked her, and then, she flew back toward the camp to set her down. Echo had hit her hard and was a little stunned.
She brought her friend to the instructor, explained, and then went off to find Ormin.
Looking for him on the ground was easy. She just looked for a huge mass of heat at ground level, and it was simple to spot. She retracted her wings and ran toward him as quietly as possible. She used her thermal vision to keep Ormin in her sights, and when she was twenty yards away, she sprouted her wings again and flew up above him to strike him with a snowball between his shoulder blades. He roared and shook the frost off, so she hit him again and again and again. He was covered with snow and yowling at her. If a lion could have flipped her off, he would have.
He slunk back toward the camp.
Kabyl looked around and exhaled slowly. Now for the tough one.
She scanned the area for Elioth. He was harder to spot. His body temp was lower than a large meat-eating mammal. He was everyone’s least favourite target. He was a very slippery guy to find. He blended in with the trees.
She stayed in the air. It was to her advantage not to crush leaves under her feet. One tree was slightly warmer than the others, so she fluttered toward it. She watched, and another tree lit up in the same way. She pursed her lips and waited, hovering as quietly as she could.
When the third tree showed heat, she lit them all up with blasts of iced air.
Only one of the trees had a temp that remained after her treatment. She flew around and saw Elioth perched in a tree. She pelted him with snowballs, as many as she could manage through her palms. The first ten missed his nimble ass, but the eleventh struck him while he was leaping from branch to branch. Elioth tumbled free of the tree, and Kabyl swooped in to grab him before he hit the ground. His forehead was red from the impact of the iceball.
“Sorry, Elioth.”
He blinked and smiled slightly. “You are getting faster with that.”
“What?”
“Finding folks. If they don’t let you specialize, they are idiots.”
She grinned and flew him out of the woods and back to camp. It was part of her workout. She had to get used to carrying large human forms before she could graduate. The weight wasn’t a problem, she just had to work on her balance.
She swooped into the camp and dropped Elioth lightly to his feet before landing next to him.
The instructor slowly examined Elioth and checked something off on his clipboard, and he grinned. “Right. Get ready for dinner. We are heading back to the base tomorrow. You will have some days of mediation practice, and on Monday, you will go through your final exam.”
Kabyl dismissed her wings. “Mediation practice?”
“Yes, we have volunteers who come in to act as standard bystanders or suspects. You will be expected to analyze the situation and make determinations as to the variety of roles that the participants have played.”
Elioth nodded. “It sounds interesting. I think that is a fun challenge.”
Kabyl looked at him, and he had an eager expression on his face. “You just want to experience more humans.”
He grinned, and his ears were quivering slightly.
“Well, Ambermarle, you are your father’s daughter. Your scores are higher than his were.”
She looked at the instructor. “How old are you?”
He laughed. “I was in the class after your father went through training. We heard all about him. The commander was actually in his class. He was very impressed and has briefed us all on your parent’s techniques.”
Ormin snorted. “So, that is why you get such special treatment.”
Kabyl’s mouth should have been hanging open. “Oh, yeah. That is how I have managed to make it through all of the time trials and obstacle course. Because my dad did it. Don’t be an idiot.”
Ormin blushed. “Right. Sorry. Old habits.”
Echo smacked him on the arm. “Good thing you are working on breaking those now.”
They laughed, and Ormin grinned. It was time to get to work for the dinner prep.
Three hours later, they were sitting around the fire, and traces of their habitation had been collected and disposed of. It was their last night as an independent group.
The instructor sighed, “So, tomorrow at dawn, the transport will be back. We will be transported back to the base and have breakfast once we get there.”
Kabyl paused. “Could we go back tonight?”
He frowned. “Pardon?”
“Could I fly us back tonight? We could get a good night’s sleep in the barracks and be ready for tomorrow.”
The instructor blinked. “I suppose you could. Do you want to risk the other teams seeing you?”
“I can avoid being seen.”
The instructor paused. “You can?”
“I can. Also, Echo can fly, so I will only have to carry you three. Easy. I carried Elioth all the way here, and we had to cross three time zones.” She shrugged. “It is just a thought.”
The instructor nodded and looked at them. “So, who wants to sleep in their barracks tonight?”
Everybody lifted their hands. The camp bunks were flat and didn’t yield much to sore muscles at the end of a long day. Grinning, they got together while the instructor called the change in their location. They packed up, grabbed their bags, and Elioth took Kabyl’s while Ormin took Echo’s.
Kabyl put out the fire with the flick of her fingers, and then, she shifted into her dragon. It was time to practice some more night manoeuvres.
Chapter Eleven
Elioth explained to the others how to get settled on Kabyl’s back. Once they were down, he helped them to get a grip on the frosted shards that she produced, and when he patted her neck, he notified her that they were ready.
Kabyl looked at Echo and nodded. Her friend shifted into her eagle and took a few running steps before launching skyward.
With the men on her back, she had to run a few steps before she could get enough lift to get her wings to scoop the air. She pulled and pushed the air under her wings and got high enough to clear the trees before she crashed into them.
Echo was above her, and when Kabyl flew, she followed.
Watching for the heat signatures was easy. She was able to see the groups clustered around their own fires, and she kept low to the treetops. It was fun.
She skirted the other sites by a few kilometers and kept so low her dragon was giggling. The trees were tickling her.
She had them back in ten minutes, the twisting pathways didn’t matter when you flew straight and slow.
Kabyl dropped altitude when she got to the training center, and she turned with care, lining up and getting as low as she could before lifting her head and braking hard with her feet and wings. The guys rocked a bit on her back, but since she was still skidding, she transformed to human, tucked and rolled as they fell off.
Once she was stable, she sat up and winced. “My apologies. I thought the yard was a little longer.”
The instructor looked at her, and he grinned. “That is one point off your performance, Ambermarle.”
He stood up and dusted off his cloth
ing before grabbing his pack. “Nice work on the avoidance of the other crews, by the way. How did you do it?”
She twisted her lips and then stepped up to him to speak into his ear. “Thermal vision.”
He leaned back and blinked. “You are not joking.”
She shrugged. “I am not.”
“So, that is how you were so incredibly quick at finding your group.”
“Correct.”
“I am going to have to record this.”
“I thought you might. After the exam, I will be out in the open anyway, so it won’t be an issue.”
He nodded. “I think I can delay filing until after the exam.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I am hoping to surprise a few people.”
He laughed, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed to the instructors’ quarters.
She turned to her team, and Elioth was holding out her pack. “Here you are, Kabyl. Lovely flight. Landing needed work.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I forgot that the field is narrow at this end. I was trying to take it easy on the turn and ate up my landing space.”
Echo was down, and she took her pack from Ormin.
The lion stood up and straightened his shirt. “Right. Well, Ambermarle, work on those landings. That sucked but better than I could do.”
He walked past her and smacked her shoulder lightly.
She was surprised, but there was no fluctuation in his emotions, nothing in his body heat. He was either a sociopath, or he genuinely didn’t mind the fall. It wasn’t something that she had expected. She had thought his thawing in her presence was mainly an act.
Apparently, Ormin was just in search of a good night’s sleep.
Elioth bowed and followed to the men’s barracks.
Echo smiled and walked with her back to their barracks. “It will be nice to sleep in a bed that doesn’t feel like a rock.”
Kabyl sighed. “So, I am going to need to work on my landings.”
“Yeah, I have obviously never had a passenger.”
Kabyl chuckled. “Next time, I will dangle them as I fly.”
Echo chuckled, and they headed back to their temporary home to grab a shower and some rest. Tomorrow was another day of weird testing. They needed to be fresh.
It was bizarrely fun to go through the food line with only their small group out at the crack of dawn. They sat together, and Kabyl looked at Ormin. “So, are you going to tell others about our beasts?”
He paused. “I want to win this. That means we are a team until we get the final recorded scores. I came here to become a peacekeeper, and now, I know a lot more about why it’s the occupation for me.”
Kabyl blinked. “Huh. I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Why someone would want to be a peacekeeper. I just knew that I was going to be one. It wasn’t up for discussion. This is what I was born to do.”
Ormin nodded then frowned. “What do you think the mediating is going to be about?”
“Listening and helping folks to find a common point of agreement. Like being a judge dealing with stolen garden equipment,” she winced, “Or crumbling marriages.”
Echo grimaced. “Or trying to figure out who started a bar fight to know who has to pay the bar for damages.”
Elioth blinked. “I will have to do this?”
“It is part of the job, but if you are better at other stuff, your partner can help you out.” Kabyl smiled. “No peacekeeper is stationed alone.”
Elioth nodded. “Right. Thank you.”
Echo blinked. “So, you two really think they are going to put you together?”
Kabyl shrugged. “They have to. Elioth was asked if he would help me train. He agreed. He chooses who he partners with, and the diamond dragon chooses where I go. So, we are together.”
Elioth smiled brightly. “We are, indeed.”
Kabyl was still looking for a comment to that statement when the sound of the transports was heard, and the thudding feet of the cadets was audible through the doors. The arrivals had to unpack before they could eat, so Kabyl smiled. “Anyone for seconds?”
Ormin jumped up and took advantage of the food access, getting back to their table just as the cadets came in, talking, laughing, and then, they went silent as they saw the little gathering in the corner.
Kabyl and Elioth waved their hands in greeting. The questions on their faces were not going to remain silent long.
Telfor called out. “How did you get here so quick?”
Ormin was seated and eating. Without looking back, he projecting his voice to say, “We got a lift.”
Kabyl snickered, and they were all laughing a second later.
The other groups lined up and made their way through the line, dark circles, cranky conversations, and a lot of dark looks directed at their table. It seemed that the other groups could have benefited from a better night’s sleep.
The instructors came in and blocked the exits.
The instructor who had taken Kabyl’s group to the woods lifted his voice. “Cadets, you will remain here until the guests for the mediation have settled into their roles. When they are ready, you will be led out in controlled groups to face the situations that we have prepared for you. You are going to be introduced to situations that mimic real-life events. Your goal is to act within the laws that you have learned, the techniques we have pointed out, and the skills that you have brought to the event. You will be going in individually today, and tomorrow, you will be assigned partners. So, with that said, continue eating and check your teeth. Some of the volunteers are a little on the fussy side.” He grinned.
The instructors folded their arms and stood in front of every window and door to the building. The cadets were on lockdown with snacks.
Kabyl had Elioth check her teeth, and she did the same for him. Coffee kept her hands busy as she waited for the first group to be called.
It was a little nerve-wracking when she wasn’t in the first or second group called. Elioth was in the third group. She sighed and waited. Patience wasn’t her forte.
She was soon sitting alone at her table with her coffee cup between her palms.
The other tables had similar situations, and she noticed that the cadets with the least patience were all situated and fidgeting. She breathed in and out, calming herself until she got the call.
“Ambermarle, you are up.”
She nodded and got to her feet, putting her coffee cup in the washing rack before walking to the door where the instructor was waiting for her.
He spoke to her as they walked across the central grounds. “You have just gotten a call for a domestic disturbance. You will be acting as the first peacekeeper on the scene. Your couple is shifters. They have been shouting.”
As they approached, there was genuine shouting in the cabin that had been dropped on site for these tests.
Kabyl nodded and strode forward to the cabin, and she straightened her shoulders and knocked on the door. “Peacekeeper Ambermarle here. Is everything alright?”
She had kept her knock neat and resonant. The shouting paused, and a very angry woman opened the door. Kabyl had to admit to her own surprise.
Judge Cornish looked a lot different in a casual dress with her hair down. “Who called you?”
Kabyl kept her face bland. “Your discussion made its way out to the yard and several meters past. May I come in?”
The judge crossed her arms. “No. I don’t want the likes of you inside my house.”
A masculine voice called out. “Just let her in. She sounds harmless.”
“I don’t like the look of her. She looks like one of those vixens, and I know how you are always after that tail.”
Kabyl inclined her head. “Madam, I am not a fox. I am a peacekeeper, and I am here to have a chat about why you are having such a very enthusiastic discussion.”
“Why are you bothering us?”
Kabyl quoted her father. “Because keeping the
peace is my business. May I come in?” As she finished the question, she stepped inside. The judge stepped back, blinking in surprise.
The older man sitting on the couch was also familiar, and it took all of Kabyl’s focus to keep from calling out.
“Sir, madam, could you sit down? We can discuss the subject you are discussing with such verve.”
The judge closed the door and stalked over to sit on the couch. There was a definite tension between her and the man that Kabyl knew as Uncle Matthew, part-time resident of her tiny town.
“Right, so why are you two angry at each other?”
The judge snorted. “Because he’s an idiot.”
She didn’t have a notebook, but she nodded as if she had registered it. “I see. And sir, what was your portion of the conversation?”
The old gent grumbled. “I disagreed with her opinion.”
Kabyl smiled. “Fair enough. If either one of you would like to talk about this, or if you would like to come to the outpost to discuss it in a neutral place, you are welcome to come down. Do you know where it is?”
The judge frowned. “Don’t you have a card to give us? I thought you were always supposed to hand out cards.”
“They aren’t going to issue me cards until I get a permanent posting.” She nodded. “Will you two keep it down for today?”
The judge huffed. “If the neighbors are so sensitive... fine.”
The man nodded. “I will do something in the yard. If she starts up, you won’t have to knock.”
“I hope you both have a calm and normal day. If you want a neutral party between you, I would be happy to be a sounding board, but if you can hash it out civilly, I am good with that, too.”
The judge frowned. “Just like that?”
“I could ticket you for a noise complaint, but it is daylight, and you have until ten to stop being jerks to the neighbors. You haven’t injured each other; you are just mad. People are allowed to be mad. It is what makes us people.” Kabyl nodded. “I wish you a good day, and remember, being nice doesn’t cost anything; being an asshole has a heavy toll.”
They sat and blinked in surprise. Kabyl let herself out, and she walked away.