by Viola Grace
Kabyl did a full shift, and she beckoned for the others to get ready. She got flying and then swung around to pick up her team.
This was a five-kilometer segment, and she covered it in a few sweeps of her wings. The final obstacle loomed ahead of them.
She set them down and carefully lowered herself to the ground in front of the final group of testers.
A man in a peacekeeper’s uniform with a starburst on the side spoke. “You must make it past us to complete the exam, and you must have your entire team to be considered complete.”
As he said it, a shadow moved behind Echo and grabbed her. Kabyl grabbed her belt buckle, flipped out the bow, and fired a shot at the shadow at the same time that Elioth did. The shadow shrieked, and the mage on the stage flexed his hands.
The tester who had spoken clapped a hand to his forehead. “Right. Well, kidnapping a member of your group was part of the test, so now, you should just walk through that doorway and deal with whatever you find.”
The instructions were amusing, but Kabyl finally spoke. “Do we want me first or last?”
Elioth smiled. “Last. If anything, you can come find us if anything happens.”
Ormin agreed, and Echo was shaking. She was going second.
They walked to the extremely tight hallway. Elioth went first, turning sideways and moving through the entry. A glittery energy field covered the entry, and then Echo went next when it allowed her through. Ormin looked back at Kabyl and grinned.
She nodded, and when he stepped into the hallway, she got into position. The curtain was magic, a solid sheet of magic. This last level was all about stumbling into mages in weird places.
When the curtain dissipated, she stepped into the hallway and felt the pressure on her mind immediately. Ah, so that is it.
She stepped further down the hall and felt a sense of urgency. She let that sense of urgency pull her along until she exited the hallway. She swept the area with her thermal scans before she let her eyes adjust to the light.
Monsters. Monsters surrounded her. The creatures from the mines were facing her and screaming.
She swallowed and looked at the situation beyond the creatures. She could see warm spots in each one of the creature’s heads, and it was uncomfortably near where the charm was located. She was going to have to be quick and accurate.
Kabyl ran forward and jumped as one of the creatures attacked. She grabbed her bow and fired a shot in the first creature’s head. Elioth fell to the ground. He grunted and lay still. She fired two more shots, and her team was lying on the ground, the creatures nowhere to be seen.
She knelt at Elioth’s side and pressed a hand to his cheek. “Hey, pointy. We have made it through the exam. Wake up.”
His eyes fluttered, and he looked at her with a dazed expression. “Did we? That’s great.”
She got him sitting up and then worked on Echo. Ormin was stirring on his own. Echo wasn’t breathing.
Kabyl checked her pulse, it was slow. Her body was cooling. She began mouth to mouth on Echo, exhaling into her lungs in rhythm until her friend started to squirm.
Kabyl helped her sit up, and Ormin held her other side. Elioth watched over them while they brought her back to consciousness.
Together, they got to their feet and headed for the final archway that denoted the end of the exam. They were exhausted, filthy, and drained, but Kabyl was happy with the way things had ended. Pass or fail, they had done a damned good job.
They staggered under the banner, and a chime rang out. Hands helped to support them and took them off for hydration and rest. Kabyl’s mind went a little fuzzy, but she was very glad to finally sit her butt down.
The other teams began to appear in the next hour. Kabyl and her team sat and slowly let the aches and pains permeate their bodies.
Elioth seemed surprised. “I have never felt this tired.”
She chuckled. “I have, but then, I had nearly been sliced in half a few hours earlier.”
He looked at her and nodded. “I hope never to feel that tired. When can we clean up?”
“We have to be checked by the docs, and then, we can go. They tend to wait until most of the teams are in.”
He nodded as if what she said was sensible. He sipped at the hot sweet tea that they had gotten, and despite being smeared with mud and smelling of sweat, he looked bizarrely elegant.
The teams that came in after them were quiet. None of them were chattering, and they all had an undercurrent of grey to their complexions, no matter their skin tone.
Kabyl looked at her team, and while they looked tired, they weren’t half-dead. It was a strange contrast.
When the commander came over to them after the doctors had poked and prodded, they were dismissed to take a shower and return to the large tent that had been set up on the central lawn.
Kabyl made sure that Echo was stable, and they headed off to get a well-deserved shower and to pull the plants out of their hair.
The urge to lie down for half an hour was hard to resist, but instead, she put on her dress uniform, and she and Echo left to walk to the tent.
Inside, they were directed to the front of the canvas construct in the chairs set aside for them. Elioth was already seated, so Kabyl took the spot next to him, turning to face the folk who were gathered for this event.
She smiled when she saw her father, grinned when she saw her mother, and looked wary when Judge Cornish and Uncle Matthew were seated next to Grandma and Grandpa Ambermarle.
Elioth was a little stiff, and the elf couple sitting next to her parents had to belong to him.
Echo gasped, and when Ormin sat with them, he had a stiff back. The other teams filtered in and were seated with them, but there was one team missing.
The commander came in and walked to the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to our graduation ceremony. It is an honour to send this group of new peacekeepers out into the world for their training year.”
He paused and looked over at them, all struggling to look alert. “This year’s class has been particularly challenging. Not only did we host two female cadets, but we also hosted our first dragon and the only elf in recorded history.”
There were gasps from the hundred or so people watching the ceremony.
“I was rather hesitant to take in the more unusual of the cadets, but they have worked hard, studied hard, and made an effort to support their teams in whatever situation they found themselves. There were a few flareups, but they have been handled, and now, the teams have performed beyond previous expectations.”
Images from training appeared on the walls of the tent. Kabyl blushed as images of her doing push-ups, writing tests, and fighting in combat training were on one pool of light with Elioth’s next to hers.
The images played for five minutes and included bits from the exam. Kabyl saw her mother with her hand over her mouth as Kabyl flew around with two men dangling from her arms.
The commander smiled. “This year’s graduating class is full of first-, second-, and third-generation peacekeepers. It has been my pleasure to run them through their paces and make sure that their year of training is as easy as it can be on their senior.”
He cleared his throat. “So, without further ado, I would like to introduce the graduating class of cadets.”
Kabyl sat as the entire class was called one by one, standing and bowing to the assembled. She took her turn and sat, Elioth was the last one called. He stood, bowed, and sat down again.
“Now, ladies and gentlemen. Among you are ten peacekeepers who have volunteered to take on two cadets for their training year. You will feed and shelter them in return for their service as novice peacekeepers. But, for today, they will get their badge and their icon, as offered by the senate.”
The first peacekeeper was called, and he got his two novices with their badges and icons that identified their beast or magic type.
They were not described to the crowd, but each graduate was applauded as they were pi
nned by the marks of their office. Clips from their best days were projected onto the tent walls.
Elioth stood when his name was called, and it was no surprise to Kabyl that it was her father who was pinning the badge and icon on.
The commander smiled. “Cadet Kabyl Ambermarle. Last but definitely not least. Congratulations on your return home for training.”
There were a few snickers, but when the images on display changed to her hauling her companions on her back and breathing ice, the room went quiet.
Kabyl stood still as her father pinned her badge on her and put the icon on her sleeve. She had seen it long enough to see the dragon wing made of snowflakes. Elioth’s was a leaf that contained the mark of a bow.
“Well, this has been an excellent year. Those who did not complete training will have an opportunity next year. For now, catering has been set up on the lawn, and you are welcome to mix and mingle as much as you like, transports are standing by to take you back to town. Congratulations to our new novices, and thank you for your willingness to become peacekeepers.” The commander left the podium, and that was it. They were dismissed.
The moment that the commander finished his speech, Kabyl had to field her mother’s hug. She was nearly crushed by the small woman, but her mother soon stood aside so her father could get in a tight hug. Her grandparents were next, and then Uncle Matthew. Her mother’s expression was wary, but she smiled at the family friend.
“Mom, I know he’s my grandfather. I have known it for a few days. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.”
Uncle Matthew smiled. “We agreed that it was best that you didn’t know. There would have been too many questions that your mother was unable to deal with when you were a baby. It was best that no one knew who I was after you were born. We didn’t want to impact your grandmother’s career or standing in the community. As far as folks knew, Morningwell had gotten married while on vacation at the coast. She was settled and ready to start her family. It was the truth, sort of. I was just happy to be in your life, by any name.”
Judge Cornish came up stiffly and took her hands. “This is an odd path for one of my family, but the uniform suits you, and you are definitely ready to embark on this journey.”
“Thank you, Judge Cornish. I am very happy you were here for this.”
“I am glad to have been able to see this. Though you are going to have to work on your mediation technique, I can’t fault you for your knowledge of the law. You were dead on.”
Kabyl grinned and squeezed her grandmother’s hands.
Her next introduction was to Elioth’s family. His parents were ambivalent about his assignment to the peacekeepers, but once they held her hands for a few uncomfortable minutes, his mother grinned. “I believe I understand it now.”
Kabyl wasn’t sure what she meant, but she walked outside with them, where the clump of people was able to spread out.
She was watching Elioth speaking with the judge and her parents catching up with old friends. The commander came over and spoke softly, “Why didn’t you talk?”
“My father always said that talking during the final exam wasn’t necessary. My dad doesn’t mix words, so I had to guess that it meant something. So, we went through all the options and used hand signals to make our way through the course. Why?”
The commander chuckled. “Parts of the course are reactive. The louder the voices, the harder the terrain.”
“Well, we flew a lot, so that probably helped.”
“It certainly made things more interesting. You brought out the best in your team.”
“They did it themselves. Everyone was motivated to get high marks. Echo because she is competing with her brothers, Ormin because he was competing with me, and Elioth... he is just himself.”
“And yet, they all went in the right direction, and their minds were blank when they went through the final corridor. You were the only one fighting ghosts, but you still managed to keep your team foremost in your thoughts.”
“I don’t want to kill people by accident.”
He chuckled. “That is why you will be an asset to a community. It has been an honour to have you in my class.”
“It has been my honour to be here. May I ask how I did?”
He chuckled. “You have been the highest performing student in this course’s history. You are only missing half a percentage point.”
She thought about it and nodded. “My landings.”
“Correct.” He chuckled. “Everyone needs a weak point, and yours is very correctable if you choose to do it.”
She looked around at the faces of the people around her, some friendly, some curious, and some hostile. “I think that is a flaw I am willing to keep, thank you again, Commander.”
He inclined his head. “I look forward to watching your career.”
She smiled. “So do I.”
Walking away, she headed for her parents, who were talking to her grandmothers. It was less a graduation and more a family reunion. Elioth seemed to be showing his father what a push-up was, and his mother was watching with interest.
Some of the other cadets were showing off speed-shifting, and Kabyl just smiled. She knew that they were going to be sore in the morning. She was already wracked with aches and pains.
Her father walked over and murmured, “Do you feel like hammered hell?”
“Yup.”
“Do you want to get out of here and get a lift home?”
“Double yup.”
“Good. Your grandmother has called us a ride. You don’t need to do anything.”
One hour later, the shadows of dragons streaked overhead. They came to a landing in the exercise area and simply hunkered down to wait.
Elioth was at her side, and when her mother, father, she, and Elioth were on one dragon, his family and the rest of hers climbed onto the second black dragon. The shifters moved carefully and launched skyward with the utmost care.
It might be VIP treatment that rubbed folks the wrong way, but Kabyl didn’t care. She was a dragon, and she was tired. It had been a very long day.
Author’s Note
I am unsure if I want to write one more book for Kabyl. I do enjoy her character and family. I will leave it up to you, but she is definitely going to be in one of the books on the dragon clones hatching in tubes. Wait, I should have said, Spoiler Alert.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.
In real life, she is now engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.