When the headmaster came into view, my heart sank to my feet.
It was the man in black who had brought me here.
He looked different than the last time I had seen him. In my home, he had seemed like just a powerful, tall man. Here, he seemed invincible. He had traded his black armor for an all-black leather outfit, complete with gloves and a cape that billowed behind him. Unlike the harrowing scowl he had worn for most of our first interaction, Headmaster Archer actually wore a smile.
And that was what was so unnerving.
“Soldiers, welcome!” He shouted, taking a few long moments to survey us, like a farmer before his harvest. “Gathered among us are new cadets!”
Hurrahs echoed from the soldiers by the perimeter, and some seated among us. The majority of this group weren’t cadets—though most of the people in the mess hall had been. A niggling feeling made me want to look more closely for Avek, but I didn’t dare crane my head. I felt like if I looked away from the Headmaster, something bad would happen.
“Cadets, we welcome you and your dragons to His Majesty’s Dragon Guard, the strongest army in all of the world!” He raised a hand triumphantly, to excited cheers. Even Solra joined in.
My heartbeat hammered in my chest.
I felt Ignimitra push her head into my lap, a warm, wet tongue licking my perspiring hands. I released a breath, stroking her head. It helped calm me down enough to receive the rest of his message.
“Making it this far was no easy feat. It is a sign of your superiority, a testament to your bravery, and the greatest display of loyalty to the Drakkendom of Pyralis!”
More cheers.
“Without fearless men like you who choose to sacrifice themselves for this grueling training, our great country would not be what it is today. We would not be feared in the skies. We would not be the greatest nation to inhabit New Terra.”
He was staring right at me as he spoke.
As the hoots erupted around me, his gaze accused me.
I didn’t earn my place here like everyone else.
He silenced the noise with a single swipe of his hand.
“Yet, it has only just begun for each and every one of you.”
Silence fell upon the energized cadets. Headmaster Archer’s smile deepened, twisting the knot in my throat tighter. His thorny gaze was leeching the life from me.
Ignimitra whimpered.
“The most difficult two years of your life lie ahead of you. You will be pushed beyond your limits, and tested in ways your tiny minds cannot now comprehend. You will cry, wretch, scream and beg for mercy. You will be knocked into the dirt more times than you can count, and sometimes you will beg the heavens to take your puny life from you. Perhaps, you will even take it yourself.”
I didn’t think the room could get more silent, but it did. It was as if nobody even dared to breathe. I know I couldn’t.
“Whatever challenges you thought you had up until this point, will pale in comparison to what you are about to experience. Here at the Academy, you will only ever have two choices. Rise to meet your challenges,” Headmaster Archer paused to walk across the podium. “Or die.”
Gasps echoed around the room, and I wasn’t sure if mine was one of them.
“Some of you here have had an easy life. You got here thanks to Daddy’s influence or Mommy’s money. Some of you are cowards, and others,” He was looking straight at me. “Are here by mistake.”
Another pause to walk around the stage.
“That’s why I’ve called this meeting. To give you the chance to leave before you ruin our spotless graduation record. If you don’t think you can survive the Academy, relinquish your dragons and we will allow you to go back home.”
What? The thought seemed ludicrous, especially given what Avek had said. Humans can only be unmarked in death. I traced the amethyst colored scar on my hand. Was this really a chance to escape?
“You have five minutes to choose. Anyone who remains will never have a chance at this kind of amnesty again.”
The weight of his words settled on our shoulders. The look on Solra’s face told me she wasn’t even considering it, but Irikai’s knitted brow was troubling.
He moved his hand—as if he was going to raise it—I caught it before he could. Worried eyes flickered to mine.
“It’s a trap,” I whispered to him. “You and Titan are marked. The bond can only be broken in death.”
He probably already knew that.
He held my gaze for an eternity of seconds, then his eyes flickered to Titan. I turned over the hand that was in mine to see the dragon mark on his wrist—pale silver like his dragon’s eyes.
He ran his fingers over it.
Maybe Irikai didn’t belong here as much as I did. Had his parents bought him a place in the Academy? Was he struggling with the same feelings I was? Titan had bonded with him. He had chosen him, just as had Ignimitra had chosen me.
It didn’t matter how unwilling we were.
The dragon in question bumped against my thigh, reminding me of my other reason.
For the past few years, my knife was the only way I could feel close to him.
The Dragon Academy was supposed to be my way to connect with him, to experience what he did. To understand what made him the man he was, and a way to honor his memory.
It was also the only way that I could get answers.
Now that I was here—albeit two years too early—I wouldn’t give up on this chance, no matter how much it scared me.
The sound of shuffling around us brought me back to the present.
Around us, cadets were leaving, but not as peacefully as the Headmaster had promised. The moment they rose from their seats, a Dragon Guard soldier grabbed them—chaining their hands. Their dragons faced the same treatment, leashed with iron collars despite their shrieks. Some of them realized they had made a mistake and tried to plead, but it was no use.
They were ushered out by soldiers with their swords drawn.
“Now that we’ve got rid of the stragglers,” Headmaster Archer’s voice boomed, dripping with the hint of a threat. His eyes were still fixed on me. “I’d like to officially welcome you, Dragon Guard cadets. If you make it to the other side, a life of untold fulfillment awaits you. ”
Sparse cheers erupted, spurred on by the deepening scowl on his face.
Even I cheered.
Chapter 6
When I woke the next morning, it felt like weeks had passed. Mostly because the dragonling that had fallen asleep at the foot of my bed had become unrecognizable.
Sometime during the night, Ignimitra had moved to the rug in the center of the room. Last night, it would have dwarfed her, but now it looked too little for her.
She had doubled in size. Her body was longer than I was tall now—stocky legs, the slightest gray coloring her coat, and the nubs on her head had begun to sprout horns. The newt from the ruins was long gone.
“Ignimitra!”
She cracked an eye.
“It’s time to go,” I said, eying the clock on the nearby desk. “Breakfast time.”
She jumped to her feet, tongue lolling in delight. She bounded over to me, dropping her head on to my legs.
I couldn’t move.
“You’ll soon be too big for that,” I teased, rubbing her head.
She would soon be too big to sleep with me too.
The past few days had been a rollercoaster, but the only constant had been Ignimitra. What would I do without her presence? I fought the urge to worry. After that speech from Headmaster Archer, I couldn’t crowd my mind with unnecessary things.
I had to survive.
Last night, I had been given two important things. The first was a set of cadet uniforms—a month’s worth of daily clothes and two sets of armor. I liked the look of them: slim-fit brown soft-leather pants and a long-sleeved top emblazoned in gold with the Dragon Guard crest. They were higher quality than anything I’d owned in the past few years.
The other had bee
n a welcome parcel. In it, were my class schedules, a rough map of the academy and all the essential places that a cadet would need to know on the mountain.
One thing stuck out to me. Irikai had been right. Many of the places were unmarked, like there was much of this place than they wanted to keep hidden from us. But, I bet even he had given up on snooping around after that “pep talk” last night.
THE MESS HALL WAS BUSTLING when we arrived.
Cadets and soldiers streamed in and out, some with plates of food, others with bags of charcoal for their dragons that lazed about outside. It took four servings to satiate Ignimitra yesterday. I began to understand the benefits of charcoal—it was cheap to make in huge quantities, and could keep up with the dragons’ growing appetite.
Maybe it was time to change Ignimitra’s diet.
“What do you think about charcoal for breakfast?” I asked, after I had explained to her that she would have to stay outside the hall with the other dragons today.
I had spied Titan and Zelkor in the fray as well—seemingly undergoing their own growth spurt. Titan was nearing three-times Ignimitra’s size.
Ignimitra pulled a face, a frown I could tell.
“You’re getting big, girl. I can’t feed you like I used to,” I stroked her neck, feeling the strong pulse. “Maybe you’ll like it.”
She looked combative at first, her tail swishing vigorously. But she calmed down soon, and looked at least willing to cooperate.
“Thank you. I’ll be back soon.”
I weaved through the stream of people, standing on my toes. Solra was the person I chose to look for. Most of the cadets had dark skin like I did, making her stand out like a sore thumb.
Sure enough, I found her and Irikai in the line approaching the counter. I jogged over to them.
“It’s about time you got here,” Solra said teasingly as I slipped into the line behind her. “I was worried about collecting two plates of food.”
“Between you and me, they were most likely to give it to you,” Irikai teased, earning a false swipe from Solra.
When he kept evading her attempts at hitting him, she settled on giving him the stink eye.
Solra’s eyes widened in delight, “Did Ignimitra get huge overnight too?”
I nodded.
“An inch more and Titan wouldn’t have been able to get out of my room,” Irikai recalled.
“This is normal, though.” Solra said with an air of knowledgeableness. “Their bodies are distributing their weight correctly for flight. Their wings should unfurl any day now.”
Flight.
The word brought back childhood memories aboard Jairyn. The vividness with which I remembered it still made my bones feel weak.
“Titan’s wings have already unfurled,” Irikai beamed. “That’s partly why I almost couldn’t fit him through the door.”
Solra’s eyes were brimming with awe. Irikai soaked it up, launching into a description of his dragon’s wings.
“I’m so excited to go flying on Zelkor!”
They didn’t seem to notice my silence, which was good.
I had always been a passenger on dragons. With Ignimitra, I’d have to be in control. I would have to make all the decisions. My life would be in her hands.. I wasn’t anxious for that to happen.
We collected our breakfast and scarfed them down as quick as we could. We had less than an hour to make it to our first class—it was being held a good distance from the mess hall—and we still had to feed our dragons.
The charcoal station was the back room of the mess hall. The walls and floors were black with ash and soot, and the room was bereft of furniture save for a huge covered kiln. Three men worked in unison to cool and bag the charcoal which was disappearing faster than they could make it. We waited for a few minutes before we were each able to secure a bag.
Outside was less busy.
Many of the second-years had left on their dragons, casting shadows on us as we lugged the charcoal to ours. We found them in the middle of a heated romp that Titan seemed to be winning because he had the advantage of both size and skills.
The blue dragon was hovering off the ground, flapping its wings ferociously. He bellowed at the dragons below him, just out of their reach. Zelkor kept jumping, but Ignimitra sat on her hind legs, observing.
I witnessed the most curious sight.
As if upset at Titan’s taunt, Ignimitra stood on all fours and let out a shriek. A loud cracking sound mingled with her cries, and my mouth fell open. Her wings unfurled. She stayed airborne for just a few seconds before she fell back to the ground.
Ignimitra’s wings were slight, longer than her entire body from head to tail-tip. At the edge of each joint was a wing claw the color of her talons. Her wing webs were translucent, glimmering in the early morning sun. She looked entirely fierce with her wings, but also so delicate.
“Looks like Ignimitra’s joined Titan!” Irikai exclaimed, he had already crossed the distance to look at her wings. “Very cool new addition!” He said to her, and she yipped in response.
Titan came over then, knocking Irikai to his feet. “Hey, your wings are still the coolest around, okay?”
Ignimitra hopped over to me, her new wings lengthening her bounds.
“Nice wings,” I said, as she came closer to encircle me with them. It was the warmest hug I had ever gotten.
“We don’t have much time,” Solra’s voice cut through our moment.
She had already emptied her bag in a trough and was beckoning Zelkor to eat. I was certain I saw her eyes linger on his tightly furled wings.
I did the same, a bit nervous for Ignimitra’s review of the taste.
She turned up her nose at it. But after some prodding—and the sight of Titan and Zelkor thoroughly enjoying their meals—she gave it a try.
It was obvious she didn’t like it, for half of every mouthful she took ended up back in the trough. But she ate it, and that was all that mattered.
Strapped for time, we ended up jogging to class, much to Irikai’s chagrin.
OUR TRIO WERE THE LAST students to make it there.
The class was set in a sunken clearing flanked by trees all-around. The other members of our cohort and their dragons—sixteen pairs, I counted—were seated on the rocks that overlooked the clearing. We joined them.
There was no teacher in sight. Perhaps we weren’t as late as I thought.
I sat imagining flying on Ignimitra until darkness fell over us. A huge shadow was barreling towards the clearing. The dragon approached and turned deftly in the air, landing in front of us with a thud, shaking fruits free of their trees.
It was a huge mahogany colored creature that stood taller than the treetops, with bulky legs and jaws. Two thick tendrils of dark brown hair trailed down its back, and two huge horns curled upwards from its head. A green-jeweled necklace glistened in its ear.
“That’s a Rubyscale, like Zelkor,” Solra whispered to me, her eyes glimmering.
The dragon sank to its shanks, and a figure alighted.
I wasn’t sure who I was expecting, but it surely wasn’t a woman as small as the one who appeared.
She was shorter than even Solra, with rich dark brown skin and a shock of salt-and-pepper hair. A tiered dress with silver piping stopped short of her ankles and bore the dragon guard crest. It was when she started walking towards us it became clear that the dress was actually just a weird jumpsuit. How did she get away with her eccentricity at a place like this?
“Hello cadets,” she said. Her tone was like a melody, more sing-song than I thought possible for a human. “I’m Sergeant Slate Vera! Your aerial combat instructor, and I’ll also be in charge of your cohort for the next couple of years.” She gave us a big smile, then pointed to her dragon, “And that is Slade.”
At the mention of his name, Slade bellowed—the earth shook and birds flew out of the trees. He reeked of power.
“I take the privilege of being your guide for the next two years very seriously,
and I hope you will too. I’m sure Headmaster Archer’s talk with you yesterday helped you to come to terms with the stakes,” At those words, the melody in her voice started to sound like a death knell.
Yes, our lives are at stake.
With her arms folded behind her back, she walked slowly across the front line of our group. “The Drakkendom of Pyralis has a duty to defend not only our own country, but all the countries of New Terra. As the most advanced nation, it is our duty to keep the world in balance. The Dragon Guard is how His Majesty the Fire Drakken keeps the peace!” She smiled. “As cadets, it is imperative that you think of our country’s duty as your own. It’s the only way you’ll be able to survive this.”
All of this had been in the welcome packet, but hearing it so succinctly from Sergeant Vera made it take on a new meaning. We were agents of change and upholders of the standards. We acted as the Fire Drakken’s own hand in the field.
It was a heavy burden.
“The next two years will prepare you to go out in the field and carry on the great legacy that many soldiers before you gave up their lives for.” She smiled. “And as you all know, the risk is more than worth the reward.”
A pang of sadness struck my chest, but I swallowed it. Grief would only slow me down now, it would only weaken me. It would only make this harder.
“With that said, we will begin our first class. It won’t be an official lesson, but it will be something to help you build comradery.”
Hushed whispers erupted between us, as we wondered what it could be.
“But first, let’s recite the Dragon Guard Pledge.”
AFTER THE PLEDGE, WE were split up into groups of four.
We stayed as a trio until another cadet—a guy with a strangely familiar face—joined us, after it was clear that this was the only place he could go.
He was taller than even Irikai. With a milky complexion and wispy blond hair, which he wore close-cropped. His eyes were such a distinct shade of green that I knew he seemed so familiar.
He looked exactly like the Headmaster.
The way he held his shoulders square, the aloofness on his face as he crossed his arms, even the way he seemed to shrug us off though he was on our team. It was the demeanor of someone from the First Order, who believed the world belonged to him. Because it did.
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