A couple guys snickered. Javier shook his head, but Gordon moved along with a few other announcements and then dismissed us.
“I hope you’re not too sad about missing this Saturday’s match,” I said to Daniel as we put away our armor. “If you wanted to stay here, I wouldn’t hold it against you. Everyone keeps talking about how great you were last weekend.”
Daniel shrugged. “I’m bummed to miss it, but there’s literally nothing that could matter enough to keep me from being there for you on Saturday. For better or worse, we are all going to stand with you.”
“Thanks.” I cleared my throat, shoving away some feelings. “We’re planning on meeting on the Lady Agnue’s lawn at eight in the morning. It’s BYOP – Bring Your Own Pegasus.”
“Good plan,” he said. Daniel looked up and saw that the next team was starting to enter the arena through the tunnel. “Do you want to sneak out the back again?” he asked. “I have some thoughts on extracurricular activities for us today. Spoiler alert, it involves falcons.”
I actually wouldn’t have minded saying hi to Chance, as well as Girtha and Divya, but remembering how perturbed Daniel got about the prince, I decided not to draw his ire.
“Uh, sure,” I said.
Daniel and I exited through the net storage area and were outside the stadium in minutes. From there, we walked to the campus aviary. The ravens, hawks, eagles, and pigeons were easy to recognize, but many exotic species resided there as well. One was tiny and lime green with a red and blue chest and a tail three times the length of its body. White, fluffy birds with golden bills and black eyes made fascinating cawing noises. Orange birds with gray feathers hung from the ceiling like bats.
The falcon dwelling was at the rear of the aviary. Daniel handed me a hefty glove. “Remember,” he said. “Falcons can sense fear and weakness. Look them in the eye at all times or they may wonder about your motives.”
“Sounds like good advice regarding teenage girls too,” I said.
Daniel grabbed two empty sacks with shoulder straps from a nearby hook and began to fill them with some stuff from a metal box. “Meat scraps for the birds,” he explained, tossing me a sack. Then he retrieved a tiny helmet out of a cubby and instructed me to wait. Daniel entered the bird habitat and returned with the first falcon—a magnificent white-ish bird—on his glove. The helmet covered its eyes, and Daniel held onto a small leash attached to the bird’s foot.
“Here.” He passed me the leash and maneuvered the bird onto my glove. “The birds get distracted, so we keep the helmets on until we can set them free.”
“I like the helmets. They’re cute,” I commented.
“I’m sure that’s what the guys who made them were going for.” Daniel rolled his eyes and went to fetch another bird. Once he had his own falcon—a smaller, silvery creature—we journeyed outside.
“Okay, so here’s the thing about falcons,” he said. “You know how in some stories, heroes have pet falcons and they’re all bonded and buddy-buddy like you with your dragon?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s bull. Falcons, and birds of prey in general, can never truly bond with people. They’re just not capable of it. What you can achieve with a falcon is a working relationship. They hunt small mammals. When they catch something, if you get there in time, you can distract them with a scrap of useless meat fat like what’s in that sack, and then you keep the main kill for yourself. That is why people started training falcons in the first place. We use them for hunting, and they think of us as refrigerators. That’s it.”
“And here I thought I was about to become even more legendary by becoming bros with this bird.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a bubble-burster,” Daniel admitted. He began walking toward the forest and gestured for me to follow. “At first when I joined the Falconry Club this semester, I was bummed when they told me the truth. But now I don’t care. The club has taught me a lot more than I thought it would and I’m enjoying the activity for what it is. Stories and legends are great, but I prefer it when they’re realistic.”
“Same,” I replied. “And anyway, there’s nothing wrong with a working relationship without a close bond. Sounds like every group project I was ever forced to complete in school.”
Daniel smirked and stopped. He removed the tiny helmets from our birds.
“Why’s my bird bigger?” I asked.
“Females are always bigger than males,” he replied. “But they’re equally fast. These Whispering Falcons can go over 200 miles an hour in a dive. And they are the most silent birds around. The little woodland creatures they prey on never hear them coming.”
I grimaced.
“Which is why we’re not hunting woodland creatures today. I thought you’d have that reaction.”
“Good,” I said, sighing with relief. “Sorry if that disappoints you, but a lot of girls, even the hard-core ones like me, aren’t cool with killing for sport. So what are we using then?”
Daniel removed something that looked like a remote control from his pocket. He pushed the letter F, then the number 9, and hit a red button on the top of the device.
“Contrary to what you might think, Knight, not all guys are at ease with killing for sport either. Our forest is tricked out with robotic animals for hunting practice. We use the robotic deer and ducks for archery, the robotic Griffins for fight-and-capture drills, and the robotic mice, chipmunks, and rabbits for falconry. When they’re not in use, they go back into their underground capsules.”
“So Lord Channing’s has comprehensive fighting arenas, an assortment of magical and non-magical creatures, and robotic animals. And people wonder why I have a chip on my shoulder about how much better the boys have it.”
Daniel shrugged. “Hey, if you don’t like it, fix it. Isn’t that what you and the other girls have been doing? You wanted to play Twenty-Three Skidd, so you did. Lord Channing’s students build the robotic animals in our senior-level mechanical engineering course. I don’t see why you and your school can’t do the same. Whether it’s equal treatment in sports, robotic animals, or anything else in life, if what you want in the world doesn’t exist, build it.”
“That’s deep, Daniel, and a good point.” Then I noticed my falcon eyeing me intensely. “I think this girl is ready to hunt. She is giving me a real serious look.” I lifted my glove and alluded to my falcon.
Daniel nodded. “She knows the drill. She’ll stay on your glove until you send her off. Then she’ll fly around in the vicinity searching for prey, but will never lose sight of you.”
“Because I’m her refrigerator,” I said.
“Exactly. The bird will always want to know you’re there as a back-up in case she doesn’t catch any prey. If she does find something, move quickly. Falcons don’t have a sense of smell, so Ramona won’t be able to tell that the animal’s a fake straight away. You’ll want to get to the robot fast to collect it before she tears it apart.”
“Ramona, huh? Hi there,” I said.
The bird gave me a steely look of nothingness.
Yup, we were definitely not going to be bros.
“I activated nine small robotic animals in the woods.” Daniel pointed to the trees. “They deactivate when touched by anything biological. Put the ones you collect in the outside pocket of your bag. Whoever brings back the most robots wins. You have your Mark Two on you, right?”
“Yep.”
“Good. I’ll check in with you in thirty minutes. We’ll see who’s the victor.”
I grinned at him. “Like there’s even a contest.”
Daniel smiled. “Only you would be so confident about succeeding at something you’ve never even tried before.”
“Hey.” I shrugged as I started jogging backward toward the tree line. “I’ve got chosen one syndrome. Sue me.”
My falcon and I delved into the forest. In the cool shade of the mighty trees, everything felt instantly more peaceful and quiet.
Aw, sweet solitude. Except for you, bird.
“What do you think, Ramona?” I addressed the falcon. “Can we have a good working relationship?”
She gave me another stare of cold detachment. It reminded me of Kai. I scolded myself for thinking that.
“Go get ’em,” I said, releasing Ramona’s leash. She took off promptly and I began wandering through the trees. Sure enough, as Daniel said, Ramona was never out of my sight completely.
Once in a while I heard someone rush by in the distance. I remembered that the Hunting & Tracking Club met now. So plenty of boys were wandering these woods too.
Above me, Ramona suddenly tucked into a dive. I ran over to where she seemed to be heading. My falcon descended to the ground with talons extended and grabbed something upon landing. I angled to get a good look. It was a robotic mouse with a red blinking light on its head.
“Ramona, here.” I hastily reached into my bag and chucked a piece of fatty raw meat near the bird. Ramona hopped toward the food and I grabbed the metallic mouse, shoving it in the outside pocket of my bag.
Ramona had finished gobbling up her snack by then so I took out another piece to feed her as a thank you. I didn’t even have time to throw it. The second she saw it in my hand, she flew over and landed on my glove. “Uh, enjoy,” I said, handing her the food. She ate it up, looked me in the eye, then took off again.
“Okay, one down; eight to go,” I said.
Ramona and I continued through the woods. After about twenty minutes, I’d collected four robotic animals. I was headed up an embankment when someone called my name.
“Crisa?”
It was Jason.
“Hey!” I clambered back down the hill to reach him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Hanging out with Daniel and not bonding with this super cool bird.” I nodded to Ramona, who was perched high up on a tree branch.
“Awesome. I’m in pursuit of a wild huffing wolf that our Hunting & Tracking Club advisor let loose in the forest.” Jason had a bow in his hand and a quiver on his back. He looked over my shoulder and froze. “Which I just found. Move very slowly. It hasn’t spotted us yet.”
I did as he said and saw a beige wolf the size of a hippo at the top of the hill. It was sort of fat and had a snout five times bigger than a normal wolf, which made its head hang down.
“Get low,” Jason whispered.
I followed his direction and we hid behind a bush.
“Now stay here a minute.” Jason slowly crept uphill, ducking behind trunks and boulders. When he was a dozen feet from the creature, he drew his bow and aimed an arrow. He was about to launch the shot when the wolf noticed him. The creature inhaled—instantly inflating its body to twice its size, then released the air in the form of a massive huff, which blew Jason downhill.
Crud!
I raced over to him; he was disoriented and not getting up, and the wolf had started to come after us. I turned to face the oncoming creature, golden light encompassing my hand. Under my command, plants in the undergrowth formed a big fist that grabbed the wolf, picked it up, and then carried it deeper and deeper into the forest until it was out of sight and its howling discontent out of earshot.
Jason coughed and sat up, rubbing his head. “I hate those things. I don’t blame Chauncey and the other two little pigs for boiling alive the one they caught.”
“Gruesome much,” I said, helping him to his feet. “I commanded the undergrowth to take the wolf far enough away from us to not be dangerous. Are you going after it anyway?”
“In a minute. You have the wolf trapped and I’m the only one who knows which direction it went, so I’m sure I can catch up with it quickly and beat the other guys there. The person who kills the wolf gets ten bonus points added to their class standing.”
“Yay for you,” I said. “Just make it a quick kill, okay? That wolf may be dangerous, but it didn’t ask to be.”
Jason softened. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I know how your school works. A wolf is nothing in comparison to the Valiancy Tests.”
At Lord Channing’s, in order to graduate every protagonist needed to pass two measurements of their heroism called Valiancy Tests—kill a monster and kill an antagonist. Jason and Daniel had already done both.
“I guess not,” Jason said awkwardly, going to retrieve his bow. He stopped then turned to me. “Listen, I have to go, but the next time I see you will be Saturday so I just want to ask if you’re okay. Are you ready for the trial?”
I paused. “You know, I think that’s the first time anyone’s asked me that.”
Everyone seemed to have an opinion about my trial, but no one had straight up asked me if I was set for it. Of course Jason would be the one to; his core was full of caring and genuine compassion for others. I felt bad for the shade I’d thrown at him regarding the wolf. Hunting was part of his school routine as much as curtsying was part of mine. We shouldn’t judge one another for what our worlds had trained us for.
“I think I am ready,” I replied. “Ready to get it over with, ready to pitch my argument, and most of all, ready to show Lenore, the higher-ups, and all the gossips in our realm what I really am. Someone strong and powerful. And while they may fear me for that, those qualities are the exact reason why people should be on my team, not rooting against me.”
Jason put his hand on my shoulder. “I couldn’t agree more.”
A howl echoed in the distance.
“That’s my cue,” Jason said. “Sounds like the wolf got free.”
“Happy hunting,” I replied.
He gave me a salute and then took off into the woods. Not a moment later, my Mark Two rang. It was Daniel, informing me that we needed to head back. I held up a piece of meat and Ramona alighted on my glove. I kept a grip on her leash so she wouldn’t fly away as I trekked out of the forest, the distant howls of the huffing wolf resonating behind me.
Dangerous though it didn’t ask to be, I thought in the back of my mind.
Daniel beat me to the aviary. He’d retrieved five robotic animals in comparison to my four, but only gloated mildly. We put away the birds and other equipment then started walking across the campus to where I’d last seen Lucky.
“So how did you like falconry?” Daniel asked.
“I loved it. And I love this.” I gestured at the general area around me. “Thanks for sharing so many new parts of the campus with me.”
“You’re welcome. There’s a lot of cool stuff to see. Maybe someday we can get permission from Lord Channing to bring you to the main building. I know you’d love the weapons room, and the living battle maps room, and the observatory.”
“Oh, I’ve been to the observatory already. Chance took me there yesterday.”
Daniel frowned for a moment. “How did it go?”
“Fine,” I said. “I am starting to like him.”
“You mean like him in the way you like Girtha, or like him in the way Prince Charming likes Snow White?”
“I mean like him as a person,” I said bluntly. “Plain and simple. The rest remains to be seen, but I am open to the possibility. He’s coming to the trial on Saturday.”
“Knight, why did you invite him?” Daniel asked, clearly irritated.
“I didn’t invite him, Daniel, he volunteered to come and support me. I accepted and appreciated the offer. The future relationship dynamic between him and me is still up in the air, but at the end of the day Chance is a loyal friend and I could use as many of those as I can get right now. There are twenty-six ambassadors and who knows how many Godmothers coming to the trial. Having a strong assembly of my own will help, so the more the merrier. Practically all our friends were already coming. I don’t see why one more makes a difference to you.”
Daniel sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make things more difficult, but that guy really rubs me the wrong way.”
I shrugged. “People don’t always get along with the same people. We can only try our best.”
“It’s easier for you,
” Daniel replied. “You may like being alone sometimes, but you’ve been surrounded by friends your whole life. I didn’t have that growing up. After I lost my family, all I had was Kai and a couple of other street kids I used to play marbles with. Being alone was my default.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, the thought of tiny Daniel playing marbles with other little kids made me want to smile. I guess I just liked thinking about him embracing fun and playing games. I was seeing more of his fun side these days, which I appreciated. But so much of him was tied up in that brooding shadow he wore like a cloak. When we first met, it was all I saw. If other people saw the same thing when forming their first impressions about him, I understood why he didn’t make friends fast.
“If we’re being completely transparent, Daniel,” I replied, “I’m not Kai’s favorite person in the same way that Chance isn’t yours. But she and I try to have as good a relationship as possible because we have important things in common. Like you.”
Daniel’s brow furrowed with concern. “You guys don’t get along?”
“No. We do. But I can tell she still holds it against me that I chose to save her life and release that dragon in Century City.”
“You stopped it in the end though.”
“After it had done a ton of damage. I don’t even know if there were innocent people injured or killed in the process. There had to be right?”
Now it was my turn to sigh. “That’s why I don’t blame Kai for being upset with me. Goodness knows the higher-ups would use that dragon as the ultimate nail in my argument’s coffin if they ever found out. Because even if it was a good thing I saved Kai, it was still a terrible thing to unleash that kind of destruction. Sometimes I wonder about the choice. As I expect you would too if you didn’t love Kai so much. The whole thing’s a tough struggle to swallow.”
“Greater good versus the good of one person,” Daniel said, summarizing the conflict.
“Exactly. Only in this case it was for the good of several people. I saved Kai for Kai’s sake, but I saved her for yours too. I couldn’t let you lose her. I could never do anything that would destroy someone I cared for so fundamentally.”
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