Fledgling (The Dragonrider Chronicles)

by Nicole Conway

  He didn’t waste any time. He bedded down in his nest of straw, putting his nose on his tail and closing his eyes. I could still hear him purring to himself as I left his stall and went back down the stairs.

  I knew that sooner or later, Felix and I were going to have to answer for what we’d done. It wasn’t like no one had noticed we were missing. But thankfully, training had been suspended until we were found. And now that we were back, Academy Commander Rayken gave everyone a few days to settle down before training resumed. It gave me time to eat and sleep as much as I wanted.

  Three days later, early in the morning, Felix and I got the order that Commander Rayken wanted to see us immediately. Felix looked nervous, but I had already come to terms with the fact that this was probably the end of my career as a dragonrider. I was going to take all the blame, since it had been all my idea in the first place, and Commander Rayken was going to formally dismiss me from Blybrig. At least, that’s what I was expecting.

  Dressed in clean fledgling uniforms, we walked together to his office without saying a word. We didn’t look at each other as we climbed the stairs and waited outside the door. Felix knocked, and I heard Commander Rayken’s voice telling us to come inside.

  We stood side by side at attention in front of his desk with our hands clasped behind our backs. I didn’t dare meet his eyes as Commander Rayken looked us over with a steely expression. It was hard to tell what kind of mood he was in, since I had only seen him a few times before, and he apparently never smiled. He had hard lines on his face from his constant frown, and something about his features reminded me of an old cranky owl.

  “You two have made my life very complicated, as of late,” he said at last. “First with the saddle nonsense, and now this.”

  “Sir,” Felix spoke up suddenly. “Permission to speak freely?”

  The Commander narrowed his eyes and nodded.

  “This was my fault, sir. I take sole responsibility for what happened.” He squared his shoulders, looking like he was having a hard time holding himself together.

  At first, all I could do was stare at him. I didn’t even realize my mouth was hanging open until a few minutes had gone by. “B-but that’s not—”

  Felix shot me an angry look. “It was, Jae. I could have stopped you from leaving Brinton’s estate, but I didn’t. I’m the oldest, so I’m responsible.”

  “It’s admirable to try and spare him from punishment,” the Commander interrupted us suddenly. “But I’m afraid your friend came to me personally in the ballroom asking for my help. You were nowhere in sight, Mr. Farrow.”

  Felix’s face flushed, and he glared down at the tops of his boots. He didn’t say anything else.

  Commander Rayken’s gaze turned on me then, and I found myself wrenching my sweaty hands together behind my back. “Do you remember when you first came here?” he asked me. “Lieutenant Derrick was adamant that I should allow you to join our brotherhood. He insisted that having you here would help restore our fading legacy of honor and discipline.”

  I tensed, waiting for the axe to drop. As ready as I’d thought I was before to hear him kick me out of Blybrig, I was so nervous I was shaking. I didn’t want my time as a dragonrider to be over.

  Commander Rayken sighed as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk. “As much as it pains me to admit it—he was right.”

  I was stunned. For the second time, I couldn’t speak. All I could do was stand there, staring at him with my mouth hanging open again.

  “You have demonstrated courage that only befits a dragonrider,” he went on. “Apparently, in saving your sponsor, you also prevented the success of a plot to defile a sacred artifact that would have granted the Lord General immortality. That power hungry fool stole from the king, paid off some of the royal elite guards to join his cause, and infiltrated my academy. He betrayed his own brothers, whom he had sworn to protect and lead as Lord General, in the most profound way imaginable. It’s only fitting that his own dragon went mad and devoured him. Good riddance.”

  Felix and I exchanged a meaningful glance. We both knew Icarus hadn’t really gone mad. I had been the one encouraging the king drake to rebel, although eating the Lord General was entirely the dragon’s idea.

  “You’re talking about the god stone?” I dared to ask.

  The Commander just sighed again, fidgeting with papers on his desk. “Yes. The arcenstone, though some call it the god stone. The king prizes it as the crown jewel of his reign. It’s all magical nonsense, really. It’s ridiculous, thinking a rock could grant anyone immortal life.”

  I felt a little queasy when I thought about the stone I’d seen through the flames in the prison camp. That milky green orb wrapped in a cloth had lain right at my feet. It entranced me somehow, as though it had some sort of force to pull me in. Remembering it gave me chills.

  “But why did he want to kill Sile?” I murmured under my breath. I recalled that the Lord General had said something about a ritual that needed to be performed. “What did Sile have to do with a ritual like that?”

  “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Commander Rayken grumbled. “He’s leaving this afternoon. The infirmary has declared him physically unfit for duty. He’s being medically discharged as of today. From now on, you will both be sponsored by Lieutenant Rordin.”

  It took a moment for that to sink in. Sile wasn’t coming back. He wouldn’t be my sponsor anymore. The minute I got that news, it felt like my career was doomed. Sile had looked out for me and been forgiving to my small size and pathetic strength. He’d never cared that I was a halfbreed. I didn’t know who Lieutenant Rordin was, but I seriously doubted he was going to approve of me.

  I looked at Felix, wondering if he’d known about this already. Judging by the total shock I saw on his face, clearly he hadn’t.

  “Training will formally resume tomorrow, so I suggest you both prepare,” Commander Rayken said, wafting his hand at us as though he were shooing us away. “You are dismissed.”

  As soon as we got back outside, Felix turned to me with a sly grin. He grabbed my shoulders with excitement, and started shaking me like a rag doll. “Can you believe that?! Do you have any idea how lucky we are? I thought for sure we were both about to get the boot!”

  I smirked back at him. “So did I, but we should probably go talk to Sile.”

  His smile faded a little, and he let me go. “Yeah. He’s bound to be pretty upset about getting medically discharged.”

  To be honest, the idea of seeing Sile again made me nervous. I didn’t know what would be left of the man I’d looked up to like, well, like the father I’d never really had. Sile had always been so dignified and proud, a true dragonrider in my mind. Seeing him battered, broken, and now officially dismissed from service was going to be difficult.

  We made our way to the infirmary building as the sun was beginning to dip below the mountains. When we arrived, a medic in a white tunic told us to wait in the foyer while he asked if Sile was willing to have visitors. I’d never been in the infirmary before, but it had a very pungent odor from all the medicines. When the medic returned, he told us to follow him and showed us the way up a flight of stairs to the second floor. There were lots of rooms for patients, but most of them were empty with only a single clean, white bed inside.

  Sile was sitting on the edge of his bed with his whole left arm wrapped layer upon layer of gauze. I could see that his forearm was splinted, and only the tips of his fingers peeked out of the dressings. His lip was still swollen, he had a nasty bruise on his jaw and around one of his eyes, but he still managed to look like the proud warrior he was.

  He was talking to Beckah in a soft voice where she sat in a chair near the doorway. When we came in, they both looked up. Beckah’s face brightened as she smiled at me. She stood up and threw her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly, and then doing the same thing to Felix. Sile didn’t seem to approve of that, even though he didn’t say anything to stop her. I could see his expression stiffe
n into a tense frown.

  “Beck?” He cleared his throat to get her attention. “Why don’t you go see about getting us some dinner before we get on the road back home? I could use a bite to eat.”

  She beamed at him before she went skipping out of the room, her long dark braid trailing behind her. Our eyes met as she passed, and she winked at me playfully. It made me smirk a little and blush again in spite of myself.

  When I looked back at Sile, he was glaring at me like he wanted to hit me. “Would anyone care to explain to me why you took my little girl on your suicidal rescue attempt?”

  I was getting the feeling he expected me to answer that. I opened my mouth to come up with some kind of excuse, but Felix beat me to it. “She insisted on coming,” he said. “She refused to let us leave her behind.”

  Sile cut him a murderous look. “She is a fourteen year old child. You’re nearly a man. Surely you can see how I have a hard time believing she forced you to do anything.”

  I swallowed hard. “Sir, we were afraid whoever kidnapped you might take her, too.”

  “She could have been killed,” he snapped. I heard him sigh as he started rubbing his forehead with his good hand. “You all could have been killed, and that would be on my head. I would be standing before my ancestors with the blood of three children on my hands in addition to . . .” His voice trailed away, and he just sat there staring vacantly ahead of him.

  “Sir?” I started to ask. There were so many things I wanted to know that I really didn’t know where to start. “Why you? If the Lord General needed some kind of a sacrifice for the ritual to grant him immortality, why did he pick you? Couldn’t he have just picked an easier victim?”

  Sile met my gaze again, and this time he looked confused. “Immortality? Is that what they’re saying?”

  Felix and I both nodded.

  He chuckled hoarsely like that was ridiculous, shaking his head. “Lies,” he muttered. “Lies, as usual.”

  “Sir?” I was anxious for him to explain.

  Sile just kept shaking his head while he ran his fingers over the thick bandaging on his arm. “In this case, knowing too much can most certainly kill you. Let what happened to me be an example for you of what happens when you know too much. What I know has almost taken my life twice. It’s better that you know nothing, for now.”

  I didn’t like that answer, and judging by the sour look on Felix’s face, neither did he. We’d been through a lot just to be shut down without any idea what was going on with Sile. I felt like he owed us something more than that vague explanation. “But what if they come for you again? If we don’t know what we’re up against—”

  “They won’t,” he interrupted. “I’m not a threat to them anymore. The medics have said that my arm will heal, but I have lost almost all sensation in my hand. I cannot grip a fork with out great effort, much less a sword or a dragon saddle. I am useless in the eyes of the king now. Valla will be released to join the other dragons in the wild, and I will go home to my family in retirement.”

  Sile didn’t sound happy about that at all. His expression was somber as he stared at the floor, and I could see the look of distress in his eyes. I couldn’t imagine how lost he must have felt, suddenly having his life’s career ripped out from underneath him. Even so, when he sighed, I caught his eyes for just a brief second. It made me wonder if he really was telling us the truth. Was he really safe now?

  “And we’re being passed on to someone else. Lieutenant Rordin—whoever that is,” Felix grumbled.

  “Jace Rordin is a good man,” Sile said. “I fought alongside him when I was a younger man. He’s only just now retired from the front lines. If you’re smart, you’ll listen to what he has to say. He’ll have valuable information and tactics to share with you that most riders don’t have, because of his experience.”

  He paused then, looking over at me as though he could sense what I was wondering: Had Sile told him that I was a halfbreed? He smirked and gave a small shrug. “I told him you were unique, but you are the bravest fledgling I’d ever met. Brave to the point of suicidal, in fact.”

  Hearing that made me deflate. “I wasn’t brave. I was terrified the whole time.”

  Sile gave me a strange look then, as though what I said disappointed him. “Bravery is not an immunity to fear, it is rising up to meet it with the hope that nothing is impossible.”

  I shifted uneasily where I stood as Sile just sat there staring at us. After a few uncomfortable moments, Beckah came back in carrying two plates piled with food. She glanced at all of us as she put the plates down on the bedside table. I could tell she was trying to figure out what was wrong. Finally, she looked at her father with a worried expression.

  Sile just smiled at her. “Maybe you’d like to go eat with them in the dining hall, instead?”

  Her face lit up suddenly, and she looked back at us hopefully. “Daddy, are you sure? I already brought something up here.”

  He just waved a hand at her dismissively, “I can eat both. I haven’t had anything in days. I’ll be fine. Go on.”

  I had a feeling he just wanted to get rid of us for a while. Despite the way he smiled at her, I could still see sadness in his dark eyes. This was hard for him; it just had to be. Leaving Blybrig meant his days as a dragonrider were over forever, and I could imagine how that would terrify someone who had been doing this since he was our age.

  “I’ll come by next year and see how you two are progressing,” Sile called after us on our way out the door. “So don’t disappoint me.”

  I swore right then that I would do my best not to. Out of every other dragonrider here, his opinion was the one I valued the most. I wanted his approval more than anyone else’s. I wanted to make him proud of me.

  twenty-two

  Two days later, Lyon was back, and standing in formation at the call to arms. He looked pretty horrible—like he hadn’t slept since he’d abandoned us at the prison camp. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened or where he’d been. It took me a while to talk Felix down from wanting to beat the life out of him right then and there. I thought I’d succeeded, but then I spotted Lyon in the dormitory hallway later that night and he had a fresh black eye. I didn’t have to wonder who’d given it to him.

  I was relieved when training started up again. It was comforting to be back where everything made sense, and all my days were planned down to the last minute. I had a warm bed, three good meals, and I got to train with Mavrik every day. I didn’t tell anyone about my new ability to communicate with him, or that he could speak back to me by sending me images in my mind. Considering how most people were responding to me calling to animals, I decided it was probably best to keep that to myself, for now.

  Felix and I got back into our old routines like nothing had ever happened, well . . . except for our new sponsor. Lieutenant Jace Rordin was a lot different than Sile. When he met us for the first time, I got the impression right away that he wasn’t going to put up with any nonsense. He looked like he was in his mid thirties, but I would have never thought of him as old. He was a fairly normal height, with an average build, dark eyes under a serious brow, and dark brown hair that was beginning to turn gray along his sideburns and temples. He had a grim, somber look about him just like you would expect from a man who’d just returned from the battlefront.

  When he looked at me, it made my shoulders seize up instinctively because I was always afraid of what he’d say to me. He’d just gotten finished killing gray elves, and I knew what I looked like. But he never said a word about my heritage, which only made me more anxious.

  Jace may not have looked like anyone extraordinary, but he was a very good swordfighter. He kept us doing the same drills every the morning Sile had started with us, only . . . he made us get up even earlier and actually did them with us. He even ran laps with us. Then he started teaching us more about sparring and hand-to-had combat techniques, advanced stuff that the other fledglings weren’t lea
rning yet.

  He pushed us to our breaking point every single day. I could tell that my size and lack of strength were annoying to him. He was constantly critiquing me, insisting that I needed to work harder, and shaking his head like I was a big disappointment.

  I still wasn’t any good with the weaponry we were learning to use. Swords were still too big and heavy, and I could barely pull back a bowstring. It was frustrating, but I muscled through. I wasn’t going to give up. If Rordin was trying to break me by proving I wasn’t strong enough to stay here, then he’d just have to toss my body out on the doorstep after I died from doing too many pushups.

  “You need to keep up this regimen during the interlude,” Jace growled at my heels as he ran behind us during morning laps. “Every day you should run, fly drills, and work on building your strength and stamina.”

  I didn’t know what the interlude was. It seemed to be a pretty big deal though, because the whole academy started buzzing about it as training went on. Instructors looked more serious and pushed us even harder. The avian class ahead of us started to look more stressed and worried. You could practically taste the tension in the air.

  On our last week of training before the interlude, Felix explained that while training for the older students went year-round, fledglings got a three month break while the class ahead of us, the avians, learned ground survival techniques. It all focused around that final month where all the avian students were put through a rigorous final test they called the battle scenario.

  “That’ll be us next year, you know. It’s the most intense training we’ll ever do,” he said. “They teach us how to endure interrogation, torture, and how to survive in Luntharda if we get shot down behind enemy lines. Students have died during this training. It’s no joke. All the instructors have to be present to help out.”

  Now I was starting to understand why Jace was pushing me so hard. If that training was difficult, or even deadly, to normal students . . . I could only imagine what it was going to be like for me. Jace must have been concerned that I was too small to survive, and I couldn’t really blame him for that.