by Jada Fisher
“Hey.”
Eist looked up from the work she was hastily scribbling out, eager to get her studies done so that she could get back to training. She was mildly surprised to see Athar standing there, the sun shining behind his back and making him look truly impressive.
“Hey,” she answered. “You need something?”
He shook his head, for all the world looking like he didn’t know what to say, before swallowing harshly. “Don’t you?”
Eist raised an eyebrow. While she found Athar’s stutter sort of earnestly charming, she realized he was still self-conscious about it and would try to mitigate the impediment by limiting himself to as few words as he could when Ain wasn’t around to be his mouthpiece.
“Come again?”
He flushed, a surprisingly adorable reaction on such a giant of a young man, and his huge hand went up to rub the back of his neck. “I heard you started you’re t-t-training with the halberd, but th-they just gave you a staff. If you’d li-li-li-li…” He took a breath. “Want to, I could probably get you a mock one w-we could practice wha-wha-with.”
Eist waited patiently until he was done, never mentioning his stutter. She knew it was worse when he was nervous, and it struck her as flattering that him proposing a training session made him nervous. He was so huge that he could probably rip her in half if he wanted, but she knew he wasn’t the type. No, he would probably throw himself in front of a wagon to avoid so much as stepping on a cat’s tail. Funny for such a gentle giant to end up best friends with the always pointed Ain.
“And how would you do that?” Eist asked amusedly.
“I, uh… One of the weapon assistants is…nice to me. She lets me t-test the dummy weapons wh-when I have some free time.”
Eist smiled as she rose to her feet, throwing on a teasing tone. “Why, Athar, are you using someone’s crush on you for personal gain?”
The poor giant flushed bright red from his hairline all the way down to the collar of his tunic. Eist couldn’t help but smile and patted his truly massive chest. Goodness, it was like petting a boulder. What was the boy made of?
“It’s alright. As far as using people, it’s fairly innocuous. Don’t worry, your reputation is still safe in my eyes.”
He seemed to relax a little at that and turned away from her. “Th-this way.”
Eist followed him, having to jog to keep up with his steps. It seemed like he would notice every dozen feet or so and would slow down, only to eventually forget and end up going his initial speed. She didn’t mind entirely, though, it was a good warmup for the practice they were about to start.
Sure enough, the woman was working there when they arrived, polishing several blades. Eist recognized them as the dull weapons that she had only been allowed to use at the end of the previous year. She was pleasant to both and had no problems handing them wooden replicas of some truly impressive halberds. She also took the time to explain that she’d given Eist one of the weapons specifically meant for shorter riders with smaller dragons. For someone who apparently let Athar get away with things because she had a crush, she was being very kind to another girl with him. Maybe she just wasn’t the jealous type. Eist had always found that habit particularly silly.
They ended up in one corner of the court, a few other people already having their practice spots picked out. She noticed that most of them gave Athar a wide berth. It was funny to her that so many were still intimidated by him. They didn’t know him like she did. They didn’t get to see the gentle, uncertain part of him.
For some reason that made her feel good, like he trusted her with a side that so few people knew.
But that was probably silly too.
“Let’s st-start with some defen-fen-fensive stuff. I’ll be the attack-attacker.”
Eist groaned. “But all I’m learning right now is defensive stuff. I want to switch it up.”
“You c-can switch it up once you have de-de-defe— it down.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Since when did you get so bossy?”
“Since I watched Marik take you down in a drill, and he has th-the fighting instincts of a wet r-rag.”
Eist’s mouth opened in surprised before she snapped it closed. Had he been watching her? She was mystified, but also a little embarrassed. “That was one time!”
“No, it wa-wasn’t.”
“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed with a sigh.
“Come on. Block my st-strikes.”
And that was all the warning he gave before he sank into drills.
For being such a kind, teddy bear of a man, he certainly was ruthless when it came to practice. Time and time again, Eist found herself on the ground, or with him lightly rapping the staff part of his weapon against her knuckles. He made care to only gently graze her with the fake, wooden blade of his weapon whenever she let him through her guard, which was good, considering how many times that happened.
It wasn’t that Eist was particularly bad at the weapon, it was just that it had such different possibilities and style than her shortsword. Instead of getting an opponent in close and using the sheer strength packed into her small form, part of it was keeping opponents far enough back that they couldn’t get in close enough to do damage. It was a matter of changing her mindset, and that was easier said than done.
“I s-swear,” Athar said after what felt like several hours. Eist was completely covered in sweat and panting on the ground where she had fallen after he had hooked his staff around the back of her knee. “You’ve got the fighting style of s-someone th-three times your size. I’m not sure the halberd is right for you.”
“I need it for the reach,” Eist said, holding her hand up to him. He hesitated a moment before helping her up, looking a bit sheepish. “Neither Fior nor I are very big. I need something that can make sure an opponent with longer arms isn’t going to be able to sweep in and impale me before either of us can get close.
Athar grimaced at that. “I don’t like th-that idea.”
“And neither do I. So, come on, let’s go again. I think I have the first two drills down, but that third one just isn’t making sense to my muscles.”
“I think you’ve had enough for t-today.”
“Are you kidding me?” Eist retorted, sending him a crooked grin. “Haven’t you seen me outrun everyone here despite my short little legs? I’m built for endurance, my friend. I’ll stop moving when I’m dead.”
“You’re built for end-durance,” Athar shot right back. “But I’m not. I need some food in me before my belly eats itself.”
“It…it can do that?” Eist asked uncertainly. She didn’t know if that was a man thing, or a giant thing, but either way, it didn’t seem entirely out of the realm of possibility that his hulking body would start to devour itself without the proper amount of food to sustain it.
“Uh, it f-feels like it.”
“Then come on. It’s close enough to supper that they probably have food out already.”
“You don’t h-have to come with me.” For some reason, Athar was blushing again, which seemed pretty silly considering they ate together almost every night. Granted, that was usually only during the academy week and also with the company of Ain, Yacrist, Dille, and all their dragons, but still, it wasn’t like a new event.
Eist shrugged. “Why not? Ain and Dille went to the market to get something for his mother’s nameday, and Yacrist is visiting his family for something political or another. It’s just us.”
“Well, just us and your dragon.”
Eist smiled, looking to the far roof where both Ethella and Fior were watching them. While the large red dragon was too big to fit in the cafeteria, Fior still liked to come with her most of the time.
“Yeah, me and my dragon,” she answered, whistling for Fior to come down.
And he did, gliding in such a smooth, clean line that she couldn’t help glowing with pride. Those healers who said he might never grow or fly were downright wrong. He just needed some extra time to get there.
Sure enough, there was plenty of food out. Mostly rolls, but there was a pheasant and fresh greens and some tubers along with barley stew and fish. Eist thought she filled her trencher and wooden bowl with an impressive spread, but Athar had her beat, balancing two of the thick, hardy pieces of bread on his wide arm and stacking a truly shocking amount of food on top. Eist watched him with an amused sort of surprise all the way up until they sat across from each other at one of the long tables.
“I didn’t eat this morning,” he muttered almost sheepishly.
“Yes, you did,” she accused, smiling lightly.
“Yeah,” he answered, echoing the tone she had used earlier. “I did.”
Eist chuckled to herself and started to dig into her food. Athar seemed to interpret that as a sign for him to start as well, practically inhaling his fare.
“So, what…” she asked when she paused between mouthfuls. “Do you hold back in front of us at supper every night or are you just especially hungry?”
Athar just kept chewing for a bit, as if he was thinking very hard about how he wanted to answer. “I don’t mean t-to. I usually end up going back to the ki-kitchen a couple of hours lat-later and they give me any leftovers they have.”
Huh. That was certainly strange. Then again, Eist knew what it was like to feel a bit self-conscious. She knew that some folks saw what or how much she ate and judged her for the layer of fat she had over the thick muscles she had built up. But Athar wasn’t like her, soft in the middle and thick in the thighs. No, he was so chock full of muscles on muscles that she was sure most folks were afraid to correct him on anything.
Then again, hadn’t Ain said he’d been terribly bullied when he was younger despite his size? Maybe some of that fear still lingered in his giant frame.
Curious.
“You don’t have to do that, you know.”
“I know,” he answered, and that seemed to be that as they returned to eating. But after a few moments passed, she could feel him staring at her again.
“What? Did I get something on my plate that you want?”
“It’s not always a bad th-thing, you know.”
Eist blinked owlishly at him. “What isn’t?”
“Holding back.”
Eist set down her fork, giving him her full attention. She could tell that there was an important sort of meaning to his words, but she wasn’t quite getting it. “What are you trying to say, Athar?”
“I, uh, I… I know that we didn’t st-start out as f-friends, but I’ve heard about the th-things you did.”
“The things I did?” she repeated curiously.
He nodded. “Like f-finding the cure for your grandfather yourself. F-fighting th-that healer alone. And th-then in the market, launching yours-self into the wagon full of brigands who st-stole your dragon. E-even in the forest, you dropped down in th-that c-canyon like you had to t-take everything on alone.
“And m-maybe it was like that be-be-before. Before you knew all of us and th-thought you only h-had yourself. But th-that’s not the case anymore. You do have all of us. So, maybe next t-time you could, you know, h-h-hold back and let us help you.”
Eist stared at him, completely blindsided by his quiet and uncertain reproach. It was possibly the longest thing that she had ever heard him say, and she couldn’t quite find fault in it.
Yes, she tended to take things on by herself, and yes, she threw herself into danger before her friends could be hurt, but she did that to protect them. They didn’t understand the strange abilities that she was developing or how her dragon was different. How he could scream and yet no sound would come out, only power.
She took all of his words in, digesting them for what they were. Athar looked like he wanted to sink into the ground the entire time, utterly miserable in her silence.
Finally, she cracked a smile. “Next time, huh?”
That seemed to send relief flooding through him, and he nodded. “At th-this point, I just assume th-that something terrible and dramatic will follow you.”
Eist shrugged playfully. “What can I say? Maybe if we’re lucky, it’ll wait until the second half of the year so I can get all my studies in and recover from my inevitable injuries over the break.”
“That’s what you consider lucky?”
Eist nodded. “I mean, yeah. I’ve managed it one of my three full years here, so I’m hoping to bring it to a fifty-fifty split.”
Athar shook his head, laughing lightly. It was a nice sound, one she didn’t hear very often. She resolved to spend more time with the hulking giant if she could. It would be nice to see him open up more, find out who the man was that was buried under all those muscles and insecurities.
“You know, if you were t-truly ambitious, you’d resolve not to be hurt at all.”
She sent him a look as she snorted. “Please, even I know some things just aren’t practical.”
3
A Family that Eats Together…
Somehow, life began to pick up a kind of rhythm. They went to classes and learned new skills. They trained and trained until their fingers were covered in blisters and their muscles were fatigued.
During free periods, Eist would spend her time training with different folks. Dille and her would work on meditating, breathing in and out slowly as they focused on the strange things that were happening to them. Eist noticed that the binds on her friend seemed to glow brighter and wind tighter, but she didn’t know what that meant so she let it be.
Ale’a and Athar helped her with her halberd, and her mind finally seemed to make the switch over from her shortsword style. She still had a way to go, but she had gone from miserable to fairly competent.
Ain helped her with the bow, which she was still decidedly mediocre at. She didn’t mind that as much, however, because she then helped Ain with his swordsmanship, which he was abysmal at. Apparently, he didn’t like how the hilt felt in his hand or how blocking a blow made his fingers ache. Eist had much more fun than she should have telling him to get used to it and making him do various uncomfortable things to build up his callouses.
And of course, Ale’a was there again to make sure that Fior stayed caught up with all the much larger dragons. He could glide, but he was nowhere near the size of carrying any human, so she had taken to strapping a full bushel of barley to him so he could get used to bearing weight and carrying it around. To Eist’s pleasure, he adapted to it quickly and had already moved on to the next level of weight.
But even with all of the familiarity of the academy year, it was still different than before. There was a sort of urgency that their lessons had never had. They stopped spending as much time as they used to in classes, learning strategies and history, and definitely poured more into their physical training.
Their dragons didn’t have it any easier. Their lessons picked up too, until both rider and partner were absolutely exhausted at the end of the night. Eist certainly knew that her very bones were aching, and Fior would barely make it beside her bed before collapsing in a little heap.
Dille seemed to be struggling as well. Even in what few classes they had, the dark-skinned girl was often distracted, and when the teachers looked to her, she didn’t know the answers. When Eist tried to ask what was going on in the privacy of their own dorm, she was reticent to give a solid reason. Eist didn’t press her, however. Dille would tell her when she was good and ready and not a moment before.
But even as their first couple of months devolved into constant work, her group still managed to take their evening meal together. The only difference was, once they loaded up their trays with food, they would go and eat outside with their dragons. After all, Fior was the only one who was small enough to get into the cafeteria, and Eist had zero desire to take all of their meals alone while her friends were out with their own mounts.
“Oh, what’s that?” Yacrist asked, practically leaning into Eist’s lap as he looked over her food.
“The roasted pheasant. The same exact roasted pheasant
that you have on your plate.”
“Uh, I don’t have a thigh like you do,” he said, reaching over and trying to take it. Eist batted his hand away and leaned over her plate. “Come on, gimme. Thighs are my favorite.”
“Of course they are,” Ain said dryly, reaching over while Eist was busy with Yacrist and plucking the bit of food away. Eist objected, reaching for it, but the hunk of meat was already in his mouth. “They’re Athar’s too. You two just share all sorts of preferences, don’t you?”
Athar choked on the roll he was eating, and Dille patted his back helpfully.
“Do you always have to tease him?” she asked, raising one of her full brows.
Ain shrugged, winking at Eist. “I dunno. Does your twin have to keep trying to steal him?”
“I’m not stealing him,” Eist responded primly. “I can’t help it if my personality is just that much more appealing than yours.”
“Sure, because it’s your personalit— Ouch!” He jumped and looked at Dille accusingly. “Really? We’re pinching now? Is this first year?”
“You certainly act like it is,” Dille murmured blithely before sending Eist a smirk between just the two of them.
Thankfully that seemed to settle things and Eist was able to return to her meal without anyone trying to steal her food. By the end of the meal, she found herself leaning against Yacrist, her legs to the side over Athar’s lap while Dille’s head rested against her thighs. Ain sat across from their little pile, petting Gaius, who was being quite affectionate.
It was easy to forget the dread that lingered in the back of her mind when they were all together. Like their friendship was a shield against everything that was ugly. With their comfort surrounding her, it was easy to believe that she was safe.
Even if only for a little while.
Time flew by much too quickly, and before she knew it, Fior was bounding up to her, nuzzling against her side softly.
“Alright, it looks like it’s time for us to head to bed,” she said, extricating herself from her friends and standing. She didn’t know when she had become so comfortable with touch, but it was nice, and she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.