Survival (Sorrowfeld Academy Book 1)

by Bob Dattolo

  Yet I’m still sad that I didn’t get to kill him. Captain Garrison did let me watch the video of him being taken down, and it was freaking brutal. They came in hard, looking for the magic, and he went after them like the deranged killer that he was. I’m sure he knew that if they got into his house, his little foibles would be found out and he’d be taken in.

  He went out fighting.

  Dammit, I hate that I have to salute him for that, but I do.

  Such troubled mental issues behind my eyes. I’m gonna need therapy, I just know it. No, not gonna need. As in in the future. Need right now. I’m plowing forward, one foot at a time, but the issues are lurking there, waiting for their moment to shine.

  Maybe, just maybe, integrating with other-me will help me, though. I have to think that there’s definitely something odd about me that’s helping with that. My magic being funky is one thing. That’s beyond the pale. But that’s not what I mean. Unless that’s part of what’s driving my thinking? That’s a possibility.

  Except I’m pretty sure most of the thinking changes started with integrating with other-me. Until that point, I was still beyond upset at what had been happening to me. I was able to see through it and still think and act due to sheer repetition, but the overall thinking? It’s beyond night and day. Simply being able to be outside like I am right now? I should have an issue with it. I was rarely outside with Jean. People seeing the mortmagi always turned into issues, so I was inside nearly constantly. Then with Reggie? The same. I should have issues being near people. I should have issues changing clothes. Being naked. Being seen by everyone. The threats of him raping me.

  Nope. I got nothing. Less than nothing. I don’t care one bit that they saw me piss myself. I would have shit too, but I didn’t have to go at the time. I still wouldn’t have cared. It was what was needed to get through that, and that’s literally all I think about.

  I just wish I knew what was different about me. Am I really some sort of weird dragon? Can’t deny the possibility, although my eyes don’t look like they should. The thinking is pretty close, so…I don’t know. Recessive dragon genes or something like that?

  My train of thought derailed a little as I reached the caf. There are four kids inside. Three look like they’re ready to work out, but one definitely has PJs on still. He’s off on the side, looking beyond exhausted. They give me stunned looks as I head through the tables, but none of them say anything to me. They’re not together, so they didn’t say anything to each other, either.

  That makes for a quick trip up for food. Most of the stations aren’t open this morning, but there’s one lone guy behind the counter acting as a short order cook. Breakfast comes along pretty quickly, which is cool. It looks like they’re going to set up for a buffet, possibly for breakfast foods based on the huge thing of bacon he’s cooking up back there, but I’m not gonna wait for that. Especially since I have no clue when that starts. Not too soon, since I only see bacon so far.

  As I eat, two of the kids leave, while three more arrive. Tracking them is pretty easy, although I’m not doing it constantly. While I’m worried and on edge…I’m still in the don’t care if I die mindset, which helps to reduce the stress more than you’d think.

  A crazy handsome guy I’ve seen around, but isn’t in my classes, approaches with his tray. He’s a good foot taller than I am and has a smile to break hearts. He looks like Michael B Jordan, just…hmm, more rugged? Maybe? Hard to say, Jordan’s freaking amazing looking. This kid is almost as good. Maybe better, just in a different way. Possibly. “Mind if I sit here?” He nods to the seat across from me, which would put his back to the room. Granted, the almost empty room, but still.

  “Umm, sure?” If he’s gonna be polite, I should be too, right? Seems fair.

  He puts his tray down and sits, smiling at me the entire time. “I see you’re an early riser too?”

  “I am.” The red in his short dark hair is pretty cool looking. As are his eyes against his skin. “I’m Maddie?”

  He nods at me, “I know. Your name kinda spread. Obviously. I’m Kynal.”

  “Nice to meet you, Kynal. What made you want to join me this morning? I can’t say that this place oozes friendliness.”

  He laughed softly and took a bite of his omelet. “Friendliness? No. Not really. This place oozes fighting and bullshit like a dead horse oozes maggots.”

  My chewing slowed, “Does…does a dead horse ooze maggots? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one, but does it?”

  He nodded, “The two that I’ve seen? Yeah. If they’re not found quickly enough, the flies get to them. Then it’s all roiling skin and just pounds of ‘em. Break the skin, and it’s like a pimple of pure evil.”

  I broke into laughter at his description. “I have to say, that’s not normal breakfast conversation for me.”

  “No? I’ve had nearly this same conversation four times in the past month.” He smiled at my look. “Kidding.” I could smell that he wasn’t telling the truth but didn’t let him know that.

  “So, seriously? Why’d you come over? You the first to try to get me to challenge after Colin yesterday?”

  He forked another load of food and glanced up at me, “Umm…no? While that sounds like a wonderful time possibly being killed, I can’t say that I want to sign up for that. I woulda walked from coming at all, but the stories my parents told…” he shuddered, “The screaming?” His eyes darted to my scars, “Although, I guess you know about that?”

  “Yeah, you could say that I know about that. So you’re not a killer at heart?”

  He shrugged, “We all are. It’s our world, much as most of us hate it. You gotta play the game or the game plays you. And when the game plays you, you end up on a slab. Like Colin, yesterday.”

  “I take it you weren’t a friend?”

  “Friend? Not likely with that group. They’re powerful as hell. I’m good and up there, but not to their level. I’m strong enough to be iffy for them in a challenge, but not strong enough to matter. I’m kinda in a goldilocks zone for them. Too powerful to challenge, not powerful enough to challenge them. They’re safe from me. I’m reasonably safe from them. At least outside of the trials.”

  “That seems like a pretty good spot to be in.”

  “It is. Can’t say I did it on purpose, but I’ll hide out here as long as I can. We’ll see if I make it through all three trials or not.”

  I didn’t bother adding to that, concentrating on getting more food down. He followed suit.

  When I paused for a drink, I slowed enough to ask, “So then, you’re visiting? Why, because I flashed everyone my T&A yesterday?”

  He sputtered a quiet laugh, “No. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the show, but then I got a full frontal of Colin, and that doesn’t float my boat. Him stroking himself? Ummm, yeah, no. The only person I want to see stroking a penis is me.”

  “You do that a lot? Stroke a penis?”

  His smile turned devilish, “Well, less often since moving here and getting a roommate, that’s for sure.”

  My turn to laugh, “For shame, Kynal. A masturbation joke to a complete stranger? Whatever will I think?”

  He shrugged without caring, “Please. Most roommates coordinate times to get some privacy. Either that, or they stop caring. Those of us with dragon roomies? Please, I see his dick more times in a week than I think I do my own.”

  “Hmm, I’m thinking I’d like your dorm room.”

  Another laugh, this time from both of us.

  “Fine. Sexual innuendo aside. You came over? Almost every seat is empty, so why here if it’s not for boobage?”

  He held up his free hand, “Hey, don’t get me wrong, like I said, I loved the show. I didn’t come here for that, but I’m not against another free show if you’re off…”

  I pulled up my shirt and let him see the girls, then put them away. “Okay then, does that mean you’re leaving?”

  He shook himself, smiling like crazy, “I wasn’t expecting that, but thank you. From th
e bottom of my heart.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, before I ask for a show back, why’re you here if not to score or try to bait me into a challenge?”

  He finished chewing, then leaned forward, “I’m looking for more allies.”

  Hmm, “You saw me yesterday. I barely made it through that. Why would you want me as an ally? I’m already allies with Kaylee.”

  “Kaylee? I heard that but wasn’t sure I believed it. She’s weak. You know she’s using you as a beard, right?”

  “Yeah, I got that. Either me being me distracts everyone from her and she’s safe for a time, or I’m strong enough to really fight people off, which helps her. Either way, she’s good. Unless someone tries to go after my allies first. Since this school is the way it is, I’m not sure anyone will think that I’d care. After all, I haven’t even spoken to her for more than ten minutes total. I’ve spoken to you for…actually, probably for longer than I have with her.”

  “People noticed that. As for why? I have a couple allies. I’m always looking for more. We’re always looking for more. Even if you’re weak and you won by luck yesterday, luck has its place.”

  “Who else are you allies with?”

  “Do you know Angelica? Gage?”

  “Yes. Intimately. The three of us spent a summer doing community theater together as part of a kid’s group. Gage was upset that I got the part for the singing cancer tumor.” I got a smile for my efforts. “I’m gonna go with a no on that. Very, very few people have introduced themselves to me or even talked to me. Most have made various stricken comments, with almost everyone laughing at me a bunch yesterday when they thought I was gonna lose.”

  He didn’t at all look embarrassed by the implication that he was one of the people laughing at me. “You gotta go with the flow. In like 100 percent of the situations where all of that happened? You’da been dead. Colin’s a known power. If he beat you and got stronger, can you imagine how quickly he would have turned against people that were obviously rooting against him?”

  What a world. “I can see that.” No response from him, “So Gage? Angelina?”

  “Angelica.”

  “Sorry, Angelica. No clue.”

  A few more people arrived, with Kynal seeing them and smiling, “Good, here they are now.”

  A crazy pretty dragon maybe three inches taller than I am heads our way. She has a guy next to her that’s close to six feet tall. Ice mage, from what I can see. She looks…bronze. Definitely bronze and not gold like I sort of thought.

  Ugh, I couldn’t imagine having three gold dragons here. They’d either combine together into a Voltron of kill everyone else or turn on each other in a heartbeat, leaving only one left behind.

  Which would then fight the rest of the school.

  Well, at a guess.

  The guy pats Kynal on his way by, “Save us a seat?”

  “You got it.”

  Angelica does a pass by as well but doesn’t say anything. She has a crazy calm presence that I haven’t seen much here.

  “What do you think?”

  “Umm, think? About them?”

  “Yeah. First impressions?”

  “I can’t say that I have much of one? Short of being laughed at by both of them, all three of you, yesterday, I haven’t had any interactions. None of you are in my classes. Well, other than lunch and gym for some of you. As for this morning? It looks like you guys are dressed to work out. You’re up crazy early, so you’re either used to it or taking advantage of people being asleep so you can get in workouts together to get stronger. Angelica is gorgeous. You’re an orgasm waiting to happen. Gage is decent looking but looks like someone spent a few years beating him and not letting him heal properly.”

  He blinks slowly at me, then turns to watch them get food. “Oookay? I wasn’t expecting all of that.”

  “Sorry, you didn’t quite give me any guidance on what you wanted me to say.”

  The other two arrived shortly after that, sitting without saying anything. Angelica managed a few bites before being the first to break the silence, “So, you ask her?” Her voice is soft. Deeper than I would have expected.

  “I did.”

  “What did she say?”

  My slight smile disappeared as if it had never been there, and I felt like I was looking at her from across a huge expanse. “Funny. He asked if I’d be an ally, which you seem to know about. Yet you have a funny way of treating an ally. As if they don’t exist. Given that, I’ll leave you three to your breakfast.”

  I was halfway up with my tray in my hands when she finally looked at me again. She has a quirky sort of half smile on her face, “Good. You do have a spine.”

  “I do.” I was a hairbreadth away from walking when she spoke again.

  “Please sit down. Finish eating.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Look at it from our perspective? You’ve talked a good game so far. You come across as being confident. Until you don’t. You have to admit, your performance yesterday was…weak.”

  Do I sit? “It did the job.”

  She nodded at the table, “It did. Which is good and, frankly, all that’s needed in this messed up place.”

  “So that means you show up and ignore me?”

  “That means I test you in a non-threatening way. A light insult to see what you’d do.”

  “And?”

  “And? I’m impressed.”

  My tray went down but I didn’t sit. “In what way?”

  “Beyond the fact that you were stricken and have eyes and magic again? Which, by the way, is very impressive. I’m impressed that you stood up for yourself so quickly. Most here would have waited. You reacted. You stood up for yourself. And, what’s better, you did it in a way that wasn’t threatening. You called me to task without being a bitch. You didn’t call me names.”

  Gage shrugged at my look, “Quiet strength, maybe? This place…this place is fucking brutal. You’ve seen it. You were here a day and had a challenge. I saw him hit you, your challenge was totally called for. Yet almost everyone here would have sucked it up. I can’t say that your win was all that, but you did win.”

  Angelica pointed at me with her fork, “And that paints a larger target on you than you had before. And it was pretty big before.”

  I finally sat and forked some food, “Yeah, I have the trailer hauling it parked out front. You probably walked right past it.”

  Soft laughter from the three of them.

  “So, yeah, Kynal asked me about being an ally. I’m not sure I get it. What does a fire mage, an ice mage, and a bronze dragon need with me? The cops don’t have a clue what my affinity is. They don’t even know if I’m a dragon or not. Why would you want to be tied with me? Based on various comments from people and what I’ve seen, I’m target numero uno here. A lucky win against a strong guy means people will be coming for me harder than before.”

  Kynal pushed his empty plate away as the other two ate, “It’s simple, even though nothing is simple in this place. You need allies. We need allies. Some people will back off if they know you have them.”

  “I have Kaylee.”

  Angelica snorted, “Kaylee. Nice girl, but timid and shy doesn’t exactly inspire images of strength to most of us here. She’s frankly made it this far without being bombarded by a mountain of shit because she’s so timid and shy.”

  Huh, “People feel sorry for her?”

  “Pretty much? None of us can imagine her accepting the trial. She’s so far down, that everyone I’ve talked to is fine letting her get that far and opting out. She’ll never make it through the trial alive. Someone will kill her without even thinking about it just to get the little bit of power she has.”

  “She’s so weak and so pathetic that people are being nice because they know she’s a stricken waiting to happen?”

  She nodded at my question, “Exactly,” followed with a shrug, “I’m sure it’s insulting as hell to her, but it’s keeping her alive. I know people talked about getting into a challenge with her
to end it, but the general thought is that there’s virtually nothing that anyone can do that will get her to challenge them. And she sure as fuck wouldn’t do something that would justify a challenge back.”

  Okay, no, I can’t really see that happening. From either direction.

  “So then why me? I can’t tell how strong you guys are and don’t have you in magic classes to judge that way. So why me? Why try to get closer to a target?”

  Gage took over again. “It’s like this. Allying with us may keep some folks away from you, but it won’t stop everyone. Not even remotely. There’s little to nothing we can do in a challenge situation. We can help in non-challenge situations, though. If those come up. Beyond that, it’s really the trial we’re trying to set ourselves up for. If you don’t make it that far, then we haven’t lost anything. If you do make it that far, then either you’re far stronger than you let yourself appear or, again, you’re lucky.”

  Angelica again, “And if we ally now? We set the groundwork for being allies in the trial. Assuming you don’t opt out?”

  I’m not sure they were expecting my laugh, “Opt out? No fucking way. The only way someone is getting mortmagi into me again is if I’m dying. I’d rather be eaten alive by burning rats than go through that again. I can’t even begin to explain how fucking terrifying and painful that is.”

  “I can only imagine.” She sipped her drink, “So…what do you say? Allies?” They each have an expectant, hopeful look.

  “What would you expect from me? What about Kaylee?”

  “Kaylee? We wouldn’t be allies with her, but we’re not enemies, so you can ally with her if you want.” Kynal makes it sound so reasonable.

  Angelica put her fork down, “As for expectations? Allies aren’t always friends, but that works better. So, hanging out? Talking? I don’t know, doing homework or studying together?” She pulled out her shirt, “I’d recommend waking up early and working out, too.”

  “Gym yesterday…that was fucking sick. I can’t believe you got to 18 and can’t even do jumping jacks.” Gage sounds so disappointed and disgusted.