Dragon Bone

by J. D. Cavalida

  "Jog two laps," Snow said, giving Elstrin a little shove. "I'll get you some water."

  He left, and Elstrin set off obediently around the field, trying to will some speed into the clumsy shuffle that he ran with. He gave up and settled on walking, legs trembling precariously once more but still able to carry his weight. Snow returned to his side and handed him a full bottle of cold water—Elstrin almost dropped it, it was so heavy, but he managed to bring it up to his lips and drink, sloshing a bit over his chin as his hands shook like jelly. He sipped it, throat burning and stomach roiling slightly, forced half of it down before pouring the rest over his head. The icy shock returned a small vein of awareness into the numb blanket of weariness that was settling over him. He coughed painfully, still walking, blinking the sweat from his eyes. "What—" His voice wouldn't come out properly. He gulped a few times and tried again. "What's the—time?"

  "Six thirty."

  The laughter came again, little bursts of hilarity, a delayed reaction to the realisation that he'd

  just survived another fucking spar. "Oh my god, Snow. I should. Fucking. Report you—for abuse. We—fucking duelled," he giggled, breathless. "For—six fucking hours. God."

  "You swear a lot when you're in shock," Snow remarked mildly, not without amusement.

  In shock. Yeah. That about summed it up. Elstrin glanced up at the lieutenant—he was nowhere near as haggard as Elstrin, though he was dusty from the spar too, skin coloured by dirt and sweat and sun. His hands, empty now apart from his own bottle of water, didn't tremble in the slightest. Elstrin laughed some more and turned his eyes back to the rapidly darkening jogging track. He wanted to look back to see if there was anyone still watching, but was afraid that he'd lose his balance again. He couldn't do much more than shamble along right now. He regained enough breath to maintain short sentences, and said, "You do this to every poor cadet you train?"

  "You're the first, actually."

  "Oh—right. Lieutenant."

  Snow shook his head, white hair swishing like a phantom in the dimness. "No, I've been lieutenant for a while. This is the first year I've signed up for the cadet training program."

  "Huh. Having fun?"

  "Loads," he said with a smirk. "Are you having fun?"

  "Fuck you," Elstrin muttered. Snow chuckled and waved him away when they reached the cafeteria. "Bye."

  "Don't fall asleep at the dinner table," Snow cautioned, before departing through the large gate into inner HQ.

  Easier said than done. Elstrin's stomach was growling, sandwiches long gone, but as soon as he sat down with a large plate of spaghetti, his head drooped of its own accord; he could barely raise his fork. Vel's voice was babbling on in the background again, giving him a blow-by-blow recount of the duel's highlights, and Elstrin found his words to be a pleasant buzz at the back of his mind. Everything was making him sleepy, actually, right down to the bright lights and flat bench. Someone snapped their fingers in front of his face. He blinked drowsily and kept eating.

  "Remember to chew, darling," Kana said from somewhere opposite him.

  "I am," Elstrin mumbled. The spaghetti unwound from his fork when it was halfway to his mouth and plopped back down to the plate; dimly frustrated, he twirled it up again. Should've gotten something easier to eat.

  "Are you even able to shower on your own without slipping and cracking your head open?"

  He glared at the Lupalian with as much malice as he could muster. "Yes. I can wash myself. Thanks."

  Kana pretended to be disappointed. "Aw, and there I was thinking I had a free ticket to shower with you tonight."

  "I'd flip you off if I weren't so tired," Elstrin muttered, ordering himself to eat properly.

  Vel left with Andrew a short while later, making Elstrin realise that he wasn't the only one who felt so drained: it had been a full day of training for all the other cadets too. He groaned, reminded that he'd have to wake up obscenely early tomorrow morning and do it again.

  He forced the rest of the food down. Despite how slow he was, Kana lounged around waiting for him, and they walked up to their dorm together. His feet dragged up the stairs. It was already seven when he tiredly gathered a small pile of clean clothes and headed off to the showers. Kana followed him silently. Elstrin couldn't be bothered to ask why or tell him to fuck off. The huge bathroom was nearly empty already, most of the cadets on their floor having finished showering and retired to their rooms.

  He hung his towel up on the rack beside the mirrors, took his shirt off with a wince and threw the dirty uniform into a large laundry basket in the corner. He had to sit down on the bench to get rid of his pants, not trusting himself to balance if he stood on one leg. Kana watched him, his good eye ticking over Elstrin's stomach and hips and thighs, a slight frown on his forehead.

  Feeling more than a little self-conscious, Elstrin asked, "Could you maybe not just stand there checking me out?"

  "I'm not," Kana said quietly. He shook his head, seriousness gone, and put down his things. He'd only brought a towel, a pair of boxers and his box of syringes. He snapped open the case and took out a narrow needle filled with liquid that was an unnatural orange colour. Deftly, as if he did it every day, he stuck the syringe into the wrist of his injured arm and pressed the plunger down, scowling as the liquid went in. Elstrin turned away quickly from the sight. Watching someone get an injection was almost as bad as getting one himself. Before he could escape into a shower, though, Kana said, "Come help me with this."

  He turned to find Kana stowing the needle neatly away again, popping the buttons of his shirt

  off one by one. When it was hanging open, he held his arms out a bit. Elstrin blinked away the fog of exhaustion that was building up in his skull and went over to carefully ease the shirt off. Kana grunted when he had to move his shoulders back to allow the material to slip free. "Shit," Elstrin said, staring open-mouthed at the huge, colourful bruise that decorated the guy's left side, flowering over a rough patch of split, slightly swollen skin. "Why the hell did you train today? Is— is your rib really broken?"

  "Yeah. I'm okay. Been through worse." Kana hopped out of his pants to reveal another line of bruises along his leg, sharp on his hipbone. His knees were scabbed over. One of his ankles was swollen slightly. Elstrin grimaced at the unpleasantness of it, feeling like his own injuries were superficial now. He took off his underwear and picked a shower—at least there was nothing embarrassing about being naked in front of other guys. It had been awkward the first few days here, but after it became clear that nobody was ever awake enough molest him with their eyes, he'd felt much more secure in the bathroom.

  Until Kana chose the stall directly opposite him, putting him in plain view of naked, pale, bruised skin.

  "Um. What're you doing?" Elstrin said. The stalls didn't have shower curtains; it was just two rows of six facing each other, divided by shoulder-high walls and a corridor lined with non-slip mats in the middle.

  Kana started his shower nonchalantly, testing the water temperature with a hand before stepping in. He'd taken off all his bandages apart from the ones on his arm. "Hey, the showers are nice too," he observed, closing his eyes and craning his head up, black hair slicked down instantly.

  Elstrin turned his back on the guy, but that made his butt feel exposed, so he settled on standing sideways. Any other night he'd be freaking out if a new roommate deliberately did this, but seriously, he just wanted to get clean and go to bed. He washed the dust from his hair and body and leaned against the cool tiles, letting the hot water relax him. The bruises and small cuts along his skin throbbed and stung until he got used to it, and finally even the pain was covered by a thick, smothering layer of fatigue. He turned the squeaking knobs until the water stopped running, stepped out of the stall and promptly fell over.

  Kana darted forward at the last moment and managed to catch him, though Elstrin's weight and the sudden lack of strength in Kana's left arm nearly landed him on the floor. Elstrin swore, grabbed the wall to
steady himself. He'd completely missed the small step that separated the stalls from the corridor, his mostly-asleep brain smoothing away all the details around him. "Whoa. Thanks," he stammered. He realised how close they were and took a quick step back, shaking wet hair out of his eyes. "Er—were you waiting for me to slip?"

  "Something like that," Kana smirked. "It's already a miracle you made it all the way up here without tripping even once."

  "You're really creepy," Elstrin said flatly. He went to get his towel. Behind him, Kana laughed, turned off the water and did the same.

  "I'll take that as a compliment," the Lupalian said easily, patting his skin dry before pulling on his boxers. Elstrin got dressed and led the way out, hurrying through the chilly corridor towards their room.

  "Where's your key card?" he said with a frown, just noticing that Kana didn't have it. "You should get into the habit of carrying it everywhere. What if I locked you out?"

  "Aw, you wouldn't do that."

  "Then what if I was inside, having a heart attack, and you can't even get in there and help?"

  "Why would you have a heart attack?" Kana snorted. "Just open the door. I'll bring it with me next time, okay? Sheesh."

  Satisfied that his roommate was at least a little responsible, Elstrin swiped his card and walked in. As soon as he saw his bed, he made a beeline for it, all other thoughts erased by the irresistible desire to sleep. He collapsed onto the thin mattress with a heavenly sigh, clumsily shoved the pillow under his head, yanked the blanket up, and stopped moving. He heard Kana laugh and close the door. There was a pause, then his mattress dipped and a hand landed gently on the back of his neck. "Go away," Elstrin grunted, shifting slightly, unable to summon enough strength to move more than a foot.

  The hand ignored his grumbled request and began a firm massage, down the sore muscles lining his spine, along his shoulders, over his back. It brought a strange mixture of more pain and intense relief, and ultimately felt very nice, loosening muscles that he didn't even know had seized up. No doubt it would save him from horrible cramps the following morning. Kana was patient, kneading with just the right amount of pressure, undeterred by the fact that this was a task that required two hands, or by the more important fact that two guys who barely knew each other shouldn't be doing this in the middle of the night. Elstrin quickly lost track of where he was up to. He was just too drowsy. He wanted to thank Kana and inform him that this kind of creepiness was slightly better than following him around in the showers, but before he could say anything, he'd fallen asleep.

  Chapter 8

  For the rest of the week, Snow made him stay behind until around six thirty, training until he was almost delirious with exhaustion. It was endurable at first, but by Thursday it was torture to even get up and trudge downstairs. Not only were most of his muscles generally cramped up (despite another one of Kana's massages on Wednesday night), he feared his mind was starting to officially recognise Snow as something dangerous, like a territorial lion or a creature that reacted with teeth and claws when he stepped close. Elstrin didn't want that—he was supposed to be just his teacher, for god's sake—but it couldn't be helped, not when all the bruises and cuts over his body were direct results of sparring with Snow. He had to force himself to face the lieutenant after breakfast. Fortunately, Snow seemed to take pity on him that morning and allowed him to exercise until afternoon, but it was back to two punishingly long duels on Friday.

  The weekend was his saviour. He seriously doubted he would've survived if the training had

  lasted the entire week without a break. He spent the time passed out on his bed, nursing his

  overworked limbs as best as he could, or eating. For once there was no book sitting on the cupboard

  beside the beds; he simply couldn't put his mind into reading. Every part of him demanded energy to

  be redirected to the task of building and healing muscles. Kana wasn't around much, busy off

  exploring HQ. On some early nights, in the dorm or at the showers, Elstrin would catch him

  staring—in a purely non-sexual, strangely contemplative way—but no explanation was ever offered,

  and he never thought to ask. Too tired to. He only started to feel ready again on Sunday night, after

  over forty hours of rest. In the bathroom he studied his reflection in the fogged-up mirror and was

  shocked to see the faint but noticeable changes to his body: there were less round corners and more

  flat, firm planes, new hints of smooth bands and ripples under his skin. He tensed up his belly and

  the structure stood out more. It made him grin to himself.

  However, on Monday, Snow pushed the already-extended training time another half-hour back. Elstrin wasn't sure how the man calculated these things so accurately, but half an hour was exactly how long it took to balance out the recuperation he had over the weekend. When the duel ended at seven, he was suitably worn out and grumpy. He stumbled into the cafeteria for a quick dinner and was surprised to find Kana still there, wolfing down several plates of food. It turned out he had just gotten back from the infirmary for some follow-up treatment involving those one-o-clock injuries. He accompanied Elstrin to the showers again. This time he stared openly at Elstrin's midsection as he undressed. Kana looked a little queasy, a weird expression on his usually nonchalant face.

  He stood there until Elstrin felt uncomfortable enough to mutter, "What the hell is so interesting about my stomach?"

  "Hm?" Kana started, blinking out of his daze. He suddenly seemed as tired as Elstrin felt, his eyes hazy and unfocused. He shook his head. "Sorry. The doctors gave me some meds. There's a… actually. Ask me tomorrow, okay? I feel like I'm gonna faint any moment."

  "Okay," Elstrin said, slightly concerned. He kept an eye on his roommate as they washed, sort of reversing their roles from Kana's first night here, but nothing happened. They trooped back to their dormitory silently and said their goodnights. Elstrin snuggled into his blanket and slept instantly. It was possibly the best uninterrupted sleep he'd ever had since he was a baby. Fatigue was a weird thing; it made his body aware of just how important rest was.

  He woke up abruptly a while before his alarm sounded, feeling more-or-less fully healed and

  quite energetic. He glanced at the other bed. Kana was sitting up and staring out of the window, legs curled beneath the blanket but chest bare, most of his upper weight supported by his right arm. The lean, layered muscles on his back shifted slightly with each silent breath. His skin reflected the dim grey-blue predawn light, bruises only vague blotches interrupting the paleness. The room smelled faintly of rubbing alcohol, a scent that Elstrin was familiar with from all the times he'd had to patch himself up at home.

  Kana turned his head, both of his eyes glimmering in the gloom; the swelling on his face had gone down over the week. "Good morning," he murmured, his gaze wandering back to the window.

  "Morning," Elstrin replied with a yawn. He swung his legs off the bed and scratched his head. His muscles felt okay. Still sore, but much better than he expected. "Thanks. For all those massages you've been giving me."

  A short exhalation that suggested a soundless laugh. "Don't let Vel hear that."

  "Yeah, he'll think we had sex or something," Elstrin muttered, flopping back onto the mattress out of habit, content to rest a little longer before he had to truly get up.

  "And we wouldn't want to mislead him, now would we?" Kana teased, though there was no real promiscuousness behind his words. He sounded mostly preoccupied, faraway. "Sleep well?"

  "More like died from exhaustion, as usual. Don't tell me I snored too loud." Kana shook his head. Elstrin studied his motionless silhouette. "Homesick?"

  That prompted a louder laugh. "Hell no. Not yet. This place rocks. You don't know how good it feels to suddenly have proper meals without needing to work for it." He grew quiet again. "It's just… dawn is a strange time. The ghosts all come out. I've never seen soldiers before, but they're… differ
ent. Kind of—bittersweet."

  "What do you mean?"

  "They're all so young, and sad, but they feel peaceful. They're just here, part of the base. There's this weird sense of… unity about them. I can't really put my finger on it."

  "Do only Lupalians see ghosts?"

  "I don't think so. Everyone I've ever talked to in the slums have heard of one-o-clocks one way or another, even if it's just through rumours. Maybe some people are more sensitive to it."

  Elstrin remembered the short, confusing conversation they'd had when Kana arrived, and what

  he'd said last night. "So what do you see on me, seven thirty-two PM? You saw it again yesterday in the shower, right?"

  Kana looked over again. It was a little lighter now, but his expression was still unclear. "The night I came in, it was a kid with his body torn apart. Parts of him were evaporating. I couldn't get a good look before he disappeared. And yesterday, when you were sitting down… it was his ghost. It was clutching your leg, crying. Saddest fucking thing I've ever seen."