Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (16 page)

Mavrik chattered to Nova, who roared in reply and veered away, sailing through the sky down toward the academy. Mavrik sent me a mental picture of the student dormitory. I guessed that Nova was just out exploring while Felix was getting settled into our room.

“Well, let’s hurry then!” I patted his scaly neck again, and he growled in agreement.

Mavrik was eager to join Nova. When we finally landed outside the academy, he barely gave me enough time to untie my bag from his back before he was taking off again to chase her through the clouds. The burst of wind off his wings made me stagger back. I tripped over my own feet and landed on my rear end. Mavrik didn’t care. He was too busy nipping playfully at Nova’s tail.

“Flirt!” I yelled after him.

He didn’t answer.

I got up, dusting the dirt off my pants and slinging my bag over one shoulder. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

“Riding in bareback. That’s a first.” My new instructor, Lieutenant Jace Rordin, was standing right inside the academy’s front gates in full armor. By the way he was glaring at me, anyone else would have thought he was about to chew my head off… but that was the way Jace looked at everyone. I’d never seen him smile.

“Trying to show off?” he growled.

I stopped and saluted him by putting a fist across my heart and bowing slightly. “Almost dying every time he decides to take a steep turn isn’t showing off, sir.”

Jace snorted. His eyes scanned me over from head to toe. That’s when I realized he actually had to look
up
to meet my gaze now. I was taller than him. He still had a much stockier build, but this was definitely new.

“What happened to you?” I could sense him still sizing me up.

I shrugged, and it was hard not to smile. “A lot. It’s kind of hard to explain.”

“Humph.” He just scoffed and turned away, walking ahead of me into the academy. “Well, at least I won’t have to worry about someone accidentally stepping on you during morning drills anymore. I was getting tired of scraping you off the bottom of everyone else’s boots.”

“Yes, sir.” I decided this was probably Jace’s attempt at being happy for me.

“Go ahead and get settled into your room. Third floor this time. That sidekick of yours already picked up your books and maps.” He started barking orders at me right away. “See that you get all your equipment on rush order. You need to be fully outfitted when training starts.”

“Yes, sir,” I repeated.

“Morning drills start at dawn on the first day of training. You don’t have a saddle, so I don’t expect you to fly drills until then. But I better see you working on your ground combat maneuvers. Have that friend of yours help you.” He went on and on. For some reason, it was a huge relief to have someone breathing down my neck, growling orders at me again. It was familiar, and it put my nerves at ease.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” I stopped to salute him again.

He gave me a cold look. “What are you thanking me for, avian?”

“I-I guess for not treating me any differently,” I stammered. “You know, because I look like this now.”

Jace frowned. “Why would I treat you any differently? I don’t care if you have six eyes and hooves for feet. You better have your butt in that saddle as soon as possible, understood? No excuses.”

I nodded and turned toward the dormitory. Once I had my back to him, I couldn’t keep from smiling anymore; it was
so
good to be back. The world made more sense here. I knew what I had to do, where I was supposed to be, and what was expected of me. That was the best kind of therapy a man could ask for.

I walked past the armories on the way to the student dormitory. Some of the blacksmiths and tackmasters were already there, heating up their forges and taking orders for saddles and gear. I knew I needed to get back there soon and place my orders so my equipment would be ready before training started. I didn’t have any time to waste.

I tried not to look for my father. He’d moved to a different city, but I knew he would still come back to Blybrig for spring. It was when he usually made most of his money. Thankfully, I didn’t see Ulric anywhere as I passed. It made me nervous to even think about running into him. I wasn’t sure how he’d treat me now that he’d basically disowned me.

Groups of other boys were hanging around outside the student dormitory when I walked up to the door. They were fledglings, I guessed, and they stared at me with wide eyes as I went by. I was used to being stared at like that, but it almost seemed like those boys were actually afraid of me. Beckah had seemed scared of me, too, at first. I wondered if Felix would act like that.

The dining hall on the first floor was just how I remembered. It always smelled like fresh bread in there. I made a mental note to stop back by for a late breakfast as soon as I could. As I went up the stairs, I passed the second floor where I’d shared a room with Felix last year. There were more fledgling students clamoring in the hall, looking for their names written on the doors. It brought back a lot of memories.

The third floor was much quieter. Only a few other avians were hanging out in the hallway, but I didn’t recognize any of them. They were wearing a different style uniform than I had worn last year, and some of them had golden stripes stitched onto their shoulders. I wondered what that meant. I’d never noticed it before. Last year, my only focus had been survival, so a lot of things had just passed right under my nose.

My stomach started twisting into nervous knots as I walked down the hall, looking for my name on the placards that were nailed to all the doors. Each one had the name of an instructor and the names of his three students below it. Last year, we had only been in pairs of two. But the avian class was much bigger, so I assumed each instructor probably had to take on an extra student.

When I finally found the placard with my name, I stopped dead in my tracks. Shock hit me like a brick to the temple as I read the names carved into the placard over and over:

6

Sn. Lt. Rordin

Jaevid Broadfeather

Lord Felix Farrow

Lord Lyon Cromwell

All I could do was stare at it for a minute or two. I blinked and leaned closer to the door. I was seriously hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me. That couldn’t be Lyon’s name. Lyon Cromwell was going to be teamed up with us? Was this some kind of sick joke? Lyon had betrayed us not once or twice, but
three
times last year. He was a coward and a traitor. He’d also used me like his personal punching bag a few times. I wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to get away with his betrayal and still be in the academy at all. He’d vanished right after he abandoned us to be mauled by Icarus and the Lord General, and as far as I knew, no one had said a word about where he went.

I started to get queasy and angry all at the same time. Then the door opened and smacked me right in the face. I dropped my bag and staggered back, holding my nose.

“Whoops!” A familiar voice was laughing from the other side of the door.

Felix stuck his head out of the room, grinning from ear to ear the same way he always did when he was up to something. “Sorry! Didn’t see you there, man.”

I stared at him. He hadn’t changed much at all. His hair was a little longer, but it was still that same dark golden color. His wavy bangs swept across his forehead, and his light brown eyes glinted with mischief. He was looking back and forth down the hall like he was waiting for someone.

“Hey, if you see a little halfbreed coming this way, let me know, will you? Just whistle or something. I’ve got a bucket of water set up over the door and—”

“Felix!” I put my hand down and glared at him.

“Do I know you?” I watched him blink at me like he was confused. He didn’t recognize me. Slowly, he started narrowing his eyes and tilting his head to the side a little. Then his mouth fell open.

“J-Jae!” he yelled.

I scowled and crossed my arms. “Seriously? You didn’t recognize me at all?”

Felix punched me in the shoulder so hard it sent me rocking onto my heels. That’s when I realized he’d been going easy on me last year whenever we sparred together. Really,
really
easy, apparently.

“You jerk! Why would you do that?” I yelled back at him as I clutched my shoulder. “That hurt!”

“You ruined my welcome home present!” He reared back to hit me again.

“Present?” I dodged his swing as he tried to punch me in the face. “You were going to drop a bucket of water on my head! What kind of stupid present is that?” I grabbed his arm as he swung at me again, stepping in close to throw off his balance before I slung him down onto the ground.

“I worked hard on it!” He was laughing as I tried to wrestle him into a headlock on the ground.

It didn’t work. I was taller, but he was still much bulkier and a lot stronger. He jabbed another punch into the pit of my stomach. Immediately, I couldn’t breathe. While I was choking for air, he flipped us over and pinned me to the ground with a knee in my back.

“Well, it’s definitely you,” he chuckled. “You’re still terrible at this.”

“Get off!” I rasped. I could barely talk because my stomach was throbbing from where he’d hit me.

“Fine, fine. But you lose.” He stepped off, grabbed the back of my tunic, and tried to pull me back to my feet. He had a much harder time managing that now that I was taller than he was. “Seriously, though. What happened to you? You look like a twenty-year-old! Did you find a witch to cast a spell on you or something?”

I was still rubbing my stomach and my shoulder. I couldn’t even stand up straight. “I finally hit puberty, I guess,” I wheezed. “Do I seriously look
that
old?”

“Hit puberty?” Felix laughed loudly. Other students in the hall were staring at us now. “You didn’t just hit it. You mugged it in a dark alley and left it to die. What are you now? Six foot three? Six foot four?”

I blushed and snatched up my bag. It was embarrassing to have him making a scene in the middle of the hallway. The other avians were staring at us like we were crazy. “I haven’t measured,” I grumbled as I hobbled toward our room.

“Your hair is different, too. Is that because of your gray elf blood?” He started poking me in the back as he followed. “Too bad you couldn’t manage to bulk up a little more, huh? Then someone might actually mistake you for a dragonrider this time around. But no one can have everything, I guess. Look at you, you’re so lanky—like a flag pole.”

I knew he was teasing me. No one liked watching me squirm more than Felix Farrow. And if I fought back, it would only make things worse. The teasing never stopped once he knew he had some leverage that embarrassed me. I’d already made that mistake last year when he found out I was writing “love” letters to Katty.

“Shut up! It’s not that big of a deal!” I grabbed the doorknob and started to go inside.

Felix tried to stop me. “Hey wait a min—”

It was too late.

The bucket fell from where he had it balanced over the door, landing right on my head. Ice-cold water splashed everywhere, drenching me from head to toe.

Felix was laughing like a maniac.

I sputtered and pulled the bucket off my head so I could throw it at him.

“It’s not my fault! I did warn you.” He grinned, grabbing my shoulder and giving it a friendly shake. “By the way, welcome back.”

My boots and socks were still squishing with water as I walked out of the dormitory. Felix was hot on my heels, and he hadn’t stopped talking since I hit the doorstep. I could feel him staring at me. Every now and then, he poked at me again like he wasn’t sure I was real or not. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Would you stop that? It’s getting annoying,” I growled in frustration.

Felix looked up at me with amazement still written all over his face. “Sorry. It’s kind of hard to believe this is really you. I keep expecting to blink and suddenly you’ll be back to your old scrawny self again.”

I could feel my face starting to get hot with embarrassment. “Tell me about it. I still don’t recognize my own reflection.”

“And you honestly don’t know what did this to you?” he asked. “Are you going to come back looking like an old man the next time we get a break from training?”

I shot him a glare. “I don’t think so. Look, it’s not like I know all that much about gray elves either. You know I wasn’t raised in Luntharda. I was a kid when my mom died, and she had sheltered me from everyone my whole life—including other gray elves. I only know what I heard the doctor say, and who knows how much of that is even true.”

“And what did the doctor say?” He looked interested.

My memories of what had happened were blurred because of the pain I’d been in. It was like trying to remember a dream, so I just told him what I could. The gray elves all grew that way, apparently. They grew fast, in short bursts, instead of gradually over time. All I knew for sure was that it had hurt—a
lot
—and I wasn’t looking forward to it ever happening again.

“I can’t believe your mother never mentioned any of this to you.” Felix sounded skeptical, like he didn’t quite believe me.

“I was twelve when she died, Felix,” I snapped at him angrily. “We were just trying not to die of starvation. We didn’t exactly have the time to discuss my future.”

Felix raised his hands in surrender. “Geez. Relax. You’re kind of cranky now, you know that? Did all that growing give you mood swings or something?”

I scowled and elbowed him in the ribs. “I’m not cranky.”

We walked together toward the armories where craftsmen were hard at working making armor, saddles, and weapons. I had Sile’s bag of coins in my hand, and I was trying to ignore the way the other students and instructors were staring at me as we passed. It was bad enough to have them look at me that way; Felix could have at least been a little more sensitive about it. It made me irritated that he was being this way. I wanted things to go back to normal.

We went to the blacksmiths’ side of the armory first, and I looked for the same old man who’d made my armor last year. It seemed like a good idea to stick with someone who’d already worked with me before. At least I knew he wasn’t going to intentionally compromise my equipment. I’d seen last year how badly things could go if something on a saddle broke during flight.