Chapter 127 CHAPTER 127
“What dragged you out of your lair today?” Miss Tessa called to me as I headed to teach the second years Flying Basics.
It's my job and if pain can't make me forget, maybe doing my job will.
I can't escape her in reality nor in dreams.
“No one will teach these kids what they need to learn so,” I answered her.
“You're a really good teacher. I saw your progress with Alira before she poofed into the air and I'm happy Kava shoved her your way.”
I wanted to say she shouldn't have, maybe I wouldn't be feeling this way, maybe she would have popped into Drakkonia and disappeared as well and I would be none the wiser but then I remembered her smile.
Her scent.
The way she blew her hair out of line of sight instinctively.
Her resilience.
Her face when she's pissed off, mostly at me. I enjoyed that way too much.
The fire in her eyes, the softness in her walk, her lips, her…
I have to stop thinking about her.
“I'll be on my way now Miss Tessa,” I walked past her, my mood further ruined.
“Remember to donate blood at the gate. Everyone is trying to help.”
“Blood?” I turned, looking at her.
“Yes, the disease is spreading and there's a high demand for clean blood to combat the virus. Everyone is donating, I just thought you might want to ask well.”
“They're literally draining me every day to make the vaccine, Tessa, if I give one more drop, I'll die.”
“Oh shit, I didn't know, I'm so sorry.”
“It's alright.”
“Did you know the King erected a wall between them and us?”
“Sounds like him,” I breathed. “Practical and logical.”
“Practical? People are dying!”
“And more will die if we allow them troop in here. If you get treated, you'll be let in here until everyone is cleared.”
“But he's not letting anyone in. People are getting recontaminated and if they weren't making your blood weaker with all those tests I see they've been doing on you, maybe the vaccines will actually do more than kill the virus. They might become immune.”
“Look, I'm just going to head to my flying class. I don't care much for the politics of the realm.”
“Of course, you are neither here nor there,” she snapped and turned around, clicking her fingers for her dragon.
If she wants to hurt my feelings, she's going to have to do a bit more than that.
Probably find a way to wherever Alira disappeared to and take notes.
I decided to go get Zephyr from the Pens, I've not seen him in almost a week since I left the facility and I was sure he'd be pissed.
When I got there, he wasn't in his cave but on the ground with four other dragons.
They saw me and snarled at me so hard I fell on my ass.
“What's happening? What did I do?” I nearly cried.
If the dragons reject me too, that means I shouldn't even be alive at all.
It'll mean no one wants anything to do with me.
Thankfully Zephyr came to my defence and he puffed smoke in their faces before lifting off the ground, flapping heavy wings in the air and landing at my back.
“I'm sorry if I offended you,” I bowed to the dragons that were snarling at me, not coming closer but not happy about my existence either.
Weird.
I was about to mount Zephyr when something glistened in the sunlight.
I got down and went to find it.
“This looks familiar,” I whispered as I picked up a sword lying on the ground. “Wait, it's… hers.”
Zephyr huffed a puff of smoke but I didn't even feel the burn, my chest was constricting and my brain was stuck in a loop.
Memories of her fighting me with this flooded my mind.
She's a damn good swordsman but I never told her that, I was desperate to push her to be better, to be perfect.
I was scared of saying she's good enough and then a mistake would lead to her death.
Funny how all of that was useless and she just carelessly dumped it here.
But then a visual memory played out in my head, making me still instantly.
She'd come with the sword here, and I remember seeing it on her at the mountain.
When did she come back to keep it here?
Why would she keep it here in the first place?
Was she too much of a coward to give it to me and had to drop it where she hoped I'd find it?
Typical Alira, always scared to face her fears
I climbed Zephyr and we flew to class.
There were only three students.
“Where's everyone?” I barked.
“Sir, everyone thought you'd not come.”
“So I miss one class and everyone goes on permanent holiday?”
“But sir you never miss classes,” Terin whined, her pigtails bouncing with her acquired petulance.
“And instead of you all caring about what went wrong, your mates decided to abscond. That's fine. I'm going to teach you the best way to avoid dying if your Dragon gets killed in a war.”
“Wait, that's possible?” Karon gasped.
“Yes. Mount your dragons.”
“But sir, I feel like this is very important, shouldn't we wait for –”
“Don't you dare finish that sentence!” I snapped.
I was done with taking the crap this plane dished my way with a smiling face. I might not have a choice in the matter but I will react and they'll take it just like I've been taking their nonsense.
I put them through a rigorous training, it's something that should have taken five sessions to get through but I was embittered and angry and in a bad headspace.
Thankfully these were some of my best students and very good fighters in the air so they complained as much as necessary but that was the end of it.
I was very exhausted by the end, which was what I was aiming for so I found my way back home and fell flat on my bed, my hand still holding that goddamn sword.
Suddenly it all came flashing in, like my brain was disconnected before and now working properly.
When we'd parted, I had gone to see Zephyr again since we'd be leaving soon.
I'd been on my way down when I saw Kira running towards me.
She'd expressed an excitement that confused me.
She didn't care that I was pulling back, she was talking about missing me and the things she wanted to do to me.
She was just coming back from the war front.
And before now, she would take me and have her relief, but I was a different man now.
She'd jumped into my mouth as I tried to explain, and I felt so repulsed it took me a few seconds to stop myself from wringing her throat off.
A few seconds that Alira might have witnessed and thought something else.
Great, as if my anger wasn't enough torment, now I realise I'm the push that sent her over the edge and she left.
Kill me now.