Chapter 28 Friendships break up
Eloise
Apparently, our two weeks detention included weekends as well.
I woke up to a message from Geneva, asking us to gather at the dining hall after breakfast. She seems hellbent on making our weekends miserable.
After my frustrating conversation with Carden last night, I had returned to my room, pondering on his vague words. The only good thing that came out of the night was that I wasn't plagued with nightmares when I went back to sleep.
“I'm telling you that woman has issues. It's been a week already. Why can't she just let it go?” Lidia groaned, her fingers twirling a golden strand of her chopped hair.
“Geneva isn't the type to go back on her words. She's stubborn to a fault.” Aeron shook his head.
It was only the three of us in the dining hall. Raihn and Tina were yet to arrive.
“Didn't she use to date your uncle when they attended Drakmor together?” Lidia asked.
I turned to Aeron, my curiouosity piqued. It would make sense if the Shadowborn Heir and Geneva were lovers at some point. Their behavior was so similar. It would also explain why she always stare at him a little longer when they were in the same room.
“What? No. I mean… I don't know. Maybe?” Aeron sounded confused. “I don't keep track of my uncle's love life. And I don't think I was born when he attended Drakmor.”
“Of course, you were born. Lord Byron is just a decade older than you according to the royal birth records. You should be around ten years when he got into Drakmor.”
“Nine. I’m seventeen.” Aeron grumbled.
“Oh, I keep forgetting that.” Lidia said.
Aeron glared at her. “There were rumours but Uncle never confirmed anything. Why are we even talking about this?”
Lidia smirked at Aeron's red face. She enjoys torturing him.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into trouble.” It was my fault they were spending their weekends in detention.
“Don't blame yourself, El. As Lidia said, Geneva has…issues.” Aeron said.
“Aeron Wesley, did you just insult a teacher?” Lidia gasped, pretending to be shocked. I chuckled at Aeron's horrified expression when he realized.
“That's not very royal of you.” she added.
“I didn't insult her, I just repeated what you said about… Just let it go.” he groaned. Lidia snickered.
The double doors burst opened and heavy footsteps filled the dining hall. The three of us straightened as Byron walked in with Tina and Raihn flanking his sides.
“The five of you will be having your detention with me outside of Drakmor. We will be there all weekend and resume back to the academy grounds on Monday morning. You have fifteen minutes to pack your necessities and gather at the Assembly grounds.” Byron said while we exchanged glances.
“My Lord, if you don't mind me asking, where are we heading to?” Lidia asked.
The look Byron leveled on her was so terrifying that I feared for my friend, but Lidia didn't waver in the slightest. The only indication that she was intimidated was the subtle tightness of her body.
Byron's gaze narrowed before he answered begrudgingly, “Feylen.”
He walked out the door after that. Raihn and Tina glanced at each other before going their separate ways. Raihn didn't spare me a glance. The three of us were left alone again. We made our way towards the dormitories together.
“Feylen?” I asked.
“It's located on the colder part of Varethin. It used to be an active war front but there hasn't been a Hollowborn attack there in years. It's mostly used for detention now, giving the students the impression that they're in real danger.” Aeron explained.
“In summary, we will be spending our weekend in a deserted village, freezing our butt off.” Lidia groaned. “Make sure to pack warm. We have less than ten minutes to make it back.”
“Oh shit!” Aeron cursed and shadowshifted away.
“Asshole.” Lidia muttered.
“I guess it's just you and me then. Should we run?”
“Sorry, El. But you're on your own.” Lidia said apologetically before bursting off. My mouth fell opened as I watched a streak of fire disappear between the doors.
I gave myself one full second to process Lidia's trick before breaking into a run. Running wasn't my strong suit. It was embarrassing for a werewolf to be bad at running. Running in our shifted forms, or running at all, was how we lived.
But I hadn't exactly had any practice. It was hard to run when your movements are restricted to a few feet outside your house. Or when you've never taken your shifted form before.
I felt cramps in my legs as I pushed myself forward. I couldn't have been running for more than a minute before I got to my room, but it felt like hours. I pushed my door open, panting heavily.
Grabbing my pack, I emptied the content on my bed. I grabbed all the cloaks Tina had stuffed in my armoire, a pair of pants and leather tops, and an extra pair of boots. There wasn't much clothes in my armoire so I packed what I could grab.
My door flung open to reveal Lidia, her hair clinging to her forehead with sweat.
“We have two minutes left.” she said. I grabbed my pack, leaving the scattered school supplies on my bed, and shut the door.
“Hold my hand and try not to scream.” she said.
I didn't get to ask what she meant before fire engulfed me. I felt like I was been thrown around in the flames. It wasn't hurtful and the flames barely touched me, but it was terrifying enough that a scream tore out of me.
The sensation only lasted for a few seconds before the flames fell away to reveal the open space of the assembly grounds. I managed to refrain myself from falling. I relished the feeling of air on my face.
“What. the hell. was that?” I asked panting.
“A trick of mine. Shadowborns aren't the only one with cool tricks.” Lidia smirked. “Exhilarating, right?”
I smiled. It was truly exhilarating. After the initial heat had faded, the sensation felt like riding a high you never want to come down from. I had only been shadowshifted once in my life, when the Shadowborn Heir first brought me to Drakmor, but whatever Lidia just did was way more fun than shadowshifting. And it didn't make me want to throw up.
“What the fuck? Are you planning to kill her?” Lidia and I turned to see Raihn approaching, his face red with fury.
The amusement vanished from Lidia's face, replaced by hardness.
“Oh, so now you break your silent oath? How convenient.” she drawled.
“You engulfed her with fire, fire that's capable of hurting dragons.”
“She seems fine to me.” Lidia shrugged.
“What is wrong with you?” he groaned.
“What's wrong with you?!” she retorted. “You made your stance clear a weak ago, Raihn. I believe your exact words were ‘we’re not friends’. Well, guess what, the fact still stands. You don't get to just swoop in and act like a goddamn hero when you've been acting like a prolific asshole all week.”
“I'm the one been an asshole? From what I remembered, I was the one who got humiliated in the hallway because Wolfie here couldn't stay one night by herself, while her supposed ‘best friend’ was out drinking with her fellow third years.” he turned to Tina who scowled at him. She avoided my gaze when I stared at her.
“I did nothing wrong, and somehow I'm the one taking all the blame. I'm the one been isolated.”
“You isolated yourself. You're just pissed because we didn't fall apart after you left. You're not as important as you think, Raihn.” Aeron said as he strode towards us, his pack dangling behind him.
Silence descended as Aeron spoke. Raihn's face had gone so white, his posture rigid. Tina, who had seem uninterested in the exchange, straightened and stared at the both of them with caution.
“Say that again, Aeron.” Raihn growled.
“You heard me. You're not important. No matter what you do, the competition you win, it wouldn't change that fact. You'll still be the scrawny boy who —” Aeron didn't finish his statement before shadows whisked out and sent him flying. He caught himself with his own shadows before he could fall.
Raihn charged towards him, a murderous expression on his face. Aeron had clearly hit a sore spot.
I did the only thing I could to stop them from killing each other. I summoned a faelight with my magic and sent it between them. The light was so bright that it blinded them, temporarily stopping them from fighting. I sprinted towards them and cut off the thread of magic fueling the light.
“No more.” I said firmly.
No more watching people fight because of me. No more watching friendship breakups. No more deaths. No more.
Raihn recovered first and attempted to get past me. With my hand outstretched, I gathered enough sand to form a sand storm and send him flying back.
“I said, no more!”
Something reared it head inside me, a strong urge gripped me. It wanted to break free but it… couldn't. It burned under my skin until I couldn't bear it anymore.
The sandstorm dissipated to reveal a wide eyed Raihn and an equally surprised Aeron. My friends stared at me like they've never seen me before. I could have sworn I saw a hint of fear in their eyes. The same fear I saw in my family's eyes on my birthday.
The urge disappeared completely, leaving self loathing and despair in it wake. I had ruined the only friendships I've ever had in my life.
“Now that the show is over, we should get going.” Byron's voice came from behind me. I didn't even flinch.
Darkness blanketed us and a lingering feeling of failure hung in the air.