Chapter 29 Attack in Feylen
Eloise
By the time we shadowshifted to Feylen, everyone had gotten a grip of themselves. It was almost like the last few minutes never happened.
Fortunately, I hadn't thrown up when we landed this time. But while the others had landed gracefully, I had stumbled due to dizziness.
I preferred Lidia's method of transportation to shadowshifting.
I was going to ask her how she did it later, if she ever spoke to me again. I glanced at my friends, but neither of them met my gaze.
Lidia wasn't exaggerating when she said we would freeze our butt off this weekend. The cold seeped into my body with each step.
Wordlessly, Byron walked ahead of us. It was snowing so hard and the fog was so thick that I couldn't see where we were going. But no one complained.
I groaned as my foot got stuck in the snow again. I pulled at my leg, cursing myself for getting into trouble and the Shadowborn Heir for his twisted punishment. At least, Geneva had only limited her punishment to just cleaning.
I pulled my leg with more force and ended up falling on my butt. My pack weighed heavily, making it impossible to stand.
“Hold on to me.” I raised my head to see Tina's hand stretched out in front of me. I took it and she pulled me up.
“Thank you.” I muttered while she nodded.
The others had gone so far ahead I could barely make out their figures through the thick fog.
Tina and I walked in tensed silence. I wasn't used to Tina been quiet. Even when I barely spoke to her, Tina had always found something to chat about. Since her fight with Raihn, she had been really distant.
I hadn't thought much of it before and just assumed she was busy with duties as usual, but after what Raihn said, I was certain she was avoiding me.
My chest tightened. The feeling was worse than when I first got here and everyone hated me. Tina had liked me then. She'd been my best friend. She'd reminded me so much of my sister that I had began to see Mae in her.
But just like everyone else in my life, she must have realized that I wasn't worth it and left.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat and focused on not getting my foot stuck again.
“It’s the first phase.” Tina muttered.
I whirled towards her, my brows furrowed in confusion. “What?”
“The walking. It's the first phase of the punishment. Byron could have shadowshifted us to the base, but he dumped us halfway so we could walk the rest in the freezing cold.” She said. “He's doing it to punish Raihn and me.”
“Why?” I asked.
She didn't respond but she gave me a knowing look. The punishment wasn't because of their fight in the hallway. It was because neither of them had been there to stop me when I sneaked off.
I kept that part to myself. I didn't think he would tell them when he threatened me not to say a word about it. Raihn and Tina probably thought the punishment was because of their hallway fight.
“How long until we get to our destination?” I asked in an attempt to distract myself and maybe dissipate the tension between us.
“I don't know. I've only visited the Feylen base once since I got into Drakmor, and I hadn't walked.” she responded.
“You've never gotten into trouble?” I asked in surprise.
“I've gotten into plenty of trouble. But none of them had been serious enough to land me in cold hell.”
“Cold hell?” I chuckled.
“That's what the students call it. And I must agree that the nickname is pretty accurate. If hell was made up of snow and frost, this is the perfect place.” she flashed me a smile which I reciprocated.
We walked in silence for a while, the tension slightly lessened.
“I'm sorry, Ellie.” Tina said suddenly. I was about to ask what she was sorry for when she added, “Byron told me what happened, about Aubrey Vega.”
I was so shocked by her revelation that my steps faltered. Tina tightened her grip to stop me from falling.
Concern was laced in her voice as she asked, “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “What did he tell you?”
Byron had threatened me that night not to tell anyone, and yet, he'd been the one to tell someone. I had been so shaken that night that I needed to talk to someone, his threats had refrained me. I pushed back the bubbling rage inside me.
Tina's face turned solemn. “That you had gone to the library to work on your essay and found Aubrey's body. Trust me, I know first-hand how something like that can mess you up.”
“It's okay.” I forced a smile. None of them had known the truth. I was convinced Byron had seen through my lies that night, but maybe he hadn't.
“No, it's not.” she sighed. “Raihn was right. I had been hanging out with some other third years that night. I asked Raihn to stay a few hours until the party was over. He wasn't at fault for leaving. I guess, the reason I was so mad at him was because I was mad at myself for not coming sooner.”
“It's neither of your faults. I was the one who had gone outside after school hours. You shouldn't blame yourself.” I said honestly.
We'd stopped walking entirely, but the others didn't seem to notice. A question prickled at the back of my mind. I wanted to ignore it but I couldn't.
“Is that why you don't want to be my friend anymore?” I asked, hesitantly.
“What? No! I definitely want to be your friend.” she sighed. “I think, I kept my distance because I felt guilty about the whole thing. It's not because of you.”
“So we're still friends?”
Tina's smile widened. “Best friends.”
She pulled me in for a tight hug. I felt a weight lift off me and hugged her back. I had gotten one friend back.
“If you guys are done romanticizing each other, we're here.” Tina and I pulled away from each other at the sound of Byron's voice. We glanced at each other and burst out laughing.
We hurried to meet the others. They'd stopped in front of two large metal gates. A odd sensation prickled in my mind as we walked through the gates.
“This is the Feylen’s base where you will be spending your weekend.” Byron announced.
Dragons of different breeds assembled to greet the Shadowborn Heir. They were all dressed in dark uniforms. The only difference from the academy uniform was the dragon sigil embroidered on the back of their uniform. Their uniforms had stars on the front, the number of stars differ on each soldiers. I assumed the stars determined their ranks.
They bowed as Byron passed by them, but he didn't spare them a glance. We strode after him until he stopped before a woman who seem to be almost twice his age. I couldn't count the number of stars on the woman's uniform.
“Lord Byron.” she bowed.
“Commander Mairi.” Byron nodded. “I've brought you some new guests.”
The commander raised her head, her lips stretched into a smirk as she swept her gaze over us.
“Appreciation, Your Grace. The training grounds need cleaning up anyway.”
“Good. I have some business to take care of. I'll be back.” I felt the last sentence directed at me as his gaze lingered. He shadowshifted away the second I turned to him.
I didn't have time to ponder on the weird interaction when the commander cleared her throat. “Welcome to Feylen. Arthur would inform you of your duties soon. Listen to him.” she said sternly.
“Do not go into the woods. There hasn't been a Hollowborn attack in years but we can't be too careful. As long as you stay out of dark corners, you'll be fine. They don't come out during the day.” she added, wrecking my already nervous nerves.
We nodded. Arthur stepped out behind her and motioned for us to follow him. The uneasiness I had felt earlier increased as we stepped towards the training grounds.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked, she must have picked up on my uneasiness.
“I'm fine. It's just the cold.”
“Yeah, it's a bitch.” Lidia said beside me. They'd all slowed down so we were walking together. She still hadn't look at me but at least she was here.
Neither of us spoke till we reached the base’s training grounds. Despite it being an open space, the stench of blood and sweat hung in the air.
Arthur walked to a small building at the far end. He returned, holding some tools in his hands. Shovels, metal trays, axes. He placed them on the ground before us.
“In the next hour, you're required to clear the snow in this area. I don't care how, but I don't want to see a speck of snow when I come back.” He walked away, leaving us to ponder on his words.
Tina shrugged her cloak off and hung it on the railing. The rest of us did the same.
“Raihn and Aeron, start shoveling the snow. Ellie, you carry the trays to us. Lidia will melt, and I'll disperse the water into the air.”
The boys were clearly not pleased that they were paired together, but the stern look on Tina's face left no room for arguments. We picked our tools and set to work. For the next few minutes, we worked in silence until we've cleared a significant portion of snow.
“We've cleared this area. Let's go there.” Raihn pointed to the far end close to the woods.
Suddenly, the uneasiness from earlier crashed into me waves. The feeling was so strong that the tray slipped from my hand. I crossed the distance between us so fast and shoved him with all my strength. He stumbled back a few steps.
“What is your problem, El?” Raihn yelled.
I couldn't answer him. Because at that moment, a clawed hand shot out from the woods and impaled itself in my arm. I didn't see the face of the monster, but I didn't need to. My friends screams of horror was the last thing I heard before I drifted away.
“Hollowborn.”