Dragon Spirit Hunter 3, page 6
Somehow, I didn’t feel too comforted by that answer. She must have noticed the change in my mood as she glanced at me with a concerned look.
“Charlie,” she said as we reached the doors of my dormitory. She stopped and turned to face me, and as she did so, she reached out to hold my hand in one of hers. “We live in a world where the threat of death looms constantly behind every tree. We do what we can when we can and as well as we can, but that’s all anyone could ever ask of us.”
I remembered Looly saying something similar when we had first gotten together. That the Sundered Realm was a dangerous place to live, so her philosophy was to simply live for the now.
It had admittedly served me very well so far.
I met the half-moon elf’s deep blue eyes, and I resisted the sudden urge to kiss her. She once again had taught me so much in just one simple session, and as an added bonus, she’d also helped me sneak out of the grounds and get a break from the rigid rules of military life.
“You’re my favorite Sergeant,” I sighed heavily, and she burst out laughing, but I didn’t care. I just grinned. “I’m serious. Tonight was incredibly helpful to me.”
“Good,” she said softly. “I’m honored to help you in this.”
“Honored is probably a stretch,” I said. “I’m a lowly human.”
“To some,” she agreed. “But to me you are an incredibly fascinating human, who was pulled into this world and forced to adapt very quickly. Some would have perished instantly, but you’ve been resourceful, and you’ve been brave. You’ve exceeded every expectation we had, Charlie.”
She squeezed my hand.
“I think, whatever happens with all this, you’ll face it head-on, and you’ll face it well,” she assured me.
Pride spread through my chest at her praise.
“See?” I grinned at her. “I told you. You’re my favorite Sergeant.”
“Hmmm…” she murmured in a sultry tone. “Is this you trying to be the teacher’s pet?”
My mouth went completely dry as I picked up on the sizzling tension between us. Prianna was still holding my hand, and her thumb was stroking my skin in slow, smooth circles as she held my gaze.
Holy fuck, did I want to kiss this woman.
And do many, many other things to her.
I had no idea what the Academy rules were on cadet-mentor relationships but I wouldn’t have minded finding out. Especially because even just spending that short amount of time with Prianna had made me feel better about literally everything.
The always-cool woman hadn’t even batted an eye at the sight of a second rovkin soaring out of me.
Hell, if she could handle the shock that well, then I could sure take things in stride, too.
“Sweet dreams, cadet,” she said before my mind could stop buffering, and then she brushed past me to head for the Sergeants’ quarters.
I watched her hourglass silhouette go, and the methodical sway of her armored hips had me in a trance until she suddenly turned back around a few feet away.
“Oh, and let’s not tell anyone else about our… private training session tonight,” she said with a delicious little grin. “Your friends are plenty.”
“Uh, sure,” I said with a nod. “I can do that.”
“Good,” she said. “Some things really ought to stay between you and me, don’t you think?”
Her words sounded like they had several meanings, but she left before I could decide if I’d imagined it.
I warred against half a boner as I climbed the spiraled steps all the way to my third-floor dorm. Then I took a cold bath, and Gerrin was snoring like a freight train when I collapsed into bed.
I instantly sank into a deep sleep filled with dreams of a curly-haired sex goddess. She spent the whole night threatening to punish me with a good hard fucking for breaking Academy rules, and I let her do her worst to me for who knew how long.
Then dreams of bloody fire and having my spirit torn in half took over.
It was a restless night, to say the least, and I awoke earlier than I wanted.
Outside the window, the dark colors of twilight were fading into the pale green of the morning sky, and the sun rose over the desaturated forest.
Despite the lack of sleep, I felt much better about things as the sun began to warm the day. There had been less snowfall in recent days, and I knew it wouldn’t be many more weeks before the weather began to turn toward spring.
Even Gerrin hadn’t been complaining about the temperature as much recently.
I mulled over the night’s events as I washed up and got ready for the day.
Prianna and Looly were right, I decided. All we could do was take each day as it came and live for the now. And right now, I had two scary-ass dragon spirits tied to my soul.
That could end up pretty fucking awesome for me, if I trained hard enough.
True, it meant learning to share my spirit with two other mythical beings and just ignoring the possibility that the task could overwhelm and kill me, but mind over matter, I guess?
The food hall was busy when I arrived, and the individual voices of the cadets mingled into one loud buzz.
It was nice to be able to slip in unnoticed. For once, I could make it through at least a couple of hours without being the subject of stares and whispered comments. Not all the attention was bad, certainly, but even positive attention became overwhelming after a while.
Looly was perfect for helping ground me, though.
My beautiful spring elf of a girlfriend had saved my usual seat next to her, and I joined her with my full tray of breakfast and a cup of coffee.
She smelled like cupcakes today, I gave her a long, slow good morning kiss that woke me up better than the coffee would’ve.
“You look ridiculously cute today,” I informed her, and I gestured to her flowery dress. “You healers get away with wearing anything.”
“I only have two classes today,” she giggled, “and neither of them require my healing attire.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” I assured her as I eyed the soft pillows of her cleavage above the ruffled edge of her dress. “Only admiring.”
The pink-haired elf giggled and swatted my arm, but then she shimmied ever so slightly, just to drive me crazy.
“So…” Gerrin grinned as he sat down with a plate full of food and a steaming hot coffee. “How did your adventure go?”
I took a quick bite of my breakfast and chewed thoughtfully.
“A bit dicey here and there, but other than that, fine.”
I met a table of confused stares.
“Dice-y?” Erlan asked in a puzzled tone.
“It’s a term from Earth,” I sighed. “Like, you know when things can be unpredictable and dangerous?”
“Ohhh,” Kerym said as he nodded sagely. “We call that unpredictable and dangerous here.”
“Shut up,” I laughed. “Do you want to hear what happened or not?”
This time, their faces were eager. I wasn’t even particularly surprised when Erlan retrieved a leather-bound notebook from his satchel and began scribbling in it. There was a sort of soothing quality to the sound of his pen scratching against the parchment, but his writing became more frantic as I gave them the rundown on the interactions between my two dragons, as well as their new powers.
I of course left out the more intimate details about the moments Prianna and I shared, and I’d never tell a single officer about our excursion for the rest of my life, but I knew she didn’t mind my friends knowing how I was doing with my training.
“You know, that’s got to be worth at least another two jumps in rank, right?” Jas’ quiet voice broke in as I explained what happened with the dragon vision.
“I don’t think they can actually classify what rank Charlie is,” Erlan said. He leafed back through the notebook. “None of his powers or his advancements match very well to the traditional system.”
“Have you been keeping tabs on me?” I joked.
To my surprise, a look of embarrassment crossed the moon elf’s face.
“I just thought it might help,” he said quickly.
“It’s a good idea,” I reassured him. “Nobody knows what’s happening, and now that I’ve got two rovkins, any information could be useful.”
“We should share your notes with the General,” Efasia broke in as she joined us with only a cup of coffee in her hand. “It could be of use to the Legion.”
“They’re not really coherent.” Erlan admitted. “I really need to organize them properly.”
I grinned. “Looks like you’ve got a project on your hands.”
“An intriguing one.” He nodded and poised his pen above a blank page. “So, what happened after that?”
I launched back into the derailed story, but I left out the part where Prianna nearly put me into a horny coma at the end. Like she said, some things probably should stay between us for now.
Then it was time to head out, and Jas leaned over Erlan’s shoulder as he read what the moon elf had written.
“Do you want some help after classes organizing this?” Jas asked.
Erlan nodded gratefully.
“Alright, I’ll meet you in the library,” the snow elf called as he swung his bag over his shoulder and headed out of the hall.
The others began to make their own ways off to class.
I kissed Looly goodbye and exchanged a quick nod and smile with Efasia.
The Atlantean had decidedly softened since we’d begun our relationship, but for now, we still kept it quiet. I only stole a brief glance at her taut ass as she strolled out of the hall ahead of me, and I managed to not replay the image of her pinned to the bed beneath me more than a few times.
Erlan and I crossed the grounds together since we shared the same first class of the day– Rovkin Powers and Their Uses in Battle. Then we headed into the labyrinthine corridors of the Academy, and I did my best to ignore the many gossiping cadets we passed along the way.
Most of them just gaped at me like I wasn’t even real, but plenty of others seemed to hate me twice as much now that I’d proven to be a decent soldier in the field against a two-story-tall dragon.
I kinda cared less today, at least. Making strides with my rovkins last night had changed my perspective on things, and I was more focused than ever on my own training and goals.
Our instructor for the first class was a dark elf named Sergeant Taril. Like the others of his race, he had ashen skin and dark hair that made his red eyes stand out all the more. His features were oddly feminine and delicate, but despite his obvious youth, his voice was deep and commanding.
“Alright, cadets,” he said as he stood before a chalkboard with his hands clasped behind his back. “Can anyone tell me what the problem with this class is?”
Confused looks and murmurs passed between the cadets. As far as we knew, there wasn’t any sort of problem with the class.
I found myself drumming my fingers on my desk as I tried to puzzle out the meaning of his words.
Oh. I felt a sudden flash of inspiration as I hesitated to raise my hand.
Taril pounced on me like a tiger. “Yes, Charlie?”
“It’s all theory based,” I said.
He nodded. “Go on.”
“Well,” I expanded on my original thought, “we can sit here and learn about different rovkin powers and how they might be used in battle, but we all know that battles don’t always go the way we expect.”
Just the other day I had watched as two combatants engaged in a duel had the tide of their fight turned by a loose stone. One had tripped backward and his weapon had flown from his hand. His opponent had pressed her advantage and suddenly the loser had turned into the winner.
“Good,” the Sergeant said. “Very good answer. I can teach the theory. I can teach you what should happen. What I can’t teach you is what will happen. Expect the unexpected.”
He paused and turned to the chalkboard.
“Alright, what offensive powers can we come up with?”
The instructor went around various cadets and each contributed with most of their ideas relating to their own rovkins.
I stayed quiet. Someone had already mentioned fire powers, and I felt I had little to contribute after that, considering my rovkins seemed to have obscure powers.
Taril looked at the list on the board. “There’s one that hasn’t been mentioned yet. Does anybody care to hazard a guess?”
I looked intently at the board. I scanned the list and only saw what I expected. Fire. Water. Lightning. One student, who I would later learn had a Rainbow Venom Frog as their rovkin, had even mentioned poison.
I thought about my dragons. The Blood Dragon’s flame was not just fire but also acidic. I raised my hand.
“Acid?” I said.
“Good,” Taril said. “But not what I was thinking.”
What else was there? Between the cadets, I felt certain we’d covered every major power the rovkins had displayed so far.
Erlan raised his hand hesitantly. “Spirit weapons?”
Of course. We’d all been so focused on what our rovkins could do independently, we’d forgotten what we could do together.
“Very good!” Taril bounded back over to the chalkboard. “I’m not sure how many of you have reached that rank yet, but it’s important to remember that you and your rovkin are stronger together than apart.”
“What about defense?” I asked. “Isn’t that also a part of any battle?”
Taril actually beamed, and I found myself warming to the odd character. Most pureblooded elves I had encountered had been at best, haughty, and at worst, offensive.
It was good to see not all of them were the same, and I quickly readjusted my perspective. I had fallen into the same sort of behavior those pureblooded elves displayed.
Prejudice.
That wasn’t the type of man I wanted to be.
“Right, cadets,” Taril said. “Charlie has raised a very good point. How many of you thought this class would be all about incinerating your enemies with rovkin fire or sending them to the gods with a well-timed bolt of lightning?”
Some of them laughed while others looked slightly embarrassed.
“Don’t be ashamed,” Taril said. “You’re all still learning. It’s better to make mistakes here than out there in the midst of a battle against a giant fucking monster.”
The class relaxed.
I could quickly see this becoming one of my favorite classes.
“Sir,” I said. “I have a question.”
“Go ahead,” Taril said.
“How come this class wasn’t on our schedule before? Like, at the beginning of the year, I mean?”
“There’s no point trying to understand what your rovkins can do in battle until you’ve experienced what they can do.” He frowned, and his eyebrows creased above his red eyes. “Does that make sense?”
“Uh, sort of, I think,” I responded.
The elf, who seemed to have as much energy as a wind-up toy, paced back and forth.
“What I’m trying to say is that until you’ve felt that bond, or until you’ve truly felt the powers your rovkins have, you can’t possibly begin to understand what use they can be. Maybe it’ll become clearer as the term goes on.”
I pondered his words. I suppose they made some kind of sense.
Although it was good having a theoretical basis for how rovkins behaved and what to expect, I had learned very quickly that although the theory was useful, when it came to my rovkins, the reality was entirely different.
The rest of the day passed in a familiar routine I’d grown to look forward to. Things got so wild here at the drop of a hat that I actually found I liked the steadiness of instruction days a lot more than I’d expected. It was a great time to info dump myself on even more about this strange new world, and to rest up before another random mission could come my way.
As usual, the food hall was packed with famished cadets by the time I arrived for dinner. Their voices mixed together in a discordant mixture of sounds that was heightened by the clatter and rattle of plates and crockery.
I joined up with Erlan and Jas first, and just moments later, Looly came bounding in. She greeted Erlan and Jas in her usual cheery way, and then she kissed my cheek.
It was always so nice to see the bubbly elf at the end of the day. There was nothing like getting to unwind with such a beautiful and loving girlfriend, and to just focus on hanging out.
“The others will be here soon,” Looly said. “Efasia’s in the armory, and the boys are just having a quick wash.”
I looked at her fondly. “How was your day?”
“It was lovely, thanks,” she said as she helped herself to some food from my plate with a cheeky smile.
She finished chewing and began to expand on her classes for the day. They’d learned about various plants in the different regions of the Sundered Realm and had taken a few tests on how to heal certain rare ailments.
I was still eating, so I found myself grateful she didn’t go into too much graphic detail.
Gerrin and Kerym joined us shortly after she’d finished, and their faces were red and raw from their recent baths.
“You two look like you’ve scrubbed half your skin off,” I called.
“Fell over in the yard,” Kerym said. “Both got covered in shit.”
“Oh,” I said. I didn’t want to press the issue and embarrass them.
“It’s alright,” they both said at the same time. “At least it was a soft landing.”
I stared at the two of them before bursting into laughter. They were so different, and yet in many ways, they were incredibly alike.
Not unlike my dragons, I realized.
The half-djinn and the blue-haired half-elf grinned like fools and looked incredibly proud of themselves. I had honestly never met a pair of people like them.
We began to chat quietly about various topics as we ate, but halfway through dinner, Efasia finally arrived. The others were engaged in a lively debate, so I leaned over to the Atlantean woman.
“You look beautiful this evening,” I said in an undertone.
“Shut up,” she muttered through clenched teeth. “Someone will hear you.”
