The Age of Solace: The Silver Wolf

Chapter 14: Breakfast of Champions

"You said he'd be here!" Dester complained as they all sat.

He was the last of the group to gather his food together. Syrah just huffed in annoyance, assuring her friend that he would be there. Secretly though, she was imagining pummeling the guy if he had broken his promise. If he hurt himself in the woods all alone and was dying, she would consider going easy on him.

'What went wrong?' Syrah thought, 'He seemed to get along with the others just fine in the infirmary. And he talked to me this morning, even assuring me that he would be here. So where-'

Syrah turned her head as she heard the doors to the mess hall open, and of course it was Faradeigh who had taken the liberty to walk in. She sighed in relief, realizing he had only been late.

"See, I told you!" Syrah insisted.

"All you told anyone was that you like him." Cornelius teased.

"Wait what?" Dester questioned, just as confused as Syrah.

"Wasn't that your intention?" Cornelius asked Dester, "Seeing her reaction when you introduced the idea that he wouldn't show? And then here she was getting all defensive about it-"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!!!" Syrah shouted loud enough that everyone in the hall could hear. Snickers followed.

"I doubt it." Blyke mumbled, disagreeing with Cornelius. "Besides... Anyone who can beat Castor in a fight without powers, who was also willing to sacrifice them self in order to do it are too dangerous to be around anyways."

"Actually paying attention in classes?" Dester teased.

"I hate all of you." Syrah informed them dejectedly, though a smile did form on her face.

She really did like her friends, they just happened to be wrong in that case. Faradeigh came with his food and asked what all of the shouting was about. He was met with laughter as a response, and simply shrugged as he ate his food.

"So, Blyke was wondering if you could help him with something." Dester threw in randomly.

"Wait what?" Blyke called out, caught off-guard.

"What's this about?" Faradeigh asked.

"You see, there's this warrior here that has him on edge." Dester explained. "He's seen him fight, and now he's scared of the guy. You seemed pretty fearless, so I was wondering if you had any advice to give him."

"I wouldn't say fearless..." Faradeigh muttered, before looking Blyke in the eyes. He avoided the gaze. Faradeigh hesitated upon seeing that but continued to speak anyways. "There's always going to be someone else who's bigger, stronger, faster, or smarter than you. You can worry about it all you want, but at some point you realize that everyone has faults. In combat, you exploit these faults to get the upper hand. No one is perfect. Everyone is vulnerable... Especially those you view as invincible. Now, can you pass that slice of bread there?"

Blyke's eyes went wide. Syrah smiled, knowing what Dester had just done there, and also at how Faradeigh had handled being put on the spot. It was slightly concerning to her that his philosophy on people was that everyone was weak, and whoever takes that weakness to their advantage first will be the victor. She supposed that it was true, in a way, but it still did not seem right to think like that.

"Your clothes look a little torn there, what happened?" Syrah pointed out, noticing what appeared to be claw marks near his shoulder and a little on his back, Faradeigh scowled.