Rainbow Magic (Dragon Rider #1) {EDITING}

Chapter Eight: Tests

Everyone knew his name. Everyone also knew what he looked like, even outside of the Outer City. Admittedly, Sora didn't know that much aside from that and the fact his death had sparked the Second Dragon War... the one which had waged on for nearly four hundred years.

And to think it had only ended fourteen years earlier.

The thought sent shivers down her spine.

If she'd been born fifteen or sixteen years earlier she'd have seen it first-hand. She shuddered at the thought. The few bloody battles she'd seen in time were enough for her. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it'd be like to be surrounded by them constantly.

Her fingers moved on, eyeing up the next tome, a thicker one in a colour which reminded her of ice.

Sylvants: A Tragic History

The name sounded familiar, and her fingers burnt. She wanted to pull it off the shelf and read it – find out exactly who or what these Sylvants were.

A throat cleared behind her.

Sora stiffened, spinning around to find Oz staring at her, tapping his foot against the floor impatiently. "Oh."

"Come on, idiot. I don't have all day," he muttered, shaking his head. "Damned Truant..."

"Seriously," she murmured, trailing after him like a lost puppy, careful not to step another toe out of line. She didn't particularly want to get whacked over the head.

He'd proven he had no qualms about hitting people.

Silently, she followed him to the table, eyeing up the various writing instruments and the scattered books and scrolls littered across the wooden surface.

"Take a seat, and let's get this over with... preferably as painless as possible," he said, sitting down opposite her, arms folded. "I do have other places to be."

"Don't we all?" Sora mumbled. "Are you always this pleasant or is it just me?" she asked, raising her voice slightly.

"Sit down, Truant."

"OK..." She sat down on the tall wooden chair before he could get his knickers in a twist. Sora blinked at the imagery which popped into her mind with that thought, shaking her head. She didn't need any thoughts about Oz's underwear. "Hit me."

"If you insist," Oz said, his face completely straight as he clobbered her over the head with the set of rolled-up papers, the tiniest smile pulling at his lips at the glare she shot back at him.

One day she was so going to hit him.

And she'd enjoy every second of it.

"You know what I meant!" she hissed, nursing her injured head. It hadn't felt like getting hit by paper at all. "Now look who's wasting time."

"Do you know why you're here?"

Sora stared at him witheringly. "To be tested."

"On what?" he asked, still infuriatingly straight faced.

She couldn't get a read on him for the life of her, and it unnerved her. Reading people by their expressions was something she'd become somewhat good at. Especially since she didn't have magic to give her an idea of what someone was feeling. People had described magic as being linked intimately with mood, and people experienced in sensing the bubbly energy inside them could read someone's emotions like a book.

Sora hoped she'd be able to do that someday, but it didn't look likely.

She couldn't even sense her own magic, let alone someone else's—

Paper slammed into her head again, reminding her of the man sitting opposite her... and he wasn't a happy bunny.

"Aren't you supposed to know that?" she asked scathingly. "You are the one testing me aren't you?"

Another clout with the roll of paper came.

"Seriously?" she hissed, nursing her aching skull. "I swear that isn't even paper."

It had to be metal... or maybe he'd snuck a paperweight inside it somehow. There was no way paper could hit that hard.

"Answer. The. Question," Oz ordered. "Stop trying to be smart."

Sora bit her lip, forcing down her reply, settling instead for rolling her eyes. She wasn't trying to be smart. She was smart. "Strategy," she muttered, glaring at the titles of the precious tomes around them, nearly salivating when she saw a book titled: The History of Strategy.

History and strategy.

Two of her favourite topics, combined into one book.

Damn she wanted to read it.

Sora pushed that thought to one side.

Focus.

It wasn't that hard to guess what she'd be tested on, especially seeing as how he had a map on the table, and numerous books all relating to strategy too.

"Want to know why?"

Sora prevented herself from replying in what she knew Oz would consider to be smart. She was smarter than that – enough to know it would only earn her another blow from the not-paper roll he was playing with in his hands. "For the test thingy that's coming up," she said.

"I love how you put it so eloquently."

Her shoulders slumped, having figured out their team leader was snarky, punctual and rather skilled at what he did. The last two, she could live with, but the first was beginning to get on her nerves. "Cut the sarcasm, would you?"

"How about no?" he all but purred, sliding the map towards her, seemingly resisting the urge to snort at the face she was pulling. She was unamused by his antics. That was for sure. "Now, I'm going to give you a few scenarios, and I want you to tell me how you'd react and guide your team through."

"Fire away." She paused, scanning for any sort of firearm he could've concealed under his robes. No way was she falling for that trick again. "Not literally."