The Curse's Breath

Chapter Nine

There was panic as everybody scrambled to find weapons and shields.

Celni's mouth gaped open. Their first day of training, she would have expected them to start off with learning sword maneuvers or stealth tactics. Mawk, however, clearly had other plans.

"Whoever catches a dragon and brings it to me, alive, wins!" Mawk shouted. "That's only three teams that can win. And remember, they're wingless dragons, so they cannot fly. One less thing to worry about, right?" He laughed again.

The weapon rack was quickly cleaned out, and people ran around trying to find their teammates. Shouts from the leaders of each group sounded over the commotion.

"Group One, gather by the boulder!"

"Seven, on me!"

"Group Four, come here. Now!" was Srenya's commanding call.

"Listen up." Her intense blue eyes met theirs as she laid down the plan. "Keran, Hyden, and I will be offense. Rozanel, Dyfar, Celni, you're defense. Okay? Let's go!" she barked.

Keran, Hyden, Dyfar, and Rozanel looked nervously at Celni. Irritation pricked Celni's scalp, but she nodded. "Do what she says." As the others moved to get their weapons and headed into the forest, she tapped Srenya's shoulder, holding her back.

"What?" Srenya asked, her eyes narrowed. "You have a problem with my decision?"

"I just think I could better be used in offense," Celni said, struggling to remain civil.

Srenya shifted her hips and folded her arms. "That's the decision I made. Deal with it." She turned to go.

Celni's nose flared. "I'm the leader too!" she burst out.

Srenya turned back to Celni, meeting her with a steel gaze. "Then step up and act like one."

Celni stared quietly at the ground as Srenya left. She's right. She shook her head, hefted her shield higher up her arm, and ran toward the others.

"—asing dragons is so cool!" Hyden was saying to his brother.

"We're not chasing them if we don't know where they are yet," Dyfar pointed out. "Half the task is finding the dragons."

"If you keep making all of that ruckus, they'll find us first!" Keran said, exasperated.

"Does anyone here have tracking skills?" Srenya asked.

Rozanel raised her hand. "I do!"

Srenya nodded. "Good. You take point. Dyfar, behind her. Hyden, right flank, Keran, left. Celni—"

"The rear. I know." Celni muttered.

They got into formation and slowly started making their way through the forest. It was eerily silent. Their footsteps, cautious as they were, sounded loud and out of place. Every few paces Rozanel would kneel down and examine the ground, and then shake her head, saying she hadn't found a trail yet.

Srenya was getting impatient. "Anything?" she asked icily.

Rozanel knelt down again. This time, her eyes widened. "Yes!" She pointed northwest. "They went th—"

Screams sounded from the direction she was pointing in, followed by a roar.

"I guess we found our dragons," Keran murmured, shifting his sword in his hand.

"Defenders, move up front! Advance!" Srenya yelled.

Celni ran up until she was next to Rozanel and Dyfar. They slowly moved forward until the battle was in sight. "It's Group Two and Six!" Celni called out.