Warfire | Broken Time Series: Book Two

Chapter 12

"I think she likes you."

Nagan rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh. "Not every girl in this school can like me, Az."

"You're right, but do you know how many times I've heard this conversation?" Az cleared his throat before pitching his voice high, a wide grin donning his face. "Oh, Lucielle, have you seen Nagan lately? If only he wasn't so unapproachable and mysterious! He's just so handsome and smart and strong and his accent is so--"

It didn't take long for Nagan to slap his hand over his friend's mouth, his face progressively turning redder. "Stop that. You're an embarrassment to society."

"An embarrassment to you, you mean," Az said cheekily, a smug smile still present.

"I will pulverize your teeth if you don't shut up."

"Your unsettling threats never cease to amaze me."

Nagan was in the middle of his retort when he stopped short, looking absolutely baffled at the sight just down the hall. "What's going on over there?"

Their entire history class huddled around the entrance to the classroom, all whispering to themselves with a mix of confusion and annoyance. As the pair got closer, they could see the edges of a paper notice posted on the door. The crowd was too thick for them to get close enough to see it, so instead they asked the outer edges of the group what was going on?

"They cancelled history."

"Is this why I didn't see Professor Babora today?"

"Ugh, and we were just getting into the Mage War of the Millennium! I was looking forward to that."

"Of course you were, you fanatic."

The previous speaker blew a raspberry at the other.

"Anyway, not only was history cancelled, but apparently they also cancelled ethics & law and most soothsaying and potion classes. Combat is a requirement."

Nagan frowned. "I suppose adding combat makes sense considering the dragon attack, but why cancel all of our other classes? We're still in school and have certain requirements to complete."

"Who is 'they' anyway?" Az asked.

"Oh, you didn't see them? The Council of Thirds sent generals over to oversee our progress."

"Professor Fai is still in charge, but now they have the last say in what we do here."

So that's why I didn't see Professor Fai this morning, Nagan thought.

A third person popped in. "But I also heard the front lines are starting to thin, so maybe they'll need us out fighting sooner."

"What does that have to do with anything though?" Nagan knitted his brows together. "Unless they're expecting us to complete three combat classes a day -- which is unreasonable -- they shouldn't need to cancel other classes at all."

A small murmur of agreement floated through the crowd.

Az, "So...what are we supposed to do now? Is anything being put in this time slot?"

"I don't think so. There's supposed to be a school-wide assembly after dinner."

"Then why don't we go into the library and look over the history chapter?" Az suggested. "Just because the actual class is cancelled, doesn't mean we can't teach ourselves. In fact..."

Nagan caught the glint in Az's eye and immediately thought, oh no.

"Nagan has experience with this sort of thing. He tutors in the morning anyway."