Lohikäärme

Chapter Five - Practical Examination

          "Why are we outside?" I asked. As far as I knew, people who lived and studied in Aethelgard weren't allowed here, outside, exposed to normal men.

          She didn't answer me. She just kept on walking, like there was a certain place we should arrive at in a blink of an eye. Since it seemed like she wouldn't give me an answer, I kept my mouth shut.

          "...to test your skill once more," was the only phrase I caught, but it was enough to make me snap my head towards the long-haired man with a long-sleeved shirt and a dark vest on top. He seemed to be the same age as my father.

          I felt Kosh lean in to me as she whispered. "Safi, you're running out of luck, or maybe you don't have any good luck at all, just bad—very bad—luck."

          "Why?" I asked.

          She sighed and looked at the man talking in front of a lot of people my age, "Apparently, Master Cato wants us to have the practical examination today." By the way she had spoken, I knew the examination would be hard—or worse, impossible—to pass.

          "Practical examination? For what?"

          She continued walking to the crowd. "Every two months, Master Cato checks our progress by giving us practical examinations to see what happened after two months of training and practice." We greeted Master Cato, then we sat on the ground around five feet away from the crowd. Still, our classmates moved away from us with looks of disgust. She then continued speaking, ignoring the crowd moving away from us. "To put it simply, you will have to show Master Cato—and the rest of us—what you can do, what makes you special, and how you can contribute to Aethelgard."

          "Wait," I said, "you knew that we were having this examination?"

          "We were supposed to have it the day after tomorrow, but, sometimes, Master Cato gives us unannounced practical examinations. I told you, you're unlucky. Master rarely gives unannounced examinations." She glanced at me then focused her eyes on Master Cato again. "Is color blindness the only thing that makes you special?" she asked.

          Ouch. It wasn't my fault that I didn't get a cool power. I didn't even want to be color blind.

          "Sumner goes first," Master Cato impassively said.

          The boy, who Master Cato called Sumner, stood up and lazily walked over the trees. He wore a fitted shirt and trousers that firmly hugged his figure, which explained why everyone was so silent, too busy staring at him. The girls gaped at him, and the boys bit their lips in envy—and maybe, jealousy, as well. But he didn't attract me, not just because he appeared too slim for a boy, but because, every time I saw a man, I couldn't help but compare him with the man from the window. As expected, nobody compared to that man; he was wonderful, perhaps beyond perfect.

          With Sumner's right hand on his shoulder, he bent his neck to the left and to the right while rolling his eyes. He bent his fingers backwards, his fingers making clicking sounds, then he closed his eyes.

          I waited silently, watching his every move like how a predator eyeing its prey.

          Then he screamed, "Ahhhh!" Out of nowhere, balls of fire flew from his hands and shot through the air. His hair flew upwards as the wind blew beside the flames. I covered my mouth in awe. It was amazing. He balanced the flames in the sky, his hands stretched out as he 'held' it in place. Then his arms motioned downwards, and down went the flames, creating a loud crash. Thick smoke hid the large crater made by the fireball, but it disappeared after a few seconds, revealing the crater and a number of burnt trees.

          His fist balled into fists, and his arms slightly twitched, like he made a mistake and he was trying hard not to show that he was ashamed of himself—but failing. With his head bowed down, he walked back to his seat.

          Then I noticed Master Cato's brows were furrowed, and everyone was even more silent, if that was possible. Even Kosh was quiet, so I kept my mouth shut instead of asking.

          "You didn't hit the target," Master Cato said. "I told you not to make your fireball too big. Focus on hitting the target, not on making a huge fireball that may hurt your allies in battle." I looked at Sumner, who was still looking at the ground. "You may be famous, but you're not the best student in this class. You can't even hit that large, red circle on the ground!" Master Cato was pointing at the direction of the said circle while Sumner was clenching his fists. Everyone in class was staring at him.

          Slowly, I leaned towards Kosh, making sure I'd get nobody's attention other than Kosh's. "Does this happen every practical exam?" I asked. I couldn't hold my tongue anymore; I had to ask.

          She stiffly nodded.

          The next students went well. Kosh was pretty good with her hearing, too. They weren't as amazing as Sumner's fireballs, but they were fine. However, Master Cato didn't yell at them, which meant there was something special, something different, with Sumner. Kosh told me that Sumner's dad was one of Master Cato's former-students. His dad was the best student in class, and he was Master Cato's favorite student. Because of this, Master Cato was being hard on Sumner.

          I wanted to stand up and tell Master Cato not to compare Sumner to his dad, but Kosh held my hand and told me not to.

          Then my turn came.

          I looked at Kosh. "Kosh, I can't--"

          "Stand up, Safia," Master Cato ordered.

          "Master--"

          I froze. I heard something hiss beside me, the side opposite to where Kosh was. "Ssss..." it hissed. I dumbly turned to look at the thing that was hissing, and then I saw it. It was the thing I saw before.

          It was the snake.

          "Calm down," it hissed. "I'm not going to hurt you."