"Yesterday's attack was unexpected, but appears to have been deliberate," Bayer spoke, "The academy trains up and coming Draconians who do not have much experience fighting demons, making you all easy targets. With that said, only the top fifteen percent of this class will be assigned to one of the Elemental Forces. Those students will have the highest chance of contributing to the war effort and staying alive. Not to mention, all other Duties are just as critical. We need apothecaries, miners, farmers, hunters, scouts, medics, guards, and consuls to make our empire function and thrive."
The seat beside mine screeched as a body filled it. Zoran's knee brushed against mine as his long legs bent to fit in the row. "Don't look so excited, I'm not staying here," he whispered under his breath, keeping his eyes trained forward.
I pursed my lips and restrained the urge to look up at him as he laid his forearm across the arm rest separating our chairs, leaning closer to me.
"You can't have two dragons."
I hated the way my cheeks heated when his arm grazed mine.
"And you can't have two personalities, Mr. Hot then Cold," I fired back.
Zoran snorted and bent his elbow on the arm rest, ducking behind a gloved fist as a smirk distorted the scar at the corner of his lips. His reaction caught me off-guard, and I couldn't help but gape at him.
"Did Zoran Masters just laugh?"
He dropped his hand and turned his emerald eyes to me as he tapped his fingers on the arm rest. A single dimple marked one of his cheeks as he hid his smile. His dark lashes fanned his cheeks as he blinked at me with a blank look on his face.
"Did the princess just call me hot?" he droned lazily.
Oh, great. Not another big ego. Bastion's confidence was large enough for our entire species as a whole and I didn't need two guys thinking I had the hots for them. Pun intended.
Then it hit me that Bastion wasn't one of us – he was one of them.
I smacked my knee against Zoran's, hissing, "Pay attention. You're distracting me."
"With how devishly handsome you think I am?"
Misty snickered and gave me an apologetic shrug as she failed to hide her grin.
My heart nearly skipped a beat when he flashed his fangs at me and his dimple surfaced, making me feel betrayed by my body's reaction to him. He thought I was no better than scum, as well as useless, vulnerable, incapable, insufficient, a liability, and a slew of other demeaning words he could think of.
"Pfft," I scoffed. "I don't think about you."
"...will be held tonight by the pyres on the docks in Clear Water. Among those who will be burned and their essences distributed to all Draconians are as follows: Killian Vespers, Roscoe Lavoie, Francie Marsden, Racquel Caldwell, and Xantha Sisko."
I bit my lip as Racquel's name replayed in my head. Misty grabbed my hand and sniffled, swiping a hand under her eyes.
"The bodies unaccounted for and assumed missing or dead are Penn Nyx, Arabella Ventura, and Orion Whittaker."
Guilt flickered through me at the mention of my friend's name. I recalled Penn's petrified face as her hazel eyes widened in horror when the demon shifter carried her in his arms, stealing her away. I hadn't gone after her and now I couldn't be sure she was still alive.
"I know this is all shocking to you, but I must assure you this is the reality of war," Instructor Bayer said, meeting each of our solemn gazes.
Zoran bumped my leg, drawing my attention to him as he flicked his head at Bayer. "Quit crying," he said in a harsh, low tone, "You need to be stronger than that and move on swiftly if you want to be a Champion in this war."
"I thought you weren't staying here," I countered, shoving his arm off the rest to overtake it.
Without a word, Zoran stood and leisurely stepped over the back of his seat to the row behind us.
"Is that better?" he drawled.
I bristled as his hot breath warmed the back of my neck. He was making me flustered, and the callous shifter was enjoying it. The seat creaked as he leaned back and I could picture him leaning back in shameless arrogance with his arms folded behind his head and a booted foot resting on his knee. I was tempted to find out if my assumption was correct, but I didn't want to give him any satisfaction. I refused to show any signs of indignation and didn't respond to his question.
I had a better chance of keeping my cool in the face of frost fire than in the rapid changes between fiery coldness from Zoran Masters.
"We will have our last match of the tournament shortly. Masters and Bauer are the final two competitors in the finale since Masters' opponent, Caldwell, did not survive the ambush, and Bauer defeated hers. We'll all gather in the training room in one moment, but before we head over, you each must place a bet on who you think will win the match," Bayer instructed, dragging the blackboard over to his podium.
He scrawled Zoran's last name on the left of the board in his scratchy handwriting, then Eowyn's on the opposite side.
"Those of you who choose correctly will also be awarded with an advantage in next week's vital challenge that plays a large role in your midterm evaluation and Duty assignment, so pick wisely," he advised, using his piece of chalk to point at the pupils in the front row. They each listed off their bet and Bayer wrote their last name beneath Zoran's or Eowyn's until it was my turn.
By then, the votes were nearly even with just a few more names supporting Zoran.
"I will win, princess," the draconian said behind me. "You need all the advantages you can get."
Was he trying to help me out? Or was he just trying to point out that the fact that he thought I would benefit from having an advantage?
Definitely the later, I convinced myself.
"Eowyn's Insignia is mind alteration," I said. "You can't defeat that."
"She's not allowed to use her power, remember?"
He had a point.
"I need an answer, Glastos," Bayer demanded.
"Bauer."
Zoran clicked his tongue as my last name got written beneath Eowyn's.
Misty raised her eyebrows at me and said, "Masters" when the chalk was aimed at her next.
Once every student had supplied a choice, including Nyaxia who unsurprisingly chose Zoran, Bayer stepped back and dusted his fingers off on his pants. "Alright. It looks like the votes are close. Let's go find out how many of you made the right decision."
Misty and I traveled through the expansive halls as we straggled at the back of the crew together. Worry gnawed at me as I shot a discreet look at her, searching for signs the Curse was infecting her.
"Racquel healed Zoran from the Curse," she said, eyes downcast. "There must be an antidote if it's able to be reversed."
"That was Racquel's power, though. He could heal internally which is how he was able to draw the poison out of Zoran, and Penn shadowed the apothecaries a few times and never mentioned anything about an anti-venom," I said, rushing on to give her some hope, "But that doesn't mean there isn't one."
Misty stopped walking. I pivoted to face her as she sighed and rubbed her arms.
"Aeryn, I need you to promise me something."
I dreaded what she was about to ask me to do.
"Anything," I agreed with some apprehension.
Raising her eyes to mine, she said, "Don't let me turn into one of them. I don't want to become a demon."
A cold sweat broke out at the nape of my neck and dripped down my back. "You won't. We're going to get the antidote."
"We don't even know if one exists. Please," she begged, "Just kill me before the Curse makes me kill someone else."
I wished she had asked her twin sister to do what she was asking, but I knew when it came down to it, Nyaxia wouldn't be able to take her sister's life no matter how much I detested the Draconian.
If I hesitated while killing demons, then how was I supposed to promise Misty I'd prevent her from turning?
I was not going to be the one to kill her. I knew it like I knew I'd rather she killed me before I could end her life.
But I also knew I had to lie to her.
Tears brimmed on the edge of my eyelids, but I refused to cry for her sake. I nodded, taking her hands in mine as I hoaxed, "I promise."
Relief relaxed her features and she gave me a soft smile. "Thank you."
With her hand still in mine, we raced to catch up with the group as they entered the training room ahead of us.
Misty and I joined our classmates and huddled around the center mat that had seen better days as Zoran and Eowyn nodded at each other. Zoran reached out his bare hand and clasped Eowyn's gloved hand, initiating the start of the fight.
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Place your own bets in the comments!