"You are fierce.
You are a survivor.
You are a fighter through and through.
Little brave, breathe.
There is a warrior within you."
— Beau Taplin
"I know, but it's the best I managed to give you" he replied. There was anger and irritation barely maintained in his tone so no one dared to retort.
"Another thing" he said seriously, his dark blue eyes hard as he looked at them "in five hours we leave"
"Leave?" asked Seiko in disbelief to the director.
"Yes" he replied while watching around to see if they were being overheard "When you seven were chosen it was established that in four months we would change your location in a more isolated and secure area for your training, and that I would have come with you" he added "We are going there now"
There was a moment of silence in the group, as everyone digested the information.
"WITH YOU?!" asked than in shock Mattia, nearly shouting and causing some head to turn.
"Yes, Mister Fortuna" the director replied drily while watching the younger man as if he was stupid "with ME".
The man interrupted immediately when he saw him opening his mouth, obviously to protest "I hope you decide carefully your next words" he said to him threatening "I don't like to repeat myself, and we don't have time for this"
Mattia didn't reply and shut his mouth close, slamming hard his teeth, resuming only on losing colour and watching in horror with the rest of them at then older man.
Lily almost laughed at their misfortune, almost. Stories around the Academy told of the dark days when the man was a teacher. His teaching method of air combat and also ground combat were basically a legend, but not in a good way. After his lessons in fact everyone always returned with sometimes wounds or even broken bones, in addition to shocked faces and traumaS. Even Jorah, their hand-to-hand fight teacher, was a saint in comparison.
"Where are we going?" asked Zack.
"I will explain it later, not here" replied the director "Now all of you will go to see Beth, she has your armours ready. Then go pack and meet with your dragons in front of the lake. Now it's..." he paused and looked at the clock that stood lazily in a wall "five and a half. At eight and a half I want all of you ready to go. Now disappear. I have things to do" he said, dismissing rudely them with a wave of his hand.
They didn't wait to be told a second time and quickly scrambled away, getting away from the chaos that was starting to arise. Teachers and students were talking, or better say screaming, at the armoured men, trying to dig some information out from them, but the men remained impassive and simply ignored the panic that was slowly, but inevitably, entering the room.
Lily and David dragged by the arms a shocked and white-face Mattia who was muttering "torture" and "unfairness". They made their way through the loud crowd, pushing at people who was shouting incoherent things now and quickly exit the building, escaping the madness.
Outside, the day had just began and some rays were coming out and had started to illuminate the Academy in the orange light of the sunset.
There, waiting for them just outside the entrance, was the kind seamstress that Lily had encountered when she arrived. Beth was wearing the same type of stern dress of when Lily met her, only this time it was grey. She had the same hairstyle, a bun, and the same gentle smile as always, even if this time it seemed more strained and marked with worry.
She greeted them with a little grin and immediately escorted them to her studio, explaining what the squad would have to pack.
"You will need summer clothes, where you are going is very hot during the day, but at night the temperature drops, so you will also need warm coats. And obviously your training suits" said Beth "don't bring anything unnecessary like games" she added, strangely pointing at David who grinned sheepishly.
"Come now! I will show your new armours!" she explained happily walking into the building and escorting them in front of a door "I have to say that they are the best I had done in several years" she said proudly, opening it and entered the room, slowly followed by the squad.
There in front of them on some dummies, stood their new uniforms.
"Oh my god" said Emma looking at the clothes and approaching.
"Beautiful aren't they?" asked Beth smiling, watching their reactions.
And that they were.
They were all made in black leather with bands of black metal covering all the most vulnerable parts, like chest and back and also on the knees and elbows, decorated with simple but elegant patterns. Black boots like the ones the director liked to use stood on the ground, and black gloves were placed on top of them. On the hips there were some laces where there would have been tied their knives and swords.
The only difference between the suits, besides the measures, was the little drawn dragon on top of where should be the heart. Every suit had one of a different colour, and it didn't take much to guess that it was the colour of the respective rider's dragon. The only one who wasn't immediately noticeable was the one in Lily's suit, as the design was black and had been carved on the black leather. On top of every dummy stood a little black helmet, also decorated with the same fine patters, with glasses for the wind already implanted.
"They are made with the most resilient and strongest metal in the world" explained Beth as she went next to one "I designed them so they can bear stress, cold, hot and rain. They will let you stay warm on the cold days and at the same time cool in the hot ones. You can hide daggers on the forearm, thighs and in the boots. Behind you can attach bows and arrows. The helmet is very resistant as it's made in the same metal as the suit and, as you can see, there are already glasses inserted so you won't need THE annoying goggles we use here. If you break them you won't need to worry about the piece of glasses, they are made out of a special resin that won't create pieces when broken and enter your eyes"
"They are amazing" said Seiko also approaching them. She traced with her finger the symbol on the chest of the armature. It was a little white dragon curled on himself, just like Lily's pendant.
"I hope you don't mind" said Beth to Lily who looked at her in confusion "I saw your necklace when I took your measure and it was simply too beautiful. I thought it would have been nice to have an emblem for the squad"
"You thought right" she replied smiling "They are perfect"
"Thank you" replied the older woman, cheeks flushed with embarrassment from the praise "Oh! I almost forgot!" she exclaimed.
The seamstress disappeared quickly behind some door, letting her heals click loud on the ground. In a few seconds, after some strange rumours, she reappeared barely holding a big heavy suitcase made of wood. Zack and Victor went to help her and put it on a desk.
When Beth opened it, everyone gasped at the contents.
Inside, there was at last thirty beautiful daggers positioned neatly on top of a sheet. There were at last four type of them, all in different length: one was really little, like a little knife, and then they proceeded until the last they were big as a human forearm. The blade was of the colour of the blood, dark red and with some shades on it and all of them had beautiful ornament on the handle. Victor picked one of the biggest and examined it closely.
"Wow, they are really light" he said amazed. He put it in his finger and held it in front of him, watching the perfect balance between blade and handle.
"They are made of laboured obsidian" explained Beth with a smile "Usually the stone is black, but to make it more resilient it has been added some special materials into it, so it's nearly indestructible. Each one of you will have four of them to put in the suit and to carry always and everywhere with you" she said "Even when you go to the bathroom" she added.
"Do you think some Abbaddòn will attack us while we poop?" asked joking Mattia as he also took one to examine.
"Yes" replied seriously "They are quite rare and the director had ordered them specially for you all. If you had to lose them, I will personally hunt you down and become your worst nightmare" said Beth with a sweet smile that sent shiver on everyone backs.
Emma laughed when Mattia and David took a preventive step behind her, hiding.
"It's late" said Victor, looking at a small clock that already showed 6:14 "We still have to pack"
"Victor is right" said Zack "The director probably will expect us early there"
"Come here quickly then" said Beth "I will show you where to put the daggers"
The older woman explained how to put the smallest in their forearm and boots, while the biggest on their hips and how to tie them safely. Then she took off the suits from the dummies and put them on their arms with the daggers.
"Try to be careful" she said kindly, accompanying them outside to say goodbye "And stay out of trouble as much as you can" she added.
"But Ma'am" said David in dismay, taking his hand above his heart dramatically "We live for danger"
"Evaporate" she replied laughing at him.
They all went away snickering and saying goodbye and thanks, except for Lily and Seiko who stayed behind for a moment.
"Thank you" said Lily in gratitude "I know we will probably only live because of your suit"
"And for the daggers" added Seiko smiling.
"Oh don't thank me" replied the woman waving a hand "I only made the suit. You should thank the director for all the material and money he spent"
"We will do it" said Lily. They hugged, muttering another thanks and quickly ran away, following their comrades to their mansion.
"And put them on for the flight" they heard the woman shout behind them.
The girls waved with their hands in understanding, briefly turning their heads to smile, seeing the woman smile a little sadly at them, and then ran to the mansion where they all scrambled in their room to change and prepare.
When Lily entered in hers, Erebos was still where she had left him: asleep on the floor and snoring loudly.
"Wake up!" she shouted to him while running into her wardrobe to find the necessary.
The dragon quickly jumped and scrambled on his feet, making the room tremble under his massive size.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately alerted.
"We are going away, go take your saddle" she simply explained, throwing all her training clothes into a bag and taking another for the warm clothes.
"Where are we going?" he asked in confusion, clearly still half asleep. He took the saddle with his mouth and positioned it on his back.
"I don't know" she replied, running outside the little room and going to his side, closing the huge straps around him.
"Something happened?" he asked worried.
"Yeah" she replied hurriedly "It seems war has come to knock on our doors again" she said gravely.
Again, she thought bitterly, rummaging trough a piece of the saddle, tasting its secureness. Last time she had lost her father, now what was she going to lose?
He looked at her in some surprise.
"Oh" he said "I thought we had more time" he continued a little sad.
"Me too" she replied, closing the last strap "In reality I never thought I would have to leave the academy so early, I never thought about it really a lot" she said.
She turned and picked up some t-shirts from the ground and tackled them into another bag. She took all the clothes she could tuck inside the backpacks, from jeans to tank top and gym clothes, not really knowing what if they would be fine. By the time she had finished packing everything and attack them on the back of Erebos, it was already eight.
She quickly dressed in the armour Beth had given her and scrambled in front of the bathroom mirror to see at least once how she looked for the first time in weeks. Usually she didn't waste many minutes on it as she had never time, only to tie the hair and wash the face, but a few seconds to see the beautiful suit wouldn't change everything. Hopefully.
And she looked... she looked dangerous. And fierce.
The look on the hazel eyes of the girl in the reflection was strong, determine and in alert, even if a little tired.
Her now trained body was no more skinny and fragile, but held some defined muscles from the strenuous training. The pale skin had now transformed into a light tan and little freckles laid comfortably on her nose and cheeks; the bruises on her mouth helping to give her a dark look.
The black armour hugged perfectly her figure, making her figure stand out imposingly; it was light and clung on her figure like a comfortable second skin. She could feel on her chest, back and on the sides of arms and legs the tight protections of metal. Lily quickly put the daggers in their places and collected her long black hair in a braid as she usually did before a flight.
Satisfied, she looked for the last time at her bathroom and messy room to see if she had missed something.
She knew she would miss the comfort that this place had always given to her. The few weeks that she had passed at the mansion, together with the riders and dragons, had made it for her almost a home.
"I will wait at the lake" said Erebos on her mind, letting her have some time alone.
"Ok" replied Lily at him smiling.
She ventured one last time around to control her belongings. The Pendant was on under the suit, and all the clothes she would need were with Erebos.
Nodding to herself, she took the helmet and keys from her bedside table and started to exit, but stopped on the door when something caught her attention. On her right, in the desk filled with papers and pencils, there was her favourite book, Definition of Home, looking old and torn as always.
Lily battled for a few seconds. Beth had told them to bring only the necessary, but the book was really important to her and leaving it behind seemed to be even blasphemous.
So she quickly grabbed it and exited her room before she could change her mind and closed loudly the door behind her, locking it.
She looked at the number three in the frame for the last time before turning around and walking away.
Even if she really wanted to, she had a feeling she wouldn't see that room for a very long time.