AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Vyper huffed next to him, scratching his chest as though my empathy inconvenienced him, and I could almost hear him in my mind saying‘get it off me’.Yet, he moved closer too, wanting me to caress him like I was his brother.
When my hand landed on his forehead, stroking it, the glow of my ring called Asher’s attention, and he observed me for a few moments. His gray eyes bounced from the ring to my face as though there was something familiar about them, but his mind seemed unable to grasp it.
“How did they come to you?” He asked. “They barely know you.”
“Yeah, but Dragons can feel our emotions, can’t they?” He nodded, not seeming convinced. “They sensed my sadness while we spoke about the Hollow.”
Remaining silent, Asher’s attention lifted to the honeycombs, and his brow creased. When my gaze followed, I noticed dozens of heads peeking out of their caves. All looking at me.
My stomach growled in that instant, violently. “You mentioned breakfast?”
“Yeah.” Asher chuckled. “But first, which is your prominent hand?”
“The right one,” I answered, seeing the kids take off towards their lair once more.
“Lift your hand,” he ordered, unwrapping a leather strap from his spear, and picking up mine from the floor—I had dropped it again.
When I did, he made me grip the weapon firmly, and then began to wrap the strap around my hand and the handle, securing them both. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“An Elevated Warrior is never without their weapon,” he warned. “This needs to be an extension of you. Another limb, if you will. A part of your being. You must get used to it, until not having it with you feels like you are missing a leg. Do you understand?”
“You think I could be an Elevated Warrior?” I asked, suddenly motivated. Being one of them would mean being part of Evie’s guard, and therefore only a floor away from her. I wanted to see her so badly; I needed to know how she was.
His lips twitched with humor, and he shook his head. “That is all you got from that?”
“No, of course not. But you think I could become one of you?”
“Me? nooo...” Asher chuckled, then considered the question. “Kingston certainly thinks so. He wouldn’t be training you himself if he hadn’t seen something in you.”
A smile made its way to my lips, but I stopped when he glared at me.
“No one gets to where we are without first going through all that. Andonlythe best are selected.” He motioned to the area where groups and groups of trainees used to practice. They all walked towards the castle now. “Do nottake this for granted, Braxton. You might have what it takes, but whether or not you can master it and use it for the right cause remains to be seen.”
Pulling the knot tightly, he let go, and my hand almost fell with the weight of the spear.
“You better still have that tied to your hand when I see you tomorrow morning.”
Making a face, I began to follow him into the castle. “Hey, is it true that the pond has flesh-eating fish?”
“Yep.”
“Damn it. Kingston is trying to kill me, isn’t he?”
Asher’s laughter rang through the gates as we crossed into the castle.
* * *
The showers were filled with people when I arrived that evening, which made me kind of uncomfortable because there was no gender division here, girls and guys showered at the same time, and there was little to no privacy. Although, that didn’t seem to bother any of them. Neither the girls or guys cared if others were naked around them.
Sighing, I made my way to one of the empty stalls, and removed my pants with one hand—the other was still tied to the damn weapon. Having to do everything, and I meanteverything, one handed had been hell. The blade was deceiving, it didn’t seem as bad at first, but then you realized it was carved out of pure iron, and man, that shit was heavy. On the plus side, my fingers were so numb I could no longer feel my hand, so that helped.
Chuckles reached me when I returned to the dormitory, and Aaron, Charlotte, and the others looked at me. Their curious gazes went to my right hand.
“Was today amazing?”
“Tell us everything!” Both Aaron and Charlotte asked when I let my body fall onto the bed.
“Well, my hand has been stuck to a weapon for over twelve hours, but it hasn’t fallen yet, so I guess that’s good. Kingston beat the hell out of me, without even showing me how to defend myself first, and then threw me in a pond filled with carnivorous fish, but I survived. The best part is, tomorrow I have to do it all over again. So yeah, amazing.”
