Shadow's Rising {Wing 5} Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Pain, Plans, and Preparation

Jarid knelt down next to Airel. “Whatever you did, I will forgive you. I am sure that we can overcome anything if we work together. You are my friend, Airel.”

Airel shook her head. “I am not worthy of being called your friend. I… I allowed my pride to… to…”

Her fists clenched as she shook with anger at herself. “He is gone, Jarid.”

Jarid felt a chill run down his spine and his hands trembled slightly. She couldn’t be talking about… him.

“Who is gone, Airel?” Jarid asked shakily.

“Shadow!” Airel finally exploded with choked cries. “It was my fault he was captured by slavers. They’ve taken him to the capital. They drugged him and caged him, and who knows what else by now,” she sobbed.

“No,” Jarid whispered as he fell back. It felt like he’d been hit by an Ice Wing’s freezing breath. All his blood was draining away while his heart and throat clenched.

He couldn’t be. Not Shadow. He couldn’t be… Jarid’s thoughts trailed off. He couldn’t bear to imagine the torturous death that awaited any dragon sent to the capital. His throat was dry, and he couldn’t speak even as he tried to push himself away. Away from Airel. Away from this terrible truth.

Panic seized him and all Jarid could think about was escape. He needed to get out of there. He needed somewhere safe. Safe and alone.

Scrambling to his feet with tears blurring his vision Jarid bolted towards his room slamming Airel’s door out of his way and his own door shut. As he stood in the middle of his room, the panicked and wild emotions began swirling like a storm within him, making his head ache.

Clutching his head, Jarid fell to his knees breathing rapidly. The mana within him was also swirling. Threatening to burst forth and destroy everything around him. He could feel the first stage of the dragonthro transformation beginning to change him.

What if I hurt my friends?

Jarid’s eyes widened as he realized how close he was to destroying the dorm with uncontrolled magic. Still clutching his head, Jarid took deep breaths and slowly contained the wildly surging mana within him. Both the panic and swirling mana slowly came under control and finally subsided.

With his energy nearly spent, Jarid climbed onto his bead and pressed his face into the hard, rough pillow.

“Ahhhhgh!” His muffled scream filled the room as he wept. His tears quickly soaked the pillow, but he didn’t care. Another wave of sorrow crashed over him, and he cried once more. Again and again, he screamed his sorrow into his pillow until his exhaustion overcame him and he fell into fitful sleep.

From deep within the mire of sleep Jarid felt someone shaking him.

“Hey, Jarid. I’m here to speak with you.”

Jarid rolled over and looked up through bleary eyes to see Ben sitting next to him on his bed. The dim gray light filtering in through the window told him it was late evening.

“Ben? I just had the strangest nightmare. I must have been sweating badly; my pillow is soaked,” Jarid croaked hoarsely as he sat up next to his friend and took a swig from the water tankard he kept on the nearby nightstand.

Ben sat with a somber and uncertain look as Jarid slowly came to full wakefulness and realized that what he remembered was, in fact, not a dream. But strangely he didn’t feel the same uncontrollable grief. Instead, as Jarid placed his face in his hands, a deep numbness washed over him. His arms were trembling, but he could hardly feel anything except a deep cold that sank into the very core of his being.

“I’m here if you want to talk. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I’m here for you no matter what,” Ben whispered sensitively.

Jarid let out a deep sigh that made his whole body tremble. “Right now, I just want to be with him. I don’t care if I must die to join him.”

Ben brightened. “There is a way for us to go there. We expected you would want this, so we have been preparing ever since Airel told us what happened.”

Jarid stared at Ben for a moment with a dumbfounded expression. Despite what he had said, he didn’t actually want to die.

Ben continued. “Yeah. At the end of every year the academy sends their best squad to the coliseum in the capital known as the Red Desert. We may be able to find your adopted dragon brother there. The caravan taking Shadow to the capital will almost certainly take a few months to get there. Not only will they have to take routes that will help them avoid meeting those who would steal their cargo, but they will also have to resupply often to keep themselves and the dragons alive. We may not be able to find them on the road due to them taking back routes, but Ethan estimated that it will take approximately another two weeks to reach the capital. Once they do, we can narrow down the places where he might be sold.”

Jarid’s eyes brightened as his heart felt as though it had suddenly gained wings. “How long will it take us to reach the capital by dragon?” he asked excitedly.

“Five days at most. However, I doubt we would make it out of the mountains if we left right now.”

“Why?” Jarid asked, his face falling once more.

“The academy would never let students take their dragons away from the academy grounds on their own, and I doubt you could convince them to allow it. You’d need very extreme circumstances. Like potentially self-destructing and taking the academy with you for example.”

Jarid groaned and he clenched his fists in anguish, but Ben put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. I said we made a plan, didn’t I? We simply have to be chosen as the best squad this year and the academy will escort us to the capital themselves. We would be arriving a few days before the Festival of First Magic. There should be plenty of time to look around for Shadow both before and after we entertain the crowds in the Red Desert. It is very likely whoever buys him will want to show him off during the festival, so it shouldn't be that hard to find him if we look together.”

Jarid took a deep breath and nodded with a look of fresh determination. “Alright. What must we do to be named the best squad?”

Ben rubbed the back of his head. “Well… I think Ethan would probably do a better job of explaining it than me.”

“No. I want to hear it from you.”

Ben’s eyebrows raised slightly. “Ok. Let me think. When Airel first told us what happened, we all knew we’d have to do something and came up with this idea. Ever since then we’ve been doing whatever it took to win the squad competitions. We were not able to win many, but Commander Vladur generously helped us stay in the top three squads. He told us it was merely him taking responsibility for sending you away and handicapping us. He likely also did it so that, if you succeeded, you would be in his debt upon your return.”

Jarid nodded, rubbing his chin. That definitely seemed like something the crafty commander would do. Either way, Jarid was grateful for his help.

“As for the competition to be named the best squad…” Ben continued, “There will be a final competition held in two days to decide the winner. Only the top flight of the top two squads will be allowed to participate. The competition will be a series of individual events where members chosen by the flight leader will compete in a variety of difficult scenarios. Black Squad has been assured a spot while Red Squad, and Grey Squad will be competing tomorrow for the second spot.”

Jarid’s eyes unfocused as he stared at the floor, his brain going into strategy mode. 

Will it be competitions based on all the skills we’ve learned or specialized in? Or will it be straight up combat? Will I know the details of the scenario beforehand or simply guess? I hope there is a medical test for Felicia. Otherwise, as much as it pains me to think about it, we may have to assume she will lose and send her to take on one we have a low chance of winning anyway. I’ll try to keep myself and Airel in reserve for any direct combat. Wait! Will Airel even be able to fight in the state she is in?

Jarid turned to Ben with an almost panicked expression. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought about her until now. How could he have just run out on her like that? She was probably feeling terrible about what she had done, yet he had only confirmed her worst fears and left her to wallow in them.

“Where is Airel? I need to apologize for running away like that. I need to assure her that I don’t hate her or anything.”

“I think the others are comforting her in her room and making sure she doesn’t hurt herself again. I was-” Before Ben could finish, Jarid leapt up from his bed and rushed down the hall.

Jarid burst into the room and found Felica sitting next to Airel on the bed with an arm around her. Felicia let out a small yelp of surprise, but Airel merely glanced up with pain-filled eyes. Jarid immediately bowed deeply to Airel, much to both of the girls’ confusion.

“I apologize Airel for not considering your feelings when I reacted to the news of what happened. The responsibility for my brother’s capture is not yours alone to bear. I know that you would never intentionally allow anyone to be enslaved. If anyone is to blame it is the slavers themselves. You should not shoulder the guilt for their crimes.”

Jaird held his bow but looked up to see Airel looking down into her lap as she considered his words. The long silence that followed left Jarid wishing he had Shadow’s mind reading abilities so he could know what she was thinking.

“We need you Airel,” Ben said from the open door. “You are one of the strongest members of this squad. If we want any chance of rescuing Jarid’s brother, we will need you by our side.”

Airel looked down at her bloodied hands and clenched them into fists. Then she lifted her head. Her gaze had changed from painful regret to steely determination. “I will not fail you again.”

Her whispered promise was a vow to herself that she would never again leave someone behind. She had been given a chance at redemption and refused to let down her friend a second time.

Jarid nodded as he accepted her promise and offered her his hand. “I know you won’t. But know this, regardless of your successes or failures, I will remain your friend. Nothing you do will ever change that, so don’t hesitate to rely on all of us. If there is one thing I have learned at this academy, it is that no one can do it all alone.”

Airel seemed to be sobered by Jarid’s words, but she took his offered hand and stood with him.

“Alright. Where are the others? We need to plan how we will win this competition to become the best squad of Dragon Rider Academy,” Jarid asked, looking at Felica and Ben.

“They were unsure what to do so they said they were going to go train while I talked to Airel,” Felica replied.

“I will meet you down there. I need a moment to clean myself up and change out of these dirty clothes,” Airel said sheepishly.

“Just remember, I’m here for you if you need anything,” Felica gently reminded as they all left the room.

After finding Ethan and Steven in the training hall meeting room, they waited around the table for Airel to arrive.

Airel came down a few minutes later looking refreshed. Her hair was clean and braided neatly behind her. She had changed into a clean uniform and her hands had been washed and bandaged like Felicia had taught them. It actually reminded him of a magic technique he had learned from Brazor and intended to teach their squad’s healer. But that could wait until later.

“I know it is late, and I’ve only just returned but I want to get caught up on everything that has transpired while I was away. Ben has outlined the competition to become the best squad and how we may use the opportunity to rescue Shadow. If you have any new information on that topic, we can discuss it when we have more details about what events will be in the competition unless you feel the need to share it now.”

No one had any additional information on the competition itself, but they did have some details on the teams that would be competing. The top flight from Red Squad did not include their strongest member, Surtur Muspel. The top flight from Grey Squad had been improving ever since Dominic was replaced as Flight Leader, soon after Jarid left. More info on the specific members could wait until it was time to strategize for the competition.

Vapor was doing well. Airel had been talking to her a lot lately and they had become good friends who enjoyed flying together. Airel fondly reminisced about their time together over the last month and was grateful to her for listening as she voiced her feelings regarding the tragedy of Shadow’s capture. They had passed the flight test less than a week after Jarid left and all the second years had been improving their flying. Even Steven and Felica had practiced riding dragons with Vapor.

Ethan excitedly talked about his conversations with Spark. They had been researching the connection between dragon and human through the mind gem and had discovered a lot. The most important discovery being that humans could learn the dragon language and vice versa through the sharing of early childhood/hatchling memories using the mind gem’s power. Apparently, the memories of learning the language as a child acted as good lessons for teaching each other.

Jarid was excited to hear that it was possible for humans to learn the dragon language, but he was even more excited when Ben updated him on his relationship with Barite. The two of them had a rocky start but over time Ben had been able to smooth over their first meeting. Jarid smiled when Ben described the time, he discovered they had a shared interest in sculpting and how they had enjoyed many days crafting works of art when no one was looking.

It warmed Jarid’s heart to hear that the rest of his squad were improving their relationships with dragons. He felt like there might be hope that one day, humans and dragons could be friends. For now, though, this squad alone was more than enough.

Everyone finished catching Jarid up on what happened and Jarid, in turn, shared what he had learned from Brazor. He summarized as best he could, but it still took until late in the evening for him to explain it all.

Everyone had their share of questions and shocked expressions. He promised to answer their questions later, but as he reached the end of his general explanation, there was one technique he felt couldn’t wait.

“We probably won’t have time to practice this before the competition, but I did have one technique that I wanted to show you all. Brazor told me that this will be easier for those with an affinity for earth magic. Airel, will you show me your hand please?”

Airel offered her bandaged hand. Jarid took it gingerly in his own and started unwrapping the bandages. Airel winced slightly.

“Sorry,” Jarid apologized as he carefully unwrapped her other hand. Then he gently cupped one of her hands.

“Watch closely Felicia. You can practice with Airel’s other hand.”

Felica nodded and leaned in with curious expectation.

Jarid concentrated on the warmth of Airel’s hand in his. The life and mana flowing through it. He imagined the energy of her body already moving within her, helping her grow and heal. He connected his own energy with hers and focused it into the wounds on her hands.

Airel stared in awe and Felica gasped as the wounds on Airel’s hands slowly changed from red, to white, and finally, disappeared altogether.

“Healing magic,” Felica whispered, trembling with excitement. “The doctors told me it was a lost magic, and that any attempts to replicate it ended in tragedy.”

Jarid nodded. “Brazor warned me that this technique can be very dangerous if used improperly. You are basically using mana to accelerate the body’s growth and regeneration. If used improperly, it can cause mutations or cancerous growths. Unless you are a master of healing magic, Brazor advised not using it to heal anything that wouldn’t heal on its own.”

“But why would it be easier for those with earth magic to use?” Ethan asked.

“Because earth magic is the growth and manipulation of plant cells. Brazor said that both humans and plants are made of cells, so earth magic is the most similar to healing magic.”

“Fascinating.”

Felicia tugged on Jarid’s arm. “Can you please teach me? I really want to know how.”

“Of course. But we must be careful. Let’s take it slow and I’ll talk you through it.”

For the next few hours Jarid trained Felicia in healing magic before they all went to bed exhausted.