The Rage Eater

Chapter 30: Friends

The next morning Sadie arrived at the infirmary with a giant sunflower in her hand. Aubrey was sitting up in bed, her arm bandaged and her face pale, drinking slowly from a glass of milky blue liquid.

Sim rested his paw against her forehead. "Your fever is down, at least," he said.

"Hi," Sadie said, hesitantly. "I brought you flowers. Well, a flower."

Aubrey spun the flower around, smelling its earthiness and admiring its bright yellow petals. "You picked this outside? At this time of year?"

"Of course!" Sadie said.

Then, Dylan opened his eyes inside the sunflower head, and looked up at Aubrey, beaming.

Aubrey laughed. "Dylan, that's so sweet of you! Did you miss me?"

Dylan turned into a bright green leaf, then back into a blob.

"Well, I missed you, too."

"Are you feeling any better?" Sadie said.

"Yes, thank you," Aubrey said a bit stiffly.

"But she still needs her rest," Sim said. "Essence of lotus clouds takes three to five days to leave the body."

For a moment, no one spoke.

"I'm still cross with you, you know," Aubrey said finally.

"I know," Sadie said. "I'm sorry. I should've been paying closer attention."

Aubrey nodded. "Did you really start your own Game of Thieves team?"

"A bit foolish, right?"

"A little. Who else is on the team?"

"Right now? At this very moment? No one."

Aubrey took another sip of the milky blue liquid, and, once again, the conversation slipped into silence.

Sadie fidgeted, unsure what she could say to make things better.

"Well as of this moment," Aubrey said, "you have two."

"Really?" Sadie said. She was thrilled to know that Aubrey wanted to join her, but she hadn't forgotten Aaliyah's warning or the feeling of Ruby coiling around her neck. "I don't know. Shouldn't you take some time to rest? The first game is in less than a week."

"I know what Aaliyah told you, but she's wrong," said Aubrey. "I may be a Healer, but I don't need protecting." Aubrey put down the glass and looked at Sadie. "And if I want to play in the Game of Thieves, that's my choice."

Sadie paused. Can I really say no to her, she thought. After she followed me into the Swamplands to save Dylan? After she almost died because I was careless?

"Okay!" Sadie said finally.

Dylan shifted into a big, tropical-green banana leaf, which Aubrey hoisted in the air. "Well, Dylan is excited!" she said, laughing.

Sim, however, sulked as he fetched a fresh bandage.

"But who else can we get to join us?" Aubrey said.

Sadie grinned. "I've got a couple of ideas."

#

Later that morning, Master Sanders led a throng of students and beastlies through the cavernous halls of the Great Library, explaining how its many books were catalogued and shelved, and which ones were off-limits to first-year students and which ones weren't. He stopped at a massive wooden door locked with a large, rusted iron bolt.