Warriors Heir

Chapter 15

"We're staying at the academy?" Cat asked, when they caught up to Kirra, who Cat assumed was the principal, or headmistress, or whatever she was called. 

Didn't school usually have to be payed for? But, since Cat had a dragon rider bond, could she go to the academy anyway? And what about Thalia? Did staying at the academy mean they were now students at the academy? Like their parents had been?

Cat had hundreds of questions running through her brain, and she assumed Thalia did too. 

Jin saw the looks on their faces and laughed. "Sorry if we're overwhelming you. Usually parents tell their kids all this stuff, but you guys are a special case."

That didn't exactly make Cat feel any better.  Thalia dashed in front of their group, stopping them. "Wait, slow down. What about our parents? Where are they? Also, you're still strangers! I. honestly don't know what we were thinking coming with you, but now that we're here, we need answers!"

Jin and Kirra exchanged guilty glances. "Sorry,  guys. Like I said,  we aren't really used to people who don't already know about all of this." Jin apologized.  "I'm afraid that while we know that your parents are in danger, and we know who has them, we still don't know where they are."

Cat knew she should feel something about that information, but honestly, she was still struggling to understand what in the world was going on, and she was exhausted. Her head was pounding like a drum, and her whole body hurt. Dragon riding, while immensely thrilling, hurt. like hell.

Kirra must have seen the exhaustion in their faces, because her eyes softened with sympathy. "Jin and I will take you to your rooms. We'll answer as many of your questions as we can tomorrow, but until then,  you should rest. You must be exhausted."

Cat could see that Thalia wanted to protest, but was obviously too exhausted. Even the sight of the beautiful school wasn't enough to keep Cat from wanting to face-plant straight into the nearest bed, and sleep the whole day.

Jin and Kirra lead Thalia and Cat up the steps, into the academy, and Thalia and Cat froze momentarily at the door. Somehow, the school looked even bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There was no ceiling in sight, and the staircases just went up and up and up. Dozens upon dozens of floors. And the students. They were everywhere. Sitting on their own, or in groups, working, or talking, or eating. The walls were covered in paintings and carvings of beautiful dragons. However, there didn't seem to be any dragons inside. the school.

A couple of the students glanced at Cat and Thalia, but other than that, they didn't seem to give the siblings a second though. New students must've been common. Now there was a though Cat would never get used to. Students at a dragon rider school being common. 

Hazel shifted a little closer to Cat. There are so many.  She said, voice breathless with awe. Of course. The only humans Hazel had met so far were her, Thalia, Jin, and Kirra. In fact, Hazel had been a little quieter than normal.

"Come on." Kirra said, leading them through the fray, and up a big staircase. As they passed, student waved or smiled at the two teachers. One student even ran up to Jin and asked for help on a math problem he's been trying to solve. He didn't even glance at Thalia or Cat before running off.

As they continued up the staircase, and Cat's calves started to burn, the flow of students started to slow. finally, they reached the floor with the bedrooms, and Thalia and Cat were led to a door. 

"This is going to be your common room." Kirra said, gesturing at the door. "You'll be sharing it with four other people. Your rooms are inside. There are name tags on the doors, so take the ones without name tags. There'll be a name tag on your bed, and a pen. Write your full name, and pin it to your door. Breakfast is at 6:45." With a small smile, and a nod, Kirra and Jin left the girls and dragon standing at the door.

Thalia exchanged glances with Cat and Hazel. "So... I guess we're doing this?" Cat shrugged, then nodded, and Hazel lightly butted her head against the door. "Okay." Thalia opened the door.

Inside, the room was surprisingly cozy. There was a small fire place, with a crackling fire already in place, though how that worked, Cat didn't really want to know. The walls were covered in painting,  there were flowers, and landscapes, and especially dragons. The floor was carpeted,  and looked soft as wool. There were a couple of couches arranged in the middle of the room, and a big tv hanging over the fireplace.

Thalia stepped inside, and Cat and Hazel followed. Closing the door behind her, Thalia strode over to one of the couches, and collapsed onto it. "I want to go home." Hazel hopped onto the couch, and settled down beside her.

"You guys realize that there are rooms with beds right over there, right? Cat said, gesturing at the two unmarked doors of three on the other side of the common room. There were three more doors on the adjacent wall, all three with name tags on them. 

Thalia reluctantly swung her feet of the couch, and stood up. "How lucky is it that they just happened to have a common room open with two free rooms?"

"Really lucky." Cat agreed. "But I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. If we want answers about what happened to mom and dad, we're going to have to stay. Also," Cat added, glancing at the window, looking outside at the surrounding mountains, towering high over the academy. "I don't think we could leave even if we wanted to.