The Hatchling

Shadow

The last shadow huh?

As if.

There's no way this brat was that skilled. Maybe with how quick he could move his mouth, but nothing more.

"Oh I'm sure," I said as I rolled my eyes at the two of them.

Beck laughed more and wandered over to the table the lamp sat on and pulled out a bottle of rum from underneath.

"Beck is the youngest soldier to ever make it into the special forces and currently has the highest kill rate of any soldier," Aiden said, disgruntled, like he was not exactly thrilled with those statistics either.

I could understand why. Aiden was probably a little under twice my age and some kid ten years younger than him was out doing him.

"And today will be the last time you see me. Aiden, take her away," Beck ordered with a glass of alcohol in his hand.

Aiden smiled cheekily. "Actually you owe me little Beckette. I saved your ass from disciplinary action not too long ago, in case you forgot. But if you don't want to, I'll just let Ferren know about your...incident."

Beck's eyes widened. He glanced between Aiden and me, looking at me like I was a punishment. I would've refused his help, but my desire to be the best planted me there and kept me quiet.

I saw him struggling to not break his glass as he thought for a few seconds.

"How often?" He whispered. "How often did we do flame training?" Aiden hummed, already knowing the answer. "No, not every day," Beck began to protest, predicting his answer.

Aiden laughed. "Yes every day you idiot. Her fire is hot, but it's not controlled and she's the point on their formation so she's got to know what to do with it. It's a hazard to have her around us when we're flame training since hers is so much hotter. It'd be different if it were only a bit hotter, but she's only a few hundred degrees under you if I remember correctly, and that's a little too hot for us average fire breathers. So her training shall begin tomorrow. You come get her whenever it's convenient for you and you'll have her for, at minimum, three hours."

"Three hours?" Beck and I exclaimed in unison, both disgusted by the idea.

Aiden groaned. "Sixteen hours a day are spent training. Three of them is nothing. I actually would think to spend more time on it."

"It's just fire!" Beck roared. "It's not that time consuming!"

Aiden shook his head at him. "Did I teach you nothing boy? Fire can make or break you in battle, and with her brand of fire, it will make her. But only with proper training. I want her to know when to use it, certain tricks, how to keep a flame in the wind, how to aim it, how to control the amount of methane used. Simple stuff."

Beck refilled his glass and downed it in a few seconds. "And no one else can be burdened by this?"

"Everyone else with that type of heat is deployed or in charge. You're stuck here for the next eight months until your time is up. It's not like you're doing anything productive besides drinking your liver to death."

Beck snorted at his comment as he finally just began drinking from the bottle and set put the glass down.

"And once she's mastered fire, I don't have to deal with anyone?"

Aiden nodded. "Precisely. Training starts tomorrow."

Beck turned his attention to me. "I get you at least an hour before dawn till lunch."

Was he insane? I couldn't handle even getting up before lunch back home, much less before dawn. He had to have been trying to mess with me, right?

"Understood. Let's go Emira. It's probably dinner time by now. Would you like to join us Beckette?" Aiden hummed.

Beckette grinned, looking like a cat who'd caught a mouse.

"Oh I don't see why not," he mused to himself as he began strolling beside me.

The three of us exited the doors, Milo, Yuri, and Alric on the other side.
They all stood from sitting on the ground as we came out, eager to get moving again.

"Who's this?" Yuri asked, looking at Beck.

I growled, "Don't ask."

"I'm Beckette. It's a pleasure to meet you," Beck smiled gentlemanly as he shook each of their hands.

Milo seemed to crumple like a leaf. "I've heard of your statistics. It's an honor to be in the presence of such an iconic figure."

"Oh don't piss yourself now," Aiden boomed. "Don't flatter the prick!"

Beck threw off his hoodie and tossed it to one of the guards at his door. I could see tattoo sleeves on his arms that stretched up into the shirt material to his neck, peeking out from the collar.

He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing the long dark strands back. I noticed the sides of his head were all shaved short besides what was on the top of his scalp.

He looked like a human catalog model with his somewhat tan skin and piercing gold eyes, but his personality certainly did soil that for him.

As soon as we all entered, we realized seating would be an issue.
"Why don't you two get better acquainted?" Aiden laughed, banishing us to a table by ourselves with endless laughter on his part.

Beck smiled darkly, sliding into his seat effortlessly.

I plopped down and began seething immediately. I was unwilling to touch my food, my stomach made sick by sitting near such a douche of a person.
Poking at the ceramic white plate's contents, I sluggishly lied my head down and ignored my newest teacher.

"Why so silent? You had plenty to say earlier to me," Beck sang quietly as he leaned over the table.

"I find complaining about things you can't control is a waste of time," I rebutted.

His eyes squinted with a genuine smile bubbling up on the corners of his lips. "You hate me for no reason."

"Except that you called me a bitch."
Beck raised his hands in surrender. "And for that I apologize."

Sitting back up, I glared at him. "Why the change of heart all of the sudden?"

Beck crossed his arms and looked over at Aiden. "That asshole will turn me in for something. Might as well not make this difficult, right?"

His smile was sickly sweet and lacked any geniality at all. It was almost cringe worthy. He leaned back in his seat and picked pieces out of his meat, eating each as if it were some delicacy.

"What's your game here? Chase me away with a shitty attitude or something?" I said, my voice acidic and hostile as I spoke quietly.

Beck hauled his body over the table, closing the space between our faces down to just an inch or two. "I don't need to have a shitty attitude to make you want to run away."

Unfazed, I leaned forward in my seat as I spoke. "Yeah you'll need a little more. I'm not scared of egos, but good try."

His smile turned into a wild, psychotic grin, like he got a pleasure out of the idea of torturing me.

If he was the last shadow, then I was the darkness itself, and I swore to swallow him whole...