Metal, Blood and Fire -- A fanstay dragonish story

Chapter three -Olive

This is it.
I'm falling.
I'm dissapointing my mother.
I'm ending my bloodline.
I'm falling straight into Alios' arms.
I'm...not falling anymore...

Carefully I open my eyes, scared that the only thing I see is black. My broken body. Whatever comes after death. But all I see is my arm in a strong hand. A hand very similar to Zayne Xuvir's.

"How's the air down there? I'm not Xuvir if that's what you're thinking," the man whispers. "He just managed to get his foot out the plank." I hear him try to hold back a laughter and when I look up it's the guy with the hair that partly covers his ears. It looks even fluffier from this perspetive.

"I'm more suprised that, besides Xuvir, I only met nice people." Kaia, Allsion and him.

He smirks. "Oh don't worry, you'll meet some assholes."  The funny type, I see.

"That's not what I'm worring about right now," I admit the obvious.

That gets a laugh out of him. "I'll pull you up in a few moments, the dragons are almost gone."

I honestly don't know if I should be happy or dissapointed, so I just nod at him with a smile. Smiling mostly works. 

"So, according to the oldest Xuvir son chasing you, you are a Leavgrow?" 
"According to the bolt on your neck you are a Shanier?"

He smiles amused. "Know the marks, huh? What's yours?"
"A melting crown."  I shriek a bit when he pulls me up on this damn bridge again. "I will never step a foot on a bridge again after this."
"Dude, me neither."

I pull myself up and look at him again, this time with not as much fear like when I was seconds away from death. "Thanks...uhm."
"Viktor."  "Yes, thanks, Viktor."  "Not a problem. See you on the other side." 

He waves over his shoulder and runs the half of the bridge. I watch him run away as I begin to walk after him, maybe not as fast because my adrenelin has to calm the fuck down.

"OH, LEAVGROW!"

Nevermind. Run. All the strenght I have left goes into my legs and I sprint over this hell of a bridge. I stumble and the ropes that hold the bridge tear my uniform's arm open and with it a bit of my skin but that doesn't bother me right now. I'll have have plenty of time to take care of my knee and arm afterwards.

I'm so fast, I even run past Viktor who gives me a suprised 'damn' when passing by. I am so focused, that only now I realize that the end is near. The field is getting closer...and so is Xuvir. Not as fast as me but he's slowly catching up.
He's so fucking close, I will die!

My survival insticts get boosted up by the amount of adrenalin rusing throough my veins. My hearbeats get quicker. Excitment and exhaustin. All these Cadets waiting for everyone to finish, and I will be one of them!  ...if Xuvir doesn't kill me before I reach the field.

That's when my boots hit the grass. I turn on my heels and pull a dagger out my thigh pocket, pointing it in the direction I just came from. More specifically in front of Xuvir's chest.

"Name?" a man behind me asks. He is instructed to write down the name of every new Cadet.

"Leavgrow, Olive."

I hear him write it down and then steps next to me. 

"Xuvir, Za-" "No, not you," he interrupts Xuvir. "You're not even a cadet yet. Leavgrow on the other hand has her feet on Neverend War Collage's property and can strike you anytime. You will blow your chance to be a rider by doing so." 

I see Xuvir clench his teeth and I can't help but give him a sheepish smile but I give him an option. "Don't kill me until we're bonded, and I'll let you become a Cadet."

That definitly pissed him off according on the look on his face and the outraged scoff. "If you think-"
"Watch it," the rider interrupts him again, pointing out the dagger he wanted to use against me.
"Fine."

I glare at him for another five seconds before I let my dagger sink and let him pass. Just now, realization hits me: I' survived. I'm a Cadet. Mom won't think I'm a total failure.

My eyes shift over the groups of people while my body gets filled with relife, and my gaze gets stuck on two people watching me from the shadow of the building. Both have their arms crossed, a cold expression and watch every of my movements. The short dark hair they have in common is falling in their face, hiding the woman's eyes while the man can see through.
And  they are tall, making their appearance even more terrifying. And the muscles-

Before I can look at them any longer, someone taps my shoulder. Kaia.
"Thank gods, you're okay," she says with a happy tone. "You're one of the only normal people around here."

I nod and giver her a weak smile. "Yeah," I say still catching my breath. "I'm okay."
My eyes flick back to the two but there is no one to be seen. Gone without a trace, as if the shadows swallowed them whole.

Yet, with the adrenalin gone my injuries start to burn and throb. Fucking hell, my knee will be more than just blue by tomorrow.

"Come on." Kaia takes my hand and pulls me after her. "Let's get you fixed up."
While she is looking straight ahead at the healers, I turn my head again to look for the terrifying duo, and spot them next to the rider that wrote down my name, whispering at each other. Then they look back at me. It feels like they are staring a hole in my head.
A shiver runs down my spine, making me tear my eyes away from them.

-----------
About one hour later we all stand in formation, back straight and hand behind, eyes ahead. We watch the two dragons fly towards us and then circle over the formation. On top of the bronze dragon is my mom, Elodie Leavgrow, and on the brass one is King Alexander. As impressed I am to see these majestic beings up close, I do my best to hold my normal face.
As much as I wish I wouldn't, I catch eye contact with my mother. I swear to the gods, everyone is glaring holes in me today, even though this time she gives me an approving nod and I nod back.

Now we're already at the point where they fly away again. What a waste of time. I supress the urge to groan annoyed. The King could use this time to try handling our little war situation, but no, go fly around with your assistant that has to do everything for you.

Someone at the podium ahead of us clears their throat and steps on the stair to look at all of us. It's him. The guy that stood in the shadow with the girl that is probably his sister. Don't tell me he is-
"Is that...?"
"Foreinson? Yes he is."
Only now i notice that Viktor is behind me.
"And our wingleader," Kaia says on my right.
"And kinda hot," Allison says on my right. Can't say no to that. But he is our wingleader, that might be a problem.

"Congratulations on getting through the election, Cadets." He is under a spell that makes his voice louder.
"Me and my sister, who was chosen to be the wingleader by my side, watched you during this trial and we can say we are honored to be around such powerful new cadets and to welcome you to Neverend's war collage. This year will be different because sadly war is getting worse, so we asked the dragons and they agreed to bond in two weeks."
He points at the forest behind him. "You will be walking around there until you're bonded. If you don't, you know the rules."
Hiz hazel eyes look over the crowd. "Remember, until then it was only a part of the real life out side of Neverend. You could die any moment, which is why our leaders -squat and wingleader- will be looking for the weaker ones and train them."
All the wingleaders and squatleader bow their heads a bit. "Until then, welcome to War Collage."

I snort. "Now that was inspiring."
Viktor chuckles. "I know, right? Now I definitly want to stay here."
Kaia shrugs. "I do want to bond a dragon and start wielding."
"At least we're in the same squat so we don't have to fight each other, ya'll nice." Allison gives us a smile and turns back at Foreinson.

This is going to be a hell of a year...