The Blade of Kenai

Part 1: Chapter 2

About an hour later Kenai woke up with Pae nestled on the pillow beside him. He sat up on the edge of his bed and ran his fingers through his wavy hair. After rubbing his tired eyes he lifted his arms in a stretch and groaned when his forearms ached. Anything is better than that awful feeling from before, he reminded himself. He stood up and looked at his boots, which were still on his feet. I must have been wiped out. Again, he pushed the feeling into the vault in the back of his mind, trying to convince himself he was only sick or dehydrated.
Kenai stumbled across the room as he bent down to clean his weapons from the ground and hang them onto the hooks scattered around the walls. After he was satisfied with his side of the bedroom, he looked over at Kazdyn's side and heaved a sigh of annoyance. It seemed like they couldn't be less alike in personality. Kazdyn was high on the social status of the village, he was popular and outgoing, while Kenai felt more like his right-hand man. Or maybe shadow was a better comparison.
However, when the 2 of them were alone it felt like they were almost the same person. Kazdyn was 20, a year older than Kenai, but he treated him as a complete equal. Kenai loved Kazdyn and would do anything for his adoptive brother.
Loud voices from the dining hall tore Kenai from his thoughts and reminded him he was starving. He hurried out the door and made his way swiftly towards the mouth-watering aroma, Pae began to squeak loudly, running across his shoulders quickly, informing him that she too was starving. The voices got even louder as Kenai's steps led him closer.
Kenai came through the doorway and immediately darted his eyes around the room in search of Kazdyn. It seemed he was at a different table every day with different people. Today he was at a table surrounded by the top boys of the class. Kenai awkwardly made his way over, feeling out of place taking a seat on the very edge of the table. He was quickly distracted when he grabbed a plate and began scooping a variety of meats and vegetables onto it, Pae began devouring various pieces of food on his plate, which made his stomach growl louder than ever.
"Hey Kenai!" Kenai lifted his head attentively and looked up at the boy sitting closest to Kazdyn. Devin. He was the oldest boy at the academy and every other boy looked up to him.
"Yeah?" He replied, never sure what to expect to come from Devin's mouth.
"I heard you almost took out Instructor Wade earlier, you must be becoming quite the swordsman." Devin may have sounded impressed to anyone else at the table, but Kenai could hear the edge of anger in his voice. No one could be better than Devin, and if you were he made sure to put you back in your place. Kenai waltzed carefully around his answer, sure to tell him the truth but sure to put himself down for the sake of an avoidance of Devin's rage.
"Yes, but I think he was probably going easy on me." He tried to sound disappointed, even adding a sigh and a final remark. "He still ended up beating my ass."
Devin's grimacing face slowly melted into a sly smirk, and Kenai let out a breath of relief. He couldn't endure a tantrum from Devin, especially right now.
A sharp pain shot through the center of his forehead. Another headache had started. I'm so sick of this. Kenai grabbed a pitcher of water from the center of the wooden table and poured himself a glass as full as he could without it toppling over the edge. The clear cool liquid ran down his throat and offered a small remedy for the headache. The pulsating pain stopped after a third cup and Kenai sat back into his chair closing his eyes in relief. Thats it. Just needed water.
Kenai opened his eyes when Kazdyn squeezed himself between Kenai and the boy he was originally sitting next to.
"You alright?" Kazdyn murmered, barely audible over the rest of the dining hall.
"Yeah. Just a headache." Kazdyn looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he knew Kenai too well.
"I can take over your patrol duty for tonight if you'd like. You can take mine tomorrow." Kazdyn offered. It was tempting, but Kenai was determined to push through the queasy feelings.
"I think I'll be alright, thanks though." He turned back to his plate and was displeased to find that Pae had finished off the rest. Kenai looked back at Kazdyn, whose eyebrows were pressed together with concern.
"Listen. If you really want to know we can talk after dinner." Kenai offered. Kazdyn began to nod slowly which quickened as he processed the offer, ending in agreement.
"Alright yeah, I'll be done in a few minutes." The sound of someone entering the dining hall pulled his attention from Kazdyn and onto the girl who walked in with her father.
Soren, the headmaster of the academy and headman of Elhein, was beloved by everyone. He was humble about his position and desired to assist others above all other things.
His daughter, Daithe, might be adored even more than Soren. Along with being incredibly kind and compassionate, she was easy to talk to and her innocent eyes gave her the ability to make you feel completely safe with any information you gave to her.
Soren wandered over to the teacher's table, shaking each of their hands before pulling them into a short embrace complete with a pat on the back. Daithe made her way over to Kenai's table, giving him a soft smile that filled his chest with warmth.
"Hey Kenai, how've you been?" Her bright blue eyes were impossible to look away from and made him long for anything but his own boring brown eyes.
"It's been okay. I miss archery though." Daithe tilted her head in sympathy. Kenai and Daithe had been close before he started attending the academy but drifted apart when his knightly duties took over his entire life. They tried to catch up as often as they could, but it wasn't close to what their relationship had been before.
    "Do you want me to talk to Welver?" She offered, but Kenai shook his head quickly.
"No it's okay I'll figure it out. It's my job to be whatever they need me to be." Daithe slumped her shoulders, parting her lips to say something else before Devin called her name.
    "Daithe I don't get it." Her face scrunched in confusion, unsure of how to respond.
"Excuse me?" She asked. Devin began looking back and forth between her and Kenai. She finally understood and glared back at Devin. "Just leave us alone." She retorted. Kenai's stomach filled with sadness, or at least he thought that was what it was until his vision began to be hazy again.
    "Listen Daithe I've gotta go, my head is killing me." The legs of his chair screeched against the floor as he pushed it back to stand up, and Pae gave a small squeak as she jumped onto his arm to scurry up to his shoulder.
"Oh, alright..." Daithe looked down at the table sadly. "Want me to walk with you back to your dorm?" Kenai nodded, thankful for the offer.
    Daithe stood and followed Kenai out of the dining hall. As soon as he was out of view of the other boys, he slouched his shoulders and put his hands over his face. They walked in silence on the short trip, and when they reached his room they said a quick goodbye.
"I hope you feel better soon Kenai, take it easy please," Kenai mumbled a quick response and stumbled back into his dorm.
    Pae ran down his body and to his desk, making circles around a glass of water.
"Thanks, girl," Kenai said thankfully, reaching desperately for the water. Just then, the door flung open and Kazdyn entered the room.
    "Okay spill it," Kazdyn demanded as he sat down on a chair that belonged to a desk in the corner of their room. Kenai looked at him with narrowed eyes and bit his lip. Where do I even begin without sounding psychotic? Kenai sat down on the edge of his bed and clamped his fingers together to stop his hands from shaking. Kadzyn looked at him expectantly, leaning forward and eyebrows raised. Kenai took a short breath before he finally responded.
"I feel like something really bad is about to happen." He said it quickly because saying it faster meant his confession would be shorter. He watched as Kazdyn looked down at the ground and pursed his lips together. He definitely thinks I'm being a wuss. Kenai also turned his attention to the wooden floor, afraid to look back up at Kazdyn. About a minute later he finally continued his interrogation.
"Tell me more." Kenai looked back up at Kazdyn, seeing his face was full of concern rather than judgment. Kenai trod carefully with his response, still determined to save at least some of his dignity.
"It started in sword training, it came over me all of a sudden but it went away after a few seconds. It makes me feel like I'm going to barf because of how much anxiety it gives me," The story of his day began to tumble out of him, and he was grateful to have someone to talk to about it. "It keeps coming and going and I have no clue why it's happening. All I know is that it makes me feel awful." Kenai paused to take a breath.
"It's like a gut feeling but I don't know what it's trying to tell me." He held his hands around his knees, gripping them tightly in desperation for an answer he knew Kazdyn wasn't capable of giving him.
Kenai held his breath waiting for a response from Kazdyn. For so long he had relied on Kazdyn to fix everything, he was the big brother who would stand up for him and look after him. It was breaking him that Kazdyn had to think so deeply to come up with words of comfort.
"And this has never happened before?" Kazdyn said quietly, still pulling his thoughts together.
"No, never." Kenai didn't blame him for not coming up with a solution.
"I'm gonna come with you to patrol tonight." Kenai opened his mouth to protest but was cut off. "I just want to make sure you don't pass out or something. I saw you walking back to our dorm. You almost fell like, 12 times." Kazdyn smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood. Kenai gave a short laugh.
"Yeah okay."