The School of Dragon Riders [Dragon Riders #1]

Chapter 25 (edited)

Oh no," I said, my dark side recognizing the king's men. Reuben and the others stood up as I quietly took cover in the trees. Five men on horses approached them.

"Have you seen this girl?" one of them asked, showing them an illustration. I couldn't see what it was from where I was, but I suspected it was me. Reuben stepped forward to look, and after a few seconds, he spoke.

"Nobody came by here for a while. This is the Outlands, not many visitors come here. You'd know," he said. The man looked annoyed, but he nodded and they turned around to leave. As I was about to step out of my cover, they came back.

"We will look around in case you missed her," their leader said. He clearly didn't trust Reuben.

"Go ahead," Reuben said, sitting on the ground and starting to eat. My stomach rumbled, but I remained hidden as the men dismounted. Four of them started looking and one of them stayed with the horses.

One of the four started walking in my direction. My mind spun, and I decided to climb a tree before it was too late.

I jumped up, grabbing the first branch and I pulled myself onto it. I wasn't high enough, so I kept climbing until I was close to the top. I tried not to disrupt the birds, but they flew away in spite of my silent climb. I hoped that the man didn't see them fly away.

I saw him look around, and then he looked up. I held my breath, trying to make him look away by using will power, but I wasn't a mind wielder, so he kept looking. I then remembered that I had other Elements, so I made myself blend in. His eyes shot past me, and he continued looking elsewhere.

I didn't know how long I was there, but it seemed like hours. Finally, I heard them leave. I waited some more, just in case they came back.

"You can come down now!" I heard Cath shout. I sighed in relief, coming down branch by branch. In most stories, that's the time when a branch breaks and the person on it falls down.

Luckily, no branch broke and I came down safely. I brushed leaves off my bloody clothes and pulled a twig out from my hair. Then I walked out of the tree cover to join the others. The sun was high up, and it was getting hotter and hotter. I sat down, looking at the meat. I resisted the urge to swallow it whole, and I took a smaller piece instead.

I couldn't make myself eat it slowly, and in a few seconds, I was eating the second one. Then the hunger left me.

"They were looking for you," Barn said.

"Were they? I couldn't tell," I said sarcastically, for which I got a mean look from Barn.

"You should be thankful that we're covering for you," Reuben said. I frowned.

"Oh, I thank you, the great saviours! Oh, what would I do without you! Most likely have a shoulder that isn't wounded, and probably have a body that isn't bruised," I said spitefully. They didn't actually do anything helpful. Adam narrowed his eyes at me, and I saw his fist flying towards my face. I caught it and stood up, dragging him up with me. He tried to kick me, but I dodged him, pulled his arm behind his back, dagger on his throat. It took me a second or two to do that.

"I might be wounded, but I am still stronger," I said, pushing my dagger to his throat until I saw a drop of blood. That's when I let him go. He fell to his knees, shaking his arm. I didn't break it, but I was tempted to.

"Don't mess with the monster," I said coldly, after which I turned around and went to a spring I saw earlier to wipe blood off my face and hands. It was quite deep, so I kneeled in front of it, careful not to fall into the icy current. As I lowered my hand into the water, I felt teeth close around my hand, making me yell out as I pulled my hand from the water. A fish with rows of sharp teeth was chewing my hand. I tried waving it around, but that made my skin start ripping off. I yelled in pain again as I tried opening its mouth, but it refused to let go.