1 - Daughter Of The Storm

14 - The Team Selection

1st day of the season of death 2447

A blood-curdling roar echoed throughout the vast fortress that was Archlan Academy. Only Azéna had never gotten used to the infernal noise that, every morning , destroyed her dreams and made her eardrums feel as if they were bursting with shock.

"Fuck, fuck! By all the gods!" she barked, her eyes burning from tiredness. "This dragon. I hate it. I really hate him. A lot. If this keeps up, one day I'm going to wake up and my ears are going to be bloody."

She placed the pillow over her head and pressed to muffle the shrilling sound. Once again, she had woken up in a cranky mood. She was annoyed with herself. She felt as if her eyes were like old bags of rotting potatoes.

"That's an effective way to wake up lazy people," Fayne sneered. "You were up all night with Teriondil, weren't you?"

The archer knew that by "lazy" her roommate was referring to her. In fact, she was the one who was going beyond and above to get her up almost every morning. Fayne jumped out of bed and sat down in front of the mirror to brush her hair.

"Very funny," Azéna said with sarcasm. "And... to answer your question... I didn't spend the night with him."

She tried to laugh, but the result was not very convincing. In reality, she had been unable to sleep because she couldn't stop thinking about Arièlla and skotar. At about midnight, she had gotten up to see if her elf friend was in the common room. As she suspected, he was there sipping his tea and watching the dragons by the window. As a result, she only went back to bed in the early morning.

She stretched like a cat. Fayne looked at her as if she had gone crazy.

"What are you doing?"

The Kindirah girl squeaked, taken aback by the question, then jumped, simultaneously straightening up. She had completely forgotten that her roommate had not been present with her and Teriondil during the night. She scratched the back of her head and with a wide innocent smile, she attempted to explain.

"You see... Fayne... Well... Teriondil was the one who had mentioned it last night. He said it's a common practice among wood elves. They learn a lot from animals and nature. They try to connect with them... yeah..."

The herbalist blinked, looking uncertain.

"By the White Woodruff, you're either misspeaking or they're the ones who are strange."

It was the perfect opportunity for revenge for the comment from that morning. This gave Azéna a burst of energy. She cleared her throat.

"But they're also quite charming, riiight?"

She jumped to her feet and nudged her.

"What do you mean by that?" Fayne asked.

She feigned innocence, but her body betrayed her for a moment. Her fingers trembled.

"I know he's a tad to your tastes," the archer explained as she put on her apprentice uniform. "I'm not that headless, you know. I've noticed."

She heard the brunette hiccup. She imagined her flush with embarrassment as she pulled down on the collar of her tabard, trying to force her head through.

"And guess what?" she continued without shame. "You react similarly to the other wood elf. You know, the one who spends his time at the window. He has spiky green hair and is bulky. I don't know his name... Maybe you do."

Her head emerged from the cotton cloth and she confirmed her suspicions. Fayne was indeed avoiding her gaze, her face flushed. She most definitely had a fondness for wood elves.