We walked down the winding hallways. I looked at my surroundings. They were beautiful. It had an artistic flare but wasn't gaudy. The walls were painted in bright and happy colors with murals that were painted without a mistake. The palace wasn't what I imagined it to be.
"So what is the Academy like?" I asked the three men who were beside me.
Nathan spoke. "Like we said earlier, the Academy is a school for nobles. The school also lets commoners like us in if we are knights or something like that."
Luke skipped next to me and smiled. He slipped a strand of hair that had fallen in his face behind his ear. "Other than the stuck up students and professors, the school is really great. We can take any extra classes that we want. You have to join me for culinary classes."
I gave him a smile. "I don't think I am qualified to be in a cooking class. My meals usually consisted of meat I killed, herbs I had gathered, and fruit that I had gathered. I imagine that the food that they require me to make is above my skills."
He pouted before Sean butted in and nudged Luke away. "Then you can join my medical classes. I hear that the professor is handsome and smart."
I looked at him and tilted my head. "Really? I wouldn't have thought that."
Sean frowned before Nathan laughed out loud. "There are several classes that you could take. Etiquette, martial arts, weapons, medical, art, history. There's bound to be something that would interest you."
I smiled at Nathan. "There should be something."
Luke suddenly became worried. His brown eyes glanced at me. "What about the battles?"
I raised an eyebrow. The way Luke spoke made me wary. I looked at the others who had a worried expression on their faces. "Battles?"
Sean tapped his chin with his finger contemplatively. "That's going to be a problem."
Nathan glanced at his team members. "What should we do?"
I frowned. They were forgetting that I was still with them. Not only did they forget about me, but also were talking about something that obviously included me. I reached out with my fingers to the nearest boy who was Luke. Infuriated, I pinched his side.
Luke howled in pain and clutched his side. His brown eyes shifted to midnight blue and back. "What was that for?"
I crossed my arms. "This obviously includes me, and none of you three were about to talk to me about it. First, what are battles?"
Sean's lips trembled from refraining from laughing but a glance at me had him serious. "Battles are when two students fights. They could shift into their animal or use their powers. Battles are common at the Academy because people are always trying to see who are better. Once a battle starts, it can only end when one is either unconscious or surrenders."
I raised my eyebrows. "And you guys were worried about me?"
Luke nodded. "Yeah. You're our friend and teammate now. Why wouldn't we worry about you?"
I felt the wall around my heart crack at what he said. If they kept being so nice to me, I don't think that my heart could take it. I felt the anger leave me, and I sighed. "I haven't had a nice life so far. Before I lived in the forest, my life was hell. When I met people in the forest, they would either think that I was an evil entity and try to fight me or were too scared of me and ran away. I never felt a kind hand before yesterday nor have I felt someone worry about me."
I looked into their eyes, expecting pity or sympathy, but I felt a shock run through me when I saw empathy and understanding. Their eyes seemed pained and filled with a sad past.
Nathan stepped forward. "Having several people come into your life and give you things that you've never experienced can be hard and frustrating, but we know what you are going through although our experienced might not be the same. Trust takes time, and know that we are willing to do anything for you to trust us."
A smile came to my face. I understood what they were trying to say. They weren't trying to take advantage of me or try to use me for their own intentions. They knew what it meant to give a person their trust and knew that I didn't fully trust them. "Thank you for worrying about me, but I can use my powers to fight them. I don't need to shift."
They nodded before we started to walk again. A few more turns and Sean stopped in front of a door. "The Academy has a past." He spoke as he opened the door. I felt my heart falter as I took in the scene. The room was a library with shelves from the ground to the ceiling. On the side wall was a picture of a fight. It was a gory scene filled with dead bodies and blood, and in the middle of the chaos was a knight in white with his glittering sword held high, pointing at something in the sky. In the dark sky that glowed with lightning was a beast of black. The painting was done so well that the scales seemed to gleam. Red eyes glowed like rubies, and black talons shined like onyx. Stretched behind the beast of black were huge wings. "The school was created to train people to defeat the creatures. Creatures that threaten the world, Dragons."
Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you guys have a happy holiday and to those who have finals after, I feel you. Good luck, and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. love, Azallya
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Blood and Tears (all 9)
FanfictionArcadia is a kingdom where shifters are everywhere. Everyone has an animal form, but everyone thinks that Sang Sorenson doesn't have an animal form. Her inability to transform causes her to be bullied by everyone for being different. At fifteen year...