Draconic Grace Excerpts

Chapter 1

Kris  walked  around  the  perimeter  of  Bladelocke’s  border,  hand  placed  on  their  blade.  The  dark  blue  sky  sprinkled  with  stars  reflected  off  their  dark  blue  eyes  akin  to  a  mirror.  They  paused  for  a  second  before  resuming  their  rounds.

As  they  returned  to  their  original  post,  Kris  saluted the  two   soldiers  that  were  on  watch.  They  saluted  back  in  sync  before  resuming  their  patrol  of  the  main  entrance.  They  stepped  through  the  dead  streets  in  the  direction  of  a  stone  building;  the  barracks.  Kris  opened  the  door,  hardly  making  a  creak.  They  slithered  upstairs  towards  another  door  and  knocked.

“Come in, Laurens.” A man’s voice, rasp yet clear, beckoned. Kris opened the door, closing it behind them when entering the room. The man appeared middle-aged, despite his voice he looked healthy. “How was the patrol, Kris?” He asked, looking into their eyes.

Kris stared at him,  since  this  often  occurred  when training the cadets. “No surprise attacks though it’s a new moon sir.” They answered, bowing their head, “Even though for a medic you are skilled in combat, I told General Cathal as such back when you were a cadet. In case of anybody that is entering due to injury while you were on patrol, I wanted the first responder to be you.”

“I’m flattered and all, but the main reason why I trained in combat is to be well-rounded. In case a medic is down I can take over for them, and likewise if a soldier is too injured to fight I can cover for them.” Kris replied, tone doubtful. They suddenly twirled around with a hand on the hilt of their blade, facing the door.

A man that looked younger than the Colonel opened up the door. His blond hair neatly combed with silver eyes shooting daggers at the private in front of him. In stark contrast to the Colonel’s bulky frame, the blond man was slender. “Private Kristoffer Laurens,” He remarked, “there’s no need to get so worked up, but I know how you can get sometimes.”

“You didn’t even knock on the door, Cross-” Kris was suddenly interrupted, “It’s Command Sergeant Major Cross when in uniform.” Cross declared. The Colonel sighed, “You can take your leave, Laurens. I thought that you’d just report what occurred and retire for the night.” Kris bowed, “Yes sir.” They then left the room, Cross closing the door behind him.

The Captain’s demeanor quickly shifted to a dark tone. “So, any new information on the ice dragon?” Cross sighed, bowing forward. “I looked all over the place, talked to our city’s residents and even the traveling merchants. The merchants from a specific region up north talked about a mysterious woman that mastered ice magic, but she vanished without a trace years ago. Laurens is from one of the towns there, I’ve heard the other privates and cadets talking about his, if he is a man, cryokinetic powers.”

“So you suspect that Kristoff isn’t who we think he or even she is?” the Captain asked, the Lieutenant nodding his head. “I’ve heard of a girl years ago who had ice powers similar to Laurens, a girl that was all alone. People say that some parts of her body were covered in ice blue scales, parts that Kris always covers. I’m not trying to get Kris to tell either of us the truth, he’s one of our best soldiers and medics, he’s always been mistrustful of everybody and holds many secrets. I just want to help him get out of his shell a little. That’s all I have to say, Captain. I’ll take my leave now.” Cross exited the room.

The Captain waited for him to be out of hearing distance, sighing. Opening up his desk the man took out a picture frame, a family smiling. A woman with blonde hair holding onto a swaddled infant with a man the same bulkiness of himself yet hair still thick. He looked at the infant’s steel-gray eyes, “Oh son, you changed so much within nineteen years.”

Kris closed the door to their room, taking off her uniform and undoing her braided hair. She walked towards a shelf and took out a tome branded with a sigil of ice. Her eyes changed to an icy periwinkle while crystals of ice spun around her. After completing the spell to expel built-up mana her eyes switched back to dark blue, putting away the tome and lying on her bed.

“Brother, I will find you one day, I promise it.” She whispered, looking at the ice-blue scales on the back of her palm. “Mother and I miss you so much.” Kris snuffed out the lights and fell asleep when the sun peeked from the horizon.