The Rage Eater

Chapter 21: Numb

"That's my p-p-point," Tim said, pausing to slurp his creamy orange soup. "They couldn't have possibly destroyed all the books before the Age of the King, even if they wanted to. Some must still be out there, w-w-waiting to be found."

"If we were going to find them, we would have found them already," Aubrey said. "Or at least one of them."

"Or maybe they're just very well hidden," Sim said. He scooped a pawful of insects into his mouth, then bit down with a loud crunch.

Emily, Tim's koala, looked up from her bowl of eucalyptus leaves. Her fur was a fuzzy grey, her ears big, pink three-quarter moons. "What do you think, Sadie?"

The question startled her. She'd spent the whole morning lost in a fog of self-pity, thinking only of Dylan, whom she'd been feeding soil pucks as they talked about history and lost books. "I'm not sure," Sadie said finally. "It sounds like they're probably lost forever."

"D-D-Dylan?" Tim said.

The blob looked up with his big, bulging eyes, saying nothing.

Useless, Sadie thought furiously.

She had arrived at Barret's Academy full of hope and ambition. She had fought to get in, fought to hide her secret power, fought for a Warrior's beastly, fought her bullies and her expulsion. But what had it gotten her? Dylan, some bug-eyed, soil-eating, alchemical freak of a beastly. The only thing preventing her from returning home was the satisfaction it would give Nicolas and Geoffrey, and the humiliation of having to face her mother and George. But all the fighting was over—she'd lost. She would never play in the Game of Thieves, never lead armies as a Warrior. And so, Sadie surrendered to defeat. She would float by, drifting aimlessly like a leaf in the wind, numb.

Suddenly, Sade glimpsed movement on the table—something long, black, and slender, speeding towards her.

A snake.

Seeing it, she remembered her dream in the infirmary—watching it slither up her nose, feeling it coil around her brain—and her heart started pounding.

The snake's scales sparkled as it curved around the plates, then darted towards Aubrey. But she didn't see it coming. No one did.

Panicking, Sadie grabbed the knife from her plate and raised it to strike. But before she could bring it down, a rough hand grabbed her wrist and twisted, while another shoved her face into the table with a sickening crack.

Sadie shrieked in pain, dropping the knife to the floor.

"Try and touch my beastly again and I'll kill you," a voice commanded.

The hands still had her, pressing her face into the table and twisting her wrist, causing her to scream out in agony.

"She didn't know!" Aubrey said. "Let her go."

The hands relaxed their grip and the pain slowly receded.

Eyes watering, Sadie turned around to see a girl towering over her. Like Aubrey, she had cocoa skin and big brown eyes, but her hair was short, and she had the tall, sinewy build of an athlete.

Aubrey looked at Sadie's pupils. "Sadie, are you okay."

Sadie nodded weakly.

"She's fine," said the attacker. "I barely touched her."

"That is Aaliyah Borzoo," Aubrey said, hugging her. "And this," she continued, petting the black snake's head, "is her beastly Ruby."

"Hello," said Sim. "I'm Aubrey's beastly, Sim."

"Tim, it's nice to m-m-m-meet you," Tim said. "And this is Emily."

Emily gave a shy wave.

Dylan stared blankly, trembling slightly.

Sadie looked around. The Dining Hall had gone quiet—shockingly so. All eyes were on them. "I'm sorry," Sadie said meekly. "I thought it was a feral."

"A feral, inside the Dining Hall?" sneered Aaliyah. "I thought scholarship students were supposed to be smart."

"I w-wasn't paying attention," Sadie stammered.

Because I was feeling sorry myself, Sadie thought.

Ruby dropped from Aubrey's shoulders and slid up Aaliyah's arm and around her neck. Then, Aaliyah crouched, so her face was only inches from Sadie's. "You don't seem very sharp, so let me give you and that beastly of yours a lesson. The Kaas and Borzoos are the two great Southern Clans. Together, we form the Sun Alliance. They keep us healthy. And we keep them safe. Practical, yes, but it runs deeper than that. I've known Aubrey since she was a child. She's like a sister to me. So, when I see her rooming with some violent peasant and her green blob, I get nervous. Should I be nervous?"

Ruby raised her head and hissed, her pink forked tongue barely an inch from Sadie's eyes.

"No," Sadie said.

"No, what?" Aaliyah said.

"No, you shouldn't be nervous. I'll pay better attention. And I'll look after her."

"See that you do," Aaliyah said before turning and walking away.

Sadie looked around the Dining Hall. The students and Masters had returned to their conversations as if nothing had happened. But the damage was done. She'd been humiliated, again.

I was a fool to think I could just float by, Sadie thought.

Numbness wasn't a shield; it was a trap. And Sadie had fallen in head-first. If she was going to survive the Academy with Dylan, she would have to pay closer attention, even in the Dining Hall. But especially around Nicolas, Geoffrey, Sofi, Wizard Dvesha, and the professors who wanted her expelled.

Then, Sadie shuddered as she remembered her next class.

Combat with Master Dao.