Dragon Conjurer 5, page 18
I focused on this and tried to decipher some sort of pattern from the rumble. The slight tremble felt strongest in my toes, and I wondered for a moment if we were having a low-level earthquake this morning. I quickly discarded that idea since I’d never heard of an earthquake shaking in a steady rhythm like that before.
I reached out with my mind and flicked a mental finger against the silver length that led out from the top right side of my collarbone and swayed gently as Ky played in the forest. I could sense that he was trotting steadily through the trees somewhere in the southern part of the grounds, and he felt further away than I’d experienced before. I plucked at the tether again, and it seemed to anchor just to the left of where my ice dragon’s head laid on my upper arm when he was in my tattoo.
Almost like the tether was an actual extension of my own body.
My eyes flew open wide with realization.
Maybe the dragons and I weren’t separate beings at all. What if they were as intricate a part of me as any other aspect of my body, like an extra limb or organ?
It made sense, since they were apparently so entangled in my anatomy that their presence was altering my DNA, and I wondered if we could get samples of my dragons’ blood and compare them to the stages of mutation in my genes as each of them had come along. Maybe there would be some similarities between the dragon DNA and the changes in my own.
I tucked that idea away for later and made a mental note to share my hypothesis with Dr. Hastings the next time I saw her.
Then I took another deep breath and decided to focus my attention on Goldie next. My head tilted to one side and then the other as I tried to angle my ears like old-fashioned TV antennas to catch a signal from my wind dragon.
All I could hear was the breeze rushing past my ears, and I became discouraged after a few minutes. Then I opened my eyes and looked around only to discover the gentle breeze from earlier had died down, and the air was still. Goldie was flying once more, and the rush of wind filled my ears at the same time the white dragon flew in a wide circle overhead.
I finally understood.
I was already hearing through Goldie’s ears again.
A smile lifted the corners of my mouth as I watched the bright scales of my white dragon glint in the morning sunlight. She soared in lazy circles far overhead now, and I focused harder on the rushing sound of wind that I now knew came from Goldie’s ears. As she continued to fly happily through the morning air, I began to notice a pattern in the shift of air currents as she banked left or turned right. Then, as I shifted my stance and narrowed my concentration on the extra auditory sense, the slow, steady beating of her heart started to make itself heard.
The longer I studied the sound, the easier it became to differentiate between what I was hearing with my own ears and what I was hearing through her ears. The sounds I gained from my dragon seemed to come through a short tunnel, and there was a mild echo to the noise. With more practice, I could probably grow to tell the difference between the two pretty easily, and I noted this as a place I wanted to practice with Goldie more often.
After a few more minutes of enjoying the peaceful rhythm of Goldie’s slow-beating heart and the rush of wind in her ears, I pulled my attention away from the beautiful white beast and turned to Thor.
The sizzling electricity of my black and indigo dragon had settled down immensely after being allowed to roam freely. He’d blasted the bees’ nest into oblivion several minutes ago and now that his playmate, Goldie, was flying again, he’d started to entertain himself by hunting for small creatures in the brush along the tree line. The storm dragon seemed rather distracted, and looked like he was enjoying himself, so I left him to play and turned my attention to Beyblade instead.
The Chinese fire dragon had wandered out of the tree line, and just like he’d done a lot lately, Beyblade blazed a circle of charred earth to curl up in the sunlight. He breathed so loudly I could hear it both with Goldie’s ears and my own, and a tiny puff of smoke escaped from his nostrils.
“Oh, Beyblade,” I chuckled affectionately as the huge beast rolled over into a position that looked like a dead cockroach and wriggled his back into the hot earth.
I closed my eyes, focused on the red fire dragon, and searched for any kind of connection with him like I’d found with Goldie, or the tether that was growing between Ky and myself.
But there was nothing.
“Hmm,” I grumbled, and I opened my eyes just as Nick popped out of a single wild violet in the grass.
“What are you grumbling about?” the nymph asked.
“Nothing, I just…” I shook my head and turned away from the fire dragon to look at my best friend. “It’s so weird. I connected to Goldie without even really trying.”
“You mean the hearing thing?” Nick scratched his fingers through his hair as he dipped the toes of his left foot into the blades of grass beneath us.
“Yeah, I didn’t even mean to, it just sort of happened, you know?” I furrowed my brow and tuned my ears briefly to the wind dragon as she came in for a graceful landing in the fields beside Beyblade and Thor. “I’ve been able to talk to Thor a little bit, but mostly when he’s in the tattoo, and I can’t seem to even find Beyblade at all.”
“Hmm, well, you can’t be all-powerful all at once, now can you?” Nick teased and punched me on the arm.
“You better be careful when you do that,” I chuckled. “Catch Ky or Goldie like that in their tattoos, and they won’t be too happy with you.”
“Oh, shit, I didn’t think of that.” Nick grimaced as he realized the truth in my statement. “I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t really want to have these guys pissed at me.”
“No, probably not,” I laughed as Goldie and Thor wandered their way over to me.
Beyblade was lounging happily in the heat of the sun and his charred circle of earth.
I mentally tugged on Ky’s silver tether and followed its shine out from my shoulder to my ice dragon. He’d found an outcropping of quartz and was using it like a scratching post, and I tugged on the invisible string again.
Then it felt like Ky lifted his head and turned in my direction, and I grinned as I sensed him heading my way like he’d received the silent call.
“You about ready to head back inside?” Nick asked as he very obviously patted his flat stomach.
“Yeah,” I chuckled and reached up to rub at a sudden itch on my side before I turned to call my dragons in. “Moduro, Komme Tilbake.”
Goldie and Thor disappeared in flashes of gold and indigo light and settled comfortably into my skin. Goldie curled up on my left arm, and there was only the slight sensation of a gentle spring breeze along my skin as she settled. Thor slithered over my shoulder and wound up between my shoulders with an energizing tingle of mild electricity, and they both grew quiet and still.
“Come on, Beyblade,” I waved my arm at the flame dragon who trudged slowly back to me. “I know you were comfortable, but it’s time to go inside now, Fanhui.”
Beyblade glared at me a little, but I could have sworn he winked just before he disappeared into a flash of red-orange light and slithered up onto my chest like a warm blanket.
A slight shudder ran through my body at the pleasant feeling, and I called out to my ice dragon, “Ky, come on, man.”
The twelve-foot tall, sapphire beast strolled out of the tree line like he owned the place, and I had to squint my eyes as the sun glinted blindingly off his shinier than normal scales.
“Woah, who gave you a diamond wax, buddy?” Nick chuckled and threw a hand up to shade his eyes.
Ky’s glinting hide really was remarkable, and he cast flecks of rainbow light all around us like a gigantic disco ball.
“Is this from the quartz boulders you rubbed up against?” I asked in wonder as Ky pranced up to us like a show dog. “Wow, I thought you were just scratching an itch.”
“What about quartz?” Nick asked as he ran an appreciative hand over the scaly hide of my ice dragon.
“When I went to call him in, I found him with that tether connection, and I could tell he was rubbing up against a huge quartz boulder,” I explained and patted Ky affectionately on his side. “I thought it was just like how a bear rubs on trees, but now I think maybe it’s more a grooming thing.”
“So cool,” Nick mused. “This could be handy for blinding enemies in a battle, if you could find a way to direct it.”
“Or it could give away our location to anyone who caught sight of him.” I frowned a bit at this new development.
Then Ky surprised me again, and he shook his entire body like a wet dog. The motion started at his head and worked all the way down his spine to the tip of his tail, and I watched with amazement as the glinting blue scales laid back flat along his muscular sides, and the mirror ball effect disappeared.
“What the hell?” I gasped.
“Holy shit.” Nick’s mouth fell open as Ky looked down at us with a bit of a smug expression on his dragon face. “Did I imagine that?”
“No, I saw it, too,” I chuckled and gave the ice dragon a final pat on his neck. “You just love to surprise me, don’t you, buddy? Epistrophi.”
Ky disappeared in a flash of icy-blue light and slithered up on my arm to rest happily like a tuckered-out puppy.
“So, how did your training go?” I asked the blond guy beside me as he idly dipped his fingers in and out of a nearby hydrangea bush.
“Really well, actually!” Nick began with excitement, but then a look of pure irritation filled his face before he could finish. “Ugh.”
“What--” I started to ask, but I found my answer as soon as I turned around. “Oh.”
Two Men in Black marched purposefully toward us in their usual joyless way.
“Headmaster Burkhard requires your presence at the assembly hall,” the first guard declared without inflection.
The second guard almost looked like he wanted to yawn.
“You know you guys have got the worst possible timing,” Nick informed the two suited men, and he rubbed absently at his rapidly emptying stomach. “All the fucking time.”
Chapter 11
Nick and I followed the Men in Black into the main building of the Academy. They marched in front of us like an impenetrable wall of black suits, and neither guard muttered another word to us, or each other, on the short walk toward the assembly hall.
My best friend glanced over at me with curious eyes as we neared the odd choice of destinations.
There were only two occasions I could think of that would require us being called to the assembly hall: a ranking ceremony, or an attack so huge that every cadet needed to be briefed simultaneously.
“Mr. Cooper, Mr. Walters. Good morning,” Headmaster Burkhard’s voice boomed out joyously when he spotted us approaching the assembly room doors. He turned to the suited guards and offered them a curt nod. “I’ll take it from here, boys.”
The Men in Black nodded in creepy unison and marched off to wherever it was they went.
“Good morning, Headmaster.” I nodded at the Kingpin look-alike.
“Morning,” Nick said as casually as he could muster, but I knew him well enough to catch the excited bounce in his toes and the way his eyes darted around.
“Hey, Dylan,” Steffi called out from behind the headmaster.
I saw Nala and Elisabeth were with her, and the girls walked over to join us.
“Are you feeling better?” Nala asked with a smile.
“Yeah, my dragons just really needed to get out and run.” I smiled at my ladies and longed to give them each a kiss, but it felt a little weird to do so in front of the headmaster.
“Are they enjoying the extended grounds, Mr. Cooper?” the bald man asked with genuine curiosity in his eyes.
“Yes, thank you, sir.” I nodded emphatically. “It’s really perfect, and my team and I have found the space to be very useful for our training as well.”
“So much good plant life,” Nick murmured with the same adoration he would have used to describe a full buffet.
“Excellent.” Burkhard gestured up toward the podium. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for some rankings…”
“Rankings?” Nick asked as his eyes lit up. “Rankings for cadets?”
“Perhaps,” the headmaster said with an unusually cheery bounce on his toes. “I will see you all in a moment.”
“Sir, before you go, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” I began. I figured now was as good a time as any to bring our theories from this morning to the headmaster’s attention. “Something Ronin, Phoenix, and my team found in SEEKR.”
“Later, Mr. Cooper.” Burkhard grinned at me and waved his hands dismissively. “This morning is about celebrating new ranks, business can wait.”
“Okay,” I mumbled as the headmaster disappeared toward the front of the enormous room.
“Eeeee,” Nick squealed quietly after he was out of earshot. “I knew it! I love new rank days!”
“Come on, let’s get seats,” I chuckled.
“How are your dragons after their run?” Elisabeth asked as we filed into the rows of seats to find an empty space toward the back of the assembly room.
Elisabeth filed into the row first, and I sat down beside her with Steffi on my left. Nick parked himself next to Steffi, and Nala took the seat at the end of the row.
“Much better than when we left the library.” I waggled the fingers of my right hand in the air. “I thought I was going to lose a fingertip to Ky’s frostbite.”
“Yikes.” Nala grimaced slightly. “Was something wrong?”
“No.” I shook my head. “They just really needed to get out. Nick made a good point, actually.”
“Nick? Our Nick?” Steffi teased. “Made a good point?”
“I do that sometimes.” Nick stuck his tongue out at the fairy-girl.
“The dragons are wild animals after all,” I chuckled. “They need adequate time to run and exercise. It’s not good for them to be locked up all the time.”
“He’s our Elsa,” Nick tossed in, but when he chose not to elaborate at all, my girls just giggled and shook their heads.
“Yeah, we probably don’t need to delve into that one,” I muttered.
The room began to grow rather loud as the rest of the cadets gathered and found seats. I spotted Bruce and his team entering a row of chairs at the far-right corner of the room, and it seemed like a ranking ceremony had brought back some of their confidence. They marched in with their usual swagger, and when Johnny caught my eye he drew his thumb slowly across his throat.
Nick noticed, too, and flicked the meathead off before I could even react, and Nala hastily grabbed his arm to pull it back down before Burkhard could see.
“What?” Nick snorted. “Just repping Dragon One.”
I smirked and glanced around the room, and there were several other faces I recognized from our classes. The girl whose leg had been rumored to be shattered during a mission walked in on crutches with her team. Her entire leg up to the hip was wrapped in hard plaster that had been thoroughly decorated with colorful Sharpies, and she lowered herself awkwardly into a chair.
Dozens of other cadets sported rough bruises, black eyes, and a general soreness that hovered around them like black clouds. I spotted at least two more yellow-ranked cadets in casts, one up to the elbow and the other thick around the guy’s wrist.
I peered around again and finally spotted the shiny black hair of my Japanese lover several rows in front of us. She turned over her shoulder and smiled at me before she sat down between her twin brother and Doppelganger. Wisp and Kitsune anchored the Japanese cadets on either side, and there was a conspicuously empty seat between them and any of the uniformed AIMM cadets.
The room quieted a few minutes later when everyone found their seats, and Headmaster Burkhard and Dr. Hastings stepped up at the podium in front of the large space.
“Good morning, cadets.” The Kingpin look-alike’s voice boomed loudly over the speakers, but I suspected we would have been able to hear him easily even without the microphone. “We have some business to attend to.”
A moderate rumble of applause worked its way through the space, and an occasional whooping shout could be heard from the front right of the room.
“Ugh, I hope Bruce and his team aren’t getting any more ranks today,” Nick muttered beside Steffi.
“Mmhmm,” the pink-haired girl agreed, and they exchanged a fist bump.
“Several of you cadets have earned higher-level ranks over the last few weeks, and now that we seem to have a bit of quiet, we can take care of business properly.” Burkhard’s eyes seemed to find me, and my team at the back of the room as he continued. “I do apologize, for most of you it is well overdue to receive these ranks.”
“Oooh, shit. I bet I’m getting another stripe,” Nick practically giggled with eagerness.
“I should hope so,” Nala huffed. “You’re kicking ass lately.”
“Lately?” Nick scoffed. “I am always actively kicking ass.”
“I bet Dylan gets another stripe, too.” Steffi smiled up at me proudly.
Before I could think of anything to say to her, Headmaster Burkhard cleared his throat.
“Now, let’s get down to it, shall we?” Burkhard started to list off the names of cadets, their previous ranks, and their new ranks. The girl with the shattered leg earned her first orange rank, and one of her teammates bounded up to the podium to retrieve her new uniform. Several cadets ranked up from blue to green, and a dozen others earned second and third stripes in green and yellow ranks.
It was amazing to see some positive developments coming from so much destruction in the last few weeks, and the way the battered cadets smiled as they received their new ranks gave me some hope that we could handle whatever came up next in the monster world.
There were so many promotions, that a full hour seemed to drag by without me even noticing, and I tried to stay focused on the ranking ceremony, but as the names and faces of less familiar cadets streamed across the small stage, I found the early morning had started to catch up with me.
