Still, tonight had drained me. To listen for almost an hour to what they’d had to say, to what Caleb had to say, was why I regretted making that stupid promise to my father. If he could just see what Caleb had become, he would take Areeth away from him. Not to mention what he would say about how his once best friend treated me. Like vermin.
I sniffed hard as I stared outside the window. It was dark, the clouds rumbled slightly and in the distance I saw dragons soaring through the sky; a part of me wanted to fly with them, but at what cost? I wasn’t going to make peace with the Rubicon soon.
I looked again and the dragons were gone. They just vanished.
I remembered what Pappi said, that Blake couldn’t hear my thoughts anymore and I was so relieved that he was finally out of my head.
What he was doing there tonight, well Emanual summed it up in so many words. He was finally ready to take on some responsibilities. Yeah, well, it was too late, idiot. That door had closed and it was never going to open again.
THE CARRIAGE LANDED and I was the first one to open the door. I smacked into a figure again and I just knew who it was.
“A word, Princess,” he barked.
“What do you want, Blake?” I said back at him and I could see he didn’t love the tone at all.
“I know you don’t want this arrangement, but from now on you will inform me of every meeting with the Council, especially the ones with the Ancients. Do I make myself clear?”
“Go fuck yourself. I don’t have time for your stupid games.” I pushed him aside, which wasn’t easy, but to my surprise he let me go.
I could hear him grunting as I walked through the main doors of the Academy and rushed through the hallway before Master Longwei wanted a word too.
I went straight to the bathroom and screamed at everything that was happening tonight.
They would really have stripped me of my title, and I knew I should’ve probably thanked the idiot, but I was so mad at him for how he’d destroyed everything.
All he did was destroy things.
I took a shower, and was surprised that neither Sammy nor Becky was back yet. I put on my pajamas.
I found my notepad, the one I had been drawing in during Art of War on my bed.
Oh shit. They all saw that picture. What was I thinking?
The picture of Billy had been torn out and on the page were the words, written in big bold letters, I’M SORRY. Nothing else, just those two words. I could only guess who the words belonged to, but I didn’t want it to be him, or I didn’t want to think that it could be him.
I put my notepad in my nightstand’s drawer and crawled into bed.
I didn’t want to close my eyes anymore but I was so tired, dead tired.
Constance hadn’t been joking last night when she said that it was going to be hard.
If my first day looked like this, I didn’t think that I wanted to get out of bed tomorrow.
And then there were the words that Blake had spoken tonight outside, to inform him of every meeting, yeah right. But the minute that left my thoughts, those two words that were scribbled on my notepad entered my mind.
It could’ve been Becky or Sammy too, it sounded more like them than him.
I grunted. I hated how all of my thoughts strayed back to that idiot.
No more. I was done.
DRIFTED AWAY, after a gazillion thoughts had entered my mind. Tonight’s events, that graceful entry of Blake, the way he’d told them that this meeting was over and how they’d just accepted it. Why couldn’t I be more like that? They were my abilities inside of him; still, they didn’t fear me at all, not the way they feared Blake. I guessed it had to do with them knowing what he was capable of.
Still, what had Emanual said? I couldn’t believe that. Sure he showed up, even though they’d tried to hide tonight’s hearing from him. I didn’t know that it was against Dragon law at all, but he didn’t seem too pleased to be there.
Then why had Emanual chosen those words?
Blake was still as arrogant as ever.
I found myself inside the cave again.
It was the cave that had changed drastically after the events that took place in there about a year ago.
Lucian was lying on the ground, already stung, but Paul, he was still alive, parading around as if Lucian’s iron blade had never killed him. Seymour was there too and Billy or Blake, I couldn’t tell the two apart in my dreams. It was like they mushed up into one, forming a new nightmare together.
Billy was sharpening Paul’s knife as Paul’s lips moved.
What he said wasn’t as audible as tonight’s sounds, of what I assumed were a dragon’s wings, lingered outside the cave.
They couldn’t hear it, only me.
Billy laughed and then the entire cave started to rumble just like City Hall but once again they didn’t see it, it was only me.
A loud explosion made them finally realize what was going on.
The Rubicon entered. He was big, just like the last time when I’d faced him in the Coliseum.
He incinerated Billy and Seymour on the spot with his fire as Paul transformed into a Wyvern. He looked like Penelope.
The Wyvern snapped at the back of the Rubicon’s tail and a loud growl escaped the Rubicon’s lips.
The Rubicon snapped backwards and caught Paul around his neck.
It wasn’t a fair match as he was shaken like a rag inside a dog’s mouth.
I looked away as he ripped off one of Paul’s wings viciously, and I could hear his guts splattering on the floor and wall.
I jolted in my bed and my breathing was hard. I stroked my face hard, as the images still lay fresh inside my mind.
What the hell was that?
My dreams had never changed like that before, where the Rubicon actually came to my rescue and killed off all my attackers.
If only the real one had gotten there in time that day, Lucian would still be alive.
I looked at my digital clock and it said it was three-thirty.
Becky and Sammy were both sound asleep in their beds as I got out and went to wash my face.
I tried to fall asleep again but it was no use. If only the library was still open…
The next day I skipped breakfast and spent almost the entire day inside the library.
I didn’t care much for school anymore and only went to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich for dinner.
I wasn’t ready to face Becky and Sammy, so I went to the tower, the one that was Lucian’s and my favorite place.
I sneaked out one of the maps and found a torch in the room and it lit up almost the entire tower.
I opened the map and started to delve into my sandwich.
I searched carefully each and every single name on the map.
Halfway through I heard something on top of the tower’s roof and my heart was beating like crazy again.
Stop this, Elena. You are not in Eikenborough anymore. This is Dragonia and you have people here who will assist if anything bad happens.
I shook off my fears, and climbed onto the ledge.
I grabbed the beam right above my head and swung my lower body over another and pushed myself onto the ledge.
The roof was inches above me and I needed a couple of seconds before I was going to be able to look at who was waiting.
I took a deep breath and pushed my body up and found…. Nothing!
My heart was racing even more as I looked around.
I wasn’t dreaming this. I knew I heard something up here, and to find nothing, just like in the library, made me feel as if I was really starting to lose my mind.
I climbed down and rolled up the map from the ground and grabbed my torch.
It was the only place in Dragonia Academy that carried some of Lucian’s presence, and I refused to give that up.
So I stayed, rolling down the map again and reading through the names one by one.
No noises came back, which I was grateful for, and guessed it was all really inside my mind
.
I stared at the spot where Lucian and I had slept over the one night and my mind went back to that memory. It was the Tuesday, the day before he’d left and my gut feeling was so right. I would never see him again.
I lay back with my head against the wall and closed my eyes. It was just for a short while and then I had another stupid dream.
It wasn’t of what had happened to me; no it was a completely new one.
I dreamed that I opened my eyes slightly and saw Blake’s face. He was carrying me. I closed them again and could hear a soft hum, like a song, coming from his lips. It was so soothing. The door opened and after a short moment the soft mattress of my bed felt amazing against my body. A warm blanket was pulled over me and Becky whispered.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just bringing her back,” he said.
“You guys spoke?”
He didn’t reply. “When she asks, just say George brought her back.”
“Blake. When is this going to stop? Make her see.”
“It’s not how it works Becky. It’s my turn to be patient now.”
MY FIST KNOCKED on Constance’s door. She had to have seen it, why didn’t she tell me?
I knocked again and Constance opened the door. She didn’t look pleased at all. “You had to break down—”
“You knew about the barcode on her arm,” I interrupted what was probably a scolding.
She closed her eyes.
“You knew, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Blake, you’ve dealt with so many things.”
“You didn’t think that it could actually be a clue as to where she was.”
“I don’t think it was that sort of…” She sounded angry, as I didn’t see her point.
“You just don’t know how to search. Barcodes mean things are up for grabs, registered in some sort of database.”
Guilt washed over her face, and she grabbed her head. “I didn’t think, I’m sorry.”
“Is there anything else you know about, Constance?”
“No, I promise. It’s just the barcode.”
I nodded. “I’ll find wherever she was,” I said, sounding extremely eager.
“Blake. How?”
“Don’t worry, I actually do know really smart dragons, Constance.”
“You think it’s wise, giving her hope like that?”
“It’s not hope, I simply needed her help.”
“Okay,” she said and I left. I ran up the girls’ steps and stopped on the fourth floor in front of Elena’s door. I took a deep breath and ran three more floors up and knocked on the first door on the left.
Tabitha opened and smiled as she saw me.
“I need your help,” I said.
“Sure, anything.” She sounded so eager, I hated that.
“I’ll meet you tomorrow, early, in the library. Say six.”
“Six o’clock?”
“Please, Tabitha.”
“Okay, fine. See you at six.”
“Thanks.” I turned around to leave.
“You want to come in for a drink?”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks for offering though.”
She didn’t say anything and just closed the door.
A LOUD BUZZ woke me up and I found myself…in my room.
Becky and Sammy stirred and woke up.
How the hell did I get back to my room?
I remembered the dream but couldn’t remember the dialogue that clearly. Something about George and being patient.
“Morning,” Becky sulked as I just stared at my bed.
“How did I get back?”
“You ready to hear it?”
“Becky,” Sammy said.
“What? I’m just saying it will prove to Elena that there are actually people here worrying about her.”
“Why do you always fight?”
“I’m not fighting, Sammy. I’m just frustrated. I want my friend back.” She stared at me. “I want to know what happened to you, where you were.”
She had tears lingering in her eyes as she said it. “We woke up and got worried about you, so I phoned George and we found you up in the tower.”
“George carried me?”
She nodded.
That stupid dream. Why was I even dreaming that, I didn’t want Blake like that, did I?
None of it was making any sense, none.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry about last night. I…” I sighed. “It’s just hard, that’s all.”
“What is hard?”
“Taking orders from him. He didn’t want anything to do with me whatsoever and now he wants to know my every move. I can’t do that.”
“Elena, he is your dragon. And he needs to know about all these meetings.”
“Why? I released him Becky. He is free to do whatever the hell he wants.”
“Yes, he is, Elena.” That’s all she said and left for the bathroom.
Don’t, just don’t. If he Dented, and that is a big if, everyone said he had, then it wasn’t real. None of it was real.
I went to the library and froze when I saw him and Tabitha sitting at a computer. She was laughing at something he said. Their backs were turned to me and I decided to hell with maps today, I wasn’t going to sit in the library while the two love birds were doing their homework. It was disgusting how he used her to do his.
No, he didn’t Dent. This was something else. What, I wasn’t sure and I knew I shouldn’t really care either.
THE NEXT COUPLE of days were just plain weird. It was nothing like Becky and George. Blake didn’t follow me like some love struck puppy, in fact he was still next to his precious, at lunch, in all of the classes, making jokes and laughing.
Why it even bothered me was beyond my knowledge. I really didn’t care, I didn’t want to care but here I was, wondering….
Maybe the Dent wasn’t as special as everyone thought and they could choose to love whomever they wanted? Well that seemed to be the case in my situation. Still shouldn’t care, but here I was thinking those exact same words and glancing every odd minute in their direction. He wasn’t protesting either as he used to, in fact he participated in so many classes, and started to remind me of Riley just a tiny bit as they were always the only two that knew everything.
It was weird seeing him like that.
“Elena?” Sir Edward asked and I jumped slightly in my chair breaking my gaze from the love struck couple. Every one stared back at me.
Becky started to giggle next to me, which was followed by George’s shaking body.
I buried my face in my hands. This was so embarrassing. They were going to get the wrong impression. “Sorry, I should pay more attention.”
“You should.” He turned around and scribbled on the board again.
“What, no more of that famous little line of yours?” I said and everyone laughed again.
He chuckled too. “No, Elena, no more.”
I knew Blake wouldn’t understand, as he hadn’t been here that time they kept saying it.
“This time, I think it’s getting you onboard.”
Everyone laughed again, Blake just smiled and I hated that so much, it would give him hope that would never come. I knew the idiot wasn’t stupid, he could put two and two together. Why did I have to open my mouth? “I’ll pay more attention,” I said.
When the bell rang I followed everyone to the next class as they were making their way to Aviance.
I stopped as Becky and George walked in front of me with Sammy and Dean. Blake and Tabitha were way up ahead with Peter. Something I never thought I would ever see either.
I turned around and walked back to the library. I wasn’t ready for this class, even though I would have loved to be in the clouds again.
“Hey, where are you going?” Becky yelled.
“I’ll see you at lunch.” It was all I said and rushed up the stairs that led back to the building.
“Elena, you can’t run from this forever.”
I ignored her
as George and Dean just laughed.
“She’s making progress, Becky. Just let her be,” George said.
“She should speed her progress up a bit,” I heard her say as I slipped through the door. “Have you seen how—” The door closed and killed the rest of her words. I rushed back to open it slightly again.
George and Dean just laughed, and I completely missed the rest of her sentence, shit. They’d seen my little moment staring at the idiot. It wasn’t like that.
“She’s making progress,” George said again and I could hear Sammy clapping her hands excitedly together with a small chant, like only she could do. I had to say, a part of me really missed them so much. I wished I could just feel better about everything and go back to how things were. I listened to how they entered the Coliseum.
“Sorry big guy, your little damsel rushed her legs off,” George said.
Your little damsel?
“Next time,” Blake answered.
I pushed the door as hard as I could.
What the hell? His little damsel! I was furious all of a sudden. I wasn’t anyone’s damsel, especially his.
It was those stupid dreams. The dreams where he suddenly appeared being what I had always wanted him to be.
He was never there for crying out loud.
He even appeared in one of my other dreams, the one where Seymour pushed me against the wall. I remembered that day so clearly whenever I had that stupid dream.
The Rubicon showed up again, and grabbed Seymour. He was no match against him. He would burn everything and then grab me in his paw and fly away with a jolt. I would always wake up right at that precise moment. If only it had really happened. Then maybe we could’ve had a chance at this arrangement, but he hadn’t been there.
The only dream that was Rubicon-free was that last one; the one that took place inside the woods.
I spent the entire day just looking at maps upon maps again.
I was making progress with this too. I was busy with Elm, even though I knew Elm was a waste of time. I hadn’t traveled in Elm’s direction that night.
Still, I had to rule out all three of the Provinces.
At lunch I waited for everyone at a table.
Blake entered, hardly looked at me as he rushed to the buffet. I just stared at his back and jumped again as Becky and the rest plopped down at the table.