Gloria Oliver (11 page)

Before she could get to them, however, her foot accidentally knocked over one of the buckets she’d forgotten to put away after her earlier efforts. As the sound of the wood hitting stone echoed softly around her, the dark shadow outside seemed to suddenly swell and then it abruptly disappeared. Rushing forward, she brushed aside the curtain over the balcony doors and peered out the glass. Nothing was there.

Frowning, she went back to bed, but lay awake a long time listening for the odd sound to return. It didn’t. Sometime during her vigil, she was dragged back into sleep.

[Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Five

A BANGING SOUND reverberated through the room. Talia gasped, the noise startling her, her heart rising into her throat.

“Time to get up!”

As she heard the muffled cry through her door, she realized her lights were on. Slipping quickly out of bed, she glanced at the clock in its niche and saw it was already six thirty. She’d overslept.

Her arms ached only a little as she washed her face in the basin and then got dressed. In her mind, she profusely thanked Yllin and Mandee for the salve, even as she applied some more, knowing the slight discomfort she felt now was but a taste of what would have been hers without it.

By the time she made it down to breakfast, the dining hall was filling fast. As was the case every morning since she arrived, the Administrator’s chair was empty. When she continued glancing down the table, she also realized Kel had already come and gone. It felt a little strange not to see him first thing in the morning.

By late afternoon, the aches in her arms and shoulders were gone. It greatly brightened her mood as she went outside to get ready for yet another of her classmates to arrive. Both Clarence and Kel seemed quite happy to see her. She was just glad they didn’t mind her help.

For the next three days, she followed the pattern she’d started the week before. Tammer no longer appeared surprised to find her outside his office. He even gave her a slight smile on the last day. On the fourth, the last student went to meet with the Administrator for the first time. The following morning, classes would begin.

As she ate breakfast on that fifth day, Talia felt anticipation grow inside her. This was why she’d been brought here; this was where the rest of her life would begin. Looking at the other four girls and seven boys comprising her class, she saw many of them felt the same way as well. Dyl literally leapt from his seat when the door to the garden was opened and they were all dismissed.

For the first time, Talia was able to walk with Mandee and Yllin farther than the garden’s far end. This would be the first time since she’d arrived she would be the same as everyone else—a student of the Dragon Knight Guild.

“Have fun.” Mandee grinned at her as she and Yllin reached their classroom. Talia waved back at them, then went on with her classmates to their own room.

Helyn was already there when they arrived and greeted them all with a bright smile. “Good morning, everyone.”

Each of them took a seat. Talia ended up in one near the center. She took a quick glance at the others and saw expressions ranging from barely restrained excitement to nervous fear. She found herself vacillating between the two.

Helyn stood before her desk, her face still smiling. “Today, all we’ll do is get you a little more acquainted with the guild and the school, what we do, and why we are,” she said. “But first, let me show you where we are.”

As Helyn went around the desk, Talia noticed one of the rolled parchments she’d seen previously on their visit to the classroom was hooked up to the top of the blackboard. With a long pole Helyn took from a hook on the wall, she reached up to the parchment and undid the string which still held it coiled.

The parchment rolled open for all of them to see.

Talia leaned forward as she realized it was a map. It was the biggest she’d ever seen, and it was wonderful. She stared at it, looking at the deep and light browns, yellows, and greens, which were colored in such a way as to make it easy to tell what were valleys, mountains, and forests. The oceans, seas, and rivers were each done in unique shades of blue. It appeared more a work of art than a real map, but still seemed more detailed than any before.

“Our world, as you know, has seven continents—Amara, Tulain, Carsock, Bolamia, Tusees, Sparmat, and Minas. Our school is located here, on Minas, in the Achron Mountain Range.” Helyn used the stick she’d used to lower the map as a pointer and indicated a mid-sized continent in the Southern Hemisphere. “Now let’s see where you all come from.”

One by one Helyn asked each of them their place of origin and then pointed the place out on the map.

Talia’s home sat in the continent of Amara, which was even farther south than Minas. She was a little disappointed to find hers to be one of the smallest of the lot. She also felt a pang of loss as she realized how far from home she truly was.

“Ours is but one of the numerous schools belonging to the Dragon Knight Guild,” Helyn explained.

“Many schools are specialized, while others, like ours, are more general, created to build a knowledge base for the students to grow from before they go on to the specialized schools.” She quickly pointed out some of the locations of the schools that were the same as theirs. All looked to be in large mountain ranges. “Over the seven continents, are spread hundreds of kingdoms. Our guild’s job is to keep all these places in peace, to be arbitrators in disputes, to help guard the innocent, and protect the populace from attacks by rogues or maeloon.”

Talia shivered. Maeloon—savage creatures who inhabited desolate areas of land. She’d heard many stories about the maeloon. It was said they were cursed long ago by the gods for having the tenacity to bite one of them. Because of it, it was their lot to be born insane. And they were. They attacked any living thing without provocation. They slaughtered for pleasure, not for food. Some said intelligence and cunning hid behind the madness, for they recognized their own kind and it was rumored on occasion they’d actually gather in packs and go in search of human settlements to terrorize for no other reason than they could. She hadn’t seen a maeloon and never wanted to. The tales told about them were bad enough and had given her nightmares.

“And we do more,” Helyn continued. “We help kingdoms during times of famine. We help find cures for the sick. We educate. Our highest goals are to help people in anyway we can.

“It is this goal which united our ancestors with the dragons and have made the guild what it is today.

Each of you will now become part of this legacy.” She stared at each of them in turn, her expression serious.

The girl named Sonsan raised her hand. Helyn motioned for her to go ahead and speak.

“Some of my, some of my friends back home said the Dragon Knights were nothing but bullies and all they want is money and power.” The almond-eyed girl spoke quickly, though her stance was defiant, as if just wanting to get the statement out of the way.

Talia didn’t think she’d have the nerve to say such a thing herself. Though she’d heard something along the same vein once or twice back home.

Helyn didn’t seem bothered by the comment in the least. “You’ll find people think of the guild as monsters as well as saviors. It all depends on whom you ask. However, in the end, it’s best if you keep an open mind and judge for yourselves. During our time together you’ll learn much about the history of the guild and the things it has done.”

Helyn went on and informed them the Dragon Knight Guild was over eight hundred years old. It came into creation during one of the most bloodthirsty periods of man’s history. At the time there’d been thousands of small kingdoms, and almost all of them were at war with one another. Just like a number of other races, the dragons found themselves caught in the middle of the human explosion and later become targets of the violence as they were seen only as dangerous creatures which needed to be destroyed.

Mostly loners by nature, the dragons found themselves outnumbered and outmatched despite their vast resources of strength and magic.

As their numbers dwindled, the eldest of the dragons gathered together and tried to plan how best to save themselves and if possible, save man from himself as well.

Using their pooled skills, they devised a means of locating humans who wanted the conflict to end as badly as they did. With these people, they forged a contract and then bonded with them so together they could set about to stop the conflict one kingdom at a time.

The contract was still being honored to this day.

Talia tried hard to picture the things Helyn told them, but couldn’t. Stories of war and strife were things in tales, nothing she’d actually experienced, and so it was difficult to truly grasp. Men murdering each other?

Trying to drive themselves and dragons into extinction? It just seemed more akin to a fantastical tale than reality.

Lunch brought a much-needed break so they could all attempt to absorb what they’d been told.

Afterwards, Helyn told them more about the guild.

“Over the centuries, the guild has grown, but a lot of the structure has remained the way it was set up in the beginning,” she said. “At the head of the guild is the Council of Elders. It’s comprised of the twelve most respected and capable of the dragon/human pairs as well as the oldest and wisest of dragons. To them are left the highest decisions, those which affect the guild and humanity as a whole.

“Beneath the Council of Elders are the Judges. These are human/dragon pairs who hold sway over disputes between the different groups in the guild as well as between the guild and the countries it protects. Due to the nature of the job, and the guild’s high standards for the position, their numbers have invariably been few. Currently, we only have twenty-three of them and the guild is constantly looking for more.”

Talia’s gaze moved to the map still hanging from the wall. Twenty-three men and dragon pairs to cover all of that? The arbitrator in their small village had more than his hands full doing his job, and he only took care of a small area. How could only twenty-three pairs do all which would need to be done in seven continents?

“Beneath the Judges are both the Regional Overseers and the Inspector Generals,” Helyn continued.

“The Regional Overseers’ duties are mostly administrative. They keep track of guild members in their area and make sure all is well with the small outposts and supply depots. Each of these in turn has a leader who reports to the Overseer.

“As for the Inspector Generals,” Helyn went on, “their role is to inspect any location, whether a school, outpost, or supply depot, and make sure the upkeep, functionality, and interests of the guild are being maintained. Their utmost goal is to make sure those belonging to the guild are being properly taken care of.”

Talia frowned at the last, wondering why such would be a concern.

“The many schools belonging to the guild are in themselves semi-independent and self-ruling. They fall under the jurisdiction of the Inspector Generals rather than under an Overseer. The schools available to those of the guild are wide and varied. As your skills and talents are discovered, you will have opportunities to choose to go to more specialized schools.”

DINNER WAS FILLED with talk about what kinds of specialty schools the guild might have and also what each of them thought they might want to have schooling in. Talia didn’t say much in the last regard, still having no real idea of what being a Dragon Knight entailed, let alone anything else. A few of the others already knew what direction they wanted to take. She felt a tinge of jealousy that they could already be so sure of what they wanted to be.

Yllin declared in her usual serious expression that of late she’d been considering becoming a healer. Talia saw Mandee choke back a giggle, but at least the somber-faced girl’s friend had the sense for once not to tease. Looking away lest she herself give something away, Talia admitted it was hard to picture Yllin as a figure of comfort and care.

As they went through the garden after dinner, she suddenly wondered what it was Kel might want to be if he and Clarence were ever able to pass their test. Surely he didn’t intend to pick up students forever, did he?

The following day, Helyn took the class around the school and showed them the facilities available to them. They spent a couple of hours at the library alone, learning how to use the magical devices to help locate books.

Helyn told them to gather about a tall, thin box sitting outside the history section of the library. “This is what you will use when you need to find a book. You should stand before the sloped end and then speak evenly at it. Tell it the subject type, then the actual information you are looking for. Like this.” She turned to face the box. “History. Minas. Hundred Year Feud.”

Talia gasped as a three dimensional picture of the stacks of the history section grew from the top of the box. In the image, two rows down and three shelves up, one of the books was lit in blue. Realizing that it was a map, most of the students scurried to go where it pointed. They all skidded to a halt as they could plainly see, on the third shelf, a large, bound tome glowing a light blue. The light remained around the book until Helyn removed it from the shelf.

“As you can see, this is very easy. If the book is not in the section of the library you are at, the image will expand to show you where you need to go and the location of the box for that section. If a book is currently unavailable, the image will show you its usual place but it will be colored in red.” She placed the book back on the shelf. “Now who would like to try it?”

Twelve hands raised simultaneously in the air. Talia thought this the most marvelous thing she’d ever seen.

After lunch, they spent a large part of the afternoon at Nertak’s cave. The old man stared intently at each of them as they were introduced, once or twice winking at the girls. Having been there before, Talia only paid half attention to Helyn’s instructions, instead watching Nertak as he tagged noiselessly along. Aside from the strange, lewd looks he flashed toward them on occasion, he seemed to be absorbing everything any of them did or said. She wondered if he just didn’t get many visitors and was lonely, or if it was something else.