Page 24 of Phixmery

Nero chuffs. “I like this one.” He flaps twice and lands on Rozen’s shoulder who now looks like he’s about to piss himself. “Tell him he may pet me.”

I choke on my laugh. “He says you can pet him.”

Rozen nervously brings his fingers up and strokes his feathers, but after three strokes Nero flies back to me.

“Three strokes was more than enough, male.” He then caws at him, who is staring at Nero wide-eyed.

Ember takes that moment to join us. “Are you guys ready? I’m starving.”

“He let me touch him,” Rozen whispers in awe. “He’s so soft.”

“And I’m never letting him do it again. He just made it weird. Can we go now? I want some berries,” Nero states, nipping my ear.

I smother a laugh. “Yeah, I just need to put some stuff away.” I hold up the stuff from my shower. “I’ll meet you down there.”

She nods and drags Rozen out of the room as I head over to my cupboard, depositing my items in my bag, noticing it’s quite full and I’ll need to do laundry soon. Once everything is put away and I’ve grabbed all that I need, I head down slowly after the others.

Talking and doing things with Ember and Rozen is different. Not having friends since, well, before living in Shalo, it’s been really lonely. It’s selfish of me to want to continue these friendships. Why is this so hard?

Nero feels my distress and nuzzles my cheek. “Everything’s better with food. Let’s just focus on food and lessons. Worry about everything else later.”

“You’re right,” I sigh and quicken my pace. Maybe some food will help me think better, but that’s probably just wishful thinking. I’m scatterbrained enough as it is.

We arrive in the dining hall and I glance around quickly, looking for my squad as I grab a tray and head towards the delicious-smelling food. It looks like only half of us are down here right now. Thankfully no Evera and group yet. Making quick work of filling my tray, I thank the servers and grab some extra berries for Nero.

Just as I sit down, someone runs into the hall, making the doors slam against the stone wall. The hall falls silent as they rush over to the officers’ table, handing Major General Rune a parchment. I’m not sure why, but the hair on the back of my neck raises as his face darkens.

After a moment Rune nods and whispers something to the male, who then takes off just as quickly. The hall resumes its quiet chatter as more fae begin to fill the expansive space. Nero and I scarf down our food trying to ignore the look on Rune’s face as he read whatever was on that parchment.

“I’ll meet you guys there,” I state to Rozen and Ember. Without waiting for their reply I make a hasty exit to get ready for combat class, just wanting to have a few moments to myself before the day begins.

I get out to the training yard and Nero takes the opportunity to stretch his wings, making sure he stays close by so we don’t have a repeat of yesterday. Well, we might, but hopefully I won’t be knocked unconscious.

Last night, Ember and Rozen helped me get some basic techniques down, mostly just staying on my feet and dodging, but at least it’s more knowledge than I had before. I thought they would be frustrated with helping me, but if anything they seemed to have enjoyed it. Even Nero joined in, happy to try to distract them when we started sparring, swooping in and out of their line of sight. Ember said I should use him to my advantage outside of lessons, because in the real world, one small thing can turn the tide in a battle.

Breathing in the cold morning air, I sigh, watching Nero as he soars through the sky. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fly free like that, to glide through the air with nothing but the wind and clouds as my company. But my feet will always, unfortunately, stay planted firmly on the ground. A female can dream, though.

I’m aware of the rest of my squad lining up next to me, but this wintry morning brings me a type of peace that reminds me of the forests in the Gratandi Mountains near Shalo, where I used to watch him fly just to get away from everything.

“Squad Four—with us.” Craven’s voice cuts through my peace like a blade, dragging me back to reality.

Silently we follow, nothing but the sounds of our boots hitting the frozen ground and the clanging of blades in the distance as others begin sparring. We file into two lines of five in front of Sergeant Craven, awaiting to see what kind of training we are going to be put through today.

He paces in front of us, his broad shoulders stiff as he searches our faces. “Today you are going to do your laps, push-ups and whatever the hell else I want you to do for a warm up. And then you will be pairing up while we teach you hand-to-hand. Tomorrow we will not be here, but Major General Rune will inform us if you are slacking off.”

“Why won’t you be here?” Evera whines, cutting him off.

He glares at her for a moment before continuing. “They need help on the front, and we are doing our duty to assist. Now, ten laps around the training yard, and because Cadet Gannon spoke out of turn, you all are on dish duty for the week.”

Why would they need trainees from Phixmery? From what I’ve learned being here, Vathia and the rest of Damorleia have been at a stalemate for as long as the war has begun, getting no further than the Wraithwater Channel. Unless something has changed, I don’t understand why they would be heading to the battlefield.

Ember nudges my shoulder and gets me moving as we start off at a light jog, conserving our energy as much as possible.

We fall into a comfortable silence, no sound but our heavy breaths and boots hitting the ground. With every huff, the air becomes visible in front of me, the cold air making it hard to bring in oxygen, but it’s refreshing as it is sharp.

At least tomorrow, we won’t have to worry about sparring. Rune will most likely make us run drills until our feet fall off. But I can’t help the odd pang of worry for Craven’s wing heading to do fate knows what. I shake my head—no, those lines of thought will lead you down a path we cannot follow.

Stretching my arms so they rest on my head, I try to slow my breathing as I finish our last lap—last. My stamina is shit, but thankfully it has improved since being here, especially with consistently having three meals a day.

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