Page 27 of The Scars Within
I stopped mid-pour, breathed in, held it, and then let it out slowly. Setting the pitcher under the steaming wand, I pressedbrewon the coffee pot with my free hand. As I poured the steamed milk over the espresso, the machine roared to life.
Grabbing the caramel syrup from the spice shelf, I was about to pour it into the mug when Rhodes spoke up again.
“Caramel macchiatos use vanilla syrup, not caramel.”
I twisted around, glaring. “Then why isn’t it called a vanilla macchiato?”
He shrugged. “I’m not the one to ask. Take it up with whoever invented the damn thing.”
My fingers tapped on the glass bottle of caramel syrup. “Then what part of the drink is caramel?”
Pushing off the counter, Rhodes walked over to the shelves, grabbed a golden squeeze tube, and handed it to me. “Caramel drizzle on top.”
I stared at the tube. “That’s it? That’s all the caramel? It won’t even taste caramel-y.”
His only response was a bored-as-hell expression.
Grumbling, I added the vanilla syrup and drizzled caramel on top.
“Your coffee—” Rhodes urged.
“I know! I’m doing it exactly how you said,” I scoffed.
“No—yours!” he pointed.
“Shit!” I cursed as the giant coffee pot started brewing—without the carafe underneath. Hot coffee poured all over the counter, spilling onto the floor in a growing puddle.
Panic set in as I frantically searched the station for the missing carafe, but it was nowhere in sight. In desperation, I shoved my favorite mug under the spout. The machine brewed fast, and within seconds, the mug overflowed, coffee spilling onto the counter. I tried to stop the machine, but nothing happened when I pressed any of the buttons.
Rhodes and I frantically searched the station, eyes darting everywhere as the coffee flooded the floor.
“Ah!” I shrieked, spotting the carafe tucked away in one of the cabinets. I sprinted toward the machine, but my victory was short-lived. My feet flew out from under me, and I crashed onto the floor, landing squarely on my ass in the coffee puddle. The carafe slipped from my grip and rolled across the station.
Instead of helping me up, Rhodes lunged for the carafe. I tried to stand but kept slipping, falling right back into the mess I’d created. The espresso station was a coffee lake, and I was stranded in the middle of it.
Rhodes took long strides back to the machine, muttering, “Thorn in my—”
Before he could finish, his foot slid out from under him, and he crashed down next to me. A splash of coffee hit my face as he landed with a thud. He tried to brush off the fall and stand up, but just like me, he kept slipping, tumbling back down every time he made the attempt.
I couldn’t help it—I started laughing.
“This is not funny!” Rhodes snapped, wiping his face, only to smear coffee across it.
That just made me laugh harder. I sat up, propping my arms on my knees as I tried to catch my breath, but the laughter took over.
“The machine finished brewing,” I wheezed between giggles.
“Um… I’ll come back later,” Rhodes and I looked over to find Davis walking away from the order counter.
Thankfully, I had enough time to run to my dorm and change after we cleaned up my mess. Intro to Fire Wielding consumed the entire day. All fire elemental courses took place within the entry field of Dragon Valley. The valley was close enough to the college for dragons to make the flight over within five minutes, but it was an hour’s walk on foot. Even our lunch break was catered out in the valley, and we had everything we packed that morning until class ended a few hours before sunset.
Once again, I was in awe of the sight before me. Dragon Valley stretched across a one-hundred-mile radius. No human had ever ventured into the full depths of the biome. Dragon Valley wasn’t even on our maps before the dragons were born due to the Battle for Mareki.
The valley entrance was said to be a wall of mountains, their peaks higher than any man could see. These mountains formed a jagged wall of stone, completely impassable. People saw them as the continent’s edge.
When the first dragons, born from the fire element, had grown to full size, they needed more land to call home. The dragons began to burn through the rocky mountains, using their talons to move mounds of earth. It took years before the final result was accessible to humankind. When the first elementals ventured into the land, it was named Dragon Valley, a home for the entire dragon species within our borders.
Needless to say, everything about Mageia filled me with awe. Dragons soared overhead, their scales gleaming in the sunlight, casting shadows that danced across the ground. The air was filled with the scent of burning wood and the distant roars of dragon riders practicing their lessons. I could see from afar a long wall of wooden targets, all at different heights and sizes. A tall female cadet with dark skin and bright purple braids down her back was challenging a pale-skinned male with blond hair that beamed in the sunlight. Every time she hit the center of the target, she’d break into a silly dance just to jest. In the opposite direction,cadets were practicing their dismounts from their bonded dragons. There was a first-year cadet who looked like he was about to faint as he looked down at the ground. A few older cadets were waiting for him, coaching him on the dismount.
