Page 43 of The Stone Initiation
My stomach dropped. I must have pushed too hard and now he was about to quiz me on why.
“You’ll find an extra arcana class on your schedule,” he said.
I took a quick look and sure enough there were two arcana slots in my week, one at sunset and another mid-afternoon. The knot in my stomach eased and I gave him a questioning glance.
“You’re a halfblood, and you’ll need a little extra help. Miss Yarrow will work with you in your mid-afternoon sessions. She’s an excellent teacher but does best one-on-one.”
My chest warmed with gratitude but there was also a prick of unease because this highlighted how out of my depth, how unprepared, I was.
I didn’t belong here. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
His half smile was almost wistful. “Don’t thank me. It was Flora’s idea. You can thank her at your first lesson later this week.” He looked down the corridor where Touron loitered, waiting for me. “I’m glad you’ve made friends. Despite the popular belief that’s been spread by the elders, unity is important, not only once you qualify, but from the start. What we’re fighting…It will try to tear us apart, and out there, your team, your loved ones, and your friends are all you’ll have to hold on to.”
His words sent a shiver of unease down my spine, but then reality set in, reminding me that I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this because I would never make guardian.
I was here for one reason and one reason alone.
To discover the truth behind Romi’s death.
The rest…Not my problem.
CHAPTER18
My stomach was rumbling by the time we left class. There were kitchens in the main building, but the place was packed with second years, so we decided to head back to the dorm and cook a meal there.
Night-time was active time at the academy. The dorm windows were bright spots in the distance, and gargoyles trekked back and forth from the main building to residences.
Many were in their final year of training for general forces, and according to Palia’s research there were written exams as well as practical ones, so the study here was intense.
We decided to take the scenic route past the training grounds.
I wanted to get a better look at them and figure out how they’d gotten it to rain over just one pitch, but as we got closer, the roars and bellows of encouragement drifting toward us told me that the grounds were still occupied.
The grass pitch had been abandoned by the gargoyles, and Varsa, the caretaker, sat on a small tractor-type vehicle which slowly flattened the grass while he sprinkled it with something.
It was the sand pitch that was occupied.
Gargoyles, in beast form, stood in a loose circle watching something that was blocked to us.
My height disadvantage made it impossible to see what was going on, and the bulky frames of the goyles left no gaps to peek through. All the stomping and cheering made me want to know what was happening beyond the wall of muscle.
I hopped up and down. “Touron, what’s happening?”
He craned his neck. “I can’t see…One moment.” He morphed and instantly shot up by several feet. “Better, but still can’t get a proper look.” He shot me a toothy grin. “Fancy a lift?” He crooked his arm, offering me a seat on his muscular bicep.
Why the hell not? I hopped up and wrapped my arms around his neck.
Sharniza made a sound of exasperation before morphing too, and the twins followed suit. The excitement emanating from the sand pitch was too enticing to ignore.
Touron stretched his wings, body coiling, and the next moment we were airborne, high enough to see over the crowd. To see the monoliths in the center of the ring duking it out.
Serath and Orix circled one and another, lunging and grappling, hitting the sand, rolling, and then springing apart in a dance of combat that had my heart fluttering at the beauty of it. These huge monolithic beasts were light on their feet one moment and shaking the ground with stomps the next.
Orix leapt back to avoid Serath’s grapple. But the elite leader spun anti-clockwise on his heel, turning the missed grapple into a tail swipe that knocked Orix’s feet from under him. Orix went down and Serath pounced, pinning him easily.
“Yes.” The world was barely a whisper, an explosion of breath nothing more, but Serath’s head whipped up and he looked right at me, his husky gaze searing me and squeezing my lungs until I couldn’t breathe. An aroma spiked in the air, musky and sharp, twisting me in knots and making my heart lurch with primal need. I arched toward him.
“Cam!” Touron grabbed me tight against him to stop me falling off his arm.
