Page 21 of The Last Dragon
My eyebrows furrow. Why haven’t I heard that before? Surely the general would have mentioned this. I wonder if he was considering this and for how long.
“I don’t know.” Sam shrugs, his head tipping forward. He rolls his spoon in the grayish mush. “But the general refuses to comply.”
I guess that answers my question.
“It’s probably because there’s only one dragon left to slay,” I say, breaking the silence, and all heads snap to me. “There’s no point in forcing more soldiers into the Corps and wasting our resources.”
“Oh, look,” Eryca says, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, voice like bitter venom. “He speaks.”
I don’t respond to that. She can stay bitter for as long as she wants. Eventually, she’ll give up when she realizes that we have to rely on one another in battle.
A little to the left, Nida sits at the edge of another table with some first-years. I pause my chewing as our eyes meet. Only for a moment. And then I break my gaze. The red blurs, and my eyes drift back to her. She stands, jaw tight, approaching us with her food tray in hand. Shit.Shit.
I just had to look, didn’t I?
“Hi,” she says when she’s behind Eryca. “Mind if I sit with you guys?”
My stomach twists at her voice, and I instinctively rub my fingers against my forehead.
Eryca turns toward Nida. “Shouldn’t you sit with your unit?”
Nida clears her throat. “I am in your unit.”
Everyone looks at each other, attempting to read one another’s faces. Then, their eyes turn to me.
“But I guess Zel hasn’t told you that yet.” Nida’s voice is laced with slight disappointment. A familiar feeling of guilt tickles mythroat. Maybe I shouldn’t shut her out of the rest of the unit, just because I don't want her here.
“I’m his—”
“Tracker,” I interrupt. The word stings my lips. “She’s my Tracker.”
Raumen’s mouth drops open, a wide smile spreading across his face, excitement beaming in his eyes. He taps a few times on the table, inviting her to sit.
Nida grins and sits next to Eryca, who rolls her eyes and says, “You get used to him not telling us everything. Or anything, for that matter.”
“Well,” Nida clears her throat, shoulders tight, almost reaching her ears. “At least when he says things now, they’re straightforward.”
Everyone watches her as she lets a few seconds pass.
She clears her throat again. “When we were kids, I had to decipher what he meant. He’d take five minutes to say something that could’ve been said in one sentence.”
Everyone releases a chuckle, aside from me.
“You knew him when he was a kid?” Raumen asks, looking around the table in excitement.
Nida nods. “Yeah, we’re both from Pirlem.”
“You must know some stories then.” Sam smiles.
My head snaps to the side. “You too?”
Sam gives a sheepish grin, almost reaching the corners of his green eyes, and shrugs.
The tension headache just worsens.
“What’s wrong, Zel?” Eryca asks. “Afraid?”
“I’m not afraid of anything,” I snap.
