Page 55 of The Last Dragon
“I’ll have my own farm! Leather making, patching up broken clothes, caring for sheep and calves. Basically, what I’ve done since I was a kid.” His voice fills with longing, as if this was something he wanted to do right from the start. Something he may have seen himself doing instead of joining the Corps. “Sam?”
Sam looks up from his trance, confused at hearing his own name. His eyes trace around our faces, as if he’s hesitant. But we wait patiently.
“Commerce, trade,” he finally says. “I want to help out with the economy in Karalia. Calculating and helping to expand into the further outskirts.” Everyone exclaims in surprise.
“That’s great, Sam!” Raumen says. “You’ll help small farmers who are starting off.”
Sam smiles and nods, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
“You’re the only one I would trust with my money!” Ilian says, laughing it off.
“I don’t think Sam would trust his money with you, though,” Raumen chortles, slapping his back, knocking the air out of Ilian, who chokes on his drink.
They all have dreams. A future they’re imagining after all of this is over. For them, it’s easy to remember their humanity, and abandoning it in the Corps isn’t. I know this question will come my way, but I have no idea what to answer.
“What about you, Nida?” Ilian leans in with a smile.
Her eyes aren’t filled with the same excitement as the rest of them. Instead, they are calm, serious. Carrying something that I can’t really make out. She doesn’t meet anyone’s gaze, instead, it looks like she’s looking straight through me.
“I want to be somebody who has the power to make a change.”
The table falls silent. I inhale sharply, holding my breath as if I’m waiting for her to say something that I wouldn’t want to miss.
“In what way?” Ilian asks, twisting the tankard in his hand.
Nida smiles, shrugging. “Any way. Big or small, whatever would benefit those around us.” Her words linger in the air. Her presence is still here, but her eyes are somewhere else. Somewhere distant. She blinks it away, returning from her trance, and drops her gaze to the empty tankard in front of her.
Before the question even got to Alex, he already slipped out. I don’t blame him. It’s not a question I want to answer either.
The table falls silent again and it lingers there for a while. The four leave to grab more booze, or play a game of darts. But Nida and I sit there in silence until a dark voice breaks it.
“You two look like you’re having fun.” My bones shiver at the tone of that voice, laced with sarcasm. I turn to the table to our right. Sharp, grey, snake-like eyes smudged with black stare at me through drapes of long midnight hair. He holds a glass of liquor close to his mouth, a smirk playing on his face.
“Valous,” I say, bitterness lacing my tongue, and it’s not from the ale breaking my gaze. A faint creak of wood against wood and the jiggle of metal reaches me. Heavy footsteps follow, and his presence closes in, the sharp scent of spice, liquor, and cinnamon making my nose wrinkle. Before I know it, he grabs the second chair to my right and sits, clinking his glass down on the table. Nida’s eyes are strained with caution, observing every move he makes, looking for a dagger under his dark cloak.
“Been a while, Zel,” he says, his voice strangely playful, muffled by the glass as he presses it to his lips.
“Not long enough,” I say, my jaw clenched. Nida’s throat moves, swallowing hard, her gaze still on him.
“Typical Zel.” He scoffs. “Bitter about everything, blindly following the Rule. I got to say, I’m surprised you’re here. And even dared to look in my direction.” He tucks a chunk of hair behind his ear, revealing the tip of the ear that is missing—the mark of a traitor to humanity.
Nida’s breath hitches. “Traitor,” she whispers, and Valous’s snake-like eyes turn to her. They’re even sharper looking with all the black shadows around his eyes. My body tenses. None of us should be seen speaking to him.
“That’s what they call me.” A sinister smile crosses his face. Nida quickly looks away. The longer we talk to him, the higher the chance our ears will get clipped too.
He brings the chair closer, scraping the floorboards loud enough to make my ears ache.
“I’m sure you wouldn’t mind,” he says cheerfully as he flicks his eyes back to Nida. “I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure,” he says, stretching out his hand to shake with Nida.
“Didn’t offer it,” she barks back, her eyes still very much alert.
Valous gives me an airy grin, forming a fist with his greeting hand in retreat. “I see you got yourself a dog to match your attitude.”
Don’t interact. Don’t say anything. Don’t even think of him. You’re not allowed.His eyes stray back to Nida. Watching her.Scanningher. Like he wants to know all her secrets.
“Have we met before?” he says, furrowing his black brows with a smile still tugging the corners of his mouth.
My jaw flexes, and I’m fighting the urge not to kick him off the chair. I know what he’s going for. I know what type he is. He has a fondness for starting a fight only to get himself out of it withoutlifting a finger. He may agitate someone, but he has a good way with words. I don’t play into it. The best part is watching him twist himself into desperation and annoyance, realizing I’m completely unfazed.
