Page 80 of The Last Dragon
“What’s going on here?” I say, pushing past the cadets.
“This guy decided to run his mouth like I wouldn’t hear it.” Alex jabs his knife toward the third-year.
“You started it!” the cadet shouts.
Alex’s eyes are blazing. He mutters something low and fast under his breath, like a spark crackling before it turns into wildfire. Then he steps forward, chest bumping the cadet just enough to ignite tension like dry kindling. “You wanna say that again? Huh?” Alex says, voice low, tight, and laced with warning. “Say it slow this time. Let it land.”
The crowd shifts like wind through dry leaves, nobody daring to cut in. The third-year holds his ground. Alex’s face is close, teeth clenched like he’s chewing through restraint. Ilian pulls Alex again, while the third-year’s goons hold him back.
“You want a knife between those off-centered eyes?” Alex tightens his grip around the knife, glaring at the third-year as he elbows Ilian into the stomach, freeing himself.
“Hey, stop this!” I grab Alex’s shoulder, turning him to face me. He glares at me, and then back at Ilian.
“Control your damn unit,” he says, wiping his mouth with the hand that’s holding the knife.
“You’re part of thisdamnunit,” I snap. He stays silent, breathing heavily.
“The fuck, man,” Ilian mutters, clenching his stomach. I glance at Ilian, circling, pacing behind me.
“You alright?” I ask, and Ilian nods. I turn back to Alex, his eyes still blazing at the third-year. Eryca checks Ilian, and Nida checks whether anyone else got hurt. This guy isn’t going to beeasy to handle. But there has to be something. I need to figure this out. I can be a commander, but I’m also a leader of this unit.
“All of y’all are pricks,” Alex mutters.
“Maybe if you were just a little bit kinder, people wouldn’t be assholes. Try being proper? Noble?” Nida says, rolling her eyes. Alex glances over his shoulder, taking a step closer to her. My fist is already forming in case he tries anything.
“Look, sunshine. I don’tdonoble. I dobreathing. And the only way for me to keep breathing is putting down anyone who wants me dead before they get the chance.”
“Not really having humanity’s best interest here,” I say, my voice low, hoping that he would get the hint. “If you’re going to keep talking like that, you’ll paint a target on yourself.”
“Oh yeah?” he says, voice low, turning to me.
“Yeah.”
“What are you gonna do, Zel? You’re gonna kill me? Huh? You’re gonna run to the general and tell him I don’t have humanity’s best interest?” He says, pressing his lips together, like he’s trying to hold the words from slipping.
“Well, newsflash, pal,” he says, licking his lips like he’s tasting something bitter. “I don’t. And I don’tcarewho knows it.” He steps back, meeting the eyes of the gathered crowd. Then his gaze returns to mine.
“Fuck humanity. There’s nothing left but bones and ribs protecting something that’s void.” He turns and walks toward a wall of cadets that move out of his way, letting him leave.
“Who puked in his food?” Ilian scoffs.
“Just let him be,” I say.
I watch Alex walk away, slicing the air with an unsheathed knife, kicking a rock before he fades completely out of view, the night cloaking him. The rest of the soldiers return to their own camps, rummaging in their bags as if nothing happened. Why ishe this way? Always agitated, always thinking someone is out to get him. There has to be something.
My mind flashes back to the first week after Assessment Year, where soldiers picked their Divisions and the dialogue of the cadets with the crooked nose and nine fingers echoes in my head.
Those types of Lords.
Shit. It wasn’t just any lords. It was the cruelest lords in the Middle.
I let half an hour pass, hoping Alex will cool down before I decide to approach him. He sits on a collection of boulders and stones, carving out a branch, with a knife. He doesn’t even meet my eye.
I sit next to him, noticing the tattoo swirling across his arms and traveling all the way to his wrist. There’s a scar below his neck, just above the leather collar. Easy to miss if you don’t focus. He glares at the cadets ahead, who are mocking Alex’s words with sing-song voices.
Remember what Raumen said. Kindness.
“Just ignore them,” I say. “They might not understand, but you don’t have to explain it either.”
