Page 15 of Buoy
Rubbing his hands along his arms, Soren shivered. At least he was alone again. He walked to the rail and clutched the polished wood, waiting.
Just as the sun peeked over the horizon, a massive blue-violet dragon with a silver stomach rose into the sky. Wings beating slowly. Then a much smaller dragon. Red. But orange. And blue. Rhys was a magnificent blend of red faded to orange tipped with faint hints of blue along his spine. Soren leaned over the rail, oh how he wished he were closer. Wanted to know what those scales felt like.
Rhys barrel rolled in the sky, then dove before leveling out. Soren couldn’t help laughing at Rhys showing his tricks. He continued his antics until he was too far away for Soren to see, but Soren squinted and hoped for more.
Chapter 6
RHYS(AGE14)
Three months back at school, and Rhys just wanted to go home. To see Soren again. If only there were more school breaks, he could try to surprise Soren. But alas, it wasn’t so.
The classroom Rhys sweated in was sparsely decorated, a few healthy plants and a blank blackboard. A few of his fellow students fidgeted while they all waited for Master Trese to show up. But most everyone was silent. Unease had moved through the school after learning of an attack on a village several days before.
Rhys tried to finish his reading assignment, but he couldn’t concentrate. The book he’d read the night before was too advanced for him to understand, and he spent all night trying to work out meanings of the spells that could potentially help free Soren from the pirates. Soren had said he liked ship life, but Rhys couldn’t believe it. Soren always looked sad and exhausted and underfed and in need of a good wash. Rhys wanted to do what he could to help him, and just giving him food every time he saw the boy didn’t feel like enough.
The fireplace crackled happily for all the students that were not dragon. Rhys fanned himself, but it just moved heated air in front of his face.
Master Trese finally arrived. Their frazzled expression didn’t help matters. Their hair frizzed out in a wavy poof of ginger hair and dirt smudged their nose. Probably an experiment gone wrong. Though what Master Trese would be experimenting with was anyone’s guess, they were primarily the history teacher. Everyone knew they wanted the job of school healer, not teacher.
Rhys slumped in his chair and tried to keep his groan to himself when Master Trese stood at the blackboard and scribbled the day’s topic. History of the border disputes between Vond and Avet.
They dropped the chalk onto the tray and turned back to the class, scrubbing a hand through their hair. Their voice boomed all the way to the back of the room where Rhys sat.
Rhys wrote the words in his notes. King Dafydd of Avet had kept encroaching on their territory, which meant King Osian had to keep defending it. They had made a peace treaty over two decades ago, but recently King Dafydd kept pushing the limits of what he could do because of it. It made everyone uneasy and Rhys wondered if he had anything to do with the attack on the village.
Rhys’ hometown wasn’t anywhere close to where the disputes had been, and he was grateful for that. But he also knew what his father had gone through. No dragon wanted fire lung. In the back of his mind, Rhys feared the disputes might return and the peace treaty would get overturned. If he was a Grand Mage by then, he’d be forced to fight for the king regardless of where his hometown was.
But what would happen to Soren? What did pirates do during wartime? Would he ever see Soren again if war did come? He pushed the thoughts from his head. Hopefully, everything would be smoothed out again before he and the rest of his class graduated.
Chapter 7
SOREN(AGE13)
Finally!
Soren’s heart pounded. They were getting into Lane much later than usual. He didn’t want to miss seeing Rhys.
Seeing his beautiful bronze eyes. Hearing his voice.
Anxiety pumped through him. What if this was the year they missed each other? Soren didn’t think he could handle it.
As soon as he finished his duties, he scrambled to Vex’s cabin and scrubbed his face clean. Then pulled on a fresh shirt and a pair of trousers Rhys had given him that first year. They were still too long, so he cuffed the hem until he wasn’t tripping over them.
Satisfied, he shimmied open the secret compartment in the back of the cabin and looked over his shell collection. A few were specially picked for Rhys, and Soren chose a perfectly shaped scallop. The fan of the shell was a deep burgundy red and white. He shoved it in his pocket, then decided to do something with his hair.
Usually letting it fall free, he braided it over his shoulder to keep it out of his face. He squinted in the tin mirror in his cramped space. Did he look different? He was thirteen now. This would be their fourth year meeting, and Rhys always had subtle changes. Last time, Soren was sure Rhys’ fangs were just a tiny bit thicker. He had wanted to touch them, but thought better of asking. Especially after the embarrassing conversation with Rhys’ parents. He still blushed thinking about it.
Soren had grown a few inches. He knew because his head hit the ceiling of his hidden space, causing him to duck when he was there. He gave himself one last look in the mirror. With a nod, he turned and shoved the hidden door closed again before leaving Captain Vex’s cabin. But Kane blocked his way out.
“Where do you think you’re going all dressed up and pretty?” Kane’s greasy black hair hung over his face. The smell of alcohol poured into the small room. He dabbed at his lips.
“Leave me alone.” Soren tried to muscle past, but Kane stood in his way.
“Just a little kiss for Uncle Kane.” He bent over, cheek out.
“Let me through.” Soren itched to use magic, but he still didn’t want anyone to know he could.
“You’re such a little asshole,” Kane slurred out. “You don’t even know Vex is just using you. Well…” He grinned grossly. “Will be using you.”
