Dragon Boy

9: Assignments

Kyle took every precaution he could to avoid coming across Akora for as long as possible; he brought his meals back to his room, either went to Beast Class and Monster Studies as soon as possible or at the last moment, minimized his time outside, and spent a good portion of his free time in his room. Aoife asked him one morning why he was making himself so scarce, and Kyle simply told him, "Akora's probably mad and she looks like someone who knows how to make you hurt." Akora, in fact, was mad, and did know many creative ways to injure, maim, and destroy a victim. She did want to find Kyle, but her plan was not to injure, maim, or destroy, but to just scold him loudly. Kyle did not know this, and figured it was better safe than sorry, and better paranoid than dead. Because of his tactics, Akora was unable to scold him loudly for over a week. Then one day, Asim and Akora caught him in line for breakfast.

"You've been so elusive," Asim said in a tone usually reserved for dear friends and family who have been absent for far too long. "You should come sit with us."

Akora grabbed Kyle by the wrist before he could speak. "Yes, come!" she urged. "You should see how big our Familiars have gotten!"

Kyle, still inexperienced in the art of saying, 'No', grabbed his plate with his free hand and allowed her to pull him along. They approached the table where Aoife was already sitting, with Joy on the table in front of her. Joy had indeed grown a bit, but still retained a few down feathers. She nibbled at half a corn muffin that sat on Aoife's plate, sending out a flurry of crumbs as she ate.

Asim set himself next to Aoife and Joy. Leonidas, who had been lounging on Asim's shoulders, hopped onto the table to begin sifting through the food on his plate. The young gryphon had grown to be about the size of a kitten who was ready to leave its mother. His wings were small, and, like Joy's, covered in down feathers.

Akora sat across from the two and pulled Kyle down next to her. She lifted her satchel and removed her Familiar and pet from it, then placed them on the table. Both had grown to the size of young pups, and the pet had started to open its eyes. Akora fed the two goat milk, but also allowed her Familiar to eat from her plate. Her pet was still too young, and its teeth had yet to poke through its gums.

During this meeting, the others also saw how large Fledermaus had gotten. He was nearly two feet long, and his wings were showing signs of development. Kyle, who had spent this entire time with his Familiar, had not noticed until the others pointed it out. It was funny, to him, the way things grow so quickly, and yet slow enough to fool those who watch into thinking they are the same size as before.

Asim was the first to speak, and he simply spoke of how well his classes had been going. Aoife, when she managed to insert her voice into Asim's endless rambling, also offered mundane goings-on. Kyle waited, admittedly not paying much attention to the two in front of him, for Akora to reach over and snap his neck for being a coward, or for her to begin a long tirade that ended with him in need of stitches. That moment, however, did not come. So, when he could bear the weight no longer, he demanded, "Are you gonna kill me or what?"

For a moment, everyone at the table, Fledermaus included, stopped and stared in utter confusion. Then Akora understood and replied, "No. I was going to, but the feeling has gone."

Kyle sighed in relief.

"Oh, the incident in the catacombs," Asim concluded. "She told us about it." Deep down Asim felt as though Akora overreacted, but there was no way he would ever tell her.

"That why you've been avoiding me?" Akora had a look of amusement on her face.

"Yes," Kyle admitted, a bit afraid of how she would react. He was relieved when she let out a laugh.