Silent Heroes: Wildcat

Chapter 35: The Silver Eyed Dragon

"Well, that's one way to make up," Reza said while everyone was clearing out after the meeting.  "I thought you guys were serious for a few seconds there."

"Don't be silly, Rez," Jewel said.

"Hey, what was I supposed to think? You two were really going at it.  It was pretty impressive in a scary "I hope they don't kill each other" kinda way."

I looked at Jewel, who was casually examining a shallow cut on her left elbow.  Probably my doing.  "Sorry.  I got a bit carried away, didn't I?"

"We both did, Eve.  Don't worry about it."

"So, are we okay?"  The sparring match had relieved most of my anxiety, but I still wanted to know for sure.

"Of course," Jewel dropped her arm and looked back at me.  "I mean, I still think it was really stupid of you to go on a date with Lucas.  Not to mention lying about it afterwards.  That was a seriously moronic thing to do."

"Aww," Reza said.  "Can you feel the love?"

"But, I'm not mad at you.  I'm mad at the situation.  Not you."

"She was worried you might have done something drastic," Reza said.

Jewel's mouth twitched at the corners.  "Can't say I didn't think about it."

"You really don't like Lucas, do you?" I said.

"What tipped you off?"

I grinned.  "Oh, you know, I have very good instincts for things like that."

The room was quickly emptying out.  I spotted Isaac making his way towards me.  I was relieved to see that he no longer appeared angry.  Still, I had a feeling that I was in trouble for something.

"A word, Evelyn?"

Isaac was not the type of person you argued with.  I said goodbye to Jewel and Reza and followed him out the door. 

The meeting had ended early and it was still light outside.  The air was cooling as night approached.

"Are you comfortable with climbing?" Isaac asked me.

That seemed like an odd question.  "Yeah, of course."

"Good.  This way."

"Where are we going?"

He didn't answer.  He turned right and led me through a small, neutrally-coloured door that faded in comparison to the bright, vibrate shades around it.  If I had been walking past, I probably would have overlooked it.

The other side did not resemble a room so much as an abandoned elevator shaft.  Tall and narrow and faintly claustrophobic.  A mesh of bamboo surrounded us on all sides, warm sunlight spilling in through the cracks.  Several meters above my head, I could make out the fading blue of the sky.

Isaac began scaling up the wall in quick, easy steps like it was no different than a ladder.  I followed close behind.  The bamboo creaked faintly under my weight.  The light grew stronger the closer I came to the opening at the top.

I clambered onto level ground a few seconds behind Isaac, then stood up and took in my surroundings.

We were on the roof of the school.  It was dizzyingly high, level with many of the tallest trees in the forest.  The wind swirled and gusted around us, causing the surrounding leaves and branches to sway dramatically.  I saw the village sprawled out far below, all roads and footpaths and oddly shaped buildings.

I turned to Isaac and almost jumped in surprise.  Where his human form had been just a few seconds ago, there now stood his equally intimidating dragon form.