Blood + Tears (all 15)

Chapter 10

We walked down the winding hallways. I looked at my surroundings. They were beautiful. It had an artistic flare but wasn't gaudy. The walls were painted in bright and happy colors with murals that were painted without a mistake. The palace wasn't what I imagined it to be.

"So what is the Academy like?" I asked the men who were walking with me me.

Nathan spoke. "Like we said earlier, the academy was a school where both commoner and nobles' children went for schooling. Most of the commoners have a different curriculum than the nobles, but we are an exception because we are Gabriel's Protectors."

Luke skipped next to me and smiled. He slipped a strand of hair that had fallen in his face behind his ear. "Other than the stuck up students and professors, the school is really great. We can take any extra classes that we want. They even have a cooking class."

I gave him a smile. "I don't think I am qualified to be in a cooking class. My meals usually consisted of meat I killed, herbs I had gathered, and fruit that I had gathered. I imagine that the food that they require me to make is above my skills."

He pouted before Sean butted in and nudged Luke away. "Then you can join my medical classes. I hear that the professor is handsome and smart."

I looked at him and tilted my head. "Really? I wouldn't have thought that."

Sean frowned before Corey chuckled. "There are several classes that you could take. Etiquette, martial arts, weapons, medical, art, history. There's bound to be something that would interest you."

I nodded. "There should be something."

Luke suddenly became worried. His brown eyes glanced at me. "What about the Battles?"

I raised an eyebrow. The way Luke spoke made me wary. I looked at the others who had a worried expression on their faces. "Battles?"

Sean tapped his chin with his finger contemplatively. "That's going to be a problem."

Raven looked at them as if they were crazy. "No, it isn't. All you do is beat them until they're shit."

Corey sighed. "What if she comes across a person who has more mana than her? We don't even know what rank she is."

I frowned. They were forgetting that I was still with them. Not only did they forget about me, but also were talking about something that obviously included me. I reached out with my fingers to the nearest boy who was Marc. Infuriated, I pinched his side.

He howled in pain and clutched his side. His brown eyes shifted to emerald green and back to his mismatched eye colors. "What was that for?"

I crossed my arms. "This obviously includes me, and none of you were about to talk to me about it. First, what are Battles?"

Sean's lips trembled from refraining from laughing but a glance at me had him serious. "There are three types of fights in the Academy. Battles are when two students fights. They could shift into their animal or use their powers. Battles are common at the Academy because people are always trying to see who are better. Once a battle starts, it can only end when one is either unconscious or surrenders."

I raised my eyebrows. "And you guys were worried about me?"

Raven nodded, reminding me of a cute dog. "Yeah. You are savior, friend, and teammate. Now, let's hurry. You need fruit cup."

Nathan lurched forward towards me. "No! Don't take it."

"Why?" I looked at them.

Corey sighed. "It's a long story which we will tell you later. But, first, why wouldn't we worry about you?"

I felt the wall around my heart crack at what he said. If they kept being so nice to me, I don't think that my heart could take it. I felt the anger leave me, and I sighed. "I haven't had a nice life so far. Before I lived in the forest, my life was hell. When I met people in the forest, they would either think that I was an evil entity and try to fight me or were too scared of me and ran away. I never felt a kind hand before yesterday nor have I felt someone worry about me."

I looked into their eyes, expecting pity or sympathy, but I felt a shock run through me when I saw empathy and understanding. Their eyes seemed pained and filled with a sad past.

Nathan stepped forward. "Having several people come into your life and give you things that you've never experienced can be hard and frustrating, but we know what you are going through although our experienced might not be the same. Trust takes time, and know that we are willing to do anything for you to trust us."

A smile came to my face. I understood what they were trying to say. They weren't trying to take advantage of me or try to use me for their own intentions. They knew what it meant to give a person their trust and knew that I didn't fully trust them. "Thank you for worrying about me, but I can use my powers to fight them. I don't need to shift."

They nodded before we started to walk again. A few more turns and Sean stopped in front of a door. "The Academy has a past." He spoke as he opened the door. I felt my heart falter as I took in the scene. The room was a library with shelves from the ground to the ceiling. On the side wall was a picture of a fight. It was a gory scene filled with dead bodies and blood, and in the middle of the chaos was a knight in white with his glittering sword held high, pointing at something in the sky. In the dark sky that glowed with lightning was a beast of black. The painting was done so well that the scales seemed to gleam. Red eyes glowed like rubies, and black talons shined like onyx. Stretched behind the beast of black were huge wings. "The school was created to train people to defeat the creatures. Creatures that threaten the world, Dragons."