Page 2 of Heiress of Fire

Davina breathed heavily. There seemed to be chatter on the other side of the training room. Her eyes landed immediately on the boy with dark-raven hair. He laughed angelically at a joke made by his older brother, Beacon.

The Levina brothers stood next to Valerie, who had a grim expression and arms crossed over her yellow tunic.

Before she knew it, Davina was facing the rocky ceiling of the training room. She moaned from the impact.

“Sorry. I know the last thing you could ever want is for Ron to see you in a state like this, but this is why you should never lose focus. Even when he’s around,” Leilani said. “You must be the best Aurisan Soldier. You need to prove them all wrong.” Low enough for only the two to hear. Davina nodded, then Leilani extended her hand for her.

But Davina wasn’t going to let her win that easily. She grabbed Leilani’s arm and twisted her around, pinning her to the mat. “Say that I won.”

“No, you’re cheating!” She fought against Davina’s grip.

She tightened her hold around Leilani’s twisted arm, careful not to push too hard, only hard enough to scare.

“I’m just fighting in the same way that you taught me. Now, say it.”

“No.”

“Say it.” Davina pushed slightly.

“No.”

“I think I can hear Sadoc walking over—”

Leilani sighed. “Fine. You win.”

“That’s what I thought.” Davina smiled before letting go of her arm.

She waited for Leilani to recollect herself before walking over to their group of friends.

“That was good work there, girls,” Valerie said.

“They could’ve done better,” Beacon deadpanned before scratching his bearded face.

Davina rolled her eyes. “You only say that because of your lack of fighting talent.”

“Alright, if I lack talent then let’s fight right now. Come on.” Beacon stepped closer to her.

“Calm down, Beacon. Will you?” Ron put a hand on Beacon’s chest. Davina fought a smile while Leilani shifted awkwardly beside her.

“She started!” Beacon exclaimed, pointing at Davina.

“Beacon, stop. You are acting like a child,” Valerie hushed.

Davina smiled slightly.

“Anyway… how are Snow and Caleb doing with having to deal with the aftereffects of the Predator attack from last night?” Davina asked.

“Caleb told me this morning that most of the sheep that grew sick died from having contact with the Predators. He needs to find a way to make the herds grow or buy more sheep from another shepherd,” Lani explained.

Davina sighed, turning to Valerie for the response about Snow’s music shop.

“The Predators were trying to break into the shop. The ice was strong enough to stop them from entering, but there were cracks made on the walls.”

“Well, the good thing is, everything that was lost can be fixed.” Davina shrugged.

Rushed footsteps resounded into the training room. Davina and her friends turn toward the young man in brown Mistran robes, with gaped lips and widened eyes. The other Apprentices and Soldiers who were inside the training room turned to the doe-eyed messenger as well.

“What is it?” someone in the room asked.

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