Page 26 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
Her pulse was becoming dangerously fast, her heart pounded vehemently against her ribs, and beads of sweat gathered at her temples, streaming down in torrents. Out of necessity, she slowed her pace a bit.
Inevitably, her gaze wandered to the center of the arena to her fellow students. Magg was wearing a cap again, hiding her blonde hair. Ava would have recognized her hard-as-nails expression from a mile away. Although she had red round lips and a narrow face, her expression had something masculine about it due to its harsh look. This impression was underscored by her controlled, quick movements. If Ava could learn to fight half as well, she'd be satisfied. What else would Magg have to learn before she was accepted into the dragon fighters?
"Stop staring at me!" Magg suddenly shouted, without looking at Ava.
"I'm not staring!"
"Then how do you know I'm talking to you, chickie?"
How friendly. She definitely wouldn't be winning any popularity contests here.
"When is Master Clark coming?"
"Certainly not for you. You're not ready yet. Anyone can see that at first glance." With those words, she spat into the sand in front of her and pounded her bandaged fists into the straw dummy that served as her opponent. Looking at those hard hits, Ava thought she'd better not make an enemy of Magg. Still, she wasn't going to let herself be spoken to like that.
"I bet you had to start somewhere too!"
The blond student who had nodded to her came jogging over. Although he was running faster than Ava and had been training for hours, he didn't look exhausted. On the contrary, the physical exertion seemed to enhance his energetic aura. Since he wasn't wearing a tunic, his muscular upper body showed beneath his leather vest, emphasizing his affinity for sports. He was probably in his mid-twenties and exuded charm.
"Hey, I'm Ralph."
Perfect timing! Now she could take a short break. She seized the opportunity and stopped. "Ava."
He nodded towards Magg. "Just ignore her. But I advise you to do your laps somewhere else. Otherwise, it'll take you too long."
Gasping for breath, Ava put her hands on her sides. Panting, she bent over and straightened up again. "Why? You guys are training here too."
"That's why." He winked at her, jogged backwards, and pointed to the forest. "Go outside, run faster, do it alone. Just some friendly advice." He turned around, returned to his sparring partner, and they were soon fighting like young gods. And if you get advice from a young combat god, maybe it's best to take it...
Without much enthusiasm, she set herself in motion again and ran out of the arena. She wasn't running, but at least she was jogging. Surely the others couldn't be serious about the running. Who ran for more than a few minutes at a stretch?
She did several laps around the grounds, but Master Clark was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she passed a black-haired man who looked to be in his late forties. He appeared fit, also wearing combat clothing, yet he was sweeping the stone floor behind the stands. He nodded to her briefly before returning to his work.
Was that a punishment?
Ava did two extra laps near him and observed him, but he didn't look up again, instead immersing himself in his Sisyphean task. Maybe he was just a regular employee.
She jogged past the arena again, heard the shouts and the clang of her classmates' swords, but Master Clark still hadn't shown up. Ralph noticed her and pointed towards the forest. Right, the combat god had given her some advice.
Sighing, she headed for the gate and left the grounds.
It was hot. Damn hot. Soon she'd need a water break. And a change of clothes. She kept running when suddenly the sky darkened and two large shadows came rushing in.
Startled, Ava stopped and raised her hands. Inevitably, she expected Rob and his dragon. Her body stiffened and went into a state of alarm as she kept her eyes fixed on the massive shadows.
Or was it Kilian? Had he found out she was here? An inappropriate joy sped up her heartbeat as she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the sky.
Yet it wasn't the dragon fighter or any of Kilian's people, rather the same two dragons that had trained with Magg and her sparring partner in the arena yesterday. They headed for the arena, whirling up a veritable hurricane as they landed, sending sand and dust flying everywhere, and thundered down in the midst of the students, making the earth tremble as if there were a magnitude nine earthquake.
It was a miracle the buildings didn't collapse.
Ava came to a stop. Although she was outside the walls, she could see the heads of the mountain dragons and the matte shimmer of their large scales in the late morning sun. Though the dragons were small and rotund, there was something majestic about them.
How was the little dragon doing? Ava's heart clenched as she thought of him. He was so small, so adorable, so in need of protection. A sense of longing overcame her, rolling over herlike a wave and threatening to drag her down. But she quickly pushed the feeling aside and continued her run, circling the arena outside the walls again and again, constantly hearing the snorting and stomping of the dragons, as well as the clanging of swords and the shouts of her fellow students.
She ran until the sun reached its zenith. At last, it must have been lunchtime. She immediately noticed that the sounds of combat from the arena were fading and took it as confirmation. Parched, she headed for the gate, satisfied with herself for having persevered for so long. Whatever she had to prove to Master Clark, she had done it.
There was a well beside the gate. She walked purposefully towards it, pulled up the bucket, and scooped water with her bare hands. She drank greedily until her thirst was quenched. Afterwards, she washed her face, not wanting to appear at lunch dripping with sweat, though that was impossible given her sweat-soaked clothes.
