Page 56 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
Master Clark appeared as if out of nowhere, twirling his staff and leaping through the arena as if he were not ninety years old, but rather a young fighter in his prime. He threw dust that glittered golden and spread like a protective layer over the battlefield. The golden particles formed into a hemisphere that expanded and pushed back the mages. At the same time, their attacks bounced off the dome.
"The dragon rider is coming back!" Ralph shouted.
The sky darkened as Kilian and Allan flew in with their enormous dragons. Together with Draco, the dragons swept their tails over the mages, who immediately focused on the aerial attacks. Although they fired powerful lightning bolts towards the sky, Draco swept aside one magical attack after another with his purple tail.
Meter by meter, the opponents were pushed back by the dragons and Master Clark's golden dome, until Kilian dropped a net on them. At the last moment, they jumped aside, disappeared under another shield, and were no longer visible.
"Where did they go?" Ava shouted. She had been ready in case an attack did fly through the golden dome, but Master Clark's protective spell withstood the attacks until they suddenly ceased.
No one answered.
She remained vigilant, standing in front of the others and holding the dagger with the Isip stone defensively in front of her while Kilian, Allan, and the dragons practically swept the stands to make sure the mages weren't sneaking closer through a back door.
"They're gone."
As if Master Clark had also heard Draco's words, he lowered his hands and the golden glittering dome disappeared. His gaze was directed behind Ava, where not only the cadets were, but also Marcus. Who stood as if petrified. But not because of the mages' attack, since he wasn't looking at the stands. He was looking at Master Clark and staring at him wide-eyed.
Ava looked at her friend with a furrowed brow. The other combat students also weren't looking at the spectator stands where the enemy had just disappeared, but instead at the old man, just like Marcus was. Ava followed their gazes to their trainer, and it clicked.
The rumor was true.
Master Clark was a mage.
And yet he had just saved their lives.
Chapter 26
"Stay behind me!" Marcus positioned himself protectively in front of Ava. "I knew it! I told you! We need to get out of here right now."
"But we drove the mages away! Master Clark helped us, didn't you see that?"
"Did he really?" Marcus stood firmly in front of her, but she pushed him aside and looked at the master. He calmly observed the remaining students, who were staring at him, no less horrified.
Allan and Kilian landed with their dragons in the middle of the arena, blocking the view of the master, and jumped off.
"Quickly, everyone on the dragons!" Allan waved the cadets towards his fire dragon, while Kilian ran to Ava. With a glance, he made sure she was all right before rushing to the injured students wordlessly. Ava wanted to follow him, but Marcus pushed her back and Magg also stood in her way.
"Stay here, Ava. We need to escape together!"
"I'm certainly not going to leave those two injured here! Let me through!" She squeezed past them and reached the cadets, who were just regaining consciousness. Kilian was supporting one of them.
"Are they badly wounded?"
Kilian shook his head and stood up. With a serious expression, he surveyed the chaos that had broken out, the student climbing onto Allan's dragon, and also Magg and Marcus shielding everyone as if Elora herself was in the arena. The injured cadets also got up and rushed to Allan's dragon.
"KEEP CALM!" Kilian shouted, causing everyone to freeze in place. "We need to stay calm!"
Allan came running with his sword drawn. "Where are we taking the students?"
Ava shook her head in confusion. Why did they want to take them away? The mages were gone. "Do you think our opponents will return so quickly?"
Kilian briefly touched her arm as if he wanted to tell her something. He nodded almost imperceptibly towards the students, Magg, and Marcus. Without exception, they were all horrified. Ava understood. It wasn't because of the mages' attack, but because Master Clark had used magic.
Kilian had warned her about discussing the sensitive topic in public, but hadn't the others seen that the master had protected them? If not, she needed to clarify that.
"We can't just?—"
The dragon leader nodded discreetly behind Ava, where Magg and Marcus were standing, hearing every word. The woodsman didn't let her finish.
