Page 22 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
Lilly exuberantly punched her in the side. "Brilliant, Fighter Ava, Dragon Guardian and Destiny Bearer! You have to show me all the tricks. But first, let's eat something. Is there a canteen?"
Marcus pulled the little one back by the shoulders. "Don't forget that we two won't be trained in this fighting arena. Politeness is an important virtue." He bowed to Lynn and smiled charmingly. "Would it be possible for us to stay with Ava while she's being trained? We'd be happy to make ourselves useful to earn board and lodging."
Lynn made a dismissive gesture as if that had long been decided. "Sure. There's plenty of work, and thanks to the master's former students who support us, more than enough to eat. Come along." She started walking and the others followed her, Lilly leading the way.
Even though Ava desperately wanted to know how she had managed to convince Master Clark, she accompanied her friends to the canteen. She had time until evening, and she would surely get Lynn to reveal how she had persuaded the trainer.
In the evening, Ava stood at the gate with a lantern in her hand, waiting. Lynn hadn't revealed anything, but had shown them the rooms and given them a tour of the training facility. That was why Ava had walked out earlier—to be alone and use the time to think.
Lilly was much too excited to have a calm conversation, and Marcus had no interest in her becoming Master Clark's student. Therefore, neither of them had been able to help her regarding the upcoming meeting.
She went word for word over the conversation she'd had with the master and kept coming to the conclusion that it must have been the phrasing that had made the difference. Or her loud voice, which had shown how serious she was. She had probably sounded convincing and strong-willed.
Heavens, she had no idea! If he asked her about the reasons right away, she would surely fail.
She nervously smoothed down the sleeves of her tunic. Lynn had given them fresh clothes and outfitted Ava with the student uniform: reinforced leather pants, leather boots, a white-yellow tunic, and a corset-like leather vest. She had also received a cloak with a fur-trimmed collar. Fortunately, the outfit kept her warm, as the cold had set in with sunset and was slicing across Ava's cheeks like knife blades.
She had tied her chestnut brown hair back tightly so it wouldn't fall into her eyes during training, though she wondered if they would really start fighting right away. After all, it was already dark.
She observed the area attentively. The muffled clashing of swords echoed through the darkness from the arena, mixed with labored panting. Someone was still training. In the living quarters, lights burned behind individual windows, but there wasn't much activity. Apart from the two cadets at noon, Ava had seen three others at lunch, but they had kept their distance.
The other students were younger than her, but she wouldn't let that stop her. She had come here for a specific reason, and that's what she focused on. This helped reduce her nervousness—at least a little, because she kept wondering nonstop why the master was expecting her at the gate in the dark. Hopefully not to kick her out after all.
Time passed, night had long since fallen, and still Master Clark didn't appear. Ava slowly paced back and forth, shining the lantern in all directions, but saw no one. Had he changed his mind? Or had they meant a different gate? But during the tour with Lynn, she hadn't seen any others.
She looked around helplessly when suddenly her light went out, and she stood in absolute darkness. Fear shot through her limbs. She dropped the lantern, raised her hands, and froze. She couldn't see anything. Not even the faintest outlines. And she heard nothing.
"Master Clark?"
Her voice sounded far too thin, so she cleared her throat. "Master Clark?"
No one answered.
Damn, had Rob found her? Or the mages? Alarmed, she turned in a circle when suddenly something sharp poked her in the side, and she lost her balance. She flailed her arms and took a lunge step until she was stable again.
"Who's there?"
Again, a point struck her in the waist. She was pushed over, but she caught herself before falling to the ground and whirled around. Ready to defend herself, she bounced on her knees and held her arms in front of her. Rob or the mages wouldn't have played with her but would have immediately taken her away from here before anyone noticed. Were the other students toying with her? Was this some kind of initiation ritual?
She listened into the darkness, trying to make out anything, until her eyes finally adjusted to the gloom and she saw the old master standing in front of her. He was leaning on his stick, calmly observing her and waiting.
"Master Clark. Was that you?"
"Tell me what you did wrong."
Taken aback, she blinked, quickly looking over her shoulder to see if someone else had sneaked up, but they were alone.
Shaking her head, she furrowed her brow. "I didn't bring a weapon and couldn't defend myself?"
"Was that really why you couldn't defend yourself?"
She hesitated. What was he getting at? Was this already the first lesson?
"I wasn't prepared."
He nodded. "The most serious mistake. And?"
At a loss, she shrugged. "I should have expected an attack at any time?"
