Page 51 of Ava's Love of the Dragons
A typically cryptic answer. Heavens, she needed more information!
"What advice can you give me to win against Elora?" She pointed at Magg, who was relentlessly pounding the punching bag. "Or first against Magg. She's so good that I wonder if she wouldn't be more suitable to fulfill the prophecy."
The Master didn't follow her gesture but looked at her instead. "Don't direct your thoughts to others, stay with yourself. Find your center and fight against yourself."
Uncomprehendingly, she raised her eyebrows. "I don't understand."
He stopped, leaned on his cane, and looked at her with a relaxed smile. "If you set out to be better tomorrow than today, and better the day after tomorrow than tomorrow, you will grow stronger every day. You must compete against yourself to achieve the greatest success." He nodded to her and wandered over to Magg as if he were an old monk and not a notorious combat trainer.
Lost in thought, she watched him leave, his words echoing in her mind. He was probably right. As long as she constantly compared herself to Magg, she would never be satisfied, for it was impossible to catch up with her. Moreover, Magg was pursuing a different goal than Ava.
If, on the other hand, she compared herself to herself—for example, how she had unintentionally stumbled into the dragon world and carried Draco in his egg, and who she was today—she found something to be proud of. She was learning to fight, had a goal in mind, and a dragon by her side. The progress was clear and evident, although it was not yet sufficient to face the mages. But she had to and wanted to, because the longer she stayed in this training facility, the more she put others in danger. Most of all Lilly, who would not hesitate to fight on the front lines.
For the rest of the evening, she worked on the punching bag and ran her laps until Kilian whistled from the air, signaling that their training for the day was over. She looked up at him as he circled the area on his huge fire dragon. Magg suddenly stood beside her, her head also tilted back.
"It must be a great feeling to fly on such a large dragon."
Surprised, Ava looked at her. Was the cadet actually making small talk on her own? "If you want, you can fly on Draco sometime."
Magg frowned. "Don't think we're friends just because we train together every day."
"I don't think that. I'm offering it to you anyway."
Her gaze flitted to Draco, who at that very moment was looking over the walls into the arena at them. He had grown so large by now that he no longer fit in the combat area along with the mountain dragons.
"I don't know if I want to carry her. She's not exactly nice to you."His eyes narrowed aggressively.
"But she's opening up."
"You used to be more suspicious, Ava."
That was true.
"Maybe tomorrow." Magg looked at her haughtily, as if she were doing her a favor and not the other way around, before turning back to the punching bag and resuming her training.
Ava was tempted to ask if she wanted to take a break and join her for dinner, but it didn't make sense. So she turned to leave. "See you tomorrow."
Just before she reached the exit, she barely heard Magg's response: "See you tomorrow."
Chapter 24
She rushed into the dining hall, planning to sit with her friends so she wouldn't encounter Kilian alone again. But she found him there eating with Allan, surrounded by Lilly and the combat students. Apparently, each day they chose the same spots to avoid each other.
She hesitated to join them, but how would it look if she ate at another table? Lilly would never forgive her, plus she wanted to hear how the girl was doing.
To postpone the decision, she walked to the cooking pots and took her time getting a portion. She felt Kilian's gaze on her back. The fine hairs on her neck stood up. Her heart faltered at the mere thought of sitting at the same table, looking into his eyes, and sensing his heat that mercilessly drew her to him.
Lynn came up to her, a smile on her pretty lips. Had she put on more makeup? She wore a dress that accentuated her slim waist. Next to her, Ava looked like Cinderella in leather.
"Ava, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure." She added rice to her stew before they sat down together at the other end of the dining hall. They chose the table where Magg usually sat alone, but the Amazon was still in training anyway.
"What's up?" She shoveled the first spoonful into her mouth. Only now did she realize how hungry she was—maybe because she was sitting with her back to Kilian and could therefore block him out better.
"I just wanted to give you an opportunity to stay here so you don't end up eating alone in some corner again. I can see what's going on between you and the dragon leader." She cast a knowing glance at Kilian.
Ava felt overcome with guilt, getting her to focus on her soup. It made her uncomfortable that everyone there was aware of their forbidden feelings for each other. She couldn’t help but feel like she was on trial. "I know what's at stake. Don't worry, I'm staying out of his way."
