Lyra did her best to ignore Rakon the next few days. She didn’t know why, but he irritated her. Everything he said was annoying. He didn’t know anything about the corps and for some reason everybody liked him. Granted he was a decent fighter and really took it to Tobias, but still he was not that amazing. His comment in the sand pits really bugged her, if she was being honest with herself, and there was something about him that still seemed off, although she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Their squad continued to practice nightly, sometimes with Lucas and sometimes without. She found that she really liked training with Lucas, he was a talented swordsman and really nice to be around. Whenever she had the opportunity she would pair up with him to spar, and it seemed he equally enjoyed their time together. However, it was clear that from a skill standpoint, Lyra was getting the most out of this exchange.

Rakon was not the only person she was confused about. Kai was also acting strange, and this took her completely by surprise. The only reason she could come up with was that somebody told him what Renea had told her while they were fighting. She didn’t know what to think at this point, and she really just wanted to pretend it hadn’t happened. But if somehow Kai had feelings for her, she couldn’t just ignore him. She needed her best friend, she couldn’t lose him now after sticking by his side since practically the day she was born. She dreaded having that conversation with him, but she knew it was the right thing to do.

She decided she would do it tonight, after their sparring session. Just a quick talk and then she could go to bed and pretend it never happened. She could feel the nauseous feeling beginning to react to her nervousness. She wanted to throw up already, and she couldn’t focus on anything the rest of the day. Even their Tracking trainer, Trainer Martin, had to reprimand her. This embarrassed her more than she wanted to admit, tracking was normally her best class. The years she spent hunting with Kai as well as her affinity to earth made her a natural tracker.

Eventually the day passed when their squad, and Lucas, made their way to the sand pits. This was the only time that she was able to put off her confused thoughts about Kai and finally relax. When she had her sword in her hand, and sweat pouring down her face, she felt like she could finally shut the world and its craziness out, and just be herself.

She spent the entire evening with Lucas, he was the only one that pushed her like she wanted. She was desperate to be a better fighter, and she knew that Lucas could help her reach her potential.

He had helped her focus on playing to her strengths. She was smaller than everybody else, true, but she was also faster. If she tried to fight like all the other cadets, she would be beaten every time. Thankfully, the sword her father had given her was enchanted to be lighter and stronger than normal. She was able to move quickly without her arms tiring.

She was grateful for the distraction the sparring session gave her, and at the end of it she was sweating and had several new bruises to show for her efforts. She could tell her hard work was paying off, day by day she was getting faster and stronger, she could feel it. She loved the exercise, but right now all she wanted to do was wash up and sleep for a week.

“Lyra!” Kai called out to her, “ Want to help me with some geography? If I do poorly in another assessment, Trainer Glenwood told me I’d owe her fifty laps around the training compound, and I don’t think she was kidding.”

She stopped, surprised that Kai had spoken to her directly. This was a good sign, but it also reminded her of the conversation that she needed to have with him. On the other hand, if he was acting normal again then perhaps she could pretend that she knew nothing of his feelings and just never bring it up.

Just then she saw Rakon dismiss himself from the group quietly and take the rear exit out of the sand pits. Confusion hit her, and she stopped in place forcing Kai to abruptly halt next to her. He followed her gaze and just saw the back of Rakon as he left the arena.

Why would he take the back exit? It’s the farthest possible way to go to get back to his room, he never goes that way. Something is off about him, I need to know what’s going on.

She smiled at Kai, knowing it would hurt him to hear her say no, but she had no choice. She finally had a chance to unveil some of Rakon’s secrets, this was too good of an opportunity to give up.

She smiled at him apologetically, “I would, but I really can’t right now. How about tomorrow? We should have an hour after lunch, we can study then if you want?”

He glanced at the exit Rakon had used moments before, and he nodded at her, not returning her smile. “Yeah, that’s totally fine. I get it, you’re busy with other things,” he vaguely gestured at the back exit. “I can go ask Niles if he has time, he’s always been excited about reading and such.” He gave a weak chuckle and started to head towards the exit. “I’ll take you up on that offer tomorrow though, if you’re not too busy.”

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Lyra watched him leave, she wanted desperately to correct him and whatever conclusion he had jumped to, but she didn’t have time. Let him think whatever he wanted to think, she needed to catch up with Rakon before he was gone.

She started walking over to the exit he used and as soon as she was alone in the ring she started running. Rakon already had a head start, and if she wasn’t quick she was going to lose him.

What am I even doing? She thought to herself. My plan is to just follow him? Saying it like that in her head made it sound incredulous, but she didn’t care. She just knew something was off about him, something did not feel right and he looked way too conspicuous for her to just let it be. She was going to find out what was going on, and that was it.

She slowed down when she reached the exit, no sense in rushing into things she wasn’t prepared for. She peaked around the corner of the door and didn’t see a thing. Dismayed, she reached out with her power of earth, searching for footsteps. Her range was very limited, she was not a mage and the corps was not training them to hone their skills with their elements. She was capable however, of doing enough to get by.

Just on the edge of her range she felt a set of footsteps taking a path that could possibly lead outside. Luckily it was late enough that most cadets were either in the barracks or nearby there. This lone set of footsteps must be Rakon.

She broke her concentration on the footsteps and took off running towards the entrance. It seemed as if the footsteps were going into the city, which was very interesting. It was a well known fact that cadets were not allowed in the city. If they were caught they would be severely punished, as would the rest of their squad. Confusion filled her mind, followed by anger.

What does he think he’s doing? He’s going to get us all in trouble if he’s caught! She took an alternate route to the compound’s exit, one that was slightly longer, but she ran fast. She was hoping she could beat Rakon there to see if it was actually him the footsteps belonged to, or if she was mistaken.

When she got to the last turn before the main gate, she waited. She slowly peaked her head around the corner to see if she could spot Rakon. Yes, there he was. He walked calmly past the guard at the gate, nodding to him as he went. Lyra had to leave the cover of the shadows for fear of losing him again, because he had continued past the guard and didn’t look back. Where is he going?

There was a large tree in the corner of the compound. It was a well known spot because it provided a lot of shade in the hot months as well as providing cover for cadets not wanting to be caught doing things that were not allowed. Lyra followed Rakon as close as she dared, afraid she would get caught if she was too close to him.

The tree was near the horse stalls. Conveniently somebody had left a few bales of hay outside, so she dove for cover as he neared the tree. Rakon looked around to make sure he was alone, luckily she was well hidden behind the hay, and she could just barely peek her head around the edge of the hay bale. She watched as Rakon slipped behind the tree, and now all she could see were his feet. Slowly, the ground beneath his feet rose into the air. A solid pillar of earth rose up underneath him and, soundlessly, carried him to the edge of the wall that surrounded the training grounds.

Lyra’s mouth dropped open. How did he have that kind of control over earth? To move that much earth and carry somebody over a ten foot wall, that was something for the mage’s guild. What was he doing in the dragon corps?

She ran quietly over to the tree as soon as he crossed the wall. Her control over earth was not powerful enough to do what he did, but she was always a good climber. She took a running leap and missed the lowest branch by a good hand width. She thought for a solution frantically, time was not on her side. With Rakon in the city, if she lost him now she might never find out what he was up to.

She took a few steps back and reached out to the earth. She ran again and leaped for the lowest branch, this time thrusting out with earth at the same time causing the ground to give her a slight boost from her final step. It was barely enough to grab the branch with both hands, her skin stinging from the rough bark digging into her. She breathed heavily, strong pushes of earth always left her winded. She had no idea how Rakon managed to pull off his trick and manage to walk away fine.

I can’t rest now. The thought of turning back never crossed her mind. She swung one leg up over the branch she was holding onto and straddled the branch, giving her arms a much needed rest. After making sure she had her balance, she quickly climbed up a few more feet in order to reach the wall. Luckily for her, she had no problem climbing trees. The many years she had spent with Kai climbing the trees in the woods right outside her village had given her sufficient practice.

Once she made it to the wall she held onto the edge and let herself down as far as she could, extending her arms all the way with her face pressed up against the wall. Looking down briefly to ensure that she didn’t land on anything dangerous, she let go. She dropped the last few feet, landing on her feet and going into a backwards roll to absorb the fall. Getting up, she dusted herself off and once again tapped into the earth to find Rakon. Luckily it was late enough that everybody was in their homes, and nobody was on the street. Once she had pinpointed his approximate location, she took off in pursuit.