The Drache's Love

Chapter 8, Avva

And so, the routine continued, day after day, week after week and month after month.  Run, eat, train, eat, train, downtime and then sleep.  And, indeed, Cormac had handed me my ass when we trained with scimitars, but he was patient, and taught me well.  During our downtime, I began teaching Cormac to conjure food, and to scry.  He had taken to scrying like he was born to it, and that was much more difficult magic.  He had the will to see what he wanted to see, and that was the most important portion of the magic required to perform the act.  We were about three months into our training when I began trying to teach him to conjure food.

“Okay, I don’t know of anyone that can conjure a five course meal, so don’t get any ideas about replacing the food in the mess hall,” I began.  I had to pause for Cormac’s laughter.

“I was thinking about doing just that,” he replied through his chuckles - that happened to be punctuated with a snort here and there.

I continued, giggling a bit, “It’s all about concentration.  Don’t try to conjure a roast turkey, start with a piece of bread.  But, you have to be careful.  You’re not just conjuring the food, you’re also conjuring the vessel.  When I first started, I ended up with hot kaffee in my lap because I forgot the cup.  Bring it together in your mind, picture the finished product, and then, poof!”

I handed him a flaky pastry filled with blackberry jam, one of his favorites.  He always chose this pastry no matter what the options were.  I was glad of the friendship we had built.  This relationship was something that was just mine, and rather than being because I was a princess, it was in spite of me being a princess.

“Okay.  My turn now.  Here goes nothing,” he said as he held both hands out in front of him, and closed his eyes, his face scrunched in concentration.  A small pile of flour, a bit of butter and a single perfect strawberry appeared in his hands - the makings of my favorite pastry.  He gave attention to detail as well as I.

I almost fell out of my seat laughing.

“You’re off to a good start.  My first time I ended up with half a raspberry, so you’re doing better than me,” I said.

Just then, a human man, Mauricio came and sat down opposite Cormac and I.  This one seemed to be trying to ingratiate himself to me.  Cormac and I were almost always together, but the human paid him little to no mind.  His disregard only showed his lack of respect for creatures in general.  We all came into this experiment with prejudices, but it seemed that all but Mauricio had made great strides in respect to letting those prejudices die.  I pitied Dolf, the troll that Mauricio had been paired with.

“I never had trouble conjuring food,” the utter ass announced arrogantly.

Cormac had been working so hard to learn this magic, and I wouldn’t have this prick bruising my friend’s feelings.  I knew Cormac had my back, but I wouldn’t trust this slimy human with a houseplant.  Cormac and I slowly and simultaneously swiveled our heads toward the little s**t.

“Oh, that’s interesting - and hard to believe - but, can you scry?  Cormac here can scry nearly as well as I can,” I replied snidely.  Mauricio deflated like a balloon, but I didn’t care.

“I think I’m going to head to bed,” Cormac said, and rose from his seat, sensing that my temper was about to do the talking.

I turned to Mauricio and started in on him.

“Mauricio, you aren’t better than anyone here.  And nobody here is better than you, myself included.  You seem to hate creatures, and merely tolerate the fact that they’re here.  If that’s truly the case, why are you here?”

Pure malice flashed in his eyes for no more than a split second before he answered, “I didn’t have a choice.”

That seemed to be the story for at least half of the recruits.

“Well, soldier, we all know who you are.  What you are.  You can make the best of the situation, or not.  You can adapt, or not.  You can try to make this work, to become a better person.  But if you don’t, at least stop being an asshole,” I said, as I tried to impart a small bit of wisdom.

“Heard and understood,” Mauricio replied, arose and went to bed.  I doubted my words had had any impact on the man.  I took myself to bed, sighing as I sunk back into the feather mattress.

“Your temper handled that better than I thought it would,” Cormac mumbled from the next bed.

“I wasn’t about to let him disrespect you.  You don’t deserve that,” I said.

“I can defend myself when necessary,” he replied, but he was obviously amused.

“I know, but sometimes, you should at least let it appear like I have the bigger d**k.  Inflates my ego,” I answered, and giggled a bit.

“Go to sleep, Avva,” he said, rolling over, but doing a piss poor job of masking his own laughter.

“G’night, Drache,” I yawned.

I had never had a friend quite like this Drache, and didn’t think I would ever find another.  We had become closer than I thought possible.  We had reached a point where we anticipated each other’s needs and wants.  Hence the blackberry pastry.  There hadn’t been any pastries at dinner that night, only an over sweet pudding.  I truly treasured the friendship.

But that night, for me at least, everything changed.