The Others

Chapter Thirteen

It’s still dark outside, when I wake up. I open my eyes, and look straight in Jonathan’s face. I instantly get up, and rub my eyes. ‘What are you doing here?’ I whisper. He smiles, and for the first time, his smile seems genuine.

‘Come with me’, he says. Before I can decline, he’s already out of my tent. I look at the grass next to me, and see Lilly looking at me with expectation. Her bright blue eyes seem to radiate slightly in the pitch black of the night. I tickle her under her chin, and get out of bed.

Jonathan and Thalia are waiting for me outside of the tent. It’s difficult to see them, since it’s so dark. ‘Where do you want to go, I can barely see anything’, I whisper, trying not to make too much sound. Jonathan whispers something I can not understand, rubs his hands and I randomly see Thalia’s eyes shine brighter. The blue light makes it easier for me to see exactly where they are. ‘Thank you’, I tell him. I’ve not often seen people use magic, or to be more precise: never. Is this how magicians practice magic, through their Others?

‘Do all Others have blue eyes?’ I ask him, while staring at Thalia’s light.

‘Come with me’, he whispers. ‘You can ask me everything you want to know, but not here.’

I follow him away from the tents. He most likely does not want to wake up anyone else in camp, and a part of me respects that of him. It might be because he does not want the troops to be exhausted, but it might be because he’s a genuinely friendly guy. I’m not sure yet which of the two I’m going for.

When we’re far enough away from the tents, Jonathan sits down. Thalia lays next to him, and rests her head on his lap.

I take a seat in front of him, while looking at him with expectation. ‘What do you want to know?’ he says. I start with the easiest question: ‘Why are you waking me up in the middle of the night?’

Jonathan chuckles. ‘Well, you went to bed when there was still light outside. I did not want you to sleep too much, or you might get used to it. But really, Maya, is this the first question you’re going to ask me?’

I shrug. ‘I have too many questions’, I admit. ‘I’m not sure where to start.’

Jonathan pets Thalia’s head, and I hear her purr slightly. ‘Well, let’s start with the basis.’ He coughs, and scrapes his throat. ‘You’re at the scouting troops of the sixth division of King Storm. The King’s army is divided in six divisions. He has three generals that lead these divisions. Mart is the general of the fifth, and sixth division. The fifth division is the division you will most likely end up too, it’s where the strongest Others work together to defend the army when necessary. Many of us are split, during times of peace we help scout for new Others, and their magicians. But when we need to defend the kingdom, we have to go back to division five, for strategy.’

I nod. ‘But what are we defending the kingdom for? I know I live outside of town, and I do not get to hear a lot of the king, or his family. We have a temple, so we know we need to worship the Crown, but what do they do?’

‘Well’, Jonathan starts. ‘You might have heard of Morgen the Second.’

‘The Last Dragon rider’, I say, to show Jon that I have. He smiles.

‘Exactly. Well, before King Morgen, the world was in disarray. Us magicians were roaming he earth like there was no tomorrow. The freedom might sound appealing, but it was one big war. Every time a new magician got up, he -or she- tried to fight for power. Who had the biggest, strongest Other. Who got to ride a dragon? Who worked together with a lion, or had poison by their side?’ I see Thalia closing her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep on top of Jonathan’s lap.

‘We needed a leader, someone to stop us from tearing ourselves apart. And that leader, was Morgen the Second. Emeraugh broke out of his shell, for Morgen. And together they found a way to make magicians work together. Natural magicians were stopped, and only the ones with Others prospered.’

I nibble on my lip, feeling the little tear has a scab by now. ‘Stopped?’ Jonathan pulls up the right corner of his mouth, making it look like a smirk, but I see it’s no genuine smile.

‘Stopped’, he repeats after me.

‘What role does Mart want me to play?’ I change subject. ‘I am just an ordinary girl. I grew up on a farm, I can not even read, or write. I have no special skills, that I can use to help the army. How am I supposed to find natural magicians, or even fight them?’

Jonathan leans backwards on one of his hands, while the other’s still caressing Thalia’s head. ‘That’s wat you have me for’, he says. ‘You might not seem to like me, but Mart has appointed me to be your personal teacher for the next few years.’

‘Years?’ I say amazed. Jonathan laughs.

‘Yes. You’re a blank slate, Maya. I am not saying you’re useless, but you do need some prepping. I have been trained my entire life, to one day become general to the King. And you? You’re what, fourteen, and still completely incompetent.’

I snort. ‘I’m eighteen’, I defend my age, instead of the insult that I’m incompetent. Jonathan gets up from the floor.

‘And I’m not interested in numbers’, he says. ‘Now, let’s see what we’re working with. The sun has started to come up, and I need to know what we’re working with.’ He picks up two sanded sticks from the floor. Sticks carved like swords. He throws one at me, and I try to catch it from the air. I miserably fail. Jonathan sighs, but with a smile on his face.

‘Did I say years?’ he continues to insult me. ‘I meant decades. Now get up, and show me what you can do.’

-

I’m not sure how many hours it’s been that we’ve trained, but I know the sun’s come up a long time by now. Many people have gathered around us, to train as well. I have to admit that no one’s training with wooden sticks, like we are, but they do not seems to care. They are keeping their fair distance.

Every time a duo came up to do some fighting, they held their step close to us. Most likely to observe Lilly, but I feel like they are also observing me and Jonathan. No one makes it uncomfortable, though. They take a couple of minutes, and then go ahead to do their own thing. It makes me feel accepted already, and I like it.

I’m exhausted by the time Jonathan tells me to stop. ‘It’s time for some breakfast’, he says, and I realize the grunting pain in my stomach. I’m incredibly hungry. I nod grateful, and ask him where we might find some breakfast. He takes me to a big white tent, and they hand me a plate with some mashed potatoes.

‘Are you not eating?’ I ask Jonathan. I see him look around at the many faces staring at us, and I get the feeling that he does not feel comfortable here.

‘Officers eat somewhere else’, he says. ‘I will come find you later, there’s more training to do today’, and he walks away.

I take a seat at one of the long picknick tables and start devouring my potatoes. ‘Have you ever eaten before?’ I hear a female voice. With my mouth full of mash, I look up, right into the eyes of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The sides of her hair are braided closely to her scalp, keeping her thick, dark hair out of her face. Her eyes are out of this world, one blue, and one green. If I see it correct, the blue eye has drops of green in it, and the green one drops of blue. It’s mesmerising.

‘Your mouth dropped’, she sniggers. I quickly close it. ‘I’m Isla’, she says and she offers me her hand. I instantly take it.

‘Maya’, I answer, and I notice my mouth is still full of potato. I quickly swallow it and smile embarrassed.

‘That yours?’ Isla points at the little dragon sitting next to me. Lilly tilts her head. I pet her on the head.

‘I think so’, I say. It still feels strange to call Lilly mine, especially since she’s such an incredibly beautiful creature. ‘What’s yours?’ I say, trying to speak like she did.

‘Outside’, she says. ‘He freaks people out if he’s inside. Can I?’ she points at the empty spot in front of me. I nod, and she takes place.

She laughs when she looks at me eating my potatoes like there’s no tomorrow. ‘You know you’re the only one all of the divisions that has a dragon for an Other, right?’ I look up into her heterochronic eyes. Damn, she’s beautiful.

‘Yes’, I say. ‘I have heard it, once or twice.’

Isla stares at Lilly. ‘I must admit’, she says, before she puts a bite of mash in her mouth. ‘I expected dragons to be bigger.’

I laugh and instantly say: ‘I know right? I have the exact same thing. You see these pictures, and paintings of Emeraugh and the last Dragon Rider. Imagine riding her, she’s incredibly tiny.’ Isla laughs too.

‘Well, you never know. She might still need a growth spurt.’ She shrugs. I shake my head.

‘Or’, I say. ‘What I was thinking. Maybe there’s like different types of dragons. In different shapes and sizes. And she’s just a tiny one.’

Isla nods her head, making the dark hair fall over her shoulders. ‘Fair enough’, she agrees with me. She puts the last bit of her food in her mouth and gets up. ‘Want to see mine?’ she says. I jump up, pick up Lilly and nod excitedly.

We walk out of the tent, and I instantly see a beautiful lynx waiting for us. It’s eyes the same colour as Thalia and Lilly’s. It’s a size smaller than Thalia, if I must compare them, but it’s a beautiful big cat. It’s pointy fluffy ears are shaking when it gets up and strolls up to us. ‘This is Lynn’, she says. I smile.

‘Lynn the Lynx?’ She shrugs and grins.

‘Lynn became my Other when I was only eight years old. I did not have great imagination. And to my own defence, you do know that our division general has a bird called Feather, right?’

I laugh with her, and admit that Lynn is not that bad a name. ‘One thing though’, she continues. ‘Lynn’s a guy, not a girl. Do not confuse the two, just because the name’s not very masculine.’ I nod in agreement.

‘Eight years old right?’ I say. She lifts her hand.

‘Not only that, I do not do labels.’ She sounds pretty serious. I already know I’m going to like her.

I hear Lynn growl gently, and turn my face to where he’s looking at. I see Jonathan and Thalia walk up to us, but they are quite distant. ‘Why is everyone so unpleasant to Jon?’ I whisper, just loud enough for Isla to hear me.

‘Jon?’ she says, and she laughs. Most likely referring to me using his name short. ‘Well, you will figure out, hun. I got to go, let’s talk again later. I might be able to show you the fun side of the sixth division.’ She winks at me, and walks away. Lynn instantly follows, he even seems grateful not to have to be too close to Thalia.

‘You ready to go?’ Jonathan asks me. I see that he stares at Isla, who’s walking away from us pretty fast. I notice he purposely does not ask me about her.

‘Yes’, I say. I decide it’s a question for a different day.