"Cadet Kailin."
We both looked up at Captain Odinah, who had walked up to our table and was standing on its other side with her customary inscrutable expression.
"Captain." I jumped to my feet.
"Commander Ravel has requested your presence," she said. "You're to report to training area six."
I blinked. "Right now?"
He'd said he would arrange for additional testing to see if I could communicate with other dragons, but I didn't expect it to be so soon.
"Immediately, cadet," Captain Odinah said, her gaze flicking briefly to Alar before returning to me.
I glanced at him, catching the way his face darkened, his jaw tightened. But he said nothing, his eyes carefully blank as he looked down at his plate.
"Yes, Captain," I said.
I was still hungry, but it wasn't as if I could refuse or ask to be allowed to finish my breakfast.
Captain Odinah nodded once, then turned on her heel and strode away, clearly expecting me to follow. I cast an apologetic last look at Alar.
"I'll save your plate," he said, his voice controlled but with an undercurrent I couldn't quite identify. "In case you are allowed to return before breakfast is over."
I was pretty sure that my testing would take longer than that, but if I said so, I would reveal that I knew why Commander Ravel was summoning me, and then I would have to admit that something was going on that I was not allowed to reveal, and Alar would get even more suspicious.
"Thanks," I said to save time and explanations I couldn't provide. Captain Odinah was already at the mess hall doors, waiting impatiently.
I hurried after her.
She led me through the academy's long, winding corridor, eventually emerging onto one of the many balconies that jutted from the mountainside. The morning air was still crisp, but the sun had risen fully now, bathing the mountains in warmth.
Commander Ravel stood at the edge of the balcony, his back to us as he gazed out at the view. Beside him, Onyx lay sprawled across the stone, bathing in the early morning sunlight like some enormous dog, his massive form somehow managing to look both relaxed and alert at the same time.
As he lifted his head and swiveled it toward me, I could swear that his snout seemed to smile, but that was impossible. Dragons didn't have facial expressions like humans, but maybe it was his smart golden eyes that were giving the impression of a smile.
"Good morning, Little Warrior," his gruff voice rumbled in my mind, the familiarity of it still startling.
"Good morning," I answered automatically.
Ravel saved me by echoing my greeting. "Good morning, Cadet Kailin Strom." He turned to Captain Odinah. "Thank you, Captain. That will be all."
She nodded, turned around, and walked back inside, leaving me alone with Ravel and his dragon.
"Did I interrupt your breakfast?" Ravel asked, gesturing for me to join him at the balcony's edge.
I approached cautiously, keeping a respectful distance from both him and the precipitous drop. "Yes," I answered truthfully because, as an Elucian, I didn't have the option of providing a polite lie.
Ravel smiled. "This won't take long. You might still get back in time to finish your meal."
"What will not take long?" I asked.
"I've spoken with my commander about your ability to communicate with Onyx and the need to check if that's an anomaly or if you can communicate with other dragons as well. He told me to do so expeditiously, so I arranged for several dragons to fly past and get close to you. I want you to tell me if you can hear their voices."
Before I could respond, a shadow passed overhead, and as I looked up, I saw a copper-scaled dragon soaring above us, its wings spread wide as it caught an updraft.
"Greetings, Little Warrior," a distinctly feminine voice echoed in my mind, musical and light compared to Onyx's rumbling bass. "Onyx has talked about nothing else since yesterday."
I gasped. "I heard her. She called me 'Little Warrior' and said that Onyx has been talking about me."
