"Good." I shouldered my pack, testing its weight. "You did remember to pack your coveralls, right?"
Shovia's momentary hesitation was answer enough.
I shook my head. "Go home and get them. They won't let you up the mountain without them."
"Drak." She jumped up from my bed and darted to the door. "Back in a flash!"
After she left, my father chuckled. "Some things never change. You've been looking after that girl since you two became best friends."
"We take care of each other." I smiled, remembering all the times I'd had to rein in Shovia's impulsiveness, and all the times her positive energy had pulled me out of a slump.
Loud voices outside drew us to look out the window. People were already heading toward the town square, their packs on their backs and excitement evident in their hurried steps and boisterous tones.
Chicha pressed against my legs, whining softly.
"It's okay, girl." I crouched to pat her shaggy head and scratch behind her ears. "I'll be back before you know it."
She looked at me with those wise old eyes, and I felt tears prickle the back of mine. If I were found gifted, I wouldn't see her for a long time. Dylon's first visit home had been seven months after he'd started training.
"Got them!" Shovia burst into my room, waving her coveralls. "Can we go now? I want to get a good spot near the front."
"Near Codric, you mean," I teased, standing up and wiping my eyes discreetly.
She grinned. "That depends on whether he and Alar make it there early like Alar promised you."
I hugged my parents one last time, trying not to think about how this might have been the last night I'd spend at home. Even if I weren't chosen for the Dragon Force, I'd still be assigned somewhere to start my basic training.
"Be safe," my mother whispered.
"Always am." I kissed her cheek, then my father's. "See you at the square."
I stopped by Gran's rocking chair in the living room and gave her a fierce hug. "I'm going to miss you."
She patted my shoulder. "I will be there to watch the ceremony. Good luck out there. I know you are going to make it."
"Thanks, Gran." I kissed her soft, wrinkly cheek.
As Shovia and I headed out into the aurora-lit evening, I heard Chicha's worried whine behind us, and my heart ached. I was already missing her and the rest of my family, and that was before I even made it a few steps away from my home.
16
ALAR
"When instinct drums its warning beat,
You'd better heed it and move your feet."
—Elurian Proverb
As Codric and I made our way toward the square, I adjusted the straps of my backpack. It wasn't heavy, but the items strapped to the bottom made walking uncomfortable. I should have tied them on top of the pack like I had done during training in the academy, but I was afraid it would give me and Codric away.
Was I being paranoid?
Probably.
No one here had ever been to the Vedona Elite Forces Training Academy or even visited an Elurian militaryinstallation, so no one should notice the different style of packing gear for a trek. That was another thing that I hoped to change. Eluria and Elucia were allies, and they should have participated in joint military exercises that would benefit both countries. We could start with a personnel exchange program, of which Codric and I were the unofficial spearheads.
The fatigues weren't all that different from Elurian military gear, except for the brown and white camouflage pattern, which was designed for these mountains, rather than the green that blended better in Eluria's landscape.
