Master Kaito wasunlike anyone else I’d met at Nightfall.
I’d survived my first few days at Nightfall, and it was my second time in his class, Sanctum Naturae, listening to him lecturing in long, ranting spiels that, while informative, were often over my head.
“Kamoria!”
I groaned inwardly as he called on me. He did this a lot. He’d be droning on forever, then pause after a question that no one caught.
“I’m sorry, sir, would you repeat the question?”
He sneered, then shouted. “Pollution! Technology! Species decline! What is the connection?”
I blinked hard. “Corruption?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
I groaned internally.
“Corruption has spread across this world like a poison,” he said. “When we take more than we need, corruption is born. When corruption grows, the end draws near.”
The clock on the wall chimed, and everyone rose from their seats.
After class, I fell in step with Isabella and Riya.
“Wow,” Riya said. “He’s intense, but right.”
“Yeah,” Isabella said, “Maybe I should return my makeup.”
I snickered and shook my head. “I don’t think that’s what he was getting at.”
We headed to our Valyrian class with Professor Rynar. All the Initiates I came in with and an additional group of Initiates were in the class. This was going to be the most time-consuming course of them all. We already had homework, and I already had a headache. We spent the entire class going over the Valyrian alphabet and beginner phrases. My jaw hurt by the end of class, and all I remembered was how to say, “My name is Anna.”
At least Professor Rynar was patient. He was an older, humble man with a gentle demeanor. I enjoyed listening to him speak Valyrian. The way he spoke it was so smooth, as if you felt them more than heard them.
After lunch, we all made our way to Griffin Hall.
Finally, it was time for the first Raicanya lesson. It had been delayed a few days while we got adjusted, but I was ready. I’d been anxious to get my hands on a sword. I felt it in my blood—the need to fight. I was helpless here, without answers or any way to get them. I thought more clearly when I was sparring, and I hoped someone here would prove to be a decent partner.
From what I could tell of the art of Raicanya, it was very similar to, if not precisely what, Derrick had trained me in. Never let your guard down. That was what he’d said to me over and over, and after years of training with him, it had become a way of life for me. I was always aware of my surroundings and others’ state of mind.
Like right now.
I felt Reece’s side glances like they were burning a hole through my leather. I ignored her and tightened the straps on my jerkin, ensuring a tight fit across my chest. It covered my upper body with a lightweight material and was unlike any training gear I’d used before. It was sleek and dyed black, with metal buckles and plates riveted to the leather. It blendedseamlessly into the bracers, also made of leather and metal, and tightly fitted to my forearms.
I pulled my black boots over the thick leather pants and heard Reece slam her locker.
“You’re the one who caught Isabella.”
I stood up and met her intensity. Reece had medium-length brown hair, an accent so thick I almost couldn’t understand her, and cold brown eyes. We’d only spoken a few times, and she made no indication she would have if she’d not been forced to.
“I saw you on the cliffside. How did you do it?” she asked, her thick lashes narrowed.
A flash of Isabella hanging there, about to fall, caused a sharp pain to shoot through my chest.
“I don’t know,” I said, turning to my locker and shutting it.
“It seemed as if you were cheating,” she said, her French accent coming out as she glared at me.
I took a deep breath before turning.
