Page 128 of Veiled

Tyr had known something was wrong the second I stepped foot on the riding grounds. And as soon as Matt got one look at me stumbling in late, he had me thrown over his shoulder and was sprinting to the infirmary.

Luckily, the tests came back quickly, and they were able to flush it from my system before it did any lasting damage.

It’s unnerving how easily he switches between little sharp insults and annoying rumors to covering me in pig's blood in my sleep and suppressing my nervous system so he can do only the gods know what. And since I can’t prove anything, I’m stuck counting down the days until he’s gone.

“Did you find the book you were looking for?” Sasha asks when I sit down.

“Yeah, plus two more that might have information I need.”

“What class do you need books on the war for?” James asks, looking over my stack.

Sasha shoots me an apologetic look for drawing attention to me while Antonio pretends not to look at me at all, waiting to hear how I’ll answer.

“Strategy. I’m hoping they’ll be helpful with planning.”

It’s not a complete lie. They probably will help there, too, but I got them for Ghost Walking.

We’ve been talking about the increased number of attacks along the border in class, and since I only know what little information has made it to the South Hollow news, I’m left to sort through books.

I’m hoping to find something that shows which towns and villages were attacked each year, in what order, and how many casualties resulted from each attack. I’m wondering if there’s a pattern to their escalation, but I haven’t been able to find anything with dates or numbers included. Everything says, over X amount of bodies found, or the mention of one town listed as decimated, only to find it’s a typo, and that town wasn’t actually hit, and of course equally unhelpful, the general note of “Mass casualties,” listed, as if the final number isn’t important.

“Hmmm,” Josh speaks for the first time since he opened his horror novel. Since he wasn’t required to enroll in a secondary track just to turn around and drop it, he has nothing to study now.

“I don’t think I’ve ever come across anything like that when I was active, but I can check with some buddies that are still on the front line, if you want?”

“Really? That would be amazing!”

Josh pulls out his phone, typing out a message, “Done. I’ll let you know if they’ve seen anything that’ll help.”

“You’re the best!”

He smiles a shit-eating grin, “Definitely telling Aiden and Matt you think so.”

“Please let me be there when you tell them!” Sasha cheers.

I flip through page after page, reading accounts of the aftermath from soldiers and people from neighboring towns, but to date, there hasn’t been a single survivor who’s lived to tell their tale. Not even the children are spared, and I feel nauseous imagining the kind of monsters who could do that to children and live with themselves.

Another book I look through is filled with logs of enemy weapons and technologies that have been found across the country. It’s not surprising Clowess would have their own spies running missions, but it is unnerving to see evidence of how widespread their infiltration has been. Spells cast from great distances or set off by triggers long after they had to have been placed, devices that listen to and record conversations found in public areas of towns, so many weapons I’ve never heard of.

I’m hypnotized by all of the new information I’m reading, and frustrated that I can find all of this, and yet not a single record of the casualties we’ve faced.

When I’m done with this stack, I swap them out for others to check out and read in my room over the next few days.

“We need to plan the beach bonfire night still,” I remind Josh.

“Babe, I think it’s a bit too cold for swimming right now.” He teases, but there is a hint of ‘you’ve lost your mind’ thrown in there.

“Not to swim,” I roll my eyes and smack his arm, “For a bonfire!”

“Oh, hell yeah!”

“I vote we do it next weekend!” Sasha cheers.

“Next weekend works for me! Ah shit, I gotta go! I’m late for my infirmary rotation.”

“Yes, you are,” my moody dragon growls.

“Corvin,” Healer Erin calls from the main desk. “Room Six. First patient evaluation.”