Mass release: 2/15
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The pain that was emanating from my face was proof that the psychopath had not stopped punching my face after I fell unconscious, forcing my body to finally rest as it had been begging me to. He's the same as before, going overboard and giving full control to his wicked impulsiveness. Fuck, I want to kill him so bad.
A groan left my lips as I tried to move but my legs felt exhausted, "Fuck."
"Oh, oh, oh, you're awake!" A joyful and strange male voice exclaimed.
Forcing my eyes open, I blinked sometimes to get used to the dim light in the grey room, and as my eyes took my surroundings, I found myself on a medical bed of sorts, the smell of potions and medicine in the air, and a dark blonde dwarf with tanned skin and the bluest baby blue eyes I've ever seen, standing in front of me, all dressed in white leather, except his vest that was made of dark blue scales, dragon scales. His hair a bird nest, messy, and he also has round glasses on.
He looks weirdly approachable, "Who are you? Where am I?"
"I am Rakhad Alberich Zosenheim," he beamed proud with himself, "and I'm the son of the head healer of Arkhane, Tortak Gardain Zosenheim. Don't let me height fool you, I'm to turn 21 years old in the end of autumn, and I'm a 1st year like you, Grace. Though I was born and raised in here. I'm a healer apprentice and a dragon rider to-be, since we need healers in the battlefield who can ride dragons. My father rides a stormfury," the dark blue scales dragons, like dad's bond Rein.
"My father did too," I swallowed, forcing myself to sit down. "What,"
"I bet you want to know what happened," I nodded. "Commander lost his control and punched you five times before getting interrupted by Sage Vadryon, Peregrinous Blackbriar, Katos Aendryr, and Marvor Velothren. Marvor had been the one holding you, so he tried getting off of the Commander's sight, but that got him two hard punches from the Commander. The bastard also punched both Katos, Sage, and Peregrinous to unconsciousness before going at you again, he punched you more three times, until Marvor punched him back to try stopping him, and when the Commander tried punching him again, Marvor used his shadow magic, subdued him and teleported him away from us."
He had been the one holding me when I lost consciousness? Why did he? Why did he fight the Commander for me? What the hell is his fucking deal? Is he trying to play hero or some shit? To play the good guy to make me look evil?
The dwarf pressed his lips together, "Look, Grace, your hatred for Moros and Nevil Velothren aside, I never liked Nevil just to make a point, even when he was here under another family name he was a nuisance and I despised his sight. As again, I was born and grew up in here. But I know Marvor, he isn't his father, he definitely isn't his brother, he's better than them."
I clenched my jaw, angry as Marvor's words came back to my mind, and it hurt, "Are you defending him to me, mate?"
"With all due respect, I am not your mate. And no, I would never do that, because that is beyond me, especially when you have bad history with his family, and he did say some shit to you that he shouldn't have. But what I'm trying to tell you, Grace, is that Marvor, is not to blame, he had no idea about the rebellion until it was over, only Nevil was apart of it, he was just a guy and then, out of nowhere, he was the Second Imperial Prince," he tried to reason.
"He should have stayed away from me then, and shut!" I snapped.
Sigh, "I understand, but since he hasn't, I just wanted you to know, from the perspective of someone who knows him a bit better than most, that he is not Nevil, he is not Moros, he isn't like them at all, he has some friends since he got in here and he's been nothing but loyal to them, protecting them, having their back, he isn't a backstabbing piece of shit like his other family members. He isn't his dad or his brother, in the same that you are not your parents or your siblings."
Sure, I know that, but I would rather not take it into consideration. He was a fucking piece of shit after all, and he looks uncannily like his damned brother. "I understand that you are trying to avoid me from killing him, because you like him for whatever reason. But you know what? Nevil was also kind, he was also lovely, he also seemed loyal and trustworthy, but even then, he charmed me into his trap and destroyed my life., I would rather not take my chances with Velothren again."
"Rakhad!" A deep male voice growled and the guy squeaked. "Rakhad!" It called for him again. "Rakhad Alberich Zosenheim, where you?"
"Shit, shit, shit, it's my dad," he cried. "I… I'll see you in dineark."
In the next second he crossed through the wall at my right, in the opposite direction from which the voice was coming from, which means the dwarf has what we call intangibility, it's quite useful! Dineark is how they call the dinning hall for all of the Arkhane War College students from year 1 to 5, the communal one where they get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If he's 20 to be 21, he's my classmate.
"Rakhad!" His father, who he called Tortak, called for him again. "Oh, no way, he did not go there, I told him not to," he growled and less then a minute later he stormed inro the room, halting as he found me awake. "Cadet Madalverel," oh, finally some decency in this war college, "you're awake."
"No, I'm sleepwalking," I scoffed. "Yes, I'm awake, sir."
He clenched my jaw, also a dwarf looking an awful lot like his son, older version, except for his hair that is a shade of chocolate brown and he also has a full beard that suits him a lot. Not to be racist, but how does he hops on a dragon? He's what? 145 something? I'm 170 and I'm considered short around here, the people in the Empire are extremely tall in both sides, both women and men, all freaking talk to my annoyance and my neck's.
"Have you seen my son, cadet?" He asked me. "He's 3 centimeters taller than me, has dark blonde hair, look like me, no beard, young, blue eyes?"
"3 centimeters taller than you?" I blinked. "How tall are you?"
"I'm 146 cm, my son is 148. Have you seen him?"
"No, why? Was he after me?" I feigned confusion.
His relief of visual, probably knowing his son was biased for Marvor and wanted to talk to me about it, a mistake, of course, as much as a sign of innocence, the same innocence I used to have.
"He was just curious about you," he brushed it off, "as much as everyone is, given how you vanished for five years. He's a good kid but he tend to be innocently impulsive, he's not used to many people, he's shy, and he cares a lot for the little people he's somewhat close to, given how he was born and raised here in Arkhane War College, as I live here with my mate, his mom, as we are both healers and riders. He'll be your classmate, I hope you could… keep an eye on him."
That's a bold request, but I like his boldness. "I'm not a babysitter."
Blushing, he said, "No, I know, cadet. I'm just asking as father, he's all I and his mother have, he's our only son, we struggled for years to conceive him, so, he's our treasure and we worry a lot. He has no acquaintances in your year, and you will definitely be on top of the ranks for year 1. If you could just keep an eye on him, even if not close, it would bring me and his mom great relief."
I'm heartless but not enough to say no, "Alright, I won't promise, but I'll try. Can I kick his ass if he does some shit I judge wrong?"
"Of course," he beamed.
Jumping from the bed, I stood up, finding myself still in my clothes from back then, "How long was I unconscious for, mister?"
"88 hours, I induced you to stay unconscious until your body had regained its full energy and power, and all your muscles had fully rested," what? "You will feel the effects of that good nap soon and the stiffness will vanish, cadet."
"88 HOURS?" I yelled. "That's not a fucking nap, that's coma."
To my dismay, the dwarf laughed, "You needed it if you intend of having a nice life in here, healthily speaking, cadet Madalverel. Your momentary immortal status doesn't take your pain away or changes the fact that you experience all do. Since you had tired your body to the bone and was refusing to let yourself rest for even a second, I had to do that for you, as I noticed you haven't been resting for a lot long than the climb."
Oh, he has no idea, "But 88 hours is too damn much, that's 7 days and 4 hours. 7 days! A whooping week unconscious."
He jumped up in the bed at my left and using some kind of magic, he made me sat back oh the one I had been laying onto too, and damn he jumps high, either that or he also used magic to get up there, "Someone I hold in high regards asked me to fill you in on what you lost, not much, but the first years were separated in squads and divided under the watch of the wing leaders of the year 3. I don't know how much you know about how things work around here, cadet, but the 4th and 5th years are focused on getting fully ready to be of use on the battlefield, so they do not interact that much with the other years but one another. Years 1 to 3, do."
Who asked him?
Was it Celebrimbor by any chance?
"I know that much."
A nod, "Good enough."