Draco walked away from the shooting range for a while before he calmed down a bit. He slowed down and looked around. Others were walking calmly along the path in front of him, also heading towards the second part of the exam. It didn't seem like there was any need to rush. The dragon took a deep breath, trying to distract himself from his poor shooting skills.
The reptile shook his head and scanned the area, trying to find something interesting that would help him focus on something else. Only from this perspective, walking at the bottom of the valley, did he see that the road he had spotted earlier ran around the main buildings of Solvein. It climbed up the slope behind the Tower to the right of the exit and continued towards the front of the building. Considering that he couldn't see where it ended near the main entrance, it must have led somewhere near the dormitories. In addition, at the top of the plateau, there was a crossroads from which another road led directly to the stables and the glasshouse building. It was marked out a little further away, very close to the paddocks, on a gentler slope. About halfway up, a cart loaded with crates and pulled by a karven was moving uphill. Even from a distance, the silhouette of a massive, lizard-like creature with two humps covered with thick bone plates at the front and back was clearly visible. The wide collar protecting its neck also provided considerable defence. Its short muzzle ended in a curved beak. The creature moved on four short, thick legs resembling those of an elephant. Karvens were used not only as draft animals but also as mounts. The rider sat in a saddle between the humps, which provided excellent protection. Although they were slow, they more than made up for it with the protection they offered.
'How did you do?'
Draco almost jumped. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even hear Aiden running after him.
'I hit the centre of the target twice and the edge once,' the boy announced. It was clear that he was really proud of his result.
'Congratulations.' The dragon had to admit to himself that he was a little jealous of his friend's result. 'I hit the target,' he said dispassionately. 'Once. On the edge.'
'Oh.' Aiden froze with a strange expression on his face, as if he didn't know what to do.
'That's better than I expected,' Reptile smiled crookedly. 'I can't shoot.'
'It'll be fine,' the redhead scratched his head and caught up with the dragon. 'If you handled the rifle well, there shouldn't be a problem. Probably,' he added quietly.
'My master told me the same thing.'
'What do you think you'll draw?' Aiden desperately tried to change the subject. 'I hope I don't end up with anything with a long incantation. I get some of them wrong.'
'I've practised all the mandatory spells, so if I don't mix them up, it should be easy.' Draco gratefully took up the conversation. 'I hope the casting won't cause any problems.'
'Practical magic isn't that difficult.' Aiden relaxed a little. 'Although we only started practising spells at the beginning of this year, by June everyone had mastered the required ones.' He shrugged. 'I think everyone from our class passed, or at least I didn't see anyone today.
'So it shouldn't be too bad.'
'Mhm. At least for us. That girl is going to have problems.' The redhead lowered his voice and pointed discreetly at one of the people walking in front of them. 'If I remember correctly, she's finishing her fifth year, her penultimate year. I heard she's good at defensive magic, but she's not good at combat spells.'
'And?' Draco glanced at the girl and then at Aiden.
'She's also in the military profile.' The boy made a face as if it were obvious. 'The lecturers advised her to change her profile, but she insisted that she had to finish the military one. Apparently, it has something to do with her family.'
'I hadn't noticed it before, but at Soeren I saw students in Academy uniforms, and no one was wearing a uniform during the exam.' Unlike his kinsmen, the dragon was not fond of gossip. He preferred to steer the conversation in a different direction.
'Oh, it's an unwritten rule.' Aiden seemed a little disappointed by the change of subject, but he didn't try to return to it. 'If you fail your end-of-year exams, you can't wear your uniform until you get your retake results.' He shrugged. 'If you pass, you can wear your uniform again in September, and if you don't, you're out of school anyway. Simple.'
'School tradition.' Draco recalled a few similar ones from Dagos, though he preferred not to remember some of them. Especially those that did not end very pleasantly for him. 'Are there any others worth knowing about in advance?'
'Hmmm... 'The boy thought for a moment, glancing around. 'It's definitely a big faux pas to enter a single training room without an invitation if it's being used by someone else. No one looks kindly on that.' He glanced at the dragon, his gaze lingering on his sword. 'Attempts to use your name to exert pressure are also out of the question. Most of the time,' he added, turning his face away. 'Apart from that... You just have to be careful what you do in front of the instructors. As long as you follow orders and get good grades, no one will give you any trouble.'
'I assume there are exceptions to that,' the dragon muttered unfriendly.
'I guess like everywhere else,' Aiden sighed heavily and put on a pained expression,' as long as no one catches them red-handed, everything is fine for them.'
'Are there often... incidents?' He refrained from finishing the last word, which until recently he had heard so often in the context of the beatings he had suffered.
'Mocking or slight ridicule... maybe a little too often.' The red-haired boy seemed to have decided to lay his cards on the table and be honest. 'Fortunately, nothing more serious has ever happened in Solvein. There are strict rules here...'
Aiden didn't finish. A loud bang sounded somewhere above them. Draco looked up just as a sharp, orange-red light illuminated the arena where the exam was taking place. Muffled screams could also be heard from that direction. The dragon stopped. They were standing a few steps away from the stairs leading up between the terraces.
Another flash was brighter and accompanied by the sound of thunder. Several people hurriedly descended below the ill-fated terrace, trying to get as far away as possible.
Above the crackling, the strong voice of instructor Hartmann rang out. The incantation seemed to break and not form a meaningful whole, but the runes on the obelisks glowed with a stronger light. The barrier shook under the influence of another flash. The interior of the arena filled with red and purple smoke, in which lightning flashed every few moments.
The distant crackling of energy mixed with something else, something less tangible, sent unpleasant shivers down the dragon's spine. Draco felt his stomach clench and nausea rise in his throat. He glanced at Aiden, who had turned pale and looked as if he was about to vomit.
Another scream caught the reptile's attention. He looked up again. The obelisks were completely ablaze with golden energy, and the barrier had become almost opaque, yet the light of red lightning continued to pierce through it.
Hartmann's voice rose above the din like the roar of a powerful storm. Even from such a distance, it seemed to drip with power, condensed mana. The former officer's might was overwhelming. His words merged together, making their meaning impossible to grasp, causing the air to tremble and giving the impression that reality itself was vibrating in time with their rhythm.
Something howled. The howl threw everyone near the terrace to the ground, and even those still at the bottom of the valley bent over. Amidst the flashes piercing through the barrier, something moved. Something big. Something that was pushing against one of the obelisks.
Hine and the other instructor came running from the shooting range and rushed towards the terrifying spectacle. On the way, they passed students lying on the steps, but they didn't even pay attention to them. They ran as fast as they could. Draco noticed runic symbols dripping with magic beginning to glow around their hands.
Another howl seemed stronger. The dragon almost knelt down, feeling a vibration in his head and pain piercing his ears. He shook his head. He wanted to ask Aiden if he was okay, but he only saw the boy lying in a foetal position, holding his ears. Draco realised he couldn't hear anything. For the second time in a week, he had been deafened.
He looked at the terrace, which was lit up by increasingly frequent flashes. Hine had just stopped on the stairs at the barrier and threw his hands forward. The chains of runes flew towards the two nearest obelisks. It was clear that maintaining the spell was causing the mage problems. The second instructor passed him and rushed somewhere behind the barrier along the back wall.
The third howl was even more powerful. Although Draco heard nothing, the force of the sound threw him to his knees. The pain was hard to bear, but not the worst he had ever experienced. He covered his ears with his hands, hoping for at least a little relief.
Something flashed past the dragon. He did not know what it was, but it rushed towards the destructive force. The dragon did not have enough strength to try to follow whatever it was with his eyes. Suddenly, a shockwave passed through the air, and then the whole area was flooded with crimson light.
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Draco wandered through the alleys of the port above Verde, trying to escape the approaching red light. Fear was his guide. He had never been so afraid before. Somewhere in his subconscious, he knew that what the crimson glow heralded was unimaginably more monstrous than anything he could think of. So he ran forward, faster and faster, further and further, but he couldn't lose the nightmarish glow. Suddenly, he found himself facing a wall blocking his path. The dragon turned around in terror. Something was close, just around the nearest corner. In an act of desperation, he reached for his sword, but it was not at his belt. He heard a terrible cackle. Unable to bear it any longer, Draco began to scream. Something tugged at him.
The dragon opened his eyes and instinctively grabbed the front of the robe of the person leaning over him. He pulled hard, but he couldn't muster much strength. He opened his eyes wider, thinking about the transformation, but stopped himself in time.
'Calm down, calm down.' The calm, gentle voice belonged to an elderly priestess in a light green robe decorated with yellow elements. The woman looked concerned and gently placed her hands on the dragon's shoulders. Without much effort, she managed to lay him on the ground. 'Everything is fine now.' When she leaned over, a medallion with the symbol of Marati slipped out from between the folds of her robe.
'What happened?' Slightly confused, Draco tried to turn his head, but his neck felt strangely stiff. In fact, he couldn't feel most of his body.
'Everything is fine now,' the priestess repeated in the same calm voice. 'You're in shock, boy. It's quite normal.' She spoke slowly, looking closely at the dragon. 'It will be a while before you can move normally, but I think you're fine. I'd like to have a healer look at you, but they're all working on the wounded.'
The last word gave Draco a headache. The sensations from the nightmare and the memory of the crimson flash returned. The dragon hissed through his teeth.
'Calm down. Don't try to force yourself.' There was something soothing about her quiet voice. 'Try drinking this.' She put something to the reptile's lips, and he felt only an unpleasant, familiar taste. He swallowed the regenerative potion with difficulty, trying not to choke. 'Now lie here for a moment. I need to check on the others.'
The priestess disappeared from the dragon's view. Draco felt terrible, and even the comforting warmth spreading through his insides did not help. All his hair was still standing on end, and the unpleasant feeling was still present somewhere on the edge of his consciousness. The boy tried to look around again, and this time he did better.
Unconscious students and instructor assistants were lying around him, who had to be moved to one place. Three priestesses of Maratia and the priest of Solas were bustling among the injured. They seemed to be extremely busy. A little further away, instructor Hine stood in his soot-covered uniform, quietly arguing with someone. On the other side, several people in white uniforms were arguing fiercely about something, pointing at the hill.
Draco gasped with effort and gave up further attempts to look around. He closed his eyes and decided to wait until the potion took effect and he could move. In the meantime, he had time to reflect. He had no idea what had happened during the exam, but something had clearly gone wrong. He had attended the Academy in Dagos for almost three years, but he had never encountered anything like this in the descriptions of dangerous combat magic, and the instructors had spared them no gruesome details of the battlefields. He tried to dig through his memory, recalling not only his lessons, but also various books that had ever fallen into his hands. Nothing, not even a little, resembled what he had seen today.
Draco lay there for quite a long time, until he felt that he had completely regained his senses. He opened his eyes again and carefully tried to sit up. He felt a little dizzy, but apart from that, he felt no alarming symptoms. Now he could calmly look around. The unconscious people around him were slowly waking up, or at least regaining consciousness enough to be given the potion. The clergy were busy with this and did not pay attention to the dragon.
Hine and the others dressed in white uniforms had disappeared somewhere. They must have gone to the only place that might require increased attention at that moment. Draco turned and looked up. As they were lying almost at the foot of a terraced structure located roughly halfway up the slope, the magical arena was difficult to see. All he could see were the tops of the obelisks supporting the protective barrier. The pedestals, which until recently had been smooth and intricately covered with runic symbols, were now shattered, charred and burnt. In addition, the one furthest to the right looked as if it had been cut in half.
'I see you're feeling better.' The priestess who had previously helped the dragon looked at him from over another unconscious person.
'Yes, thank you very much.' Draco bowed as best he could.
'You've recovered remarkably quickly. After such a shock, you should be unconscious for a good while longer.'
'Maybe I was luckier than it seemed.'
'Perhaps.' The priestess gently parted the lips of the girl she was kneeling beside. Only now did Draco recognise the assistant instructor who had been in charge of his shooting range. The woman carefully placed a vial to the girl's lips and very slowly began to pour the potion, watching closely to make sure she swallowed it. 'Anyway, how are you feeling?'
'I've felt better.' The dragon smiled crookedly. It was a phrase he used so often that it had lost its meaning for him, yet now there was something true in it. 'I've also felt worse.'
'You can't underestimate magical shock.' The priestess looked at him reproachfully.
'Don't worry, I'm not downplaying it.' Draco looked around as if to check if anyone was eavesdropping on them. 'I've been unlucky lately. I was just mauled by a marvax, and now this. What was that, anyway?' He asked conspiratorially, lowering his voice.
'You should be more careful.' The woman refused to get drawn into a discussion about the strange event. 'If you feel better, sit over there on the wall,' she said, pointing to the lowest arena. 'The instructors may want to talk to the witnesses.' The priestess returned to giving the vampire the potion, acting as if she had completely lost interest in the dragon.
Draco sighed and reluctantly got up. He felt weak, but other than that, there was nothing to worry about. Dragging his feet a little, he headed in the suggested direction.