Chapter 51: Second day!
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Fenna packed her things and paused near the coals. "You need sleep too. You didn’t stop for a breath after midday."
Zephyr gestured toward his chalkboard of training notes. "Still writing drills."
"You can do that better rested."
She crossed over and plucked the slate from his hands with a smirk, tucking it beneath her arm before retreating. "I’m holding it hostage. You want it back? Then sleep first."
He chuckled, laying back against his bedroll, the night breeze cooling his sweat damp hair. Overhead, the stars looked sharper than they ever had in the city—crystalline shards pierced through the black canopy sky. Steam curled lazily from the sulfur vents to the north. Somewhere, a beast howled, low and mournful.
Star circled twice on his bedding before curling into a crescent, tail coiled near his nose. Zephyr felt the warmth of the drake’s body seep into his spine. A minute passed. Then two. Then sleep claimed him like a dark tide.
A few hours later...
Birdcalls rang out in staggered rhythms. It was sharp, whistling tones from tree creepers and strange warblers unfamiliar to the city. Morning mist clung to the lower bushes like fogged breath. Zephyr rose with the sun’s first arc over the eastern ridgeline, already dressed in a sweat stained tunic and loose field wraps. His joints cracked as he stretched, shoulders stiff from yesterday’s drills.
Fenna emerged not long after, brushing tangled strands of copper hair from her face. "I swear something sniffed my tent in the night."
"Could’ve been Star," Zephyr said, nodding at the sleeping drake. "I didn’t fell anything. My dragon sense too."