Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 17.1 – Paullu for the rescue – part 1.1

Paullu shrugged while pointing at the Mayor with his right claw thumb. “Not really; I just thought you would like to know why the Mayor of my City is here, in the office of the Principal of my little sister’s School.”

The Mayor quickly pulled Paullu’s left arm and whispered, “You wouldn’t dare… Hang up, and I will forget everything about this!”

Paullu stared at him and gave him a weird smile. “You should have thought about that before you tried to frame my little sister. I will make sure that you never stand in her way… So, Miss Triri Ventbend, the Mayor here tried to use his influence to make the Principal punish and probably expel my little sister, because she defended herself from a bully, no other than the Mayor’s niece, Nayima Fiet.”

Triri Ventbend clapped her hands with a big smile. “My, my, Paullu, a scoop, right on the election’s Tide! Let me record this call with this button… Done! Now, I want to hear everything about that shameful plan to frame an innocent, and I also want a statement from Mayor Taldeb Fagoyuth, the Principal, and everyone in that room with you! Is that your little sister, Byia Calla, the one that made a fool of Professor Albeyrt last Tide during one of his lectures?”

Mayor Taldeb shouted, almost spitting his lungs out, “This is a lie, an elaborate lie! I just came for a visit!”

Paullu made a slight smile and pointed to the knocked-out bodyguards in the corridor. “Maybe the Mayor wants to explain, Miss Triri Ventbend, why he arrived at a peaceful first grade School with four bodyguards that tried to stop me from reaching my sister to help her. I also evoke the Truth Law, and I want to hear a complete explanation of everything that was happening here before I called you. As everybody here is aware, the School Rules and the World Law demand that you speak the truth and nothing but the truth, even if I must force you with my Magic to extract it because you are all accomplices who tried to frame an innocent little female.”

Mayor Taldeb frowned at Paullu. “You will be finished if you dare to threaten me, boy!”

Paullu increased his Magic to such a level that, while he was glowing, the entire room began to tremble. He spoke in a harsh voice, directly at the surprised Mayor, “You are a fool, Mayor, if you even think about underestimating me! ‘The Truth Law is omnipotent, and no one is above it!’, not even an abusive City Mayor. I wonder what your electors will think about this: you going after the youngest member of the Calla family, considering that two Tides ago you tried to change the street that had the name of my great-great-grandmother by your name. You even said during an interview that you deserved a street with your name because of all your good work, and Senpyia Calla was just a footnote in History books. The riots in this City were scary, and your house and office were trashed by a very angry mob. I wonder what people will do to you when they hear Miss Triri Ventbend’s story on the National News. So, let’s begin, shall we? Principal, you first. Why did you call my sister here?”

The Principal gulped and stared at the Mayor looking for support, just to see him trying to leave and Byia’s Teacher standing in his way with a scary smile. “You heard the boy; he invoked the Truth Law. Do I need to break both of your arms to stop you from escaping? I voted for you, Mayor, but after this shameful act from you, I will certainly vote for your opponent, no matter whom. I guess everyone who lives in this City will do the same as soon as they hear what you tried to pull here. It’s your fault. You should not a***e the power that was granted to you by those who trusted you and voted for you to be our Mayor.”

Mayor Taldeb sat on his chair, completely pale, and he heard, as if from a very long distance, the Principal explaining to that annoying reporter the reason for that meeting.

Then, the Gymnastics Teacher and the School Healer cleared from any responsibility that little female who was smiling at him with a weird look and red, glowing eyes. The Mayor stared at Byia, completely dumbfounded, when she told the reporter, with tears pilling in her eyes, all the bullying she had suffered since she entered the school, the slap from one young male in her first classroom after a plan from his niece, together with the way Nayima called her names and made fun of her small size.

He was called back from his frozen state by the insisting voice of Triri Ventbend: “Mayor Taldeb Fagoyuth, I asked you if you wanted to explain what your objective was! Did you really want to use your influence as the City Mayor to force the Principal of that fine school to expel a victim of bullying? If you don’t answer, I must assume it was really what you wanted to do, and my audience would for sure want to know what you have against the famous Calla family, which gave us so many outstanding females who did a lot for the Water-Dragon Race. And in the case of some females, who helped so much the Surface -Dragons and our long-lasting allies, the Nayga!”

Mayor Taldeb forced a smile and tried to excuse himself: “By all means, I don’t have anything against the Calla family, unless deep gratitude! This was just a misunderstanding! It seems I was led to believe that my niece was the one being bullied! She fooled me because I could never believe that the sweet little female that I held in my paws so many times turned out to be an evil bully, capable of mocking and threatening one of her classmates!”

Triri Ventbend made a forced smile as well. “Really? It was a misunderstanding when two Tides ago you tried to change Senpyia Calla Street into your name? Or two Big Moons ago, when you were forced to give up on your idea of changing the Senpyia Calla monument in the City’s Park with one statue of you? Do you really think you can compare yourself to the famous Healer Senpyia Calla — you, a mere City Mayor who barely managed to win your last elections after those rumors about using your influence to gather supporters among your political wing in the Parliament? And now you went after the youngest member of the Calla family because of what, envy? Or perhaps you wanted to make a name for yourself as the one to expose the Calla family as a fluke that only gives birth to outstanding females every couple hundreds of Tides, like some people heard you saying on several occasions!”

Mayor Taldeb turned pale and froze, unable to say anything. Triri Ventbend kept smiling at him, and after a couple of seconds, she continued, “I guess everyone can tell by your look that you are really a twisted mind, unfit to be a City Mayor. Paullu, I must thank you for this scoop. It was way above anything I would expect when I saw you calling me. Byia Calla, I hope you have a more peaceful School life from now on because a young female like you deserves to learn in a safe environment. I think your Principal realized by now that he needs to be more aware of what is happening in his School and not bend to the will of any abusive politician that steps in there.”

Triri Ventbend winked one eye at Paullu and disconnected. He looked around and asked, “Do I also need to call my mother, or can I return to my School? I hope I don’t need to do it because she will not be as understanding as I was; she might kill you all or change something in your bodies, perhaps making you grow an extra head or tail.”

The Principal vigorously shook his head. “No… no need for that, I assure you.”

Byia tilted her head and asked while signaling with her head to the Mayor, “What about my Rodhocetus? Because his bodyguards tried to stop him from entering the school with me. I am trying to become a ‘Rodhocetus Trainer’ but it seems this weird Mayor accused my overprotective friend of being dangerous.”

The Principal made a slight smile. “The School’s driver told me, and I saw him following you around a couple of times. It would bring great honor to our school if you indeed became a ‘Rodhocetus Trainer’, and it would be in our best interest to help you in that endeavor.”

Byia smiled and spoke with such a tone, and with her eyes turning red, that made the Principal gulp and wonder if that little female was not more dangerous than she seemed to be. “Funny to hear you say that, considering that just a few moments ago, you wanted to expel me. I won’t forget this trap, Principal, and I will make sure that you remember it every time you go to sleep at night. I will be watching your every move, and on your first step out of line, I will be there to keep you on the right track, even if I have to be a little rough.”

Paullu rubbed Byia’s head and smiled. “I guess I can go now. If something weird happens again, don’t you take so long to tell me, okay?”

“Yeah, right, for you to say that I am interrupting your class again? Go away before you are called to your Principal as well! And thanks, brother…”

Paullu rubbed his sister’s head again and swam at full speed to his School. Byia’s Teacher spoke while placing one paw over Guyi’s left shoulder, who had remained in silence until that point. “What about if we return to our Class and tell your classmates they can relax? I bet they were chewing their claws until now, worried about you two. Perhaps you should call your Rodhocetus and ask him to escort our kind Mayor to the School’s gates.”

Byia nodded and sent a mental order. In an instant, Rodhy was next to her, waving his tail. She pointed at the School Gates that could be seen from the window and explained what he needed to do. “Rodhy, see that male? Push him to the School’s gate over there, where those weird males tried to stop you when we arrived, okay?”

The Rodhocetus nodded and growled at the Mayor, making him swim ahead towards the exit and along the corridor. Rodhy even grabbed the tails of the knocked-out bodyguards and dragged them, because he knew very well that those weird Water-Dragons didn’t belong to his owner’s School.

Byia’s Teacher accompanied her and Guyi to their classroom. When they were already in the corridor, Byia spoke, “Thanks for covering my back, Teacher, you were really a lifesaver… or not! I guess I can only count on me and Guyi; everyone else has their own circumstances to be worried about. I understand; you had your job to think about, and a little troublemaker like me is not worth you losing your job in this School.”

That remark granted her a slap on the head from a very angry Teacher. “What are you complaining about, you brat? I didn’t have time to do anything! You acted before any of us could say a thing! I spoke with your former Teacher, the Gymnastics Teacher and the School’s Healer as soon as the Principal called for us, saying that we would all have a meeting this morning because of you! We all knew that it was going to be something serious, and we got our stories straight. I confess that we were all surprised when we saw the Mayor in the Principal’s office, but we were going to keep our stories, nevertheless, because we all knew that Nayima and Lodon were bullying you, and as Teachers, it’s our responsibility to protect the students, even if we must go against the Principal!”

Byia frowned and answered with bitterness in her voice, “Maybe you and the other Teachers would try, but considering the Mayor was pressuring the Principal, I bet none of you could do a thing in the end. Fortunately, I am not a simple, happy-go-lucky little female, and I always make sure to have a way out of anything I get myself into. My father taught me well…”

“I see… but refrain from doing anything rash; revenge gets you nowhere.”

Byia stared at her Teacher and said one sentence with such anger and her eyes in bright red that he quickly understood it was better to drop that subject. “You say that because you weren’t mocked, slapped, pushed, punched, and pinched by every youngster I met since I was two Tides old because of my size, and my father forbade me to fight back because if I did, I could kill one of them… Why do you think I was always in my mother’s waiting room or following Guyi around anywhere he went? Guyi is the only one outside my family who has never mistreated me. Never.”