Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 31 – Nayima's bodyguard – part 1

In the morning, Byia got up from her bed, and while stretching her arms, she made a big and long yawn.

The events of the last evening were still fresh in her memory, along with the realization that she unlocked a very difficult Skill to obtain that most Water-Dragons, including many experienced Explorers, could never do.

Her grandmother told her that Sergge Calla only unlocked that ‘Infinite Courage’ Skill after undergoing a lot of life-threatening adventures. It was still difficult for Byia to believe that she now had such a valuable Skill that would be very useful in her further adventures.

With a final yawn, Byia went to the lower level, where Paullu and her mother were already eating their breakfast. Teera pushed a small bowl of biscuits in Byia’s direction the moment she sat down. “Hello, sleepyhead! Why were you sleeping until now? I had a very stressful night with your grandmother’s visit, but I don’t see any reason for you to be so tired!”

“Yeah… I did a lot of Meditation, trying to see if I figured out how to use my Skill ‘Camouflage’. Grandmother told me during dinner that it was similar, but instead of concentrating on my body, I should lean on a wall and concentrate on the feeling of that wall, on its color, and on the way the water touched it. Little by little, my body would become one with the wall, and it would even change the color and appearance of my skin. It’s more difficult than it sounds! I kept trying, but I couldn’t figure out how to really do it! I need to have a look at the book you gave me; maybe there’s something in there explaining it better.”

Teera frowned while eating a big biscuit. “I don’t understand why you want to use that Skill. Unless you want to skip a class in School. Your grandmother has it, but it seems she only uses it in extremely dangerous situations. You want to do something dangerous?”

“Maybe not, but one day I might need to camouflage myself while I try to capture a wild Rodhocetus. I know it’s one thing that a ‘Rodhocetus Trainer’ must also master: capturing those dangerous wild guys easily. I already have the necessary Skills for a Trainer, but I want to unlock as many Skills as I can that can help me if I face some odd situation. Who knows, I might one day need to fight a group of Rodhocetus, and I may need all the Skills I can gather!”

Teera slowly nodded while imagining a group of big and mean Rodhocetus going after her sweet little daughter. Teera quickly brushed that thought away and asked Paullu, “What about Drezara? She didn’t speak much during dinner, but I saw her staring at your grandmother a lot. What was that all about?”

“She is a fan. It seems she follows grandma’s adventures on the News and in magazines. Drezara is some kind of ‘collector of news about dangerous Quests’. At least, that’s what she explained to me.”

Byia looked in the direction of the back garden and saw Rodhy happily throwing the tailbone and catching it again, making her smile. Teera noticed the same thing and asked with a frown, “Another one of those bones? I am pretty sure that’s a bone from the tail of a Water-Dragon! Why is Rodhy playing with that?”

Byia answered while looking at the happy Rodhocetus, “Grandma gave me yesterday three tails. It seems three of the Explorers who work in her Guild committed crimes in this City, and that’s why she was called here. She sliced their tails as a punishment, and she even gave them a big beating. I asked her if I could take the tails because I wanted to cook those for Rodhy to eat.”

“You… are feeding Water-Dragon’s meat to your Rodhocetus? That doesn’t seem prudent to me! What if, one of these days, he attacks someone? Or try to eat them?”

Byia shrugged while eating another biscuit. “If he does that, it would be because they deserved it. I want to have a strong and very dangerous bodyguard near me. I don’t want anyone to look at me and think that I am an easy target. With a flesh-eating Rodhocetus around, let them come!”

“I suppose you may be right but be careful and never let him wander off alone. He might bite someone and be put to sleep permanently, if you know what I mean.”

“I know, mother, don’t worry. I normally give him vegetables or fish, but occasionally, some meat will make him grow stronger and faster. Those tails were just an opportunity for some fresh and free meat. What was I supposed to do? Let those tails rotten on the floor when I was hearing Rodhy’s stomach rumbling? Besides, those Explorers could find a Healer to attach the tails to their butts again, but now they will never forget their punishment every time they swim or try to sit!”

Teera was about to ask what the three Explorers did to deserve such evil punishment, but Byia was already leaving through the front door after kissing her goodbye. Paullu rushed to follow her after grabbing his bag, leaving behind their mother, wondering about Byia’s explanation.

Outside, a smiling Drezara was waiting, with London talking to a very serious Guyi Mohryi. Byia approached them while Paullu was kissing Drezara and asked, “What’s the matter, Guyi? This guy already annoyed you so early in the morning?”

“Oh, good morning, Byia! No, we were only discussing his training yesterday. Like I thought, he is very good with throwing daggers. Very soon, I will give him the crossbow for him to train with. I was only wondering if he deserves it or not, considering that he forced me to become Nayima’s bodyguard in School!”

Byia elbowed Guyi while swimming alongside him. “Yes, I never knew that Lodon was such a matchmaker! Who knows, maybe you like her after spending some time with her!”

“Yeah, I will like it a lot. I can almost imagine that stupid yellow female always near me. I would rather be licked by Rodhy all day long!”

Lodon spoke while pushing Rodhy away from his head because he kept l*****g him. “If you want, we can trade places; this guy seems to be tasting me! Maybe giving him those tails was not a good idea, Byia!”

“I think it was an excellent idea. Having him look at you as if you are a meal will force you to always be on your guard. You are supposed to be my bodyguard, remember?”

Lodon blushed and pushed Rodhy away again. The idea of always being near Byia, even with that annoying Rodhocetus around, was looking very promising. He signaled them to change directions, and instead of going straight to School, Byia and Guyi followed him to a back alley, and from there, to a small street that he said was probably from where Nayima would come.

Byia looked to the left side of the corner where they were waiting, and she saw the yellow female approaching, worried while being comforted by her two friends. Lodon's wave made Nayima open her mouth in a big smile, as if a tremendous weight was suddenly lifted from her shoulders.

She rushed to join him, closely followed by her two surprised friends, and she asked while glancing at Guyi, “I was hoping to find you before arriving at School. Are you guys really going to accompany me?”

Lodon nodded while leisurely placing his left arm on Guyi’s shoulders. “We sure are! Or better yet, he is, because I am Byia’s escort and bodyguard. Guyi will be your designated bodyguard while on School grounds, and if we can convince him, he will begin to accompany you home and meet with you at your door to take you to School. How does that sound?”

Nayima turned bright red, contrasting with the yellow reflections of her scales, and she slowly nodded while her friends disguised a smile. Guyi shook his shoulders to get rid of Lodon’s embrace and grunted, “That is a very stupid idea, Lodon! Why would I want to be near her all the time? I would rather lose my tail! If you pity her so much, why don’t you escort her instead and let me take care of Byia? I bet two bullies like you guys would have a lot to talk about!”

Lodon pinched Guyi’s forearm, signaling with his eyes to the sad look on Nayima’s face after hearing his words, “Will you shut up already? Turning me into Byia’s escort and bodyguard was your idea, remember? Now that you are free, you have a very pretty yellow female to accompany, so stop looking at me with those murderous eyes and be a gentleman, will you? Or you are such a mean and lousy piece of Rodhocetus manure that you can’t even help a female in trouble, dumbass?”

Guyi opened his mouth to shout something, but Byia interrupted, “Stop whining, Guyi! We must go, or we are going to be late! Lead the way, Lodon, at your maximum speed!”

Lodon winked at Guyi and swam ahead, guiding the others along another one of his weird shortcuts. But that was a real shortcut in the right meaning of the word because it took them only a couple of minutes to arrive near the front gate of their School.

Lodon frowned when he noticed the vast crowd of students gathered in front of the opened gates, talking among them. He slowed down, and one student shouted while pointing at Nayima, who was swimming next to Byia and Guyi, “Here she comes, guys! Now we can ask her!”

Lodon stopped, and the students divided, making a large circle around his group. Byia frowned at one student who was approaching her while staring at Nayima, and Byia immediately sent a mental order for Rodhy to be ready because things were looking weird. Rodhy began to growl, making the students back away.

Byia looked around, facing the students, and warned them, “It would be better if you guys didn’t approach so much. My Rodhocetus might think you are going to attack me and rip your heads off. What happened this time? Why is everyone here instead of entering the School? Classes are about to start; you know that, right?”

One student spoke while pointing at Nayima, “Why are you with her, especially after what she did yesterday after School?”

Byia jolted and glanced at Nayima to check her reaction before answering. Nayima was as surprised as she was, so Byia thought it could be some kind of misunderstanding: “Yesterday after School? We accompanied her from this gate to her house. Unless she did something after we left, I don’t know what you mean.”

The student looked around, surprised by Byia’s answers, and he searched for supporters. A few students signaled for him to continue, and he frowned while looking at Byia. “That can’t be right! We all heard someone only moments ago saying that she pushed an older female to the middle of the main street while swimming home at full speed, and that female is in the Hospital with some serious injuries because a transport hit her!”

“That’s strange. I saw Nayima opening the back gate of her house and entering before going to see my grandmother at the Explorer’s Guild. Unless Nayima got out of her house after we left, that story can’t be true!”

One of Nayima’s friends stood next to Byia and shouted, “Nayima couldn’t do something like that because after Byia left us, I was with her all the time! I even slept at her house because she was so worried about that rumor yesterday!”