Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 10 – The School trip

More laughter and Byia turned bright red with Guyi next to her, not knowing what he could say. The Teacher shook one front paw while smiling. “That’s okay; they were worse than you when I entered that door on my first day. They all thought I was one of their classmates. I jumped ahead a few Tides during my School time because I am very smart. And good-looking, as well!”

The enormous female at the back spoke, “Yeah, right, keep fooling yourself like that! I bet only your mother says that!”

A couple of muffled laughs followed that remark, and the Teacher frowned. “At least no one confounds my gender, you scary female! Shut up before I throw my chair at your big head! The youngsters nowadays don’t respect the elders!”

The enormous female spoke with a big smile, “You are just a few Tides older than me! Who are you calling a youngster, you rude brat? Don’t believe anything he says, Byia and Guyi! Our Teacher is a little delusional sometimes! He is a nice guy, but a little crazy! That’s why we all like him; none of us plays with all the marbles!”

The entire class exploded in laughter, with Byia looking at Guyi with a big smile and saying, “This class is so cool! They are all so laid-back and crazy, even more than us!”

Guyi smiled back at her. “Yeah, I like them too. This will be way better than last class, I bet!”

Then, the green Dragon clapped his paws a couple of times, and everyone sat and remained silent, waiting for his next words. Byia and Guyi were puzzled, but the Teacher noticed their looks and explained, “In my class, I let everyone be at ease, but I expect everyone to be quiet and in silence when I clap, to indicate that the time to fool around has ended and we must begin class. I hope you do the same as your classmates, considering that from now on, you two are also my students. Understood?”

Byia and Guyi quickly nodded at the serious Teacher who was looking at them. He then made a slight smile and looked around. “So, as I told you last week, today we are all going for a little trip to the outskirts of the City. Considering that we also have two new students, I guess it will be a good way to receive them. Byia and Guyi, have you already chosen what you want to do when you become grown-ups?”

They both looked at each other, and Byia answered, “We would rather not say, Teacher, considering that not even our parents know anything about that, and we are also having some doubts.”

The Teacher shrugged. “That’s a pity; I was hoping that you followed in the footsteps of your father. As for Guyi, well, he would be a great addition to any Laboratory or School out there with his ability with Mathematics. So, today we are going to visit a Farm to see a lot of animals and fish. It will be an excellent opportunity to see all kinds of different jobs that exist regarding Farm animals. I heard that young Byia has a thing for Farm animals, and she even has a small Farm in the back garden of her house since she was two Tides-old.”

Byia was speechless. Not only because that new Teacher knew her father, but he also knew about her Farm. Before she could ask, he explained, “I have met your mother a couple of times at her Clinic. I used to be a regular customer while growing up with some broken bones and wounds. I used to be a handful of trouble for my parents. I saw you more than once, peacefully reading a book way above your age in the waiting room. Physics, Astronomy, Advanced Mathematics… I also saw Guyi happily solving some big equations. Funny how things turned out, right? Who would guess that you two would become my students? Now, shall we go? We have to take the School’s ride to get there by the middle of the morning. Everyone, grab your bags and let’s go.”

Byia was still frozen, and Guyi elbowed her. “That’s a sudden surprise, right? Let’s go, or we will be the last ones!”

They rushed through the door and followed their classmates along the main corridor. After the back door that led to the open garden, Byia saw a long open convoy, pulled by six enormous animals that she once saw a picture of in a book but never up close.

She stuttered in amazement at the facts about them that she memorized when she was very young: “Rodhocetus… intelligent animals that can be trained to hunt for their owners and to do a lot of difficult tasks for a normal Water-Dragon… With five meters long and a weight of more than five hundred kilograms, they are c capable of walking on land for a short amount of time but are extremely agile in the water and incredibly fast because of the membranes on their long fingers and the flat tail that they can use to change directions in an instant or to give them a strong push… So, so beautiful…”

One older Dragon was next to the convoy and spoke, “You know a lot about them, but do you also know that you can make a Mental Link with them, and that makes them easier to obey you? Besides the fact that they are overly protective of their owner and are blindly loyal. I will be your driver for today; have a seat and fasten your seat belt.”

Byia made a big smile while looking at the driver. “I read about that Mental Link, but I never met anyone who had made one! You mean you have a Mental Link with all of them?”

“No, only with the big male at the front. He commands the others. It’s very difficult to Link with more than one of them at the same time. Most people can’t do it with one, and with two, it’s very rare.”

Byia couldn’t stop staring at the enormous animals, her eyes glowing. Guyi elbowed her and warned, “Control yourself! Your eyes are completely white! I don’t want a Magic explosion near me!”

Byia slowly nodded and took a few deep breaths. Her eyes slowly returned to the usual light blue, and she kept staring at the group of animals that were about to take her on that fun voyage.

The Teacher stood up from his seat at the front and faced his students. “Everyone gets ready because those guys swim at an absurd speed. If any of you feel like he is about to throw up, don’t. Do your best to endure it or swallow it! I bet no one wants to get on his face what you had for breakfast!”

Everyone laughed, but they immediately stopped when the convoy began to move slowly. Byia grabbed the bar at the back of the seat in front of her, where the muscular, light grey Dragon was seated.

He looked back and spoke in a low, harsh voice. “Don’t worry, little one. In a moment, you will forget your fear, and you will love the speed. I was also anxious on my first ride, but now I can’t get enough of this.”

Byia nodded with a big smile, and she felt the movement of the convoy increasing at an escalating speed. In just a couple of minutes, she was screaming like crazy, having a blast, with Guyi next to her almost throwing up.

The voyage took nearly one hour, and Byia could only distinguish some faded silhouettes around as the convoy travelled at high speed with her classmates singing out loud for the entire journey a bunch of funny songs. Then, the convoy began to slow down, and when it made a large curve, Byia could see on the ground below, at more than twenty meters, a big Farm surrounded by a Shield Dome.

As the convoy approached, a large circular opening appeared in the middle of the Dome, and they went through it. The driver was deeply concentrated on the approach, and Byia saw the big Rodhocetus male at the front, neighing and making the others follow him to a landing runway.

As they swam along it, the convoy slowly approached the ground, and the Rodhocetus slowed even more, making the convoy land gently.

The driver got up and faced the students. “The ride is over, everyone! Release your seatbelts and go. I need to take those guys to eat and to have some rest before we go back to School again.”

Guyi was the first to get out, and as soon as he set his paws on the ground, he threw up. A group of fish came and ate everything that was floating, leaving the water clean again. Byia approached him with a big smile and said, “That was so much fun! Lucky for you, we are on a Farm, or you would be smelling terribly because of your vomit!”

Guyi nodded, his face completely pale. The Teacher arrived and slapped his back. “You had a very colorful breakfast! Thanks for holding it for so long! Let’s go; we have much to see!”

Byia helped Guyi get up, and they followed the rest of the class, who were happily chatting.

She already knew many of the animals, how they were used, or what could be obtained from them, together with the various professions a Water-Dragon could follow related to each of them.

The big, dark green female noticed that Byia was taking some leaves from her bag and munching, and she asked, puzzled, “What do you have there, little one? Snacks?”

Byia nodded and showed her a couple of light blue leaves that she immediately recognized and made a throw-up face. “Blargh!… How can you eat that with such a delighted face? Those things are so sweet! They are only good for making tables!”

“Yes, and Healing Potions. I have always liked them, ever since I was a baby. If you don’t want more for me!”

The female smiled and pointed to the fences that contained the animals used to make eggs that she loved to eat. “I prefer the eggs of those guys, but I bet you would like even more to take a piece of that fence, right?”

Byia made a big smile while touching a couple of bright blue new leaves. “Yeah, these small ones are the best! They are so tasty! But it’s better if I only eat what I brought. The workers here might get mad at me if I start to take a few chunks of the fences!”

The female laughed and took a glance around. “I cover for you; take just a few if you like them so much.”

She stood in front of Byia, hiding her from everyone else, pretending to speak with Guyi, who was gulping, afraid of that big mouth full of sharp teeth.

Byia tapped her back and winked one eye. “Thanks; I took a handful of them. I think no one will notice, right?”

The dark green female looked and disguisedly pushed Byia and Guyi to join the others when she saw the big slice that Byia had taken from that fence.

The Teacher and the rest of the class were in front of a round, light yellow Dome, and Byia saw one Rodhocetus swimming inside of it, with an angry look and snorting a lot.

A worker was pointing at the Dome, and he began to speak: “As you can see, this Dome here is just a precautious measure because that Rodhocetus in there is still untamed. He doesn’t like to be restrained like that, but if we let him roam around, he would destroy everything on his path before escaping. We tried without success to do a Mental Link with him, but he is rather stubborn, and he doesn’t even let us approach him. Sometimes he comes closer to the edge of the Dome, just to mock us, like… he is doing right now… stupid animal…”

Byia was munching her leaves, and she could see the Rodhocetus approaching the Dome while staring at her as if he were curious about what she was eating.

The Rodhocetus tilted his pointy head, wondering what that Dragon offspring was eating with such a delighted face. Then he heard a strange language inside his head, one that he had never heard but found it funny.

Byia was looking at the Rodhocetus while munching one leaf, and she sent a mental message to that big and cool animal in the language that she thought she had invented when she was very little: “…||… Hello, big guy. You are so pretty! …||…”

She took a couple of leaves from her bag and showed them to the Rodhocetus while sending a mental question: “…||… These are very tasty. Do you want some? …||…”