Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 9 – New class

In the morning, Byia was peacefully eating her breakfast while taking a few new leaves from the dinner table and putting them in a pocket in her bag. Her mother noticed and asked, “What are you doing, young lady? I saw what you did! Leave the table alone, will you? Why are you putting those pieces inside your bag?”

“Candy, to eat later. I could have an urge for something sweet or a sudden need to increase my Magic.”

Teera frowned and asked, “Is something happening to you at School? Why do you think you may need to increase your Magic? Are the other kids mocking you, or did someone hurt you yesterday?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle; don’t worry. Lodon will never be a problem for me again, and that annoying Princess Nayima got quite a scare yesterday when she thought I was easy prey. Hehehe!”

“What happened? You did something, right?”

Byia shrugged while eating. “Not on purpose. Lodon slapped me against a wall and got a three-day suspension, and that Nayima female tried to make sure that everyone in the class went after me during a game of tag in Gymnastics class. I won, of course, and I challenged her to an unarmed fight. She didn’t give up when I restrained her, and she accidentally broke one arm, one leg, and her tail. The School’s Healer took care of her, but I bet she will think twice before making another plan against me. As you can see, nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Teera bit her lower lip and gently lifted her daughter’s face to look at her. “They were bullying you because you are little, weren’t they?”

“Lodon mocked me because of my father… I almost cried in front of everyone. Don’t worry, I took care of everything and made sure that everyone saw it was self-defence, like father taught me. I think today I might go to an advanced class; I will see what happens then. Either way, I want to be ready. ‘Be prepared for everything, but always expect the worst’, like father always used to say.”

Teera rubbed her daughter’s head with tears in her eyes. “You miss him, don’t you? I miss him too, very much. He always knew what to say. I don’t know how I can help you…”

“Don’t worry, mother, I got this. Besides, Guyi is right next to me, as always. He has my back, and I have his. I will be alright.”

Teera hugged her daughter and went to the kitchen to wipe her tears. Paullu slapped Byia’s forehead. “You moron, you didn’t tell me any of that! Do you need help with something or what?”

“No, I will be fine. You just need to worry about your studies and that pretty brown female. We should be going, right? She can already be outside, waiting for you. Remember what I told you?”

“Yeah, never make a female wait for me! You are right; let’s go. Bye, mother, we are leaving!”

The siblings rushed to the front gate, with a smiling Byia bowing to her older brother while opening the gate for him. “You first, older brother.”

When he was about to leave, Byia went through the gate and closed it in his face, making him do a hard stop not to slam his head against it. He opened the gate and went for his sister’s neck, only to stop at the last moment when he saw her next to Guyi and Drezara Forgge, who greeted him with a smile. “Good morning, Paullu. Did you oversleep or what? We have been waiting for you for ages!”

Paullu frowned at his sister and made a slight smile towards Drezara Forgge. He swam to her and gently held her paw. He gave her a slight kiss on the back of her paw and spoke, “I am so happy to see you on this fine morning, my lady. Your presence before me enlightens my day!”

Drezara Forgge was surprised, but she then vigorously shook her head and asked, while taking her paw away from him, “What are you doing, Paullu? Stop that; it feels wrong if you act like that!”

Paullu tilted his head in disbelief. “I was told females like this sort of thing!”

Drezara frowned at Byia while pulling her left ear. “You did this, didn’t you, you brat? Give me back my weird and distracted Paullu! If I wanted an overly romantic boyfriend, I wouldn’t be after him for the last three Tides!”

Byia made a weird smile while pretending to be hurt by the gentle push that Drezara was doing on her ear. “Oh, the pain, the pain! So, you were in love with my brother for that long? Damn, brother, you sure are weird! You took this long to notice her?”

Drezara Forgge released Byia’s ear when she realized what she just said. She looked down in embarrassment and spoke, “I really need to start thinking before saying anything! I am so weird!”

Paullu smiled at her and said, “I don’t mind that you are like that. It’s not only funny, but it’s easier for me.”

Drezara Forgge raised her head with a timid smile. “Well… if you like it, I guess it is okay…”

Byia elbowed Guyi and asked, “Two weirdos. They make a nice couple, right?”

“Yeah, I never thought to live to see this day! Paullu is acting so lovey-dovey with a female! I wonder what their offspring will be like!”

Byia opened her mouth wide, thinking of the scary possibilities and making the young couple turn bright red. “Yeah, they could have a strange and weird son! Or a daughter so strange that it would be a lot of trouble to deal with the three of them! Maybe we should bite her head off to save the World from that scary possibility!”

Byia had to quickly swim away before Drezara Forgge and her brother caught her, with a laughing Guyi following them all.

At Byia’s School gates, Paullu hugged her and whispered in her left ear, “If you need help, send me a mental message. I will come as fast as I can, and I will take down everything in my way to get to you.”

“I know, big brother, thanks. I will be alright. Dad and you trained me very well, and I can take care of myself. If I feel that I am in danger, I will blow everything around me and get away.”

Paullu rubbed his little sister’s head. “That’s my girl! See you later, then.”

Byia and Guyi waved at them and went through the gate. Drezara Forgge noticed the serious look that Paullu had and asked, “What’s the matter? You seem worried.”

“My sister got into some kind of trouble yesterday, and I only heard about it this morning. It seems that some of her classmates mocked her because she is so little for her age.”

Drezara Forgge asked while swimming next to Paullu to their School, “I thought it was strange for such a small female to enter School. I guess she is just too small for her age?”

“Yes, my mother could never feed her some baby food when she was a newborn baby. Byia kept spitting and throwing up everything; that’s why she didn’t fully develop. She will grow up eventually, but it will take her more time than other females of her age. Byia only started to eat properly when my mother, in desperation, put in her food some new leaves from one of our kitchen’s closets. Byia went crazy with that, and she still likes to bite our furniture when my mother is not looking.”

Drezara Forgge was surprised. “But… those leaves are so sweet! They are only good for making furniture or Healing Potions! No one likes to eat them!”

“Except Byia. Maybe that’s why she is so good with Magic. She has an over-the-top Magic Pool to use, way above any Water-Dragon I know.”

“Yeah, I thought it was something like that. I noticed her eyes kept changing colors yesterday, and she was glowing occasionally.”

Paullu made a slight smile and nodded. “Yes, her eyes always did that, and sometimes she loses control of her Magic. The last time that happened, it was because she ate a lot of leaves from our new kitchen cabinet, and she made her room explode. My mother was so angry at her, and my crazy sister was looking dumbfounded at all the destruction around her.”

Drezara Forgge laughed while swimming next to Paullu, and they were smiling when they entered the School’s gate.

Seeing Paullu arrive with the awkward Drezara Forgge and smiling made a lot of females wonder why he was arriving like that instead of reading a book and completely unaware of his surroundings, like he always did.

Meanwhile, Byia and Guyi were in front of their class door, wondering if they should enter or not. From behind them, their Teacher spoke, “Not there, you two. Down the main corridor, the second door on the right. You are going to join class 3-A. You will only have Gymnastics with your former classmates because it would be too difficult for you to have such physical activities with youngsters twice your size. In Byia’s case, three times bigger.”

Byia made a big smile and waved at the Teacher while pulling Guyi. “Thanks a lot! See you later, then!”

In front of the door of their new class, Byia and Guyi took a few deep breaths before entering. Byia opened the door, and when they both entered, the noise in the classroom came to a halt.

Every pair of eyes was upon them, and Byia was looking around, amazed by the size of some of her new classmates. One light green Water-Dragon approached them with a slight smile. “You are in the wrong class, aren’t you, little ones? First-Tides are on the other end of the corridor.”

Byia stuttered, surprised by the size of that green Water-Dragon, “Our… Teacher told us to come here. We are… changing classes, starting today. I am…”

The light green Dragon made a big smile and said, “Byia Calla and Guyi Mohryi! The Principal told us about you two yesterday. I heard you got slapped in class, Byia, and you crushed your classmates during Gymnastics! You are already famous throughout the entire school! Come, both of you! Everyone, I introduce to you Byia Calla and Guyi Mohryi, our new classmates! Give them a round of applause, will you?”

The entire class got up and began to clap, with smiles and cheers. Byia looked at Guyi a little puzzled, but then the light green Water-Dragon signaled everyone to be silent and pointed to an empty table right in the front row. “That’s your table. We all thought it would be better if you were both at the front because being behind a huge Dragon would stop you from seeing the board or the Teacher.”

Byia raised one eyebrow and asked, “This is not some sort of weird prank, is it? Because you will be in a lot of trouble if you dare to try something against me. I am not a helpless little female, and I will easily take your head off!”

The entire class began to laugh, and the green-light Dragon spoke when he managed to stop laughing. “No, don’t worry. Around here, no one wastes time with stupid pranks; we are here to learn, right?”

The entire class nodded while smiling, and the green Dragon continued, “First-Tide is always a little difficult for everyone. I still have nightmares about some things my classmates did to me on my first days of School. You are both completely safe here. We will have your back if any of you ever need a strong bodyguard while in this School.”

Byia made a big smile. “Thanks a lot! I think I will like this class!”

Byia then noticed a very serious light grey Dragon, smaller than the rest but with so many tensed muscles that Byia rushed to him with her mouth wide open. “Guyi! Look at this guy! He is smaller than the others, but he is so fit! I bet females go crazy with all your muscles!”

The Water-Dragon made an awkward smile and remained silent, but then Guyi called Byia out. “You saw that guy, and you didn’t see this one? Look at him! He is huge!”

Byia laughed when she noticed who Guyi was looking at. “She is a female, Guyi! Damn, how can you embarrass me so much? I am sorry. Guyi is a little dumb sometimes!”

The enormous, dark green female spoke with a gentle voice while clacking her teeth at Guyi. “That’s okay, but if he ever calls me a male again, I am going to eat him!”

“I… am sorry, madam! I made a mistake…”

The enormous green female kept staring at him, but she then made a big laugh, with the entire class joining her laughter. From the Teacher’s desk, the light green Water-Dragon spoke, “Okay, quiet now; we need to start the class.”

Byia turned to face her new Teacher. She opened her mouth wide and spoke, “No way! You are our Teacher? And I said I would bite your head off! I am so sorry!”