Chapter 55: The Dust Settles
Seeing Reynold in the spotlight again and again was making Laena think may be she had made the wrong decision.
No doubt, she loved Reynold before but everything changed after she entered Wyrmwood academy. She wanted to be among "The Bonded," that elite group of highborns who ruled the academy. And Landon was a member, so Laena agreed to be his girlfriend just to get into the group. In the end, she did not even make it all because of her hate speech toward Reynold during that initiation mess.
She did not know if she was feeling regret or anger that Reynold had been this strong all along but decided to lie to her. Even back in Terraverde town, when they used to spar together, she always defeat him or perhaps he let her defeat him.
Dammit! He was playing her back then, and she fell for it.
The emotion was clear, Laena was angry, and she could feel it burning in her heart.
The expression on Landon beside her darkened too.
Laena even had to shift her eyes to Landon to see his dark expression. She licked her lips and then shifted closer to him, attaching her hand together with his while rubbing it.
Right now, more crowds were still walking into the field. It was like all the cadets in the academy were right here to witness the fight first hand.
The fighting scene between Reynold, Zephyr, and Briar was a great show to the crowds that some of them even had to bet on it.
Just when the students were still betting, someone shouted and pointed to the field, saying "Look!" making the people who were betting shift their attention back to the field.
Seeing what it was, the people eyes widened.
In the center of the field, a very great wind was surrounding Reynold, Zephyr, and Briar so the crowd could no longer see them. The only thing they could see was the dancing wind.
Someone murmured, "Is the wind dancing or what? And where are Reynold, Zephyr, and Briar?"
Another voice answered, "It looks like they are inside the wind fighting, and the wind is covering them."
The people were stunned.
Even the fourth-year magic cadets were shocked too because they knew how much control was needed to handle this much wind.
At this moment, the wind became more intense and it kept dancing.
Even the dragon riders knew that controlling this much dancing wind needed great skill.
The wind suddenly increased and getting taller in the air, and as it grew, the dancing continued. The most impressive part was that whoever that was controlling it kept it just around the fight scene, not touching or reaching the crowd.
Then someone from the crowd murmured, "I did not know Zephyr could control this much wind."
Another voice asked, "How do you know it is Zephyr and not Reynold?"
A third voice said, "Reynold has shown great power, but he has never attended any magic class. Zephyr has, so this should not be a challenge for him."
Another nodded and agreed, "This wind is huge. It might be Zephyr controlling it to give Briar a chance to finish off Reynold."
Everyone was discussing and giving their opinions about the fight.
The dancing wind made it hard to know what was happening inside, but they caught glimpses of body movements, though they could not tell who it was.
Just then, someone shouted, "Dammit, the wind is dancing toward us!"
Another voice yelled, "Move back!"
And almost immediately, the students started moving back, making the crowd noisy.
Murmurs started again: "What kind of wind is this? It is getting too much."
Another added, "Dammit, Zephyr has been hiding his power all this time."
One of the highborns laughed and said, "Lowborns will always be lowborns. They are no match for us highborns."
Another highborn added, "Zephyr and Briar should just finish Reynold once and for all and get this challenge done."
Then a lowborn voice sounded, "Reynold, don’t disappoint me. My money is on you."
Some highborns breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Zephyr and Briar had the upper hand, with Zephyr controlling the wind since he was an air magic user, and Briar fighting Reynold with his sword.
On the other side, the lowborns were worried for Reynold to some extent.
Even though Reynold had not associated with them since entering the academy, he had proven himself today by standing up against injustices and challenging highborns. From one corner, Silla and Jaxson observed quietly, and it looked like things were not favoring Reynold.
Other lowborns near Silla and Jaxson had that same quiet, tense expression.
At the far end, Nyx was still holding Gwyn so she would not leave. Gwyn could only twist her pinky fingers together like she was praying. Her face had that worried look. From time to time, she pressed her lips tightly.
The wind was becoming more and more intense.
Even some cadets had to move back to avoid getting involved.
At this time, Bam!
The wind suddenly exploded, and some figures fell.
The wind was still there, so the cadets did not see who fell. They murmured among themselves: "Who fell? Reynold? Zephyr? Briar?"
Their curious eyes stayed on the field without moving.
The only thing they could see was the wind stopped dancing but still rotating a little.
Just when they thought the wind had reduced, like a flash, it increased again. The teacher in charge rushed over, yelling for them to move back quickly.
Just then, Professor Valerius rushed out from nowhere. He rushed into the rotating wind. A few moments later, he was out, carrying someone. He dropped the person and rushed back in, bringing out another person and dropping them beside the first person.
When the crowd saw who it was, they murmured, "Zephyr and Briar?" with shocked expressions.
Their clothes were shattered and their hair were messy, and they looked unconscious.
The crowd started murmuring: "What happened inside the wind? Are they okay?"
Another voice asked, "Did they win? Where the hell is Reynold?"
Someone added, "Maybe Reynold did not make it."
Professor Valerius applied pressure to Briar’s chest while the teacher in charge did the same to Zephyr. Then Valerius wove a healing thread into Briar, then into Zephyr. After a moment, they both coughed and spat out blood. And they looked shaken.
Another voice said, "Why are they shaking and coughing blood?"
Both Zephyr and Briar’s faces were pale and cold like they had just woken up from the dead.
Briar stood first, his face was full with anger. The crowd made way as he passed, hissing and cussing under his breath.
It hit the crowd then, Briar and Zephyr might have lost. If not, why else were their faces pale, and why was Briar cussing?
A voice sounded, "They fu&king lost..."
Zephyr kept his face down in shame as he followed Briar out of the field.
The highborns could not accept that a lowborn had just beaten two highborns at once.
Just then, the crowd’s eyes shifted back to the field. The wind had not fully died down, but they were shocked to see the real controller was Reynold Starweaver.
Professor Valerius’s voice sounded, "Everyone, go to your hostels. Today challenge is over."
The students could not question Valerius, so they turned and left the field.
As the crowd turned and left, murmurs were sounding among them like wildfire. Lowborns exchanged glances, their faces lighting up with pride. One lowborn boy punched the air. "Did you see that? Reynold took them both down!"
A girl nearby nodded, her eyes wide. "He is one of us. Finally, someone showing the highborns they ain’t invincible."
But in the highborns corner, their faces were full with anger and disbelief. Kael stormed off with a group of his friends while kicking at the ground. "This can not stand," he muttered. "A lowborn scum beating Briar and Zephyr at once? We will make him pay."
One of his buddies clapped him on the back. "Yeah, but how? The guy is bonded to three dragons and he is a Two. That is impossible."
Kael snarled. "Doesn’t matter. We hit him where it hurts.. whatever it takes."
Meanwhile, Laena walked beside Landon, her hand still in his, but her mind was elsewhere. Landon squeezed her fingers too tight, snapping her out of her thoughts.."You okay?" he asked, his voice a little low.
She forced a smile. "Yeah, just... surprised. He is changed."
Landon let out a snort. "Changed? Or always been a liar? You told me he was weak back home."
Laena pulled her hand away gently, pretending to adjust her hair. "He was. Or at least, he let me think so." As she speak, she gritted her teeth.
Why did he hide his strength? Was it to mock her? Or did he never love her enough?
As they reached the end of the field, Landon stopped, turning to face her. "Laena, you are not... regretting us, are you?"
Laena frown slight. "What? No, of course not." But her voice wavered just a bit. She leaned in, kissing his cheek. "You’re the one I chose."
Landon’s dark expression softened, but there was doubt in his eyes. "Good. Because if that lowborn thinks he can steal glances your way again..."
Laena laughed lightly, cutting him off. "He won’t. Let’s just get back."