"HAN..."

"HAN."

This was Rubix's favorite class and mine for that matter. The boxing class!

It was essential to know how to fight unarmed. The class started with a warm up and the dragoness was no exception.

We jumped on the spot and relaxed our arms.Then it was the lateral flexions where one had to remain facing the teacher of Gym and to touch his ankle laterally then after a series, one resauta to relax the solicited tendons.

Then the hands in the neck we twisted our bust each time a little more.

Rubix made waltz his tail and was reprimanded.

"You have to know how to control it too. It's like a third leg!"

Actually, she could manage it, but it was concentration. Then we took several quick laps around the main yard, the goal being to get "spikes."

Everyone in turn was out of breath. I was still in the race but my friends were hs.

"FLEXIONS!"

And we bent our knees. And after losing our breakfast in energy... we arrived near a perimeter wall where big leather bags were filled with sand.

The professor looked at our size and we had to stretch our leg to him and he placed the foot well in height. and put chalk in the form of a cross on the bag.

"Rubix!! No jumping with the help of the wings, even as a balance beam."

"You have to tap here, here and here pointing to 3 levels"

"100 strokes to the left and 100 strokes to the right! Come on, and let's jump!

"BAM BAM BAM and RE BAM.The sound was like machine gun fire.

"Come on you lazy bastards.... "

After a set of 100 everyone was on the floor. Rubix, Manu, Jim and I were still in the race. The drag was evolving.

Her endurance was increasing. Then the whistle blew and we all went to throw ourselves in the central fountain.

It was refreshing and invigorating. But every time dragons came out of the courtyard with a saddle through the big inner doors so that the second year apprentices could train, Rubix had the reflex to come and hide behind me.

The stables... Her nightmare... I felt her little hands against my arm. They were shaking.

The others knew and had guessed...I turned to them, ignoring the teacher.

"You better be nice to them... "

My threat was quickly taken seriously. Then Roba, the gym/boxing teacher, agreed.

"Yes, never forget that they are not horses but friends... partners. A submission collar often breaks!...So you have been warned..."

The students now understood why many dragon riders did not finish their training or disappeared... And some of them had scars and missing fingers...sometimes an ear...Dragons were vindictive...very...

The afternoon was free and the rector asked to see the dragoness.

Obviously, she refused to go without me and I had to accompany her.

"Rubiiix!!!. But..come on... You should have more confidence in yourself, right? You are a DRAGON! You have incredible strength, you have powers and...you're pretty..."

I was red-faced but Rubix answered me with a smile. Lately, she wasn't trying to kiss me anymore. She was evolving but it was a bit of a shame...for me...But I also really liked Saphie, my childhood friend, and her shape was becoming more and more pronounced every day.

Often my eyes would roll down a little when we talked and I would make more and more short sentences to turn my head. Beth was also very pretty, a little chubby, but that also gave her charm.

The dragons also ran after me to play, against all understanding. Fortunately Rubix was handling the situation. The other eggs hatched and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. But there was one class that I dreaded most of all.

I knew it from the ones from the year before. In dragoncraft class, a spell was cast on a dragonet and temporarily it would grow large enough to be ridden by its rider, advancing it 4-5 years.

But was this stealing his childhood? That's why grown-ups and adults were so stupid? And that's when I entered the director's office with Rubix.

From his flowery beard, he looked at each of us and adjusted his glasses to better see the scrolls written in small letters.

"I knew Torin would be with you, my little one. But don't be afraid... I have thought long and hard about your situation and if you have the protection of the Academy for now, it will not always be the case, especially if I were to disappear or be removed. This also concerns you Torin...If everything seems to be at peace in the world at the moment, it is not so... I know many things that you do not know or do not know yet, regardless of the books and the knowledge contained in this school. But let's get back to what I brought you here for."

He put down his cup of coffee and offered us some.Then he turned and took from a small square cupboard a tight roll of parchment.

He unrolled it, and placed two ivory blotters to keep it open.And next to it, a candle.He then took a red string and a gold thread and heated the string which released a sticky liquid that held the gold thread to the parchment. Then a ring on his finger served as a seal. A moment after everything had cooled down he gave Rubix the scroll.

"Keep it carefully as if your life depended on it. It is a very rare document that only a nobleman of my rank can, with the king, create. It is a document of emancipation.

It guarantees you that you belong to yourself and that no one can change your condition of being free into cattle or bound dragon. You are part of the human race.

A copy is also bound by the golden thread. So you can have a free life. To be able to buy a house or an estate, to marry and have children who, by the power of this scroll, will also be free.

Rubix screamed with joy and began to lick the feet of the rector who straightened her out.

"None of that my child. Our academy has made you suffer enough. You have also opened our eyes and through your courage and perseverance, we will see to it that this never happens again.But unfortunately, my authority ends beyond these walls..."

I had never seen her so happy...It was like a veil that was lifted and I discovered a new friend...The next day it was study and as she had learnt the rudiments by herself, she was going to have a strong catching up session. Then she took out, to my great astonishment, a magic scroll of parallel thought. It went away, just like that... burned by the magic it contained and I saw my friend read the pages faster, at least at the speed of a normal student. But it was a boost for her. This scroll was really precious to her and she had put all her concentration on it to make it more effective. In one day, she learned 2 to 3 months of lessons and it was memorized, however... she fell asleep in her notebooks and I carried her princess style to her dormitory... with the girls.

My friends had taken care of her things and put her in the bag.

Saphie: "Oh... have you seen this??? What a beautiful dagger... "

"Torin? Is that Rubix's dagger?"

I was surprised that the dagger was still here and not at Valtrax.

"Saphie, this is HER stuff... And be very careful, Some items useful to dragons could be cursed to the human. This is a precious ancient object."

Sapphie: "Sorry, Torin..."

"She is also entitled to have possessions now that she is emancipated..."

Everyone heard this word and was surprised but pleasantly...

Jim: "But we have to celebrate!"

"No! It must be kept quiet. It is useless to attract attention or problems with the nobles. I brought a jug of milk with honey and bread and some dried meat on a tray covered with a cloth to keep the flies away.

But she was sleeping soundly, 24 hours later.

When she woke up, she was surprised to be on her mattress, with her belongings stored on the chest at the foot of her bed. Then, while taking her bag, the dagger of brilliance fell.

Holding it against her heart, she went alone to the principal's office and ... she had the courage to go alone this time. She hesitated for a moment in front of the white double doors then clenched her fist and hesitated again but she took her courage in both legs and knocked on the door.

"I've been waiting for you, my little one..."

a voice said through the door. She entered, and with her long neck she looked left and then right and ...finally met the rector's nose in front of hers, with her muzzle.

To her astonishment, she no longer forked, probably the consequences of the parchment...

"Rector...sorry to...But...I...It's.."

She couldn't find the words but pulled out the dagger of Brilliance.

Gamblin: "Goodness gracious! The Blade of Brilliance..... We thought it was lost forever!!!"

Rubix presented the blade to him, her greatest treasure. Unconsciously, gold was attractive to dragons and Rubix was not immune to it. But what wouldn't she do for love?

"It's not mine... nor yours... It's Valtrax's..! It's to heal Torin!!!"

The rector raised his head, contemplating the dagger. It emitted a strange energy. A breaker of virtues as well as sins, its power was immense for those who knew how to use it.

Gamblin: "You had the right reflex... I hope it didn't occur to you to prick or stick it in Torin? I hope not..."

The dragoness looked down at her paws, admiring the ground. But it was shame...

"Do you have any idea what this means???"

She nodded her head no..

"It's a sacrificial dagger. Torin touched or grazed would be sacrificed to the dagger to bring Exodus back! And with his rage dying...Remember the story of Sosaria??"

Tears lined the floor. But Gamblin got up with a handkerchief.

"Noon..nonn, my beautiful, I was not reproaching you... You couldn't know..."

Whimpering: "Master Gamblin, how can I take care of Torin? He is suffering terribly. He feels the arrow tearing at his heart. He can never love... Sniff."

He sat down next to her and explained, "Yes...the dagger can heal him, but it's with another magic... That of purification... Manu, your friend can even do that! And I'm sure Torin will be infinitely grateful to you. And you can love each other..."

"But, Master, if Exodus were to be released, what would become of us?"

"I don't know, but the dragons would lose their free will and become monsters again at Exodus' command. It would be a cascade of monsters, demons, evil monkeys and imp that would surge. The dragonriders would be devoured by their mounts, collar or no collar, and you...I don't know...I hope you resist."

"Valtrax told me I have Exo blood..."

She paused, aware of her stupidity.

Gamblin: "Shut up.. I didn't hear anything... never...never let it come out of your mouth or throat.... We could have you shot on the spot.. just for that.."

"IIIIIIII -IIIIIII-IIIIIII"

Drawn by the racket and his little cry of despair from a nightmare, I arrived like Muscles in the Director's room.

"Your hero has just arrived .... You can go and don't forget...!!! Chttt!"

"And to answer your question... it's no.!!!!"

Rubix was all pale, as if she was turning into an ice dragon...Once again, she was clutching at me.

Something was torturing her....We passed Sylon who was interested but also disgusted to see Rubix as a "human" in the hallway.

His smirk did not inspire anything good.