Page 14 of Ava’s Love of the Dragons (Of Dragons, Love, and Destiny #2)

Ava took off running as soon as she stepped out the door.

Not knowing if there was a separate track for beginners, she quickly headed towards the arena.

Maybe the other fighters were also doing their laps there, and she could strike up a conversation with them.

Ideally, they would tell her what she needed to do to get the running over with.

Plus, she'd be on site when Master Clark showed up, and could convince him that she was at peace with herself.

Which she sort of was.

Sure, she was angry at her parents, sure she had felt abandoned, but that was just how it was. Nothing could be changed about that now. And to prevent it from holding her back, she simply didn't think about it. Done. Problem solved.

All five students Ava had encountered so far were in the arena. Judging by their sweat-soaked uniforms and faces, they hadn't just been training for a few minutes.

Tomorrow she would get up earlier too.

Ava nodded to them, and a guy with short blond hair returned the gesture. The other cadets didn't pay her any attention, instead striking wooden frames with their weapons. So she just started doing her laps. The master would show up eventually.

The dimensions of the arena were larger than they appeared at first glance. By the second lap, her pulse was so high that she wondered how long she could keep this up. But if she ran any slower, not even dear Marcus could claim she was running.

Her pulse was becoming dangerously fast, her heart pounded vehemently against her ribs, and beads of sweat gathered at her temples, streaming down in torrents. Out of necessity, she slowed her pace a bit.

Inevitably, her gaze wandered to the center of the arena to her fellow students.

Magg was wearing a cap again, hiding her blonde hair.

Ava would have recognized her hard-as-nails expression from a mile away.

Although she had red round lips and a narrow face, her expression had something masculine about it due to its harsh look.

This impression was underscored by her controlled, quick movements.

If Ava could learn to fight half as well, she'd be satisfied.

What else would Magg have to learn before she was accepted into the dragon fighters?

"Stop staring at me!" Magg suddenly shouted, without looking at Ava.

"I'm not staring!"

"Then how do you know I'm talking to you, chickie?"

How friendly. She definitely wouldn't be winning any popularity contests here.

"When is Master Clark coming?"

"Certainly not for you. You're not ready yet.

Anyone can see that at first glance." With those words, she spat into the sand in front of her and pounded her bandaged fists into the straw dummy that served as her opponent.

Looking at those hard hits, Ava thought she'd better not make an enemy of Magg.

Still, she wasn't going to let herself be spoken to like that.

"I bet you had to start somewhere too!"

The blond student who had nodded to her came jogging over.

Although he was running faster than Ava and had been training for hours, he didn't look exhausted.

On the contrary, the physical exertion seemed to enhance his energetic aura.

Since he wasn't wearing a tunic, his muscular upper body showed beneath his leather vest, emphasizing his affinity for sports.

He was probably in his mid-twenties and exuded charm.

"Hey, I'm Ralph."

Perfect timing! Now she could take a short break. She seized the opportunity and stopped. "Ava."

He nodded towards Magg. "Just ignore her. But I advise you to do your laps somewhere else. Otherwise, it'll take you too long."

Gasping for breath, Ava put her hands on her sides. Panting, she bent over and straightened up again. "Why? You guys are training here too."

"That's why." He winked at her, jogged backwards, and pointed to the forest. "Go outside, run faster, do it alone.

Just some friendly advice." He turned around, returned to his sparring partner, and they were soon fighting like young gods.

And if you get advice from a young combat god, maybe it's best to take it. ..

Without much enthusiasm, she set herself in motion again and ran out of the arena. She wasn't running, but at least she was jogging. Surely the others couldn't be serious about the running. Who ran for more than a few minutes at a stretch?

She did several laps around the grounds, but Master Clark was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, she passed a black-haired man who looked to be in his late forties.

He appeared fit, also wearing combat clothing, yet he was sweeping the stone floor behind the stands.

He nodded to her briefly before returning to his work.

Was that a punishment?

Ava did two extra laps near him and observed him, but he didn't look up again, instead immersing himself in his Sisyphean task. Maybe he was just a regular employee.

She jogged past the arena again, heard the shouts and the clang of her classmates' swords, but Master Clark still hadn't shown up. Ralph noticed her and pointed towards the forest. Right, the combat god had given her some advice.

Sighing, she headed for the gate and left the grounds.

It was hot. Damn hot. Soon she'd need a water break. And a change of clothes. She kept running when suddenly the sky darkened and two large shadows came rushing in.

Startled, Ava stopped and raised her hands. Inevitably, she expected Rob and his dragon. Her body stiffened and went into a state of alarm as she kept her eyes fixed on the massive shadows.

Or was it Kilian? Had he found out she was here? An inappropriate joy sped up her heartbeat as she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the sky.

Yet it wasn't the dragon fighter or any of Kilian's people, rather the same two dragons that had trained with Magg and her sparring partner in the arena yesterday.

They headed for the arena, whirling up a veritable hurricane as they landed, sending sand and dust flying everywhere, and thundered down in the midst of the students, making the earth tremble as if there were a magnitude nine earthquake.

It was a miracle the buildings didn't collapse.

Ava came to a stop. Although she was outside the walls, she could see the heads of the mountain dragons and the matte shimmer of their large scales in the late morning sun. Though the dragons were small and rotund, there was something majestic about them.

How was the little dragon doing? Ava's heart clenched as she thought of him.

He was so small, so adorable, so in need of protection.

A sense of longing overcame her, rolling over her like a wave and threatening to drag her down.

But she quickly pushed the feeling aside and continued her run, circling the arena outside the walls again and again, constantly hearing the snorting and stomping of the dragons, as well as the clanging of swords and the shouts of her fellow students.

She ran until the sun reached its zenith.

At last, it must have been lunchtime. She immediately noticed that the sounds of combat from the arena were fading and took it as confirmation.

Parched, she headed for the gate, satisfied with herself for having persevered for so long.

Whatever she had to prove to Master Clark, she had done it.

There was a well beside the gate. She walked purposefully towards it, pulled up the bucket, and scooped water with her bare hands.

She drank greedily until her thirst was quenched.

Afterwards, she washed her face, not wanting to appear at lunch dripping with sweat, though that was impossible given her sweat-soaked clothes.

Once again, she saw the man who had been sweeping behind the stands. He didn't set aside his broom to go to the canteen, seeming rather caught up in his own world as he swept and swept, even though it hardly made any difference. Perhaps he was a lost soul being cared for by Master Clark.

As she entered the dining hall, her legs ached.

She was tired as she looked around. Her fellow students didn't wave her over, but kept their heads bent over their bowls.

This suited her fine, as it allowed her to sit at the other end with her stew and eat in peace.

Every time someone passed by, she looked up, but neither Lilly nor Markus appeared.

Maybe they had already eaten or would eat later.

She hungrily shoveled the vegetables and meat into her mouth and got a second helping.

When she was full, she stretched out her legs and rested her arms on the table.

She wouldn't go running again today. She was exhausted.

Tired, she rubbed her face until she heard the sound of footsteps.

When she looked up, Ralph was standing next to her seat.

His grin communicated a mixture of friendliness and amusement.

"Hey Ava, glad to run into you."

Was that supposed to be a pun?

"Hi. You too. I'm exhausted. Do you have any idea where the Master is?"

"I do, but it won't do you any good. You won't see him again until he wants you to."

Groaning, she pulled the hair tie out of her hair, letting the strands fall far over her shoulders. "Would you be willing to teach me a few tricks until he starts training me? I'm in a bit of a hurry."

Ralph laughed. "Master Clark has already started training you."

She shook her head, not understanding. "He hasn't. He just taught me a lesson last night and told me I had to run."

"What for?"

She certainly wasn't going to discuss that with him.

"You're supposed to conquer your inner demons, am I right?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Is this a standard program for new students?"

"Of course. The process is crucial for you to reach your full potential. Keep running, don't stop—day and night if necessary."

"But I've made peace with my demons."

He leaned forward. "You're not supposed to make peace with them, you're supposed to overcome them." He winked at her and sauntered off as if he had just asked her out on a date.

She watched him with her mouth open. Watched as he left the dining room, even though he had arrived later than her—and was probably heading straight back to the arena.

The other students were also getting up and following him, including Magg, whose steps were so firm it was as if the floorboards were her bitter arch-enemies.

Ava was a loner, so peer pressure didn't work on her.

Usually. But this wasn't about doing something just because everyone else was doing it.

This was about learning to fight. About acknowledging the determination and drive with which the other combat students approached their training.

Ultimately, this got her feeling that she needed to take the training just as seriously.

She was the guardian. The prophesied woman from another world who had what it took to defeat the most powerful living mage.

The mere thought of facing Elora again made her break out in a cold sweat.

The mere thought of meeting Rob again and not being prepared made her knees weak.

And the mere thought of having to fight for her life again overwhelmed her with a weakness that made it all too clear why she had wanted to learn to fight.

Lilly trusted Master Clark. These five very fit, very strong, and very ambitious combat students trusted him as well, and he had trained the dragon fighters in the past. Lynn also thought highly of him, even though she didn't fight but preferred mental training.

She sighed heavily, then pushed the dishes onto the tray and put it in the rack next to the kitchen.

She looked around the room one last time, hoping just a tiny bit that Marcus, Lilly, or anyone else would show up and stop her from going out into the heat again to start jogging again, but no one came.

So she did what she had come there to do.

She was letting Master Clark train her, even if that evidently meant running aimlessly around the area.