Chapter 17
Tawny was gone when Levi woke, so he rolled onto his side. A small hand clasped his wrist, and as he opened his eyes, he realized his palm rested on the head of Flix in her human form. Well, almost human form. He stared at her. She offered a smile and his fingers scratched her hair. She held his forearm in her hands and encouraged him to give her a pat on the head. “This is getting really weird, Flix. Are you going to explain it?” he asked groggily.
The dragonet just let out the same trilling sound she did in her normal form, then she vanished to reappear on the edge of the bed, three feet of scaled body and sleek beauty. The small dragon blinked amber eyes at him and curled into a ball. Levi sensed contentment from her, and he sighed. “Right, time to hit the library,” he decided.
He checked his emblem to confirm that it was a free day, then climbed to his feet to get ready. He gathered his gear, went to the Raven House showers to clean up, then snagged a meal from the cafeteria. He saw Glint and Beatrice and gave the pair a wave, but his goal to reach the library was foremost in his mind. The pair waved back and Levi wolfed down his food before making his way to the huge chamber that housed the school’s collected knowledge. He wanted to know why the hell, how the hell, Flix had a human form, and what that meant for their bond. He still felt the two-way pulse of energy moving between them, and each day it seemed thicker. It hadn’t alarmed him until she’d started changing shape while he slept. Now, he had vague concerns she was sucking his form out of him or some other magic nonsense.
“Better safe than sorry,” he muttered to himself.
He didn’t see anyone from Crane House hovering around the library, which was a relief. The group seemed to think their status as the “intellectual House” meant they had ownership of the place. Half his run-ins with Darren had taken place in or near the library. Since the ass wasn’t around, he made his way to one of the librarians. The man was huge, nearly ten feet tall and as wide as a door. His tweed jacket was finely crafted and a pair of bifocals rested on his nose. The man’s skin looked like it was carved from stone and a single horn emerged from his forehead. His lips naturally turned down because a pair of heavy tusks stuck out of his bottom jaw at an angle. Levi thought his face looked a great deal like one of those Japanese demon masks. He put a fist over his mouth and coughed to get the man’s attention.
“Hey, I was wondering if there is any material on dragon species that shape shift?” he asked. The large fellow looked him over and let out a snort that sounded like a car backfiring—then he flinched and double checked to make sure the head librarian wasn’t around.
“There are a few books on the matter, though they’re in a restricted section. Only advanced tamer students are allowed to research them,” the ogre said in a voice that made Levi’s bones vibrate, even though the man was speaking quietly.
Levi frowned and used his middle finger to adjust his glasses as he looked up at the man. “I am a taming student—this is my beast Flix.” He motioned to the dragonet riding his shoulder, and the ogre had to blink several times before bending down to peer at the black-and-silver reptile over his glasses. As he straightened, the large man nodded several times.
“Fair does then, off you go! They’re on the third floor, phoenix aisle, stack six, row four,” he rumbled. He turned and handed Levi a small disk with a pair of glowing symbols on it. “This will let you up the stairs to the third floor. Don’t damage any of the books.”
Levi accepted the token and started for the stairwell. He ran his thumb over the engraved disk and his thumb tapped the symbols, then he slipped it into his pocket. Zuzan chittered at him and he sighed. “I am not going to forget to give it back—besides, that guy would probably hunt me down and eat me if I didn’t,” he protested, and the squirrel squeaked at him. Flix just trilled and nuzzled her face against his neck as her tail tightened around his bicep. Feels weird scratching her behind her horns now… Is she a person? I know she’s smarter than any regular animal on Earth—do the head pats mean anything? Levi wondered as his fingers scratched the base of her horn. “Let’s see if we can’t figure out what’s going on with you, Flix, okay?” he said finally.
Levi made his way up the stairs and listened to Flix release a repetitive chiming sound that sounded an awful lot like laughter. He glanced at the dragonet out of the corner of his eye, but she was curled up innocently. He shook his head and looked up as he passed the second floor. He hadn’t been to the third floor, since it was reserved for advanced students and upperclassmen. He wasn’t strictly sure he was eligible even now. He was in Advanced Taming, but that didn’t mean he qualified as an advanced tamer—however, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He did look at the floor in surprise. He had expected some sign that it was restricted; instead, he saw comfortable leather couches, thick armchairs, and tall rows of bookshelves with rolling ladders. The windows were small and tinted dark to protect the books from the light, and mana lanterns provided a cool golden light instead. Some trick of architecture blocked most of the sounds from the lower floors, despite an open balcony that allowed him to see down into the main library.
It was a comfortable space, and he smiled as he stepped onto the floor. “Now this is more like it. This is a study area,” he murmured. Zuzan squeaked an agreement and chittered at him as she looked around from his shoulder. Flix didn’t seem quite as impressed; the dragonet simply let out a chirp and went back to sleep. Levi chuckled to himself at the beast’s apathy. I’m going to have to make sure to include her in combat training, I think she’s bored.
He had to make his way around a number of rows before he found one marked with a phoenix—the engraving was lovely to behold. He stepped between the stacks and started down the rows to find the shelf he needed. That was when he heard the voices.
“You know, princess, not many would give me the shit you do,” Darren hissed.
“I don’t stop you from being a dick to everyone, Darren!” complained Elizabeth.
“You get in my way, your snide comments encouraging the others to walk off. Don’t think I don’t know you’re protecting those pathetic Raven House losers,” Darren rumbled.
Levi felt a flush of anger at hearing Darren insult his friends; his hand tightened around the knob of his cane, and he felt his eyes narrow.
“Why do you have to act like such a shi—” Elizabeth started to say, but a meaty slap interrupted her.
“You don’t get to insult me, princess! Not if you want your mother to stay healthy. The protection we give your mom can vanish like that! Who else is going to stand up for a human fucking fae?” Darren retorted, snapping his fingers.
“I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said quietly.
“Good. Remember your fucking place, and don’t interrupt the next time I want to deal with that trumped-up animal handler and his moss foot friend!”
Levi started to go around the stacks, intending to find the pair and deal with the bully. Mother fucker is holding her mom hostage? His cane glowed a smoldering crimson as his power leaked through it, but Zuzan chittered sharply and started pulling on his earlobe. Levi’s pause allowed him to hear the footsteps moving away, so he turned his head to stare at the squirrel on his shoulder. He realized how angry he was when he saw the red glow wash over her fur like blood—he started breathing slowly to calm himself down. Zuzan’s squeaks grew less urgent as the light faded from his eyes and Levi nodded. “Okay, okay, I get it. If we start a fight, that bastard might take it out on Elizabeth’s mom. Thanks for calming me down, Zuzan,” he murmured. The squirrel licked his chin and squeaked softly. He reached up and stroked his fingers across the fur on Zuzan’s back as he let himself cool off, his eyes then shifting to the tomes around him. “But, if we can figure out a way it won’t splash back onto Elizabeth, I am going to beat that fuck within an inch of his life,” the tamer promised. Zuzan let out an assertive chirp and Levi laughed at the fierce little sound.
He turned back to the shelves and started sorting through the books until he found two tomes on dragonets. After a little more searching, he found another on draconic magic, then he went to a chair to sit and begin reading. A squeak from Zuzan prompted him to take out a pouch of nuts and set it on the end table next to him. The squirrel chirped gleefully and scampered down to stuff her head into the bag. Flix let out a low hiss and crawled down to curl up in his lap. He pulled out a large chunk of salted meat and the beast began gnawing on it happily. He shifted the first book to rest in the crook of his elbow and started reading, his other hand scratching the space between Flix’s horns.
The handwritten tome wasn’t the easiest to read, but Levi had gotten more practice at deciphering the texts since he had come to this Academy. He turned the pages slowly and adjusted his glasses as needed. The first book told him much of what he already knew. Dragonets were small members of the draconic race; they had incredibly hard scales, a dangerous breath attack, and the ability to sense ambient mana in their environment. Nothing in the book offered any hint that a dragonet could take on a near-human form. He closed that tome reluctantly and set it aside, starting on the next.
This tome was harder to read. The writer had some idiosyncratic ways of forming their letters that took Levi a while to adjust to, though he did find a reference to subspecies of the dragonets. He dug into that book with all of his concentration, only pausing to take out a bowl and a bottle of water so his companions could drink while he read. Details were offered about dragonets that had specialized for their climates, like the jungle, desert, or tundra, but he didn’t think those applied to Flix. Unfortunately, the information wasn’t helpful. Looking closer, he saw the information was about elemental traits that were displayed among the scales. Flix’s scales were pure black—it was her horns, wings, and claws that were silver. He set that book aside as a bust, then turned his attention to the last book.
He didn’t have a great deal of hope for this one—his studies said that dragonets lacked any of the significant magical powers found in larger dragon species—but he was determined to keep looking. He considered the ability to transform her entire body a ‘significant magical power.’ His eyes narrowed as he sipped his water and continued to read. What if Flix isn’t a dragonet? he thought slowly, growing tired. His mind felt fuzzy, but it wasn’t until he heard Zuzan snoring that he realized how much time had passed. Levi glanced up and saw the chamber had dimmed. The library had grown dark and quiet, the output from the mana lanterns turned down to conserve vapor. With the tint to the windows, it was hard to tell exactly how late it was, but the gurgle in his stomach told him he had been studying for quite some time.
He groaned as he shifted to close the book. He was stiff from hours of sitting in the chair and he couldn’t feel his right leg, thanks to Flix’s napping. He scooped her up in his arm so he could stand, then shuffled a bit to get the blood flowing again. Once he could move without falling over, he carefully marked the spot he was on in the book on dragon magic—he’d have to continue studying it at a later date. He gathered up his beasts and decided it was time to hit the cafeteria for a meal. Another loud rumble of his stomach informed him it was well past time for that. He made sure to drop the token off with the librarian on duty, requesting permission to use it again later. With that logged on his emblem and in the library’s filing system, he headed out to find some food.
When he arrived at the cafeteria, Levi had to stop at the door. There was a crowd of students blocking the entrance and the voices were overwhelming as they babbled over each other. It was a scene he recognized from a dozen teen movies. You’re fucking kidding me, people actually do this? Someone inside there was in the middle of a fight. He heard a bovine bellow and had a sick feeling he knew just who it was that was caught up in this particular altercation.
“Don’t touch my Glint!” came Beatrice’s thunderous voice.
“Ah fuck,” Levi muttered as he started pushing and shoving his way through the crowd to try and find out what was going on. If his friends were in a fight, he wasn’t going to sit back and let them get their asses handed to them. Beatrice was huge, but she was a gentle soul. And Glint? He wasn’t exactly built for fighting.
The snarling sound that tore through the crowd and caused people to surge back surprised Levi, then he heard a sneering voice follow after it. “It is time for this moss foot to get what’s been coming to him, and no fucking cow is getting in my way!” Darren bellowed. That was the moment Levi began to see red. Literally, a glow was coming from his eyes and shining on the backs of the people in front of him. He used his cane to prod the people out of the way, and several yelped in shock as the crimson-and-black energy hissed against their skin. Levi felt like the was crowd moving in slow motion. Barely shifting to clear a path as he stepped by. When he burst out of the crowd, he saw a group of Crane House students holding Beatrice down.
Darren stood with his uniform morphed to wrap around his larger frame; he’d shifted into a half-wolf form that rippled with muscle. He was holding Glint off the ground by the front of his uniform and staring at Levi’s friend with undisguised hatred. His ears flicked in Levi’s direction when the tamer came out from among the crowd.
Everyone looked unsure as they took Levi in: a red glow wavering around his body like a translucent fire, his cane rippling with a swell of power, and his eyes glowing like a beacon of hell.
“The fuck do you think you’re doing to my friend?” Levi said in a voice that rose over the quieting onlookers.
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