MakiaVi: The Frozen King - Chapter Eighteen (Patreon)

 
Edion woke up lying down in a white room. His head ached with each heartbeat. He shifted a bit and winced in pain from his injuries. A dragon in white robes rushed to his side. “Stay still.” she said. The mage started waving her hands over his wounds.
“Did I win?” Edion grunted.
“No. It was a tie.” she responded. “You both were eliminated.” Edion let out a deep sigh. “Don’t be sad. It was quite the battle. I haven’t seen many class D members fight that hard.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Only about thirty minutes or so. Don’t worry. We will have you out of here before the festival starts.”
Edion raised an eyebrow. “Festival?”
The mage sighed. “Did that idiot Brakon forget to tell you? After the trials, there is a huge festival to celebrate. The main roads will be covered with stalls from the MakiaVi’s businesses. They hand out free goods to all of the members who got promoted.”
“Looks like I will be paying for mine.” Edion grumbled.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Being defeated in your second fight doesn’t mean much, especially when you put on a show like that. Besides, they also have the second chance bracket for anyone who did not show enough of their skills.”
Edion almost jumped out of the bed. “There is a second chance bracket?” The pain caught up with him and he fell back into the bed screaming.
“I told you to stay still.”  the healer sighed.
“Will you quiet down!” cried a familiar voice. Edion managed to stifle his wailing. He noticed another mage opening a curtain to reveal Leon lying in a bed across from his.
“Leon. Glad to see I didn’t kill you.” Edion said with a chuckle that turned into a painful cough.
“Please, as if I would die to the likes of you.”
There was a light knock at the door. “Come in.” said Leon’s mage. The door opened and Riza walked into the room with Burlik right behind her. Riza had gauze on her shoulder while Burlik’s head was wrapped up.
“How are you guys doing?” Riza asked.
“Surviving.” Grunted Edion. “What happened to you two?”
“Bellatrix took me down almost instantly with her katana.” Riza said.
“Tereen headbutted me so hard, I’m still seeing stars.” Burlik said as he rubbed his skull.
Riza sat opposite of Edion’s healer and grabbed Edion’s hand. “Look at you. You’re a mess.” She said frowning. Riza leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek Leon punched. The pain left Edion along with most of the feeling in the right side of his face. “There. Feel better?”
“Yeah, much better.” He said with a smile. Edion looked over to see Burlik with his hand on Leon’s head. His blue eyes were filled with tears.
“Oh quit it. I’m fine.” Leon scoffed. It was odd to see the large dragon crying. Burlik had not so much as frowned since Edion met him. Burlik hugged Leon tightly around his shoulders. The sky dragon yelped in pain but Burlik did not let up. “Okay okay okay!” Leon grunted. The healer finally pried Burlik off of her patient. He quickly wiped his eyes and apologised.
“Aren’t they cute?” Riza whispered.
“Alright you two, time to go.” Leon’s healer commanded. Riza and Burlik said their goodbyes and walked out of the room.
A few hours pass. The healers examined Edion and Leon and as far as they can see, the two of them are in good enough condition to leave. Edion still felt some lingering aches but not enough to keep him from a party. They thanked their healers and walked towards the lobby.
“Just so you know, I’m going to win next time.” Leon said.
Edion rolled his neck and winced a bit. “Let’s wait on that one. For now, let’s focus on the festival.”
Leon chuckled. “Fair enough.” They walked out into the lobby to see Brakon sitting near the entrance with the rest of his students.
“Great! You guys are out.” Brakon cheered. “I can now reveal the results of the trials.”
“You didn’t have to wait for us.” Edion said.
“We actually do.” Burlik corrected, looking up from the book Shevette gave him. He looked back down and read,  “All test results must be revealed to the entirety of the student group unless a member of said group has passed during testing.”
“This place has some odd rules.” Edion said.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Burlik mumbled.
Brakon pulled a sealed folder from his jacket. He opened it, took out a stack of papers and cleared his throat. “These are evaluations are made up of my personal knowledge of all of you and how you all stacked up against the other class D members. I’ll just jump to the results. The rest you can read on your own. First up is Bellatrix. You have been granted the rank of C.” Bellatrix gave a modest smile. Zan picked her up and cheered. Brakon shuffled to the next sheet. “Burlik, you have been granted the rank of C.” Burlik pumped his fist in the air in celebration. “Zan, you also have reached rank C.” Zan let out an ear-splitting scream of excitement. “Tereen, you are also now rank C.” She gave a small grin. “Riza, you are rank C.” Riza jumped gleefully. “Leon, you have been granted rank C. Finally got that single room that you wanted.” Leon chuckled in response. “Lastly Edion. You have also reached rank C.” Edion breathed a sigh of relief as Riza jumped on his back.
“We did it! We all did it!” Riza cheered. 
“Yes. Congratulations to you all. From now on, you all may live in the class C buildings. They are much nicer in my opinion. All previous team assignments are void. When you are ready, each of you must select a partner to join you on missions. Of course the missions get more serious now. While it is now possible, you hopefully will not encounter any dragon slayers during your travels.”
“Anything else we need to know?” Zan asked mockingly.
“Just one thing. Have fun! The festival is in celebration of you all. This is your day. Enjoy it.” The new class C members cheered as they rushed towards the door. 
Edion stopped and looked back at Brakon. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked.
Brakon smiled. “I’ll catch up. I have a bit of work to do.”
Edion shrugged and joined the rest of his friends. Brakon sat alone in the lobby, going over his student’s papers. He stopped on Edion’s and let out a deep sigh. Brakon walked outside to the noise and commotion of the festival. The streets were alive with vibrant decorations. The scent of treats from all over Dreven wafted in the air. Brakon ignored the tempting display and flew to the deployment center. He walked down the hall towards Elise’s office. Her secretary was preparing to leave. Her dress was a rainbow of colors and a frilly mask was strapped to her forehead. “Oh! Brakon. We weren’t expecting you today.” Leez said.
“Sorry for not making an appointment. Is she in?” Brakon asked.
“Well yes but,” she looked down at her feet. “She hasn’t been in the best of moods lately. I don’t think-”
“I’ll only be a second.” 
Leez nodded. “Okay.” she grabbed her things, tapped a rune on her desk and started walking away. “Have a happy festival!” she said with a cheerful smile.
“Same to you.” Brakon replied with the best smile he could manage. He opened the door to Elise’s office to see her standing at the window staring at the fireworks exploding in the distance. She had a glass of scotch in her hand.
“Shouldn’t you be down there?” She asked dryly.
“Shouldn’t you?” Brakon walked deeper into the office. Elise did not turn from the window. “He made it. They all did.”
“Of course they did.” she spat. “All according to plan.”
“I still can’t believe you trusted me to watch over them.” Brakon chuckled.
She turned to look at him. “Who else but family.”
“When do we get to tell them?”
Elise swirled her drink and took a sip. “They will find out when the time is right. For now, let them be kids.”
“By the way, pushing Edion to take down Kardon was genius. Though I didn’t expect him to bring back so many recruits.”
“Just icing on the cake. Having control of Zekul is far more important. Thankfully you did not have to interfere. I know it was hard but you being “captured” really gave Edion that boost he needed. Had you fought Kardon, the other provinces may have suspected us of treason and pulled their support.”
“Is dethroning a King not treason?” Brakon asked sarcastically.
“Not if the prince does it.” Elise said with a grin.
“What about the other six?”
“As far as they know, they are all normal dragons. I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.”
“Of course.” Brakon paused a moment. “Leez mentioned that something is bothering you. Anything you want to tell me?”
Elise turned away from him and looked out the window. “According to our reports, dragons have been almost completely evacuated from the west.”
Brakon raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was a good thing.”
Elise sighed. “Yes. It’s wonderful actually. This is why the MakiaVi was founded.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Elise finished off her drink. “The dragon slayers have become accustomed to a certain… lifestyle. A large chunk of their economy is based on goods made from dragons. We are closing in on the last of the breeding farms. Sooner or later, they are going to cross the border into our lands.”
Brakon’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me we might have a war on our hands?”
Elise slammed her glass onto her desk. “I’m telling you that we already do.”