Alonia & Trift by Audrey Faye & Shae Geary

Author:Audrey Faye & Shae Geary [Faye, Audrey & Geary, Shae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fireweed Publishing Ltd
Published: 2018-06-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Kellan yawned widely, and Alonia grinned as the yawn was promptly contagious, traveling down the small group gathered at the base of the haphazard pile of rocks. Karis stood on a small boulder partway up the mound, looking rather pleased with herself.

She should—she’d dragged them all out of warm beds into the cool morning without anything more than leftover crusts for breakfast. It wasn’t just the usual group of students, though. There were villagers in the mix, and a couple of dragons and kin she’d thought were just passing through.

“Good morning.” Karis looked around at the gathered faces and waited until all the bleary eyes turned her way. “We’re practicing village safety and rescue this fine day, and I thought it would be better to get it over and done with before the air warms and moving rocks is an unpleasant task.”

Alonia wasn’t sure that was a pleasant task at any time of day.

Karis nodded at her dragon, who had returned with Lotus late in the night. The peach-pink dragon was curled up at Sapphire’s side, sound asleep, but the enormous dark dragon looked none the worse for his travels. “Afran tells me there is a cave under this pile of rubble, one that might be quite useful for the village’s cold stores.”

Someone muttered that there were easier ways to keep the potatoes cool.

Karis smiled. “I’m aware of that, but my students also need practice in rescue situations. So for today, we’re going to pretend there are an unknown number of villagers trapped in this pile of rocks. I’ve asked a few of you to join us to better mimic an actual rescue, but I’ll ask you to let the younglings take the lead. They need practice in making decisions as well as executing them.”

Someone up front laughed. “Dug us out of bed to move rocks, did you?”

Karis flashed him a grin. “I did indeed. To make it worth your while, Afran returned with some lovely berries and spices, and Inga is turning those into breakfast while we work.”

There were a few wry responses to that, but most people present seemed willing to work for pastries. And the village really did need better cold stores. Dragons tended to keep things overly warm, at least as far as grains and root vegetables were concerned.

Afran raised his head and bugled out an alarm—a very quiet one.

Karis nodded at her dragon and faced them all with a stern look on her face. “The situation is this. Afran has discovered a rock slide where we knew some of the littles were camping with their teachers last night.”

Alonia felt the dread hit her stomach, even though she knew this was only practice. The littles did that all the time, and this was a nice spot. Far enough from the village to feel separate, but close enough that an alarm could have everyone here in no time. Just the kind of place a teacher might pick for an overnight fire and storytelling. And there were usually a few dragonets in the mix along with the small elves and humans who lived in the village.

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