Free Web NovelChapter 16: That’s not Nice
Dawn led the way, moving easily between the trees, her steps light and confident. Luka followed a few paces behind, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds like the forest itself was going to reach out and grab him.
"We should head back," he said, not for the first time. "If the teachers notice we’re gone—"
"They won’t," Dawn said, not bothering to look back at him. "They’re in that meeting for at least another hour. Relax, Luka. Nothing’s going to happen."
"That’s exactly the kind of thing people say right before something happens," he muttered.
She laughed, bright and unbothered, slowing her pace just enough to let him catch up properly. "You worry too much, you know that?"
"I have reasons to worry," he said, adjusting his glasses. "You don’t understand what it’s like. One mistake, one wrong move, and everything I worked for is gone. I’m not from a noble house, Dawn. I’m from a farming village most people couldn’t even point to on a map. My parents sold half our land just to afford the entrance exam fees." He looked down, voice quieter now. "If I get expelled, or worse, if I do something that gets me blacklisted, there’s no soft landing waiting for me back home. There’s just the fields again. Forever."
Dawn slowed to a stop, turning to look at him properly, something gentler settling into her expression.
"Luka," she said, "you passed the entrance exam with one of the highest scores in our year. You earned your place there fair and square, talent and nothing else. That’s not something anyone can just take away from you over one little walk in the woods."
"It’s not that simple for people like me," he said.
"It should be," she said firmly. "And as long as I’m around, it will be. You’re one of us now, whether the rest of them like it or not. Stop carrying everyone else’s prejudice like it’s your fault."
He managed a small, tired smile. "You say that like it actually works that way."
"It will," she said, "because I’ll make it work that way."
He didn’t fully believe her, not really, but the conviction in her voice eased something tight in his chest anyway, and he found himself walking a little easier beside her after that, his shoulders less hunched, his eyes less darting.
A few minutes later, Dawn suddenly stopped, raising one hand.
"Look," she whispered, crouching low behind a wide tree trunk.
Luka crouched beside her, following her line of sight. A small deer-like creature stood in a clearing ahead, delicate and pale, antlers branching into thin glowing tips that pulsed faintly with soft blue light. It grazed peacefully, completely unaware of them.
"Whoa," Luka breathed, some of his nervousness melting away despite himself. "I’ve read about these. Lumin Deer. Their antlers are supposed to be great for enchantment work."
"See?" Dawn whispered back, grinning. "Isn’t this so much better than sitting in camp drawing in the sand?"
He almost smiled.
That was when the first hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Well, well, well." The voice was lazy, mocking, dripping with the kind of confidence that only came from knowing you held all the power in a situation. "Look who decided to wander off from the herd."
Luka spun around, heart slamming, and found himself surrounded. Five students, all wearing the same academy crest, all grinning the same unkind grin. He recognized two of them immediately, classmates who’d made his first week at the academy miserable in small, deniable ways.
"Let go of him!" Dawn snapped, stepping forward.
Two of the boys moved fast, grabbing her arms before she could do anything, pinning her in place despite her struggling.
"Easy, Lady Dawn," one of them said, his tone falsely polite. "This doesn’t concern you. Well. Actually, it does, a little."
The leader of the group, a broad-shouldered boy with cold eyes, stepped closer to Luka, looking him over like something distasteful.
"You know what’s funny?" he said. "A commoner, walking around the academy like he belongs there. Like talent alone earns you a place next to people who actually matter."
"Leave him alone," Dawn growled, fighting against the grip on her arms. "He’s twice the mage any of you will ever be."
"That’s the problem, isn’t it?" the leader said, rounding on Luka now. "Some nobody from nowhere, outperforming actual bloodlines. Must be nice. Borrowing a noble’s shadow to climb somewhere you don’t belong."
The first punch landed in Luka’s stomach before he saw it coming.
He folded over, breath leaving him in a sharp gasp, and a second boy shoved him hard from behind, sending him stumbling into a third who kicked his legs out from under him.
"Get up," the leader said, almost bored. "Come on. Hit me. I dare you."
Luka stayed down, jaw clenched, every part of him screaming to fight back and every part of him also knowing exactly what would happen if he did. A commoner striking a noble, regardless of provocation, regardless of witnesses, regardless of fairness. It would be the end of everything he’d worked for.
So he said nothing.
He took the next kick to his ribs in silence too, curling instinctively, arms coming up to shield his head as more blows landed, mocking laughter ringing out above him with every impact.
"Stop it!" Dawn screamed, thrashing hard against the boys holding her, tears of fury streaking down her face now. "Stop it, you cowards, let him go!"
"Quiet, Lady Dawn," one of her captors murmured, tightening his grip. "Wouldn’t want you getting hurt too."
Luka’s vision blurred, pain radiating through his side, but he refused to make a sound, refusing to give them the satisfaction.
Dawn’s breathing turned ragged, fury boiling past the edge of her control. Magic gathered at her fingertips despite the restraint, sparks of raw, untrained power crackling dangerously, enough that the boys holding her exchanged a nervous glance.
She was seconds from breaking free entirely, from unleashing something none of them were prepared to handle.
"Well," a new voice cut through the clearing, low and amused, carrying an edge that made every single person present go still. "Now this is not nice."
Every head turned at once.
In the deep shadow beneath a massive tree at the clearing’s edge, two eyes glowed faintly in the dark, sharp and reptilian, watching them all with unmistakable, patient interest.
