Sora Brontarion
It was the morning after the dance. Everyone in our house was eager for the break and the opportunity to return home for a few weeks—the perfect time to recharge and assess my actions here at the academy.
I, on the other hand, was not looking forward to the break. Grandpa Kazehoshi sent Jace and me a message, informing us that we will not get to stay with him in Xhatal during the break. Our parents asked for us to come back home to Shangora.
I finished packing up my things and left my shabby dorm room. The isle radiated with energy as members of my house rushed toward the cosmic bridge. I stood there watching them, letting their joy and excitement wash over me because only the High Pantheon knew how badly I would need it in the coming weeks.
But before I headed to the teleporter, I made my way back to the War Room. No one seemed to be in there as I went to get one last look at the Arbiter rankings projected on the wall. Passing the last midterm helped, but I was still in the bottom portion.
I'm going to change that when I get back.
I etched the image into my mind, stepped out of the War Room, and headed to the teleporter on the central isle.
When I got there, Jace was waiting for me on his cloud. He gave a faint wave as he took a sip from his thermos.
"You ready?" I asked, giving him a slight nudge before I stepped onto the platform.
His eyes sharpened slightly, "No."
"Well, at least we won't be there for long."
"You sure I can't just stay here?" his cloud slowly drifting away from the platform.
"We can't."
He let out a groan as he fell back on his cloud.
"Jace, if I have to suffer through it, so do you; now come."
But honestly, I would have preferred it too, especially since I heard that Stravos was staying along with a couple of other students.
Why wouldn't a prince of the Vortaris want to go back home to Tyrath? That place is like heaven for them.
But as the thought lingered, I realized how hypocritical it was for me to say that when I was dreading my own return home.
Jace and I stepped on the teleporter, and a beam of light washed over us. I couldn't tell left from right, and none of my senses worked. It lasted a few moments, but we were finally back on the surface.
Inside was a swarm of students waiting to be picked up by either their parents or servants. Father was too important a person to leave the country of Shangora to pick up his kids from school; he left that to his royal guard.
The Brontarion royal guard are some of the best warriors our country has to offer, and were often our teachers growing up. So we knew them well, and they were easy to spot in the large crowd.
At the entrance, five of them stood, wearing their silver-colored cloudsteel-plated armor over their light blue and white battle robes, each holding a signature weapon of the clan: a voltstaff or a lance.
Jace and I made our way towards them, sifting through the swarm.
"Lady Sora and Lord Jace, it is a pleasure to see you again. Preparations have been made, and we are ready to depart for the capital city, Orunza."
I gave a slight bow to the guard, while Jace gave a half-hearted wave.
"It's a pleasure to see you all as well, Commander. My brother and I are ready."
The royal guard circled and ushered us out of the teleportation terminal. On the way out, we crossed paths with a member of our cluster.
Cyrus.
After the events of last night, I wondered what his fate would be here at the academy. Because it directly affected mine. His situation with the academy was the talk of the night. Everyone in my house placed wagers on whether he would get expelled or not.
Even though I don't particularly care for him, I felt his emotion that night. Cyrus is a lot of things, but a liar wasn't one of them.
But with Mira down for an indefinite period, things began to look bleak for our cluster.
The electrical currents emanating from Cyrus weasled their way into my mind, and the feelings shocked me.
I experienced his anger, which always oozed from him, but in this moment, that anger felt more like a blanket hiding something… His excitement.
Our gazes met for a brief moment, then he entered a large SUV.
"Sor, what's wrong?" Jace asked, a hand made out of clouds, tapping my shoulder.
"Just a weird feeling, but it passed."
Shortly after we stepped onto the hover transport, our craft rose into the air and zoomed off.
It took a couple of hours to reach the capital city, Orunza, and as we approached, a sight I never get tired of seeing showed itself.
It was the famous Storm Bridge. One of the largest structures in Valonara, a bridge that rests above the cloudline, providing safer travel to the citizens of Shangora who are not connected to the Sango Mata constellation or any of its branch constellations.
Traveling under the cloud line in our country can be dangerous due to constant storms and lightning strikes that batter the mountains our cities reside in. When Jace and I were younger, this was a place our mother always took us to fly through the clouds, teaching us about some of her Kazehoshi customs.
The hover transport took us to one of the landing zones near the mountaintop's tip, where numerous figures awaited our arrival. As we landed, a tall, beautiful woman with pale skin, black hair, and silver-slanted eyes stood in a gown of green and white silk that draped to her feet.
It was our mother.
As soon as our doors opened and we stepped out of the transport, a large gust of wind swept me off my feet, as my mother flew up to give Jace and I a source of warmth we hadn't felt in a while.
"Oh, how I have missed the two of you!" she said, giving us both a peck on the forehead.
"Mom, stop it," Jace and I said, but I secretly missed it.
Our mother commanded the wind around her to gently let us back to the ground and stared at us for a few moments.
"You guys didn't give grandpa a hard time, did you?"
"Of course not," I said, giving her another big squeeze of a hug.
"Good, now come. Your father is eager to see both of you. He's almost done with a meeting."
Jace and I exchanged a weary look as Mother commanded the royal servants to take our things and place them in our rooms.
As the servants took our things and the royal guards took the transport, our mom paused.
"Don't worry, you two; I assure you he will be on his best behavior."