The Spade Chronicles Book 0: Eagles Rising

Two days before the Festival of Colors. With all of the dances drilled into me, I spent the day sparring with all of my Eagles. We were down in the Badger’s den where we held Sparring Nights so we wouldn’t be caught by Snapdragon. At the moment I was watching Lance spar with Kennedia, who cut him no slack. Atalanta supervised, calling out various flaws in both of their forms so they could correct them.

“Lower to the ground. Lance!” She called. “The lower your center of mass, the more stable you will be! Kennedia! Keep your arms up to protect your face!”

I admired Atalanta’s coaching technique, I wouldn’t be half the fighter I was now without her. She had the same spartan air as Snapdragon, but her young age made her more relatable. I remember when I first went up against her.

I slammed onto the mat, desperately wolfing down as much air I could as the breath was knocked out of me.

“How-” I wheezed “How are you so good at this?” I had asked in a hoarse voice, causing her to chuckle.

“My mother runs a martial arts dojo back where she lives. The Rosewood School of Martial Arts is the best in my world, and that training tends to rub off on a little girl. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. She struck fear into the hearts of her enemies and criminals would shrink before her if they ever crossed her path. Which was often, because she took it upon herself to patrol the poor neighborhoods in her spare time.” She reminisced fondly, and we spent the rest of the evening lying on the floor of the hall talking about our parents and what they did for a living.

The clash of blades brought me back to the present, and Atalanta sat down next to me.

“Alright this is your department.” She said while patting me on the shoulder. While Atalanta was by far our best hand to hand combatant and archer, I took the gold when it came to weapons use. Kennedia had hypothesized that the reason behind my unusual skill was linked to my magical ability.

“My dad told me that a lot of scholars in the Heart Educational Institution have accepted the theory that magic talent is almost directly linked to natural talent.” She had excitedly explained one morning in the Observatory. “People have a natural ability towards anything that they might be able to apply their magic ability. For instance Daedalus might be a natural engineer, and Allie might have a natural talent towards weapons combat.”

And that I did, I learned how to wield my halberd and to hit targets with knives at an accelerated pace. Usually Snapdragon would supervise a student for two months, gradually providing less and less instruction until letting them practice on their own to master the basics before learning second year techniques as Fledglings. I was under her tutelage for three weeks before she gave me the okay to self study weapons, though she still looked after me in hand to hand combat.

I regarded the match between Robin and Lance critically. Kennedia was taking a water break after her fifth round.

“Lance, loosen your grip and widen your stance. Light on your feet both of you!”

Lance quickly did as I directed, sweat dripping from his face. He had been fighting since we brought him into the Den that morning. He was least experienced out of all of us, but we brought it upon ourselves to change that. Atalanta and I were in charge of his fighting technique, while he worked with Kennedia and Robin helped him with conditioning and flexibility. We just came up with system that day, but we intended to continue it as long as needed, even after the Festival ended, we would make certain that he would fight alongside us on equal ground.

Lance disarmed Robin, and his katana clattered to the ground.

“Rest!” I called, and Lance immediately flopped down on the mat, panting.

“I don’t understand why training has to be so intense.” Lance claimed. “The Vipers aren’t that capable, from what we’ve seen.”

He had a point, but that wasn’t the primary reason.

“You think that’s the only reason we’re pushing you so hard?” I asked, and he sat up to look at me inquisitively.

“That’s the only reason I can think of.”

“If that’s the case you need to look deeper.” I responded and stood, absentmindedly tuning a dagger in the air around my hand as my way towards the stage where I addressed the the Dragons every Sparring Night.

“You accepted a position in our group, and who are we?”

“Um- the Eagles?”

“And what do we do?”

“Aren’t we organizing a defense force?”

“Exactly!” I affirmed, clenching my fist to dissipate the dagger. I stood center stage and Lance stood in front of me, looking up to peer at me.

“We are the leaders of the student body, we have to set an example for the rest of our peers and be the best we can be or no one would follow us.” It was true, out of all of the student body in the palace, we were the ones that trained the most. As much time we spent in the Observatory, we spent twice as much sparring in the Den. We made it our mission to be the best and most dedicated in our class, and some of our enthusiasm always seemed to appear in the Dragons as well. I stepped to the edge of the stage so I was right in front of him.

“Faith in leadership is earned, not demanded, which means neglecting to practice what you preach is unacceptable. Understood?” I concluded, looking down at him with a lifted brow. I looked on as Lance straightened his back, strode over to the mat once more, and lifted his sword.

“Who’s next?”

“His gift suits you.” Kennedia said as we perused through the bookshelves together.

“Hmm?” I mumbled absentmindedly as I scanned spines. It was after lunch, and Lance was working with Daedalus to finish the communicators before the Festival. We were in the Muse headquarters looking for references on the Valley of Avalon to see if there were cases of any sort of establishment that could be used as the Viper headquarters.

“Lance’s gift, it just seems fitting.”

“Mind if I ask what prompted this train of thought?”

“Just the way you spoke this morning, about our responsibilities as Eagles. I know how hesitant you were at first, but your a really inspiring leader. I really think that the circlet Lance gave you is his way of showing his acknowledgement of this fact.”

“It was an apology gift.” I replied defensively, and Kennedia shot me a look.

“Allie, he made you a tiara.”

“So? Lots of people wear tiaras in Spade.”

“That’s not the point. He obviously holds you in high opinion.” She pointed out, and I began to feel my face heat up. Thankfully I was saved from this discussion when my compact glowed gently. I opened it to see my mother’s face fill the screen.

“Allie? Are you there? How does this thing even work?”

“Mom? What’s up?”

“You were supposed to call me yesterday!” She exclaimed, causing me to hurry out of the library after being shushed by a few angry Muses. Kennedia followed after checking out the books we picked out.

“Blades Mom, I’m sorry, yesterday was just a really weird day for me.”

“Oh, how so?”

“Remember Lance Pendragon?” I asked, waving Kennedia goodbye as she went to meet up with Robin. I myself made a beeline for the gardens.

“That awful boy that was so mean to you in school?”

“That’s him.”

“What about him?”

“He’s here in Spade.”

“Is he picking on you again!?” she interrogated into the mirror, voice rising to the point where I almost dropped it.

“What?”

“If he’s still making fun of you after all of these years he’ll have more to worry about than a kick to the knee!”

“That was Rose.”

“I know! If it was Lance you would have aimed higher!”

“I know Mom but-”

“What makes him think that he has the right to treat people like that? If it were me I would have punched him out years ago!”

I stilled at that last comment.

“Mom, have you ever considered becoming a Spade?”

“Never mind that Allie what about that weird day you were having?”

“Well, Lance has been acting differently and I honestly think he’s changed, so I’ve decided that he’s one of my friends.”

“Oh. . . Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Well then it’s a good thing you didn’t actually kick him then, that might’ve made things awkward.” I laughed, glad she approved, I spent an hour telling her stories about my friends and classes.

“Sounds like you’re having fun over there.” She said with a smile.

“Yeah, I love it here. You should see it Mom, Eagle Bastion is beautiful, and just look at the view we have.” I turned the compact so she could glimpse the mountains before me. Hawthorne was out for a flight, and called out a greeting. I waved back before turning it back to me.

“Allie? Are you going to visit anytime soon? I want you to do what you feel is right, but I miss you.” She implored, and once more I felt a pit in my stomach. I just got her approval to stay in Spade, I didn’t want to hear about the risk I was about to take unless I had a victory story to go with it.

“I’ll try to come by right after the Festival, until then it’s going to be pretty hectic.”

“Why is the Festival so important? I’ve heard about it, but I don’t really know much about it.”

“It’s an event where people from all over Ivaline come together and have fun. There are craft stalls, and music, I’m going to dance in one of the main plazas, so I can’t really be replaced on such a short notice.”

“I see. Well good luck to you, I know you’ll do fine!” She reassured me, and I smiled. I was just about to tell her Ms. Pendragon’s talents as a seamstress when I saw a growing figure heading right towards me from the garden’s south entrance. When I realized who it was I turned to Mom again.

“Hi Allie- oh is that your mom? I can come back later,” Lance said, then began to back away when Mom spoke up.

“Wait was that Lance? Put him on I have a few words for him,” she requested, and after a moment’s hesitation, passed it to Lance.

“You’re Lance Pendragon?” she interrogated, and Lance’s eyes widened a bit.

“Yes ma’am.”

“You hurt my daughter again and I’ll break you,” she threatened, but Lance relaxed a bit, unfazed.

“If I dare hurt your daughter again, she’d slice me to ribbons before you had the chance.”

“Glad to hear - wait did you say slice? I thought all she did was hit people what are you guys doing over there?” she questioned, head cocked to the side, causing Lance to laugh.

“She can do a lot more damage than a mere blow to the knee. But rest assured I made certain she knows that she has my utmost respect.” he told my mother with a matter-of-fact tone. At the end of his sentence he looked up at me for a moment, and I felt my hand go to just above my hairline where the circlet rested, causing him to grin before handing the compact back to me.

“We’re to meet in the Observatory in five minutes,” he informed before leaving me in the garden to talk for a bit longer. After a brief goodbye and a promise to call again, I headed towards the common room myself.

“What’s up?” I greeted as I sat down, picking up an apple and biting into it.

“It took us forever, but we finally finished the communicators.” Daedalus said as he sunk into his chair.

“Why are you tired? You weren’t even the one forging them. I’m going to be so sore tomorrow,” Lance remarked ruefully as he passed them out. I gazed at the smooth flat rectangle of metal that matched my circlet, with a raven engraved into one corner. I could see my reflection looking back at me.

“Impressive work you two.” I said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. “How did you learn so fast?” I asked Lance who in reply held out a hand and, with a bit of concentration, lit a flame in the center of his palm.

“I can control the temperatures of the forges and keep the fires going without having to refuel it. Fire’s not an issue, so the most difficult part is shaping the metal. I used the forge a bit at home, because that’s what my father liked to do, but it’s great to have a formal instructor.” He smiled, and I recalled seeing a forge near the stables at Dragon Hollow. I had found it strange because it was well maintained, like it had recently been used and cleaned, but in my haste to ride I had forgotten to ask about it.

“So how do these work?” Robin questioned, turning his this way and that, I briefly caught a glimpse of a wolf’s image on his.

“It’s simple really,” Daedalus began. “All of the communicators are made of pieces of the same sheet of metal, so all I did was enhance the connection between them and added an audio receptor, so we can call with image or without.”

I ran my finger across the bottom of the screen, feeling the cool metal, when suddenly it lit up. Five icons appeared on the surface. There was a wolf, and owl, a tiger, a snake, and a dragon.

“I thought it best that we used symbols instead of names in case these get confiscated or stolen.” Lance explained after seeing my reaction. “These are tuned in to recognize your fingerprints so we’ll know if someone else is trying to use your communicator without your permission.”

“Handy.” Robin commented, pressing his fingertip on the raven, and I felt mine vibrate slightly before showing Robin’s face on its surface.

“Hey there.”

“Hey to you too.” I said with a smile. We spent the rest of the afternoon learning how to use our communicators and finding places to stash them on our person. We went to bed hours after dark, finally done with preparing the final Sparring Night before the Festival of Colors.