Both groups emerged in front of, or rather behind, the main building, on the side facing the training grounds. In the ensuing commotion, the dragon simply tried not to lose sight of Zane and Aiden, but fortunately he soon found himself amongst some familiar faces and, together with his class, set off with greater confidence. As he did so, he scanned the crowd for Sheth, assuming that, of the remaining members of their team, he would be the easiest to spot. Surprisingly, the troll was clearly not amongst the other cadets.
‘Knowing Cedric, he’s probably already gone to the edge of the forest.’ Zane adopted a more bored tone, as if the change of scenery was wearing him down. ‘You’ll see, they’ll be waiting there with the instructors.’
‘We’re supposed to be working together today, and I don’t even know exactly what we’ll be doing, or what the rules are.’ Draco complained, not entirely unintentionally. The brief information provided by the lecturers’ assistant was probably clear to all Solvein students who’d completed at least one semester of study, but to the dragon it amounted to nothing more than a vague outline devoid of detail.
‘You really ought to know a thing or two,’ Aiden interjected. ‘Do you remember the forest at the end of the valley?’
The dragon gave a brief nod.
‘So, running through the middle is a ravine, which is a dozen or so metres long and opens out onto the Old Crater. The whole formation is really quite large and stretches almost to the city walls. Generally speaking, the floor is quite densely overgrown, with a few exceptions.’ Aiden happily began to explain everything. ‘There are also a few distinctive areas set up to simulate specific conditions: fortifications, natural terrain obstacles, ruins, abandoned buildings, watchtowers. Basically, everything you might need for military-style training. Sessions are usually held at one of these locations under the supervision of an instructor, but this time it’s going to be different.’
‘Carter mentioned something before the holidays.’ Zane caught the attention of both his conversation partners. ‘Ah… The defenders will be ordered
