The Dragon's Kiss

Chapter 121 - TWO: Friends

"Wow, you're really impressive!"

Calix grunted in response to the compliment as his wooden sword locked with his opponent's.

"Is this really your first time?" his carefree spar partner continued jabbering, pulling his sword back and quickly dodging to the side.

"Ha.. n-not exactly," Calix managed to respond, breathing heavily as he tried to keep up with the boy's movements.

He'd learned a little swordsmanship while living underground, but fighting an actual person was proving to be very different from his training drills with Itzae.

Calix was smart, exceptionally so for his age, but his mind wasn't accustomed to calculating as fast as the other children who'd already been training for years. If only they didn't move quite so speedily, he would have had no trouble beating all the other kids in his group.

"I have to get faster," Calix mumbled to himself as he sat watching the other children, his own spar ended in shameful defeat.

When they moved up to the surface a month ago, Itzae had immediately enrolled him in swordsmanship, archery and politics courses. After being praised constantly for the past three years for his genius, Calix was now realizing (particularly thanks to sword training) that mere intelligence wasn't enough to win on the battlefield nor in the classroom.

"Hey! It's you! Calix!"

His annoying spar partner had found him once again.

"Ahem," Calix cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "Don't call my name so casually."

"What?" Rather than correcting his mistake, the child broke into laughter. "You sound like my dad's friend when he's trying to show off how important he is!"

In a performance that nearly sent the 'dignified' Calix into a fit of laughter, the child then proceeded to imitate a middle-aged man bragging about his new position as a junior council member in the palace.

"Anyway, I'm Thane," the boy plopped down next to Calix after finishing his story. "You can call my name casually if you want."

"Ok.. Thane."

Calix was already helplessly smiling from the boy's friendliness. It seemed his weeks of practicing to appear a mature and important person were nothing compared to this child's infectious laughter.

During the rest of the sparring rounds, that infectious laughter could be heard above the thuds of the practice swords as Thane chatted happily with his new friend. Slowly but surely, Calix's aloof façade fell apart, and, by the end of training, his pleasant giggle could be heard alongside his friend's.

"Hey, can I come to your house and play?" Thane fell in line next to Calix as the group of children rushed out of the training arena. "We're friends now, you know."

"You can't," Calix replied, suppressing another grin at the word 'friends'. "My teacher isn't home."

It had only been a few days since Itzae left Calix alone.

When Itzae first informed him of the matter, he had been terrified. It would be the first time since their meeting that the man left him. Whether fear of abandonment or something else, Calix couldn't help but cling to the only comforting presence in his life.

In between explaining that this would become a regular occurrence from now on, Itzae had coaxed his poor student as best he could.

'You have to get used to it, Young Lord,' the man insisted. 'You don't understand now, but you will later.'

Calix hadn't been convinced but, in the end, had no choice but to put on a brave face and bid his teacher farewell for a few weeks.

"Your teacher?" Thane tilted his head. "Why does that matter?"

"Because he said not to let anyone in the house while he's gone," Calix insisted.

"You don't have parents? It's just you and your teacher?" Thane asked in surprise.

The black-haired boy fell silent at his new friend's well-intentioned question. Itzae had been more than a good parent to him. He taught him important knowledge and skills along with how to feel and express his emotions. In fact, Calix couldn't recall a time before he met Itzae that he laughed as happily as he did every day under the care of his beloved teacher.

But three years of care, even the most perfect care, couldn't possibly erase the pain of the first five years of Calix's existence.

Parents.

He didn't have any.

He didn't need any.

With a shrug, he looked away from Thane.

"That's actually pretty lucky!" the oblivious child prattled on, clearly unable to read Calix's mood. "I bet you get to do whatever you want."

With a click of his tongue, Thane kicked the ground in front of him.

"I don't get to do anything," he whined.

Calix thought back to his time spent with Orfeo and his wife. He only had memories of being in trouble.

'Don't talk so much.'

'Sit still.'

'Stay inside.'

'For heavens' sake, do you ever stop talking?!'

In contrast, Itzae gave him a lot of freedom. He didn't mind if Calix chattered endlessly or if he ran outside to explore. Even when he snuck out to visit his little brother, Itzae never scolded him.

Maybe Thane was right after all.

"I'm glad," Calix muttered under his breath, "that I don't have parents."

"Does that mean you'll let me come over?!" Thane's beaming face popped up over his shoulder.

"No…" Calix trailed off.

He was sure Itzae wouldn't be too angry if he let this child come to the house, but he still wanted to respect his teacher's wishes.

In spite of his better judgement, though, he suddenly felt like he could no longer suppress the frivolous urge to go play. He was still a child himself, after all.

"Let's go play somewhere else," he said abruptly, turning to Thane.

"Let's do it!" Thane grinned excitedly.

The two eagerly set out, Calix congratulating himself for coming up with the perfect compromise.

Teacher will be so proud, he thought to himself.

The problem with eight-year-old boys, however, is that no matter how carefully analyzed their plans are, they always seem to end in disaster.

And that's exactly what (almost) happened to the two eight-year-old amateur swordsmen as they held hands and gleefully traipsed through the back streets of the capital city.