Beastward Academy: Reborn, I Claimed My Sister's Serpent novel · Chapter 10 of 32

Chapter 10: The Caves

We ran up the hill in the dark.

The notice on the Great Hall board had been changed. Someone had crossed out the date for the first Trial and written tomorrow's in its place, in gold ink.

"He did this," Kerensa said. She'd run back up from her mother's when she heard the bell. "He knows you're in casts."

"Everyone knows I'm in casts," Morvran said. "I'm very conspicuous."

The first Trial was the cave race.

At dead low tide, the bonded pairs went in at the foot of the cliff stairs. They had to reach the bell at the far mouth of the caves, on the north beach, before the sea came back in.

There were three ways through.

Everyone knew the main tunnel. Wide, dry, and long.

Kerensa and I knew the other two.

"You can't fly," I said to Morvran. "But you can swim."

"With these?"

"The casts are three weeks set. Shift carefully, keep your wings flat, and they'll hold." I looked at him. "If anything hurts, you shift back and we walk out. I mean it."

"Yes, Beastwright."

At dawn, fourteen pairs stood on the wet sand at the cave mouth.

The whole academy had come down the cliff stairs to watch. People crowded the rocks with blankets and hot cider.

Aveline stood with Leofric at the front. He was wearing gloves. I'd never seen him wear gloves.

His face was a strange color. Not pale. Gray.

Each pair got a flask of fresh water from a table at the start.

Aveline's maid was handing them out.

She gave ours to me with her eyes down.

I unstoppered it out of habit, the way I'd check any medicine. I sniffed it.

Then I sniffed it again.

"What?" Morvran said.

"Sleepwort." I held it out to him. "Smell."

He leaned down and breathed in. His lip lifted off his teeth.

← Chapter 9 · All chapters · Chapter 11 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend