CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT. It Was Me.

"It was me."

A palpable silence had fallen over the area at his words. All eyes were on them.

Connan stared at him for a few moments, then he barked a laugh.

"Ha! Okay, this, this is certainly a surprise."

He directed his words to the students still watching them.

"Our dreaded Cursed one's trying to be noble, everyone. I have to say, I really hoped he would go for a less scawnier pick. You a follower now, Nod?"

A flurry of amused laughter coursed through the students again at this. Raynod seemed to grow even smaller. Connan took his attention back to Jaden.

He began taking slow steps forward, one of his hands had lit up, a fierce red glow encasing it.

"I hate to disappoint you, Your Highness, but no one here's going to be bowing to your every wish. Not that we would mind that, we've just got better things to do." 

Another chorus of laughter followed these words.

"Now, back up out of my business, or I'll be forced to leave you with a mark you can't hide," he said, all signs of mirth gone, brandishing his blazing hand.

Jaden began walking forward, his temper rising to the surface now. This guy, this guy needed a beating.

"Bold claim," Jaden said, surprised at how calm his voice sounded. "Wonder just how far you can go with just one talent, though."

The message behind his words rang clear and once again all signs of amusement were gone, the students were slowly backing away from him.

Only Connan stood his ground, keeping his eyes firmly on Jaden. 

The Cursed One stopped beside Raynod, who was finally on his feet. He didn't step away from Jaden. 

The other teenager shot him an insolent smile. "You really think you can beat me?"

Jaden shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, pretty confident actually. I mean, three's got to better than one, right? Maybe four?"

Jaden's words had gotten the effect he desired. The students were murmuring excitedly to each other now. 

It was already extremely rare to find a Gregor with two talents. Talk less of someone with four. 

Jaden alone knew his talents weren't much to boast about. Elemental talents were extremely common, and he had no idea what exactly his fourth talent could do, so he couldn't use that. Unlike Connan's talent which appeared to be a powerful one. 

Still, the more talents a Gregor possessed, the larger their energy pool grew to become, so, right now, Jaden was not a Gregor just any student could mess with.

Something that looked like fear flashed for a split second in Connan's gaze. He gave a fleeting glance to the students waiting for his next move behind him. 

Jaden knew the bully would probably choose to save his face in front of them and go ahead to take Jaden on. The Cursed One sincerely hoped he would do the this. He had this strange urge to hit something.

Unfortunately, before Connan could make his next move, a loud ringing sounded all over the school, announcing the start of the next period.

Connan stepped back, glaring at Jaden. 

"This isn't the last you've heard from me. This isn't over."

With that, the students dispersed and all of a sudden it felt like the last few minutes had never happened.

Jaden watched Connan's back as he walked away. He was willing to bet his own tail and maybe a leg as well that Connan was going to keep his promise. 'Stupid cub.'

Whatever Connan had in store for him, Jaden was ready. 

Raynod was still standing silently beside him, his gaze seemed focused on something on the ground. 

He stayed like this for a while, till Jaden was sure he had gone back to ignoring him, like all the rest.

'Wait, what exactly am I waiting for? A "thank you"?' Jaden thought, coming back to his senses. 

'You've got another class to get to, idiot! Keep moving!'

Even if Jaden hardly knew his way around the abysmal hallways and numerous doors, trying to find it was certainly better than waiting around. 

Without saying a word to Raynod, Jaden followed the same path he had seen some of the students taking.

He hadn't gone as far as two feet when Raynod's voice called to him. 

At first, Jaden had barely registered the boy's voice, his mind occupied on how to find his next class, but a second later, he stopped, wondering if he had heard right.

'Did he just...'

Jaden half turned, looking back at Raynod.

The brown-haired boy was still standing there, but now his face was draped in reluctant resolve. 

"W-wait, I .... thank you for, you know, the whole thing earlier."

Jaden merely stared back at him blankly. Was this kid actually talking to him, or was this another twisted dream?

"I , er... I'll help you find your way around." Raynod shuffled nervously on his feet for a second, looking like he was going to say something else, hesitating. 

Jaden found himself waiting. Raynod was actually talking to him, he realized, and it wasn't a dream. Plus, it would probably be inappropriate to just walk away right now, or would it?

"Just... just, promise you won't.... Promise you won't try to mark me," he finished hastily, looking Jaden straight in the eye now.

Jaden frowned. 'Wait, what?'

"Mark you?"

Raynod grimaced. "Yeah, that..." 

He gestured vaguely. "That thing you do with the mark... the, you know...."

"I...I don't know what you're talking about," Jaden replied, his frown only growing deeper. The sort of stupid, groundless rumours about his mark that had been flying around before his arrival, Jaden wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Raynod blinked, then his face suddenly broke into the widest smile Jaden had ever seen on a face before, almost obliterating his eyes.

"Okay! T-that's great!" He clapped a hand to his forehead. "You won't believe this, I honestly thought you were going to turn me into some kinda mindless, crazed follower or somethin', hehe."

He stepped forward. His brown eyes bright and friendly, a complete contrast to how he had treated Jaden a few seconds ago.

"Name's Raynod, though most people choose to call me 'Nod, not sure why."

Raynod walked past him then, walking down the same path the other students had taken. He called back as he moved, gesturing for Jaden to pick up the pace.

"Come on, the next class is this way. Better move those long feet, the Vays tend to grow an instant dislike towards stragglers."