Free Vitiosi Dei (Heritage of the Blood Book 2) by Brent Lee Markee Page B

replied without looking up from the list.
                  “Are the Dracair as bad as the stories say they are?” There was something about Verrian's tone that made Shawnrik look up from his list.
                  The boy he saw sitting across the room no longer looked inquisitive, he looked afraid. Good, you should be afraid. I know I am. “I'm not sure, Verrian. I don't know what the stories here say about the Dracair. I would venture a guess as to say that they are probably worse than the stories though, and if they aren't...” he shrugged, “the reality is bad enough for me.”
                  The boys sat in their room for the rest of the afternoon in a modicum of silence, only talking when Shawnrik had a question about one of the courses. Verrian answered all of Shawnrik's questions to the best of his ability, but it was clear that his thoughts were elsewhere. Their silence was finally interrupted when a steady hum coursed through the room. Verrian leapt to his feet eagerly, explaining that it was time for the welcoming ceremony.
                  Shawnrik followed Verrian out of their room, joining the throng of students that were now making their way through the halls. During that steady commute, Shawnrik once again saw a variety of races that astounded him, but his astonishment was soured by one thought. Are they all blissfully unaware? He found that he was larger than most of the crowd in height, if not in sheer bulk, but there were also adolescent Giant-kin who dwarfed him nearly as much as he did everyone else.
                  At first the procession seemed like utter chaos to Shawnrik, but he also noticed a surprising lack of jostling going on throughout the crowd, with everyone traveling at the same speed, in no specific hurry to get to their destination.  Eventually, the mass of people ended up outside, and Shawnrik noticed two other lines the same size as the one he was in heading towards the large stone gates ahead of them.
                  There must be thousands of us, maybe tens of thousands.
                  As they walked through the large stone gates, which bore symbols that he had never seen before, they were handed a packet that contained bread, meat, and cheese. He noticed several of the people around him reaching into the bottom of the bag, pulling out what appeared to be chocolate.  The only time that he had ever had chocolate was one night at Nim's when Megan had brought him a piece before bed. Thinking about that beautiful young woman who was no longer alive made him want to save the chocolate and savor it even more.
                  The dull roar of conversation became a steady cacophony as the crowd emerged into a giant, bowl-like amphitheater. After finding a seat, Shawnrik began to look around the crowd. He had been right, he quickly realized; there were thousands upon thousands of people inside the semicircular bowl, with more coming in every second. Another thing he noticed was that at least half of the students were female. This was the first time he realized that he might have classes with the opposite sex, and once again he was nervous. Gazing around the room, he found his eyes lingering on one spot or another for a little longer than needed.
                  Light, how am I going to be able to concentrate through class at this rate?
                  Shawnrik had always taken on new challenges with a single-minded determination, studiously taking on whatever it was he was tasked with. He had never had to deal with girls while doing so, however, especially not any around his age, and he found his body was reacting strangely to the concept, in ways that it never had before.
                  As the stream of people entering the amphitheater became a trickle, he noticed that the first few rows were occupied by older people; Shawnrik decided that they must be the