by Chloe Cullen
Ann, caught off balance, fell to the ground with Cori atop her.
Ann was completely disarmed, her hand that still held onto one of the daggers was gripped by Cori above her head, the other dagger having slid away and fallen off the mats. Cori straddled her, one hand gripping Ann’s dagger-wielding arm by the wrist, the other holding her own dagger to Ann’s throat.
Cori grinned at her again, Ann’s eyes wide with shock. “Back. Meet floor.”
Thoren gaped at the scene.
Everyone gaped at the scene.
That had been a thing of beauty.
***
There was complete silence around them, and then noise.
Thunderous clapping met her ears as she slid herself off the stunned looking Ann, and from a crouched position, Cori turned her head to see everyone around them cheering.
Unconsciously, she immediately found Thoren’s eyes, and what she saw there warmed her heart.
Pride.
She smiled widely, and then someone had an arm under her shoulder, and hauled her to her feet. Cori looked to see Gryffin there, who clapped her hard on her back.
“That was a sight to see,” he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
She shrugged one shoulder modestly, her lips pulling up at the corners, and then stepped away from him, back towards Ann, who was just picking herself up from the floor, looking crestfallen.
Cori extended her hand to the girl.
Ann just stared at it for a moment, and then her shoulders sagged and slowly…a small, begrudging smile played over her lips. She reached out and shook Cori’s hand. “That was a great move. Maybe you can teach it to me someday?”
Cori smiled at the other girl. “Maybe.” She turned away from Ann then, and walked back over towards Thoren. Legionnaires to her left and right gave her nods of approval or said well done as she passed by.
When she stood in front of Thoren, she twirled the dagger in her hand. “I told you. You had nothing to worry about.”
His smile was barely noticeable, but it was there, and it was just for Cori. “Clearly.”
They stood next to each for a while after that, just watching fights in front of them, and occasionally making a few comments about the fighter’s stance or technique. They would often exchange a glance to agree with what the other said, and the old camaraderie that had once been between them fell back into place effortlessly.
“Corisande.” The voice that came from behind her sent an immediate shiver of loathing down her spine.
She looked over her shoulder to see Ione standing there, arms folded across her chest as she looked disapprovingly at Cori.
Thoren had kept his attention on the fighting, but she had seen him tense as Ione had said her name.
“Yes?”
“The President wants to see you,” Ione said, her face stony.
Cori frowned. “About what?”
Ione sneered at her. “Do I look psychic to you?”
“You look like something…” Cori muttered under her breath, and Ione narrowed her eyes at her.
“Your President wants to see you, so you go.”
With that, Ione whirled and stalked out of the training hall. Cori watched her go before shaking her head. That woman is such a treat.
“Do you know what Maveron wants?” Cori asked Thoren.
He shook his head. “Sorry, I have no idea.”
She sighed and cast one last look at the fighting behind her. “I hope I don’t miss anything too fun.”
Thoren chuckled. “I’ll regale you with the details if you do.”
She nodded grudgingly and said her goodbyes to Thoren and the others around, before fetching her bag where she had dropped it earlier.
As she walked out, a shadow fell into step beside her, and Cori rolled her eyes without even bothering to look over at him.
“You know, I’m starting to think you’re stalking me.”
Gryffin grinned at her. “Nope, just heading in the same direction.”
“I’m sure,” Cori said, not convinced, and she felt a small kindling of a fire inside at the thought that Gryffin might be finding excuses to talk to her.
“That was a wicked little move you did back there,” Gryffin said approvingly, “you move as fast as a cat.”
Cori warmed at his praise. “Thanks. A lot of that comes from the training I had.”
“I’ll take some credit for that, then,” Gryffin said, grinning over at her.
Cori huffed out a laugh. “You did train me for a little while there. But it was mostly Thoren and… my dad.”
Gryffin’s smile faded from his face, and Cori made herself look at where her feet were going instead of on him.
He sighed. “That was… a really tough day. I never got a chance to say anything to you before—”
“It’s okay,” Cori said, cutting him off. She knew what he wanted to say, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. “It’s in the past now.”
“You’re right,” he said, “but, I know he would be proud of you.”
She looked at Gryffin, surprised by his words.
“I hope so,” Cori murmured, though in her heart she doubted that would be true. Leaving the Legion might have broken his heart if he had been here to witness it. The Oakheart family had been in the Legion for generations. She could only hope that he could forgive her for her indiscretions toward the Legion. Not for the first time, Cori wished she could speak to him, one last time. She had come to know that the sadness still heavy inside of her was less for the loss of her family itself, but more for the years they could have together, the life they should have had spending ordinary moments as a family together.
They had ascended the main stairwell in silence, and as they reached the landing to her own rooms, Gryffin stopped, and slung an arm across the railing.
“This as far as I go, Oakheart.”
“Were you the escort I never asked for?” Cori asked, a grin tugging at her lips.
His mouth turned up in one corner, and she marvelled at how handsome he truly was, with his dark hair, bright blue eyes and a full, sensuous mouth.
“Nah. Like I said – I was heading in the same direction. At least up until we left the training hall.”
Cori laughed quietly. “Well, thanks for the company.”
He winked at her. “Any time.” Then Gryffin turned and started back down the staircase.
Cori walked the rest of the way to Maveron’s office with a wondering smile on her face. Gryffin hadn’t changed one bit in the years she had been away, he was still a funny and caring man, with a damn charming smile. She thought about him as she dropped her bag off in her own room and climbed one more flight of steps to the President’s quarters.
Maveron called out for her to enter the moment she knocked on the door. Cori opened the door and peered inside, spotting him on the couches that sat strategically near the large windows, and were bathed in sunlight.
“You wanted to see me?” Cori asked, still standing in the doorway, her hands tucked away behind her back.
“Yes, thank you for coming so quickly,” Maveron said, smiling sincerely at her.
“Of course, what can I do for you?”
Maveron gestured to the couches in front of him, inviting her to take a seat. She obliged, walking over to the set of couches and took a seat facing him.
“I have been told, and have seen, how much you have progressed in the small amount of time that you have been back,” Maveron said, and his silver eyes twinkled, so much like Thoren’s eyes, “or perhaps it is that you never really lost your skills in the first place.”
Cori lifted one shoulder. “It all came back to me pretty quickly. And Thoren wasn’t going to let me slack off.”
Maveron chuckled. “Indeed. My son seems very invested in your continued training.”
She scoffed. “That’s an understatement.”
He smiled at her, before it slid slowly from his face, his eyes turning grave. “Now, Cori – I would like to invite y
ou to a meeting that I will be holding this evening here in my office. This is normally only extended to the Legion Five, though in these circumstances, I will be inviting you along. If you wish to decline, that is perfectly okay.”
Cori’s eyebrows narrowed in confusion. She didn’t understand what would involve her if these meetings were only for the Five.
She considered asking what this meeting would entail, but knew he would likely not divulge that information, so the only way she would find out would be to accept the offer.
“I would be honoured to attend,” Cori said respectfully, even though it came out a little hesitantly, “when shall I be here?”
Maveron’s face remained solemn, and Cori’s hesitancy increased. It certainly didn’t seem as though it was going to be a barrel of laughs.
“Sundown will be when we meet. Please be here then.”
18
Cori arrived back in the training hall only thirty minutes after she had left, looking thoughtful. Thoren swore that he had sensed her presence the second she had entered the hall and had turned to watch for a moment as her long, unbound hair swayed as she walked. She had come to take up her spot next to Thoren again and had immediately spoken to him under her breath.
“Do you know anything about a meeting at sunset with your father?”
Thoren looked down at her, eyebrows raised in surprise and question. “He invited you as well?”
She nodded, forehead creased with puzzlement. “Do you know…?”
“No,” Thoren responded with a slight shake of his head, “he spoke to me this morning. I assume he has some news that must affect us somehow.”
His father had asked him to attend the meeting with the Legion Five and had done so with a troubled expression. It caused a flutter of nerves in his belly at the thought that it might have something to do with Cori as well. Thoren had never been invited to attend a meeting that was usually for the Legion Five before.
Cori didn’t lose her grim expression for the rest of the afternoon, even though there were a few truly spectacular fights in the training hall, though none were as spectacular as Cori’s fight with Ann. When the fights were over and they had run their warm downs, the training hall quickly emptied.
Soon Thoren and Cori sat on the wooden bench by the wall, only a few lingering Legionnaires left in the hall.
They had sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the stragglers gather their things and make for the exit.
“You fought really well today,” Thoren said.
Cori’s knee was bouncing up and down, a nervous habit that she’d had for as long as Thoren had known her. She barely glanced at him, before she looked back down at her hands.
“Thanks.”
“Whatever it is, it’ll be okay,” Thoren told her, “the Five are people just like us, and my father must think that whatever he wants to discuss will either impact us or… need our assistance with something.”
Cori stayed quiet, thoughtful for a moment. Then she looked at him. “My father always told stories of the Legion Five, about the first ones that had been chosen and blessed by the Gods themselves.” She smiled sadly at him. “He said they used to be so powerful when they fought together, an unstoppable, unbreakable force. Five parts of one whole.”
Thoren nodded. There were many legends about the Five from before he was born, those that had powerful blessings cast upon them by the Gods. Sometimes he wondered if the stories that had been told, and retold were more fable as opposed to historical truth.
Cori continued. “Now, what are they? The Five are still treated like Gods, but you’re right when you say they’re people just like us. They don’t have extra magic fuelling them like before. They’re just fighters, warriors, like any one of us. I sometimes wonder what purpose they even serve anymore.”
Thoren considered that. “I suppose they’ve just always been a part of the Legion. I think they’re almost… a symbol to the people mostly.”
Cori made a small noise in the back of her throat. “I grew up wanting to be one of them more than anything I’d ever wanted. It was my only dream.”
“Are you saying it’s not anymore?”
She looked at him. “Is it still yours?”
Thoren shrugged. “It could be. I just want to protect the people of this land. I suppose it doesn’t matter how I do it.”
Thoren watched as Cori turned her hand over, palm facing upwards. She brushed her fingers over the black ink on the inside of her forearm.
“I think I do still want it,” she said slowly, “and if I ever get there, or find myself lucky enough to be in a position like Ione’s, I think I’d want to make some changes. To how the Five work… have them fighting together again as one unit.”
Thoren looked at his own brand and he knew he still wanted that. The way Cori stared at her brand next to him, her mood turning stormy, had him wondering where her brain had landed. He would guess Cori was thinking that perhaps the Massacre two years ago would have ended differently if the all the Legion Five had each been present at the Compound, fighting the Shadow Soldiers.
“I hope you get that chance. I’ll be backing you one hundred percent,” Thoren told her.
Cori smiled faintly, a fraction of her sadness chipping away. She stood and strode away a few steps before she looked back at Thoren.
“I guess I’ll see you at the meeting?”
“You didn’t want to have dinner first?” Thoren asked her.
She shook her head. “I don’t seem to be very hungry right now.”
“Okay, I’ll see you there.”
She nodded, and without another word she walked away, leaving Thoren alone with his thoughts.
***
Cori had a few hours before sunset to contemplate her feelings about the Legion Five, and this meeting she had been asked to attend.
Cori had meant what she’d said to Thoren – it had always been her dream to be a Legion Five, and even if that dream now seemed dulled by the past two years, it still lay inside of her, a small tree that had been planted long ago, but one that had been forgotten to be cared for, and so it had withered.
Cori’s dream had been more for what her father had told her the Legion Five had used to be. A powerful, magical force. The five points of a starburst connected in the middle to become one powerful entity. Just like the insignia of the Legion.
She didn’t know how true the stories were as they had been told over the years since after the magic had disappeared. The incredible stories about the magic the Five had used to wield, more powerful than any of the other Diviners in the land.
Cori could still remember, like it had been told to her yesterday, her father’s favourite story to tell her and Nessida before bed. He loved to tell them about how the Falkirk mountains were created when there had been a war between the north and south parts of Holmfirth. The Legion Five had scouted out many Diviners who had been Terraformers from both sides of the war, who had come together peacefully and agreed to create the mountain ranges together. Cori and Nessida had always been awed when listening to how the Diviners had created something so incredible, to keep the warring sides apart from each other.
Recalling the story brought a smile to Cori’s face, even though she wasn’t sure she believed it anymore. Her thoughts about the Five and her place among the Legion continued to circle around her head for hours, until she realised that it was starting to darken outside her bedroom windows, and it was time for the meeting.
She glanced at herself briefly in the reflective glass on the wall, ensuring her grey tunic was straight and tidy before she exited.
When she reached Maveron’s quarters a floor above hers, she knocked on the door a few times, and it opened for her.
Maveron greeted her with a smile and held the door open for her to enter.
Thoren was already there, seated on the couch she had been sitting on earlier. Some members of the Legion Five were there also, though they were still missing Trey and Valentina. She walked into the
room, and took a seat next to Thoren, and nodded a greeting to Soraya and Ryker who sat opposite her in matching chairs. Ione sat with her arms folded across her chest and looking resolutely away from her. No doubt she believed that Cori didn’t belong at this meeting. She certainly was not going to give Ione the satisfaction of admitting she felt the same.
The room was awkwardly silent for a few minutes, waiting for the last few to arrive. Cori fiddled with the ends of her hair, and when she caught Ryker’s eyes across from her, he grinned, and she felt herself relax a little. At least one of them didn’t think she shouldn’t be here. She couldn’t read the others’ expressions, who all watched Maveron as he stood with his back to them in front of the large bookshelves behind his desk.
A quick knock at the door, and Trey and Valentina entered the room, quietly closing the door behind them.
“Excellent,” Maveron said immediately, “please take a seat and we will begin.”
Cori watched them walk over, her eyes fixed to Trey, whose face was impassive as he took a seat next on Thoren’s other side.
Before Cori could wonder exactly what Trey’s problem was these days, Maveron took his own seat at the edge of the circle of chairs and faced them all.
“It has been a while since we have held a meeting like this, which I find truly fortunate indeed. But as it is, I have asked you all to be here tonight so that I can discuss some grave news with you.”
Cori shifted uncomfortably, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw that most of the others in the room had shifted or sat forwards in their seat, each with matching expressions of puzzled anticipation.
“There is no point in skirting around the truth, so I will just say it.” Maveron looked to Cori, his expression that of concern, and she frowned before he spoke again. “A few of our Legionnaires posted near Lullin have been killed. The survivors from the outpost say they spotted those responsible.”
Dead silence buzzed through the room.