“We are on stand-by for North America. Why aren’t we being sent to do this?” Sky challenged. There was an edge to his voice. Sky, Lian knew, was itching to get off the island again. The fight against the Disciples in the Mendosa’s house had calmed him down for about two days, but he was now back to being as irritable as he was since they’d been played so easily by the South American King.
“Diallo and Madeleine are there just to gather information. You are still on stand-by for if and when the North American King makes his move, but for now we’d rather keep you here on the island until Sophie is cleared for missions by Doctor Masalis. You should also take this time to regain your strength. Don’t underestimate the effect the spells you cast in Brazil had on you.”
Lian glanced at Sophie. She caught his gaze and gave him a reassuring nod. “It won’t be long,” she promised. She did seem to be doing much better since the night she almost died. Almost better even than before Gayle Mendosa had been killed. She always seemed refreshed when she came back from her therapy sessions.
“You could easily send in two of us to North America. Not all of us need healing,” Sky asserted.
Lian caught Sophie shift on her feet. Her fists were clenched at her sides, but she said nothing. Nathan looked slightly uncomfortable, and Matu seemed to force himself to stay quiet. Lian wanted to snap at Sky that he could at least try to be more sensitive, but Axel spoke before he could do so.
“Do not underestimate the extra time you can now take to prepare, Mayne. An uprising is nothing to be taken lightly,” he told Sky. “There is no arguing this point with me; the Small Council has made its decision. We will keep an eye on the developments in North America, and you will be updated, or even called into action when needed. Do I make myself clear?”
The Asters nodded and sounded their agreement. Axel stared at each and every one of them before saying, “Good. Take this seriously. You don’t know what might await you in North America, and we’re expecting you to be at your highest level of mental and physical strength. So, take the next weeks to make sure of that.”
The Asters silently stared after him as the Ambassador left the small office and disappeared down the hall.
Chapter 8
A month after the Memorial things had settled back down on Saluverus. Despite what Axel had originally said, the Asters had received a few updates on the two separate missions in Brazil. The Queen’s Case had split up so many times now that the Affinites were currently doing research in teams of four. Soon, Madeleine would shimmer in with more soldiers, researchers and scientists to broaden the search further into the Amazon Rainforest.
Another thing they were told was that dead Disciples had been found in the Rainforest, all with horrific animal wounds. They were covered in deep lacerations and lethal bite marks, indicating that their wounds were fatal, and not post mortem scavenger damage.
Sophie knew from legends that wild animals recognised Queen Aiyana as their queen as well, because of the magic she possessed. It was as if the animals in the Rainforest hadn’t taken kindly to their new queen being attacked and killed, either. Whether this was proof that Gayle had actually managed to get to the Amazon while wild animals were trying to aid her escape, the investigators weren’t sure of yet. The dead Disciples were quite scattered; the Affinites couldn’t yet detect a clear path that Gayle might have taken the night she died. The investigation was still ongoing.
Diallo and Madeleine had returned from their mission in North America. The Disciple activity had settled down since the Memorial. Only around the Grand Canyon National Park were the number of Disciples increasing and decreasing at fast inter-changeable rates, which was unusual to say the least. Disciples from all over the country seemed to be heading there, only to vanish. There were various entrances to the North American Underworld in the Grand Canyon, so when Disciples disappeared, it could only mean that they’d entered the Underworld. As long as the Disciples stayed there, it was nothing to be concerned about. Having more underground than on the Surface was never a bad thing. Still, Felix had his Watchers very much on the look-out for if suddenly the Disciples would be streaming out onto the Surface in higher numbers.
Sophie stepped into the girl’s changing rooms in the arena. That morning the Asters were to train with ten Affinites under Jackson Kelly’s supervision. The five female Affinites chosen were already in the room when Sophie entered. Sophie hadn’t known before that morning which Affinites she and her brothers would be training with; there were many Affinites around their age with battle-advantageous affinities. Who the Asters trained with, changed each week.
It didn’t surprise Sophie that Jillian Kelly, Percy Kelly’s daughter, was standing at the mirror tying her hair up into a pony tail, and that the Moroccan twins, Asmae and Marwa were at their lockers, trading their thick black glasses for contact lenses. Sophie recognised the other two Affinites as well, and greeted both of them as she walked over to her own locker and took off her jacket. Finnish Affinite Elyn and Belgian Affinite Leonie both greeted her in return.
As Sophie hung up her jacket, Jillian came up beside her and leaned back against the locker next to Sophie’s. “Did you hear about Brazil?”
Sophie turned to her friend, frowning. There were a number of developments Jillian could be referring to. “What about Brazil?”
“One team of the Queen’s Case hasn’t been in contact for two days, and everyone has been called back to base camp until they know why,” Jillian said.
“How do you know that?” Sophie asked. Axel had told the Asters precisely this piece of information the evening before.
Jillian Kelly shrugged. “My dad told me. They’re planning on sending in a rescue team. My mum will be part of it.”
“Are you worried?”
“Not just yet. There are plenty of reasons why their communication could have broken down,” Jillian said lightly.
Sophie nodded. “That’s true.”
“Hey,” Jillian said, changing the subject and patting Sophie on the shoulder. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Sophie smiled at her friend. “Your dad tell you that, too?”
Jillian grinned. “You bet.”
“Told you what?” Asmae asked from the other side of the room.
“I’ve been cleared for missions,” Sophie revealed.
“Congratulations!” the twins both said in unison. Sophie grinned at their identical enthusiasm. People who didn’t know Asmae and Marwa would not be able to tell them apart.
“I’m glad you’re training with us again, now that your hand has finally healed,” Jillian said happily. She turned on her heel and headed for the door.
Sophie looked down at her hand. The scars were thick and uneven, but finally painless. It might take a while before she could work a sword with that hand as well as before, but thankfully it wasn’t her dominant hand. Most of the time all that was needed of her left hand was for the thumb to press the button on the side of her miniature wrist crossbow.
Sophie and the other four Affinites followed Jillian out through the door and onto the grounds of the arena. The nine boys were already there, standing beside a single table near the official entrance. On the ground near the table was a large circle, drawn in chalk. Nathan was talking to Arthur Kelly, Jackson’s son and Jillian’s cousin. Sky, Lian and Matu were standing behind the single table together with Affinites Ashu and Kemal. Finally, to the right were Jake and the fifth male Affinite, Nils Forsberg.
Sophie and the five female Affinites gathered around the table. Upon it, Sophie counted fifteen daggers. There was nothing else. She moved to stand by Jake. He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “You know what we’re doing?”
“No,” Sophie answered softly. She eyed the daggers once more when the main doors to the arena opened and Jackson and Percy Kelly stepped through.
“Is he now officially part of the Small Council?” Jake asked, looking at Jackson’s twin brother.
“No idea,” Sophie whisper
ed.
“I don’t think he minds being in a position with that much control.”
Sophie chuckled softly, looking at the ex-soldier standing proudly next to his brother as if he were definitely not second to him.
“Today will be short,” Jackson began. “One fight, one against one. No magic, one dagger each.”
Beside her, Nils cracked his knuckles, chuckling softly to himself. If there was ever a challenge best suited to the massive Swedish Affinite with the affinity for agility, it was this one. At six foot six, Nils was faster than he looked, and it was almost impossible to bring him down without magic. Whoever was chosen to fight him today was going to have a hard time of it.
“Up first,” Jackson continued. “Lian and Arthur. Grab a dagger and go and stand in the ring. One step outside and you lose.”
Both Lian and Arthur took a dagger from the table and stepped inside the circle of chalk drawn on the floor. If Sophie had to guess, it had the diameter of about fifteen feet. It reminded her of a ring used for sumo wrestling. As the two boys stepped into the ring, the rest of them gathered around it, a few feet back from the edge. Lian and Arthur stood a few feet away from each other. Lian was jogging on the spot, while Arthur was rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck.
Jackson and Percy stood next to each other on one side of the ring. Jackson looked from Lian, to Arthur, to the watch on his right wrist. In his left hand he held a small whistle. “Ready?”
“Yes,” Arthur said.
“Ready,” Lian said.
Jackson brought the whistle up to his lips and blew.
The fight was exciting right off the bat. On paper, Lian should be the better fighter, but he often relied on his magic to sustain himself through injuries to surprise his opponents. Sophie could tell that Lian was concentrating harder to avoid Arthur’s dagger, because without his magic, his injuries would affect him like it would anybody else.
Sophie watched as Lian skipped nimbly around Arthur. Arthur, in turn, was trying to block Lian’s dagger-wielding hand with his free one, so he was free to wield his own dagger. But Lian was fast. He was the fastest of all the Asters, faster even than Sky when unable to use his magic of Speed. Any time Arthur came swinging with his dagger, Lian was long gone; jumping to the side or dropping to the ground.
The Affinites and Asters watching cheered and gasped as the two revolved around each other. To his credit, Arthur was not cowed by fighting an Aster. With his affinity for bravery, the same as his father, not even fighting an Aster who was allowed to use magic would stop him from attacking and taking his chances. Sophie knew he was trained personally by his father; it was Arthur’s dream to follow in his father’s footsteps and become the next Commanding Chief. And the Commanding Chief had to be able to hold his own against an Aster.
At one point Arthur had to jump back to make sure he didn’t get stabbed in the leg, after Lian purposefully fell to the ground and rolled towards him. It was so unexpected that Arthur’s jump back was more of a stumble. He was so far back already that he was now right on the edge of the ring, balancing on one foot to make sure he stayed inside. And Lian came at him again. With great strength from the one leg he was still balancing on, Arthur threw himself to the side just as Lian was about to deliver the blow that would make him the victor.
The onlookers gasped as Arthur threw his knife behind him as he fell, towards Lian. It was a blind throw; he wasn’t even looking at Lian as he hit the ground just inside the chalk circle. As Arthur turned around on the ground to see what had become of his opponent, Lian jumped on top of him. There was nothing Arthur could do as Lian held the dagger to his throat with his left hand.
Sophie smirked as she saw Arthur’s disappointment and Lian’s elation. She doubted many of the onlookers noticed what she had, but she was sure Jackson had.
The Commanding Chief blew his whistle. “Arthur wins,” he barked.
The look on Arthur’s face was enough to make Sophie burst out laughing. The other onlookers started clapping. Lian dropped his head, but the smile didn’t leave his lips. He leaned back from where he was still crouched over Arthur, revealing his right hand. It was covering up a nasty gash in his belly, and the Band on his wrist was glowing silver. His magic was working.
Arthur looked from the wound he’d inflicted with his blind shot, up to Lian’s face. Lian shrugged and got to his feet, offering his hand to Arthur. “I thought maybe he wouldn’t notice,” he said with his crooked grin, cocking his head towards Jackson.
Arthur still looked slightly alarmed as Lian casually walked over to Sophie and lifted his shirt. Sophie forgot sometimes that many Affinites had never seen Lian’s magic at work. Sophie doubted Lian had even thought of using it; his magic worked more instinctively than the magic of the other Asters. Most of the time Lian didn’t even have to do anything; his magic would start working the second he got hurt.
As Sophie assessed the bleeding gash in Lian’s abdomen, Jackson moved over to his son. Sophie couldn’t hear everything that was being said, but she knew Arthur wasn’t getting much positive feedback. Lian was the better fighter; he was faster and smarter. The shot that caught him in the abdomen was a lucky shot. Sophie overheard Jackson say precisely that.
Lian’s blood was warm on her skin as she held her hand against his injury. Less than a second later she could feel the sizzle of her magic course through her body and culminate in her right hand. Her healing magic flowed into Lian and worked its way through every bit of damaged blood vessel, muscle and intestine.
When Sophie pulled her hand away, not even a scar remained. Sophie looked at her hand and sighed. It was coated in blood. Before Lian could move away, she was wiping her hand on his shirt.
Lian looked down at his shirt. “Was that really necessary?”
Sophie gave him a pointed look. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Sky came over and clapped his hand on Lian’s back. “It was a good throw. Tough to survive that one.”
“I would’ve survived it.” Lian grinned over his shoulder.
“Without magic?” Sophie remarked.
Sky laughed and threw an arm around his brother.
Lian opened his mouth to answer Sophie, but Jackson cleared his throat. “Up next. Nathan and Nils.”
Sophie looked up at that. Those two boys had never been paired up against each other before. Nathan was tall and muscular, sure. But he was nothing compared to Nils. Only Matu came close to the Swedish Affinite’s tall and broad stature. It wasn’t like Sophie was worried about Nathan’s safety. The Asters had been taught how to fight an opponent stronger than them. Those lessons usually revolved around when they’d finally come face to face with a King. But without magic, Nils was definitely stronger than Nathan. It would be interesting to see what Nathan would do to counter Nils’ strength.
The two boys each took a single dagger and stepped into the ring. Nils stood nonchalantly to one side, twirling the dagger in his fingers. He had the same cocky air about him that Jake had whenever he fought. It didn’t surprise Sophie that Nils and Jake were good friends. They were two of the strongest Affinites on Saluverus, and, right now, Nils wasn’t afraid to show it.
Nathan moved to the opposite side of the ring. His movements were studied, precise. There was nothing nonchalant about the Aster of Flora. Sophie recognised the frozen calm that descended upon Nathan before every mission and training. As he turned around, Sophie saw nothing of the kindness she knew was in there. Any sort of emotion was buried deep beneath the surface now.
Nils tossed the dagger from one hand to the other, twirling it between his fingers each time. He smirked at Nathan, trying to rile the Aster of Flora, and did a few more tricks with the dagger. Nathan stared at him coolly, holding his dagger simply in his hands.
The corner of Sophie’s mouth twitched up slightly. She knew there was very little that could affect Nathan when he was in this state. Sophie doubted Nils was impressing anyone with his tricks. Everyone here knew showy moves mean
t nothing. It doesn’t matter how you kill. In war, theatrics mean nothing to the living, nor to the dead.
Jackson Kelly took his place next to his twin brother again and looked at the boys in the ring. “Ready?”
“Of course,” Nils said smugly.
Nathan simply said, “Yes.”
Jackson brought the whistle to his lips and blew.
Faster than a man of his stature should be able to move, Nils pounced, his affinity for agility clear for everyone to see. It made him particularly dangerous, because, at six foot six and with the physique of a bodybuilder, he wasn’t just strong and powerful; he was also lightning fast.
Nathan saw the initial attack coming and dodged it easily. Then Nils came again. Their daggers clashed once before the two boys jumped back away from each other again.
They engaged a few more times after that, but always jumped back out of each other’s range. Each time they came close, Nils tried to grab Nathan’s dagger-wielding hand. But even with his agility, it was too predictable, and Nathan managed to avoid being caught time and time again.
The battle wove on. Without his magic and his broadswords, Nathan was less confident, though Sophie doubted anyone aside from her and the other Asters would be able to see it. They knew what Nathan was like if he had access to his signature weapons. He liked the broadswords because it kept his enemies at a distance. To injure his opponent with a dagger he’d have to get up closer. He was attacking less frequently than Sophie was used to. He was waiting for Nils to make a mistake in an attack, so that his defensive strike would make him the victor. Nathan would rather do that than take a risk and go full on the offensive. Especially with resources he was less comfortable with.
It was a good tactic in theory. But Nils was fit and strong and fast. Each punch the Affinite got in took more out of Nathan than the other way around. Nathan was fit too, but he lacked the strength his opponent had. He needed to do something different; something unexpected, to get Nils on the wrong foot. Nils needed to be surprised to be defeated. Sophie was sure Nathan knew this, and she wondered what he was planning.
A World To Lose Page 10