“If he’s delusional, why do we care what he’s saying?” Coal asked gruffly.
“Because he was completely lucid when he said the next part. I was checking to see if he had any injuries, but couldn’t find any. He told me that a spear flew directly at him, that it was going to hit square in the chest, leaving him no time to move out of the way.”
“But that’s impossible. You said there was no wound.”
I nodded. “There wasn’t. Rowan said that when the spear was within inches of him, it just bounced back and fell to the ground. He described it as if an invisible shield appeared, blocking him from it.”
“But…that doesn’t make sense. I have a small cut where a spear nicked my left shoulder. And I saw the injury on your leg.” He motioned towards me and I glanced down, surprised to find an inch-long slice with a tiny trickle of dried blood on my left leg, just above my foot, the top of my sock speckled crimson. I hadn’t even noticed it. When had I been hit?
But Coal was still talking. “So clearly the weapons hit us. No invisible walls, no magical shields, came up to block us from them. So why would this barrier form to protect him?”
I thought quietly for a moment, rubbing the soft quilt beneath my fingertips, tracing circles into a garnet square. “Neither of us were about to sustain a deadly hit from one of the weapons. Rowan was inches away from death, literally. He said afterwards that the challenge stopped immediately and River ordered him to leave. He is so upset; he thinks he failed the challenge.” I could still see the panic that had shown so clearly in his eyes.
“So,” Coal finally said after letting out a sigh. “This means one can’t die in these challenges, even though River said we could. At least that is one less thing we need to worry about.” He looked down at his hands, starting to fidget. “But Sage,” he said slowly. “Do you realize what this means?”
I looked down as well, the same thoughts racing through my head. “It means they are lying to us. But the real question is why?”
Chapter 35
It was the last day of our fourth week here. And the arrival of our final challenge, the Emotion Challenge. Coal had been training me tirelessly for this one, especially over the last few days.
Up in the wooden seats sat River, Eden, and Flint, as usual, along with several other trainers.
“Sage, you will have five minutes to hit and kill as many targets as you can. You have knives and spears in front of you to throw; they are the only weapons you will need,” River announced in a low voice. “Do you understand the rules?”
I nodded and entered the concrete pit. The all too familiar glass encased box with knives and spears stood in front of me. Staring ahead, I prepared myself for what was about to happen.
“Are you ready?”
Swallowing, I nodded my head. “Yes. I’m ready.”
A second later, the audience disappeared from my view as the barriers rose, and the clock began counting down. 5…4…3…2…1!
Immediately I dropped to a crouch, grabbing two dangerously sharp knives the instant the glass box disappeared, and held them, one in each hand, waiting for the first hologram to appear.
Suddenly, I was plunged into darkness as the fluorescent lights above dimmed, then went out completely. I turned around but couldn’t see anything behind me now. What was going on? This hadn’t happened last time.
But as I turned back, I was shocked to see I no longer stood in the challenge room. Instead, l was on a street. An old cobblestone street in the middle of the night. How could this be? Dark shapes rose up around me and it took a moment until I realized they were enormous buildings, their shadowy brick walls worn with age, gray in the dimness. Lightning cracked across the sky, a rumble of thunder echoing around me. As I stood there, droplets of rain began to pour down. But even though they fell on top of me, I couldn’t feel them. And I wasn’t getting wet.
Because it wasn’t real. The entire setting was a hologram.
It made sense. But now the hologram people could hide behind the hologram buildings. Or they could blend into the hologram shadows. This would be twice as difficult as the practice challenge.
As if to prove that point, a man suddenly darted out from behind one of the nearest buildings. He was dressed head to toe in black, his face concealed by a mask, a jagged blade clutched in his hand. Without even pausing to think, I threw my knife directly at him. It hit square in his chest and he fell backwards, the hologram dissipating before he could even hit the ground.
Twisting again, I strained my eyes, searching through the darkness for more attackers. Within several seconds another appeared, this time armed with a spear. He launched it through the air, the long weapon hurtling towards me. Throwing the knife I clutched, I dove to the floor. The hologram spear whizzed over me, just missing my shoulder. Looking back up, I saw that my knife had made its mark. Another hologram fell away. Two kills.
Over and over, more armed holograms appeared from behind the buildings. Again, and again, I threw the knives and spears, hitting my targets, and avoiding the weapons aimed at me. Another hologram figure raced out.
But this time was different. A girl around my age stood there, dirty, dressed in rags. Her long reddish-blonde hair hung down in wet clumps and immediately I thought of Aurora. I couldn’t help it. I paused, the knife still in my hand.
Suddenly, I caught the glint of metal behind her back as she continued to shuffle towards me. Raising the knife in my hand behind my head, I hurled it into the air, but she shifted at the last moment and it flew past her.
Her arm shot out from behind and that knife I’d caught sight of now came screaming towards me. Diving into a roll, I hit the floor, just managing to miss it.
Grabbing up a spear, I jumped to my feet, readying myself for her next attack. But instead, a loud noise sounded and the scene around me disappeared, plunging into darkness before the lights slowly came back on. What was a city street now turned back into cement walls and wooden staircases. Blinking in the bright light, I looked up to see River and the other trainers staring down at me.
“Time’s up Sage. Good job. You may leave now.”
I nodded slowly, turning to go. Then it sunk in. He told me I’d done a good job. And I did. I killed every target except one and hadn’t been hit by a single weapon. A surge of pride raced through me and I couldn’t help the smile that appeared on my face. “Thank you.”
He nodded down at me and I could swear, for a brief moment, the slightest hint of a smile appeared on his own.
✽✽✽
That was it. It was done, over. The only thing left was to be placed into our assigned Divisions. It would all be decided within the next few hours.
Grabbing my gray duster from the armoire, I dragged my arms through its soft, cozy sleeves. Leaving my room, I made my way back through the dark, narrow hallways, passing other trainees along the way, all of us sharing expressions consisting of a combination of both relief and apprehension. Turning a corner, I nearly bumped into Coal and Ember. But just beyond them were a cluster of Fire Society trainees, including Blaze and Ash, so instead of stopping, I just mouthed the words ‘the pond’ to Coal, and continued by.
I breathed in the fresh winter scent that now clung to the air and the light dusting of frost covering the ground where the sunlight could no longer stretch its warm rays. The pond was crystal clear today, the bare branches of the temperate trees and scrubby green needles of the pines reflected in its waters. Staring out at the distant purple mountains, I realized that this was the last time I would be in this spot. The spot I came to when I needed to be alone, the spot I came to when I was sad and hurt. And the spot where I started to grow to know Coal. Where I shared my secrets, and where I learned some of his. And now, the spot I would be saying good-bye to.
I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t even hear Coal approach. A strong hand fell upon my shoulder and I twisted my head back, looking up into his face.
“Well?” he asked slowly. I smiled and I guess that w
as answer enough. His mouth widened into a relieved grin.
“What about you?”
A nonchalant look came over his face as he shrugged. Of course, he would try to downplay how well he did. I rolled my eyes.
Turning back to the pond, I felt the smile slowly vanish from my face. And Coal noticed.
“What is it?” he asked quietly.
I continued to stare out at the mountains. “I’m going to miss this place. We won’t ever be back here.”
My peripheral vision caught his nod of agreement. “I know. There is something almost magical about being here. A little slice of peace. Escape from…all of it.”
I sighed, leaning my head back against him slightly. “I’m comfortable here. I trust this place. I…I trust you.” I felt the warmth from his grasp as he closed his hand over my own. “As soon as we leave here, everything becomes new. Different.”
I gazed up towards him again, watching as he continued to look out in the distance. The chilled wind whipped his dark hair back as he bobbed his head. “I feel the same way.” His gaze travelled down towards mine as he continued softly, “But not everything new and different is necessarily going to be bad. If I never left Fire Society and came here, I never would have met you.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his cheeks flushed with the embarrassment of being so open. But I wasn’t embarrassed.
Twisting towards him, I hugged my arms around his chest and laid my head against him. I could feel his heart beneath me, hear the pace grow more rapid. He stayed motionless, and for a second I worried I’d gone too far. Until…he wrapped his arms around and folded me into him. His hands touched upon my back, rubbing against it slowly. We just stood there, the wind whipping around us. The bottom of my duster blew out behind me and my hair flew in all directions, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t want to move. I felt safe here.
His chin rested lightly against the top of my head as a hand rose, now gently stroking my hair, and I closed my eyes, sighing softly. It wasn’t necessarily romantic, but it was warmth. It was comfort. It was everything I needed. I didn’t know what would happen in the future, but for now, this was enough.
Eventually we broke apart, but he took hold of my hand again. “We should get back,” he said reluctantly. “They’re going to announce the Divisions soon.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. But a shudder ran through me again at the thought of it. Tightening my grip on his, we moved forward, weaving our way back through the dense trees. But as we walked, I felt the ring bounce against my ankle. Coal subconsciously fingered his chain, rubbing the carved metal symbol dangling from it. I still didn’t know what either meant or why we’d been given them.
But I had a feeling we would find out soon.
Chapter 36
Coal and I split apart as we moved towards the forming group of trainees already gathered in the arena. I caught sight of Aurora and Finn and made my way over to them while Coal walked towards Ember.
“How did the last challenge go?” whispered Aurora as soon as I reached her side.
“Decent, especially compared to the practice one,” I said. “How was it for you and Finn?”
She bit her lip, trying to prevent a smile from escaping. “Actually, really good. Maybe we’ll all be in Combatant together yet,” she said, giving me a brief squeeze. I nodded, hoping she was right. And didn’t dare mention a word about Cirrus.
After the last few trainees trickled in, another group entered the arena. River led, followed by Eden and Flint. But behind them were three people I’d never seen before. River stepped up to the podium with Eden and Flint moving to flank him on either side. The other three stood in front of the stage, staring out at us. And suddenly, I knew exactly who they were.
The representatives for each of the three Divisions.
A very tall, very thin man in a very plain, dark suit stood to the left, his face expressionless. Heavy brows creeped above his eyes while a bushy mustache covered his upper lip. Unexpectedly, given the rest of his appearance, was the violently bright purple tie he wore around his neck.
On the right stood another man. However, as refined as the first man appeared, this one was rugged, fierce. Dressed head to toe in black, what he wore looked very similar to the outfits the Fire trainees wore when they’d arrived at the Training. His brown hair, so dark it was nearly black, was pulled back tightly from his face. He’d set his mouth in a rigid line while obsidian eyes flashed around menacingly. A deep scar cut jaggedly across the right side of his cheek, sloping down to his jaw.
And standing between them was a small woman. She wore a plain black dress and her ebony hair was cut severely short, bangs just stopping above cold eyes, which were outlined by a pair of thick framed glasses. But most surprisingly was the white lab coat she had on. I watched as she trained her gaze on us, the icy mask she wore never breaking once.
Instantly, a multitude of whispered conversations broke out, everyone wondering about these three new people.
“Quiet!” River called out. A hush fell over us.
“First, I would like to congratulate the entire group of you for successfully completing the Training. You were pushed to your limits and beyond them, without knowledge of why and with no answers from us about why you were here in the first place.”
I glanced over at Aurora, relieved to see she wore a similarly confused expression. Would they finally tell us? Tell us the point of everything we’d been through?”
“But it no longer matters,” River continued simply.
Of course not.
“What matters now is your futures. And the different Divisions you will be entering into. Based on your overall performance during your time here, we have assigned each of you a Division. After today, you will be leaving with your respective representatives. And so now, allow me to introduce them.”
Motioning to the gentleman with the ostentatious purple tie, River cleared his throat. “Representing Regent, this is Mr. Glenn Briars.” Glenn lifted his hand, giving a brief wave, before lowering it to restraighten his tie.
“The representative of Combatant, Mr. Scorch Sentras,” River continued, indicating the man on the right with the jagged scar. Scorch stared at us, his mouth curling slightly in distaste.
River waited a moment, then realizing Scorch had no intention of making a motion of greeting, cleared his throat once again, nodding to the woman standing in the middle.
“And finally, to escort those entering Proletariat, this is Ms. Teal Rayburn.” She actually nodded briefly, the wisp of a faint smile touching her lips momentarily.
Which was practically a warm, gushing welcome compared to Scorch’s.
Silence stretched around us, and all eyes moved back to River. He hesitated a moment, glancing over to Eden, some kind of silent communication passing between them. Nodding almost imperceptibly, he began again. “I want all of you to know that no matter what Division you enter into today, you need to remain vigilant.” He hurried now, rushing his words. “You’ve all been told not to question things. To always do exactly what is requested of you. But you should know that there is more going on than you know. Than you are told. That things aren’t always necessarily as they seem. Remember this.” He paused again, as if questioning whether he should continue. Flint was staring at River, waves of fury and shock rolling off him, but Eden gazed intently, silently nodding. “And for those entering Proletariat, you should know—"
A loud cough suddenly sounded from the Combatant representative, interrupting Rivers’ words. “It’s time to announce the Divisions,” Scorch Sentras growled, glaring at River for a moment before turning back to face us. I, along with the other trainees, stared in shock at seeing River put into a position of subordinance. I’d always assumed he was in charge, the highest in command.
Obviously, that wasn’t the case.
His gaze scanned across the group of us before they landed on Eden. Her eyes lowered, light blonde strands of hair shielding her expression from view. A look of regret
appeared in River’s eyes, however brief it was. I didn’t know for sure what he’d been trying to tell us but had a good idea it all led back to the classroom conversation I’d overheard between himself and Eden. Straightening his shoulders, he raised his chin, steeled restraint back in place. “I will now announce the Division selections. When your name is called, please step forward and stand in front of your new Division representative.”
Anxious murmurs filled the air once more. But my eyes didn’t leave River’s, my chest tightening at the regret I saw in them.
I would never know what he’d been trying to say to us.
To warn us about.
✽✽✽
He slowly began to unroll a large sheet of paper, fingers tight as they clutched the edges. Eden stared at him, wringing her own hands continuously. She looked visibly shaken.
Taking a deep breath, River began to call out names.
“Blaze!”
I turned to search the crowd. My gaze immediately found the second tallest person here, his blond hair tied into its typical tail. At the mention of his name, his shoulders stiffened.
“Combatant!”
A smirk appeared as he shot a knowing glance to Ash and Singe, then sauntered over to where Scorch Sentras stood.
“Lark!” called River. “Regent.” One of the friends I saw Rowan hang out with several times. A boy from Air Society. The reed-thin one who’d been assigned to my discussion group initially, who had told us of the new types of planes Air Society was creating, and what could potentially be carried with them.
I shook my head, dispersing the thoughts and trying to focus on the next name about to be called.
“Rowan!”
I held my breath, waiting for the decision.
“Regent!”
The painful tug on my heart was immediate. I knew it was coming. I expected it. But hearing it was something else entirely.
Awakening Earth and Fire: Earth and Fire Trilogy Book 1 Page 32