by Andi J Feron
Recessed lighting illuminated the area enough that I could make out the beige of the walls. I was exhausted and found sleep before even changing out of my uniform. An alarm screeched in my ears and I jumped out of my bed, thinking there must be a fire or other catastrophic event. I glanced at the clock, and it read four.
“New recruits, put on your uniform and report to Grid Six,” a voice commanded from an intercom in the ceiling.
I quickly got dressed and stepped out my door. Two other uniformed kids passed me, and I followed them in the hopes that they knew where Grid Six was. We walked down a curved hallway for quite a distance. I saw Grid One, and we kept walking until Grid Six appeared on the right-hand side. Inside were about twenty other recruits sitting in folding chairs. I saw Talon, but he was sitting in a row that was already full.
A man at the front of the room said, “I am Commander Carpenter, and I am in charge of your training. You are here to become elite fighters. Over the next six months, you will become skilled in every move you make. Your abilities will become focused, and you will gain superior physical strength and aptitude.”
The Commander droned on for about another half an hour. He explained the rules and the bathroom schedule. We would be allowed a five minute shower before bed, and we would get Sundays off to rest. The meeting adjourned and we began training immediately after breakfast.
The first few days they ran us outside in the cold. The temperatures were bitter, but they fitted us with durable lightweight gear. Our parkas, gloves, boots, and face scarves kept us from freezing. All of our equipment contained a heating element to keep frostbite at bay. Once we were trained to run ten miles straight, we worked on climbing the mountain.
We were pushing ourselves to the max. Our trainers added weightlifting and flexibility training to our regimen. After three months of intense physical training, we were powerhouses of strength, flexibility, and speed. The next phase of the training was intended to build our minds and abilities. Half the day went to physical training, and the rest went to simulations where we exercised our minds and abilities.
Talon had always been pretty tall, well over six feet, but his previously slender frame was now carved into deeply defined muscles. He had shaved down his dark brown hair when we arrived, but now it was growing back and was a little past his ears. I liked his hair longer as it made his grey-blue eyes pop more.
I didn’t recognize Talon or myself any longer. In the evenings, Talon and I would play poker with a deck of cards he had brought from home.
I laughed. “You know, if this were real, you’d owe me about fifty thousand dollars.”
“I’m not quite that bad at this,” Talon said. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he admitted, “Okay, maybe a little bad. So what’s the deal with you and Lucius?”
“You really want to bring him up?”
“I don’t know, I guess I’m curious, or nosy, or whatever adjective you want to use.”
“I think the second would be most appropriate in this scenario.”
Talon shrugged. “Okay fine. Forget it.”
“No, I mean, I don’t know. I met Lucius when I was twelve, and he was different then. Our stories were similar. When we were placed in a group home together a man came and offered us a place in the program. Both Lucius and I signed up without hesitation.
“Lucius somehow made sure we stayed together. Manipulation probably. I’m not sure where it went wrong with Lucius. He got a taste of power, and everything fell from there. He became mean, and the last straw was definitely him kidnapping your sister and almost killing her.”
“Yeah, I think that might have been the moment I lost any patience with him as well.”
We finished a couple more games before calling it a night. The next few months crawled and sped by in the same instance. Talon and I kept up our late night poker games, and I got to know him thoroughly. I told him more about myself than I had ever told anyone, even Lucius.
I wasn’t sure why. Part of me felt safe with him, but I did not want him to know that. He had a hero complex, and I didn’t want him to think I needed a hero to save me. Becoming equal partners was a requirement in my mind, or I couldn’t work with him.
*
About four months into our training, we were given an extra day off. I walked to the rec area. The room didn’t hold much other than a couch, a television, and a few tables and chairs. It was the only place you could watch any television, and those were limited to about twenty DVD choices. Most of the DVDs were old Western films. We were isolated from the world, as we had no access to any type of news source.
I loved to draw and had brought five sketch pads with me. Since arriving, I had filled all but one. I plopped into one of the chairs to begin my latest sketch.
Talon walked in carrying a couple books. “Drawing again?”
“Always.”
He glanced at what I was drawing. “More pink flowers, huh?”
“Yep, pink daisies. They remind me of my mother.”
“Her favorite flower?”
“No, they remind me of a memory I have of her. She died when I was seven. I don’t have many memories of her, but the ones I do have are pretty vivid. I remember walking to the food bank with her. My dad wouldn’t let her work, and he wouldn’t always give her money to buy groceries, so when he was gone she and I would sneak out. We would hide the food because if my dad found it, he would beat her for taking charity.”
Talon frowned. “Wow. Seraphine, I’m so sorry.”
“One day when we went to the food bank, they were starting a new program. They were giving people seeds along with the standard food packages. When we got home, my mom was excited because she said we could grow a garden out back, that way we could take food from it when we needed. As she was digging through the seeds, she saw someone had put a packet of pink daisy seeds in with the vegetable seeds.
“She got really excited and said we could make our house look beautiful. We would have color to make us smile. My mom never had much her entire life, so the thought of having something pretty to look at meant a lot to her. We planted the seeds. My mom was careful to follow all the instructions. After a few weeks, they began to grow, and eventually, they bloomed. Every time we left the house, my mom would walk over to them, and she would say, ‘no matter how grey life gets, Seraphine, remember you can always find color if you try hard enough’.”
“Your mom sounds like she was pretty great.”
I nodded. “She was. When I miss her, I draw pink daisies. They remind me of her, and how she could always find something beautiful on the worst day.”
Talon and I spent the rest of the afternoon talking. He asked to see some of my other drawings, and I handed him one of my completed sketch pads.
Talon studied each page he came across. “These are amazing, Seraphine. I mean it. Your talent is over the top.”
He flipped a couple more pages, and I realized I had accidentally given him the one I had drawn a picture of him in. He glanced at it and smiled. My cheeks burned but Talon said nothing more to increase the awkwardness. The next day we returned to training.
At the end of the six months, I knew I would never need anyone to defend me again. I could kill someone in a dozen different ways in less than five seconds.
Many of the other recruits were on their way to their assignments. Talon and I stayed behind and were ordered another six months of weapons and ability training. We would be taking on Khalbytians alone. The extra training would involve even more focus on honing our abilities and becoming more skilled fighters.
Talon was extremely reluctant to stay any longer. He had been gone from his sister longer than anticipated. He was upset he had missed her eleventh birthday. He was also afraid that she had overstayed her welcome with the woman he left her with. Ultimately, there was little choice but for him to stay.
During the stint, we practiced hand to hand combat and target practice together regularly. We functioned well as a team on any sim our trainers threw
at us. We kept up our poker games and watched movies together. By the end of our year in training, I was fifteen and he had recently turned sixteen, but we both looked grown up. One morning after the wake-up buzzer went off, we were called to see Commander Carpenter.
He handed us mission briefings. “You have had intense training for the last twelve months, and I have decided you are ready for the next phase of your mission. We believe that a group of Khalbytians has set up base in the catacombs about sixty kilometers from here. A cult by the name of the Eternal Gate of Reborn Souls, or E.R.G.S., is made up of humans who believe them to be gods and are aiding them. You two are going to infiltrate this cult and bring back intel on what you find. We do want you to know that we have sent many teams and none have returned.”
The Commander briefed us on what to expect as well as told us what we needed to say to gain access to the cult. Carpenter released us to processing where the final preparations for our mission would take place. Chips that would serve as an internal translator were implanted into our temporal lobes. This would allow us to understand and speak any language spoken to us.
We were taken in a jeep most of the way but would have to hike the last twenty kilometers on our own. All the days of running in the cold made our little hike feel as though it was a stroll. We neared the end of our trip, and I thought we would be precisely on target as Talon was tracking our journey.
An elaborate stone castle rose in front of a towering blue mountain. Tall towers made up a large portion of the castle, and were connected by enclosed bridges. A large bridge at the base led to the largest portion of the castle. We crossed without hesitation. I heard a whoosh sound. Arrows flew and landed inches in front of our feet. We halted our progression.
A large man stood in front of us. “What do you want?”
He wore all white, from his large coat and fur-covered pants to the fur hat on his head. It all caused him to blend in well with the snow. His approach was silent, with no crunching of snow as he walked toward us.
“We’ve come to join in worship of the great Glycon who resides here,” Talon recited the line we had been briefed to say.
“Very well, you may join us for dinner.” The man began walking toward the castle.
We walked across the immense bridge and into an empty courtyard. The man gave a whistle, and the main door was opened. People were going about their business. One woman was carrying a large basket of bread on her shoulder, and a man was leading a cow into a barn.
The culture was diverse, as there seemed to be people from all over the world. I thought the white clothes everyone wore were odd because they appeared to be a society of agriculture. You would think bleach would be hard to obtain, and it was unclear how they would otherwise keep them pristine.
We were led into the castle, and a large elaborately designed great room rose in front of us. Colorful tapestries and paintings were aligning the walls that set off the surrounding white in an appealing manner. A grand staircase ascended on two sides. We walked between the two staircases through a large wooden door that opened up into a library. Seemingly endless shelves of books contained knowledge kept within millions of pages.
The man opened a panel and typed numbers into a keypad. The wall slid open, and we embarked downward into darkness. Talon had an advantage. He did not need a single flicker of light to tell him where we were headed.
I followed behind Talon, as I was afraid I would otherwise tumble an unknown distance. When Talon stopped, I surmised we had reached the bottom. Lights slowly started to glow, and I could finally see we were in an underground tunnel system. There were words inscribed on plaques every few feet, and realized we must be in the catacombs. The man led us through the hallway. Artificial light diminished, and torches hung on the wall. I was starting to feel as if we had traveled back in time to the medieval village.
The catacombs smelled musty as though someone left filthy rags out for weeks. I heard rapid clicking and flapping. Bats swooped around our heads. The man pulled out a device and blew into the front of it. I heard nothing, but the bats calmed and went back to clinging to the ceiling. I cringed, but attempted to hide how much I wanted to bolt back up the narrow staircase in which we had come.
My mind chose that moment to remind me of a horror movie I had seen years ago, one in which demons had crawled out of catacombs. How kind of my brain to bring that to the forefront of my focus. Before hyperventilating, I tried to make use of my training.
The breathing techniques proved difficult with the smell, but I did the best I could. The narrow lane of encapsulated graves opened into a large cavern. Candles and a fireplace lit up the room, but it felt almost as cold in there as it had outside.
The man stopped walking. “Glycon welcomes all who have journeyed tirelessly to find him.”
Four hooded people came out from each end of the darkened section in front of us. Their hoods were an ice blue with white fur around the edges.
“Have you come to pledge your loyalty to Glycon?” the four spoke in unison. They removed their hoods, revealing two men and two women. “Have you come to pledge loyalty to Glycon?” they repeated themselves together.
“Yes, We have come seeking the wisdom and protection of the mighty Glycon.” I stated, quickly recalling the line I was briefed to say.
Talon responded with the same, and without words, one of the women pulled a box out from under her cloak. The other woman opened it and pulled out a small black snake. She raised the snake high in the air.
“The snake has agreed you are worthy of cleansing. We will hold a feast at sunset, and the ceremony of initiation will begin. This will give you a chance to prove yourself worthy of the great Glycon.” The dark haired man waved for us to follow him out of the cavern.
We were led back up to the village inside the castle gate and taken to a turret chamber where Talon and I were separated. I was given a room to stay in and was told to change into the outfit on the bed. I put on a plain brown outfit. The room was small and contained a bed, nightstand, and a lamp.
I glanced in the mirror. I looked like an Autumn tree with the bland brown clothes and the bright red of my hair. I rolled my eyes at the thought and wondered what cleansing would involve. Hopefully, it wasn’t the reason we kept losing soldiers to this mission.
A woman wearing a long white dress and a white fur cap came to fetch me for dinner. We entered a grand dining hall with a table that stretched beyond my sight. The table was set with shiny silver plates and cups. Turkey, vegetables, fruit, and bread were placed before us.
The crowd began a low chant followed by, “Glycon, mighty Glycon, thank you for abundance. Bring us lasting peace and blessings.” Everyone recited the line in unison a total of three times. After the chant ended, the people began filling their plates. I filled mine and began eating. After we got through eating, the man from earlier stood at the end of the table
He raised his goblet in the air. “We have new members to our family. They have traveled from afar to unite with the great and glorious Glycon. All those in brown, come forward so we may cleanse you and welcome you into our fold.”
I stood up and walked to the front. Talon and I stood at the front with seven other people. I wrestled with apprehension, wondering how we were about to be cleansed. If Talon was concerned about it, he hid it well. I stood on his right, hoping we wouldn’t be separated again.
A woman with jet black hair, wearing one of the ice blue getups, brought a large wooden box to the front. The group speaker opened the box. He wore heavy white gloves. He reached in quickly and pulled out one of the most stunning snakes I had ever seen. His back was dark grey, and the color lightened to a sleek silver the closer the scales got to his stomach.
He held the snake in the air. “Glycon wishes to cleanse you!”
The snake hissed and flared its neck out. He brought it to the first person. The snake opened its mouth, revealing a black toxic-looking cavity. A man and woman placed two more snakes on the ground, and the snak
es each bit a different person in line. Talon stepped slightly in front of me.
One of the snakes struck Talon in the leg. Another went to strike me, but Talon swung his leg between me and the snake. The snake clamped down on his leg. Once releasing him it lunged at me and bit down. We were led to the back of the room and taken behind a thick black curtain. Ten beds with dark red blankets and pillows on each of them lined the wall. We were each assigned a bed.
I climbed up and, at first, perceived no change in my body. My toes and fingers began to tingle. I looked over at Talon and saw sweat pouring down his forehead. I remembered he was bitten twice. I was hoping an actual anti-venom would come into play and we wouldn’t be expected to deal with this on our own.
My insides began to feel like they were on fire, and I could no longer move my legs. Panic crept in, but I focused on controlling my breathing. One of the blue-cloaked women hooked up IVs to our arms. I drifted to sleep.
Chapter Six
Seraphine - May 2, 2006
I woke up to find I was able to move my legs. I sat up in a panic and scanned the beds looking for Talon. He was still sleeping, but I could see his monitor showed a steady heartbeat. These people were nuts, but they had enough medical knowledge to reverse the damage they did. Each patient was assigned a caretaker. I talked to my caretaker and rested, waiting for Talon to wake up. She told me I had been asleep for about three days.
A glance around the room revealed our numbers had dwindled by three. I asked my caretaker about the three missing people, and she told me they did not prove themselves worthy of cleansing. About a day after I woke up, Talon did. They left us in bed for the next week, over the course of which we slowly regained our strength. Talon and I couldn’t risk talking to each other too much.
After a week of resting in bed, were paraded as a spectacle to the other believers. They cheered at the success of our cleansing. I learned the dark haired man who had collected Talon and me was the leader of the E.G.R.S.—Feodore was his name. He was also a former doctor, which explained how any of us survived the snake bites.