She took the Kilantra blade and jabbed its throat fearfully. It disappeared in fiery digitized pixels. She then leaped upwards, as another creature charged at her. Quickly, she used her AS-58. She slammed the gun backwards, whisking it into the creature's heart, all the while throwing the Kilantra blade up in the air skillfully, as it slashed another one in the face. Two of the winged creatures had breathed fire together. They created a ball of energy that slammed into her body with a burning force that would have melted her insides if she were a mortal. It singed her skin. Scarlett slammed her eyes shut, as the fire burned her. Twisted pain and sour agony coursed through her veins and her hands shook, when another creature bit her forearm.
She screamed, as the creature had bitten into her leg, almost tearing through the surface of her skin. She knew it was a simulation, but the experience felt all too real. She shoved its jaw with her left foot. Scarlett heard the cracked noise of its bones as she crushed its wings.With repressed anger, and pent up aggression, and with force, she slammed her foot against its head and crushed its skull out of pure rage .
She absolutely hated getting beat down. She hated to lose. She would not let herself get beat up and thrown around by a digital simulation that was created to destroy her. She was strong. She was trained. She could do this. As another charged at her, she jumped to the ceiling and fired her AS-58, watching as the electricity from the gun perished the creature that was about to slash her face, and as she jumped down, she threw the gun to her left.
She used her hands to grab its wing and twist it, as she gave it an upkick. There were six left, the timer twenty seconds. Backbending and grabbing her Kilantra, she threw it in the eyes of one of them. With fury, she gave another one that held her waist a backwards axe stomp, when she had it in a chokehold to the ground.
It slashed her throat, black blood spraying out for only a second before the wound healed and stitched itself back up. She took her hard fist and crammed it right into its face with force. Flashes of training and fighting overnight had come to her brain, and in that moment, she knew her hard work paid off. Scarlett was skilled, she would not be torn down. Especially by a digitalized monster that didn’t exist in the real world.
She twisted the creature's head, and fired repeatedly at the one that was behind her. She saw the reflection of fire and her own expression briefly flicker in it’s digital eyes. Her bones were never getting tired, the feel of combat energized her, left her wanting more, she felt powerful. All of a sudden, she heard the rumbling of what sounded like footsteps. As she turned, her eyes grew wide.
The last one left was bigger than all the rest. Its body was twisted and dark, as fire erupted from its lungs. She had 15 seconds left. The creature then ran towards her, as it jabbed at her side. When it opened its mouth, she expected fire again but was in shock, as it breathed a chemical smoke that made her throat begin to close up and she coughed, as it shook the ground when it walked.
She snatched the AS-58 and shot at its legs, the creature howled in a mix of what sounded like pain, and anger. It slapped her to the floor. Swiftly, she wiped her blood from her lip, fired the gun again, and took her Kilantra and waved it over the head of the AS-58. It allowed her to be more in control of where the shot went, and she fired it right at the creature’s heart. It shrieked back in cower, collapsing to its back.
Scarlett then took the opportunity while it was vulnerable to rip out its tongue, and jabbed the Kilantra into its neck. The timer was at five seconds, and she was done. She dropped the blade beside her, along with the AS-58.
She felt exhausted, and her body was tired, but she knew that she could handle more. She was ready.
As she looked around, she realized all of the digital blood and demented black creatures were gone, and the test simulation must had cleared. When scarlett turned, she saw that the wall had let itself down. Prince Lucian’s golden eyes had flashed to her in astonishment, as he ran a finger through strands of blue that was his hair. Confidence danced within his stride, as his back seemed permanently straight. An emerald sword was strapped tightly by his hip, the blade freshly sharpened. The prince narrowed his eyes, and spoke with his chin up. “Your skills are impressive.” He said.
Lucian couldn’t understand how a person as skinny as Scarlett could’ve taken on twenty digitized monsters from the test simulation that he’d created specifically to both mentally and physically challenge the Vampric.
He gazed at the slight muscles of her lean shoulders that were prevalent from her white uniformed top. She’d trained hard, and was completely fit. Her stomach was tight and flat, her jaw strong, and her hips wide. She had a unique face, with chocolate curls that were pulled to the back of her head. Her face was wide, that favored a pressed nose, which complimented the pale of her eyes. Interestingly enough, she liked to think that she looked more or less dead, at times.
Scarlett glanced at him over her shoulder, and licked her fangs. She wiped black blood from her cheek, as her scars healed themselves quickly. “I know.” She spoke, and turned to face him. Instantly, she felt underdressed. Not that she’d ever been a flashier person, like maybe how her sister Liveria was, but around a royal like him; she felt slightly less-than. Her face didn’t show it.
He smirked. “I admire a woman with a big ego. Gets rather boring when they constantly stroke your own.” Lucian said, with dismissiveness.When the corners of his lips quirked up again, his eyes smiled at her. “You’d understand that feeling, yes?”
Wherever her eyes tried to escape to, Lucian’s would find them. She looked down slightly, and played at her fingers sheepishly. She didn’t ever think of herself as a fully developed woman. She still felt like a child; well most of the time, at least. When Lucian said woman, it made her feel unfamiliar things. As if suddenly there was an expectation that Scarlett was supposed to subconsciously meet. And that both intrigued and terrified her.
She then looked up at him through her dark eyelashes. “Right.” She spoke, and then cocked her head. “Do you say that to your fiancé, too?” She teased. Her tone was slightly sour. Anyone with an oracle and a magicbook account could see that Lucian was clearly engaged to someone. If she were alive she would have blushed, but instead she paled. She knew Lucian was engaged, all of the people who lived in the country of Impala knew. He was an A-list celebrity, apparently. Lucian and Helvetikah’s engagement video was plastered all over Wandtube and various other websites.
He shrugged confidently and rested his hands at the gold of his belt buckle. He then nodded his head at her. His smile seemed forced. “Ouch.” There was a circular olive charm that rested at his throat decorated with flecks of gold and rubies. It was attached to a silver necklace, and complimented the shimmer of his golden eyes.
Scarlett held in her smile, and rolled her eyes as she shook her head and uncrossed her arms. The topic was starting to get too personal, and she longed to milk the situation to her best advantage. Scarlett licked her fangs. “So is Endlaysha really as generous as they say they are with this program and the random recruitment?” She didn’t take her mind away from what really mattered to her. She needed to get on Lucian’s good side to get to Saytrix. But on the other hand, the recruitment intrigued her. She wanted to know why the Fey were all of a sudden so generous with gifting Shylack's students with a royal knight program. Sure, the Vampric would be gaining more skill, but what else would the Fey be gaining? Scarlett couldn’t make sense of it.
All of a sudden, as her gaze into the prince’s eyes had lingered, she’d felt light on her feet and her entire world had shifted into something soft. It seemed as if time had stopped, when she felt the heat of his words whisper against the back of her left ear, and caress the back of her neck. He was behind her, a shadow of sudden desire. His words had swept over her entire existence, and felt as if they were waves of the ocean. His waters. Gently, the idea of Lucian had fallen to Scarlett. Her entire world was full of sensuality, as her mind went empty. Lucian stroked a strand of her hair beneath her ear.
“That’s confidential information, my honeybat.” He turned and faced her again. There was enchantment in his sunlit monolid eyes. They held the type of adventure that you knew you shouldn’t have embarked on, but desperately wanted to.
The high that Lucian gave off made her eyes heavy. It made her want him. He stroked the curve of her chin, only breaking eye contact for a mere second. Mentally, Scarlett was alarmed at his touch, as the spell then broke. Panic shot through her. She blinked twice, and shook at how hypnotized she was. Scarlett suddenly felt a wave of emotions; confusion, anger, desire. She knitted her eyebrows together, and shoved him.
“Okay. You’re disgusting!” Scarlett exclaimed. She hated being manipulated by magic. The Vampric girl suddenly shook away any temporary feelings that she thought she felt. She broke the contact of their gaze. She’d forgotten about the fact that some Fey creatures often had the gift of charm. She hated learning about that ability in the conservatory, Scarlett thought it was unfair and stupid. Yes, all magic came with its own fatal flaws, but she couldn’t possibly at the moment think of something that came out of having that gift that didn’t benefit whoever had possessed it.
He chuckled. Her expression grew livid and her eyes bulged, when she crossed her arms and glared at the royal blue-haired prince. “Wow, you’re really a sadist, aren't you? You gain pleasure at the sight of people’s discomfort.”
He looked taken aback, and snorted. “I’m Lucian Arlenhallow of Endlaysha. Royal chancellor and future king. I do what I like.” He said, with a dry chuckle, and shoved his hands into his pockets. “And please, I was only teasing.” He half joked. Scarlett felt as if she were going insane. She hated mind control. Having someone else there. Part of her wondered what would have happened if she’d picked up a Kilantra blade and decapitated him. Jail, most likely. Definitely not fun.
Scarlett felt rage inside of her, but the prince seemed amused. She unclenched her fists. She squinted her eyes. “And I am Scarlett Lenotine of Crimsroseyn, the capital of the Vampriclands. Future royal knight of the palace.” She paused, and laughed out of slight anger. “I do what I like, too.” Scarlett didn’t have time for trickery or games. What she needed was information. She placed her hands on her hips. “And you never answered my question.” She pointed out, and gazed at him in defiance.
Suddenly, before the prince could say anything else, they both heard footsteps.
“Sir. Your father would like a word with you.” A royal guard spoke, as she rushed through the double doors of the room, “Tis urgent.” Her voice anxious. Lucian’s eyes were still on Scarlett, as they were both too defiant to break it. Lucian felt no desire to use his gift on her in that moment because it only felt natural, and not something he’d artificially conjured up. The prince chuckled.
He looked her up and down. “Farewell. You have passed my test.”
Chapter|Six
Scarlett was sharpening her knives, a majority of them were custom made.
She’d gotten all her own weapons from a small shop that was about a mile away from Shylack. She liked to sometimes buy the pieces and put them together all by herself, at home. She’d often gather the different materials, and make them herself in her room. In total, she’d crafted a large amount of swords and guns. Chemical weapons also held her interest. In fact, she longed to own her own gun laboratory. However, her parents said no.
Weapons were something that she was always highly interested in. When Scarlett was younger she’d watch movies with soldiers and knights, and wished she were just that. A warrior. It also was a good distraction. A part of her liked to believe that if she wasn’t already destined to be a Vampric soldier she would have taken a career entirely different. Something more calming. Sure, training was merely an elective at the conservatory, but Scarlett knew it was something that she wanted to do in her future.
She tried not to think about the situation with her and Saytrix, or the picture, or the locket, or her weird encounter with Lucian. She hadn’t spoken to her family all night after the test. Her mind was racing. She sat on her bed with her head propped up against her bent knee, and studied the Flackimantra gun that she bought last year on her eighteenth birthday.
She stroked the surface of the weapon. It worked with illusion magic. Once its bullets had touched the surface of flesh, the victim would be paralyzed for what seemed like hours. The gun gave off the illusion of death. She remembered the day she got it. She’d taken it apart, and then put it together again. Suddenly her oracle lit up. She’d gotten a message from Silas.
Silas: ‘Hey. How was the test for you?’
Scarlett: ‘Almost positive I passed. Spoke to Lucian too. It was weird. Lol.’
Silas: ‘He gives off strange vibes, be careful. Want to talk about everything? We could hang later somewhere.’
She thought about the last time they hung out.
Scarlett: ‘Can’t. Sharpening my weapons.’
Silas: ‘You always are. Haha. You should look at this sick tutorial I found on wandtube. http:/howImademyownkilantrablade.wandtube.com’
She set down the oracle beside her again, and gazed back at her sword. Besides the numerous amounts of guns and swords and knives and bullets that were neatly organized on the shelf that stood in her room, there was a window behind her bed. Slightly, the cool air touched her neck and brushed over her cheek. She would definitely look at that tutorial Silas suggested to her later. But she didn’t know if she could trust herself alone with him. He needed to be around Orika, his girlfriend. Scarlett thought. Not herself. She was supposed to be doing her homework for all of her eight classes, and studying for an exam about the evolution of Vampric fangs and shapeshifting, but she was distracted. For the first time ever, she felt that she couldn’t talk to Silas about what was going on. He wouldn’t understand.
She wanted to talk to Liveria, but lately they’d been fighting over the fact that Scarlett didn’t want to tell her secrets. She trusted Liveria, but the possibility of Scarlett being Undetermined was serious. And she needed someone to talk about what happened between her and Lucian. She felt indifferent after meeting him. Maybe she was overreacting.
As she reached for her oracle, suddenly a notification from Magicbook had gone off. The glow of the screen was reflectant on her face as she observed, brushing a strand of hair away from her eyelid.
Saytrix.Arlenhallow wants to videochat with you.
She clicked the notification and it opened the app, as she connected to the server. She saw the familiar dark wave of his hair, and the elegant forest of his eyes. Scarlett tried to push down the fact that he reminded her of the woman in the locket photograph. The way that he looked, the way that his lips curved. It mesmerized her in question. Scarlett then propped her oracle up sideways on top of her dark pillow, and crossed her arms. “Wow. Look at you, facing reality. Do I need a camera so we can capture this moment in time before it escapes us?”
He sighed deeply. “I can very well hang up.” He shot back at her. She shook with laughter. “It’s not funny. I am risking time to be here, speaking with you.” Saytrix spoke seriously when he fiddled with his fingers. She saw that he too, was laying on a bed.
She began to un-do the braids in her hair, and shook her head. “Whatever. Look, I wanted to talk because I've been piecing together information. We might be related.” She spoke, as she stared at him through the screen. His eyes widened, as he stood immobile. “I know this sounds insane.”
He locked his jaw. “This is dangerous.” Scarlett wanted to slap him. He just didn’t get it. He was oblivious to how powerful the two of them could be together. The fire that they’d created when they built down that restaurant when they touched. It had to mean something. “I am a royal prince, Scarlett.”
“The flames we created that night, they were unnatural.” He spoke. The memories from that night flooded her vision. She could feel the heat of the flames, almost taste the fear in the air. “We should leave it alone before this gets out of hand.”
“Is
that such a bad thing...” She spoke slowly, as she tucked her head inwards. “The fire?.” Something dark flashed in her eyes when those words escaped from her lips. “Not the getting out of hand, part. I mean, that would be bad.” Scarlett admitted, as she drank a cherry red liquid out of a silver cup that sat on her bedside table. “But define bad. You know?” She felt as if Saytrix was just scared of finding out who he truly was or could be. All of his life he’d probably lived to be pampered, to live a glamorous life, and then die. But with Scarlett entering his world, that all was going to change. There was always a small probability of them coming together again.
“I still believe that this is wrong.” He admitted. Scarlett wanted to punch him again. “Why?” She blurted out. “Because I’m Vampric?” She said as she sat up straight, and uncrossed her arms.
The Mystic Chronicles: Locket Page 5