Sandra looked shocked but covered it up with a devious grin. “The sooner the better.”
Carmen gently grabbed my shoulder. “We need to go.”
“Yeah, I need to get ready.” I turned away from Sandra and Cleo to leave the lunch room, and Carmen was right behind me. On my way out, I didn’t notice anyone giving me dirty looks but shocked ones instead.
—
“This is a bad idea. Have you lost your mind!?” Carmen asked as soon as we stepped foot into her dorm. It was closer to the cafeteria than mine, so she pulled me there to get away from everyone. “Sandra is a level nine bright, Rayah. She’s going to graduate soon!”
I just stared at her blankly, slightly offended. I knew that she only wanted to protect me, but what she didn’t tell me was that she thought I couldn’t protect myself. She thought that I was helpless. Weak even. “I’ll be okay.”
“No, you won’t!” Carmen growled. “She’s a bright! That’s the first most dangerous ability out of all of them!”
I sighed and dropped my shoulders. “I am well aware of her ability.”
“So why in the world would you duel her when you have none!” As soon as those words came out of her mouth, she closed it. It hurt that she thought I was helpless, but it hurt more knowing that she was right. It was a bad idea, but I couldn’t help myself. My anger had gotten the best of me. “I’m sorry, but you need to call it off.”
I frowned, unwilling to back down. I didn’t have a plan, nor did I know if I could control my powers, but I deserved a fight with Sandra, and I would have one. “No.”
Carmen squinted, her face twisting, then shook her head. “You’re being stupid, Rayah.”
“So, I am,” I huffed.
Carmen’s eyes widened. “What’s going on with this attitude of yours? Over the last few days you’ve been angry, you quit training, and now you’re throwing yourself in the ring with Sandra? She’s going to kill you. I thought the goal was to live to leveling, and then pass?”
My heart skipped a beat, and I balled my fists. “Did you ever believe in me?”
Carmen sighed and sat down on her bed. “Of course, I did. I still do but going against Sandra－It’s not smart. She’s crazy! They brought her in from the Wild Lands when she was seven, and I don’t think that wild side ever left her. She’s still a savage.”
I didn’t disagree that Sandra was a savage. She had a look in her eyes that no one else did, but just because she was from the wild didn’t mean she was a savage. The thought that my best friend even felt that way made me angrier. “People from the Wild Lands aren’t savages. You think so much like a Lytonian.”
Carmen’s expression went blank and she stared at me in silence, questions clearly forming in her mind. “How do you know that?”
I froze, not knowing how to answer the question at first. “I just do,” I sighed. “Look, I have to go and get the duel set up. I’ll see you later.” I turned around and started walking for the door.
“Is that where Soren is from?” Carmen blurted.
I froze right as the door opened and noticed that the lights were flickering. After taking a deep breath, they stopped. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I couldn’t tell her the truth either, so I just left.
Carmen didn’t follow.
—
The day went by faster than usual, but I guessed that was because I wanted it to last longer. I wasn’t afraid to fight Sandra, but I was afraid to fight her in front of everyone in the academy. If it were just her, then I would have been able to deny using any color light besides the standard ones, but in front of a crowd, I wouldn’t be able to explain myself. Nor would anyone let me.
I was able to get the duel set up for tonight. It was going to be held in our indoor arena that was just recently built last year. The academy held monthly fights with the level nines to give the students here a little entertainment. I had only been to one and could say that they were interesting.
I wasn’t very surprised that I could get the duel set up so quickly, because as soon as word got to Artemis, he made an order and things were set up at the snap of a finger. That was why it was even being held in the arena in the first place. Usually, duels set between students were held in the Obstacle Training Room, but because I was one of the fighters, we got the arena. The Null against a level nine Kali Bright and former Wild Lander. This was a fight worth seeing, even if everyone had already made up their minds about the outcome.
I stood outside of the tall brown double doors that led to the arena and took in a deep breath. I was wearing my red dueling uniform. It was my first time wearing it, so I hadn’t broken it in yet and was very uncomfortable, but I did like the way that it looked on me. It gave an intimidating appearance.
The crowd cheering outside of the door sent shivers down my spine, and I shook my head. I wanted to fight, but not like this. Not in front of all those witnesses. Either one of two things would happen. I’d be beaten in front of everyone, proving that I was weak, or I’d win, revealing my illegal powers.
“Hey,” I heard Kaydar say from behind me. I was slightly upset that it wasn’t Carmen coming to see me off, but at least it was someone friendly, not that I was all too pleased that it was him.
I turned to look over my shoulder. “What?”
Kaydar licked his lips before looking from left to right. “Are you sure that you want to do this?”
“No,” I sighed. “But it’s too late now.”
Kaydar took a deep breath. “Well, good luck. Do your best.”
“I will.”
Kaydar lowered his eyes, pain etched across his face. “I’m sorry about what happened. Artemis showed me－”
“Rayah, you’re about to be up,” Artemis said, walking down the hall from my right. He had a smug grin on his face but frowned when his eyes met with Kaydar’s. “Leave.”
I fully turned around to face him with my hands locked behind my back.
“Yes, Sir,” Kaydar quickly turned and walked away.
Artemis stopped in front of me with a grin. “I was surprised that you challenged Sandra to a duel. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
I didn’t respond. My heart was pounding in my chest and my breathing became irregular. Ever since our last pain testing session, I hadn’t been able to face Artemis without feeling a full-on panic attack rising.
“I hope that you do well, Rayah,” he nodded.
I nodded back. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be watching.” He walked away, leaving me stiff and confused. Him not doing anything to hurt me was a bad sign. It meant that he was planning something.
I turned back to the double doors and waited for my name to be announced. After a few minutes, the doors were opened, and everyone booed at the sound of my name.
Chapter 10
“You never really know a person until they show you their true colors.” — Carmen
Sandra and I stood about ten feet away from each other with the referee in between us. Tall walls surrounded us, and both of our doors were locked shut so neither of us would be escaping. There were no weapons aloud unless one of the fighters was a dim, and we could not forfeit. The academy didn’t raise any quitters, or so they say. The only way to get out of this fight was for one of us to become the winner, and for the other to be unconscious or no longer able to fight.
“Are you two ready?” the referee asked.
I kept my eyes locked on Sandra’s. I knew that I would be helpless against her speed and strength, but I was going to do the best that I could. I was going to show her just what I was made of, and I hoped that Carmen was watching.
“I’m ready,” Sandra sneered.
I bent my knees and got into a fighting stance, then took a deep breath. “Ready.”
“Okay, I’ve explained the rules. First person unable to fight, the battle is over and the one left standing wins. I want a fair fight. Loser heads straight to solitary confinement. Do you both understand?”
We both nodded.
“Good, let the fight begin!” Everyone cheered as the referee moved out of our way.
“I’ve been waiting for this!” In a blink of an eye, Sandra went from being ten feet away from me, to cracking my jaw with her fist and sending me to the ground. I rolled across the dirt, at first, out of control, but as I slowed, I rolled back to my feet.
My focus was on my cheek, trying to send my energy there to begin healing, and to my surprise it was working. It was the first time that I’d ever been able to direct my energy, but I guess the adrenaline was helping with that.
Sandra came at me again, but this time she didn’t use her speed. Instead, she came at me and threw a punch with one hand, but I blocked it, then she grabbed my arm with that same hand and used her other fist to connect with my jaw. As I stumbled back, her strength kicked in and she yanked me back to her. She wasn’t even expecting me to come at her with my elbow ready, and I caught her chin with the very tip of it.
As she stumbled backwards, I threw a front kick to her gut, and she fell onto the ground. I went to hold her down before she could get back up, but I was too slow. As I went to mount her, she used her speed to move out of the way and locked me in a rear naked choke.
Naturally, I brought my chin down into the crevice of her arm, but she pulled so tightly that her arm slipped under my chin and was now crushing my throat. “I’m not going to let you live through this, Rayah,” Sandra grunted.
I grabbed at her forearm in a panic, trying to pull it away so that I could breath, but she wouldn’t budge. Not one ounce of air could get in or out.
“I’m going to kill you. I owe your parents that much for killing mine and bringing me here,” her voice lowered, hatred seething from her lips. “To this dreadful nation.”
I wanted to react to what she had said but couldn’t. My parents were Collectors, and I knew very well of what their jobs entailed. Still, they weren’t bad people in my eyes, but to people like Sandra－to the people in the Wild Lands－Collectors were the bringers of death, and apparently, mine killed her family. That would explain why she hated me so much from the start.
“Die, little Null,” Sandra whispered. “Your life isn’t worth living. Let me fix all of your problems for you.” She squeezed tighter, crushing my wind pipe while laughing in my ear.
I’m not going to die here, I thought. I can’t...
I clenched my teeth and threw my elbow back at her ribs, but that did nothing until I threw it back a second time. The crowd roared as Sandra flipped sideways a few feet through the air and crashed to the ground.
When I stood up and noticed just how far away from me that she flew, my mouth parted in shock. It was my powers, but I didn’t see a light. I could feel a burning sensation in my arm, but there wasn’t a light the moment that I hit her to prove that I used any.
Sandra slowly got back to her feet with one hand covering her ribs. She leaned over and spit blood from her mouth, and then bolted towards me in a rage. She was fast about it and tackled me, taking us both through the air. Her shoulder had completely knocked the rest of the air out of me before we hit the ground, and the back of my head slammed into the dirt, dazing me, but I was coherent enough to see her fist coming down for my face.
I moved my head out of the way just in time, and my eyes widened when I saw the hole that she created after missing the blow.
“You. Are. Done!” she growled, spitting blood onto my face. She made herself comfortable on top of me and grabbed my loose hair to hold my head in place. I struggled to move again as she raised her bloody fist, but she was too heavy, and I couldn’t push her off of me.
I took in a deep breath, panic rising, and struggled harder to yank her hand out of my hair, but there still was no use.
“No one will recognize you after this.” Sandra laughed. “Not even your mother.”
I gasped as I watched the white light begin to swirl around her fist, and it was as if she were moving in slow motion. When I brought my eyes back to hers, I saw nothing but pain and anger. Sandra hated me because of what my parents did to her family, and I couldn’t blame her, but I wasn’t going to let her kill me because of them. I couldn’t die yet, but I didn’t know how to save myself, and no one was going to intervene.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Sandra’s eyes widened and she hesitated, but as a few seconds went by, her eyebrows drew together into a frown. “I’m not.” She came down with her fist, and in less than a second everything went black.
—
I found myself back on my feet with a dark energy surrounding me. It was just like before, when I was locked in solitary confinement. It was warm, it was there, and no one could see it. Not even me, but I could feel it.
The crowd was quiet for a moment, but then started complaining about the lights going out. I could see everyone clearly, but no one could see Sandra or me, and frankly, they weren’t worried about us anymore. The dark was a big problem for Lighters, but for me, at this moment, it wasn’t a problem at all. It actually felt as if it were strengthening me.
Sandra was a few feet away from me, trying to figure out what had just happened. She pushed herself back to her feet, fearfully looking from left to right, but still couldn’t see anything. My energy pushed her away once the lights went out, and I wasn’t sure how I did it this time, but if I hadn’t, I’d be dead.
“What’s going on?” Sandra asked, creating a white energy ball in her hand. She looked afraid, which she should’ve been, because I wasn’t feeling much like myself. I felt as if I were watching her from a distance, like someone else had taken over my body, but I knew that it was me walking towards her. I knew that it was me preparing to kill her.
When Sandra spotted me, her eyes widened before raising her hand to throw her energy ball at me, but my dark smoke wrapped around it, causing her light to disappear. She gasped, completely shaken up by what I’d just done. She couldn’t see me or my energy, giving me the upper hand.
With just a swipe of my hand, my black energy rammed at Sandra from her right, and then again from her left. She stumbled to the side, doubling over, but with an unimaginable speed, I bolted to her and cracked her jaw with my fist, sending her face first to the ground.
Now I could see why others enjoyed bullying me so much. This was fun. Sandra was completely helpless against me, especially in the dark. She wasn’t as easy to knock out though, which was why she was back on her feet again in seconds. Her panting is what gave away her fear since she hadn’t done anything to make herself breathe so hard, and I had come to realize that no one has ever feared me before. No one has ever made me feel so powerful.
“Where are you?” Sandra asked, her voice trembling. “What is this!?”
The lights were still off, and the crowd was still in a panic. I had the feeling that I was the reason that the lights had gone dark, and I didn’t know how to turn them back on. It was surprising that the generator hadn’t kicked in, but I guess that I was somehow controlling that as well.
Sandra raised her hand and formed another energy ball, tensing after realizing just how close we were to each other. I slowly cocked my head to the side in curiosity. She looked as if she’d seen a ghost. “Your…your eyes.”
I brought my hand over her energy ball, causing it to disappear like I had vacuumed her light inside of me. She was blind again, and right before she created another energy ball, I grabbed her throat with one hand and began to squeeze. I could feel my dark energy wrapping around my fingers, helping me tighten my grip. I knew that deep down I didn’t want to do this, but right now, the thought of killing her excited me.
“I think you’re the one that’s going to die tonight,” I rasped. With one hand, I lifted her off her feet and into the air. She raised her hand to use her light, but my shadows protected me.
Sandra fought the best that she could, but there was no getting away from me. She grabbed at my wrist and hammered down on it, then tried twisting it, but nothing was working. I could have just s
queezed a little harder until I heard a crack, but something within me told me not to.
I can’t kill her.
As the lights came on, my dark shadows went back into hiding. I was still holding Sandra up by her throat with my eyes locked on hers, only to find that they were wet.
I dropped Sandra onto the ground where she fell onto her bottom, then stepped back and looked up. The crowd was quiet with shock. The Null had taken the Kali down in the dark. It was unheard of.
I scanned the crowd, glancing at a few faces, but stopped on Carmen’s. She didn’t look happy, but worried. Still, I could tell that she was relieved. I offered her a smile, but she just returned a wide-eyed stare. “Rayah, look out!” her voice echoed.
I was hit in the stomach so hard and with so much force that I flew backwards through the air. I could feel myself losing consciousness before hitting the ground, and all I could do was hope that I’d get to see Soren soon.
—
I’m here again… The Gods Realm. Only, it looks different. There’s light in the palace, and I was standing in the same spot that I appeared in the last time I dreamt of Vexton and his father, only I didn’t see them.
Golden yellow orbs were gliding through the palace, and the black pillars that stood on both sides of me were pulsating turquoise blue, reminding me of the waterfall at the Hot Spot. Above me, the glass ceiling was repaired, and the moons were shining down on me.
When I turned to my left, I noticed two large black doors, but to my right I spotted Vexton sitting on his throne wearing a long black loin cloth while talking to his father who was standing next to him.
“Son, what you did may ruin everything that you’ve worked for. How could you just－”
Vexton sat back with a playful grin on his lips. “Father, calm down. This is the right choice. I know it is. Leaving everything up to her was the better idea instead of just wiping everything clean again.”
“But－”
“We aren’t humans, and I haven’t been in the Human Realm for over a hundred years. We can’t relate to them, and it’s not too late for things to change.”
The Calling Page 11