“I won’t forget,” I vowed aloud, partially for myself and partially for him. The last time I had heard those words, it had been with my dad when he said the discussion wasn’t over. I blinked as I felt tears coming on, but I forced myself to push away the sad thoughts.
“Natalie. Do you feel different now? Now that you’re here?” Dominic asked, changing the subject. Did he mean to ask me if I thought the past few days had changed me? He was looking at me intently, and I wondered if he could see the sadness in my eyes. Something told me that he could and that nothing went by him. Looking into his pale amber eyes made me feel a rush of heat. I couldn’t already have a crush on him after just getting here. I knew nothing about him. Yet, I couldn’t hide from the butterflies rapidly populating in my stomach and the way my eyes always seemed to find him amongst all of the other people.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Do you feel like you are trapped here? Like you aren’t sure what to do?” Dominic’s words were thick with connotation, but I didn’t understand why.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave everything behind, and it wasn’t necessarily my choice. Everything went too fast, and it was the only reasonable thing I could do,” I confessed quietly. “To be honest, I’ve never been more confused. I just want to do the best I can, but there’s so many questions that I still have.”
“Same. It seems like we are meant to be Ones of Within members, but it feels like I went from one life that I had little control over to the next one.”
“Yes.” I said, finally. “When I was on Earth, I felt like I had to go through the motions. Get through high school, get good grades, go to college. I’m sure we will have more control over our lives here than we did on Earth, but I mean. What if the Ones of Within isn’t for me? Is there an out?” I hadn’t asked these questions to anyone yet, and I found myself whispering them because I knew that they would hurt Emilie. I hoped maybe I would be the intense, dedicated Ones of Within member she seemed to be, but wasn’t sure if I would.
Dominic stopped walking for a moment, still looking at me. I felt myself growing shy in his intense gaze, but I still relished it all the same. “That’s how I feel,” He said quietly. It was calming to feel that someone else understood me and wasn’t shocked by my words. I had just joined the Ones of Within and might already be questioning it. It just seemed like there were a lot of secrets, and I’d always been a believer in the principle ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.’ My main concern was learning about who my mother was. While I would take the Ones of Within training seriously, I didn’t want to feel stuck in a new place if it wasn’t right.
“Tell me… about your family,” I said, continuing to walk beside him, so we didn’t lose sight of the others.
“My family? I have a normal family,” Dominic replied bitterly. “It’s just my stepmother, my father, and me. Even though we seemed like the perfect family that was anything but the case.”
“Explain.” The bitterness in his voice reminded me of how I talked about my life sometimes. While the conversation had taken a negative turn, I still found myself enjoying it.
“What is there to explain? After my father remarried, everything changed. I felt like a captive in my own house and the stepmother got whatever she wanted, and I had nothing in return. My father is blind.” Dominic shrugged like it didn’t matter like he didn’t care.
“Luckily, you have a new future,” I said, but my voice seemed hollow. Would that have happened to me if Dad had remarried?
“Some things follow you.”
“It’s not like you’ll be heading to Earth in the near future. Even if you wanted to.” I protested.
“I didn’t mean that literally. I meant that I would never forget who he chose even if I turn my back upon it.”
There was truth in his words, even though they wanted to make me cringe. I had told myself all day that I could look away from the past. But he was right, of course, he was. The past would never leave me, and I would always carry it with me. I would always wonder what life would have been like if I had never met Emilie or if I had never even had Ones of Within blood running through my veins. Maybe, I would have had a normal life. Maybe, I would have made friends and become popular. Maybe, I would have been happy. I would have had a mother if she hadn’t been a Ones of Within member probably, one that would have watched me grow up — seen me graduate high school and college and seen me grow up.
“I’m sorry,” Dominic smiled at me, ruefully. “Sometimes, I can be dark.”
“Don’t be sorry, so can I.” I smiled at him. “What do you think would have happened to you if you hadn’t been a Ones of Within member?”
“Hell, I don’t know,” Dominic replied, averting his cat-like gaze, “I always wanted to be an engineer or something, so maybe I would’ve done that. I don’t know really though.”
“Were you close to your mother?”
“Close?” He laughed, “I hated her. I’m glad she’s gone.”
“Gone?” I echoed.
His expression sobered considerably. “She died.”
“I’m sorry.”
A small, sad smile pulled across his lips. “Now, tell me about yourself.”
My shoulder visibly slumped as I thought about what to say. “What about me? That’s kind of hard to narrow down.”
“Tell me… about your father.” Now, he was really smiling like something I was saying, or our discussion was amusing to him in some way. I gave him a confused look before responding.
“Well, all right. He mainly left me alone, you know? He was much more concerned with his work than me. I grew up at a young age and took care of myself sometimes. After my mother left, he was never the same. He refused to talk about my mother. This necklace is my last possession of her.”
“What does your necklace mean?” Dominic asked, staring at it for an unknown reason.
“Ambition and desire,” I muttered, deciding to let the discussion fall for now. “Anyways, we should catch back up to the others.”
“Yeah.”
We ran forward to join the others, and Dominic walked in step with Kat. Emilie fell behind the group with me. “What was Dominic saying to you?” She whispered with raw curiosity.
“I just asked him what he thought of Aughmortor and about his family,” I said, deciding not to tell the whole story. I knew that Emilie wouldn’t approve of the whole conversation, so it was better to keep it vague. “Emilie, show me your Vatra.” I had forgotten all about it, and it was a brilliant distraction. Emilie took a few steps in front of me, with hands held out as though she was balancing on a street curb. Even though she was going along with the subject change, I could tell she knew I wasn’t telling the full truth.
“Whose voice do you want me to impersonate?”
“How about Adam, when you were arguing earlier?”
“It only took me a month to hit a target!” Emilie’s former voice was perfectly replaced by Adam’s voice. Adam and Austin turned around, looking confused. I laughed at the look on Austin’s face, which made him grin. When Adam realized it was just Emilie, he joined me.
“Pretty good, huh?” Emilie asked proudly in her own voice.
“Pretty good? That was brilliant!”
“Of course, it was! Did you expect anything else?”
“What’s your Vatra, Adam?” I asked. Emilie hadn’t mentioned his Vatra, but if it was anything comparable to Emilie’s, it would be interesting to see.
“You want to see my Vatra? Well, I suppose I can give you a quick demonstration.” Adam’s brow furrowed as he concentrated.
“Just wait.” Emilie whispered.
Suddenly, Adam had disappeared. In his place was an almost perfect replica of me. My hair was the perfect length and cut and exact shade of dark gold. My face was oval, and my skin was lightly tanned. He had on the same outfit as I did. The only thing that wasn’t perfect with my replica was the fact that he didn’t have my eyes. Instead, his green ones still remained on m
y face. I stared at my almost perfect reflection, amazed. Adam’s Vatra had to be unendingly useful for the Ones of Within.
“You can make yourself look exactly like someone else?” I was very impressed and hoped that my Vatra would be that cool. Maybe my Vatra would make me be able to camouflage or something.
“Yes. I haven’t perfected the eyes yet, though.” Adam said, pleased by the positive feedback of everyone.
“That’s amazing!” Dominic spoke this time. I glanced over at him, remembering our insightful conversation from only a few minutes ago.
“I don’t have to replicate other people, though.” Adam concentrated for a moment and then changed again. This time, he was as tall as a ten-year-old so we towered over him. His dark, greasy hair went halfway down his back, and he wore a sleek, black leather jacket. Adam transformed back into himself, looking a bit smug.
“It’s awesome that you can change your outfit with your Vatra, though. I would have expected the facial features, but I would have never thought that you would be able to do all of it.”
“It took lots of practice to perfect my Vatra, and I still haven’t completely controlled it yet.” Adam frowned, showing his disappointment towards himself.
“Can you transform into objects?” I asked.
“Yes, but it’s much easier to be a human. If I were to transform into a sword, I would still weigh what I do as a human so no one would be able to pick me up easily.”
“If you were a sword, would you feel just like a sword?”
Adam shrugged. “Yes. But I still get the same wounds as a sword as I do when I am a human. If someone kicked me while I was a sword, I would still feel the pain.” There were weaknesses to Adam’s Vatra, but in time he might learn to fix them.
The conversation quieted as we approached a large group of people in the center of the bare grassland. I noticed that some of the people were in armor already. Silently, I imagined the meadow in spring covered in exotic wildflowers. Right now, it looked dry and lifeless from the cold weather.
“Looks like some of them are already in armor.” Emilie commented.
“Tell me about our instructor.” I noticed a person a few feet away from the group who was also cloaked in exquisite, pearly armor.
“She’s unbelievable at sword fighting. All of the teachers you will meet here will be adept at their subjects, of course, but she acts and looks the part. Our instructor's name is Jodie. I’ve seen her fight only once in two years. A few soldiers were sick of her ordering them around, and they grouped up on her. I think they were mainly curious about her sword-fighting skills. She had them down on the ground in minutes without drawing blood from any of them and without a weapon. Since then, no one has bothered her.” Emilie said.
The tone of Emilie’s voice gave me the impression that the feat Jodie had completed didn’t happen every day. But, thinking it over, I had barely managed to hold my sword last night, let alone disarm anyone.
“Why are the trainers here called by their first names?” I remembered that Shay had introduced herself by her first name just as Aaron had. On Earth, I called anyone who instructed me or who was adult by their last name.
“I’m not sure exactly. On my first day here, all of my teachers told me to call them by their first names.” Emilie shrugged.
“Who brought you to Aughmortor?”
“Shay did. Alone.”
“So, that’s why you’re so close?” I asked. Their bond hadn’t gone beyond my notice even though I hadn’t seen Shay all day.
“Yes, I should have guessed you would have noticed that. Shay is like a mentor to me in many ways,” Emilie said wistfully, “Most of the time, she’s busy with James’s work though. She’s a very important member here.”
“Are most of the Ones of Within members from Earth?”
“Not really. A lot of them have lived their whole life in Aughmortor, like Adam. He started his training at the same time period I did, and his whole family lives in Sybra.” We had reached Jodie and the other Ones of Within members.
“Finally! You’re late,” Jodie said in a cool voice before throwing her helmet a few feet away. The beautiful helmet sparkled underneath the light from the sky. Jodie had long, silky black hair, big, almond-shaped dark brown eyes, and skin the color of cinnamon. She was tall, probably six feet at least. Now that she was close up, I got to admire Jodie’s beautifully crafted armor. The pearly plates were carefully formed together without the slightest sign of weakness in them. On the center of her plate body was a sun drawn in thick black lines. Her armor looked stunning with the black and white contrast.
“See that sun? That’s the symbol of the Ones of Within. All of the soldiers and members of Ones of Within wear armor with that mark on it.” Emilie whispered in my ear.
“Do the Larta have a symbol also?”
“Yes, an hourglass. Hopefully, you won’t have to see it anytime soon.” There was something about the tone of her voice that told me she didn’t feel very confident in that statement.
Jodie walked over to us, striding over with her head held high and body poised. I wasn’t sure if I would like her much, but I couldn’t judge her by first impressions.
“Is this my new student?” She asked, eyeing me.
“Hello Jodie, I’m Natalie.” I smiled politely at her, which she didn’t return. Instead, she snorted and ran her fingers through her silky dark hair, assessing me with her gaze.
“You’re going to learn the hardships of being a sword fighter quickly,” Jodie said frostily, “And then, perhaps, your attitude shall change.”
“I have what it takes,” I assured her, ignoring her jibes.
“We’ll see about it. Looks like we have a new member who thinks she is going to find this training undemanding. We shall see, Natalie Quinn. We shall see.” Jodie took a few more seconds and let her gaze breeze past me as she walked away.
“She does that to all new members,” Adam whispered, trying not to laugh.
“Grab a sword, all of you. We will work with armor later.” Jodie pointed to the piles of swords.
“How can we fight with swords? We might hurt ourselves.” I asked. As we walked over to the swords, I noticed the blades had sharp edges.
“Without armor, we are mainly just shown battle moves. When we get armor on, it isn’t dangerous to fight with armor unless you are really trying to hurt the opponent,” Adam replied.
Instead of debating the safety of being new and practicing with sharp blades, I decided to take the risk and started to look for a good sword. People all around me grabbed swords while I watched them making their choices. Closer up, the swords didn’t look very impressive. The blades were nowhere near the sharpness of the blade I had wielded when I had fought the Shadow Bringer with Emilie, nor as shiny and new. The edges of these blades were rugged, and some of them had chips of metal that had fallen off. They were all many different sizes, but none of the swords were smaller than a forearm’s length. Some of them were double-bladed while others were single-bladed. There were also some swords that had curved tips like claws. It would be extraordinary to try out a double-bladed sword. Adam grabbed my shoulder as I reached for a nice sized one, stopping me.
“I doubt you want to try one of those. They are harder to use and heavier. One of those big swords will make a miserable training session for someone as inexperienced as you. You probably want to try out the simpler swords before trying the fancy ones.” Adam said, but not unkindly. He pointed at the single-bladed swords. I didn’t protest as he brought me over to them even though I was itching to pick up one of the double-bladed swords to see how it felt. All of the smaller swords looked the same, so we both just picked up a random one and then joined the others.
“What are the differences between the sword types?”
“Well, the double-sided swords are much heavier. They might be bigger and make harder hits, but they are slower and are harder to block blows with. There are many types of blades, but sometimes the simplest ones are
the most effective.”
Jodie walked up to us and grouped us into two’s. Kat and I were put together. Kat and I walked a few feet away from the other groups to get some space. The other groups spread out, taking our example. I glanced over at Austin and Dominic, who were faced against each other. They seemed to be glaring at each other, both of them containing looks of determination on their faces. I rolled my eyes at the sight of them and decided that I was glad to have Kat as a partner for now.
“Face your opponents and listen to my words carefully,” Jodie said loudly. “I want you to pick the person who will be defensive and the person who will be offensive.”
“Jodie had us do this yesterday. We switch off. Basically, while the offensive members of the group will attack the defensive members of the group will use the moves Jodie demonstrates. It’s pretty easy.”
“How about I defend first while you attack?” I wanted to see how it was done so I could do it well when it was my turn.
“Sounds good with me.” Kat replied before turning to Jodie, so her attention was focused upon the next instructions.
“Lyte is going to demonstrate for you,” Jodie smiled, motioning for a figure and two soldiers to come forward. Lyte had high cheekbones, ghastly pale skin, and straight, short black hair. Underneath her eyes were dark purple crescents like she had not slept in a week. Her messy hair covered her face in a dark brown wreath. She wore padded dark leather for armor and metal gauntlets covering her arms and hands while the other two soldiers were covered in a full set of metal armor. They withdrew two beautifully crafted swords while she took out two daggers, one for each hand.
I glanced questionably at Adam. He leaned closer to my ear. “Lyte’s been here for at least seven years. She excels with close combat knife fighting and magic.”
The fight hardly seemed fair; the soldiers were at least a foot taller and bulkier than Lyte, and she didn’t even have a helmet. Jodie was smiling stormily at the three figures. “Proceed,” She barked. A second after Jodie’s command, Lyte was moving. She kicked one of the soldier’s legs from under them, sending them awkwardly to the ground. It was not an easy feat since the man was wearing heavy armor and built strong, but somehow she did it. The other soldier came up from behind her, but Lyte ducked before he could attack and swept herself craftily under his arm, so she was positioned behind him.While she slipped past him, she managed to hit his sword with her metal gauntlets using enough force to disarm him. With careful precision, she spun the sword off course, and it fell neatly at Jodie’s feet.
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