My mother’s words echoed in my head. ‘What if something happens?’ she would always say. ‘And then we don’t have enough left to get wool to make clothing. Or extra food supplies during those times we need them. We need to save our allotments. We need to do it to keep safe.’
But taking some now wouldn’t be wasting an allotment. No, taking some now would be deserved.
But as Shale reached for the container, leaning over to dig inside, his arm brushed against a small switch on the wall.
An explosion of noise thundered overhead!
An alarm system. Shale had set off some kind of security alarm.
The sirens screamed inside my head. I tried to shout to Shale, “Shut it off!”, but could barely hear my own voice over the blaring noise and resorted to clamping my hands over my ears, though it did little to block out the sound.
Shale quickly returned the switch to its previous position, but nothing happened. The alarm roared on. “It’s not working!” Shale mouthed back, his voice disappearing into the racket. He started flipping the switch up and down frantically. “It won’t turn off!”
Dropping his bag of supplies on the ground, Juniper lunged towards me, grabbing my hand. “We have to get out of here!” he exclaimed, dragging me forward. “Shale, come on!”
We weaved our way through the conveyor belts, dashing towards the exit. But as soon as we reached it, I skid to a stop, dragging Juniper back with me.
“Sage, what are you doing!” he bellowed, though it was a mere whisper over the noise. “We have to go! NOW!”
I held my hand up to my lips for a moment, signaling him to be quiet. His eyes flashed, finally understanding as I peered around the corner, still concealed by the massive entry doors. And saw what I’d feared.
Five lights bobbed in the distance, growing closer and closer. The guards. Of course they’d heard the alarms. And they were getting nearer by the second.
Ducking back in, I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes and letting out a deep breath. What were we going to do?
“We can’t leave this way,” I muttered, eyes still closed, trying to ignore the blaring alarm. It was like a hammer pounding on the inside of my head. “They’re too close. They’ll see us leaving and catch us.”
And that’s when I realized the alarm was only in my head. I could hear my voice. Eyes opening in surprise, I glanced around, shocked to see Shale making his way towards us, a proud grin on his face.
“How’d you shut it off?” Juniper whispered now that the shrill noise had subsided.
“I figured there would be a way to shut it off behind the counter where the moderators are. For when they trigger it accidently. Turns out I was right. Now let’s go!”
“We can’t,” I whispered, pointing to the door. Shale peered through at the approaching beams of light, glowing even brighter now.
“Then what are we going to do?” Shale cried in a panic. At this point, the cocky look on Juniper’s face had completely disappeared, only tense apprehension visible now.
“Maybe there’s another exit? Another way out? One only used by the moderators?” Juniper tried.
“No. That won’t work. They’ll be here before we can even find one. And that’s if another even exists.” I shook my head. “No, no. We need to distract them somehow, and then leave through the main door.”
“But how can we possibly do that?” Juniper demanded.
I squeezed the bridge of my nose, trying to think, to think of anything to help us escape. “I have an idea.”
I spun around, searching for something to throw, straining my eyes to see through the darkness. “Find me something, anything metal. That way it’ll make a loud sound.”
Whether they understood the plan brewing in my head or not, neither questioned it, both immediately running off. Within seconds, I heard Shale whisper, “Will this work?”
In his hand was a metal skillet.
I nodded silently, and took it from him, then moved a few feet away from the doorway, concealing myself behind the conveyor belts.
The sound of footsteps and voices carried towards us. The guards were very close now. The shine of their flashlights lit dully upon the entrance of the building, growing brighter as they neared. My right hand clenched tightly around the handle of the pan and I held my breath. I glanced one last time at Juniper and Shale; both nodded to me in return. This was it.
The heavy door edged open. I swung my arm back and launched the skillet into the air, throwing it as far as I could. I dropped back down immediately, a wave of fear running through me. What if it didn’t go far enough? Worse, what if they didn’t hear it at all? But it turned out my fears were unwarranted.
The metal pan crashed into the conveyor belts on the far side room just as the first guard entered the building.
“Come on!” he shouted to the others. “They’re in the back.” Dashing forward, they ran past conveyor belts.
As soon as the last one had made his way in, heading towards the back, I motioned to Juniper and Shale. Silently we crept around the corner and out through the doorway. Then, as fast as we could, hugging the trees to shield ourselves from view, we ran the entire way back to the main square, ducking behind the school before finally pausing to catch our breath. My heart pounded in my chest.
“Wow,” gasped Juniper. “I can’t believe we got out of that.”
“No. No, we didn’t get out of that!” Shale suddenly whispered furiously. Both Juniper and I turned to him in surprise. Shale was trembling, his eyes bright with worry, and I knew it was the only the risk of drawing attention that had him restraining himself from screaming at. “Don’t you realize? They know someone was there, that someone triggered the alarm. And they’re going to come looking for whoever did it when they don’t find anyone in the Distribution Center. We’ve got to get back home before anyone discovers we left!”
Bile rose in my mouth as fear gripped me at the truth of his words. There was a moment of pause as we all stared at one another. And then we were running, racing the rest of the way back.
Luckily, each of us managed to sneak back in without getting caught. And while I remained on edge the entire next day, not a thing was mentioned. No lockdowns, no home searches. Nothing.
Juniper, Shale, and I barely made eye contact.
After a while, I finally relaxed, and everything seemed to return to normal. But there was one key difference. I noticed it one week later as I made my way back to the Center to collect our allotment. Standing on either side of the door now were two guards. I froze, trembling in the middle of the path. My throat went dry, the color draining from my face. People pushed by me, but still I couldn’t move. And when one of the guards finally realized, frowning at me as I just stood there, I turned around, bolting away. But the guards remained there. They were there the next day. And the next. All day. Every day. And night.
Each time I returned to the Distribution Center and saw them, a wave of fear would wash over me. And I would have to force myself to enter. Force one foot in front of the other, step by step.
That fear was a constant reminder of how close we were to being discovered that night. And how thankful I was we’d managed to avoid it.
Little did I know at the time that only a few months later, we wouldn’t be so lucky.
I pressed the scarf to my face once more, breathing in its warm wool scent, before placing it back in the armoire. Stepping back, I stared at it on the shelf for a moment, then shut the door. I didn’t want to relive those memories anymore.
Chapter 17
The next several days passed by quickly, filled with both classroom lessons and training sessions, and before I knew it, the night before our first practice challenge had arrived.
I sat in bed, thinking about the upcoming day and realized I hadn’t felt this nervous since the first night I’d arrived here. Reaching down, I untied the leather band from around my ankle and released the ring. Studying it in the soft glow of light from the lamp next to me, I moved it
up and down along my fingers. It was comfortable, like having a piece of home here with me. Pressing the cold metal surface into my palm, I thought back to the moment my mother placed it there.
What had she meant when she gave it to me? Her words, her expression, still none of it made sense. A time I would need it. When would that be? And why was it so crucial no one see the ring. The more I thought about it, the more my head began to ache from the confusion pounding inside. Giving the metal band one last reassuring squeeze, I retied it around my ankle, then extinguished the lamp. The entire room plunged into darkness except for the soft glow of moonlight coming in through the window panes. Rolling over on my side, I shut my eyes and willed sleep to come.
✽✽✽
Morning arrived. I wanted to rewind the clock, but there was no stopping what was about to happen.
We had been practicing our movements over the last few days and yesterday the Trainers imitated what a real fight would be like, but that little tutorial only lasted what seemed like only a few minutes. Our first battle would be with swords and shields. I couldn’t believe I was saying those words. Swords and shields. While the sword edges had been blunted to make them safer, they still could do considerable damage. Up until a few days ago, I had never even seen a weapon like that and now I was expected to wield one, fight with it. The few training sessions we had at least provided us with some basic techniques. We studied foot movements, proper stance and hold, and how to disarm an opponent.
But did I feel ready to fight someone for real? Absolutely not! I could feel myself start to tremble and hoped no one else would notice. Shifting from foot to foot, I rubbed my palms over my face, trying to ease away some of the tension. We were back in the field again, the grass even more yellowed and spotted now than it was a few days ago. A large circle, approximately twenty feet in diameter, had been painted onto the ground. Inside lay two swords and two shields, on opposite sides of the ring.
The wind blew suddenly, a shiver rippling through me as it did.
A sudden hush fell over the group and I looked up to see River moving down the softly sloping hill, making his way to us. His dark shirt was taut across his chest, leaving no question of the hard muscle underneath. He strode forward briskly, though as he came closer I couldn’t miss the fact that his brown eyes looked weary today, the hint of shadows beneath them, the stubble on his face a few days overgrown. He walked into the center of the ring and cleared his throat, although there really was no need as we were already silent, the only sound a bird chirping in the far distance.
“Today you will have your first real fight,” he said, getting straight to the point. “Rules are simple. Your name and your opponent’s will be drawn randomly, and you will both enter the ring. You will fight until one of you is disarmed, one steps out of the boundary line, or the five-minute time limit is up. By disarmed, I mean you have lost your weapon and are no longer capable of defending yourself.”
He paused and glanced around at us. “Pairs may not be matched equally. Your opponent may be larger and stronger than you. There will be no swaps.”
With that, he continued to shift his gaze, pacing towards the far end of the ring now. “Also, realize that wounds are not disqualifiers. You will fight with real swords and you will likely get hurt. Unless the wound is life-threatening, the fight will not be stopped. The purpose of this challenge is to teach you the realities of battle. If you get hurt, you can’t ask for a time-out. There is no time-out in war.”
War? It sounded ludicrous. What kind of war were we supposedly preparing for? But River said this last line with such brutal seriousness that another chill raced along my spine, this time having nothing to do with the air temperature.
A large wooden box was brought forth by Flint. I could only guess it held our names. My suspicions were confirmed as Flint placed a hand inside, withdrawing a small folded piece of paper and handed it to River.
“Rowan!”
Despite the confusion and annoyance I’d been feeling towards Rowan lately at his avoidance of me, worry washed over as I watched him square his shoulders and walk into the ring. Though I knew he was strong, Rowan was also kind, caring. How would he be able to battle someone, knowing full well he could truly hurt them? I held my breath as Flint pulled out a second scrap of paper, passing it over. River cleared his throat.
“Serafina!”
I searched the crowd, finally locking eyes on a tall girl from Fire Society moving through the group. Though she wore the same black leather pants and fitted vest I did, toned muscle clung to her thin limbs, her strength apparent as she stepped into the ring, though there was still a litheness to her gait. She reached down and confidently lifted her weapons, taking a few practice swings through the air. A rumbling echo of approval crept its way over from where those from Fire Society had clustered together. Long blonde hair cascaded in brilliant waves down her back as Serafina bent into position, crouching low, waiting for the signal to start.
A whistle screeched through the air.
Serafina immediately lunged towards Rowan, who, by the shocked look on his face, clearly hadn’t been expecting it. He managed to sidestep her and she stumbled, stopping just before stepping outside the boundary line. Whipping around again, she jutted her sword out, slashing through the air. Rowan leapt back, but not quickly enough this time. A slash appeared in his shirt, a thin trail of blood beading along his chest.
As he looked down, clutching the marred skin there in shock, something changed. His eyes darkened, jaw clenching tightly as he gazed up, locking eyes with Serafina. It was as if he’d finally realized that this girl could truly kill him. Swiping the blood off his hand, he lowered into a crouch, angling his sword directly at her.
A look of surprise momentarily passed across her face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. An instant later she hoisted her shield up as Rowan’s weapon came whipping towards her. The clash of metal on metal was deafening. Tossing the shield to the side, she gripped both hands around her sword and launched forward again, bringing it down on his own. Though I desperately wanted to close my eyes, fearful that at any moment one of them could be terribly injured, I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
Their swords continued to strike one another as they parried. And as it continued, I realized that in this particular case, despite River’s prior words, the pair was evenly matched. While Rowan was taller, his body nearly twice as broad as hers, Serafina’s arms and legs rippled with muscle, and she used her sword as if just an extension of her limb. She moved with the ease of someone who had years of practice.
The swords continued to fly, whistling through the air. Little cuts began appearing on the arms of both opponents, but nothing as shocking as the first wound Rowan sustained. Serafina lunged again towards him, but missed, whipping around. But this time she misjudged the amount of time it would take Rowan to recover.
His sword shot out. But didn’t connect with her skin.
Instead, it caught on her hair as she spun around, slicing through effortlessly.
A gasp went through the crowd as blonde strands, nearly a foot long in length, rained down. Serafina froze, her mouth dropping open.
Her hair had been severed. It now hung in jagged pieces, the majority ending just at her shoulders. Somehow, a few of the strands had managed to avoid Rowan’s blade altogether and still trailed down to her mid-back, creating a very odd appearance.
The combination of shock and guilt in Rowan’s eyes was obvious as he realized what he’d just done. But there was something else there as well. Determination. This was his chance. If he didn’t take it now, Serafina would come at him again, this time with a vengeance.
As Serafina remained momentarily frozen, staring in horror at the blonde strands now littering the ground, her hold on the sword handle loosened. Quick as he could, Rowan seized his opportunity, knocking the blade out of her hand, then stood with his sword pointed directly at the center of her chest. The battle was over.
“Winner, Rowan!” announ
ced River.
A smile spread across his face at the words. Serafina’s head tilted down, her eyes now focused on the blade hovering only inches away from her chest. Slowly, she lifted her face. Watery blue eyes stared at him, and she was unable to stop a tear from slipping out of one. Rowan’s smile disappeared instantly, shame taking its place.
He started to say something to her, but I wasn’t close enough to hear the words. I could only assume he was apologizing. It didn’t matter though. He was still talking as she suddenly turned around and stalked out of the battle ring. Shoving through the crowd, she continued to walk away, leaving the field altogether. I was surprised. Those from Fire Society normally remained stoic, not letting their emotions show. And from the looks being exchanged between the other Fire trainees, they didn’t like it.
River watched as she left, obviously contemplating whether he should call out and force her to return or let her go. He decided on the latter as he stepped towards Flint, who moved his hand into the box of names once again.
Over and over, more battles were fought. Although no serious injuries occurred, every fight ended with both opponents leaving the ring with minor wounds. Ivy ended up paired against a short male from Air society. The fight was short lived, however. As soon as the whistle sounded, he lunged at her with her sword, causing her to jolt backwards and step outside the ring, instantly disqualifying her.
There were only a few people remaining now and I knew my name was still among them. As I glanced around, trying to determine who my possible opponent could be, I noted that there were two people left from Air Society, a few from Water Society, and a couple from Fire as well.
Please, please, let it be someone from either Air or Water Society, I thought. I didn’t stand a chance at winning if it was one of the trainees from Fire Society. I might not even stand a chance of living if I had to go up against one of them.
Flint reached into the box once again, shifting the few pieces inside, then drew one out, placing it into River’s outstretched hand.
Awakening Earth and Fire: Earth and Fire Trilogy Book 1 Page 14
