by Pia Philip
- Read the Crolonian
- Find out what the image is
- Find out what the riddle meant
- Learn how to fight and survive
- Learn why I’m the key
- Save my mum
- Destroy my father.
She went through the list and smiled.
She was going to do all of that, but first, she would need to be able to live long enough.
She felt someone watching her and looked up. Sam’s face was less than five inches away from her, worry etched all over his face, she gave him a small smile but he didn’t move or smile back. He knew something was wrong.
“What’s wrong, you seem so quiet and Zara’s worried about you,” he said as he moved and sat next to her, “Tell me what’s going through that brain of yours.”
“It’s just that I really want to get on with things and-“She stopped, something was poking at her brain, she could feel it. She instantly slammed down her mind shield harder and doubled her strength into it and searched around the room. Only one person could do that so recklessly, only one person she knew. She looked to her left and spotted Nicholas hiding around the corner. He looked as if he was in pain, but it was very brief. He looked up and glared at her before walking towards her and Sam. His face was in a permanent scowl.
“What do you think you’re doing? You could’ve damaged my brain!” he demanded as he glared at Alex.
“Well then you shouldn’t be poking around in my brain then should you?” Alex said sweetly, she was in no mood for him right now.
“We just wanted to find out what you were hiding,” he muttered.
“What makes you think I’m hiding anything,” She asked, and then she remembered what he said, “What do you mean” we?”
“Well for one, you caused missals to be thrown at us,” he said deliberately avoiding her second question. “And two, Thomas said that you held the key of some sort, and the message said, they wanted they key i.e. I’m guessing something to do with you, so I’m just interested in finding out what the key actually is.”
“Well you can keep thinking and when you do find out what it is, tell us because were as clueless as you are right now,” she muttered as she rested her arm on Sam’s knee.
“Right now?” he asked picking up on her choice of wording, “So you’re planning something.”
“No, not really, were just relying on the council to tell us what they found,” Sam said scowling at Nicholas, he took the hint and left. Alex rested her head on Sam’s shoulders and they sat in silence as everyone around them stood in their little groups obviously discussing them since they kept throwing looks in their way. A few minutes later, Max and Zara joined them.
“How did you know about the missals?” Alex asked as she remembered that she was the first to say anything about them coming.
Zara gave her a look as if she was stupid for asking that question.
“I’m like you, I have the gift of foresight,” she said quietly. Suddenly everything fit into place, how she knew what was going to happen in the classroom, “I also know about your mark.”
The last part took her by surprise. She stared at her in shock. She understood about her being a telepath, from around here that had to be expected, Martha was a psychic.
“How do you know about that?” Max asked as he eyed her up in suspicion, “Just how much do you know.”
“I saw the mark when she grabbed it out of Thomas’s hand and hid it behind her back, I had seen that Mark before and I added two and two together,” she whispered, she cowered when Max gave her a suspicious look. Alex slapped Max’s arm, he was scaring her. He gave a small shrug before tending to the big red mark she had left on his arm.
“Trust me, I’m not telepathic,” Alex told her, she explained how she only got flashes of things that included her mark or her in danger, she couldn’t read the future or anything. Zara seemed disappointed that she was the only telepath. Alex gave her hand a small squeeze.
She was about to say something else but Thomas had started speaking, He was standing in the middle of the hall with the man from the council. Everyone was waiting for him to speak. No one dared to breathe. From what she gathered, everyone respected him even though he was only a deputy head, the man next to him must be the head of the school. She didn’t really feel anything from him, he gave off an air of power but that was nothing to Thomas’s.
“I’m so sorry for the delay, this period is just about over but next time you have demonic studies, you will have to go to room 103,” he said, although he was smiling Alex could sense worry in his eyes and it didn’t help when she heard a groan from everyone, “Dermont will give out your homework assignment and you will be dismissed.”
He left Dermont who handed them all a book the size of a dictionary and a paper pad to the new kids before scurrying after the head.
“What’s so bad about room 103?” Alex asked confused as to why everyone was complaining about it. Max glared at her.
“Room 103 is like six miles away from the dorms and we have demonic studies first thing on a Wednesday and Friday,” he muttered groaning, “Hardly anyone ever makes it in time. I’m guessing you’ve been to the ‘nurses’ office’, well like 75% of the students there come from room 103.”
Alex gulped. 6 miles from the dorms, that’s like at least an hour’s walk. Right she really needed to get fit which meant less time stuffing her face full of junk and more exercise.
This was going to be a disaster.
Chapter 14
Later that day, Alex had higher mathematics and she almost died. By the time she walked out of that classroom her brain had more or less melted, the questions they gave them made her seem like a nursery student. Sam struggled at the start but soon got the hold of it; Alex on the other hand walked in with a blank piece of paper and walked out with a blank piece of paper. She could tell right away that no one was going to suspect Sam of being human right away. His strength had always been in his brain and logic. Hers however had always been of a more physical thing. Sam and Max enjoyed watching her struggle and fail at every single question that was thrown her way. English she was better at, not great but better at it than maths but she did not enjoy it, especially the truckload of homework they handed them. Her bag was already bursting with books by lunchtime. She thought her back was about to break. They were in combat training after lunch for five hours so they went back to their dorms and dropped everything on the beds. Zara stood awkwardly outside the door. She had stayed with them the whole day yet had barely spoke a word to anyone but Alex
“Do you want to move into this dorm with me?” Alex asked her as she sat down and undid her shoes before grabbing the parcel Thomas had handed her right at the start of lunch. Zara gave a small nod and before she could say anything else had ran down the corridor, into her room, grabbed her belongings and was back. She took the bed to her right. None of them wanted to sleep next to a window. They opened the parcels they were given and found their training attire, like she had expected they were combat pants and boots to match and a crop top. They had barely finished getting dressed when Sam walked in. Zara gave a scream and spun round even though she was already dressed. Alex was tying her shoes and Sam, after giving a brief apology to Zara came up to her.
“I think I’ve found something.” He said. Alex waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t.
“What? What did you find out?” she asked and when he didn’t reply she began to panic, “what did you find out?.”
“Avalonians are supposed to be severely Allergic to bee stings but they are supposed to lead the Avalonians to victory,” he said choosing his words carefully,” but they only attack when they sense fear.”
“And I thought they were attracted to honey all this time,” she said as she finished tying her laces before grabbing her hair and sticking it in a high pony. She hadn’t brushed it yet and it was going all over the place, she was certain that if she tried to stick a brush in it that the brush would get
lost inside it.
“Not honey, nectar,” Sam corrected, he was about to explain it in more detail when Alex looked up and gave him a warning glance and he shut up. She went over to Zara and did her wavy short hair into two small pig tails. She had the kind of hair that looked so pretty when it is messy or when it’s brushed. She flicked her tail in envy before turning to Sam. Alex hadn’t really looked at what he was wearing because one, she was too busy tying her shoe, and two, she wasn’t really one that cared that much about clothes, it didn’t control her life but as she looked at Sam then and there all she could think of was wow.
“Wow,” She said as she circled around him as he took in the tight fitting white t-shirt that expressed just how fit he actually was. You could make out the muscles in his toned arm through the shirt and the four packs, just wow. She put a hand on his stomach and counted all four. They were definitely real. She was shocked, she had always imagined him as a more academic person but guess he was both.
“Are you done with feeling me up now?” he laughed as she grabbed her arm back in embarrassment, Alex had forgotten it was his body and that he was watching her.
“I was not feeling you up,” She said defensively as her cheeks burned red, “it’s just that, well, you’re HOT!”
“And that surprises you,” he said in a fake hurt voice, “just because I’m smart you thought that I wasn’t a looker, you’ve known me for years, jeez.”
“Oh shut it, you know perfectly well that I can’t consider you really hot cause your like my best friend, we’re practically related,” She said as she fixed her ponytail before pulling it out and wearing it in a side pony and back into a high pony.
“But were not, though I get where you’re coming from,” he said as he fixed her hair for her as she struggled to tighten the hairband. He could at times act more like her mother than her actual mother, “Imagine if I thought you were hot, I mean, I’d probably sign myself in to see a shrink.”
Alex spun round and glared at him.
“What, pray tell, is so bad about me that you would go see a shrink if you felt the tiniest bit of attraction towards me,” she demanded, She knew that he could never fall for someone like him, but she admitted he looked hot, but for him to turn around and say that, it felt like a slap to the face.
“Nothing apart from the fact that if I didn’t go and get myself treated and you found out, I’d end up on the news as’ kid’s body found buried under park’.” He said as he raised an eyebrow daring her to tell him otherwise. She couldn’t because he was right. She wouldn’t go to those lengths but she would erase him from her memory. Exactly.”
Rolling her eyes Alex grabbed Zara’s arm and stomped out the room closely followed by Sam, They got to the dinner hall with 20 minutes till the end of lunch but the hall was almost empty. She checked the map and found that the training room was 4 miles away. They grabbed 2 sandwiches and 2 bottles of water, stuffed them into their bags and ran. They had planned on going into the elevator but as they neared it, they found the line to be stretching from one end of the hall, round the corner and down the English department. It was like the queue of a football match. Turning around they ran down countless flights of stairs, down several corridors until they reached the training grounds. They pushed the door and walked outside. She checked her map in confusion.
“This doesn’t make sense, were supposed to be under the school are we not?” She asked as she flipped her map around trying to see if she had read it wrong.
“Yes but you forget this is, the Academy,” Zara said, “The school is so huge that once you go under, the training ground goes out from under the school and into the forest behind the school.”
“How do you know all this?” Alex asked as they entered the hall, sure enough as soon as they closed the door, it vanished. She walked around in circles trying to find out where their class was but found no one so they sat outside where the door was and waited for someone to come. Unfortunately for them, the person who walked through the door was none other than Nicholas.
His face lit up when he saw them, and their mind shields banged shut instantly.
“What are you guys doing out here?” he asked as he folded his arm and looked at them with a smug smile plastered on his face. He already knew they were lost.
“We don’t know where our class is,” Sam said already getting agitated just by the look of him.
“Well I mean, I could show you to wear your class is if you want,” he said a sly smile emerging, “If you tell me something.”
Sam’s jaws tightened and she could see a vein throbbing in his head. The longer they stayed in Latrex, the more Sam’s calm self, seemed to be making way for the other him. It was probably a good thing seeing as they were constantly under attack; she guessed he just had natural survival instincts. She smiled at the idea. He’d obviously try and use the ability to protect her, he had always put others safety before his own.
“Aww, that’s cute,” Nicholas said giving a fake laugh before rolling his eyes, “Do you not think of anything else but him, seriously.”
Alex mentally kicked herself, she really needed to improve her mind shield or she’d be in real trouble. She scowled at Nicholas who in the end took them to their class anyway since they followed him. They barely made it in time. The teacher just spotted them as the bell went.
“You’re lucky, a second later and I would’ve had a demonstration volunteer of how things can go bad,” The teacher said, he sounded like a cardinal, “My name is Coach Mandziska and I will be training you so hard that let’s just say, if the animals don’t kill you, the training probably will.”
Alex didn’t know what to make of the coach. She liked the fact that he was planning on properly training them, pushing them to the limits of their abilities so that they could develop, but she didn’t like his attitude, she got the feeling that he always had to be right. They spotted Max in the other side of the group and called him over. So far they were only in 3 classes together so they couldn’t really tell him what they found but as he walked over to them she could tell he had found out something. And it was something urgent by the way he looked. He opened his mouth to say something when he spotted Nicholas nearby. He shut his mouth and scowled at him. Coach Mandziska started explaining the course they would be taking. Everyone split up into groups and they formed a line. One group would go in every half hour. The course was unknown to them, all they got told was that the scenarios they would encounter would be similar to that of battles, in-case they got captured and had to run. While they waited for their turn, Max and Sam started cultivating a strategy that would get them to the end safely or with as little damage as possible. As she listened in, she realized that they left her and Zara out of all the big plans, and only left them to do small things such as be a look out or to carry and aid in helping to fend off any attackers from behind or a surprise attack.
“Hey! What is the meaning of this?” she cried out in frustration as she realized what they were doing, “You can’t just leave us out of all the fighting.”
They both looked at her and Zara, and then went back to strategizing. She gave them both a slap.
“Look, we’re the strategist in this team, and what we say goes, “Max said clearly agitated, he kept glaring at Nicholas, “And we say you’re not fighting.”
“But why?” Alex asked in frustration, “If I don’t fight and we get separated like in that forest and I get attacked like always, how am I supposed to defend myself without any proper training.”
“You did it once, you can do it again,” he said. She knew he wasn’t going to budge by the tone he used. He was a stubborn and ignorant person, but just let them wait and see, they may be trying to protect her but in real life was actually only going to do her harm. That Alex was certain of.
It was soon their turn and after handing her and Zara the map, they set off. Because they weren’t letting them do anything major, they had to allow Alex and Zara to do the map reading or she would’ve gone agai
nst everything they had planned and they knew it. Unfortunately for them geography was not her strongest subject and as it happened, neither was it Zara’s. They started down a path that was on the map, deciding to take the simplest way out, but when the chosen path disappeared in front of them, she had to navigate through trees and bushes looking for things that were on the map. She could hear Sam and Max groaning at their stupidity. After about ten minutes of aimless wandering Sam finally snapped and grabbed the map off them.
“Hey that’s our job,” Alex said as she grabbed it back, “So let us do it instead of taking everything for yourself.”
“Ok, ok, you can help us if comes any dangers, but just try and not get cut up into pieces will you,” Max said in defeat, “I just want to get out of here. Being here just reminds me of how stupid you actually are.”
“Not everyone’s strength lies in their brain you know,” Alex said as she pouted in annoyance, “I’m not that smart, but I am really physically able.”
“Yeah you better be because we’re going to have to swim,” Max muttered as he found where they were,” if we’re going to have to be back on course were going to have to swim a 600 meter wide river thanks to you two.”
“Hey, you knew I wasn’t good with map reading skills,” she said with a shrug. They walked for another ten minutes until they found the river, she dipped her hand in it and gave a small shiver, it was absolutely freezing. She looked at the length from the land she stood on to the other and realized something.
“It’s too cold to swim across,” Zara said quietly as she stepped away from the water. Alex followed her steps; there was no way she was going inside that water.
“Oh, come on, don’t be such babies,” Max scowled, Alex felt Zara’s presence ease as she cowered behind her.
