“These Rogues will have night terrors about the day they meet us in battle,” I say. “We will cause them pain like they have never known.”
“That’s all for today,” I say.
I shift my eyes from the circle and glance toward the dining hall. I am tired. Food sounds like a nice respite after so much hard work.
“You know I would follow you into battle proudly.” Auro embraces me.
“I may not lead,” I say, “but I am proud to fight beside you.”
“And that’s why we follow you.”
Christine nods in agreement. “Can we talk for a moment about the coming challenge?”
“I am not going to participate,” I say. “I only came back to help you train. For me, there is no benefit. Besides, I could never get enough votes out of the three to earn that stone.”
“Aren’t there other reasons to participate?” she says. “What about your own dignity? What about self-vindication?”
Uriel interjects. “You are the best of us, Michael. You deserve to shove it in their faces, even if they won’t acknowledge it.”
“It is the last trial,” I say. “What is it?”
“Each regiment will be given a sigil,” Auro says. “We must protect our sigil and capture the other two by any means we can.”
Uriel plops backward on the stone wall. “It’s a bloody, good war simulator.”
I think about it and then speak. “I would join you but I refuse to follow the orders of that Rogue or the Sadist.”
“And Sal has reached his limit,” Uriel says.
“Yes,” I say. “I know. And besides, if I were to fight, I would want to fight alongside all of you.”
“Well doesn’t that warm the heart,” Uriel says. “Save the touchy feely stuff for the Healers will ya? If it were up to me, I’d tell you to just pretend as though you already had the stone and go on with it.”
“Actually, he may be onto something,” Auro smiles. “Perhaps you should create your own team.”
I look at him. He has that look he gets when he thinks he has a clever idea. “How could I create a team? I am no captain.”
“To steal a phrase from your friend,” Auro says. “Rank is no substitute for skill.”
“What’s he talking about?” Christine asks.
“He’s saying,” I explain. “That once the challenge starts, what could stop me from taking over a regime?”
“Especially if that were an empty regime,” Auro says.
He is an absolute genius. Raphael has driven his entire team away with his sadism. In his laziness, he has made absolutely no attempt to regain any of his recruits.
“If we win,” I say. “He will not select me, but perhaps it will be force them to vote for one of you to receive the stone.”
“Bloody brilliant,” Uriel shouts.
“Be our captain,” Christine says. “Even if it’s just for now.”
I don’t respond. Instead, my eyes admire the cloud-riddled sky. The clouds travel north, as if determined to flee all the drama that is the training camps. The reality that there is only one stone remaining and that the final challenge awaits us tomorrow sets their nerves on edge as well. But it is best I not allow myself to be sucked into the pettiness of it all.
I rise with my sword in hand. I drop the handle to the ground, its red ruby gleaming on the hilt. I finger the sides of the blade. The smooth surface glides along my fingertips as if I were touching ice. Lately, I find the sword to be more than just a comfort. It grounds me, acting as a cage for my ravaging emotions.
Something coarse and crusty rubs along my skin.
A blade of grass moves by my sandal. Then another.
I stoop down low to look at a slithering creature with tiny, stub legs that just barely keep the creature from dragging its stomach along the dirt. Jet black and scaly, the long and tube-shaped animal’s red tongue protrudes out its mouth, vibrates in the air, and then slides back in its triangular head.
I drop my hand down and let the creature inch across my hand. I lift the creature up into the air, part of it still hanging over the side of my arm, so that I can eye it more closely. It pulls itself up and wanders along my wrist. I twist my arms to follow it up my shoulder.
The black eyes, like deep holes in the earth, inspect me. Its crimson tongue taunts me.
A strange thought enters my mind.
He’s so defenseless here in my hands. I could end his life with hardly any exertion on my part. A simple clap and the beast will be immediately removed from all existence. Nobody would know, nor would anybody care. My power over this creature could never be challenged.
I shake my head dismissing the thought and lower my hand to let the creature go before the dark thought enters my mind again. It steps off onto the grass with one foot and then turns back to look into my eyes.
“Ugghh!” I shout as the creature sinks its long white fang into my hand.
The poison injects and I kick the animal.
Everyone stops their chatter to look back toward me.
“What the blazes was that?” Uriel asks.
“Someone’s new breed,” I say. “They designed them to bite and inject poison. What possible beneficial purpose could that serve?”
Their blank expressions tell me they don’t really care. Earthly toxins don’t have any effects on us other than to create a small nuisance. For me, it’s more the heart of the matter: the why behind it. But this is really just the ramblings of a Designer. Perhaps for the sake of the others, I should get my head back into the game at hand.
Laughter rings out from behind me.
“If it isn’t our own batch of Rogue trainees,” Baal’s smile twists the circle tattoos on his cheek to look like triangles.
“Yeah,” Apophos says. “You are trouble.”
Uriel rolls his eyes. “The only thing worse than getting lectured by Auro is being lectured by ‘Mr. Six Word Vocabulary’ over here.”
Apophos swats at an insect that flies near his face.
“What do you want?” I say.
Baal sees the reptile that just bit my hand on the ground beside him. He steps on the creature’s head, crushing it.
“We want you to join us, Michael,” he says.
“You aren’t even on the same team,” Christine says. “Apophos is on Sal’s team.”
“Oh you misunderstand,” Baal says. “We don’t need his help. We just hate to see such potential wasted. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. We can draw some blood just for the sake of sport. Michael knows this and he belongs with his own kind. He has the same thirst for blood we do. If he had the chance to take a life, he’d want the killing to last as long as it could. He’s the savoring type. Aren’t you, Michael?”
I don’t want his words to be correct. They sound sinister as they drip from his branded lips. But deep inside me, I wonder if he speaks the truth.
“Don’t insult him,” Uriel says. “Michael is nothing like you, you sadistic ninny.”
“Fine, I don’t care,” Baal says. “Go ahead and waste your time coaching a Scribe and a pair of worthless ocean Designers.”
“Ocean Designers?” Christine says. “So you do remember us?”
“The Designers of that gigantic monstrosity of an ocean dweller?” Baal says. “Yeah you’re the two who showed complete disregard for the designs of others.”
“Our designs were beautiful creatures,” she says.
“And so were all the designs it kept sinking its twenty rows of teeth into. I’ll tell you it was the most pleasurable extinction event I’ve ever reaped.”
Uriel stands. “I’ll sink my one row of teeth into your neck.”
Baal raises his hands up. “Look, we didn’t come here to fight. Michael, last chance, what do you say? Spectator or warrior?”
I don’t respond.
“Then so be it,” Baal says.
“Yeah,” Apophos says.
The odd looking pair marches off toward the Temple grounds. We all stand there
silently and watch them depart. Uriel kicks the ground.
“They can’t win,” I say.
“One of their teams will win,” Auro says. “We can’t do this on our own.”
“Very well.” I sit back down amongst them.
“You’ll lead us?” Christine’s eyes widen.
Uriel laughs and punches me on the shoulder. I’m sure it was meant as a happy gesture but it hurt.
I grab my upper arm and massage it.
“We will be outnumbered,” Auro says. “Last I counted there are only five of us if you count Raphael.”
“Can we recruit others?”
“Two days out?” he says. “Probably not. The other teams are pretty set. They’ve assigned roles.”
“Well,” I say. “I think I have an idea for how to get a couple of new members, but leave that to me.”
I dismiss them and march onto the long road that leads toward the Forges. The smell of sulfur and smoke has grown to be a comforting odor now. I breathe it in and look back up at the sky observing, once again, the color flashes above as the sun descends below the horizon.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the pine box. Worn, the edges no longer sharp, the box is barely recognizable. The finish appears to be more of a brown, though I can still make out the bloody fingerprint Terra placed on it back on that horrible day. I rub my finger along the print.
Celles greets me while Tinus continues to light the furnace.
“I’m coming to you,” I say to her. “Because I feel like you two can help us.”
“We are happy to give you all the training advice we can.” She walks back toward the forge as she speaks. “But I don’t know what more we can teach you. You seem to have mastered techniques far beyond what we even know much less can teach.”
“Yes,” Tinus says. “We’ve got nothing left for you.”
“It’s not really for me,” I say. “I’m looking for a way to keep my soldiers safe, even though they aren’t quite as effective in battle as me.”
Celles’ eyes sparkle.
“I know just the thing,” she says. “How many of you are there?”
I tell her and Tinus laughs.
“Don’t look at me,” Tinus says. “Now you’ve gone and gotten her all excited. There is no telling what crazy thoughts are going on in her head right now.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The Final Challenge
I SHIVER here in the Courtyard
The weather shifts from fall to winter, the leaves browning in the trees. The grass beneath our feet seems to be sinking back into the ground from where it came.
My team huddles around me. Their eyes, wide open, searching for surprises that they anticipate will come their way.
I kneel down beside my breed and scratch his cheek. “I know you want to come with us but you have to stay here.”
The beast looks up at me as if he understands.
“This is the final challenge and there will be savagery today. It’s just not safe. If something happens to me, you run into the woods and stay alive. You understand?”
The beast walks to the side of me and slides his body along my knees with one last bit of affection. He then leaves toward the barracks, looking beaten and defeated.
Just then, the Frosted leads his forces into lines just behind ours. We now stand in three organized rows with ours somehow managing to be at the front.
I look to examine the damage.
Sal’s regimen is the largest: 23 recruits. Their numbers are intimidating. The Frosted’s numbers are a little less than ours: 22 recruits. But their swagger is apparent. Among their ranks, Baal rubs his marked neck. The rest shuffle their feet and purse their lips as they stand at attention.
“Let’s make them pay,” Uriel says. He turns toward the other lines. “You blazin’ cowards are probably already quakin' in your sandals aren’t ya!”
“Someone shut him up,” Christine says. But she is too late. Apophos spits some phlegm onto the ground. His eyes grow so tight they look as though they may shut.
Celles and Tinus arrive wheeling a large cart behind them. The other groups look at us.
“What is this?” Christine asks.
“More defense,” I say.
Celles lifts up a small bunched up ball of interlocking rings and gives them out to the members of our team. Composed of some sort of silver chain, they feel extraordinarily heavy in my hands.
“What is this?” Auro asks pulling apart the rings.
“Chainmail. You put it on. It will protect you.”
“That’s not all,” Tinus says lifting one of the metal helmets. “You may want to try one of these as well.”
I lift up the ornate silver and examine it. The sunlight gleams off the various crevasses and facets.
“I must say Celles,” I say. “These are some of the most beautiful objects I have ever seen.”
“Thank you both,” Christine says embracing Celles. “We will go in there and win this for you.”
“You act like you’re going in there alone.” Tinus laughs. He then turns toward me. “You haven’t told them have you?”
The others follow suit and turn their gaze toward mine.
“Raphael is clearly still afraid of me.” I say. “He didn’t put up much of a fight when I told him I planned to add two more members to the team. Turns out, when your captain’s terrified of you, he isn’t such a stickler for the rules.”
“It’s a surly miracle,” Uriel says. His bearded mouth hanging agape. “So that lifts our numbers to seven?”
“Seven against forty-five,” Auro says. “Still not great odds.”
“I count for three of those weaklings,” Uriel says.
Christine rolls her eyes.
The Prince approaches us from the Temple. He wears a jet black robe. A red crystal band raps around his wrist, and a small lace of diamonds rest on his forehead.
The Prince raises his hands to silence everyone.
“My friends, I can’t help but remember the first days that I looked at you, my army who fights for my causes. You were weak and timid and naïve. Now, I believe you to be a powerful force. A force so unrivaled in the universe that no foe could stand in your way. You are the fifty angels who will raise and lead an army against my enemies.”
I can’t help but find this grandiose address rather odd considering the context. Yes, this is our final challenge and we are about to cross the threshold from trainees to army, but his words are so lofty that they leave many of us on the ground looking up.
Two Ceremonials pass out red candles as he speaks. I take one in my hand and examine it. The Crafters appear to have made these wicks especially long.
“We will have Healers spread throughout the forest. If any of you are badly hurt, simply light your flare and we will have you lifted to rescue immediately. Also if you feel you are in an untenable situation, tap out of the challenge with your flare. Having said that, because we will be attending to your medical needs, I expect you all to act with lethal force.”
Two additional Ceremonials enter through the ranks. They drag a large, rolling symbol. It rumbles and vibrates as it rolls over the varied terrain.
“Today there are no rules. Do whatever it is you think you must. I desire to see a group of warriors who show no mercy, who fear no challenge, and who will fight any battle. And so with that, I bow out and wish you all, good luck.”
He strikes the large gong and with that we begin.
Sal’s team flies north while the frosted leads his troops west. We watch them as they dash off to their obviously preplanned locations.
My team follows me as I push off the ground with my legs and my wings take over. The wind pounds at my face. Now that the weather has changed, it feels cold, almost painful as if grains of sand are being flung at my skin.
We fly above the now darkening tree tops. The dying leaves reflect various shades of yellow, red, and brown. My eyes scan the trees looking for clearings, and waterways, and all possible
terrain inhibitions.
“Wait,” Auro calls out to me. I look back and stop myself mid-flight. The others do the same. “We need to know where the others are gathering”
“Uriel,” I say. “Have you assigned anyone to scout?”
“I can send them all to if you’d like. I’m ready to fight.”
Christine interjects. “We need to prepare ourselves first.”
Just then Raphael arrives. He flies even slower due to how much more out of shape he has become from his life of luxury as a captain.
“Why don’t we lay it down here,” Raphael says. “We have already traveled far enough”
I cringe. I don’t have time to be arguing with this worthless meathead.
“Captain,” Auro interrupts.
I turn to respond and then realize, I am no captain. He is talking to Raphael. I smile realizing my own pride.
“If you will indulge us, sir,” Auro says. “We took the liberty of planning out our strategy and we have allotted the most important task for you.”
Raphael looks back at him suspiciously. “Oh?”
“We believe that you should be placed as a lookout, just down here.” Auro points down beneath us. “Perhaps you should just sit there and rest quietly. Alert us if anyone passes by. But you do not need to engage in battle. You are too valuable to risk on petty games.”
Raphael examines Auro. He seems to know that such a task is meant to just get rid of him. Yet at the same time, I think I detect a bit of gratefulness in his glance. I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that he doesn’t desire to engage in this cause.
I watch his round body drop lower and lower until he vanishes below the tree line.
I shoot Auro an approving glance. He acknowledges it with a smile.
“Now,” I say. “Tinus and Celles, it’s your turn.”
The two’s eyes light up.
“Wait,” Auro says. “What’s going on?
“It’s time,” Celles says. “We will make an army of six stronger than an opposition of forty-five.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Eternity Page 12
