by Ciara Graves
I gave her hand a quick squeeze to give her encouragement.
A voice came back over the radio, giving us permission to enter.
“Go straight to the training dome,” the uniformed guard instructed, motioning us toward a path to the right. “Do not go anywhere else. That building is the only one you are authorized to be in. Understood?”
We nodded.
He stepped aside so we could enter. He remained at his post, and the gate slid shut with a loud clang. Rori moved a bit closer to me, and together we walked toward the path to the right and the domed building that lay at the end. Neither of us spoke, but when my hand brushed against Rori’s, I flinched at the sudden coldness of her fingertips. A glance back revealed a trail of frost behind us. Her nerves were getting the best of her. Despite the frosty temperature of her hand, I took it and didn’t let go until we reached the building.
Two more guards waited at the doors. All around, others hurried from one place to another, many seemed frantic.
“You think something happened to our families?” Rori whispered.
“No. They wouldn’t bring us here.” I knew my words didn’t sound very confident.
I spotted the Elite Guard, still down one member, rushing toward the main building with dark looks on their faces.
I regretted not checking in with my family that morning to see if everything was alright. “They’re fine,” I said again. Probably hoping to convince myself.
“Commander Moran is waiting for you inside,” one of the guards said as the other opened the door. “I suggest you don’t keep him waiting.”
I wasn’t sure what I expected, but the space we stepped into led through another set of double doors. Beyond that was a massive room. Mats lined the floor and the walls. The ceiling was far overhead, much higher than what it appeared to be from outside. There were a few dummies against the farthest end of the domed space. Striding through another set of doors were Chas and Moran. Chas did not look at all too happy to be here.
“Rori. Brogan. Welcome,” Moran announced as he walked over to greet us, leaving Chas brooding on the other side of the dome. “I hope this will not disrupt your regular training too much.”
I shook the hand he offered, as did Rori.
“No,” I said uncertainly. “I’m sure we’ll be fine, but we’d both like to know what exactly is going on. Are we in trouble for something we did? Or didn’t do?”
“Quite the opposite. I have brought you two here today because I believe that Rori, you, and Chas are compatible.”
“What?” Rori snapped.
Moran seemed taken aback by her harsh tone. “I would have thought to find you both delighted at the potential path this brings you to.”
Rori was shaking her head, marching away from him, toward the door.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you leave, just yet,” Moran said firmly.
She stopped at the doors, ready to walk out.
“I do not want this to turn into an order, but if it comes down to it, then I will. I told all recruits quite clearly at the beginning of training that I would be searching for those to bring into the Elite Guard. You three are the ones I choose.”
“We’re first-years!” Rori whirled around, tugging on her braid, and her brown hair turning whiter. “I just figured out what path I’m on. And now you want me to see if I’m compatible?”
“Yes,” Moran replied.
She paused, her eyes narrowing. “Why us?”
“Beg pardon?”
“I said why us,” Rori repeated. “Chas is incredible, and I know who trained him, so I get why you want him to be an Elite. Brogan is a legacy, but something tells me that’s not the only reason you’ve picked him. And me, I’m no one. So why the hell do you want the two of us here?”
I crossed my arms, wondering the same, actually.
Moran had watched us both closely over these last few weeks, but I had yet to do anything extraordinary, and Rori admitted several times that her frost magic seemed wonky, like she was missing something. We were not the ideal candidates I would place with someone as exceptional as Chas was. Moran straightened, his jaw set, and I waited for the orders to come out of his mouth, but it was Chas who spoke first.
“Just tell them or I will,” he growled. “You have no right to keep secrets from them if you’re asking them to become Elites.”
“Secrets? About what?” I asked. I knew who in my family had gone down this same path. Knew I was a legacy. What secrets did Moran know about my family that I didn’t?
Moran threw Chas a look over his shoulder.
Chase smirked at him. “I’m not going to stand here and let you do to them what you did to me. Tell them, or I’ll walk out too. Orders be damned. And furthermore, I’ll tell the entire campus what else you’ve been keeping quiet.”
“What is going on?” Rori asked, panic creeping into her voice. “Would someone just tell us the truth?”
“I’ll make you a deal.” Moran paced around Rori and me. “You agree to see if you are compatible with Chas, work with him, and I will tell you the second half of why I chose you three specifically. For now, I will simply give my reason for why we are in such dire need of another Elite Guard. That is the deal, take it, or I will do as I said before. I’ll command you to come here every day until you finally do as I have required.”
Chas stepped up.
Moran scowled at him in warning. “And if you tell them before I can, there will be hell to pay. Understand me? That is a direct order.”
Chas’s fists clenched, but he bobbed his head and remained where he was, mouth closed.
I glanced at Rori who shrugged at me, clearly at a loss.
“Guess we don’t have a choice then, do we,” I finally said. “Deal. Why are we here?”
“Our magic communities have been under attack for the last seventeen years by an anti-magic terrorist group calling themselves the Cleansers,” Moran said, not wasting any time.
“Wait, what?” Rori shook her head. “We would’ve known.”
“No, you would not have, because the Vanguard has been keeping it a secret from those not directly involved to stop mass panic,” Moran explained. “Magic users have turned up, driven mad, a danger to themselves, to others. Many stripped of their powers altogether.”
“That… why?” I said quietly, glancing at Chas.
Chas’s eyes narrowed more.
Moran was moving again, agitated, his brow furrowing even more. “Somehow, this group has grown more sophisticated in their attacks over the years. They’ve hit us where it hurts in many ways. They managed to target our Elite Guards, have taken several as captive over the years, and killed many more.” He stopped walking and looked at each of us in turn, then he continued. “They have also somehow found a way to prevent us from finding magic-users that are compatible.”
“That’s not possible,” I said, confused.
“We have no explanation for how they are carrying out these attacks so effectively, since they don’t use magic. If there is a magic-user aiding them in some way, he or she will be brought to justice with the rest of them.” Moran grunted several curses. “They’re fanatics and criminals, nothing more. But we need to stop them before they escalate this any further.”
“And the Elite Guard we’ve seen here? Where’s their fourth member?” Rori asked. “Where are the other teams?”
“He’s been in quarantine since they returned weeks ago. He’s been corrupted, just like the others that have gone mad. As far as the other teams, two have been killed off. The other two are on a mission. They should be returning within a few weeks.”
My jaw dropped at the news. How could two teams just be killed, and no one knew about it?
“And you want us to what, train and then go off and fight them? You’re joking, right? This all has to be some damned sick joke,” Rori yelled. “I can’t fight anyone like that! I can barely hold my own against Blade in training, and you’re going to send us to the frontlines of a war
that we didn’t even know about? That I’m not qualified to fight in?”
“Not a war,” Moran corrected.
“Not yet,” Chas added.
Moran gave him a glare for his input.
Chas wouldn’t be stopped. “I’m being honest. It’s a damned war, whether you want to admit it or not.”
“You will be trained, of course,” Moran went on, speaking to Rori. “By me, by Sister Agnes, and all the other top commanders. Even by the Elite Guard. No one is going to rush you out there unless you’re ready. I care for those in my command, Griffith, it is important you know that.”
Her eyes narrowed as she stared him down. “Why?”
Moran’s backed up a step. “It simply is. Now then, are you three ready to begin?”
“Wait. Don’t we need a fourth?” I glanced at the doors, expecting another person to join us. “We should have four.”
“Not this time.”
“Why not?” I pushed.
“Because you will not need four, trust me.” Moran to the head of the room. “Take your places, please, and we shall begin.”
Rori, Chas, and I stood in a line in front of Moran.
The tension in the room skyrocketed. I had never seen an Elite Guard function together as a team and wasn’t sure what we were even supposed to expect. The powers of the Elite Guard were meant to work together as one. It was hard to see how that would be possible, when at least two of us were just now focusing figuring out what we were good at and what we could control.
“Rori, your staff will be required,” Moran instructed.
She hesitated, but then sucked in a breath and snapped her fingers. Her metallic staff appeared in her hand, the unique stone glowing at the top. Her icy blue eyes lightened even more as her power flowed easily through her veins. Her fingertips frosted as she gripped her staff.
The sight was beyond impressive and damned if I didn’t find her even more attractive at that moment. But then the white crept up her dark braid even more.
I wondered if there was something she should be concerned about, like maybe her abilities changing her in ways she could not come back from.
“Brogan and Chas, prepare yourselves,” Moran ordered.
“How?” I asked, watching Chas.
Chas closed his eyes, clearly feeling the rush of his living power. That power swirled around his hands in lazy vortexes of green and blue.
“Call on your lightning.”
“I haven’t been able to do that inside yet.” I hated to admit the truth, but there it was. Direct contact with nature had fueled my abilities, and to do so inside a structure so massive was a challenge I hadn’t been able to conquer yet.
“That is what Chas is for. He will have to be your link to nature,” Moran said.
Moran was a shaman, too, but he said that as if linking my power to another person’s was so damned easy.
Chas glowered straight ahead.
Unsure about what I was doing, I drew on the well of power within me that was always waiting to be used. I sensed it creeping up through my body. When it began to fizzle out, I closed my eyes and searched for a connection to nature. With my eyes shut, I was able to see the haze surrounding my body, reaching out toward Chas.
Another haze surrounded him, one that was far from welcoming.
Our powers barely touched, and we were both thrown back a few yards.
“Damn it,” I snapped, sucking in a deep breath as I held my gut. “What the hell was that, man?”
“I’ve never done this before, either,” Chas growled, shaking out his messy hair. “My defenses went up. Can’t help it.”
“You both are wasting time,” Moran snapped. “If you were out in the field right now, you’d be dead. All of you. Now, again.”
“We might not be compatible,” I spat out.
“And I say you have not tried hard enough. Concentrate. You three must become one. Fight as one. Your powers must be able to meld as if they come from one mind,” he lectured, staring us down. “Again.”
We took our places once more, and this time, Chas and I made eye contact for a brief moment, then we both closed our eyes. There was a willingness to try in his gaze, but I sensed he was holding back. Something about his stance said he suspected the truth about why Moran chose Rori and me.
Whatever it was, I felt he was purposely trying not to let me in, as if that would prevent us from becoming a team. But we had no choice. My magic reached out again, and this time, I tapped into the living natural force that was a part of any druid, woven into a druid’s very being. Lightning crackled to life at my fingertips, and I opened my eyes, I shot a look at Chas. His eyes glowed bright green, and a streak of lightning shot through his gaze.
“Good, very good,” Moran commented. “Now, attack me.”
“Just like that?” Rori gripped her staff harder. More frost rose up her arm.
“Yes. You three must use each other and be as one. Now, attack me!”
I had been ready to say no, but Moran came at us.
I moved on instinct, lashing out with lightning as Chas shifted into his bear form. Rori dove to the left, away from us.
It was probably the worst bit of fighting I’d ever witnessed in my life. And it only got worse as the session went on.
Again and again, Moran threw us to the floor easily, tearing us apart when we tried to stick together. He struck Chas’s bear form so hard it actually took him out of his bear. Chas staggered to his feet, shaking from the sudden change.
Moran went after him, but Rori and I were there to block the attack, her frost mingling with my lightning as we stopped Moran. For a second, I thought we might’ve been getting the hang of it.
Until Moran yelled, and a burst of wind tossed the three of us into the far wall as if we were weightless. Rori hit her head with a curse and dropped her staff, dropping to the floor.
Chas and I both reached out to her.
“I’m alright,” she muttered darkly, wincing as she held her head. “Shit—maybe not.”
Moran stalked closer, eyeing us. I expected him to admit he was wrong, but instead he inclined his head. A slight smile curled his lips. “Worst training session I’ve ever witnessed, but there is hope. Until tomorrow, I suggest you three get some rest.” He pointed at Chas. “Remember what I told you.”
And then he walked away, leaving us there to lick our wounds, and curse him.
“You sure you’re alright?” I asked Rori.
She leaned against the wall, cringing and holding her head. “I can’t do this,” she whispered. “I’m not a damned fighter.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Chas reminded us both, closing his eyes, his body shaking.
“Is it really so bad that he has to do this?” Rori asked.
Chas blew out a heavy breath and nodded. “It is. I tried to talk him out of it. I really tried. I didn’t think you two were ready. Hell, after seeing what just happened, I’m not as ready as I thought I was.” His gaze shifted, and he reached out for Rori’s staff. He studied it the same way he’d studied her that first day. “Interesting.”
“Thanks, I think.” Rori took it from him. “A lot of good it did me.” She snapped her fingers, and the staff disappeared.
“At least your magic held up,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, barely.”
“What do you mean?” Chas asked.
“It’s been flickering in and out,” Rori told him. “Blade acts like there’s something blocking it from its full potential, but I have no idea what that’s about.”
Chas suddenly was very interested in a thread on his pants.
“You know, don’t you,” I said quietly. “You know why he picked us.”
“All I have are suspicions, nothing more. I would tell you, but—let’s just say I learned about a dark secret from my past. And honestly? I wish I hadn’t.”
“That’s your choice. I want to know,” I insisted.
“And I can’t tell you,” Chas shot back with a growl. �
��Let it go for now.”
“Let it go? We just found out there’s practically a war going on and that we’re going to be forced to possibly fight these terrorists. And you want me to let go of whatever Moran knows about my own family that I don’t?” I snapped, losing patience, something I rarely did.
“I’m trying to protect you, man.”
“Like you tried to protect me by blocking me from your power?”
“Exactly! You have no idea what’s out there right now. No idea what it’s like.”
“Oh. And you do?”
“Hey! Both of you shut the hell up, alright?” Rori snapped. Ice formed on the floor around where she was sitting. She gave a shudder, then grimaced. “We won’t be able to get through this at all if we’re at each other’s throats.”
I opened my mouth to argue until the frost crept even further up her braid.
My worry for her overrode whatever else was going on, and I got to my feet. “Come on, let’s get you back to the dorm so you can rest.”
I helped her up slowly, supporting her. Chas was on his feet a second later, taking her other side. Part of me wanted to snap at him to back off, but he was concerned about her, too. We didn’t speak as we left the domed building and took the path that would lead us to the gate exiting the outpost. I expected Chas to leave us there, but he walked all the way across the campus lawns to the dorm building. A few curious onlookers kept asking if Rori was alright, and we all smiled and nodded, assuring everyone she was fine.
“I can make it from here,” Rori told us at the door.
“You sure?” I asked. “I can walk you up.”
“I’m not the only one hurting here. Guess I’ll see you both at dinner? If I can manage to get my ass out of bed.” She squeezed my hand and gave Chas a wave, then entered the dorm, moving slowly.
I sighed, wanting to stay with her and make sure she was really alright, but stayed where I was. “You should still tell us,” I muttered to Chas.
“I know,” he replied, but the words were weighed down with palpable guilt and regret. “Moran won’t stop pushing us to work together. He doesn’t give up easily.”
“Even after today?”
Chas motioned for me to walk with him to get away from any recruits who might overhear and didn’t stop until we were at the trees. “As much as I hate to agree with Moran, the three of us have the potential to work together. I have my reasons for not wanting to, but at the same time… you can’t tell me you didn’t feel that in there.”
