“What did they say about Hannah’s wristband? How could that have possibly been destroyed?” Frey asks.
“Lok intentionally targeted it with his arrow. Since he’s a Dead Mark, once he’s made up his mind where he’s shooting, the arrow will always obey him. It’s a tactic no one has thought of before or even considered.” Matron Kaniz sits opposite us, a very concerned look on her face. “The battles are for fun, or at least they used to be. But now...the Keepers seem to have let go of all rules pertaining to fair play.”
Addie looks at all of us, pausing a few moments between faces. “What do you want us to do?” she asks Matron Kaniz.
“Make them pay.” Matron Kaniz leaves, heading down the hallway towards the Progression Room.
The four of us spend the next hour just sitting in the common room, no one says a word. Dinner is brought up a little later. We eat what we can, but no one in the unit seems hungry. Rem leaves sometime later, but quickly returns a little out of breath.
“Frey, Matron Kaniz has given me permission to turn Max’s training over to you. Addie and I will be rejoining the others tomorrow.”
“Why?” Addie asks, before Frey can.
“You and I are the two highest ranking members in the unit. Our damage against the others will be higher, so we’re going to make sure Nius and Dead Mark pay tomorrow.”
“Sweet,” Addie says, jumping off the couch.
“Why do I get stuck training?” Frey asks, protesting.
“You can use the practice,” Rem answers, smirking.
“Real funny, Rem. Just you wait. I’m sure you won’t be laughing long when it’s Looper against Looper for the top prize.”
She sticks her tongue out at him in response, and leaves with Addie close behind. Frey gets up, shuts the monitor off that was showing the battles for the day, and sits back down next to me.
“What did you learn today?” he asks, annoyance heavy in his tone.
“How to do an aerial projection.”
“Well, that’s a start.” He shifts his position, pulling his leg up in front of him so he’s sitting sideways on the couch. “I’ve heard that you’ve never watched The Litarian Battles. Do you have any questions about it?”
I’m going to sound so stupid with what I’m about to ask.
“What does each position do, other than Looper?”
His eyes roll into the back of his head as he makes a deep sigh. “Unbelievable,” he mutters. “Ok, well the other three positions are called Dead Mark, Rapid, and Nius. A Dead Mark hits the target every time. Rapid moves quickly, almost blindingly fast. And a Nius is smart, problem solving. All deadly when the skills are mastered, but that takes years and no one has been here long enough to do that. Normally, once someone has reached the point level of thirty-five thousand they’re retired to Icarian. To hit the mastery level, you need fifty thousand.”
“Which you have to do in eight weeks,” I say.
“Yes, which means things are about to get worse and you’ll need to catch on quick.” He looks suddenly tired. “Meet me in the training room at seven tomorrow morning.”
As he’s walking away, I notice a small, black dragon on the back of his right shoulder. It looks familiar, but I don’t know why. I’ve never seen that mark on anyone before, yet it feels reassuring, almost comforting. I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the sensation, then head to bed.
Six
The door to the training room is wide open. Frey is inside, looking anxious. As soon as I step through the door, it closes behind me and the lights dim. The air is cold and I can see my breath. The room changes to the grove, its snow covered grasses crunching under my steps. Tilda is talking to Vernon by the gate, but I can’t hear what they’re saying because the winds are blowing too hard. Brink is standing next to me, two circular knives with deep curves in each hand. I take his arm and loop out of the grove, finding ourselves in the foyer of the Head Master’s mansion.
“Did you bring us here?” Brink asks, shaking me loose.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
He doesn’t like my answer and swings his knives in my direction, cutting my arm. I reach for my Kopis, but I can’t find it. I try and loop out of the foyer and that’s when I notice the wristband has been damaged. I try my best to defend myself, but Brink has me outmatched. Blood pours from my wounds. He stands over me grinning as I die.
My clothes and sheets are soaked with sweat. Everyone is still asleep, so I slip into the bathroom, grab a quick shower, change my clothes, and discard the dirty ones along with my sheets into the laundry bin in the corner. I make sure to close the door slowly behind me, then go to the common room, which is empty. I try the training room door, hoping it’s unlocked, which it is. The lights turn on the moment I step inside and the door closes. I look at the rack, but it’s empty. The time on my wristband says it’s four in the morning. I probably should go back to bed and try to get more sleep, but I want to get as good as I possibly can before the Keepers decide to throw me into The Litarian Battles. I work on my aerial projection, looping through the room from one end to the other. It’s the time portion that I need to get. If I can just think about getting ahead of time, think of where I want to be in the next few minutes, perhaps that’ll work. I try it a couple of times, but wind up with only a headache. I sit against the wall, lean my head back, and
