Page 89 of Riftborne
A mischievous smile crept over her lips. “Wait, what are we doing?” she asked, eyeing us suspiciously.
“Fia will fill you in later. We’ve got to get to the sparring gym. I’m so happy for you Osta. I’ll see you tonight!” Raine cooed as she hooked my arm and began pulling me through the front gates. I squeezed Osta’s hand as we left, and then all of my attention was on the lightning wielder beside me.
“I’m so not happy with you right now,” I said to Raine, flatly. My footsteps mirrored my irritation.
“Fia. You worry too much.”
I felt a sinking feeling growing in the pit of my stomach as we walked through the Compound.
CHAPTER 32
“One of ourinvestigative parties was attacked during a mission last night as they attempted to locate the tear,” Mercer said quietly as he paced at the front of the sparring gym. Deep lines were set into his forehead. His demeanor was void of its usual steadiness.
This seemed different.
“We sent a group from our faction to the area to do some reconnaissance. They were accompanied by a few Base soldiers and infantry. None came back alive.” A murmur ran through the room. My gut twisted. Guards from the team V. Dead.
Wait.
“Who was in the investigative party?” I asked in a tone just above a whisper. My pulse quickened with dark anticipation. I had to know, but I didn’t want to.
Mercer rubbed the back of his neck and turned towards his desk, retrieving a piece of parchment.
“From our faction… Elyse Wellington, Devon Lanceburg, Val Stephens, Gentry Collins and Salara Marsh,” he said before rubbing his eyes and leaning back onto his desk. I heard a gasp from my left.
“Salara is gone?” Raine asked, her voice cracking.
Val… Gentry…
They were dead.
I hadn’t seen them since the night of the ball, but they had treated me with such kindness. They were good. Nice. And too young. Far too young. My heart sank in my chest, and I fought back tears. Some of the best and brightest of the Guard. Gone in an instant.
How were we meant to survive this? We didn’t understand enough about the Wraiths to stop them. We were fighting an uphill battle with no end in sight. We needed more time. We needed more knowledge.
A realization washed over me.
We weren’t meant to survive this. We were all going to die. Fighting for life. For the people we loved back at home who had no clue about the darkness that existed on our Western border.
We had to make our lives mean something before our inevitable end.
Anger and fear coursed through me. When I got my chance, I would go down fighting until the very end. I wouldn’t let these monsters reach Ma or Osta… Jacquelina or Eron… Leila. I’d kill every single one that I could before they stole my breath and drained me of life. I’d figure out a way.
I felt a pang in my palms and looked down to find them bleeding, my nails digging into the flesh.
“So, we are accelerating your training even more. We don’t really have a choice,” Mercer said, walking back towards us.
“Today is the day. You will begin sparring with each other,” he finally announced. “I will be placing you into groups of two, and we will rotate partners daily until everyone has had the chance to face each other. As the groups will be uneven, I will also be participating.” He gave us a sad smile as we shifted nervously.
“Don’t worry, I won't go too hard on you just yet.” His tone was light but that didn’t stop me from wondering to whichEsprithe I should pray in order to take down this mountain of a man.
I’d walked by many of the sparring rooms and watched the twisted dance of hand-to-hand combat. I felt confident in all the things I had been taught thus far, but my heart began to race at the thought of finally putting those lessons into action.
“I may be a formidable opponent but I’m nothing compared to our enemy. Let's hope that none of you get close enough to a Wraith that you have to use these skills. There is only one man I know to have fought and survived a hand-to-hand attack.” Mercer tapped his face in the same spot as General Ashford’s dark scar.
“With that being said, we will not leave you unprepared. So, let's begin.”
He quickly paired us off. My first opponent would be Draven. I would need to take extra care not to draw any blood. I didn’t exactly want to get paralyzed on our first sparring day.
