Chapter 9 This Is Why We Fight #2
“Gather around,” Adept Corinya said, handing one of the Initiates something. “These woods are called the Evermere Forest. For our first lesson, you are to blindfold yourself.”
Isabella and I exchanged looks.
“Blindfold ourselves?” Riya asked.
“Yes, when all of you are finished,” she said. “I will give you your next task.”
I took a strip of black fabric and glanced around. Everyone was skeptical but did as she said. Sighing, I tied it around my head, plunging my world into darkness.
“Good,” she called out. “Now, your only task is to navigate the forest and get to the castle without removing the blindfold. Avoid the lake.”
Groans and complaints filled the clearing.
“Quiet,” she yelled. “This training is one of many that will help you begin to hone your senses. Focus on touch, sounds, and smells to navigate. Learn to find your way without having to see. The more equipped you are to move about freely and quickly, especially when impaired, the more likely you are to survive. Good luck.”
Well, this wasn’t how I expected my first class to go.
“Bella,” I said, reaching out for her. “Take my hand.”
She grabbed it and asked, “Do you remember which way we came from?”
I tried to picture the clearing. “I think it was this way.”
I tugged her along with me, and we found what felt like a trail. I carefully moved forward, my hand stretched out before me, searching for trees and the other Initiates.
“Ouch,” Isabella said. “That was my foot!”
“Oh, sorry, Bella!” one of the male Initiates said—Eli was his name?
Then someone bumped into me, knocking me to the ground.
Cursing under my breath, I growled.
Well, this was going to be fun.
For a while, it seemed like we were doing okay.
Then, somehow, we got separated.
I was about to rip the stupid blindfold off when I heard a stick snap.
“Bella?” I called.
“Sorry,” a male voice called.
The voice was familiar, and I turned abruptly, sensing him to my right.
This was ridiculous.
“Do not worry, no one ever makes it out the first day,” he said.
Blake. I could feel his warmth as he approached. His voice, low and comforting, put me at ease.
“We usually let the Initiates get lost for a while,” he said, “but—” A beat of silence fell before he spoke, like he was choosing his words. “Seeing how you already have a habit of getting lost, I thought I had best direct you on the right path.”
I let out a low hum at the clever dig. “How thoughtful of you—can I take this thing off now? I give up.”
He was near and I could feel his amusement prickling at my skin.
“You can,” he drawled, “or you can let me help guide you. It is a proven training method to improve sensory input, and now that I know you have not fallen into Lake Evermere, we have some time.”
I drew my lips in. Why was he checking on me and not any of the other Initiates? I stiffened, the thought vanishing as he moved closer, the leaves rustling beneath his feet.
I bristled at my own reaction. “Fine. But if you let me walk into a tree, it’s coming off.”
He chuckled, his voice right beside me now.
“I would not dream of it,” he said. “Take my hand. Use it to reassure your mind you are not going to walk into a tree and then focus on what is around you.”
I lifted my hand uncertainly. I was nervous I’d find something other than his hand.
Instead, his fingers brushed mine, and something jolted.
His grip was electric, just like when he’d taken my hand my first night here.
Energy thrummed between us, making my pulse quicken.
He paused, his breathing halted for a moment, before he tugged ever so slightly to guide me.
I could hardly breathe from the exchange, but I did as he urged.
I searched for a root or leaves that were too deep before firmly placing my foot in front of me.
The second I moved my other foot, though, I found a tree root and stumbled forward, right into Blake.
Startled, I yelped as he caught me, grasping onto his muscled forearms.
“I have you,” he murmured, gripping me tightly.
I swallowed as his hands lingered until I was firmly stable. I laughed nervously, desperate to cut the tension. “Nothing like being blinded to make you feel helpless.”
The stillness between us unnerved me. I was seconds away from ripping off the blindfold when he said, “Feeling helpless is what motivates us to be strong.”
Was that what I was? Helpless? Is it what drove me to this place?
“Have you ever felt helpless?” I asked, taking another step, this time, gripping his hand to ensure I didn’t fall.
The air shifted. His silence wasn’t dismissive—it was heavy.
“I have,” he said, his voice further as he spoke, like he’d turned away from me. “And I have trained to avoid feeling that way again.”
I wanted to squeeze his hand, to say something, but I didn’t. I didn’t know him well enough to be consoling him on such things, but I wanted to—it was strange, like the reflex to reach for him was instinctive. I shook the sensation, feeling him urging me forward, and took a step.
Finally, I felt a smooth path beneath my feet. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Blake,” I said, my tone firm.
“Yes?”
“Have you ever been lost in unfamiliar woods and blindfolded, then expected to find your way out?” I asked.
A long silence passed before he released a breath that sounded amused.
“No,” he said, drawing it out. “No, I have not.”
I jerked my head in the direction I thought he’d be and pursed my lips, then let a wide grin spread across my lips.
“Alright, alright,” he said, laughing. “I see your point.”
The grin slipped as I felt his hands on either side of my head, his hands in my hair, untying the blindfold.
When it slipped off my face, he was in front of me, watching me with his silver-flecked gray eyes.
My breath hitched at his proximity. I watched him in stunned silence, trying to piece together how I ended up alone in the woods with this man whose very presence felt like a lightning storm in my soul.
His gaze lingered on mine longer than I expected, something there, buried deep in his eyes that only he could see.
“Challenge accepted,” he said softly. “But you have to make sure I do not walk into a tree.”
My nerves eased, and the noise of the trees rustling in the wind surrounded me once again as I muttered, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
I intentionally led him into a tree twice before we made it out of the forest. The second time, he ripped the blindfold off, tossed it over his shoulder, and gave me a look that set my nerves on fire.
I screamed, laughing as I ran from him to the forest’s edge, emerging from the thicket to the sound of someone clearing their throat.
Adept Corinya was standing before us, expression cross.
I stopped laughing. Blake emerged beside me, not a hair out of place, and her expression shifted to shock. Glancing back at me with a scrutinizing expression, she said, “I see you found your way out of the woods.”
I nodded, smiling nervously before glancing at Blake.
He inclined his head, said nothing to Corinya, and strolled off toward the castle. As he passed Isabella, she glanced over her shoulder skeptically.
“What was that about?” Isabella whispered as we headed to the next course.
I recalled the way he’d looked at me earlier—how his gaze lingered far longer than it should have.
“I have no idea.”
Master Kaito was unlike anyone else I’d met at Nightfall.
I’d survived my first few days at Nightfall, and it was my second time in his class, Sanctum Naturae, listening to him lecturing in long, ranting spiels that, while informative, were often over my head.
“Kamoria!”
I groaned inwardly as he called on me. He did this a lot. He’d be droning on forever, then pause after a question that no one caught.
“I’m sorry, sir, would you repeat the question?”
He sneered, then shouted. “Pollution! Technology! Species decline! What is the connection?”
I blinked hard. “Corruption?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
I groaned internally.
“Corruption has spread across this world like a poison,” he said. “When we take more than we need, corruption is born. When corruption grows, the end draws near.”
The clock on the wall chimed, and everyone rose from their seats.
After class, I fell in step with Isabella and Riya.
“Wow,” Riya said. “He’s intense, but right.”
“Yeah,” Isabella said, “Maybe I should return my makeup.”
I snickered and shook my head. “I don’t think that’s what he was getting at.”
We headed to our Valyrian class with Professor Rynar.
All the Initiates I came in with and an additional group of Initiates were in the class.
This was going to be the most time-consuming course of them all.
We already had homework, and I already had a headache.
We spent the entire class going over the Valyrian alphabet and beginner phrases.
My jaw hurt by the end of class, and all I remembered was how to say, “My name is Anna.”
At least Professor Rynar was patient. He was an older, humble man with a gentle demeanor. I enjoyed listening to him speak Valyrian. The way he spoke it was so smooth, as if you felt them more than heard them.
After lunch, we all made our way to Griffin Hall.
Finally, it was time for the first Raicanya lesson.
It had been delayed a few days while we got adjusted, but I was ready.
I’d been anxious to get my hands on a sword.
I felt it in my blood—the need to fight.
I was helpless here, without answers or any way to get them.
I thought more clearly when I was sparring, and I hoped someone here would prove to be a decent partner.
From what I could tell of the art of Raicanya, it was very similar to, if not precisely what, Derrick had trained me in.
Never let your guard down. That was what he’d said to me over and over, and after years of training with him, it had become a way of life for me.
I was always aware of my surroundings and others’ state of mind.
Like right now.