Chapter 62
Lex
ONE MONTH LATER
Istood on the dais of the training grounds, hands clasped behind my back, feet shoulder-width apart, watching hawkishly as the cadets divided into groups of four and began to strategize a plan of attack.
Today was the first time the new cadets would have the opportunity to conduct a mock mission—two groups were pitted against each other in a battle to capture the other’s flag before their entire task force was eliminated.
Cadets were not allowed to use killing blows—only aiming to strike or briefly incapacitate—and we’d outfitted each of the cadets with a special vest that used a series of complex runes to register magical strikes.
It was an amazing combination of magic and design, and was one of the projects Faylinn took on a few months ago.
For years cadets would simply strike at each other, singing tunics and practically drowning each other—a few were even impaled by stray stick arrows—and this addition from Faylinn’s brilliant mind not only allowed us to keep our cadets from the majority of harm, it allowed for multiple rounds of the game because of fewer injuries.
I allowed the cadets to pick their task forces today and was incredibly surprised when Ellowyn chose the same Mages she’d drifted toward while on the mission to Cellia.
Leal was a low-level Air Mage with really only the ability to create a semi-decent shield for a very finite amount of time, while the twins had a moderate command over Fire and Earth.
Her selection was almost immediate, her gaze only flicking to Torin d’Eshu once before she moved to grab her partners.
There was something different about her since Cellia, something harder, though I couldn’t put my finger on what directly caused the change.
Even now, as she drew a crude diagram of the training yard in the compacted dirt, there was a flinty edge to her expression.
She was taking this training mission seriously, which was not something I could say for the majority of groups.
There was way too much laughter and banter for my tastes, especially with news of the gods slowly creeping northward—a fact that was now public knowledge.
Eventually this would all come to a head, and these cadets would have a baptism by fire. Better for them to be prepared now, to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses and iron out any kinks in the way their task force moved before the gods inevitably showed up on our doorstep.
As the sun moved closer to the midpoint across the horizon, I watched as most groups lazed about, their strategy complete and ready for testing, but my eyes were glued to Ellowyn’s group.
Over and over, she made her Mages move around as if they were anticipating what moves the other task force would make.
It became clear that while Ellowyn had little knowledge of strategy or battle, she had drive and perseverance—two intangible qualities that I simply couldn’t teach.
Military strategy I could instruct and help her hone, but the ability to lead and the want to learn would take her further in the Academy than anything else.
If Lord d’Refan lets her stay for that long.
The runes Faylinn etched on her skin were nearly indecipherable, fading almost completely, which meant her power was at nearly full capacity, and I was more than intrigued to see if my hypotheses were correct.
It’d been nearly a month since my conversation with Rohak and Faylinn about my fears regarding Ellowyn’s powers and, so far, I had yet to see anything that confirmed or denied my thoughts.
Today, of any day, would be the time she would inadvertently release her other magics, if she even had access to Pain and Pleasure.
I tore my eyes from Ellowyn’s group and focused on Torin’s task force.
He was running them through drill after drill, sweat beading on their brows and causing shirts to stick to their backs in the approaching summer’s heat.
The cadets were all significantly younger than Torin, and I wondered if they were following his orders simply because they were terrified of him.
Over the last few weeks, Torin had demonstrated an immense control of Fire, his blazes hotter and brighter than anything I had ever seen, yet I had the distinct gut feeling that he was holding back somehow.
His knowledge of military strategy rivaled that of even Rohak, and I secretly, desperately, wanted to see a showdown between my beloved General and this southern lord.
Everything about the Lord of Iluul was a complete enigma—except for his obvious love for Ellowyn. Even now, while he was relentlessly training his small group, his hazel eyes continually darted across the yard to land on Ellowyn.
How has no one else seen it?
“Lex?”
I grunted as Ilyas’ voice pulled me from my musings. He was my only Vessel here today—Sasori refused to even feign interest in training the cadets. Her mood had soured even further when she discovered I was meeting Rohak without her or Ilyas present.
What would she do if she knew the secrets I was keeping from her?
The degradation of our Bond was slow at first, but had picked up alarming speed over the past few months, like a rock gently rolling toward the edge of a cliff before falling completely over the other side. I’d even seen her picking at the Bond Mark on her forearm as if trying to remove it.
That act didn’t affect me as much as it should have, and the fact that I didn’t care if she unBonded us or not was a more worrisome thought than the act itself.
Gods, we’re so fucked up.
“Lex?” Ilyas called again, gently laying a giant hand on my shoulder. I’d pulled away from my True Bonded, too, over the last couple weeks, and felt more guilty about that than anything. Ilyas didn’t deserve my ire or the dark moods I often found myself in lately, but he stuck by me no matter what.
“I love you,” I told him sincerely, holding his ocean-blue gaze. The edges of his lips quirked briefly before he squeezed my shoulder once and let his hand drop to his side.
“I know, Lex.”
I paused for a moment to just bask in the presence of my Bonded before I turned my attention back to the training yard. The sun was high in the sky now, the signal for our training exercise to truly begin.
“Cadets!” I called, instantly catching their attention.
The groups lounging about the yard lazily got to their feet as both Ellowyn’s and Torin’s groups snapped to attention.
There were only six groups in the yard—we’d combined with the upper-level class for today’s assignment—and I was secretly hoping that my younger cadets would thoroughly thrash Sol’s.
I liked Sol, she was a damn good Mage with a very unique relationship with her Vessel, Thandi—not unlike mine with Ilyas. But the insubordination she tolerated from the cadets was annoying at best.
“Hello, Lex, Ilyas,” Sol’s rhythmic voice called from the base of the platform as she and Thandi made their way up the stairs to join us.
“Kind of you to join us, Sol,” I said as she reached the top, the two of them standing loosely at ease as Sol relaxed back into her Vessel. Sol waved a hand in the air.
“Yes, well, we both knew that you would be here hovering like a mother hen anyway, so we didn’t see the point in wasting away in the sun.” Sol smirked and I rolled my eyes.
We were part of the same cadet class and had spent many, many hours training together. She was more a sister at this point than a fellow soldier and I allowed her a bit of impertinence.
“Shall we start with your groups or mine?” I asked and she cocked one dark eyebrow in my direction.
“Giving me a true choice or just the illusion of it?”
I smirked. “You know me too well.”
I turned my attention back to the cadets as her musical laugh floated around me. Ilyas moved to greet Thandi, something unspoken passing between the two of them. Thandi couldn’t speak, but he and Sol were given a way to communicate back when Sol almost lost her life during the attack on Isrun.
“Task force five and two, you’re next,” I called and watched as one of my groups and one of Sol’s took to the main portion of the training yard while the others backed into the rune-protected corrals.
Once everyone was safely away, I called out again, “Begin.”
Hours later, I emerged smugly victorious over Sol, my cadet groups taking a startling majority of wins.
It helped that Torin’s group won nearly every battle within a few minutes, rarely losing a cadet to Sol’s groups.
If he did, it was because of a lucky hit that his Mages didn’t block in time.
No one ever scored a hit on Torin—he didn’t even look like he was working hard.
It was infuriating, intriguing, and awe-inspiring all at once. With every battle he won, the rest of the cadets began to begrudgingly accept his presence.
Even more interesting was Ellowyn’s group.
After their first defeat, they re-grouped and changed their strategy, eventually having Leal throw an Air Shield around the twin Mages while Ellowyn used her Destruction Magic to disintegrate any attacks that flew her way.
Her battles were longer, but she emerged victorious more often than not.
Frustratingly, I never noticed a slip in her magic—the Pleasure and Pain, if she even had those powers, stayed locked tight.
At one point, I swore I felt the jubilance of her group when, dirty and battered, they held the final flag aloft in victory.
But the moment was fleeting, and I decided I’d imagined the whole thing.
Because you’re looking too hard.