Chapter 28 #2
He moves fast, using pure brute force for the next hit. But my feet move as quick and as light as air. I bend before he knows it, slamming my fists into his side to bring him to his knees. Spinning my body, I put my whole weight into my next move and kick him in the head.
His head whips to the side before he goes down with a groan, hitting the ground hard.
I hear a whistle in my head. “Fuck, that was hot,” Knox says.
I glance over to where Malakai is, finding him wearing a little proud smile. Knox stands beside him wearing a shit-eating grin.
“Let’s go back to our room and I’ll show you how proud of you I am,” Knox says. “I’ll even let Malakai join us.”
I practically choke on my tongue. “I have one more trial,” I tell him.
“After then,” he promises, chuckling when I glare over in his direction for making me wet when I have to finish this stupid test.
“Where’s Theon and Cyrus?” I ask to try to get rid the images and ideas now running amok in my mind.
“Theon went with Cyrus to see if they could learn anything about your dream attacker.”
I guess Cyrus told them everything.
“Hopefully they find something,” I tell them and rub my stomach where the sword pierced it in my dream. It’s completely healed, but I can’t forget the feel of the cold, hard steel slamming into it. Or the horrific pain that came after.
“It won’t matter,” Knox says. “You’re with us now,” he promises. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
Warmth fills my chest, and I bite my lip to hide my smile as Ember walks over to me and grabs my hand. “We passed the first two. One more to go,” she says practically jumping around.
Remi moves to my other side and gives me a smile. I look over at Maia walking beside Ember and spot her wincing every now and again.
“You’re hurt?” I ask her.
She rolls her eyes and sighs. “My opponent got one up on me and landed a hard kick.”
“Then she got pissed and knocked him out with a punch to the face,” Ember points out.
“His nose is broken and still bleeding,” Remi says with an evil little grin before pointing over to the male with short black hair, two black eyes and a bloody nose.
“Ouch,” I say, and Maia smiles proudly.
She shrugs. “We won and knocked them out of the test. It’s all good.”
Brooks signals to his men, and they help the losing team off the field while he brings me, Maia, Remi and Ember into the forest. He turns off to the side, walking silently until we come to a large building that appears old and dilapidated.
The gray roof and thick walls are still intact, but I doubt the inside is any better.
“In the building behind us there are three fake Terrigons,” Brooks says. “For the final test, you will have one hour to seek out and destroy them.”
Remi raises her hand and Brooks sighs before looking at her.
“How will we know the Terrigons are fake?” she asks and Brooks raises a brow.
“Apart from the fact that no Terrigon has gotten past the academy’s shields in over a decade, the Terrigons in the building are only pieces of technology. Should they attack you, they are programmed to not cause any serious damage.”
He moves over to the door and swipes his card.
A beep sounds out before the door slides open.
“Should any of you wish to tap out, there are red buttons on the guns you’ll be given.
Press it, and we’ll come in and save your asses.
” He gives us all a hard look. “But let me remind you all, if one of you forfeits, you all forfeit,” he says, and Ember gives us all a determined expression before nodding to him.
His men return and hand us all guns this time, and they all watch us quietly as we head inside the building.
“Be careful,” Knox says. “Keep the connection open.”
“I will,” I promise before sharing a hesitant look with the girls.
“Good luck,” Brooks says and gives us a look like he actually means it just before the door slams shut behind us with a beep.
We move farther inside and quickly realize the inside is a lot larger than it appears from the outside.
There’s a labyrinth of halls leading off in every direction and a smell that can only be describe as putrid death.
Small lights blink on and off throughout every hallway like we’re walking through a damn horror movie.
“Shit, it’s cold in here,” Remi whispers.
Maia chokes, “What the fuck is that smell?”
Death, I’m about to reply, but one look at the terrified expression on her face, and I keep it to myself.
“I really don’t want to know,” Ember murmurs while keeping her eyes peeled. “Let’s go this way,” she says pointing toward the hall to the left, and we follow without question.
The hall curves around leading to a dozen more crumbling brick halls. We keep moving, but every hall leads to another until at least half an hour has passed with no sign of any Terrigon tech.
“Maybe they forgot to add the fake Terrigons?” Maia says.
The words are only just out of her mouth when a rumble sounds out and the ground shakes beneath our feet.
The wall beside us explodes outward with dust and brick flying everywhere. I duck down, avoiding a brick to the head just as a large Terrigon jumps through the hole in the wall.
“Shit!” Ember screams before raising her gun and shooting. But the Terrigon moves quick, avoiding most of the bullets.
Remi whips out a blade she must have taken and throws it hard, directly hitting it between the eyes.
Maia join in and we aim our guns and shoot it and in seconds, the Terrigon goes down, dropping to the ground with a slam.
We move over to the Terrigon, but I freeze when I spot the bullet holes in its body and the black blood dripping from it.
“It’s bleeding,” Maia says, and I bend down to look. The wound is deep, it’s muscle slack. And its insides spill out onto the hard floor.
These aren’t fake tech. They’re real Terrigons.
And someone just trapped them in here with us.
Ember clenches her jaw. “So much for no Terrigon getting past their shields.”
“And we’re locked in here with god knows how many,” Remi says, her eyes widening.
I hear a click and glance over at Maia to find her pressing the red button.
“It’s not working,” she says, reminding us of the little red button Brooks told us about. The rest of us press our buttons, hoping we’ll get another shot but with a fair test, but nothing happens.
“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Maia says as her gaze flickers between us. But I don’t get the chance to answer before another explosion sounds out and seconds later, I feel myself fly backward and slam into a wall.
I try to reach out to Knox but come up against another block. Again, damn it.
A sharp burn shoots up my side as I force myself to my feet. The Terrigon could be close, I need to get moving and check the girls.
Dust and debris make it hard to see anything.
The feeling of being watched sweeps over me and I still and listen, forcing myself to be as silent as possible.
A slight shift in the rubble to my left has me immediately calling on my sword. I whip around just as another Terrigon attempts to sneak up behind me and slam my sword into its body.
Once my sword of light touches it, it immediately explodes into ash.
I start moving to where I saw the girls last, hoping they’re all okay.
Shouts and screams ring out, and my heart drops. I run toward the sound when a group of Terrigons come out of nowhere, quickly surrounding me.
They’re about to attack when they all pause and tilt their heads.
I wonder if there’s another coming up behind me, then realize it’s me they’re all staring at. Me they’re all now watching with hesitation.
And then I feel it. Power.
It thrums inside me, building and expanding to every inch of my body, gliding over my skin and making every hair on my arms stand up.
The air around me shifts as the Terrigons sense the change.
They move toward me when I let go and let my power take over. It slips over the surface of my skin, and I step forward as they attack.
I let instinct take over, and my body moves swiftly, attacking each Terrigon like a trained killer, each strike hitting the target.
The energy slides over my skin again and again, and my movements slowly become more fluid and agile, more focused and purposeful. Each lunge and twist becoming an extension of me.
A sudden rush of power surges through me, healing me completely as something in my mind awakens.
Another long white sword appears in my other hand, and I move without thought, slashing and carving through the Terrigons around me.
My Alita side makes herself known just as knowledge and images flood my mind. Of battles I never took part in. Of wars I never fought. Of moves I never learned.
But in seconds it all becomes second nature to me.
Images of beasts, creatures and beings I’ve never met or have come across flash across my mind next. In an instant I know each of their weaknesses and strengths. In a moment, I know their biology, make and names.
Antidotes, poisons, plants and cures come next. Followed by weapons, tactical moves, strategic planning and combat training.
In minutes I become a solider trained over decades. In a moment, a weapon forged by fire.
Everything feels like it’s slowly clicking into place like a puzzle that’s been broken for far too long.
Knowledge passed down from royal-to-royal, decade after decade, time after time.
And soon it will be all mine for the taking.
My swords disappear as my Alita side rises further up and up, her energy seeping into me. Into every bone, muscle and nerve. For a moment, we become one and a force to be reckoned with, showing me what we will be capable of one day when we finally merge.
My shield becomes another extension of me as I block the next attack. My power to move things with just a thought and energy become as easy as breathing as I slam a Terrigon back into a wall with my mind before destroying the last of the Terrigon group around me.
I am my Alita side, and she is me. And together we are knowledge and power. New and old.
More memories hit me all at once. So many memories of places and people I’ve never met. Place after place, face after face.
They flood my mind in pieces. So many pieces, I can’t focus on just one before it moves to another and another.
People. Faces. Mountains. Sandy lands. Worlds with two moons. Lavish palaces made from white and gold. Exotic lands and beaches. I know what the sand feels like on my toes, what the sun feels like on my face as it beams down on me.
Faces of people my heart aches to see flash across my mind next. Of people I yearn to meet just once more. But they move too quick for me to grasp. Their love and laughter sliding over me, their happiness and joy too.
But it quickly comes to an end and what follows is nothing but darkness. Pain and death, destruction and devastation.
Grief nearly knocks me to my knees, attempting to swallow me whole. Pain overloads my senses, threatening to take me under.
The line of Alita royals. Gone. The line of royal Shadows. Wiped out.
Thousands of warriors, hundreds of people I will never meet, all gone in the blink of a moment.
The information given to me is always passed down to royal after royal. Daughter after daughter. My other side should not be separate from me; it should be whole. Just like my Alita told me. But now I feel it in every part of me to be true.
Those memories and knowledge and skills were always meant to be mine. Just as they have been passed down through the maternal Alita royal line before me.
The memories and knowledge fades to the back of my mind along with my Alita side as the world around me comes into view.
I take a minute trying to process everything, my body slowly adapting to what it should know and now does.
I still feel like me, but now know I’m more. More powerful. More skilled.
But then the knowledge moves further away from me, and out of grasp. As if I unlocked everything but only for a moment.
But one piece of knowledge stands bright and bold in my mind, reminding me who I am.
I am the daughter of Kazimir Allerick and Amara Astryn. And the last of the Alita royals.
And once I learn how to merge with my Alita side, I will be unstoppable.
A familiar voice shouts out shaking me from my thoughts. I move toward the sound to find Maia, Remi, and Ember all cornered by three Terrigons with more lying dead at their feet.
Ember and Remi are injured, both with cuts in their sides and legs while Maia looks like she hit her head hard with a trail of blood seeping down her face. But none of them look ready to give up.
My sword appears in my hand once more, and I move quick, coming up behind the Terrigons and striking hard, and turning them to dust in seconds.
The girl’s eyes widen as their eyes jump from my sword of light to the ashes falling around us.
The girls know I’m an Alita, but apart from my shield, they had no clue about my other abilities. But now I know they can keep this secret, especially from the look Ember is giving me. One that tells me she is nothing but grateful.
I release my sword’s power and it disappears just as gruff shouts sound out and Brooks and dozens of men finally flood the building and halls.
Their eyes go wide at what they find. Four girls covered in ash and real dead Terrigons on the ground around us.
“The trial is cancelled,” Brooks announces while his men run a sweep throughout the rest of the building. “Someone let Terrigons passed the shield to sabotage the test.”
“Well, no fucking shit,” Ember says, and Brooks has the good sense to not reply. Instead, he looks a little regretful.
“Let’s get you girls out of here,” he says as he and his men help Remi, Maia and Ember out of the building.
I go to move when Brooks steps in front of me, frowning when he glances from my body to the ground and back again.
“Who are you?” he says, staring at me like he knows something but doesn’t quite believe it.
“I’m no one you need to concern yourself about,” I tell him not willing to play into whatever conclusion he seems to be coming to.
His eyes narrow, his nostrils flaring like he’s trying to figure it out. “I’m nearly positive you’re—”
“Someone you definitely don’t want to piss off,” I offer, giving him a look that convinces him to back off.
Instead of pushing me on it, he nods and immediately steps back.
I move outside the building with him following a couple of steps behind.
Before I leave, he steps up behind me and lowers his voice so only I can hear.
“I will wait for the day you take your rightful place,” he whispers and I freeze.
“Until then, the royal guard is at your service. Your Highness.”
Fuck.