Existence

Chapter 24

"Look alive, Sarah!"

Sarah jumped and turned to hit Thomas lightly on the shoulder. He chuckled and offered her a warm, buttery roll.

"That's not funny," Sarah grumbled, taking a savage bite of the pastry. The roll brought warmth to her cold fingertips and she was briefly tempted to put it against her cheek.

The sun had barely risen yet and the cool dawn air was seeping through her clothes. With her other hand, Sarah tugged her cloak more snugly around her. Thomas had taken her back to the mess hall for breakfast. A couple of fires were already going in front of the tents when they'd arrived. Thomas had told her that the other soldiers had probably eaten already, so they had the eating area mostly to themselves.

"Sure it was. It's not every day you see someone sleep-standing in the middle of a field."

Sarah merely stuck her tongue out at him before taking another bite of breakfast. She had barely slept last night, what with her brain buzzing from the overload of information Phoebus had given her. Her thoughts had jumped all over the place. When she tried to blank her mind of a topic, a new one popped right up.

How was Jed now? Was Alex visiting him again? What were the guys doing now that she'd practically disappeared on them? Did they think Shifters had kidnapped her? Were the Shifters even really after her or was it just a 'programmed' idea in their brains?

She'd finally forced herself to sleep with the repeated thought that maybe Jed would contact her in her dreams again. But after what seemed like five minutes later, Thomas had barged into her tent and shaken her awake. She'd barely understood his cheery voice telling her to wear a cloak for the early morning chill.

"We'll take the western grove," Thomas said now, leisurely stretching his arms up. He didn't seem to mind the cold, wearing only a grey shirt and pants. A sword now hung at his left hip, slightly longer than Sarah's. "We'll avoid most of the soldiers there."

He gestured for them to start walking. Sarah felt rather reluctant to leave the toasty fire in front of her, but she followed him to the empty grove. There, he made her jog in a wide circle, stretch, and do other warm-ups he deemed necessary.

"Alright, Sarah. Take out your sword," Thomas said, proceeding to do the same with his. He observed her grip on the hilt and nodded approvingly. "Let me just fix your stance."

As he nudged her feet into position, the memory of Byron's short lesson yesterday came unbidden to Sarah's mind. She frowned and tried to push it to the back of her head. She wasn't with them anymore.

Thomas had her go through a series of thrusts and parries and lunges. The hours went by and the morning chill disappeared as the sun steadily rose into the sky. Sarah eventually discarded her cloak, beads of perspiration running down her face and neck. Thomas wasn't half as tired as Sarah was getting, effortlessly demonstrating each move he wanted her to make.

During a short water break, Thomas grinned at her over his canteen. "You're doing rather well, Sarah. How about we have a little spar to test your reflexes?"

"Spar?" Sarah repeated after violently swallowing her water.

"Yes. You know, a practice battle between two people to train—"

"I know what spar means, Thomas." She shot him a scowl. "I just didn't think you'd suggest one so soon."

He tucked his canteen through his belt and spread his hands. "We're just going to test your reflexes today. Nothing too extreme." Thomas unsheathed his sword again. "Now you have to keep in mind, Sarah, that your sword is your friend, your ally in battle. You ever feel unsafe, that sword could help you out."