"No, no, no!" Leriax yells in her thick accent, one Cyra does not recognize.
For the past hour, Cyra has been going over the same manoeuvre with her mentor, Leriax. And needless to say, it was not going well.
"Look," Leriax begins, her cropped hair sticking up in a few places.
"I understand it has only been a few days since we began training, and I apologize for my impatience. But time is of the essence, as I am sure you realize?"
Cyra nods in response.
"You are a thief, a simple hand switch should come quite naturally!" Leriax exclaims.
Cyra bit back her defiant tongue, not wanting to further aggravate her new mentor.
She was not a thief. She gave up that lifestyle years ago and as it turns out, Adversus knew this. To some extent, the knowledge they had about her made Cyra uneasy, and she constantly reminded herself that she had to push away these feelings if she wanted to rescue Cormac.
Leriax claps her hands loudly, drawing her mentee back to the present, and they went through the motion again. Cyra was learning to master pickpocketing, something she had done quite a few times growing up. She just could not stop dropping the 'stolen' object after the hand switch. Was it nerves, fear, or both?
She takes a deep breath, and walks to one side of the bright room, with her mentor a few feet opposite her. Leriax nods, and they both begin walking towards each other. Cyra pretends to trip, her slender fingers grabbing the card jutting out of the back pocket of Leriax' trousers. Except this time she actually does trip, and falls flat on her face. Her head hits the floor with a thump, and the card follows.
"Stars! Are you alright child?" Leriax rushes to help her mentee on her feet.
"Stars is right," Cyra groans, her palm clutching her throbbing forehead.
"Mercy me, well you certainly cannot continue training in this state. Make your way to med bay and we shall resume tomorrow."
"Med bay?"
"Yes, the medical station on the floor above us. I will take you there."
Cyra looks at her quizzically, squinting as the room suddenly seems infinitely brighter. Her head and heart are pounding in synchronicity, as sharp pains shoot through her bruised right knee and forehead. She feels like she is floating, and can almost touch the ceiling's lights.
"Cyra!"
She frowns as she hears her name, I'm right here, stop yelling.
Everything goes black.
******************************************************
"She's awake!" Mazey exclaims and her remark is followed by a scuffling sound.
Cyra winces at the sudden noise, as her eyes gradually open. Thankfully, the lights are dimmer, and she looks around her.
"Where am I?" she murmurs, looking at the white sheets and steadily beeping electrocardiogram monitor beside her.
"Med bay, you had quite the fall earlier" Mazey responds sympathetically, from Cyra's left side.
Pain sears through Cyra's forehead once more, and she remembers the accident she had earlier.
She looks past Mazey to see Jax looking at her bandaged right knee.
"When I heard you were unconscious, I was so worried Cyra." He starts, staring emptily at her leg.
YOU ARE READING
INSURGO [ongoing]
Science Fiction"Cormac, you need to tell me what's going on." Cyra demands, fixing him with an unwavering stare. Her stomach churns at the terrified look on her brother's face. It was one she had never seen before. "Cyra, I've put us all in danger." ...