INFINITE: Island of the Immortals

9. The First Step of Flying

The lesson was stealth, Troy explained as he painted camouflage on their faces with mud. They filled the little balloons with water and carried them into the rainforest. Troy's mission was to sneak up on Nikolila and the youngsters and soak them.

Without a word, they spread out – extended formation. Every pair of feet came down carefully on the leaf litter. Michael felt so clumsy. It took all his effort to be silent. He looked down the line dispersed between the towering trees. Amanda's grin stretched her whole face. She nursed several water bombs like a small infant in her arms.

Troy's hand snapped up beside his head. The line stopped. He pointed through the trees ahead to where the rainforest opened up like the interior of a cathedral. The massive trunks grew further apart, pillars supporting a canopy high above. In the clearing, on the leafy floor, Nikolila and her students sat in a circle, legs crossed, eyes closed. Troy hesitated, considering the situation. Amanda bobbed up and down impatiently.

In the corner of Michael's vision, there was movement. He felt the same curious tingle as when he was young and his eyes would chase people hiding in the trees. Of course, there was nobody there when he looked, but his throat clenched with excitement anyway. Just out of his sight, he could feel them, ducking behind trunks and climbing up into the branches.

Michael actually saw the moment when Troy realised what was wrong with the picture. A smile tugged at Nikolila's lips as she sat there, eyes still closed, then the missing members of her class attacked from above. Hiding in the trees. Tragic cries rang out as a barrage of water bombs found their targets below. Amanda charged wildly at Nikolila, clutching her deadly cargo, but the balloons bounced out of her arms. Only one remained, which in her eagerness she threw over Nikolila's shoulder to explode in a pathetic puddle.

Troy strolled up to Nikolila as she calmly got to her feet.

"You're good. Don't know how, but you always sense us coming. It's that third eye of yours." He tried to poke her forehead but she dodged him.

"That could be it. Or it could be that you pull the same stunt every year, ya eejit," said Nikolila, tapping her temple. "And that is why the power of the mind will always triumph over that of the body." She jabbed his chest.

"Does it, always?" Troy stepped closer, a strange crooked smile. He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. Nikolila's green eyes flared, blushed a split-second before slapping his hand away.

"You're a bloody goose, Troy." Her Irish accent suddenly thicker. "A wee grown-up goose-boy." She went back to her circle who still hadn't moved. "Lesson's over." At the sound of her voice, they opened their eyes.

"Yeah right, you meditated through all that."

"We knew you were coming Troy," they giggled. He shepherded the little ones to his side and headed back toward the beach.

"Sit down. In a circle," Nikolila ordered the older group. "Close your eyes. Be quiet. We are just going to sit for a while and clear our minds. Forget about those eyes. Just listen and feel. And breathe . . .

In

And

Out."

Michael's eyes closed easily. He felt terrible about the morning. He wasn't any good at all that stuff. The others had looked at him like he shouldn't be here. His body ached from the fall and his skin still prickled with sweat.

"Forget about everything. Just breathe . . .

In

And