Halo | 18+

chapter ten

- AURELIA JONES -

Scurrying through crowds of people, I slipped in through the back of the quad.

I was already late, and now I had a thousand pairs of eyes on me.

The quad was an open concrete space with fighting mats placed all over.

We were covered by the walls, but an open sky above us.

"Nice of you to join us." Ollie whispered. I nudged his side and listened in on what was going on.

"We'll take teams of two, girls against girls boys against boys, and then we'll switch to see strengths."

"Myself, Ollie and Rez will go around and give you pointers. Let's see what you remember from last time."

I stayed put, unsure of where to go or what to do.

There was a group of girls huddled over by the concrete steps leading into the building.

They split themselves into teams and started to spar.

It was weird watching people fight each other. It was weird that combat training was something we have to do now.

"Aurelia." My name was called, "You're with me." Rez winked.

Thank the lords!

I walked over to Rez, a battered and torn dark blue mat between us.

I put my feet in the fighting position and my arms where they were meant to go. "You still got it?" He mocked.

I shrugged, "We'll wait and see."

We started to fight, I dodged his hits and knee kicks. But he caught me off guard by swiping my feet.

I landed with a thud, flat on my back. I coughed, "Need a bit more practice."

Rez held out his hand for me to grab.

"Switch with Layla, she's one of our top combat fighters." Rez said.

Layla walked over with a confident smirk, her hair pulled neatly back into a ponytail.

I got into position, turning my head because I felt someone watching me.

Jace sent me a smile, standing a couple feet behind me, "Hey Jace can you help me for a minute?" One of the girls said.

"Ready?" I smiled. Layla didn't say anything, just shot me a smirk and got into position.

I didn't know want to expect from Layla the 'all reigning champ', but after being knocked on my ass three times, I had a feeling I underestimated her.

"I need a minute." I wheezed, placing my hands on my knees.

"You don't have a minute. This is combat. You need a break in a fight, you die." She hissed, coming at me again.

I didn't have time to speak before her foot connected with my face and I toppled to the ground, sliding across the concrete.

My head thumped from the pain. I tried to lift myself up but my arms were too sore from fighting.