Deathbringer

CHAPTER 5

It was on Wednesday lunchtime, right after Weapons Training—during which Beatrix had narrowly dodged a flying dagger, nearly sliced her own leg off with a whip, and fallen over trying to pick up a broadsword—that a thought came to Beatrix.

"Jamie?"

"Hmph?" Jamie looked up at her, half a hot dog hanging from his mouth.

"Who's the human from your group?" She asked curiously. "If a human gets taken every year from Rumelt, who's in your group? Why have I never seen them?"

Jamie looked down at his plate. "Not everyone here survives." He said slowly.

Beatrix's stomach dropped. "Who was it?"

Jamie swallowed. "His name was Darius." He paused, looking in her face for recognition. "Darius Barnes."

Beatrix's heart stopped.

Darius Barnes. How could she have forgotten?

Back when Beatrix was younger, she wasn't as weak as she was now. She used to play out in the street with the other children. And there was one boy, one boy who used to follow her everywhere. They were the best friends, as only five-year-olds could be. That boy was Darius Barnes.

The other children wouldn't play with Darius. In Rumelt, black people were scarce, so the few dark-skinned children were shunned. The children's parents had taught them that black people were dangerous, not to be trusted. But Beatrix had never been taught that. Her parents had quite a good relationship with Anthony Barnes, so she never thought anything of his skin colour.

As Beatrix grew older and weaker, Darius insisted on staying inside with her, instead of playing outside. They would sit together, playing board games and reading to one another. It was impossible to separate them.

But when they reached their teenage year, Darius began to draw away from her. He said her didn't want to ruin her reputation when they joined the secondary school. After that, he stopped hanging around with her as much. She saw him a couple of times around school, but they never spoke to each other anymore. When he was taken by the Deathbringer, she hardly noticed. Now she felt awful.

"You knew him, didn't you?" Jamie said quietly.

"Rumelt was a small town. Everyone knew everyone." Beatrix said, trying to play down how devastated she was. She didn't want to show any weakness in a place like this.

Jamie gave her a sympathetic look. "Don't get too worked up over it." He advised her. "It isn't going to help him now, and you'll only make yourself look weak to the others." He took her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. "Like I said, not everyone here survives. Somebody was bound to die."

Beatrix swallowed around the lump in her throat. "Do you think I'm going to die here?" She asked quietly.

"No!" He shouted loudly. Several people looked over at them. He lowered his voice. "Beatrix, you're strong. You're stronger than you think. That's why I vouched for you."

"But I'm weak."

"Physically, maybe." Jamie admitted. "But emotionally...well, let's just say you have the best endurance I've seen in a long time. I've never met another person as strong as you."

"That isn't going to help in a fight. What am I going to do when I have to fight in the ring in Hand-To-Hand Combat? I'll be out in ten seconds flat."

Jamie scrubbed a hand through his already rumpled hair. Beatrix tried to ignore the flutter it produced in her tummy. "Okay," He said slowly. "I'll train you. I'll teach you how to fight, slowly build up those muscles. Then you won't have an issue when it comes to fights."