The Soldier

Distraction

I chewed my bottom lip as I watched the two figures in the ring circle each other, their bare feet shuffling across the padded mat. Addie had her arms up too high, her fear of getting hit in the face left her lower body exposed. I liked Addie, I appreciated her comments during the first evening in the dining hall about believing my identity, but her fighting form was shit.

Her opponent lashed out, making the first move, and I flinched, not too keen on watching Addie get beaten up by the other girl Erudite transfer, Lillian. Addie stumbled backwards across the mat, her defenses falling as her hands dropped to her side where she had been hit. This was probably the first time she'd ever been punched and it must have hurt. Lillian used Addie's disorientation as an opportunity to launch herself at her and knock her to the ground. Pinned, Addie squirmed beneath Lillian, trying to throw off the weight that constrained her and trying to deflect the punches that landed heavy along her jaw and temple.

To distract myself from the beating, I looked across the room at the board and studied the order of fights for the rest of afternoon. My chest tightened as I read through the remaining pairings. Not because I was listed alongside Davis, someone I assumed was one of the boys from Erudite, but because of the fight that was taking place before mine. 

My attention was diverted back to the mat when Addie managed to kick Lillian off. Addie was uneasy when she stood up, the recent punches taking a toll on her sense of balance. She swayed slightly, staring off into the distance with wide eyes and an open mouth. She was in bad shape. Rising as well, Lillian looked as if she was going to tackle Addie again when a voice stopped her.

"That's enough." Eric stood on the other side of the room, his voice flat and laced with boredom, which would have suggested his neutrality in the activity if his body language didn't state the opposite. His spine was straight with spread legs and crossed arms, making the tattoos stand out on his muscles. He looked interested to be here, his blue eyes intent on the fighting initiates before him,  but disapproval was written across his face. I'm sure he was expecting a show. The time he must have taken off from whatever leadership duties he had to watch the fights must seem like a waste since the match had barely lasted a minute and Addie had been easy to take down.

Still unstable, Addie managed to stay on her feet until Four approached and steadied her. "Let's get you to the infirmary." Four said to her and then addressed Eric. "Continue with the fights, I'll be right back." He escorted the stumbling initiate out of the room for what was some well-needed medical attention. 

Addie experienced enough today and I wouldn't be surprised if she had a concussion. I frowned as Lillian joined her other Erudite transfers, giving high fives and laughing. Hurting someone like Addie to the point of hospitalization wasn't something to be celebrated.

At Four's departing order, Eric scowled. I'm sure he wasn't happy to be taking orders from someone he was in charge of. I could sense that there was some bad blood between the two trainers and wondered what happened between them to cause such tension.

"Well? Get on with it, then!" Eric snapped at the group as soon as Four was out of sight.

My chest tightened again as the next pair of initiates stepped into the ring to fight. The patch of flames that now decorated both of Calvin's biceps strained as he brought his arms up in a defensive position, ready to fight. Towering over him, Skylar looked down at his opponent, indifferent. I doubt he sees Calvin as much competition.

This was not going to be pleasant. The difference in skill level of these fighters was huge and I had to suppress the desire I felt to run on the mat and separate the initiates before Calvin got hurt.

The raw, redness around Calvin's tattoo was a reminder of last night and what was currently hiding under my mattress. After leaving the dining hall, Jenna, Calvin, and I went to the tattoo place and looked through the tattoo designs strung along the walls and pasted into binders. Jenna also looked at the nose rings until I advised her to hold off on getting any face piercings until we were done with the current stage of training. She agreed, not wanting to have a piercing accidentally ripped out during a fight.