Girl of Steel and Stone

Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

I woke because of the sunlight filling the room.

I instantly knew I wasn't in my own room in Daqu and I shot up, reaching for the blade I always kept strapped to my calf.

But I didn't touch skin, but the rough textile military pants were made of.

It took me but a second to know I was completely clothed in military do.

I took in my surroundings while trying to remember what had happened before falling asleep. I was in a tiny room that was barely big enough to fit the bed. A window was just big enough to be an escape. My boots and socks and a military jacket were carelessly thrown on the ground.

Oh yeah, the ball. I had tried to escape... the prick in my neck....

Damn it, this was the Passing. And I was in a damn village.

I started laughing, I didn't even know why. So the Passing was to survive a fight?

Once I was started I couldn't stop. I didn't know exactly what was funny about this whole situation, but it was funny.

Still, I must have looked absolutely crazy and I wasn't surprised when two men stormed into my tiny room and looked at me like I belonged in a madhouse.

I slapped a hand over my mouth, trying to stop my mad case of giggles.

'Don't mind me,' I managed to say. I let out another burst of laughter. Then I decided enough was enough and forced myself to stop. 'Sorry,' I said, sounding muffled.

I took a deep breath and straightened myself. Okay, I had to take control of the situation.

'Which village am I in?' I asked them. The first man still looked at me like I was crazy, but the second regained a semblance of control.

'You're in Calambra,' he said in an accent so thick I almost didn't understand the words. West. Far, far West. Westnorth. But still west. If it weren't for all the time I spent with Jared I wouldn't have understood a word.

'West,' I added myself. 'And I guess the test is to survive a fight and that they see us fight somehow. Good idea.'

'Well, you aren't the first one to guess that one right. But you're definitely are the first to laugh about it.'

'I know, I'm sorry. I just imagined something absolutely terrible, but this won't be anything different than at....'

'Where're you from?' the first asked.

'Jarran, full North.'

He nodded. 'Explains the accent.' Then he looked me sharp in the eye. 'You're the first other villager here. We've had a few of you over the years, but you're the first villager.'

'So you've only got descendants. Owch.'

The second nodded. 'Don't we know it. Anyway, I'm Patrick, but people call me Trick. And this is my partner, Gael.'

There was something in their eyes. A light flickering in the otherwise emptiness. They both couldn't be older than twenty-five and they had already found that one thing I had never seen in Jarran, love.

'Nice to meet you, I'm Cali.'

Trick smiled. He had a nice smile. Gael wasn't so nice. He looked at me with a weird look I couldn't quite place.

'What's a girl like you doing at that damned Academy?' he asked.

'Didn't really have a choice. But it's quite nice, actually. Lots of villagers.'