Ignite

Chapter Ten - Green and Jade

           

Once we all woke, almost immediately the breakfast bell rang. The six of us sat together and joked around, I caught a glimpse of Scarlett Romero. Her face was contorted with anger, her hand where I'd burnt her was wrapped in a white bandage. She noticed me looking at her and backed away, her gang of friends following with an equal amount of fear. I grinned furtively and turned back to my friends who were talking about if top-hats could replace baseball caps. Once we finished our meal, I was led to a forest training arena. Trees sprouted out of the lush, green ground, various insects scuttled happily across in search of food. I wondered how the insects didn't escape into the cabins then figured there must be some kind of protective barrier. I stopped gawping at the arena's beauty when Olly presented me with a sword. It had a long silver blade, polished to perfection, and a short hilt wrapped with new leather. The sword looked newly forged.

'Why do I need a sword?' I asked.

'You need some kind of protection other than your powers.' Olly handed me the sword and I took it. The second I lifted it out of his hands, my sword arm dropped to the floor. I lifted the sword with a grunt and held it like I saw in movies. My face was already dripping with sweat from the immense weight of the blade.

'I think I might need another sword.' I grunted. Olly nodded, choking back laughs. He handed my various swords, some bronze, others silver and others gold. None seemed to feel right in my hand. Olly rummaged through the weapons chest on one side of the forest a pulled out a short dagger. It was sheathed in a black leather wrap and the hilt flashed with strokes of silver through the leather grip. I took the dagger and unsheathed it, the silver blade matched the streaks in the hilt.

'I like it.' I smiled as I strapped it to the side of my leg with the leather strap.

Olly looked at me thoughtfully. 'You need another weapon, though. You can't fight only with a dagger.' He turned and shuffled through the weapons again. I knew this would take a while so I strode towards Maya and Ava who were sword fighting viciously. I watched and Maya slashed at Ava, she blocked it with strength with and pushed Maya away. They repeated variations of this process until Ava flicked the blade out of Maya's hand with her own, sending Maya's sword skidding across the floor. I would never have guessed a scrawny looking 10-year-old could beat Maya, who was at least four years older than her. They panted hard, sweat drenching their bodies. I clapped at their incredible performance.

'Nice.'

Maya grinned to herself, Ava just stared at the trees with a vacant expression.

'Thanks.' Maya wheezed. 'How long were you guys standing there?'

Guys. Plural. I turned to find Elijah leaning against a tall tree. Audrey was chatting with another girl I hadn't met before. Olly was still rummaging through the weapons, a stack of possible fits sat beside him.

'Hey, Elijah.' I said. He moved to join the group, a mischievous grin spread across his face.

'I'm impressed.' He exclaimed. 'I don't think we've ever been in the same arena before, who knew you both were actually okay at sword fighting?'

Maya nudged him jokingly. 'Thanks.'

'I was talking to the tree.' He chuckled.

Olly came over with a stack of weapons in hand. He handed me a double bladed axe. I took it, not really liking the idea of having an axe with me at all time. It felt wrong. Olly picked up on my uncertainty and took it from my hands.

'Need any help?' Ava asked.

'Yeah,' Olly said, scratching his head, 'I can't find the right weapon for Harper. She's already got a dagger but...'