Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 21 - Thanatia

To put my mind off things, I decided I would mentor one of the kids from St. Vladimir's. I passed by the Queen's headquarters, and she told me they were currently undergoing some tests at the gym.

My timing couldn't have been more perfect.

When I got there, I entered the gym silently, standing by the walls. I recognised some of the adult guardians from my advanced training program, and they waved at me. They were serving as teachers themselves, I realised. I watched as the tests unfolded.

It was a total disaster.

The guardian teachers couldn't help all the students simultaneously. I noticed some of the students performing their attacks clumsily, as if they had no idea what they were doing. They were slow, uncoordinated, and not serious enough. To the far right, a dark-skinned student was slashing at the dummies with all his might. Strong, but reckless, even careless. Suddenly, I recognised him. Trey Clinton. I knew instantly who I wanted to mentor.

When the tests were done, I noticed the guardian teachers shooting each other disparaged looks. They were defeatists. Yes, it was a terrible idea to have novices graduate at sixteen, but I had witnessed the Queen's struggle to persuade her inner circle. They were thoroughly against doing anything for themselves. This was a good a compromise as we were gonna get.

I approached Trey, waiting for him to finish wiping his forehead with a towel. He looked sure of himself, too sure. At last, he noticed my immobile form, and his forehead creased with apparent displeasure.

'Hello,' I said, analysing his reaction.

He looked uncomfortable, but curious. There was a hint of humiliation there, no doubt leftovers from our last meeting.

'What are you doing here?' he asked. He had apparently decided on an indifferent approach.

'I have an offer to make.'

He waited.

'I've decided to privately mentor one of you.'

'And?'

'I picked you. You up for it?'

He was considering. On one hand, he wanted to dismiss me, I could tell. On the other hand, he wanted to be the best. He knew I was good. He knew I could get him there.

'Okay,' he conceded. 'I accept the offer.' He crouched down to retrieve his stake from his sports bag, no doubt a move to show his commitment. 'When do we start?'

'Now.'

Trey's golden brown eyes gleamed with zest.

He was difficult, stubborn and temperamental at first. He even challenged me to a fight, claiming he could "beat me easily." When he found himself on his ass for the seventh time, he gave up on the attitude. His look of subservience finally gave me a feeling of hope. I laid down my plans for him in a most ruthless manner. He was to run three kilometres twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. After a week, that would increase to four kilometres, then five...you get the gist.

I had a session with him everyday, right before or after the sessions with the adult guardians. When I realised how poor his grades in school were, I decided to mentor him in other ways too. I helped him with his homework. I forced him to read up on things he wasn't even required to know, but would serve him sometime in the future. I found myself so busy in the days that I would collapse into bed by night, both physically and mentally fatigued.

When Friday arrived, I decided to take Rose's comments about early challenges seriously. Poor Trey was in for a nasty surprise.

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