Escape

Chapter 10

"Are you okay?" Briseas asked me, and quickly grabbed my arm when my body swayed to the side.

All this information. It explained so much, yet brought up so much more questions. I am special, I am a dominant protector. I have to be kept alive, but Niobe and her gang all want me dead. And I can't really protect many people if I am dead, can I?

I brought a hand up to my head am massaged my temple. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just...a lot to take in."

Briseas nodded, "Mhmm. Well, we can be done training early today, if you need some more time. I'm sure Marshall will understand."

"Okay." I smiled up at Briseas, and he returned one back to me. His hand fell from my arm, and we both hopped down off of the ring. Briseas bent down and picked up his water bottle, then turned towards me.

"You sure you're alright?"

I was a bit lightheaded, but I shook it off. "Yeah, I'm good. Just need some rest."

Briseas' eyes lingered on mine, his pale blue irises swirling like the gusts of wind he controls. Then he stepped towards me, riding the space that had once been between us. His gaze stared straight into my eyes, fascination succumbing to his expression. After what felt like a really long staring contest, he finally broke the silence, "Ok, well I'll see you at dinner?"

I smiled and nodded my head. Briseas grinned, and walked out of the training room.

Sighing, I turned around and walked towards the other exit, the one that led to the hallway where my dorm was. I was in desperate need of a shower.

Just as I was reaching for the handle, the door swung open and smacked me in the face. I fell back on my butt and brought my hand up to my throbbing nose.

"Oh, gods. Aria, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" At the sound of Will's voice, I hopped up on my feet and tried to play it off like it was cool.

"It's okay, it doesn't hurt." I shrugged, and looked up into Will's soft brown eyes. His hand lifted and cupped my cheek, and his eyes trailed around my face.

"Looks like it hurt." He said, and rubbed a finger lightly over my bruising nose. I winced at the pain, and Will's hand shot away. "Sorry..."

"It's alright," I smiled and waved it off. Will smiled back, a little uncertain.

"So, uh, I'll see you later then?" He said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, sure."

Will smiled, then walked off. I left the room and went to my dorm. Gods, I must smell.

I stripped of my sweaty clothes and started the shower. Looking in the small bathroom mirror, I examine my bruised nose. It's not too bad, but it looks like I got punched in the face by a twelve year old. Whatever.

I'm just about to hop in the shower when I hear a noise. It sounded like my dorm room door being kicked opened. But who the hell would do that?

I quickly stop the shower and look around for something to put over myself while I investigate the noise. In the closet I find a fluffy pink robe. Scrunching my nose, I pull it over my body and open the bathroom door a tiny bit.

The door was definitely kicked open. One of the hinges is broken and the actually door is tilted to the side with a large dent in it. I peer around the room, but there's no one in sight.

Who just breaks a door and leaves? The whole scene looked real sketchy. The only light in the room was from the hallway, so it kinda looked like something out of a horror movie. I shuddered, and tiptoed into the room hesitantly.

I was about to call for some guards down the hallway, but before I could, a hand clamped down on my mouth. A muffled scream escaped from my lips, and I started kicking and thrashing around to get free. No, this was NOT happening again. Almost the same freakin situation.

Thankfully, I didn't hear anyone else besides the person attacking me, so it would be 1 vs. 1. But with my lacking experience, there wasn't a good chance I could get away too easily.

My attacker picked me up and threw me over his shoulder, and I punched repeatedly down on his back. He didn't seemed fazed though, so instead I did the only thing my irrational and childlike brain could think of: biting down as hard as I could on the hand clamped shut on my mouth.

A strangled gasp came from who I guessed was a guy, and in that moment of whatever surprise I managed to buy, I squirmed down from his hold and ripped his hands off of my body.

Throught what I could manage to see in the darkness if the room, the guy staggered backwards, shaking off his bitten hand.

From his loose composure and lack of commonly known fighting strategies (or so Briseas explained to me), I assumed that my attacker was not trained like I am being trained - by pros who know what they're talking about. However, his movements were without hesitation and he seemed comfortable enough fighting another person, which led me to believe he had some experience in combat. All of these thoughts flew trough my head in a millisecond, though, because you don't exactly have time to sit down and evaluate the person who is trying to...kidnap you?

The guy lunged forward towards me, arms stretching outward and wrapping around my waist. His weight combined with the amount of force behind his push sent me down to the ground on my back, with the guy on top of me. His arms pinned my own to the ground, and I struggled against his hold as much as I could.

I suppose having gotten me to the ground in a clear hold was victory enough for the guy, for a low chuckle pierced the air, making my struggling stop and my attention focused on him.

Or what I thought was him.

My eyes lifted to meet his, only they didn't. The person that held me down wasn't a person at all, but the outline of a shadow of a person.

My mouth gaped open and my eyes, I could tell, were bulging out of my head. A soft whimper lifted off of my trembling lips, "Wh...What are you?"

Another sharp, distinct chuckle stabbed the silent air as the looming figure began to materialize before my eyes. A very large and very built body filled the shadow, and along with it came a smiling face.

Dark buzzcut-hair met almost equally dark skin. Black irises swirled in pools of creamy white, and they stared down at me with flickering expressions of curiosity and something else I couldn't define.

Thin lips parted, and again the booming voice of my attacker stabbed into the silence of the room. "I am Erebos, son of the God of Shadows and Darkness. I am one of the five dominant protectors, and I believe that you are, too."