Whatever It Takes

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The hut itself was nicer than Chief Aldivian's hut sat on the other side of the town, old and mucky, it still stood strong after one hundred moon cycles. The hut itself was nicer than most other huts in the city, but something about it made it appear to be less grand. Small shrubs poked out here and there on the uneven ground Kasen and Gideon stopped by the threshold of the house where Chief Aldivain waited for the rest of the cadets. The remaining cadets and their trainers, filed in, naturally making a semi-circle around the Chief. He began intently staring at each and every one of them, slowly, trying to read their emotions. The cadet named Jax Thames seemed to be terrified as he was read. He appeared to be at least 12 or 13, though his face was more childish than a 12-year-old. His face still beheld the fat of a young child, rosy cheeks and soft skin. To Kasen, it seemed unfair for someone so young to be sent to such a ruthless expedition. He scolded himself for thinking such things. The expedition might be a death trap, but King Slavik's grandfather had come up with it himself. People simply didn't speak against the king and his family, even the ones long gone and part of the Magnus rather showed them respect. Chief Aldivian cleared his throat to get the attention of the cadets, though it was unnecessary since he already had them all captivated.

"As you all are aware of by now, the expedition has been moved forward. Arch King Slavik is dying and he would like to witness his grandfather's work once more before he passes. Tyrin has only finished this expedition once and I accepted you to represent Tryin well." he finished with a spit to the floor in frustration.

He went on more serious than ever, "You were chosen because you are the best. I accept the very best from each of you. Now you are here to gather further information about this expedition. As you know, you will be battling teams from different cities. Those cities are Zoreen, the city of dawn, Shalom, the city of the peaceful, Orwell, the city of the free and fair, Orville, the golden city, Cyrus, our capital, Anberlin, the city of the strong, Darvell, the city of the eagle, Vanko, the given city, and Ronelle, the city of the sea."

Though all these cities were in Arnav, they were mostly very far from each other. No one could travel to all cities in one moon cycle, let alone a day. The Shalom Cascades where the expedition took place was a three months trip from Tyrin on foot, and that's if you traveled through the Hakan Desert.

Chief Aldivian unhooked a bag from his brown leather belt. The bag was not made from the usual pocklyn fur, but was woven from a scaly hide the color of the few trees they had in Tyrin. The dead looking green bag was not large, but also not incredibly small. He opened the bag and put his wrinkly, lifeless, hand into the little opening and pulled out five small gadgets, about a pinky in length and width. They were a dark coppery silver and had a miniature screen, humming slightly.

"These are tracking devices. You must wear one at all times from now to the end of the expedition. That way you will not be lost and if you are to parish they will inform the leaders in Cyrus."

He flipped around one of the devices and revealed six sharp needles coming out of the end. They were long enough to stick someone pretty good, but short enough to be well concealed on one person's skin. Kasen and most of the other cadets had never felt a needle before making Kasen wonder how it would felt. He began handing them out to each cadet. Zara and her trainer immediately attached the tracker to Zara's skin, wincing only slightly as it pricked the skin on her forearm. If Zara thought is hurt then Kasen knew it would definitely do some irritation to his own arm.

He handed the device to Gideon to place on his skin on his right forearm. Rolling up the sleeve of his jacket, Kasen braced for the pain of the needle penetrating his skin. What he did not accept however was how much damage six needles could do to one's skin. As the needles were injected into his skin, Kasen let out a scream louder than a bolun running after it's prey. Chief Aldivian and all the trainers looked at him in pity. They knew the pain needles could cause. The cadets who had not injected the tracking device onto their arms were staring at Kasen hoping it didn't really hurt that much. Jax seemed to want to pass out at the sound of Kasen's hollering.

The moment Kasen screamed, the tracking device began to beep rapidly. Kasen looked at his arm and notice right away that it was bright red and bruises were already starting to form around the tracking device. The gadget read that his hearts were beating ten times faster than normal. His left heart was slowing down, but his right heart was still really fast. The rapid beeping slowed when Zara came up to him to see how he was doing. Her sleeve that hid her device from view was glow bright red. The moment she touched his arm, she was thrown back from Kasen.

"Oh yes." Chief Aldivian stated, "If you try and remove the tracking devices yourselfs you will get shocked."

Zara was trying backup from where she had landed as an effect of the shock. Kasen offered her a hand and she took it gratefully. As soon as she was standing back on her feet, Chief Alidivian reached back into the green bag, and brought out a sheet of parchment, covered in messy handwriting.

"This is your instructions for the expedition along with the rules you must follow."

Each trainer was handed a paper with the rules covered on them. Kasen saw at least ten rules on the sheet of paper before Gideon slipped into his jacket pocket.