Choke

Evasive.

 "Solomon," Alexei said in an annoyed sigh, "Did you antagonize him again?"

"It wasn't my fault. He's the one that hit me first," Solomon said.

"After you tried to char me!" I shouted at him.

So the current position we're in is Solomon back against the wall with one of my swords against his neck while he was holding fire in one hand, ready to unleash it against me.

"Stand down," Alexei commanded, making both of us drop to our knees.

Cheri stood there with an uneasy look on her face.

"Look, I know you two don't quite mesh, but I don't care. When time comes for our first mission, and you two are behaving like stupid teenagers, what kind of dynamic will we have? We have to work as a team, or we're as good as dead," Alexei scolded.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," we said.

"Both of you can go run an extra four clicks today. Cheri you stay behind, and we'll practice complex healing methods," Alexei said.

I immediately got up and took off. If there was one thing I was better than Solomon at, it was speed.

It didn't take me long to finish our regular distance and the extra four kilometers.

"Back," I called when I came to the training room.

"Quick as ever," Cheri grinned, "Let me see your arm."

"I just changed the dressing this morning," I said.

"Yeah, but I want to see how far the sand is on graphing your skin. Does it burn?" she asked.

"A little, but nothing major," I said.

"Hmm," she said taking my arm and unwrapping it.

The dark sand she rubbed on yesterday was still there. Part of my skin did come back.

She switched my sweaty bandage with her clean one and let me on my way.

"Did you eat this morning?" Alexei said.

"I had an apple this morning," I informed.

"That's not enough," he said firmly.

"I wasn't very hungry," I assured, "If I over eat, I'll just feel sick for training. Besides, there is lunch as well. I'm fine."

Alexei gave me a stern look.

"I swear."

X_x

"Mikhail, wanna go to this new restaurant with me?" Cheri asked sweetly.

"I'm sorry, I already had plans for this lunch hour. Maybe tomorrow," I said with a sheepish smile.

"Okay. Let's go, guys," Cheri said with a bright smile to Solomon and Alexei.

"You better eat something," Alexei said sternly when they left the room. I waited until I couldn't hear their footsteps before jumping out the window and into the tree outside the window and leaving the tree. I was behind the Citadel's training annex.

I ran into the woods and came to the river. I ran upstream until I came to a fallen tree that acted as a bridge and crossed over. I ran until the soil became a little drier and finally I found my clearing.

I come to this spot during breaks or days off to practice my skills. There's no one watching. There's no one judging me, so here I can easily learn by myself.

I got a hold of a bundle of sticks and surrounded them with rocks. I knelt in front of my pile and breathed out. It didn't take long for me to smell the smoke. I gave three good breaths and couldn't hold my smile back when I saw a small ember. My hands continued their pattern then stopped smoothly at the sides and managed to let the smoke dance around my fingers.