The Commander of The Founders: Book Two

Chapter Three: Radiation

Aden lied on his stomach. His back had fresh ink pricked into it. The outline of the tattoo was red and irritated. He had the sacred symbol on his neck and had the phrase linchpin of unity in Japanese (団結のリンチピン) vertical in the middle of his spine. The symbol of the Coalition was a few inches below the sacred symbol. A spiral outlined it and unraveled down his back and wrapped around the Japanese phrase and curved down his waist. An arch connected a few inches above the unraveling spiral where it wrapped around the phrase. A circle was beside the end of the curve on his waist. Three circles were on the inside of the arch. Two circles were at the split of the arch and unraveling spiral.

Didrika sat on a chair in Aden's room. She sketched Aden in charcoal and watched him sleep with a grin on her face. They had gotten up hours before the sun was supposed to rise to get his tattoo. They wanted to have plenty of time between the tattoo and training. The sun slowly peaked over the horizon. Training would begin after breakfast at seven. Didrika moved off of the chair and gently shook Aden's shoulders. Aden moved his hands beside his chest and pushed himself up. He turned to face Didrika and straightened into a sitting position. She smiled and poked his nose. He watched her leave.

Aden slipped off his bed and pulled on a black long sleeve shirt. He tied his black boots laces. Aden slipped on his green vest and grabbed his sword. He sheathed it in the sheath connected to his belt. Aden walked out of his room and approached Didrika's room.

Didrika entered her room and saw Lorelei dressed and leaning on the balcony. Didrika did not move to disturb her. Didrika clipped her med bag to her belt and placed her armor over her outfit. She secured the gun holster on her thigh and made sure the gun was loaded. She left her leadership jacket off and secured the shoulder plate cape on her shoulder. Didrika slung her sword sheath over her shoulder. Didrika walked up to Lorelei and wrapped her arms around her waist. Lorelei leaned her head on Didrika's shoulder. Didrika led her out of her room. Aden was outside her door and they walked down to the city.

The novitiates ran through the city scanning the booths for food. Lorelei had left Didrika to go meet up with Roan. She still wanted to get to know Azgeda and its tradition. The best way to do that was to talk to the King. Didrika had Aden beside her. The city life was much different than her tiny clan home. The streets were crowded with people. The conversational noise never stopped. The people were still wary of their Commander being out in the open. Aden brought Didrika to a booth that had deer meat. The meat was seasoned and skewered with a toothpick. The owner handed Didrika some. Didrika went to trade for it and the owner refused to accept her trade. Didrika sighed and thanked her for the food. Aden and Didrika walked toward the courtyard as they chewed on their pieces of meat.

They sat on the boulders and waited for the novitiates. Didrika removed her shoulder plate cape and placed it beside her. The novitiates arrived exactly at eight. Didrika instructed them to spar with someone other than their Unify partner. Didrika watched each child's moves, memorizing their signatures and patterns. She could tell that Aden was doing the same thing.

Didrika nudged his hand and they jumped off the boulder. They circled the students. Didrika crossed her arms over her chest. They were advanced like most novitiates were the year before their conclave. They did have holes in their defenses and Didrika almost laughed at herself. Lexa had told her that Didrika was trained for defense not offense and that she was too tense. She saw that in these novitiates as well. The whole reason she won her conclave was because of her training with Lexa. Didrika clapped her hands and the novitiates tensed at attention. She told them to relax and to watch Aden and her.

Aden walked in front of Didrika and unsheathed his sword. Didrika had seen him fight and the fact that he won his conclave convinced her to not go easy on him. She unsheathed both of her swords. He looked at her blades and slipped into a defensive fighting stance. Didrika lunged forward and swung her swords at him. He pulled his sword up to contact each of her swings. Didrika spun and swiped the swords at his head. He tucked to the ground and rolled behind her. He sprung to his feet and slashed his sword forward. Didrika pivoted and blocked the slash. Aden spun his sword in his hand and swung it at her side. Didrika caught the blade with her swords. Aden pushed her swords to the ground and yanked his away from hers. He raised his arm up and struck out his elbow. Didrika dodged his move and moved behind him and elbowed him in the side. Aden pivoted the opposite direction and swung his sword at her feet. She jumped into the air, landed in a handstand, and flipped onto her feet. Aden charged her and thrust out his sword. Didrika pushed his wielding forearm with her arm and his sword slipped to the ground. Aden reacted automatically and stepped out from in front of her. Didrika swung her swords at his chest and he ducked underneath the blade. He straightened back up and lunged for her exposed chest. Didrika upper cut his jaw and he staggered back.