A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

22 | Omega

The symbol Omega (Ω) is gifted to Hunters in the unprecedented scenario where a Siren chooses to spare their life. Having this mark gives the Hunter an incredible amount of good luck, especially when it involves dodging attacks, aiming and searching areas.

***

The days had gone by slowly. School failed to keep Astrid distracted from the growing bundle of nerves that had taken up residence in her stomach. It was only natural for her to have struggled to keep her mind from wandering to the future.

She had imagined countless scenarios in her head. Would Peisinoe know how to find the lyre? Would she try to intercept Astrid in the middle of delivering it to the Synedrion? Or would everything go smoothly while she sat in her hideout, blissfully unaware of her own defeat?

All these scenarios swirled in Astrid's head, leaving her more highly strung than usual. She couldn't take it much more. She could feel her aggression increasing too, which became all too apparent when even Sam, her most easy-going friend, knew better than to sit with her at lunchtime.

She needed a distraction; something that could aid her in releasing her frustration and anxiety. Thankfully, it was almost time for training with Chris. As tedious as it was to go over the basics all over again, she welcomed the extra refinement of her skills and felt a sense of pride when Chris succeeded in learning new moves she had shown him.

By the time she had walked into the training room, she had all but thrown her gym bag against the wooden benches which were bolted to the walls surrounding the room and walked eagerly towards the centre of the mats, gloves already on.

Sparring with Chris was no challenge for Astrid. He was no prodigy, nor a seasoned fighter, both of which she most certainly was. But she enjoyed it nonetheless. He followed orders well, he was a fast learner, what more could she need for a sparring partner?

"Hyah!" Chris grunted, his fist flying sideways at her face.

Astrid countered with practised ease, grabbing his wrist and bending back his hand, steering him down towards the floor. However, Chris managed to throw her off completely and dropped down to the ground with alarming speed, extending his leg on the way down and kicking Astrid's ankles backwards, effectively knocking her off her feet.

Now that he was free, he took the opportunity to pin her to the ground, wrestling with her rather ungracefully until he had her arms pinned securely under his knees.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Chris smirked.

"Don't get cocky now," Astrid muttered, before easily pushing his knees off of her and pinning him to the ground in one fluid motion.

It felt incredibly unfair, fighting Astrid when she had the advantage of many years of practice and experience.

"You have to admit it was creative," Chris smiled up at her, sweat droplets forming rapidly on his forehead.

"I'll give that one to you," she smirked, offering him a hand to get up, "but it was still a lucky shot."

"You think so?" he taunted, grinning as he dabbed his soaking hair with a gym towel.

Workouts with Astrid were always killer. He was surprised to discover that training was so exhausting. He had already been in decent shape before, having frequented the gym. But this, this was a different kind of fitness. One he was still very much adjusting to.

"Let's put it this way, you try that move on me again, I can guarantee, it won't work a second time," Astrid smirked.

He felt a shiver run through him at the sound of her words. She could be scary when she chose to be. He wondered if she was just aggressive as a result of her line of work, or if she actually had a violent side to her.

"Well, I've got some time before I need to be home. What do you say we take a look at some of the books Adras gave you?" Astrid suggested.

Chris was relieved to hear her offer. In truth, he was struggling to understand many of the terms mentioned in the books, so getting through his reading material proved quite difficult.

He welcomed the idea of an experienced Hunter offering help - especially when the aforementioned Hunter was as attractive as Astrid.

They soon made themselves comfortable on a bench nearby and he pulled out a Navy book with the title, 'An Introduction to the Hunting World'. Astrid quickly navigated through the pages and came to a stop on page 26, 'Initiation Ceremony: What to Expect'.

"Has Adras told you when you'll be initiated yet?" Astrid asked.

"Not yet. He said with all the changes that have been happening recently he thought it best to postpone any initiations until such a time when there is less risk involved with newly initiated members.

"That's understandable. Being initiated is a very serious procedure for people who have not been born into this life," she said in contemplation.

"How was your initiation ceremony?" Chris asked curiously.

Astrid let out a short breath of a laugh, the memory of her initiation coming back to her.

"Well, I was thirteen at the time. Most born-Hunters are initiated at twelve, but with everything that happened, nobody wanted me out on the field until they were sure that my father's killer had left the country."

Her tone was bitter as she spoke.

"As it turned out, they hadn't all left. Two of them had been left behind in order to finish the job," her fists were clenched almost as tightly as her jaw, "they made the mistake of wearing the same faces they wore that night. They didn't last ten minutes with me before I was walking back to the Synedrion with both their heads stuffed in a bag. I only wish the whole group had stayed."

Chris felt chills on his skin as she told her story. Adras had explained to him what had happened to Astrid's dad. He understood why she hated Sirens so much. But to kill two on her first time? That had to be special.

"Do you think you'll ever find the others?" Chris asked softly.

Astrid huffed, "Well I'm never going to stop until I find them, so either I will kill them one day or die trying."

Without another word, she stalked off. Training was over.