World Eater: The Hunt

Chapter Two

Still trying to wrap my mind around everything, Merc and I walked through the long corridors to the dining hall located on the other side of the academy. We passed dozens of dormitories, all filled with loud, excited students who were preparing for the celebratory banquet. We were on the south side of the school, the noisiest out of the four corners. Each corner within our dome-shaped sanctuary represented an element, even earth. The earth side of our school, also called the east corner, was restricted to everyone but hunters. It was heavily protected by guardians stationed on the bridge that connected the four corners of the school. Any attempt to go to the east corner from a student resulted in being expelled. Supposedly, Merc had managed to sneak in once but I had a hard time believing that, even with his…sneaky talents.

“So I’m going to ask her out,” Merc announced, snapping me back to focus. My mind was jumbled, something I had to work on if I was going to lead four others to the Other Side. Merc’s mind, however, was of course on girls.

“Who? Diana?” I asked, absentmindedly. We passed one of the many training rooms and then headed up a long flight of stairs that led to the dining hall upstairs. The crowd of students surrounding us was baffling; they were excited for the banquet tonight.

“Yeah, I think she likes me.”

“I think Diana would rather snap her own neck than to go out with you,” I jested. Mercury gave me a sideways look that showed that he was actually serious. I frowned and thought of all the many ways the Grandhunter’s daughter could do to cruelly reject him.  Knowing Merc, none of them would actually discourage him.

“You’ll see,” my friend said, stubbornly. I pitied Diana already.

We entered the dining hall, surprisingly in one piece. The walk towards the north corner was always the busiest in the hallways. Who could say? People love to eat. The north corner was for recreational and dining purposes only. You had to cross two bridges to get there without accidently being shoved against the glass walls and out of the academy itself. I wondered why there weren’t more guardians because we’ve had several of those incidents.

Eyeing more than probably 500 students, I mentally groaned. The dining hall was one of my favorite spots, but not when it was super crowded. The walls of the dining hall were draped with red, fiery curtains. Already there were groups of immature students, probably new, who were toying with them. There were rows of tables with clean, white tablecloths on them and soft benches where you could sit. Instead of hard flooring, there was grass which brought up a lot of controversy because grass was the closest to being an earth element.

 But the best part of the dining hall was the ceiling. If you looked up, there would be either a clear, blue sky or a blackened one with shimmering starlight. I was always mesmerized by the sight, but Merc, being the talkative buffoon, would always ruin my sightseeing moments.

“Oh yay for me, you actually showed up,” a sour voice grumbled behind me. Diana sauntered over to me, nearly shoving other students away with her. With half of a sneer, she said, “I figured you would wuss out.” Her green eyes studied me, exposing me. “You look like someone who would.”

“Well, you don’t know me,” I retorted. My friend proudly smacked on the back while also creepily staring at Diana.

Her response came quick as lightning. “You’re right, I don’t. But as our leader, you must know your fellow teammates. You must know our strengths, our weaknesses, so that you can analyze who does what in a dire situation. Tell me, Alexander, do you know my weaknesses?”

“Being nice?” I blurted out.

She scowled. “You have a lot to learn, and yet there’s three days left before we leave this academy. Prepare yourself well, or else we won’t make it.” She then came up very close to me, giving me almost no breathing space, and snarled, “And we better. Make. It. I didn’t study and train my ass off just to die.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Mercury chipped in, vying for attention. I was impressed that he had managed this long without making physical contact with the poor girl.

“What are you going to do? Talk our enemies to death?” Diana rolled her eyes. “I haven’t read the paper; do you guys know who the other two members of our group will be?”

“I figured your father would have told you,” I answered politely.

She took it the wrong way and snapped, “My father and I don’t…” She stopped and took a deep breath. Without finishing her sentence, she took out a slip of paper from her brown messenger bag and read it carefully. “We’re looking for Kaya and Samson. Any idea where we can find them? Or are you two still clueless as to what we’re supposed to be doing?”

“I can pair up with you and we can look for them together,” Mercury suggested quickly. Now he sounded pathetic. He had never fallen for a girl this hard before.  Diana was beautiful, with her blonde hair and her glistening green eyes, but everyone could tell that she was off limits to everything but a mission. And our mission was to kill and to survive.

“We’ll split up and ask around. Just wave like an idiot if one of you find them,” Diana ordered. Before she left, she spun around on Mercury and growled, “And if you ever stare at my breasts again, I’ll gouge your eyes out.” Straightening out her green t-shirt, she huffed and then walked away. It would be too soon to see her again.

Mercury and I looked at each other in uncomfortable silence. We had been in the school since we were toddlers and yet we didn’t know everyone in the school. The two names of our comrades sounded unfamiliar. We had to ask around.

“Do you know who we can ask? Olivia,” Mercury suddenly told me. “That girl knows almost everyone here. Everyone thinks she’s psychic. I think she’s hot.”

“Oh, are you over Diana already?”

“All girls are hot, man. But I’ve fallen for the one and it’s not Olivia.”

“Fine, I’ll go talk to her. You….try to keep your hands to yourself.” As I began heading over towards a table where I had seen Olivia earlier, I got excited. Olivia was attractive, indeed, but not for her looks. She was smart, resourceful, charismatic, and friendly to everyone. She was also skilled with the bow and arrow, her weapon of choice. Although she had no powers, like Mercury, she didn’t need any. Her voice alone could stop a man in his tracks.

“Hello, Alex,” a sweet voice whispered in my ear. I smiled and turned my head to the right. Next to me was one of the prettiest girls I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She had curly raven-black hair that reached her shoulders, violet eyes, and a smile that could put anyone into cardiac arrest. Today, she was wearing a short-sleeved lacey blouse and a black short skirt with purple stockings. But it wasn’t her attire that captivated me – it was her voice.

“Hey, Olivia,” I finally greeted, probably with a stupid smile. If the rumors of her being psychic were correct, then it wasn’t even worth hiding my feelings. “How are you today? Are you excited for the ceremony tonight?” My heart beat at an abnormal speed and my hands were clammy.

“Oh, Alex, I know you’re not here for small talk. You’re looking for your other comrades, right? Congratulations on being a hunter, by the way. I’m not surprised, though. You were always hunter-material.” She gave me a wink and then invited me to her table which was occupied by four other students who paid no attention to us. I cautiously sat down next to another male student who finally noticed me and gave me a wary look.

“Ignore him,” Olivia said. She must’ve seen me give the guy a look, or she was actually psychic. Shit. “Dustin, here, is just overprotective. It’s cute, actually. But, back to business. You can find Kaya outside the dining hall – you probably passed her – and, well, Samson…”

“What is it?” I questioned her, worried. The look on her face was unsettling; she was always the type to be calm and collected, but this time even she looked troubled.

“What do you know about mages?”

Puzzled, I slowly answered, “They’re not elemental wielders, but instead they use a tome to summon the four elements. They’re…powerful but also feared and hated because of their similarity to earth elementals. There are only a few mages left because they were persecuted hundreds of years ago. Why do you…oh.”

Olivia nodded and tapped her fingernails nervously on the table. “Yes, Alex. Your other teammate, Samson, is a mage.”