Page 18

Keahi

Malia is the last to come into the room today, and while I am desperate to establish eye contact, she doesn’t even glance in my general direction.

Since apparently, she can feel it when I look at her, she is ignoring me on purpose.

I don’t know why I obsess about any of this and sure as shit don’t like it.

I force my gaze on Kaz when he clears his throat.

"Today is a special training.

As you all know, students above the age of 17 are allowed to train outside.

Half of you is above that age and I was able to convince Adira that the other half is just as ready.

"So, we are going to go outside where I’ve prepared a parkour for you.

Stamina and agility are the main focus of the training today.

Don’t disappoint me." My pulse quickens in excitement as our trainer leads us down a restricted hallway and through two double doors.

The corridor looks the same as the rest of the academy, with white, shiny walls and marble floors.

Still, the lack of students and utter silence only disturbed by our small group makes all the difference, turning this place into something mysterious and foreign.

After going through one final, steel door that only opens after Kaz types in some sort of code, I’m blinded by daylight.

It’s a warm day in the middle of July, and the sun sears through my black uniform.

Despite the discomfort, I’m exhilarated to be out here. The faces of my classmates very much mirror my enthusiasm, and my gaze immediately gravitates to Malia as if forced by a magnetic pull.

Of course, the girl is beaming brighter than the sun above, her blue eyes wide and her teeth showing as she takes in the new surroundings.

With no small amount of discomfort, I realize that even the outside pales in the presence of her delight.

I force my gaze away, focusing instead on Kaz, who keeps walking until we are a little deeper into the forest, and all the new sights.

That’s the downside of growing up at the academy from a young age.

Apart from the small snippets of early childhood memories and pictures from books in the library, I have no idea of what’s out in the world.

I don’t usually mind, but right now, I can’t help but feel like I’ve been missing out. I’ve never been in the woods or on a mountain. I’ve never even been able to look up at the starry night sky since curfew made it impossible for me to sneak outside after dark.

"There are orange flashcards with tasks distributed in a range of one mile in every direction.

You should find a tiny red flag at the end of every task.

Bring each flag back to me after finding it and head out again. The person that finishes the most tasks wins. Any questions?" No one speaks up so Kaz gives us a countdown, and we all start running into the woods.

I have no idea how this is going for the others, but it takes me about twenty minutes to find the first flashcard.

Climb up this tree and find a way to get to the flag.

I look up the giant tree the note was attached to.

There are no low-hanging branches nor is there a ladder.

I consider putting the note back and searching for another task, but it took me too long to find it to give up.

If I were an earth handler, I could easily get up there, but I can hardly burn the tree down to get the flag.

Taking a closer look at the thick trunk, I see that parts of the bark are carved off.

How should that help me? They’re not deep enough to step into or hold onto, it’s just not as slippery as the rest.

There must be a way. I search the ground around the tree and finally find something.

It’s a long rope nestled inside a bush.

I think about ways to use it and remember climbing up the vent.

There, I could press my arms and legs against the insides to get up, maybe I could do something similar here. I wrap the rope around the tree and wrap both ends around my fists.

I pull at the rope, so it is tight against the back of the trunk and put my feet against the carved-out spots.

It appears that I could stay like this without touching the ground but I’m still not sure how to climb up.

Switching between messily grating the rope higher and stepping up in the carved holes, I slowly move toward the branch I am headed for.

My legs and arms are trembling by the time I reach it, sweat burning in my eyes.

I try to wipe at my forehead with my hands but pull away with a hiss when the salty moisture burns my bleeding blisters. Seems like tonight, I’ll finally test out my healing skills on myself. A little preview of the future, perhaps.

I stand on top of the branch and look for the red flag.

When I spot it in the tree ahead, I groan.

Come on! There is a long pole connecting the two trees and rings hang from it. I assume I am supposed to swing from ring to ring until I am on the next branch, but I have another plan.

I pull myself up at the first ring, climb on top of the wide pole, and start crawling to the other side.

I finally pull out the tiny red flag and start looking for a way down when I notice the tree I am currently on is hollow.

It appears to be a roughly seven feet fall down the inside of the tree, so I jump inside without wasting any more time.

I land on the top of the stomp and find a hole in the side that I can look out of.

I am close enough to the ground to jump again, but my knees protest when I land on the forest ground.

I ignore the slight pain and run back to Kaz.

By now, I’ve lost my sense of time, but I at least manage to find my way back to the place where we started.

"Keahi, very well.

You’re the first to bring back a flag," my trainer tells me.

I nod in acknowledgement, a rush of relief filling me, and run into the forest once more. My lungs are burning as I jump over a fallen log, and I slow down a little. I have no idea where to look for my next task so running mindlessly won’t help. For once, I need to keep my wits about myself rather than rushing into the offensive.

By the time I hand in my second flag, Kaz informs me that I have about fifty minutes to spare and that Malia has taken the lead.

Cursing, I tap into every last of strength that I can find within myself and head back into the forest.

As much as we train in the academy, we don’t usually focus on cardio and it shows. Add the additional challenges of running over the unruly ground in the forest instead of a treadmill and there’s the explanation for the stitch in my side.

I ignore it and trudge on, heading for a part of the woods that I haven’t been in yet.

Keeping my eyes and ears open, I nearly whoop in relief when I hear the sound of crunching footsteps nearby.

I accelerate my approach but tread as lightly as possible until I’m close enough to recognize my classmate through the trees.

A small, lithe blur of black is navigating the trees a few feet away, and my heart skips a beat.

Just my luck to find Malia, out of all classmates.

Her face is looking straight ahead, and I follow her line of sight until I spy the orange card tucked underneath the root of a tree nearby.

I break into a sprint and manage to overtake her with my long strides.

I hear her huff as she tries not to lose the race, but I’m already picking up the laminated card.

It’s right ahead, but don’t lose your balance.

Feeling somewhat gracious, I drop the card back down for my opponent to read.

Then, I hurry towards one of the fallen tree trunks that act as a bridge over a steep valley that must be at least thirty feet deep.

The dark, wet wood looks sturdy enough but the slight green sheen covering most of the smooth wood worries me.

I place a tentative foot on the beginning of the tree trunk and give it a testing shimmy.

As I thought, the surface is slippery.

I look to my side, finding Malia standing with one foot on another fallen trunk similar to mine.

We lock eyes, and hers mirror the same determination I feel.

She breaks the connection first and quickly puts her other foot onto the thick trunk.

I look back down at my makeshift bridge.

It might be a total of 15 inches wide, but the part horizontal enough for me to put my feet on is only about five. I start taking slow, measured steps as I see Malia get ahead in my peripheral vision.

Sweat beads at my brow.

Of all the challenges to find, it had to be the one with heights.

Malia loves heights. She has a clear advantage since I can’t fucking stand them. I focus hard on placing one foot in front of the other, and it takes all my willpower not to glance down into the valley.

I just need to get over this.

If Malia steps back onto firm ground first, it doesn’t matter.

I’ll be able to catch up with here when we race toward the flag.

I’m still a few feet away from the edge of the Valley when Malia seems about ready to jump off and start running.

I grit my teeth and try to take a longer step.

If I’m too far behind, she’ll be on her way back before I get the chance to get off this weak excuse of a bridge.

I miscalculate my ability to balance, though, and suddenly find myself slipping over the edge.

Shit.

I’m airborne for a second before my arms collide with the wet trunk. My heart races painfully in my chest as my blistered fingers search for purchase. My nails crack where I dig them into the bark of the trunk to keep from slipping down further and I bite back a gritted shout.

Fuck.

Not only does Malia now have a clear path to victory, but I’m also about to splatter all over the boulders lying around twenty feet below me.

I am not dying like this, I remind myself even as my legs swing helplessly in the air.

“Keahi!” my rival shouts my name, an urgency in her voice that I can’t place.

I look up, just barely able to see her over the trunk I’m clinging to.

She’s swaying on her tree as she gapes at me, and I can see the war raging behind her eyes. She’s debating whether she should secure her win or save me first.

If you’ve learned anything in your years here, you would choose the prior, Princess.

I’m not losing for.

She finishes balancing off her trunk and for a moment, I believe she’ll leave me hanging and head to the flag.

It evokes an unwarranted stab of disappointment in my gut.

But as soon as her feet touch the ground, she’s running in my direction and getting on my trunk.

“What are you doing?” I ask, horrified when she wobbles again.

If she falls, we’re both dead, so the immediate terror seizing my chest is warranted.

“Stepping on your fingers,” she replies snappily.

I don’t tell her that that was the first thing I considered when she came my way.

Of course, I knew it was an improbability since Malia isn’t cruel like me. That my mind went there in the first place just proves that I’m the twisted one- “What does it look like? I’m saving your ass.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Been wanting to hear you beg for a while now,” she trails off, clearly teasing.

I should really stop engaging her.

My hands are cramping, fingers bleeding, and arms shaking.

Despite all that, I can’t help but smirk at her. “In your dreams. The good ones, I assume.” I’m on the verge of falling to my death and here we are, bantering.

Malia rolls her eyes at my antics and gets on with actually helping me.

She lowers herself until she’s sitting with her strong legs wrapped around the trunk.

Then, she holds out an arm for me to hold on to. I don’t know how I’m supposed to grip her without falling first, or how she plans on staying on the trunk once I’m hanging on to her, but I decide to take the leap. After all, doing nothing means my certain death.

But accepting her help might mean hers as well.

I shake the thought and wrap one hand firmly around her slender wrist.

Fuck, her bones feel too fragile under my grip.

If she starts slipping, I’m letting go. Maybe I’ll even survive...

With both of her hands holding on to my one arm, Malia starts to pull me up with surprising force.

I maneuver my other hand so I can push myself up on the trunk once I’m high enough.

Like that, I can eventually drag myself back onto the expanse of the trunk. I heave.

That was close.

Malia immediately gets to her feet and balances the short distance to firm ground, and I force my shaking limbs to follow suit, even if at a much slower pace.

I can tell she’s about to sprint towards victory, and while a better man would have let her after she just saved my life, I opt for tackling her to the ground instead.

She falls forward at the force of my attack, but quickly manages to twist underneath me so she’s facing me.

I straddle her narrow hips and squeeze them tightly between my thighs while her hands are pinned above her head.

“You shouldn’t have helped me, Princess.

Or is this what you wanted all along?” I grin as if my insides weren’t still shaking from dangling from a great height.

“Get off me!” she groans, trying her best to throw me off.

“With pleasure.” I jump to my feet, fake salute my rival, then sprint to the flag.

I’m not the only one that plays dirty, though.

Instead of trying to catch up with me, Malia catches one of my ankles in a water lasso and yanks me back. I try to kick it off as it drags me closer and closer to the ledge and she strolls past me, but it’s no use. I surrender when I see her almost by the flag by the time I’m released.

Instead of walking after her, I stay where I am, blocking the tree trunks and her way back.

“Give me the flag,” I order when we’re facing each other, using my power to infect her body.

I don’t use a lot of force.

Hell, I don’t even like the thought of taking away Malia’s free will and spirit, but I’m still weak and shaky from my near-death experience and my body aches in more places than I can count. I’m not up for a long battle. I just need this to be over with.

“No,” she retorts stubbornly, and I can see the exact moment my power intensifies inside her at the refusal to obey because her eyes open wide.

“Stop!” she cries, suddenly sounding scared.

She’s terrorized of what I’m doing to her. The knot in my stomach tightens but I keep any conflicting feelings about this off my face.

When I don’t react to her, a stubborn glint solidifies in her eyes.

Seeing that expression on her face usually excites me during our encounters, but not now.

Now, it makes me dread what she’s going to make me do.