Page 8

Keahi

I was unlucky enough to be put in the early class of first aid on Saturday morning.

My alarm rings at eight, and I roll out of bed with uncharacteristic grogginess.

After a quick breakfast, I am the first in the classroom. While I usually don’t mind getting up early, I don’t share the excitement I feel toward school with first aid. I prefer learning how to inflict pain and fight rather than how to fix someone back up. Despite that, I force myself to pay attention.

After all, these skills could end up saving my life on the off chance that I ever get injured when I’m working as a guard.

Many want to work in a team later, which is usual, but I can’t imagine myself with a partner.

As soon as I can join the force, I will finally be working alone. That’s always been the plan. Therefore, I won’t be able to count on anyone but myself to nurse me back to health.

So far, this class has thought us what position to place an unconscious person in, how to make bandages, and how to act if someone is bleeding a lot.

We’re learning how to treat mundane wounds first since damage inflicted by our powers is apparently harder to deal with.

In this lesson, we are practicing stitches.

Since I’m not a complete moron and pick up new things easily, I fix my dummy up in no time.

That leaves me with enough time to wonder once more why we need to be patient with slow learners when all they do is hold the rest of us back. It’s almost painful to watch one of the earth handlers nearby try to pierce the dummy’s skin with shaky hands at a mind-numbing pace.

Since I can’t change the idiotic system, I content myself with taking my frustration out on the culprits in the meantime.

The feeble earth handler flinches when he notices my glare in his direction and starts fumbling even harder.

Other classmates react similarly under my scrutiny and mess up impossibly more. I’m making things worse for myself and I know it, but tormenting them is the only thing making the wait endurable. It’s always tough deciding between pleasure and efficiency.

When class is finally over, I have an hour and a half to kill before lunch, so I go to one of the small training rooms.

I open room 20 to find it occupied.

"Oh, hi, Keahi," Eteri says, looking flustered.

While I’d turn around if it were anyone else, Eteri is the one person I can spend time with without wanting to stab myself through the eye to make it stop.

Not only is she a competent fighter, being the orphan child of two of Arcane’s guards that were stationed in Norway and trained her from a young age, but she’s also got a steely personality to go with her cold appearance.

Blonde hair and colorless grey eyes. We’re opposites in looks and yet so similar in character.

Like me, she’s said to be the strongest person in her division already at fourteen.

Not only that, but she’s cold-hearted and enjoys making fun of the other students almost as much as I do, which occasionally makes her presence entertaining.

"How about a one-on-one?" I step into the small space and grin at her.

As she jumps to her feet, she returns the gesture and gets into position on one side of the mat covering half of the training room.

"Eager to lose?" she goads.

"Please," I drawl.

Eteri might be good, but she’s not good enough to best me.

No one here is. We get into our starting positions, and I am the first to attack. I like to get straight to the point and cut the small talk, and Eteri’s agreement on that front makes us a compatible duo.

Eteri is fast and agile and dodges my first two strikes with ease.

Then, before she even lands back on her feet from her latest dodge, she manages to hit my solar plexus with a strong gust of wind.

I am unable to sidestep the attack to my surprise, and the cold wind blows me straight down onto my back.

My opponent rushes over to me.

"Are you alright?" she gushes uselessly as she offers me a hand.

Instead of accepting the help, I use her moment of weakness to shoot a flame up at her. I do it slowly enough for her to get out of the way, but it takes her by surprise, and she leans back so far, she loses her balance and drops on her ass. I jump to my feet and step above her with sparks playing in the palm of my hand.

"You play dirty," she pouts, and I chuckle.

"You tried to help your opponent during an ongoing battle.

You know that is what gets you killed out there." I extinguish the flames and help her up.

Once she’s on her feet, she moves back to her side of the mat and brushes off her black uniform. It’s interesting to watch her move. She’s incredibly light and silent on her feet, moving with the kind of grace you don’t often see in any of the other kids here. Even now after her fall, she’s moving as if nothing happened.

"Admit it, I would have won if I hadn’t tried to help you up," she challenges, turning on her heels to face me with a teasing expression.

I scoff, although the sound lacks its usual malice.

"You are adorable, but no.

How did you hit me so fast though? That was impressive." I can admit as much, especially if buttering her up means Eteri will give me a tip or two. Whereas my strong suit is attacking with full force, hers is seeing patterns and being strategic. It allows her to act and react at an impressive speed.

"I saw your hit coming, so I started preparing my counterattack while dodging yours.

It’s smarter than wasting my time blocking." She shrugs as if it were no big deal.

It’s weird how she plays her abilities down and acts humble when everyone knows she’s one of the best.

With that, we continue training until it’s time for lunch.

The hall, of course, is horribly crowded as usual, and a little boy walks right into Eteri.

He looks no older than six, and his little hands are trembling as he looks up at the girl he disturbed.

"I-I’m sorry." He mumbles as a mean smile spreads over Eteri’s face.

She towers over him, looking down her nose while he looks frozen in place.

Before she can start tormenting him, the little boy gets pulled away though.

"Pick on someone your own size, why don’t you?" Malia glares up at Eteri, taking the little boy’s place.

Of course.

She loves playing holier than thou in everyone else’s business. I roll my eyes and walk away since I am in no way interested in hearing her voice or seeing her face. Truly, I can’t comprehend how anyone could be this obnoxious.

Malia could barely be taller than 4 foot 7 at this point, yet she’s acting like a damn giant when she stands up for others.

Like a chihuahua barking at a Rottweiler or something.

No, I don’t want to deal with that. I sit down at the very last table as always, and Eteri meets me there a few minutes later, hands balled and face red.

"I hate her." She looks like she’s about to explode.

"Same.

I’m just waiting for an opportunity to shut her up for good," I mumble.

"You better let me have a good go at her first, or we are going to have a problem." I chuckle at our shared bloodlust concerning the nightmarish teacher’s pet and start digging into my food.

One more major reason as to why I don’t mind the presence of Eteri; our mutual dislike toward Malia.

Everyone else here seems to love and adore her. Eteri gets me.

"Ah, first as usual." Kaz greets us when the two of us enter training after lunch.

He is still preparing some things while we stand in a corner and talk among ourselves.

Soon enough, our fellow students join us in the corner.

We are a group of five; Helia and I make up the fire division’s component, then there’s Eteri, and one person from each of the remaining two divisions, Aalto and clay.

Eteri and I are the youngest by almost two years.

Once all of us are standing in a half circle ready for Kaz’ instructions, he surprises me by saying we aren’t complete and therefore can’t start yet.

A few murmurs start up around me at the notice, and I must say I share the sentiment.

It’s highly rare for someone to join our group. Eteri was our latest addition and she’s somewhat of an exception because her parents were highly trained officers on the force. I wonder if there has been another newcomer that I haven’t noticed with a similar background.

Eventually, the door opens again, and we all turn around to see who’s there.

When I catch the familiar and most unpleasant sight of Malia’s black hair and pale complexion, I call out, "Did you get lost, Princess?" My groupmates snicker at my comment, and I allow myself a grin at the girl’s flaming cheeks.

She looks like she’s about to duck out of the room in shame, but our trainer speaks up in her favor.

"She did not, actually.

This is Malia from the water division, and she is the newest addition to this group." He seems to be the only person who is happy about that, but if he notices the tense atmosphere, he chooses to ignore it. I grind my teeth, my smile instantly wiped off my face while my classmates look highly irritated. Even Malia seems uncomfortable.

"You’re joking!" Eteri exclaims, and Malia’s cheeks turn an even darker shade of red even as she steps fully inside the room.

Could she be any more transparent? I can admit that maybe being challenged by her in class isn’t all that bad for my grades, but I certainly don’t want to see her in training too.

This is supposed to be my happy place.

There is no way this girl can keep up with our group anyway, but a new thought occurs to me.

The perfect opportunity...

I elbow Eteri and send her a look, glad to see she catches on instantly. Her lips twist into a smirk.

"I am not joking, and you will respect my decision.

Now, pairs of two on the mats," Kaz instructs, his no-nonsense tone fully in place.

Eteri reaches for me, but I brush her off.

"I’ll welcome the newbie," I tell her before walking toward Malia.

Malia keeps her features schooled, but the tension in her shoulders gives her fear away.

I smile and step onto the remaining mat while her eyes do a quick scan of the room, desperately searching for another partner, I bet.

When she realizes all the others have already paired up, she joins me reluctantly.

"No need to be scared, little girl.

You can always ask Kaz to place you in a group that actually fits your skills," I taunt her, keeping my voice just low enough so our trainer doesn’t hear.

She rolls her eyes and gets into position.

"Rambling is a sign of fear, Keahi.

But don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you." Her voice is strong and even, and it grates on my nerves how she never seems intimidated by me.

When I grind my teeth against my growing irritation, it’s her turn to smile.

I get in position wordlessly and fire my first ball of flames toward her with a bit more force than I would against an opponent I can actually stand.

She’s quick to block with a wall of water, although I note she did not generate her element herself. I raise an eyebrow but don’t waste my breath teasing her.

We circle each other, and the duel goes on with me attacking and her blocking.

I get more agitated with every failed attempt to win, hating how long this fight is taking.

The only upside is that anger is known to be my fuel, and the more time that passes, the stronger my attacks become.

I shoot at her with everything I’ve got, and she makes it look easy to block.

"Fight back!" I finally hiss, panting slightly while she is just standing here, smiling.

I get ready to attack again, my body going through the motions without much thought, but a strong beam of water hits me in the chest, catching me off guard and making me fall to the ground behind the mat.

Blinking for a few seconds as I feel the hard floor beneath me, I can’t help but wonder what on earth just happened.

"Great job, Malia," Kaz compliments my opponent, announcing to everyone that she just won.

I look around to find everyone staring at us, blinking in surprise as they look between me and the feeble girl that just handed me my ass.

My blood starts to boil, and I feel my hands heat up along with a familiar tingle. My source is starting to turn into a wildfire inside of me, growing and growing, trying to consume me.

"Did Keahi just lose?" Helia asks dumbfoundedly, finally snapping me out of my stupor.

I see red and barely notice what’s happening, Malia’s pleased expression and my classmates’ disbelief engraved in my mind’s eye.

The wildfire in my chest explodes and tingles break loose on every inch of my skin as my vision blurs.

I briefly register getting back on my feet, and there’s shouting, followed by an ear-piercing scream. Then, everything goes black.

-

I open my heavy eyelids and let my eyes adjust to the dark, quickly realizing I am no longer in the dimly lit training room.

I struggle to sit up and take in my surroundings.

My limbs feel heavy, and I am exhausted. Even the ever-angry flame inside of me has died down a tad.

I lie on a bed in the infirmary, but I have no idea how I got here.

I squint at the bed at my right, seeing the outlines of an unmoving body.

When the moon comes up from behind a cloud and shines through the high windows, I recognize Malia.

She’s laying on her back, and I can see the blanket covering her chest softly moving up and down with her even breathing.

I crawl off my bed and walk toward hers.

How did we get here and how long has it been? I walk around the sleeping girl’s bed and let a low hiss escape my mouth at the sight of the big burn on her right cheek.

It looks like it has already been treated, which means it must have been even worse before.

I wonder for a second what happened to her before remembering our training. Shit. I did that.

The realization is followed by another thought.

I am screwed.

Kaz saw what I did, which means I am still in one piece solely because I’ve been unconscious. I’ve never hurt another person like this, and the fact that it was outside of a duel only makes it worse. The enormous amount of power that burn took must have knocked me right out.

"Boy! You get away from her!" A plum woman I don’t know scurries over the clean floors and heads towards me.

I instinctively take a step back, but she reaches for me and drags me right back to my bed before I can make an escape.

"You need rest," she whispers harshly and pushes me down on the bed.

Once I am tucked in, she walks over to Malia.

With a fluid movement of the nurse’s hand, a paste from the nightstand floats through the air and spreads evenly on Malia’s injured cheek.

With one last disapproving look, the woman rushes back out of the room.

I lie still in my bed for what feels like hours but don’t manage to fall back asleep.

The memory of how I hurt Malia is still blurry, and it’s driving me mad.

Above that, I am worried about my upcoming punishment and angry about losing my temper publicly.

I am ripped out of my thoughts by a small moan coming from the girl beside me.

I look to my right and see Malia’s body twitch in her sleep.

"Malia," I whisper in an attempt to wake her up, but she doesn’t react.

She releases another pained sound that grates my nerves.

"Malia!" I repeat a little louder.

I might be an exceptionally light sleeper, but how can anyone not wake up when someone calls their name? The girl beside me keeps groaning and moving around, so I eventually get out of my bed and walk toward her.

As soon as I touch her shoulder, she snaps awake.

"What happened?" she asks instantly, unguarded for the half-second it takes her to recognize me.

When she does, her eyes narrow.

"What are you doing, trying to burn me in my sleep now? Just when I thought you couldn’t sink any lower." For once, her usually sweet voice contains some actual heat, and I hate the shiver of respect that earns her from some silly part of me.

"You were having a nightmare or whatever and I was sick of hearing your noises," I snap back even as I quickly retreat to my bed.

It takes a moment before Malia’s breathing gets deeper again, and I finally relax once I know she is asleep.

The distance between us seemed too inconsequential knowing we were both awake staring at the same patch on the ceiling. As soon as I’m sure she’s asleep, some peace of mind returns. I doze until the nurse walks back inside in a flurry of noises. By then, the infirmary is illuminated by sunlight.

"Are you feeling better?" she asks me first, and I nod, already sitting up.

"Great.

Kaz is expecting you in his office." The pit in my stomach widens. This is it. I’m about to be so screwed.

I glance at Malia one last time to see her sleepily looking up at me.

With her walls not quite in place yet, she actually lets me get a glimpse of her emotions.

There’s curiosity and distrust, sure, but there is also another emotion I don’t know where to place yet. Maybe pity? I hate that thought, so I quickly scowl and turn my back to her.

I trot off, feeling the girl’s eyes on me until I am out of sight.