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It didn’t take us long to show up to Gaerlan’s training. We walked around for a little bit, checking the wards in place, and then bam, there was Gaerlan, showing his trainees the realities battle.
Gaerlan looked happy.
The trainees looked miserable.
Zen didn’t need to see my expression to know what I wanted to do. As soon as we saw the small gathering of people dressed in black shirts and sweatpants, he veered our small entourage toward them.
Seven students made a half circle around Gaerlan. The eighth one stood in the middle, near my brother, looking half scared and ready to pee himself.
As we approached, Gaerlan’s gaze snapped to mine and he held it for a few seconds as he talked. I smirked and gave him a finger wave. He just shook his head and kept going on about how they knew nothing and it was his job to make sure when they left at the end of the training, they left being the best that they could be.
I ignored them, taking in all the students instead. He was feeding them pretty words, drawing them into a sense of security. What they didn’t know was that while Gaerlan was someone to worship, he was ruthless. The moment he sparred with them, they’d realize how ruthless. He wasn’t going to go easy on them just because they didn’t know what they were doing.
No one did for him.
Me neither.
And we were better for it. There was going to be no hand-holding here.
“Now, let’s begin. Come at me, give me everything you’ve got.” Gaerlan stepped back and went into his fighting stance, arms out, legs slightly bent. He was ready. “Do not hold back. If you do, you’ll end up dead.”
Gaerlan’s expression was serious, and the poor victim before him looked like he was about to pass out. The trainee gave him a sharp nod and did as he was told. He attacked.
The trainee was fast, but not fast enough. Gaerlan was a whirlwind of actions that landed the guy on the ground with a loud painful grunt. Gaerlan made sure to make his point by punching the guy in the face once before stepping back.
“You’re dead,” Gaerlan said, his expression hard. “Get up. You get three lives.”
“He’s merciless,” Zen said.
“He’s using the same way we learned,” I said.
“Shit. Like that.”
I smirked. “We only had two lives, not three. He’s being nice.”
Rophan made a low grunt. “They won’t learn like that.”
I gave him a side glance. “Oh, they’ll learn. They’ll learn fast. They’ll learn how he moves, his style, his strengths and weaknesses. Then when class is over, they’ll work together to figure out how to combat him. So the next time they have class, they’ll have a game plan and determination on their side. Maybe then, they’ll land a punch.” I chuckled. “And when they land a punch, he’ll change his style of fighting on them and they’ll do it all over again.”
There was another hard thud as the trainee’s butt met the ground. He moaned, holding his arm.
“He’s going to teach them teamwork and they aren’t even going to know it.”
The trainee lasted maybe three seconds before he lost his third life and had to step back, joining the others. The group grew restless and scared. They didn’t know what to make of the training exercise. Especially on the first day. All they knew was that they didn’t want to be called on next.
Gaerlan slowly scanned the group before settling on a woman. He pointed to her. “You next.”
She hesitantly stepped forward until pulling on her confidence.
Gaerlan raised an eyebrow. “First lesson. There is no distinction here between men and women. You’re not pulling a G.I. Jane here. I will not change the curriculum just because some of you have dicks and others have vaginas. Now. Three lives. Attack with everything you have. And don’t think I won’t hold back. When you face off with a manticore, they aren’t going to go easy on you because you’re a woman.”
The woman’s expression hardened, anger swelling in her electrical baby blue eyes. The air around her buzzed as she drew on her magic. Fae.
Gaerlan showed no acknowledgment of the challenge she threw her way.
“Begin.”
She didn’t need to be asked twice. One moment she was about seven feet away, the next, she was in front of him, throwing a punch at his face, electricity sparking down her arm.
If that sucker landed, it’d do serious damage.
My brother didn’t let it. He was already moving, leaning to the right, his own punch snapping out and connecting with her stomach. She made an oomph sound, all the air in her lungs forced out.
Refusing to back off so early, Gaerlan followed his hit with a kick that connected with her ribs and sent her flying. She landed a few feet away with a cry, clutching her ribs.
“Isn’t that too much?” Zen asked, glaring at my brother. To him, this was violence against women, something he heavily stood against.
“Have you heard about Lady Valentine?” I asked.
That grabbed his attention and he turned to me with a frown, his eyes dark with fury. He was about to step in. “No.” He gritted out.
“She was an assassin. She’d sneak up on her victims, acting all cute and innocent. Then she’d tear their hearts out of their chest while it still beat and put it on top of their bodies. It was her calling. Gaerlan took her out. She nearly killed him because he had fallen for her trick and almost realized it too late. Women are just as brutal, but human society is not Natural society. You know this.”
“Doesn’t make this easier.”
“She isn’t weak. She’s an elemental fae. She’s going to be healed and all better in ten minutes.”
“Not helping,” he snapped out.
I pressed my lips together and turned back to the battle. Zen’s background was different. He specialized in search and rescue. It was why he was there to save me when I had been kidnapped once. His job meant he saw the brutality that women had to face.
“He’s going to make it so she’s never a victim,” Rophan said in a low voice. We turned to him, expecting him to say more. He didn’t. His normally blue eyes were a dark thunderstorm as he watched the scene before us. His seriousness made me think of his sister. She was here too. I hadn’t had the pleasure of hunting her down and giving her a greeting yet, but it was on my list of To-Dos. Before the campus opened, I had mentioned to him about his style of protection for her.
I wondered if he was thinking about that now. There was a difference between protecting someone and coddling them. Rophan coddled Liliac, and I didn’t need to meet her to know that. Her personnel photo had said it all. No one was that innocent anymore, especially after losing both their parents: one to childbirth and the other to the cruelty of the Unveiling.
Rophan was right though. Gaerlan was going to ensure that the female never became a victim. She was going to hurt first, though.
It didn’t take long for her to lose all three of her lives.
“Next up is...” Gaerlan’s gaze landed on a man with golden brown skin, black hair, and wide facial features. He was relaxed, his attention raptly on my brother. “Ferys.”
The man stilled for a second before releasing a breath and walking slowing toward Gaerlan. He looked completely relaxed, but I recognized the predator in him. He was a natural hunter and right now, he had a mission.
“That’s the one Archon was going on about, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” Rophan responded, looking just as interested. A student already getting a compliment by a trainer like Archon meant we needed to pay attention to him.
I wanted to give Ferys credit. He didn’t show his fear. He moved gracefully, making me wonder what kind of shifter he was. His energy was tightly controlled as he stood in front of my brother.
While I knew everything about my students, I knew next to nothing about the trainees. My gaze traveled up and down Ferys, taking every inch of him in. Maybe I needed to look into them more.
“This will be interesting,” Rophan said.
“Agreed,” Zen replied. The two men stared at the two opponents with as much attention as they would give to a boxing championship.
A small part of me hoped Ferys gave my brother a good challenge, but I knew that wasn’t the case. He had a lot of potential, but still lacked that dangerous edge of someone with experience. Gaerlan had that in spades, Ferys didn’t. Time was all he needed.
Still, the three of us held our breaths as Gaerlan spoke.
“Three lives, come at me with everything you have.” My brother’s expression was more serious, his body language acknowledging that Ferys could be a potential danger. “Go.”
Neither of them moved, Ferys taking the time to size up his opponents. Gaerlan stayed still for a few long moments, and did the smallest shift. That was Ferys’ invitation to attack, which was exactly what my brother wanted.
The shifter was fast. Almost as fast as Gaerlan. The only problem was, there weren’t many out there who were faster. I was, my mother and father were, but I didn’t know many others. Some day, I could see Ferys being faster too. But for today, he got to find himself on the ground, with Gaerlan’s hand on the back of his head, shoving his face into the grass.
“One life,” Gaerlan said as he jumped back, giving the trainee time to get back to his feet.
The second round went better. Well enough that the only sounds came from the two as their hits landed, and they shuffled over the grass to avoid attacks. Gaerlan threw a kick that should have landed, but Ferys got creative. He nimbly jumped out of the way, making me think he was some kind of feline shifter. Gaerlan followed after him with another kick, then another. The last one finally landed and Ferys grunted as he slid across the grass, the force too much for him to handle.
If only two things could be listed about Gaerlan’s fighting style, it was his viciousness and his follow-through. He didn’t hesitate, hovering over Ferys before the guy had a chance to draw in his next breath.
Gaerlan finished him off with his knee to Ferys’ stomach and a hand wrapped around his throat.
“Dead.”
That one word had the power to send shivers down spines. Gaerlan ignored everyone, staring down at the trainee with a deadly gleam in his eyes. I pulled magic to me, recognizing that look. Ferys had brought out Gaerlan’s hunter side. If he didn’t get himself together, he was going to go too far and kill the trainee.
Then I’d have to kick him out of the academy. The council would bring him forward to court. Our mother and father would get involved. It was a huge mess I didn’t want to deal with, even if I knew he’d only get a little slap on the wrist at the end of it.
I was ready to give him a kick in the butt when he took in a long breath and withdrew his hand from Ferys’ throat.
“Good,” he said. “You did good.”
In a blink, Gaerlan was back on his feet, yards away and staring back at his group like he didn’t almost tear out someone’s throat simply for existing and pushing the wrong buttons.
“That is it for today. We’ll regroup tomorrow to continue. Think about what you saw today. If I call on you tomorrow, I expect you to have a game plan on how to defend yourself against me. And just because you fought today doesn’t mean I won’t call on you again tomorrow. Dismissed.”
The trainees didn’t wait to scatter. Someone went over to Ferys and helped him to his feet. I stared at him and our eyes met. Something deep inside of me loosened and I bit back a gasp, not expecting the emotion.
“Sis, what are you doing here,” Gaerlan asked as he approached.
I didn’t draw my eyes away from Ferys as I said, “Checking in on you.”
“More like causing problems.”
Ferys finally turned his back to me, breaking our weird connection, as he let another student lead him away, and I met Gaerlan’s eyes.
“If only it were that easy.”
My brother’s eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”
“We’re patrolling,” Zen said. “Someone snuck inside. Hasn’t caused any problems and none of the entrances into the buildings have alerted us that they made it in somewhere, but they’re out there.”
“Already?”
I shrugged, trying to play nonchalant. “It was expected.”
“Want me to go hunting?” he asked.
Shaking my head, I said, “Nothing for you to zero in on. Any traces of magic they left behind was corrupted.”
“How are you so sure someone made it inside?” he asked.
“A footprint,” Zen said, sounding about as grumpy as he looked. Not knowing who was there when they shouldn’t be had to be driving him crazy. “There was a small disturbance to the camera. And they’re taunting us.” Zen quickly filled him in on our little flag of challenge.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Gaerlan said. “Do you think it was the Purity Party?”
I snorted. “They wouldn’t be able to find their bums with both hands, a roadmap, and a flashlight. No way would they have found a way onto these lands.”
“Those naive thoughts are dangerous,” Rophan warned. “When people want to be, they can be tenacious. Don’t think just because we’re Naturals that we’re superior. That mindset can get you killed.”
“I know that. I know that very well,” I whispered, hating the way his simple reprimand felt like a stab to the heart. To Zen, I said, “I’ll see you later.”
Walking away, I had to wonder what it meant to have a stranger on campus. Frankly, it pissed me off. They were probably getting a laugh about it, but not for long.
I could be tenacious too when I wanted.
