A Flawed Alliance

Chapter 5- No Auxiliary Can Go Without Weaponry

The scales were still shooting me upward and I could feel every vibration it made as it rubbed against some sort of concrete. The ride was bumpy, the scales continuously skidding across the sides of a stone pipe until there was a sudden jolt and they finally dispersed away. I cautiously opened my eyes and wrapped my hand around the bruises on my arm.

A small groan sounded. I turned around and saw a reptile-looking animal. It was ridged with green scales and once it breathed out, the scales detached from it, revealing pink, rubbery skin. Its eyes were large and bulbous, and the feathery wings that protruded from its body was the only thing that kept the reptile balanced; it had no arms but muscled legs.

Standing next to the creature was a middle-aged man with thick arms crossed across his chest. Instead of human skin, what covered his body was a fleshy substance, pink and identical to the skin of the reptile's. He moved and along with his body, his skin too, wrinkling and bunching up excessively in contrast to the wrap of human skin.

"Thank you," I stuttered, suddenly gasping for breath.

"You're welcome," the man replied, bowing. "Good luck with training today."

The man's symbol was his skin. For me, the tattoo on my hand was physical evidence that branded me as a Phoenix Auxiliary. To this man, his skin was the mark that told everybody he was connected with his animal.

The man turned back to his animal. "Alright, Rakde, pull up another. I feel another person on the target board."

The creature unfurled its wings and from its flesh, a cluster of scales sprouted out and shot inside the pipe that had led me out. I stared at them a little longer until the man bowed toward me again.

I looked behind me and to my surroundings and noticed I had landed on top of the roof of the building, the entire bottom half piled with sand. Just down below was the beach I had seen through the large windows from last night. Or what I thought was the window. In reality, the window was not facing directly to the beach but somehow was able to have a visual of what was on top.

Huge torches were staked across the beach, dim and waiting to be lit. The waves of the beach roared in my ears and through the soles of my shoes, I felt the coolness of the sand, almost like sugar, fine and coarse.

A shout echoed across the beach. "Alright! Let's get training!"

I dusted off some dirt off my pants and slid down to ground level after Aaron who was bringing the group together. My boots squished on wet sand as I made my way over.

"Welcome to another day of training," Aaron greeted. By now, everybody had gathered together in a semi-circle. "Every day you will be assessed on what you do so don't screw up. Easy. Just follow directions and do well. That's all there is to it. I don't want anybody dying when they just met their animal."

Mr. Hrodvitnir was standing next to Aaron, chewing happily on a cotton candy stick. Then the familiarity suddenly dawned on me. He was the same guy who kept soothing me at the reception desk after I took my Evaluation. I raised my eyebrows and kept staring until Aaron began talking again.

Aaron pointed behind him with a thumb. "Since we're all done with touring and orientation, the real training will start. We will be walking over this hill every day to get to our training grounds. It is vital to keep up your physical endurance hence if your animal gets too hard to defend against."

From the window of the dorm before, I had seen the massive hill, but standing in front of it showed the sheer height of it. The hill was so large that it covered half of my vision and almost the blue skies above. Trees dotted on top of the hill and to the land beyond the hill's straight summit.