The Lady Of Shadows

1.8: NOVICE.

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Omni luci est umbra - there is a shadow to each light.
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They are a secret sect dedicated to eradicating daimonic taints on the earth plane. Evolved from the preliminary Seers, members of the Seventh Cohort are deceptively strong, cunning and skilled in the martial arts. The Cadre is not a force to be reckoned with, their only weakness I can say is that they bleed red. Soldiers died quicker than recruited in the field. Their numbers are dwindling down, globally.

Thank you for the summary, Luce. It is still weird, communicating telepathically with Luciel.

Are you actually going to join their forces? Serve as a soldier among the mortals?

I wrestle with a sneaker. I have no choice in this, Luce. Thanks to the diabolical Instructor, I'll have to juggle both regiments in the nearest future.

You'll do fine, Lia. Just remember what I said about Azar.....

I got it, the whole honor in battle stuff.

Except soldiers of the Cadre fight dirty. They don't play by the book and do whatever they must to achieve their goals.

Then I won't have a problem fitting in.

The rest of the building is silent, still sleeping in the wee hours before dawn and I begin my descent down the labyrinthine stairs. Halfway down there, I can hear Azar's voice amplified by the stone walls. Day 1, and I'm already late. Awesome!

I can hear you wheezing, Lia. Were you always this unfit?

Shut up. Focus on your assignment.

I am. But your breathing is filtering through my senses at the moment.

I say nothing, twisting the ring until Luciel's voice fades from my conscious completely.

"I understand that you are all relatively grieving, but you must pull yourselves together. We're down a soldier and a new recruit will be coming in this morning...." I follow the sound of Azar's voice until I reach the open courtyard.

I pause, watching them. The Commander stands before them while her soldiers remain seated on the bare flooring, listening to her every word.

"When she arrives, you will follow the checklist. An extensive tour, the morning marathon and then sparring." She addresses the soldier next to her. Leanly built, toned muscles, dark eyes and brown hair. This one has significantly more tattoos than the others and has a gold pin attached to her shirt. "Understood, Commander."

Azar nods. "Then let us begin -

She jerks her head in my direction. "You, I've been waiting." Over thirty pair of eyes land on me at once. I remove myself from the door, clearing my throat. "I could have sworn I was right on time, Commander."

I follow her beckoning finger and huddle closer to the rest of the group. They watch me curiously, but not in the same invasive way the other cohorts did when I first arrived. Azar clamps her hands on my shoulders, making me face everyone. "Cadre, this is your newest recruit. Elia Daneeka."

Silence. More stares. Then a loud hoot breaks out from behind before the others join in the frenzied cheers. What in the world? "That is group excitement if you cannot tell." Azar whispers by my ear before unhanding me.

They're all smiling. Warmly. The first soldier approaches me with a firm handshake. She's the one Azar was giving those instructions to. "Welcome to the Seventh Cohort, Elia. I'm Kara, Capitan of the Cadre." She smiles, but her glossy, bloodshot eyes say something else.