Cardinal Tower (Trinity Central Book #1)

Chapter 17

Each scream she emits, a white ring pulsates through the ground matching her heartbeat. It starts with her at the center and moves outward, falling down the tier of the square. Once the ring reaches the crowd, panic starts to set in. People look around at the ground, more and more turning in confusion when the ring passes them. Once it reaches me, I realize that the white ring is actually a cool, icy mist.

Grayson starts to move backward, his eyes moving between Aria and the icy air encompassing her. With one loud shriek, ice shoots out from under her. Shards scatter across the ground, stalagmites shooting out from around her. The clear spikes would look like glass had it not been for the steam leaking from around it, making it all the more difficult to see.

Another shriek erupts, and with it ice builds off of the frozen knives made prior, creating a cage for Aria to hide in. Grayson falls back, he's breathing heavily, each breath visible when it hits the cool air, and his eyes are looking on in terror like the rest of the class. I've seen this before on a cable set, but in person just makes it so captivating, so magnificent.

The spikes grow the more she cries and Grayson has no choice but to slowly inch backward and pray for the best. Jacoby blows his whistle, over and over, thinking that it would do anything. The room breaks into chaos, yells of confusion cutting through the screams and sobs of fear echoing off the room. Everyone started to back away from the square, not sure how to react to the scene unfolding in front of them.

I make eye contact with Kent who's watching on with the same level of awe on the opposite side of the room. Without thinking, we start to rush to the ring. I swing myself over the tier, sliding under the rubber bar right before Kent reaches the square. The ground is cold, my boots slipping with every other step.

I find a window between two ice shards and force my way through, stepping on top of the next row of shorter spikes, Kent not too far behind. I'm sure to watch my step as we move slowly down each layer of ice.

Soon, we reach Aria, still crying in her fetal position. All I could do was bend down, stroking her back in an effort to soothe her. Her gasps slow down indicating that she's becoming calm enough, so I slide one arm behind her neck and the other under her knees and lift her up. It took much less effort than I thought it would have. She cradles her head in the space between my arm and my chest, staining my uniform with tears. I turn and hand her off to Kent.

"Where were you? You're supervising her, so how could you let it go this far?" I scold him, anger burning through the cold around us.

"I know, I know, I should've been more attentive," he replies. I wasn't expecting such an earnest response from Kent, and so I just let go of Aria and trust him to handle the situation.

"Get her to a doctor," I tell him, "I saw that fight so tell them to check for broken ribs or a cracked spine." He nods, acknowledging the gravity in my voice.

Before he leaves, I bend down so that my face was level with Aria's. I brush her loose hair out of her face and whisper, "You'll be fine. I told you you were strong." It seems as though she's passed out since her eyes were shut and she doesn't respond.

Kent walks away, hugging Aria to his chest, and all I can do is watch and hope.

* * *

Eventually, everyone calmed down, though many still asked for answers. Without giving them the satisfaction of knowing, Jacoby has forced them to be complacent in ignorance. He instructed the class to surround a sparring square on the opposite end of the room, and before I know it, it's my turn to fight.

Blake, the top of the applied initiates, looks inhuman. He towered over me, forcing me to literally look up at him. His biceps were larger than General Jacoby's, his eyes more serious than my own. The colossal behemoth loomed over me like a lion stalking its prey. He jutted out his chest, allowing everyone to see it rise and fall with every breath. He stands with his legs slightly parted, his arms not being able to rest at his sides due to the massive amount of muscle in the way. It's strange to say, but he looks familiar.

His face is tense knowing that he has a reputation to uphold, but still a bit wary knowing that the little girl in front of him threw a general with ease. He's not stupid, I know that much, but he is heavy enough to kill me. Let's see if that bulk is more than just for show.

"You may not look it, but I know you're going to be a tough opponent," Blake says, his voice lower than I'd expected, "That doesn't mean I'm going to lose, though."

"At least try to make this entertaining," I say before turning to my corner.

Jacoby blows the whistle and Blake squats down, his hands held over his face. He looked similar to Grayson, and based off of his stance, I can assume their fighting styles are similar as well. He jumps side to side, eyeing me up and down. I look back at him, an indifferent expression accompanying an unmoving, relaxed posture.

Only Stellas have the luxury of signing up to test for the Trinity Guard, it's not an option I ever had. Instead, I had to learn how to defend myself on the streets. I was beaten up at times which means I can take a punch, he lived with a roof which means he's never had to worry much about cantos. He was secure enough that he could risk attempting to make a living as a guard. We come from two very different worlds, with two very different experiences. He looked like every other guard or Karma I've ever run from. At that moment I knew, I wasn't going to lose.

He made the first move. With his arms close to his head, he swung; I leaned away in time, his fist grazing my hair. He swung again, and again, and again. Every attack growing increasingly desperate as he repeatedly fails to make contact. His barrage of attacks are constantly deflected by the same krav maga defense technique I saw Emiko and Susanne use during their fight. Blake keeps creeping forward, trying to back me into a corner. I don't budge, though, let's see how far he takes this game of chicken.

Eventually, he sees that his tactic isn't working, and jumps back still holding his arms up, his knees still slightly bent with each hop. Once he realizes that attacking me with brute force isn't going to work, he decides to try his hand at skill. He launches a power angle kick I wasn't expecting. His leg slams into me, but instead of keeling over, I grab his leg and hold on, gritting my teeth through the pain. Knowing that he was off balance due to his last attack, I seize the opportunity and turn the leg I was holding, forcing him to the floor.

With a thrust, he throws his free leg up, forcing my back to the mat. I cough out, the landing shocking my spine. I land right above his head, gasping for air since all of it was knocked out of my lungs with the initial impact. A single bead of sweat starts to form and I feel my hair sticking to my forehead.

He pumps his legs in the air and pushes off his hands, landing square on his feet. He turns and attempts the same finishing blow as Sawyer did earlier. I turn away, pushing myself onto my knees. He stands up, rolling his shoulder to make sure the joint was still intact, when I take the opportunity to sweep my leg across the floor, forcing him to fall backwards. While my leg moves, it hooks his left ankle, pulling it to my arms. I wrap my calves around his waist and grip his knee tightly until I can feel it buckle.

Blake somehow manages to snake an arm under me, prying me away from his trapped leg. He sucks in his breath and tosses me over him, but not without his thigh being dragged with it, the sudden motion causing an audible crack in the socket. I manage to roll to my feet before I hit the ground, he lets out a gasp of pain. Furious, he rushes toward me, an arm held out trying to clothespin me in one last burst of energy. I grab his wrist and push his elbow behind him, forcing him to follow it to the ground.

Blake falls and the round ends with me stepping on his collarbone while pulling his arm, like I had with that southern girl in the market a lifetime ago. He's holding onto my foot with his free hand, trying to loosen my grip. I step off of the square with eyes staring at me in amazement, and at Blake in disbelief.

He sits on the side with his group of friends, but the stares linger until I find my seat in the back, three feet apart from everyone else. I try not to make eye contact by staring at a cut on my knuckles, but I can still feel their gazes burning through my uniform.