The Turned - The Immune (Book 3)

Chapter 2.

Ilyana called out, a formless syllable that served the signal for her group to take the next step. Fluidly, each of the 8 young students shifted their stance, took a step to their right, and blocked an imaginary attack with their right arm. They stopped moving as one, freezing in place and awaiting her next command. Her eyes swept across them for a long moment, both to check their performance and to force them to hold their stance, strengthening their legs.

She called again. They straightened enough to snap a front kick at the imaginary attacker, then set the foot behind them and parry another attack- this one to their left. One of the students wobbled slightly before putting her foot down, and when she snapped the parry into place, her stance was just slightly off. Ilyana stepped up behind her, tapping the instep of the offending foot with her own, and the girlcorrected herself immediately.

“Balance drills, Ginette,” she said, just loud enough for the girl to hear. The girl nodded once in acknowledgement, then froze, awaiting the next command. Ilyana turned her attention back to the others, mentally noting their stances and hand positions.

She was about to give the next command when a pair of figures came in through the South gate, 70 meters from her class. They were breathing heavily, as if after a long run. Ilyana looked at the sun – there was perhaps an hour left before sunset, and the heavy forest surrounding their new home would cast long shadows. The Turned wouldn’t have to wait to approach the walls.

Scouts, she said to herself. The pair paused for a moment, catching their breath, then began scanning the large, open area, looking for someone. Cheszalt was meeting with two of the senior instructors near the portal to the Eastern section of the city. The two scouts spotted him, and headed directly toward him.

He noticed them, as well. Once he did, he began scanning the practice space as well, meeting the gaze of a handful of other senior members of The Order. Even though he was the most senior member, and he’d led the Order through its most trying times, he always called upon his advisors when hearing a scout report. His eyes fell upon Ilyana, and he gave her a short nod. He wants me to hear this one, too.

“Jonathan, lead the group through the remainder of the form,” she said to the oldest of her class. “If you get through the form three times before I return, pair off and practice wrist locks.”

“Yes, sister,” the boy replied. He might have been 13 years old, by Ilyana’s guess. He assumed command of the group immediately, callingout the commands for each move, and the class didn’t hesitate for a moment to obey him. Ilyana jogged across the practice field, skirted the edge of another class that was doing sword drills, and reached Cheszalt just as the two scouts did.

One of them was the young man that defeated her in the championship tournament the year before. He’d been assigned to scout duties soon after, and had been out in the world nearly continuously. He nodded to her, smiling, and she returned the gesture.

“Good to see you well, Ivan,” she said. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you, sister,” he said, then he turned his attention to Cheszalt. He was outranked by the other scout, a 28-year brother who had become the lead scout for The Order. Many of the older scouts had been disappearing- leaving on missions and not returning.

“Master, we have a report that I believe you should hear immediately,” the elder scout said, still catching his breath.

“Jacob, I trust your judgement,” Cheszalt replied. “You don’t break from your missions without good reason.”

Jacob nodded before continuing. “Ivan and I came across a village to the south-east, a five-day journey or so from here. It’s a strange place- they aren’t visited by gypsies or traveling merchants- none that we saw for the week we watched- and they have weapons for fighting the Turned that we’ve never seen before.” He paused again for breath. “Ivan really found them – he spotted smoke rising out of a valley that didn’t appear to have any roads leading into it.”