‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
The sound of metal clanging woke me up like a slap on the face. My fellow soldiers must've felt the same way because I heard a few bodies thump to the ground and muffled groans.
I sprung up from my bed and my hand was already digging under my mattress for my dagger. And that was when my eyes adjusted and I saw Foley and Helen standing at the front of the room. Helen was holding what looked like two frying pans. She must've been banging those things together to make all that awful noise.
"Get dressed soldiers," Foley said. His voice brought along a whirlwind of emotions that I had temporarily forgotten about as I had fallen asleep. I resisted the urge to throw the covers over my head as I saw him look up at me.
"You have five minutes before you meet us outside," Helen and him left just as abruptly as they had come in. I would've stayed gaping had the rest of the room not erupted into chaos once the door clicked closed behind them. Everyone was rushing to get dressed, pulling on shoes with haste, whipping brushed through hair.
"What's with the gods-damned five minute readying time?" I asked Callan who I saw pulling on a shirt below me. I changed out of my sleep shirt, thankful that Mason and his group, who had catcalled me the first day I was here, were now just as busy as I was getting ready.
"I think it's part of their fun," he said, his voice thick with sleep. I changed my pants under the safety of my blankets before hopping down to the ground. I pulled on my boots, then sprinted out of the barracks with Callan as our five minutes was coming to a close.
It was dark outside, the stars were twinkling in the black expanse of the sky. Which was strange. Foley never woke us up until at least five in the morning, when the sky would be just barely turning into a dark shade of gray. But now...now it looked to be the middle of the night. Not to mention, none of my fellow initiates looked as if they had gotten any good sleep. Did they wake us up in the middle of the night? And for what?
"Follow us," Foley barked out to those of us who had made it out on time. Those who didn't, were not allowed to go to wherever Foley was taking us. The future soldiers stayed silent as we marched towards where we had done capture the flag the other day. We were walking into the forest, but instead of turning left, as we had done for the game, we kept moving straight.
No one spoke, not even to ask questions. I was sure that all of them were too terrified to. I didn't blame them. Everything about what we were doing felt ominous. It felt like we were marching off to war, nothing but the sounds of our footsteps crunching on the ground to bid us farewell.
We walked for a long while, long enough that my muscles were starting to ache and my head was starting to pound. I had skipped dinner last night, instead spending my time with Lason as he cleaned the infirmary, labelling vials before putting them in their designated drawers. Now, I was starting to regret skipping the meal. I had no idea what we were doing but it couldn't have hurt to have had some more fuel for it.
We walked onwards some more. Callan stayed silent beside me, as did Mason, though he was further up ahead. It was a strange thing, all that silence. I wasn't used to it anymore after living in a noisy barrack for nearly three weeks.
It was a few minutes later that I heard something about a mile away. It was strange, almost like a fuzzy noise. It wasn't anything I could've made out. So I kept walking. The noise only increased. With every footstep though, the noise got clearer. I recognized it a moment before everyone else did. Water. Rushing water.
"Is that-" a voice was cut off by the murmurs floating around the group. We weren't stupid, we knew that Foley had brought us out here for a reason, not for a simple late night nature walk. What he intended to do though, was the question.
"Keep walking," Foley said, not even turning over his shoulder to look at us. Like a pack of dogs, my fellow soldiers screwed their mouths shut, listening to their master. I realized then that it didn't matter what alpha they had, as long as they had one. They'd blindly listen to Foley as they'd blindly listen to their king. They were followers, needing guidance. The thought made me sick.
We walked until the sound of rushing water was almost overwhelming. Everyone was nervous now. I could almost taste the nervousness buzzing through the air. It was nearly tangible. And Helen wasn't helping calm down anyone, she was just keeping to Foley's side, her golden ponytail swinging with every step. She occasionally spoke to Foley, some things she said made him chuckle. At that, I felt something hot and sharp swim deep in my belly. Jealousy? I had never experienced that before.
The water was now the loudest it had ever been, and I turned my head to the side as I saw a trench built into the forest. Looking over the edge of the cliff, I saw that a raging white river was flowing underneath. The part we were at must've been the narrowest section considering the amount of water churning through it. I wondered how large it got. I wondered if anyone had ever drowned in it before.
"Welcome to another trial of your bootcamp," Foley said, suddenly turning around. I clenched my hands into fists as I wondered what exactly "trial" meant. "Some of you might complain that you already had a trial yesterday, and while that might be true, capture the flag is child's play compared to what you are about to do." I tried to swallow down the urge to vomit that was rising with every passing second.
"This part of bootcamp happens every year," Helen said, taking a step forward. She was wearing white, as was Foley, whereas all the initiates were wearing their usual black. "Every year, we wake up our soldiers in the middle of the night and bring them here, to the middle of our forest with nothing but their clothes and their wits.
"And every year, they're always surprised when we tell them to hop into the river, swim against the stream and back to camp." Foley said, finishing for Helen. The group got so quiet that nothing but the sound of an owl hooting could be heard. We all gaped at him, unable to process words. I felt my own stomach drop down to the ground. We were supposed to get into that river? But not only swim in that helltrap, but also swim upstream? That sounded impossible.
"Scared?" Foley asked. His grin was so bright from his teeth that it was visible. I thought it looked like it was carved into his face with a knife. "Good. You should be." A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold travelled down my spine. Shit.
"You can go into the water however you like, shirtless, nude, whatever you think would be most successful," Helen said, surveying us. We were all terrified, trembling and pale despite the fact that none of us had touched a drop of water yet. "Whoever gets to the end of the swim first, which will be dictated by me, waving a red flag, must get out of the water and to me. Whoever gets out first wins."
"What do we win?" Mason asked, stepping forward. Of course he was the one asking that question.
"The ego boost that comes with winning," Foley said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now strip down and get into the water before I push you in for asking such a stupid question." Mason paled visibly at that, which had me smirking despite the fact that I was about to be going on the swim of my life. Was it even considered a swim? It felt more like a death plunge.
"Off with you all," Foley said. "Get in the water. You start on my command." We all hesitantly started down the slope towards the water. As we got closer, I could feel the waves of cool coming off of it, along with water misting my cheeks and neck. It smelt too, not in a bad way, but different than the rest of the forest. The river and the forest were separate but not equals. I was still trying to differentiate who was more powerful.
"Should I swim shirtless?" Callan asked, coming up to me. I watched as other soldiers started to take off their own clothes. Some stripped down to their underwear, others went beyond even that.
"No," I said, turning to face him, my heart pounding in my chest. "Don't take off anything but your boots. Clothes trap a layer of water next to your skin, which will heat by contact. They don't weigh anything in the water, so taking anything off would hurt you more than it would help." Tellie had told me that the day I wanted to go swimming in the pond but it was starting to get cold. Somehow, although I hadn't used it in quite a bit, the knowledge had stayed lodged in my brain.
"Wow. Okay," Callan said, stepping out of his boots. I stepped out of mine as well, keeping my socks on, because any layer of clothing was a good layer. I tied my laces together and left them by the edge of the water, praying I'd get to come back for them later.
"Get in the water, initiates," Foley called. Callan glanced at me. I could see his heart pounding beneath his shirt, could see his lips quivering. I reached down and grabbed his hand, squeezing it hard.
"We can do this," I said, leading us to the water. He nodded. Although there was no confidence in his eyes, he did look less pale. "But Callan, if it does get to be too much and you feel yourself getting exhausted. Get out. Hypothermia will kick in if you stay in there for too long."
"Okay," he said, letting out a shaky breath. He let go of my hand before wading into the water. I took a glance behind my shoulder to see Foley glaring at me. His eyes dropped down to my hand before moving to Callan behind me. Was he jealous? An odd mixture of disappointment and glee stirred itself together inside of me.
"Get in, Eira," Foley said, his voice nothing but a meer rumble. I flinched, turning around and scurrying into the water. The cold was jarring at first, it struck me like knives raking across my skin, but only for a second. As I waded deeper, I felt the cold stroke me, reaching down deep inside me and finding its likeness inside. It recognized me. This challenge was going to be in my favor, it appeared.
The water pushed me forward, the current was a terribly strong, nasty thing. I gritted my teeth together and trudged forward until I was at Callan's side. He was shivering, his teeth chattering. Actually, everyone's teeth were chattering. It was like an orchestra. When I realized mine weren't, nor was I even shivering, I began to bring my teeth together and shake like everyone else. I prayed it was convincing.
"Remember, first one to get out of the water and run to Helen and I wins," Foley called. I could barely focus on him though. With each wave of cold, I felt my powers swirl and strengthen in glee. Strength pulsed through my muscles and I felt a strange sort of calm run over me. While all the people around me were growing weaker, I was only getting stronger. I could hardly contain myself. I felt like I was going to explode with the swelling power inside of me.
There was a whistle, and then everything was a blur. The crowd around me was surging forward and it took me a second to follow suit. I plunged into the icy depths of the water, swimming past people who were already struggling. I didn't know how long the distance was, all I knew was that an immeasurable amount of strength was pumping through my veins. And I. Was. Power.
I swam like how I imagined one would swim if they were taking a leisurely dip in the pool. I didn't rush anything, knowing that if I got to the end an hour before everyone else it'd be much too strange. Instead, I kept towards the middle, slowly inching my way upwards as everyone struggled and gasped around me.
I had been going at a steady pace for quite some time when I felt something latch onto my ankle. A hand. I whipped around to see that a girl, with lavender hair and bright green eyes, was struggling to stay above the surface. She was taking in big mouthfuls of air. She was drowning. Gods damn it.
"You need to swim out," I said, trying to pry my ankle from her hand, but her fingers were like little clamps. She wasn't letting me go any time soon.
"I can't," she managed to say between gasps. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course. Inhaling sharply, I swam over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. Together, we hauled ass to the side of the raging water. I fought against the current that was pulling me backwards, keeping a strong hold on the girl.
Once we got to the edge, I helped her haul her trembling body up to the surface. As soon as she touched the ground, medics rushed in, bustling around her. I didn't know how they had stayed hidden so well, glamour I presumed. Either way, I didn't stay long to watch. I was glad she was alright, but I was not happy about all the time I had wasted.
I was alone in the river now, and that seemed to send a new wave of determination over me. I sucked in a breath, and plunged down into the river. Cold water rushed over my head and I saw my body glow blue. Shit. I forced it to fade down, and reluctantly the glow went away. Thank the gods. But that was new, I wondered what it meant, and prayed it'd never happened again.
I swam and swam until I reached the group of soldiers straggling to swim upstream. I was pretty sure I had caught sight of Callan at one point, but I couldn't have been sure. I kept going, until eventually, I had made it to the front. I saw Mason swimming before me, he was struggling. His face had gone pale, and his breath was clouding out in front of him in large puffs. His hair was plastered to his forehead. For once, he wasn't the menacing boy he tried so hard to always be.
I passed him with a smirk.
After I passed Mason, I kept on swimming, now at a slower pace. I didn't need to race, I didn't want to have a huge time difference between me and second place. It was in the cold of the water, that I wondered if what I was doing was a bad idea. Getting first place would put a lot of unwanted attention atop of me. I was a spy, specifically going against what these soldiers fought tooth and nail for.
I was about to slow down or even pull out of the water, when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. I barely had time to gasp before there was another hand on my head, shoving me downwards. A scream passed my lips before I realized what was happening, and bubbles formed above me as I clamped my lips shut.
I was getting pushed down by two people. They had their hands on me, shoving me every time I tried to rise for air. I felt my heart slam against my collarbone as panic started to set into me. I was being drowned. They were trying to kill me.
My eyes burned from the water and I tried kicking upwards but they were too strong. My lungs were burning at that point and I knew I was running out of oxygen, especially when I knew I didn't save up much to begin with. I reached up and started to pull on the hands keeping me down. I dug my nails in, scratched, anything to get them off of me.
Black spots were starting to collect at the edges of my vision and I cursed inwardly. I was not a fan of fire, obviously, and it was like pure agony as I felt my lungs begin to burn with a raw fury. They needed to take a breath. I needed air. Soon, I was going to breathe in on reflex and then it'd be over.
I flipped my legs up and kicked whoever was holding me, aiming at wherever I thought their junk was. I heard a muffled groan above me, and suddenly, the hands were gone, shoving me away. I swam up to the surface as fast as I could, sucking in big gasps of air as I did. Once I wasn't dying of oxygen deprivation, I whipped my head to the side to see Mason and one of his meathead friends swimming away. A few hundred meters ahead, I saw Helen and Foley. Had they seen? Had they let them do that to me? I felt fury like a cold draft inside my heart. For some fury was hot, red, like an inferno. For me...it was a blazing white snow storm. Just as deadly, if not more.
I watched as Mason made it out of the river first, then his friend. I was angry. Pissed even. I shouldn't have needed the win, but I wanted it. I wanted to rub it in their noses. I also wanted to shoot ice bullets at the space between their legs but...we couldn't always get what we most desired.
People were starting to pass me and I cursed in earnest. I shoved a wet piece of hair off of my forehead and forced my trembling body forward. I still felt weak from my time spent drowning, all I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep. But I wasn't going to be weak. Mason already thought he had caught me at a weak point. But no, it was just the opposite. What he did only fueled me, fueled my anger, which in turn made me much, much stronger. Mason was an idiot if he thought one loss was going to be enough to make me bow my head and submit.
I swam forward, moving like a bullet through the water. When I got to the end, I hauled myself onto the land, arms shaking. Foley offered me a blanket, concern in his eyes, but I shook it away. I didn't want his damn blanket. I wanted the cold. The cold made me strong. The cold gave me power.
I had to remind myself that I was better than them. A warrior amongst fools. But it was getting harder and harder when it felt like everytime I felt like I was getting somewhere it only led to a dead end. I wasn't a good spy, I hadn't gotten any useful information yet. I had almost won capture the flag but Evren had taken that from me. I almost won the river swim and Mason took that away from me too.
I glanced at the bastard in question to see him laughing and joking, a blanket wrapped tight around his shoulders. He was shivering. That was one thing I had over him. His heart was made of blood and flesh. Delicate material. Unfortunately for him, mine was made of ice.