Spark (Legends of the Shifters) (7 page)

When
I got to the other room, Natalia was standing outside of the changing
screen, waiting for the first girl to come out.

I
sighed and looked back into the other room, noticing for the first
time that January’s bed was made and she wasn’t anywhere
to be seen.

“
Where
is January?” I asked Natalia.

“
She’s
probably getting in some extra practice,” she said. “Some
people like the training after they’ve done it for a while.”

“
How
long has she been here?”

At
that point, the other girl came out from behind the screen. Before
Natalia went behind it, she answered, “About two years and a
quarter.”

Roselle
had told me that people only stayed in training for three years at
most. January wouldn’t be here for much longer.

As I
waited for Natalia to finish, I pondered over what the training would
be like. I hoped that I would be able to manage it.

Roselle
and the other girl that I hadn’t seen came in and waited behind
me. I took one look at the girl, who undoubtedly slept on the bunk
above mine, and swallowed hard. She had a black eye and her nose
looked as if it had been broken a couple of times. She was very thin.
Other than that, there was nothing extraordinary about her
appearance. She and Roselle looked almost as if they could be
sisters. Like Roselle, this girl had brown hair and brown eyes,
although slightly darker.

“
So
you’re the new girl,” she said unenthusiastically.

“
Yes,”
I replied.

“
I
have some advice for you,” she said. It seemed as if everyone
had advice for me. “Do whatever it takes to do what they want
you to. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.”

Natalia
came out from behind the screen. “No. I don’t agree,”
she said. “Do whatever you are capable of. Don’t push
yourself too hard, or you’ll just get hurt.”

The
girl glared at her. I watched them both warily before going to
change. I trusted Natalia more than the other girl, but I wasn’t
excited about finding out what they meant. I changed clothes fast,
and when I was done, I came back out from behind the screen and into
the sleeping room.

The
girl who had been smiling was already gone, and Natalia was heading
out the door already. I lagged behind to wait on Roselle even though
I was eager to go down to breakfast for our survival tests. My
stomach was complaining audibly.

Once
Roselle came out fully clothed, we headed down together. “Why
did that one girl have a black eye?” I asked.

“
Oh,
Angelica? She always has some sort of injury. I think her reflexes
must be too slow.”

I
stayed deep in thought until we were almost to the dining hall. Right
before we got there, Niko came out the door, and walked straight
toward us, breaking me out of my reverie. He looked angry and I
fought not to cower or run for cover.

“
You,”
he shouted before we reached him, making my heart leap. “Roselle,
is it?”

“
Yes,
sir?” she said, her voice coming out as a squeak.

“
I
told your trainer that I’ll be training you today,” he
said. “To see if the level you were given was accurate.”

She
flicked her eyes to me, and then back. “Yes, sir,” she
answered, her nervousness prominent in her voice.

Niko
cast me a glance before moving on toward a different building.
Roselle stood there for a little while, silent. Other students milled
around us blearily.

I
tried to change the subject.

“
Why
do we even have a dining hall when we don’t really eat there?”
I wondered aloud.

My
attempt at conversation snapped Roselle out of her stupor. “Well,
we have to have some place to gather, and we do eat snacks at
lunchtime and dinner,” she reminded me. “And to tell you
the truth, I don't think they used to have survival tests.”

“
I
wish they still didn’t,” I muttered under my breath.

Roselle
laughed, but I could tell it was halfhearted. “Tell me about
it…but then again, it will come in handy when they send us on
quests.”

“
What
kind of quests do they send us on?”

“
This
and that. I’ve never really been on a quest. You have to be
here for a full year before they send you on one. Often, students who
go on quests don't ever come back. They're either imprisoned or
killed.”

I
looked at her in surprise. “Why are they allowed to go on
quests that they can't finish?”

She
shook her head sadly. “It's going to be their lifelong job. If
they aren't able to complete one now, what are they going to do the
rest of their life?”

I
shuddered. I wasn’t ready to go on any kind of quest, big or
small. We started walking again, although the troubled look had
returned to Roselle's face.

When
we got into the dining hall, I caught sight of Natalia sitting with
the other girl in our dorm. I led the way to sit with them. This
would be the first time that I was in a group during the survival
test, and I wanted to be among friends.

Like
I had heard the day before, there was no fruit on the table this
morning. Servants went around serving water, but that was it. Nothing
with true nutrition.

My
stomach hurt from hunger, and yet, I hadn’t gone without food
as long as some of these people have. I drank down a couple gulps
thirstily, hoping that it would hold off my hunger. Thankfully, it
did help a little.

When
everyone had come in and was settled, the trays were set in front of
us again. The lid was lifted off, and everyone at my table groaned
simultaneously. The number that had shimmered onto the paper was 16.

“
Which
one is that?” I asked, worried.

Roselle
glanced at me. “The volcano. Actually, there are many in a
volcanic location, but this one is the worst.”

“
It
sprays the most ash and spurts the most lava,” said the nice
girl. “I’ve gotten pieces of my tail singed off at that
place.”

“
Your
tail?” I asked.

“
Liana
is a centaur,” Natalia answered for her.

“
Ah,”
I said. Then after a moment of thinking, “What’s that?”

Liana
smiled. “There’s at least three other students like me. I
have the body of a horse, but still the torso and up of a
human....
And
I’m the only female at the school,” she added with a
proud glint in her eye.

“
To
your tents!” yelled Mrs. Scarls, breaking into everyone’s
conversations.

We
stood up together and followed the other students out of the
building. This time there was no otherworldly glowing number in front
of the tents. Just a simple black number at the top. The morning sun
bounced off of the white and shone in my eyes. Our group stopped at
number sixteen where a trainer awaited our arrival. She took us in
one by one unenthusiastically before handing us each a necklace, each
with a black gem in the center. “I’ll instruct you if you
need it. In you go.”

Natalia
boldly went first, and then Roselle, Liana, and I followed. We were
greeted by the smell of burning flesh. I recoiled at the stench, and
studied my companions to make sure that it wasn't one of them.
Luckily, they were all safe...for now.

We
stood in the middle of a scorched wasteland surrounded by ashy wooden
stumps, the only remnants of the trees that once stood in their
place. The ash was still breathing smoke into the air, meaning that
the volcano had been active recently.

“
Alright,
let's split up,” said Natalia.

“
Split
up?” I asked incredulously. “All the food is obviously in
the forest.”

“
This
survival landscape was created with the purpose to trick its
students. We never know where the food is, and if we spread out,
we'll be more likely to find it. If one person is able to find
something, we all get a small portion equal to the amount of food
they found,” she explained, pushing her black hair up out of
her eyes.

“
And
what happens if the volcano kills you?” I questioned.

“
You
don't eat,” Roselle answered from behind me.

“
That,
and you get to feel the pain of whatever kills you,” Liana
added. “They made it like that so it would be more like real
life.”

“
I've
always wanted to feel the pain of dying,” I muttered
sarcastically.

“
Alright,
let's get going,” Natalia said, taking charge once again.
“Liana, you head to the forest. Roselle, you go to the left.
I'll go to the right, and Ivy, you'll head for the volcano.”

I
wanted to protest, but Natalia's eyes flashed in a challenge. I
suddenly felt the need to show her that I was brave and that I was
capable of doing dangerous things. I nodded sharply and turned to
walk toward the volcano.

It
was a monster of a mountain, looming silently in the smoky air, just
waiting for the chance to release its wrath once again. It's land
mounded into a sharp incline, and at the top, the smoke was so heavy
that it took on the appearance of storm clouds.

I
swallowed, trying not to let fear consume my thoughts.

I
looked back once to see that Natalia, Liana, and Roselle had already
started on their separate paths just as I had. I was on my own now.

I
walked forward for a little while until I noticed that the smell of
burning flesh was getting more and more rancid. Only a few feet in
front of me lay a dead deer. There was no doubt that it had been dead
for days by the smell of it. It was probably caught in the eruption.

I
knew that it was far too gone to be food, so I edged my way past it,
trying not to look at its singed body or unseeing eyes. I didn't know
what happened if I got unsuitable food, but I certainly didn't want
to find out.

I
picked up my pace and kept walking until I came across the first
stream of lava. It oozed slowly downhill, almost ready to crawl to a
stop and form new rock. Seeing it made me want to turn around and
head back to the safety of the forest, but I kept going. The others
knew more about the survival test than I did, and they hadn't turned
back.

Then,
farther up the mountain, I saw a goat, its shaggy white fur tangled
and singed at the ends. It was moving, wandering around the streams
of melted rock. I tried to stay quiet as I followed it. It nimbly
avoided every obstacle in its path, whereas I had a much harder time
climbing the mountain without getting burned.

I
didn't want to kill it, but hunger propelled me forward. I wished I
had a bow and arrow so that I could end it quickly.

Almost
immediately a bow appeared in my hands and a quiver of arrows
materialized on my back, startling me. The sudden movement caught the
mountain goat's attention, and it looked back at me, frozen in fear.
That was my chance.

I'd
never shot a bow and arrow before, but in Forlander, we would
sometimes get to watch archery contests. I was fascinated with the
weapon, and had studied the way that the contestants stood and the
position of their hands.

It
climbed higher on the hill before turning to look at me again,
outlined against the sun.

I
pulled an arrow out of the quiver and knocked it on the bow, pulling
the string back as far as I could and aiming for the goat's heart. I
let it loose. The arrow sailed true, and in an instant, the goat
completely disappeared, its cry still echoing through the air. I
hurried to where it was, but there was no sign of it anywhere. Then,
my vision clouded and the test was over.