Page 32 of Exordium

Pantar was solid black except for his two front legs that were covered in fur and shimmered with a dark amber hue. He was beautiful and majestic, and loved nothing more than the taste of fresh blood. Apparently, not being raised in the wild didn’t reduce his violent nature.

Fellats had been a big part of the Factions of old. They would bond with the Nexus first and guard them until their Faction was complete and they could access their power. There was not as much mystery involved with finding out your designation before our world went to shit. One of the many things the Aurathion people lost because of the war. Or so the Council wanted us to think.

No matter, it was time to put the Hawthorne girl to the test. I’m sure that the Academy had some special surprises to go along with what I had planned. Reverie better hope that she inherited her family’s talents because her life might depend on it. This was going to be fun.

Chapter 11

Reverie

Iwalked into the gym, dreading what was coming. I had seen Kristine come out of a doorway near the stands. She walked by and made a point to look up at me with a malicious smirk. Her friend Sophie joined her, and they sat in the stands, putting their heads close together and whispering back and forth.

Just great, the bitch ran right to her brother. Well, fuck them both. I wasn’t scared of him or the bow-legged bitch. My parents had taught me the importance of standing up for myself, and Ihad no problem showing the Storm siblings what an open can of whoop ass looked like—Texas style.

A large man walked out of the shadows and came to stand in front of them. I felt goosebumps all over my body, and my stomach bottomed out. I closed my eyes briefly, willing the sensation away. No way was it what I thought it was. He was good-looking. He had beautiful dark brown hair, and his eyes were a striking seafoam green. His hair reached his shoulders, and he had the middle pulled back with a piece of leather. A close-cropped beard and full lips completed the devastating picture. He was taller than the Moon twins but shorter than Jet. His brown leather pants were well-worn and paired with a short-sleeved black shirt and tall black boots. Was he going to a cosplay event after class? I smirked thinking of him posing for pictures at Ren Fest.

All Aurathions were attractive, but it felt like every guy I’d met at the Academy was next level. Then he began to speak and became a lot less pretty. You could tell that he gave no shits about any of the Passives gathered here.

Staring directly at me, he narrowed his eyes, “We will begin with obstacle courses blah, blah, I’m an asshole, blah.” Or something like that. I zoned out after he began talking in his evil villain voice. I bet he went through breath mints like no other with all the shit that was coming out of his mouth.

I saw Kristine smiling evilly in my direction. It didn’t carry the sting I’m sure she was hoping for with the medical tape on her nose. Focusing back on the asshole, I saw him frowning at me. Way to go, Reverie. Good job pissing him off even more.

Oren started separating us into groups, and with zero surprises, I was put in his.

“Fuck this shit,” Nathan growled. “You’re not dealing with him by yourself.”

“Do you not think I can handle him?” I widened my eyes at Nathan. Nathan was no fool.

“Of course you can, but you shouldn’t have to with me here.” He grumped.

“Go catch up with Zeke. I’ve got this. If I need help, you know I have no problem asking, but I feel like he’ll underestimate me and that will work in my favor.” Blowing him a kiss, I followed my group, to what was beginning to look like, my own personal ShitStorm.

After listening to more crap come out of his mouth (I especially loved it when he said he didn’t need weak Passives blocking the line), his status was confirmed as a giant bag of dicks. This was going to be fun.

“OK, first up, Cassandra Silt. Step to the front and begin when you’re ready.” When no one immediately walked up, ShitStorm narrowed his eyes, “Silt, you better get your ass up here, or I’m sending you back to your family. I don’t have time for cowards.”

The slim blond girl, that had found the courage to ask a question earlier, stepped up to the front. Storm motioned for her to enter the course. She walked up the steps leading to the beam, looking completely terrified. I felt sorry for her because it was apparent she hadn’t been prepared well. Why would the Council send these poor Passives directly to the Academy without training? It was like sending lambs to slaughter.

The girl turned and gave Oren a pleading look, but he impatiently waved her on. The poor thing was wearing a dress with ballet flats. The shoes would be fine, but I hoped she had shorts on under her dress. As she climbed higher, it became apparent that was a no.

The boys started laughing and yelling at her, acting like complete morons. Didn’t they understand every move was life or death here? Surprising me, Oren spoke in a harsh voice,

“Shut the fuck up. As weak as you all look, I’d be more worried about my turn instead of looking up girls’ skirts like virgins who had never seen a pair of panties in their lives.”

When the morons showed enough sense to shut up, I looked back at Cassandra. She was balancing precariously on the beam, looking like a drunk sailor on leave. You could see the sweat running down her face, cheeks red from exertion. Finely crossing the beam, she came to the first climbing wall. This wall was reasonably easy because the hand and foot holds were spaced close. Cassandra tentatively grabbed the first hold and started to climb. She was having difficulty with her skirt. The length was causing her trouble when she needed to bend her legs.

“Tie your skirt above your knees!” I yelled, the fashion choices a lot of us had made today were going to get us killed, me included. It was a stupid mistake that I wouldn’t make again. The morons below started yelling in excitement again, and this time Storm let them be. “Ignore them and do what I said, or you won’t make it over the next one,” I urged the terrified girl.

Cassandra looked down at me and nodded her head. Climbing the rest of the way to the top, she sat on the wall and slowly pulled her skirt up, tying it in a large knot at her upper thigh. Looking down at me, she gave a thumbs up. I returned the thumbs up.

“You got this!” I hoped she had this.

“This isn’t a sporting event Miss Hawthorne,” ShitStorm said in a pissy voice. “Keep your mouth shut and wait for your turn.”

“Absolutely, instructor Shi- I mean Instructor Storm.” I smirked. He frowned at me, looking confused, he knew I was insulting him but unsure how.

Turning back to Cassandra, I saw that she had descended the first climbing wall and was starting to as difficult because the hand and footholds were much further apart. Luckily, she wastall and had no difficulty getting to the top. As she threw her leg over and started to climb down, water started slowly dripping from the top down the sides in slow rivulets. Oh shit, the level of difficulty was about to get a whole lot harder. Cassandra lost the confident look on her face and glanced at me in panic. Completely ignoring what ShitStorm had said, I gave her a big smile and a thumbs up.

“You can do this!”

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