Page 36 of Exordium

Well, well, a change of plans might be in order. It seemed like Miss Hawthorne was stronger than I expected. The next few months at the Academy were going to be very interesting.

Chapter 13

Jet

Iwas put with Zane's group. The obstacle course I had to deal with was challenging, but nothing like Reverie would face in Instructor Storm’s group. That course was the most difficult to complete. It was the only one with the tunnel of fear, as the Passives were calling it. We would switch up every day, and I was told after everyone attempted all three, Emberhold would make the courses even more brutal. The Academy wanted us to survive. Otherwise, all of this would be easier.

I was disappointed in my performance. I finished at the top but not without some bloodshed. With all my training and experience, I held myself up to high standards. If I was honest with myself, my human training wasn’t up to par with the Passives raised in the Aurathion culture. That scared the shit out of me because my training was some of the most elite the United States had to offer.

Baby Moon finished right behind me. Her performance impressed me; you could see the pride on her brothers’ faces. Chloe was the real deal; I was glad Reverie had been paired with her. They could help each other through the trials to come.

I heard all the screaming from Reverie’s group and felt my heart drop when the twins and Nathan ran that way. I had to fight my desperate need to go to her. Everything in me, every instinct I had, urged me to her side.

I had feelings for her that I didn’t understand. I’d only known her for one day. How was it possible to become so fascinated in such a short time? Seeing her fall apart for Nathan in class was next level. I didn’t know if my hard-on would ever completely go away. Why didn’t I want to kill Nathan? Did I belong to her too? Was this what it felt like to be Faction? The answer to those questions didn’t matter. It couldn’t happen. I had a mission to complete.

Thankfully, Reverie was ok. The cause of all the screaming was another girl that Emberhold had taken to initiation. The thought of her being harmed or not making it through initiation was too painful to contemplate. Luckily, she and her family were part of my mission, so I had an excuse to watch her. After finishing, Zane instructed me to head to conditioning. I wasn’t going to do that. Slipping behind the wall separating the obstacle courses from the conditioning area, I stayed to watch Reverie run her course.

When she started stripping, I was impressed. I was always taught to be prepared, so I had questioned some clothing choices I’d seen today. It looked like my Reverie had smartened up while waiting for her turn.

Dammit! She wasn’t mine!

I needed to stop thinking like that. Mind on the mission, Jet! I still needed to observe her but maybe from a distance.

Wait! Was that a Minion's bra and boy shorts combo? My boy Kevin was the shit! This girl! How was I supposed to concentrate when I was exposed to fuckery like this? I took a deep breath.

The way she went through the obstacles was mind-blowing. This girl was next fucking level. “Oorah,” I thought, smiling widely. She was everything I wanted in a woman: beautiful, athletic, and with a hell of a left hook. This was going to be a problem; I needed to back off and reassess.

Instructor Storm was a complete dick and seeing Zeke punch that fucker in the face was fan-fucking-tastic. A little fucking scary, but awesome. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but it was apparent I needed to study Zeke a little closer.

Hearing clapping, I looked back toward the obstacle course and saw Reverie with some monstrous-looking panther thing. It was nuzzling her fucking hair, those razor-sharp teeth on display. I instinctually felt for my sidearm and remembered I didn’t have it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Were those fucking tentacles coming out of its back? What the fuck? This would have to be reported immediately.

Reverie was smiling and petting the freaky-looking thing. I relaxed, realizing she wasn’t scared of the animal at all. Damn, what in the hell would I see next? This shit was crazy. My superiors were going to shit a brick when I updated them. Maybe their fear was warranted. How could my world hope to defend against these people? I prayed it wouldn’t ever be necessary.

I slipped out of the shadows and headed to the equipment to begin conditioning. I would have to up my game to survive initiation and complete my mission. Aurathions were here to stay, I just hoped they were content with the status quo. If they ever decided to take over, I feared there wasn’t much we could do to stop them.

Chapter 14

Reverie

Iflew through the obstacle course. I was pissed that I didn’t dodge the dart that got me in the shoulder. I had let my concentration slip for one second because I stepped on something sharp.

Damn it! My clothing choices had come back to bite me in the ass. My parents would be so disappointed in me. I wouldn’t make that mistake again and would ensure that Nathan and none of my new friends would either.

Taking a deep breath, I headed into the tunnel. I had heard about this from my parents. Pop said it was one of the most challenging parts of the training. The tunnel of fear.

Fourteen-year-old me was sitting in my yard petting a Bat-Eared Fox. Things like this happened all the time at my house. My Grumpy’s power seemed to call animals from everywhere. I had no idea how he got here, but the species were native to Southern Africa. I had researched it when he first showed up, curious about the little guy.

Stroking his ears seemed to soothe me as much as it did him. I had a tough day at school. There was a dance this weekend, and I’d been so excited about going. My good friend Marcus was on the cheerleading squad with me and asked if I wanted to go. Marcus was gay and made no bones about it. Even for a guy so young, he was comfortable in his skin. Mom talked to me a year ago about not forming romantic relationships. I knew I would leave for Emberhold in four short years, and I understood that my parents didn’t want my heart to break. Marcus asking me to the dance was awesome because we were just friends, and there was no chance of anything romantic. Per usual, Nathan ruined it for me.

I was putting books up in my locker when Marcus approached me and said he wasn’t going to the dance. When I asked him why, he gave a lame excuse about forgetting a project he had due on Monday, I knew it was all bullshit because Nathan was standing a few lockers down, staring at me with a smile on his face. I was so tired of his crap. Fighting my feelings for him was exhausting. Especially since I had tofight both of our feelings. Nathan had upped his campaign at the beginning of the year and hadn’t let up. I hated school now. I had friends, but they didn’t understand why I wouldn’t date Nathan. Some of them were downright assholes about it. I knew it was jealousy since they would give anything to have his attention.

Hearing the door to the house shut, I looked up and saw Pop heading my way. Sitting beside me, he asked, “What’s wrong, Tator Tot?”

“I was going to the dance tomorrow, and once again, Nathan ruined it. I sighed. I know it’s silly compared to everything all of you deal with, but I just wanted to experience things like a normal human.”

“It’s not silly. You’re allowed to have ordinary experiences. I need to visit this kid, maybe as a Siberian Tiger.” He transformed just his face and let out a roar.

I started laughing, “I would love to see that. He would shit his pants.”

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