Page 3 of Rising

I fell across Jax’s nearly naked body; the order consuming what adrenaline I had left. My tears cascaded faster than the rain now falling against the window. I watched as they filed swiftly out of the room, leaving me alone with a nearly dead soldier. One hand slid over his torso, finding any part of skin on display while the other rubbed the spot where I held his heart every time he tried to take my anxieties as his own.

My legs trembled, holding in the tears that came in waves crashing against my inner defenses,still. Be still and breathe. Remember who you are.I braced myself to rise from my knees, and adjusted my disheveled clothing. I glanced back at Jax one more time, then wiped my tears as I watched my reflection in the mirror behind the bed, and walked out the door toward The Pit without looking back.

Amaia

Iswiftly made my way back through Unit A, ignoring every glance that came my way and doing my best to maintain my composure. Perhaps that was the only thing keeping me from crumbling. That my strength and willingness to persevere is what kept them all going. Hoping for better days.

Pushing through the doors to the courtyard, I let the heavy rainfall soak me as to hide the few tears I let slip. Entering my quarters, I quickly changed to my Pit clothes, pulling on my black cargos and t-shirt. My fingers shook, making it difficult to tie up the laces on my combat boots and wipe off the dried blood from my last rounds outside The Compound. Strapping my gun to my belt, I strode towards my bathing quarters to inspect myself in the mirror. This time pulling my tight jet-black curls from my messy bun into a low military style one instead. Tonight, I wouldn’t play any games. If someone did this to Jax, then the chances of them having other things planned towards leadership around The Compound were high.

While I couldn’t rule out if this was a personal attack towards our relationship, I also couldn’t shake the feeling that this was some political power move directed at Jax’s position as my second. Which also meant I could be next.

Pull yourself together, Amaia. Grieve later, get answers now.God, I needed a shot to get me through this. It wouldn’t make anything better, but damn, it would help.Reina.She must have gone through my things before me after finding me out near the cliff, given my stash under my clothes in my hamper was gone.Sober, it is then.I thought to myself as I made my way towards the door and grabbed my matching black cargo coat on the way out.

My fire magic lit up the torches surrounding The Pit. What was usually dirt and gravel turned muddy from the consistent rain that fell, giving the now gray night sky an even more ominous appearance. One by one, soldiers stumbled out of both the barrack side of The Pit and the Infirmary. I strode towards Moe and Reina, who were chatting in hushed tones in the shadows.

“Tell me about the vision.”

Moe jumped, not having sensed me come up behind her. “What?” she said, looking at me with eyes that always appeared to be seeing right through you.

“Tell me about the vision you were having when I walked into that room. I need to know about the explosion,” I said. “Tell me everything.”

Reina shifted uncomfortably, trying to decipher if she was going to have to step in or separate us. We both had tempers when challenged and sometimes things became rather destructive.

More times than not we just settled things out in The Ring like decent human beings, but sometimes things were damaged that probably shouldn’t have been. Especially after a few drinks. This wasn’t one of those times, though. I knew the difference between defiance of leadership and protection of a friend.

“Amaia.” She tried to warn, then surrendered to the plea in my eyes. “They were out on the trail when Jax thought he scented something off in the wind. He told Seth to keep moving and fell back since he couldn’t determine what exactly it was that was off.”

Tomoe’s eyes glazed over as she channeled the vision to tell me more. She was one of the strong ones that had unusual control. If she focused and wanted it bad enough, she could pinpoint a vision of her choosing no matter past, present, or future. Visions came through as memories of a person who lived through the event. Most lit-heads didn’t possess enough power to determine what was in the past, what would happen in the future, or what was happening in real time. Let alone through the eyes of the person of their choosing.

As far as we all knew, Tomoe was one of three in the territory that could, and even then, the closer to the person she was, the stronger she was in pulling a vision. If the relationship was weak, then inaccuracies arose.

She came to from the vision, her eyes becoming as focused as they could appear. “A soldier in front of him stumbled, walking funny. Then another. He figured they may not have the endurance, so he turned them back, since they weren’t too far from The Compound yet. Then the explosions went off.”

Explosions? Plural?Her sudden shift in tone with the last sentence was enough to let me know she wasn’t telling me the full picture. “I am giving an order as General to tell me the entire vision Tomoe. Not as his partner, not as his friend. His and your General. Tell meeverything.”

I felt Reina’s powers sending out feelers and shot her a glare to back off. I knew she wanted to ease the tension, but this wasn’t the time. Moving a step closer, I closed the gap between us even more. “The Compound could be in danger if what I think is true. I need to know everything, every detail.” We stared eye to eye for a moment, tension heating the space in between us.

Tomoe was a badass, and I wouldn’t doubt her ability to put on a proper show just because she spent most of her time in books. “You onlyneedto know details that will help us sort this out. Youwantto know the rest, so you have an excuse to do whatever it is you’re about to do and justify it as being right. There’s a difference and for you to think Reina and I can’t decipher which is which, especially after the way you probably downed a bottle of tequila, what? Two hours ago? Is quite honestly insulting.”

The tension rolled off, her eyes softened. I could tell she wanted to hug me, but in my position, it wasn’t possible at the moment. I allowed my posture to relax and willed her to continue.

“When the soldiers turned back, one of them got startled and was heard calling out to someone right before the explosion went off. I couldn’t tell if he was calling out to Jax or someone ahead of them on the trail since Jax’s back had turned. That was just the first explosion. He was tossed deeper into the trail, but he was able to get up pretty quickly. He heard someone calling out for him specifically up near Seth. His ears were ringing, but he pushed himself to keep forward, fearful something had happened to Seth. Then the second one went off and he was flung again. When he came to, there was a branch through his chest. But he wasn’t laying near any trees. He was thrown into the field on the other side of the trail. It goes black again right before his next memory of Seth hovering over him. That’s who brought him back. He sprinted here with him in his arms and alerted the rest of the medics and the standby unit to go out and get the rest. The gory details of the in-between are not relevant. Please, do not ask me.”

Selfish. I was selfish for forgetting for even a moment how close Tomoe and Jax had gotten. They sparred together every morning at dawn until breakfast. It was their form of therapy. They didn’t talk, just sparred, and then sat and ate next to each other quietly, lost in their trauma. No one knew much of Tomoe before this, just that she’d been through a lot and probably seen even more. She was alone for months after everything happened to her family. Thought she was alone in having visions, had called it a curse. And Jax, only I knew about Jax’s past. It wasn’t worth repeating, not if you wanted to sleep at night.

I reached out for her arm and gave it a squeeze before turning around and moving towards the center of The Pit. All eyes went on me and silence took over. It wasn’t because they feared me, no. It was from respect to knowing I would do whatever it took to keep them all safe. Even if it meant taking things to the extreme, otherwise what was the point of me having all this power? At least, that’s what they all assume. No one ever cared to ask if I enjoyed all the responsibility.

Maybe it was time to show them all why theyshouldhave just a little fear. Without respect and fear, a great General can fall. I’d seen it first hand. That, and incompetence.

Glancing around, I took in every face of every soldier, meeting each of their stares from the tip of my nose. Sighing, I closed my eyes and took a deep, unbeknownst to them sobering breath and opened my eyes displaying the glowing red color of flames that now took place in my iris. Sticking my hands out in a circular motion, I encased the inner part of The Pit in flames, raising them into a wall reaching eight feet high with me dead center. They tried their best to hide their fear, but I didn’t need Reina’s powers to sense what hid in their core.

“I’m only going to make this offer once,” I stated, choosing to focus on Riley.

He tilted his head in silent response, the only comfort he could offer at the moment. I trusted him with my life, and him with me. There was no genuine fear of me for him, making it easier for me to use him to focus my energy on and do what needed to be done. I’d only allow the best of the best to man the gates. The fact that I chose him to run the most important one, the one that provided direct access to our forces, meant he was truly one of our top men.

“If you have any information about the incident today, I urge you to step forward. Now. I will not make this gentle offer once. After that, there will be consequences for silence. We know what happened today was not an accident, nor was it an unplanned attack by some roamer out in the woods. There will be no display of mercy in the next few seconds.” More silence. God, I was tired of the silence. “No one?” I said, scanning the crowd again once more. “Going once, going twice. I won’t count to three.” The world stopped, and a smirk pulled at my lips.“Very well. Seth, Harley please.”

Reina’s brother Seth appeared first in his usual jeans and cowboy boots, sporting a black tee that was now soaked, showing off his sinewy muscles from a lifetime of ranch work. He wasn’t a bulky man, but he was threatening enough. Especially with his height and the two pistols strapped to his belt and the other attached to a thigh holster right above his knee. His olive skin, slightly darker than Reina, mottled soft freckles lined underneath his eyes down his cheeks. His blue eyes swirled fiercely. A sea during a summer storm, fully displaying the anger of a downed friend. His brass knuckle rings closed in on the silver chain link attached to Harley’s collar.

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