Page 97 of Scorched Earth
“This isn’t for real, is it?” she asked Nic under her breath. “They won’t actually hurt you?”
“If we break, they’ll beat the ever-loving shit out of us,” Nic answered. “They must. Because if we break in battle, lives will be lost.”
“That’s not fair,” she hissed. “Because they’re sure as shit not going to kick him in the balls.”
Nic looked at her as though she’d just spouted pure idiocy. “He gave them permission. You really think they’re going to pass that opportunity up?”
Oh gods.
“This is stupid. This is reckless. Marcus, they are just children.”
“No,” he replied. “They are legionnaires of the Celendor Empire.”
Then he lifted his hand.
The Thirty-Seventh broke into a running charge toward them, a mass of muscle and armor, their faces twisted with grim determination. The ground shook, and behind her she heard one of the boys whisper, “Shit.”
Run.
Teriana’s body swayed, the instinct to shove her way through the boys and flee hitting her like a battering ram, only pride keeping her in place.
It’s fine,she told herself.This is just to scare Nic. To scare me. He’ll stop them. There is no danger.
Except they were coming closer with each passing second. Hands clenched into fists, mouths opened as they screamed, their faces a frenzied blur.
“Steady,” Nic said, and Teriana first thought the word for her but then she saw two of the spears waver. Saw hands flexing on weapons. Saw jaws tighten.
All while the Thirty-Seventh drew closer. Legionnaires who were older. Stronger. Infinitely more deadly.
“Steady.”
Oh gods, this is real.
He’s going to hurt them.
He’s punishing Nic for talking to me.
They were close enough now that she could see the sweat on their faces, their bared teeth, the marks in their armor.
“Stop this,” she whispered.
Marcus’s expression was impossible to read: impassive but not. Like there was no doubt in his mind that the boys surrounding him would follow his orders. “You are legionnaires of the Celendor Empire!” he shouted. “You do not break.”
The gap between the forces narrowed, raw terror pulsing through Teriana’s veins. Several of the boys near her were shaking.
“Steady!”
“Stop this!” she gasped, the wind blasting the smell of sweat and steel and impending pain over her face. “Don’t do this.Please!”
Her plea came out as a shriek of terror a heartbeat before the legions collided. Teriana threw herself through the line behind her, falling between two boys. Crawling on her hands and knees, every instinct demanding that she run.
Except instead of the thud of fists and screams of pain, laughter and shouts of congratulations reached her ears. Teriana stopped crawling.
It’s fine.
It was just a demonstration.
Yet she couldn’t move. Couldn’t stand up. Couldn’t gods-damnedbreathe.
