At least she was still eager to learn, though her body was tense. That wouldn’t work in this game. One had to be limber and quick.
She fidgeted with something on her wrist under the sleeve of her training clothes, and a gleam of gold peaked out for a moment. His hands itched to soothe her, to drag his fingers across her skin until she relaxed into his touch. He stiffened at his own thoughts, though, brushing them away.
“There are two teams, one on each side of the line.” He pointed to it, and her eyes trailed the long white line across the room. “Other than that, it’s simple. Each team throws rocks at each other and you dodge them, either using your own powers or with quick reflexes. If you get hit, you’re out. Whichever team is left standing, wins.”
“That sounds deadly.”
“That’s why we’ll all be wearing metal armor. It’s a way for you to get comfortable moving in it.”
Kamine shook her head. “I’m not ready for something like this. Look at them. They have a hunger for death in their eyes.”
He came up to her and guided her jaw up with his finger, giving into his desire to touch her skin and meet her gaze.“Exactly why it’s perfect. You won’t have time to think. Let your body do what it is meant to do.”
Grimot didn’t allow her to object anymore. He whistled and the whole room had their eyes on him now, but his remained on Kamine’s violet eyes, brimming with anticipation. “Get your gear on, and we’ll begin.”
Kamine fell in line beside her friends, who both appeared skeptical of the situation, like they couldn’t actually believe that Kamine was about to be subjected to this. She just shrugged, attempting to be as nonchalant about this as possible.
Unfortunately, that false easiness wavered as soon as the teams were announced. It was the current cohort against the past Undertaking participants. One of those participants was a former winner, too.
Kamine was so nervous that she prayed to whatever Weather Gods were listening that she made it out alive, and mostly unscathed.
Janina tightened the metal plates on her arms. “Just stay behind us.”
Zoya nodded. “We’ll protect you.”
A sweet sentiment, but Kamine knew that if she stayed back for too long, she might end up as the last one standing on their team. Then she would be truly fucked.
“Thanks, but I think my strategy will be to dodge as many rocks as possible, and then purposefully get hit.”
Kamine told herself that she at least had to look like she was trying for as long as possible. Otherwise, she had a feeling that Professor Grimot would give her hell during their next lesson. Kamine was quick, at least. She had that going for herself. Shealso had the advantage that the other team didn’t know her weakness yet, so she just had to pretend that she knew what she was doing.
Kamine clasped the helmet on her head. Wearing armor was foreign to her. It was heavy and made it harder to move. But Kamine would be grateful for it during the Undertaking as large boulders pelted the ground around her.
Her cohort and the competing team got into position. Kamine chose somewhere towards the right, and closer to the back than the front. She needed some time to gauge how the opposing team would play. Maybe her team would be lucky, and they’d take it easy. Kamine doubted it, especially as she finally took a long look at them. These former participants were eager to wreck shit up.
Professor Grimot blew a whistle, and the game began. All the rocks sitting on the line rose up and moved. It was hard to tell who was moving which rock with their powers, so she just focused on anything coming at her.
A rock blasted by, almost hitting Roz, but the pink-haired woman gritted her teeth as she stopped the rock’s trajectory with her powers, tossing it back to the other side. She moved with such grace and such little fear. She belonged in this type of setting, where she could let free all the rage that boiled inside her.
Kamine got so distracted by watching her that she almost got hit. She dove down to her knees at the last moment, and felt her whole body protest at the sudden movement. Sweat began to coat her brow as the intensity of the game ramped up around her.
It took her a moment with the restrictive armor, but once she got back up, the scene before her had her heart racing up her throat. Half of her team was out on the sidelines already, while the other team still stood strong.
She snuck a quick glance at Professor Grimot, but his attention was on the rest of the game, calling people out once they were hit.
A rock swooshed by her, realizing a team member on the opposing side had found their next target. His yellow eyes were determined to get her. Kamine shook her hands, a habit she had developed when she tried using her powers.
“Don’t use your hands!” She heard Professor Grimot yell, but she couldn’t spare him a glance.
Another rock blasted at her, and she slid to the right, while another one was already on its way. She fell to her stomach to avoid it, her palms flat on the floor beneath her.
It brought her back, back to the time she hid under her bed in this exact position. On her stomach, scared and alone, until her mother showed up, and had reached out a hand to her. Kamine didn’t understand why the world was falling then, but she had understood her mother’s offer of safety.
Kamine’s blink bridged her back to the present. The room was yelling. She didn’t know if it was at her, or just the overall energy in the room. Either way, she stayed down, thinking about her comfort place, the forest that welcomed her. She thought of her bare feet digging into the dirt, allowing it to coat her skin in a protective layer.
A harsh pound dropped on the back of her left calf, and she yelped at the shooting pain. A spasm traveled across her whole leg, up to her thigh, and then to her bare hands on the ground. Her fingers pressed down just like they would press against mud to leave an indentation of her hand.
Then, the world beneath her hand sprung down, her body melting into the floor before it moved back up, like a gentle wave of water.
