Instructor Garcien looked at me, incredulous. “You're barely halfway through training. You have no idea how to fight a Sanguir or Shredder. Have you ever even seen one?”
Unease simmered in me, but I squashed it. “My family lives near Jakavra,” I said, determination in my tone. “I know this is an outer perimeter breach, and we still have the inner perimeter defenses, but how long will it take the Sanguirs to get past that?”
“The inner perimeter isn't built the same way as the outer perimeter, it's not built for defense so much as for vantage and observation. They'll be able to scale it in a matter of hours,” Zevrial said.
“Then we shouldn't waste time arguing about it,” I said. “I'm going.”
“I'll do what I can to convince the Ascendancy but...this may be considered abandoning your service,” Instructor Garcien said.
Nessa's crushing hug, and Mama and Papa’s welcoming smiles flashed across my mind's eye again. “My family is worth the risk.”
“The Ascendancy’ll have to make an exception,” Zevrial cut in. “Because we're going to need more than a single volunteer to cull the numbers I saw, or the Sanguirs will make it inland. We can't allow them to nest and reproduce on Mesmoria.”
“One nightmare scenario at a time,” Instructor Garcien said.
“I’ll get the horn,” Zevrial moved away.
I rushed to my room, removing my scarf. It would be a liability in combat.
Within minutes, I heard a loud trumpeting cry.
Turning toward the courtyard, Zevrial and the other instructors gathered on the podium, trainees flooding in. Scurrying over, I stood beside Sarina as the emergency meeting began.
“The outer perimeter's been damaged, near Jakavra,” Zevrial shouted. A hush fell over the courtyard, followed by a low murmur that swiftly quieted. “We’ll need volunteers to repair the perimeter itself and kill any Sanguirs that've slipped through. Shredders have been sighted too, but stay away from the miasma and we shouldn’t have to deal with them. This isn'ta training exercise, or a drill. Don't volunteer unless you're ready to accept the risk, including severe injury or death.”
Tension hung thick enough to choke.
“Blades of any kind will work against Sanguirs. Slice them. Stab them. Anything that’ll make them bleed. They're faster than they look, and they can jump. If you don't remember anything else about them, remember they’re attracted to blood. Don’t get cut. Don’t bleed near one. They can smell fresh blood and they’ll swarm toward it.”
Being of the female persuasion, I ran a quick mental confirmation that there was no chance of me bleeding for at least another week or two.Check.
“We’ll need at least five people working to repair the damage to the outer perimeter while the rest’ll focus on taking out the Sanguirs. The priority is getting the outer perimeter sealed back up. The defenses in place near the top of the perimeter will handle the remaining Sanguirs for us. For those who are volunteering to take down Sanguirs, you'll be following my orders. There are built-in entrances in the perimeter to allow access to the miasma. When I give the order to fall back, you’ll all fall back behind one of those.” Zevrial locked eyes with me and sent me a meaningful look. I gave him a mocking salute.
No problem there, I had no intention of staying on the beach with monsters from the miasma any longer than necessary.
“Don't show off. More Sanguirs will keep coming out of the miasma the longer we stay near the shoreline, so we’ll be moving in quick, and getting out quicker. Follow orders, you’ll come out of this alive. Weapons will be provided to volunteers.”
A few hands immediately went up, including Talissa and Georlan. I raised my hand too.
The wind was still wailing as I yanked my hair into a severely tight braid, unwilling to let it hinder my vision. I’d need every edge.
Another round of murmuring began as everyone in the courtyard started talking at once.
Henrik leaned toward me as I sealed the end of my braid. “Why would you do that?” he whispered, face stricken. He shook his head. “Nevermind, better you than me.”
“My family lives near Jakavra,” I said.
He shook his head again, but I didn’t have any spare amity left in me to explain love and loyalty to him right now.
Instructor Weavir pulled a barrel out of the Fitness center, filled with daggers and knives. I and a few other volunteers moved toward it, carefully pulling sheathed blades out of the container.
“One per person. Handle first,” Instructor Weavir said gravely, demonstrating how to attach the sheath to his own woven belt, then removing it and repeating the demonstration as more trainees stepped forward.
I slid a dagger part way out of its covering, the inky black glinting before I slipped it back in. I’d only seen a handful of Starshell daggers at the Reformatory on the Sentinels, as everything made from them was incredibly rare and valuable.
Rosa stepped up beside me, selecting a dagger from the barrel. “Fancy hardware,” she remarked.
“You can say that again,” said Talissa, securing her knife at her waist. “I’ve never even seen one of these, let alone held one.”
