Page 18 of Veiled

“I think I’m ok,” he says, more confidently than I could have in his position.

“Smart choice. Murderers don’t typically kill their friends; they kill for them.”

Perry stares at me in silence, and right as I start to worry I should have kept that new slogan for Matt, Perry bursts out laughing.

“See! Good thing I chose this spot. I’ll be one of the only recruits that can say I have a killer on speed dial.”

“Attempted killer, he's unfortunately still alive,” I correct, and Perry just continues to laugh, shaking his head.

As the class bell starts, Commander Varin takes her place in front of us.

“Welcome to Environmental Tactics,” just like the cut of her hair, her voice comes out sharp. “My job is to teach you how to survive when you are trapped with nothing, behind enemy lines, and the ground under your feet is waiting to kill you. Which, more often than not, it will be.”

She paces slowly across the room, boots echoing against stone.

“This is where we separate instinct from training. I don’t care how fast you run or how many books you’ve memorized. Out there—” she nods toward the illusioned forest, “—a missed step means a broken ankle. Eating the wrong berry or grabbing the wrong leaf for a tincture means death. Fast, or slow. Your choice.”

Perry leans close to whisper, “I’m calling it now, at least half of the class is going to be poisoned, impaled, or eaten by like a magically enhanced monkey or something.”

What the fuck? I’m not sure which part of his prediction has me the most concerned, but he doesn’t stop there: “But I guess I’d take anything over a berry-related death. I’m not dying because of fruit. That’d be so embarrassing.”

I think this entire dialogue that he should have kept as an inside thought would be embarrassing, but hey, who am I to judge?

She stops pacing and turns to face us. “Survival isn’t about strength. It’s about control. Control over your fear. Control over your instincts. Control over the environment you find yourself in.”

With the snap of her finger, the illusioned forest behind her begins to shimmer in ripples. Trees begin darkening, and mist coils low over the ground. And I swear I can smell rain as the sound of distant thunder rolls through the room.

“Lesson one is all about observation. You’ll have twenty minutes to explore what the simulations will be like…if you can survive that long. Like every real forest, there will be things that can hurt you. For this simulation only, you will not feel the symptoms of your ailment; you’ll immediately be pushed back here.

“Simulation one, activate.”

One moment I’m walking between two pillars in class, the next I’m standing ankle-deep in mud, the thick smell of rot and rain overwhelming my nose. I reach out to grab a branch to hoist myself out of the mud with, and I can’t get over how real everything looks and feels.

Commander Varin’s voice cuts through the illusion, “Your twenty minutes begin…NOW!”

My heart races as I try to kick some of the mud from my boots. The last thing I want is to be weighed down by extra weight in a new place, whether it’s a simulation or not.

Scanning the trees first, I don’t see an immediate threat, only a thick canopy of interlocking branches, dense undergrowth, and carpets of moss that glow a muted green in the streaks of light. If this is the forest surrounding Scion, then we’re really far from campus.

Careful of the stinging nettle and poison ivy scattered all around me, I find my way to a stream. Not only would there be natural resources close by if I needed them, but it’s wide enough that there’s practically a security wall between me and the other side, too.

A fast movement to my left startles me, and I’m instantly swiveling my eyes trying to catch whatever is out here with me before it catches me off guard. The sound of wings flapping fills the air. Not a good sign.

Neither is the elk lying dead, its throat ripped open, too recent for bugs to have descended even. I say a little prayer, for him or for me, I’m not sure, but it feels like the right thing to do.

There. I catch the faint shimmer of runes carved into the nearest trunk, half-hidden under lichen growing over several of the trees in this area. Is that what I think it is?

A growl unlike anything I’ve heard before comes from no more than thirty yards to my side, but I don’t see anything.

I turn my head slightly and see another student behind me backing away. Too fast. Splashing. He is about to draw the attention of whatever is out here with us, if it isn’t already headed this way.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Branches seem to snap all around me, the closest maybe ten yards away? Whatever it is, it’s big, and it’s coming for us.

Reaching down to pull my weapon, I’m instantly mentally kicking myself. I have nothing to protect myself with! How did I forget to put the damn daggers they gave us at intake back into my thigh sheaths after my shower?

With no defense, standing here in the semi-open space would be idiotic.