Awakening (The Way Chronicles Book 1) Page 7

  We arrived in a large gymnasium like room. It reminded me of the school gym but with a stone floor and a crazy assortment of weapons scattered around the room. Swords, bows, and weird ninja weapons I'd only seen in video games lined the walls. A few of them were familiar from my martial arts training but only a few.

  "Oliver," I finally managed to get a word in. "What's going on?"

  "We're going to have you spar with a few of the other agents to decide where to start your training." He said as though it should have been obvious. "Just do your best and we'll see what happens."

  Eleria chimed in at this point. "Pick any weapon you want and I'll enchant the ring so no one gets hurt to bad.”

  "Y'all are way too excited about me hurting people and vice versa." I muttered as I scanned the assorted weapons. In martial arts, I'd never really excelled in weaponry because it had seemed pointless at the time. I figured, why waste time learning to swing an outdated, fancy stick when I could be making my body faster and stronger. At that moment, I was wishing I'd payed more attention to those fancy sticks.

  Just decline the offer. The voice instructed. Better to fight familiar than to try to figure out a new weapon.

  I nodded and walked forward into the ring. "So who's first?"

  A guy who looked about twenty-five stepped forward with a double edge short sword. "That'd be me."

  "We'll start you against a mundane." The military looking guy called from the side of the room where he and the others from the conference room were gathered to watch. "Then move you on to the magicians if you do alright. Sound good?"

  "Um," I stared at him for a second not sure what a mundane was. "I'm just gonna fight who you put in front of me okay?"

  "That works too." Oliver smirked.

  I looked back to the man with the sword.

  "So, you're first?" I asked putting my hands up in a poor boxing stance.

  "Guess so," he smirked. "I'll try not to hurt you too bad."

  "Oh, thank you," I said feigning worry.

  He swung his sword down at my head but I slipped inside, caught his wrist, and flipped him to the ground. While keeping my grip on his wrist, I slid his sword from his hand and pressed it to his neck.

  "But, I think I'm the one who needs to hold back." There was a stunned silence as I held him for a moment before letting him up. He stumbled to his feet rubbing his rear and glared at me.

  "You tricked me!" He growled.

  "Strategy," I stuck my tongue out at him. "Simple truth is: you'd be dead right now. Doesn't matter how it happened."

  The boy started at me again but, suddenly, Oliver was between us. "You lost," he growled at the boy. "Deal with it."

  The boy looked like he was about to argue but bit his tongue. As he turned to walk away, he flipped me off.

  "Nice guy," I smirked at Oliver and handed him the sword. "So who's next?"

  "That'd be me," Two boys walked up. The first one who had spoken was bulkily muscled and had his blonde hair buzzed short to his head. The second I knew.

  "Trevor?" I exclaimed.

  "Hey, Way," The walking punching bag said nervously. "Funny seeing you here."

  I stared at Oliver. "You're kidding me right?"

  "No," Oliver said turning to walk away. "Now get ready to fight."

  I looked back at the two of them. "So I have to fight both of you?"

  "Technically, just me," the buzz cut said. "I'm Skyler, code name: Brawler." He slammed his fist together and a faint golden aura surrounded him. It was almost unnoticeable and, at first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

  I shook my head, rubbed my eyes hard, and then blinked a few times.

  "Nope," I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned forward with my hands on my hips. "You're really glowing."

  Skyler looked surprised, "What?" His gaze shot to his hands. "Are you nuts or something?"

  I stared at his hands but the glow didn't disappear. "I guess so." I shook my head and put it down on my, ‘List of Weird Things to Figure Out Later’.

  "To make this a little fairer," the military guy called. "Tell him your specialties. He knows nothing about magic."

  "Fine," Skyler smirked. "My combat method is to increase my physical abilities with body modification magic. I'm faster, stronger, and more perceptive than any normal human."

  "I–" Trevor began but Skyler cut him off.

  "Trevor's codename is Armory," Skyler said. "His specialty is strategy and transformation magic."

  "I make battle plans and turn into weapons" Trevor simplified for me.

  My eyes grew wide. "Um....okay."

  Well, this should be interesting. The voice commented.

  "Let's fight!" Skyler growled and Trevor clapped his hands together almost like he was praying. He glowed so brightly for a second, that I had to look away.

  When I looked back, he was gone and Skyler was holding a four-foot-long Scottish claymore.

  "Hope you're ready," Skyler growled.

  STEP FORWARD, RIGHT HIGH BLOCK NOW!! The voice yelled in my head.

  I swung my right arm up with my forearm slanted, elbow toward the ground, while sliding my right foot forward. I didn't even see Skyler move but his wrist suddenly slammed into my arm. I threw up my left hand and grabbed his wrist to try and keep him close but he swung his arm knocking me through the air. I hit the ground a few yards back and rolled over getting to my knees.

  ROLL TO THE LEFT!

  I followed instructions again and the claymore came crashing down right where I'd been.

  SWEEP!

  My foot slid across the ground aiming at Skyler's feet but he was gone in a split second.

  We have amazing abilities locked away in these chakras, you know? The voice noted. After all the probing that scientist jerk did, it's easy to locate them.

  "What are you talking about?" I demanded.

  Suddenly, I felt strange. Time seemed to slow around me but not the same way it had at my house. This was different because I wasn’t slowing down too. I was still at normal speed.

  Skyler was coming at me again. Even though, the audience seemed to be moving in slow motion, Skyler was still moving at a decent human speed. I side stepped the claymore and punched him hard in the jaw.

  It was like punching a brick wall. The claymore swept at me again, so I dropped low, rolled between his legs, and got some distance. We both paused and circled at normal speed as we caught our breath.

  It's weird. The voice continued. It's like I'd never noticed them before, but it's not like they're hidden or anything. I guess, I was just so used to them, I never knew what they were.

  "Okay, please start making a little bit of sense." I demanded.

  In short, it seems like you have some weird magical mojo stuff jammed into your chakras along with your life energy. It muttered. I think there's one in here to give you the strength to actually knock that guys block off. Question is, can you handle that much of an influx of magical energy at once? Eh Y.O.L.O. right?

  "Um, is now really the time for amazingly annoying acronyms?"

  Is now really the time for obnoxious alliteration? The voice replied.

  I growled at him as Skylar and I shot together again. I stepped inside a downwards stroke from Skyler. Time practically froze as I chambered my arm back. Somehow, my eyes were actually registering information faster than my own body was moving. I saw my arm move in slow motion.

  As my fist started on its way to Skyler's stomach his eyes began to blink shut. When I hit him they'd just finished closing.

  Time flew back into reality, a huge booming sound shook the walls, and Skyler shot across the room slamming into the far wall hard enough to shake a few staffs loose from their hooks. The claymore clattered to the ground, glowed brightly for a second and left Trevor standing in its place.

  Eleria and Trevor both ran to Skyler's side as I stared in confusion.

  A green light shone around Eleria's hand as she passed her hand over Skyler's body, like a security guard wa
nding someone.

  "It's okay, Trevor," Eleria put her hand on the darkly clothed boys shoulder. "A couple cracked ribs and a mild concussion. He'll be fine after just one healing session." She stood up and a couple men ran over with a stretcher to load Skyler on.

  I gulped hard as Eleria strode towards me. "And here I was thinking you were a mundane. Your powers are pretty deeply buried in those chakra's of yours. How'd you access them?"

  "I-" I stopped and decided not to give her any more questions to answer about the voice. "-don't know. Just got lucky I guess."

  "Lucky enough to move faster than Skyler?" She waved her hand at the stretcher leaving the room. "That’s pretty lucky.”

  "And lucky enough to throw a punch so hard you managed to knock someone out even under Eleria's protection charms?" The military guy grunted walking up to us.

  "He's got a point," Oliver chimed in. "Had it not been for her charms, that punch would have done more than kill him. We might have needed a mop."

  I shivered at the thought as the voice chimed in with an: Ewwww.

  "So you ready for a real challenge?" Oliver asked stepping back and sliding his jacket off.

  It’s been real, Way.

  "Wait! Wait up! Woah!" I exclaimed putting my hands up in a 'slow down there buddy' stance. "I don't wanna fight you. No way, josé."

  "Oh really?" Oliver spun a knife up from his thigh sheath in a flash. He twirled it so fast it became a blur. "But I thought you were, 'All in'."

  I gulped as he snapped the knife to a stop. I got a clear look at it for the first time. The blade was split in half and sharp on the outer sides. It vaguely reminded me of a tuning fork and as I watched a small spark of electricity jumped from one side to another.

  "Well, if we're gonna fight," I took a deep breath as my body shook. "You could at least tell me your specialty like Trevor and Skyler did."

  "I specialize in elemental magic," he said. "Fire, water, earth, and air along with their variations and combinations. I like electricity quite a bit but it's the most difficult to utilize through my own body, so, I use this knife like a battery to store and redirect the magic." He pointed the knife at me. "Like this."

  A bolt of lightning shot by my head. My skin tingled and my hair rose towards it. After a split second, it dissipated into thin air.

  I shivered realizing it didn't matter what I had managed to figure out. I had no way of dealing with this guy's magic.

  Let's hit as fast as we can. The voice said. Hold as still as possible and I'm gonna try to activate your powers to as high a level as I can.

  Wait till he's moving to get into his stance, then go. He’ll be off balance for a split second as he steps back. The voice told me. That's our only shot to win this.

  I froze in place, as I felt time slowing down around me. I felt light and strong. Oliver's arm was slowly drifting to his side.

  I stayed frozen in place as Oliver began to take his fighting stance. In a flash, I shot forward swinging my right fist at his face as fast and as hard as I possibly could. My fist slammed into something and stopped. Time flowed normally, there was another loud boom, and it took me a moment to realize what had happened. My eyes finally registered my fist nestled snugly in Oliver's palm.

  Welp, the voice sighed. We’re dead.

  "Amazing." Oliver said. "I couldn't move anywhere near that speed when I was your age."

  I jumped back as he swept his knife at me.

  "Since we know I could just speed up and end this now, how about we keep this fight in real time?" Oliver suggested and then waved his arm at the audience. "That way they can see it more easily."

  "Fine by me," I called; then, in my head: "Anything else you can tap into in there?"

  I'll look. Just try to keep fighting.

  I ducked as he swept his knife at me but I caught a hard knee to my jaw. I flew back and hit the ground before I rolled over backwards and got to my feet. He was on me. I deflected his knife past my torso and slipped behind him.

  Oliver's foot twisted on the ground and a small square of the stone floor rose a few inches right in front of my foot. I tripped and threw my arms out with my forearms parallel to the ground, breaking my fall without risking damage to my wrists.

  I felt an impact in my side and my body rose from the ground flying through the air to come crashing back down ten yards away. I scrambled trying to get to my feet. A glance at Oliver told me he was still in the same place pointing his knife at me.

  I saw the bolt flash from the knife. It was like during the demon attack; everything slowed down, including me. Instinctively, I raised my hand to defend myself and watched as the jagged white light struck it.

  Have you ever touched an electric fence? (Hopefully, if the answer is ‘yes’ it was an accident.) Take that, and multiply it by eighty. Now, imagine that you can actually feel it rushing towards your heart.

  Give me control now! The voice yelled.

  "Do it!" I ordered and flew back into darkness.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I awoke a few seconds later laying on the floor of the gym. "What happened?" I wondered aloud sitting up slowly.

  I set my right hand down on the ground to push myself up and screamed in agony. White hot pain shot up from my hand and I collapsed. I curled into a ball and shook, trying not to vomit. A single glance at my hand told me what was wrong.

  It looked like someone had taken a large soldering iron and stuck it in my palm before dragging it down in loops around my forearm to the inside of my elbow. The skin was missing but blood was only flowing from my palm where I'd split it trying to get up.

  "Stay down!" Eleria commanded. "Don't try to get up. Let me make sure you're not internally injured." I felt her itchy magic sensation, as she scanned me quickly.

  "Oliver!" Raven yelled. "You over did it! What's wrong with you?"

  "It's the new knife, Raven." He replied, sounding vaguely worried. "I'm still not used to it yet."

  "How is this possible?" Eleria said softly.

  I forced myself out of my ball as Oliver came over. "What is it?"

  "The only damage is the surface damage here." She gestured at my arm. "But I can trace the path the lightning took before it came out his other hand." She paused and looked up at Oliver. "It redirected along his chi paths."

  "Yeah, that's cool and all," I fought back vomiting again. "But do you mind doing something about my arm." I rolled onto my back gasping as it split open farther. More blood ran down my arm and pooled on the floor, mixing with the dust.

  "This injury doesn't make sense," Oliver said kneeling next to me. He nudged my arm and I gasped in pain again. "A burn, as bad as this should have been, wouldn’t be bleeding."

  "Well, it is!" I yelled at him. "Sorry to not follow the laws of nature Mr. 'I shoot lightning at kids on the weekends'." I looked at my arm and couldn't make anymore snarky comments at the sight.

  I was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to an infirmary.

  "We need his shirt off." Eleria ordered the nurse and they started to help me pull it off.

  I growled in pain as my arm was jarred.

  "Cut. It. Off." I ordered clenching my teeth against the pain.

  The nurses didn't even look to Eleria for approval before doing what I said. They gave me a shot of something in the uninjured part of my right arm. Suddenly, the pain began to subside and they began their treatment.

  "It looks like–" Eleria said running a glowing hand inches above my body. I squirmed as the feeling of ants crawling over me followed her hand. "–the lightning hit his hand and was deflected around the outside of his arm by my protection charms. But your lightning was so hot it still cooked the skin and destroyed the flesh on the level of a third degree burn. So, it shouldn't have hurt except for the fact–" she paused and looked up at Oliver. "–the nerves and muscles started healing before he hit the ground. The little skin that had reformed when he tried to get up was too weak to take the pressure and split open."

  "Ok but, this
is just minor in comparison with what it should have been." Oliver said gesturing at my arm where small rivulets of blood still ran out mixing with the salve they'd spread on it. "If he heals so fast, why isn't it completely shut already?"

  Eleria held up her hands in the universal ‘don't ask me, I just work here’ gesture. "I can't explain what I'm seeing, I can only tell you."

  "Fine." Oliver shook his head and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But what about the rest of his body? I watched the lightning absorb when it got to his elbow."

  "Exactly, that's what I want to ask Way, here, about." She looked down at me. "How'd you do it?"

  "Before we start, like, what? Round three of twenty questions? Would ya mind, working some of your magic mumbo jumbo and closing the DITCH IN MY ARM!?" I yelled and pushed myself to a sitting position with my left arm.

  "I can't this time, Way." She shook her head as a nurse bandaged my right arm. "You'll have to rely on our healer’s potions for this one. If I try and heal it too quickly, it'll scar incredibly and the nerves and muscles may not regenerate properly. As it is, you'll have an impressive scar to show when you get to training."

  I swallowed hard at the thought of not being able to use my arm. "Ok fine. Your question: how did I do what?"

  "Redirect the lightning." Oliver narrowed his eyes at me. "That's a high-level elemental magic technique that usually requires years of training. Where did you learn to do it?"

  "I don't know," I shivered, as I realized how much I'd been saying that lately. It was becoming a catchphrase. "I blacked out when the lightning hit my hand."

  "Did the voice say anything to you?" Oliver looked at me intently.

  "Other than: 'Welp, we’re dead?" I only kind of lied. "Nope, nothing." Ok, so I lied whole hog.

  "So, we can assume the voice has nothing to do with this one." Eleria said thoughtfully. "Instinct? Weirder things have happened and we did talk about this already: he obviously has a gift for exorcisms and elemental magic." She seemed to be leading him with that statement.

  "I agree, but I don’t know–” Oliver began, but the military guy came in and cut him off.