Jake’s POV

I was sitting under the tree that all the other members of today’s exercise were perched on. So far, only two members of our squad had been taken out, but most of the enemy team was already here, with the exception of their Captain and one private. Captain Gigoales was perched in the branches, talking with the members of the other team, giving them advice on their future tactics and a lecture on ambush preparedness protocols; seeing as almost their entire team was taken out in an ambush, most of them were paying attention.

Sitting in the shade, I started to sense Suma’s emotions; anxiety, pain, and exhaustion. Whatever she was doing, she was scared and hurting. “I think they’re about done!” I called up to the others.

They all looked down before one of them asked, “how do you know?”

“Suma’s hurt, scared, and tired. They’re probably in the home stretch.”

“How hurt?” The Captain asked.

“Not very… but she is rattled. Her wing, I think.” I said, focusing on the sensations. I’d gotten pretty good are reading them, but only when her emotions were strong.

“You are Sentinel, correct? The Viking familiar?” A brownish colored Neame asked.

“Not a Viking, but yes; I’m Sentinel, a familiar.” I answered, looking up at them.

“I see, well… how are you aware of what is happening to our comrades? Is it some kind of spell that allows you to see them?” The brown one asked.

“No, I don’t know what it is really, but I can sense Suma’s emotions if they get strong enough. It’s probably a familiar’s thing.” I leaned back against the tree, and Captain Gigoales flew down to the ground, landing beside me.

“Sentinel, may I have a word with you in private?” I nodded my head, then followed him as he flew out of earshot of everyone else. Once we were several meters away, he landed on some roots, and asked me to sit with him. I molded a chair out of roots, and sat. “At this point, I do not know which team will be victorious, but I wanted to discuss what would happen if were our team that is.”

“You said we would be going on missions, right?”

“That is correct. From this point onwards, the team would be receiving missions, one of which has already been selected, and will be given to the victor. But that is not what I wanted to discuss with you.”

“No?” I wondered.

“Our missions are deadly, going on one insures that someone will die, whether that be you, or an enemy.”

“Yes sir, I am aware.” A lump formed in my throat, and I tried to swallow it.

“If I gave you an order to kill someone, would you?”

My chest tightened, but I thought about my mum, and what I would do to get back to her. Killing was something I knew I was going to have to do. I always figured that in the moment, I wouldn’t hesitate, but after everything that happened, I’d started to wonder about that. “I-”

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“Your hesitation worries me.” The Captain said.

“I would do whatever it took to protect the squad.”

“That’s not what I asked.” He said.

“I guess it would depend on who it was.”

“A target. Someone that the team is sent to kill. It could be an enemy general, or a foreign dignitary.”

“I don’t know.” I answered. “I would need to know why.”

“Because you were ordered to.” He said. His voice remained even through our discussion. The Captain wasn’t mad, he just needed answers.

“That isn’t a good enough reason.”

“No… I suppose it is not.” The Captain sighed. “It is rare to receive an assassination mission, especially one without a reason. Your answers were not unexpected. Most would say the same things as you.”

“Does this mean you don’t want me on the mission?” I asked, nervous.

“No, I would be more worried if you agreed to kill someone only because you were told to.”

“I’m surprised you wanted to talk with me without Suma, this seems like the kind of thing she would need to be here for.”

“I will be conducting the same questions with each member of the team in private later, but I did consider doing the both of yours together.” He shook his head, and rolled his wing like he was working out some stiffness.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I know that her answer and yours may not be the same. You are not like other familiars after all. Most would simply do whatever their master commands, but you are not even under the Rite of Domination.” He said, to my surprise.

“How did you-”

“Lieutenant Datahu had a suspicion, which you just confirmed.” He said. I kicked myself inside my own head, and Captain Gigoales sighed. “At this point, it does not matter. You have your own reasons for joining the army, so I will leave it at that.”

“Thanks.”

“However, none of this was the point of our talk.”

“Is wasn’t?”

“No, Sentinel… Queen Ompera has made a decree. You, and you alone, are being given special permission to use Death Magic in combat however you see fit.”

“What?” I asked, shocked.

“You are also being ordered to begin practicing Death Magic on base, under strict observation.”

“Sir…” I said, stunned.

“Did you, or did you not explicitly say that you would do whatever it took to kill the Chaos Dragon?”

My eyes went wide, and my blood went cold. “How did you…?”

“I received notice from the Queen of your mission.” Now his voice was colder, like even the mention of the dragon scared him. “You said it, did you not?”

“I did.”

“Did you not mean it?”

“No, I meant it…”

“Then you will begin training.”

“… Yes sir.”

“Good, I will let the rest of the team know of this development after the exam, whether we win or not, your training will begin.” He said, but I stayed quiet; unsure what to say. I felt as cold as he sounded at that moment anyway. “One more thing Sentinel, the mission the winning team will be going on: it is an assassination mission.”

“Yes sir…” I lifted my head, which had sunken down as I thought. “May I ask who the target is?”

“Not yet, if we win, I will tell everyone then.” With that, he flew off, and I was left sitting in the forest alone with my thoughts.

My hands, now cold and clammy, shook. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself, but it didn’t help. I knew this order would be coming soon, to start practicing Death Magic, but I’d almost convinced myself otherwise. I’d hoped it wouldn’t at least.

Get it together! I shouted at myself in my head. This is war! You knew this would happen. Just hold it together for Mum! Just… I just want…

Memories of a dream cut off my thoughts. Well, not really a dream, but a memory. The heat of the fire, the smell of charred and rotting Neame, and the pain; it all came rushing back. Like I was experiencing it all over again in a brief moment.

“Zachariah, how did you… how could anyone be okay with that?” I needed to know. Opening the memories, I searched for the one I was looking for, and found it quickly. I watched it again, but stopped when I felt myself getting sick. Just as I started searching for what happened before and after that, I felt something from Suma: pain, and a lot of it. Then, nothing. I still felt her, so she wasn’t dead. “Knocked out.” I thought about going to her, and making sure she was okay. I’d been practicing it recently, and wanted to try, but decided against it. Instead, I calmed myself down, left the memories, and went back to the group to tell them the news. There’d be time for answers later… Right now, I just wanted to get this exercise over with.