“Who is this little girl!” the instructor for Claire’s group bended forward to yell in her face, his tall stature towering over hers. “Cerberus needs soldiers, not children’s dolls for the specters to chew on!”
Claire stood firm, but her legs quivered and her mouth twitched as she tried her hardest to ignore the man roaring in her face. Being her first year at the academy, the lack of experience she possessed proved detrimental to her physical and mental state—finding Cerberus’ harsh training program beyond her depth.
“Why are you here, princess!”
her lips trembled as she choked in her own words, unable to offer a response. “K... k... ki...”
“What was that!” the instructor moved in closer, putting his hand near his ear. “Did you say something, princess!”
Tears began to roll down her eyes, gritting her teeth as she resisted the urge to sob. In her life, Claire never had to deal with any sort of conflict outside of a few scoldings from her father—getting in trouble for leaving the village on her own, or bothering the farm animals. She only joined Cerberus under the desire to see Sebastian again, and after two years of waiting for his return, she pounced at the opportunity to join the academy once she became fifteen of age.
The struggle was nothing like she imagined however, while life in the village wasn’t necessarily easy, she had friends and family to lift her spirits—a simple yet fulfilling life she would do anything to reclaim. In Cerberus, the strict working hours, the bland food and rough treatment from the instructors was too much for her to bear at times—but with her father in mind, she could do nothing but endure four arduous years of training.
At the training grounds, an obstacle course was setup for the rookies to overcome. Claire trudge over the deep mud with heavy grunts, her uniform drenched in sweats and her face covered in dirt. “Ugh! I... can’t...”
“Falling behind, princess?” a couple of rookies jogged past her—laughing arrogantly as they leave her behind.
Eventually overcoming the obstacles, Claire’s group was taken to the fitness center—equipped with advanced training machines, weights, combat gear, and multiple small arenas for soldiers to test their fighting ability. This time, the current instructors had more than weight lifting in mind for his students—positioning the cadets for hand-to-hand training by setting them up against each other.
Claire raised her fists and placed them in front of her, protecting her face. Being a mixed academy, the instructors did not hesitate in arranging battles between different sexes, and simply set them up at random.
“Out there, the specters do not care if the fight is fair or not!” the combat instructor began to yell at his students. “I’ve arranged your training partners aleatorily regardless of strength, sex, age, and performance!” he continued. “If you think it’s unfair, if you think I stacked the odds against you on purpose, if you think you should be placed with someone of your same skill, then I encourage you to leave my facility, right now!” he roared with a thunderous scream at the last two words.
“Well, princess?” Claire’s opponent taunted. “You are not going to win, so why not just walk out and save yourself the beating.” he grinned at her. The man was taller and had a stronger body than hers, he was clearly older and showed previous combat experience for a rookie.
“Begin!” the instructor’s words caught Claire by surprise, who felt intimidated by her adversary’s words.
The man didn’t hesitate in charging her, placing a powerful right hook on her chin—placing his entire weight in the one attack. Claire plummeted against the floor like a sawed-off tree in the forest—hitting her already injured face against the floor. Holding her bleeding mouth with her hands, she forcefully shut her eyes close while resisting the urge to cry on the spot.
“You’ve been here for four months already, princess!” the instructor yelled. “Stand back up, or the door is over there!” he pointed at the open gate of the facility.
Her desire for a normal life burned fiercely within her, it was an easy choice to make at the time. Stand up and go back home, a peaceful life with her grandparents awaited her just past the door—only a few steps away from her. She wouldn’t have to eat the terrible food, endure the berating words of her instructors, she wouldn’t be tortured with rigorous training or constant beatings from her class—it was an easy choice to make.
Her sleepless nights back at home came to mind however, racing her hysterical eyes from corner to corner—waiting for a specter to leap at her from the shadows in the middle of the night. No amount of therapy or medication was able to save her from the traumatizing events she relieved every night—for even when she managed to catch a wink, the demons hunted her inside her dreams to finish what they started—chasing her across the endless woods, with their piercing crimson eyes glowing inside the shadows.
Training ended as usual after a couple of hours, Claire was treated by the medics and sent back to the barracks on her own. Her class prepared to enjoy what little free time they are given, ransacking through their belongings or gathering up for meetings.
Left alone in her bed, Claire decided to make her way out once her body stopped aching—at least for the most part. Trudging her way towards the mail office—the only activity she performed daily during free time, hoping a letter from Sebastian had finally arrived. To her usual disappointment however, there was no mail from her father, but to a shocking surprise, she actually received a letter from an unknown correspondent.
Taking the message back to the barracks with her, Claire sat at the edge of her bed and opened the envelop carefully—placing her gaze in the delicate white flower inside it. Carefully pulling the flower out from the envelop—which surprisingly remained in perfect condition—Claire got her hands on the letter that was placed next to it. While not uncommon that people from outside would write letters to either recruits or Cerberus officers for their service, this was the first time Claire ever received a letter that wasn’t from her grandparents.
The message was short, but enough to create a lump in her throat:
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Stay strong, Lionheart. There is more in you than you realize at the moment, and I’ll be rooting for you all the way to the end from the sidelines. I know you’ll make it through this and more, the strength you need will come to you in time so don’t throw in the towel just yet.
I’m looking forward to see what you’ll accomplish in the future, but for now this will be my last words to you. Your father is out there, and so is the life you crave. Just stay strong, Lionheart.”
Northen Region of the Deadlands, Abandoned Cerberus Outpost: 936, April 9th, Monday, 12:00 PM.
With a low grunt, Claire opened her eyes to wake up in a dark and messy room. The rubble of the crumbling walls laid everywhere on the floor, broken chairs, desks and glass all around the small space. She was tied to a chair with rope, a strong knot that she couldn’t break free from easily.
“You are awake,” a man walked from behind her—placing a chair in front of her and sitting face to face. “Now, you will tell me what you know about Cerberus.”
The man was calm and collected, he had brownish skin and his dark hair tied into a low ponytail. The lieutenant couldn’t help but notice the distinct clothes the man was wearing, clothes she recognized for their similarity to Ninigi’s. She looked at him in the eye, a strong glare that needed no words to indicate her displeasure at the current situation.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“My name is Maulik,” the man answered politely. “Maulik Thakkar... I need some information from you.”
“Asking could’ve been a good start,” the lieutenant offered a snappy response.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what I’m dealing with here.” he said. “Who is your boss?”
Claire squinted her eyes with an angry frown, unsure of the man’s intentions. “A quick search on the web would give you the answer.”
“But is it the right answer?” Maulik stood up from his chair—placing it away gently, and moved behind Claire for a few seconds—coming back into view with her spectral gear in hand. “These are yours, correct?”
Seeing her pistols in the unknown man’s hands caused the lieutenant to grit her teeth, refusing to answer his question.
“Who made these gear?” Maulik asked calmly, but received no response again. “I find it strange that a company like Cerberus would be able to develop such powerful technology, and not only that...” he continued. “But the time frame they were developed in doesn’t make much sense either...”
“So you say,” Claire commented.
“Your company struggled with money for a period of time, and this project for the ‘spectral gear’ was kept hidden from the public eye.” Maulik moved behind Claire a second time—walking out of her view. “So, when did Cerberus start development for this gear? How do they work? Who created it exactly, and how did they craft such powerful equipment? It is quite intriguing that they only deployed this gear after your new CEO took over the company, and only that.” Maulik continued on his assumptions. “But they were given to a fresh graduate like yourself to test them on the field.”
“Get to the point,” the lieutenant snapped back.
“Who is behind your operations?” Maulik stood in front of Claire once again. “Who created the spectral gear? Because, as far as I know...” he took his chair and sat back down in front of her. “These weapons aren’t made through human technology, or even technology at all.”
Northern Region of the Deadlands, Cerberus Outpost: 936, April 9th, Monday, 12:00 PM.
“Is everyone intact?” Eric rushed inside the small infirmary room—Gaspard walking in behind him. Scott and Tori turned their heads at the sound of his voice, the young medic of Bloodhound treated the wounded with Scott’s assistance as well as the other medics—helping the many officers laid on the beds with bandages and heavy wounds.
“Eric, Gaspard!” Tori jumped in delight. “Yes, we... we are doing all we can.” she expressed concern for the injured.
“Did you find her?” Scott asked with haste, his eyes eager for an answer.
Eric shook his head in response however, trying to keep a cool head. “I’m afraid not, we asked around but nobody even saw where she went.”
A gasp escaped Tori’s lips at the noble’s words, covering her mouth. “But... that can’t be...”
“We found this piece of equipment on the ground,” Gaspard extended his palm with an earpiece on top of it—the three heads of Cerberus inscribed in gold on its surface. “It is unmistakable hers.”
Scott took it in his hand, inspecting it closer. “It has a gold insignia instead of red, but that is true for all squad leaders.”
Eric crossed his arms, clearing his friend’s doubts. “We recovered all the bodies from the assault, people are either dead or injured.” he explained. “She is the only officer missing.”
“There must be something we can do...” Scott rubbed his chin.
“Hello, is this Bloodhound?” a voice speaking from the earpiece surprised the group. “Please, respond.”
They all looked at each other with open mouths, unanimously agreeing to answer the call with a determined nod.
“Uh... hello?” Scott answered.
“Are you kidding me?” Eric retorted. “Uh... hello? Is how you answer?”
“Shut up, we don’t know who’s in the comms.”
“This is Arwen, I’m glad to see you are doing alright.” the voice said through the speaker.
“Boss?” Bloodhound said in unison.
Arwen hummed in confirmation. “How is the situation over there?”
The group winced while looking at each other, allowing Eric handle the situation as he took the earpiece in his hand. “The lieutenant is missing; we have no clue where she might be.” Bloodhound pressed together around the speaker, waiting for a response.
“I see... that sounds very troublesome.” Knowing well what their answer was going to be, Arwen feign ignorance before explaining the plan to Bloodhound. “We implemented a tracker device on the lieutenant’s gear,” a white lie to explain Sovereign’s ability to detect life within the Deadlands. “We can pinpoint her location from here, I’ll come back to you with more information.”
“Yes, sir!” Bloodhound replied.
The group took a deep breath to calm their nerves, having received a glimmer of hope for their lieutenant’s safety. Eric returned the earpiece to Scott, who safeguarded it in his pocket. Having no leads at the moment, there was only one subject of discussion in the group’s mind.
“So, we all saw the specters rush to the northern side of the outpost, right?” Scott asked.
Tori nodded in response, followed by Eric and Gaspard. During their battle to chase off the specters, the creature’s suddenly split to focus their efforts on the northern gate—the area Claire protected with her team of scouts.
“The officers were kind enough to describe the events to the young master and I,” Gaspard spoke. “They mentioned a man of brownish skin with a ponytail...” the butler calmly explained. “Apparently he was fending off the horde all on his own.”
“Really?” Tori’s eyes opened wide.
“Sounds crazy, but then again... we saw what Ninigi was capable off.” Scott rubbed his chin. “You think there’s a knight around?”
Eric crossed his arms, “we might find out sooner or later.” he said. “Let’s resupply for now, the lieutenant is in need of our aid.”
“Yes!” Tori pumped her fists. “We can’t let anything happen to her!”
Continuing with their tasks, Bloodhound prepared to head out into the Deadlands—patiently waiting for Arwen’s instructions.
END OF CHAPTER