They came last in their next competition. It was a giant free for all team wrestling match with the main objective to throw your opponents out of the ring. Each team member received a certain amount of points depending on how long he lasted in the ring individually, and they worked as a team to throw other people out. The ring was just a large rope held up by trainers as well as some extra stablehands. As more and more people got thrown out of the ring, the trainers would walk closer together and make the circle smaller.
Lyra honestly thought they would have had a decent chance, but they were targeted quickly because of how weak they were. She thought Lev would have made it far and he should have brought their team a decent amount of points, however because he was such a threat, Tobias got a few of his cronies and ganged up on him. Lev took three of them with him, so it was not a complete loss in her eyes.
Her frustration had been growing daily because of their standing on the leaderboard. While they did not start dead last, they quickly dropped to it. The lack of a seventh team member was very prominent and unless something changed, they were all going to be sent home at the end of the year. She was praying for a miracle, only she had no idea what form that miracle could take.
The Phoenix squad was eating breakfast one cold morning, when Captain Tempest approached them swiftly. When he got closer they all gave him a quick salute from their seats. The dragon corps was fairly relaxed when it came to saluting and whether or not you wore your uniform. When you never know when you might get eaten by a dragon, it creates a more easy going atmosphere. While the infantry were known for their strictness and protocol, the dragon corps only had one rule. Don’t die.
Tempest returned the salute then barked out, “Phoenix squad, drop your food and follow me.”
There was visible confusion in their eyes, but if they had learned one thing in the past several weeks here it was to obey authority. Quickly they grabbed a last bite of whatever they had and dropped their utensils. Lyra tried not to catch anybody’s eye as she left the mess hall with her squad. It was never good to have attention on you, attention made you a target.
When they started heading to the trainers’ wing of the dragon corps compound, Lyra started to get a little nervous. Was Tempest going to reprimand them for how poorly they had been doing? Were they just going to get sent home now instead of at the end of the year? Terrible situation after terrible situation flew through Lyra’s mind.
They eventually reached a room, and Tempest let them in, closing the door behind him. The first thing Lyra noticed was a boy. He dressed in the dragon corps uniform, held what looked like a walking stick, and was thinner than any of the Phoenix squad. Lyra was sure she was stronger than he was.
Tempest sat down behind his desk, Lyra realized this was his own office, and motioned at the boy. “Phoenix squad, this is Rakon, your new squadmate. You are the only squad with six people, so he automatically goes to you. Rakon, meet your new squadmates. They’ll show you where to sleep, where to eat, and where to train. Follow them around for their classes and help them win some challenges, my goodness they need it.”
Lyra’s mouth opened in shock of its own accord. She prays for a miracle and gets this boy? She was well aware that beggars can’t be choosers, but honestly he looked like he was just going to get in the way. She forced herself to stop judging him so quickly, any help is better than no help at all she thought to herself begrudgingly.
“Yes cadet Lyra,” Tempest said, noticing her surprised expression. “Rakon here missed the signup as he was deathly ill at the time. As soon as he recovered he came straight away in hopes that he would not have to wait another year. As it turns out your squad is in such desperate need for help, I decided to allow it.” He paused thoughtfully for a moment before continuing.
“And while I’m in such a helpful mood, I’ll let you in on a secret. We're going to have individual competitions today, so you might want to get yourselves ready.” He gave them a little shooing motion that sent them scurrying from the room.
Rakon must still be recovering from his sickness Lyra thought, he looks really weak! It wasn’t that he was small, because he was a little taller than average. His whole body just looked, she searched for the right word, frail? She wasn’t sure if that was the best word to use, but it seemed to fit for now.
“Welcome to Phoenix squad Rakon!” Gareth said, grabbing Rakon’s hand and shaking it firmly. “I’ll tell you, we sure are glad to have you in our group. Things have been a bit tough with only six members, but I’m sure they’re going to get much better now that we have you.”
Rakon nodded back awkwardly. “I’m glad there was an opening for me, I was very worried they would not let me in.”
“Thank goodness they did, you might be the reason we don’t lose our places at the end of the year.” Gareth said happily, “let's get your stuff to your room so you don’t have to carry it around. All you need is your weapon unless we have a class, then you’ll need to bring something to take notes. Sounds like we’re going to have individual competitions soon though, so we’ll drop your stuff off at your room and get warmed up for that. What is your weapon of choice by the way?”
Rakon looked more than a little overwhelmed by all the information coming at him. He was taking it as well as one could expect however, nodding along at what he was being told and trying to understand everything at once. He looked a little confused at the questions being posed at him, then quickly answered, “my um, my staff is the weapon I use. I also can use a sword alright, but not as well.”
“A staff?” Niles interrupted, “almost nobody uses a staff, most consider it a commoner’s weapon. Where did you say you were from again?”
“Yes, a staff. I’ve been told that before, but I rather like the way it feels in my hand. Oh, is this my room?”
Lyra noticed his staff better now that she was walking next to him. It was actually quite beautiful. It was a simple black staff with what looked like a carving of a dragon on the top of it. It seemed sturdy enough, but she was nervous at how it would fare in actual combat. She was certain it wouldn't stand a few good blows. She also noticed how Rakon seemed to dodge the question about where he was from. Interesting, she thought.
Kai stepped up behind Rakon. “Yep, this is our room. You, me, Lev, Gareth, Olrick, and Niles all bunk here. Luckily we don't have to share the room with any of the other squads, so we can pretty much do whatever we want in here.”
“Yes, that does sound very nice.” Rakon said simply. He walked over to the only empty bed and placed his bag next to it. He removed his sword and belted it onto his waist, only slightly awkwardly, and grabbed his staff. “Okay, I’m ready. You said something about warming up? What is this competition about anyway?”
“Oh, Captain Tempest didn’t tell you how things worked here? No worries, let me explain.”
While they walked, Gareth explained how the individual and group competitions worked. Rakon seemed to understand the point system as well as the importance of not having the lowest score at the end of the year, individually or as a squad, and Lyra thought he was excited to be a part of the group, even if he was on the small side.
“That all makes sense to me. What place is our group at the moment?” He asked, looking around at each of the faces around him expectantly. An awkward silence met his question.
“We are in the last place” Lev’s Eshanian came from the rear of the group. “But we no worry, we are not in the last place by very much points. And with you now here with us, we will definitely win more.” He said with a grin.
Lyra couldn’t help but smile at Lev’s optimism. He was by far the strongest recruit and she was glad he counted her as a friend. She reached up and patted his arm and smiled at him. He looked back at her and squinted his eyes as he smiled, which by now she recognized as a way his people showed gratitude or thanks.
“Last place?” Rakon said, sounding a little worried. “I hope you don’t expect too much from me, I just got here and I-”
“Don’t worry about it man,” Olrick pitched in, “honestly just having another body in the group will help a lot, just don’t get last in every event and that’s enough for us.” He finished with a chuckle.
Rakon’s look made Lyra wonder if he was even confident enough to accomplish that. They finally reached the training arena, multiple circular sand pits large enough to fit several fighters. It was often being used at different parts of the day by other cadets, but it was strangely full at the moment. There were several cadets in all the rings as well as many, many more in the wooden bleachers set up around the rings.
Gareth called out to a passing cadet. “Hey, why are there so many people here?”
“You didn’t hear?” came the reply, “Captain is giving us our next competition, it should be starting as soon as the rest of the cadets get here. I think it’s some sort of combat competition.”
“Great,” muttered Niles. “Just what I was hoping for, public humiliation.” It was no secret that Niles was the worst swordsman out of their group. Lyra honestly thought that they were all competent fighters, however Niles was not trained as a fighter growing up. He had always wanted to be a fire mage, and only after finding out that he would not be accepted into their guild did he start training to be in the dragon corps. While he was not a hindrance in a fight, if it came to one on one combat Lyra was not sure how he would do.
“You’ll be alright,” soothed Gareth, ever the team leader. “Start stretching, if you want I’ll do some quick sparring to get you warmed up.”
They went off to the side and began to talk strategy. Gareth was pointing out weaknesses in their different classmates while Niles was trying to find some hope in his situation.
The squad began to split up and do some light sparring to get warm. With seven people it was clear somebody was going to get left out, and Rakon being the newest was the obvious candidate. Olrick and Lev went off to trade blows and that left herself, Kai, and Rakon.
“Do you want to warm up with us?” Lyra politely offered to Rakon.
“No thanks, I’ll be okay by myself.” He said, not unkindly, and walked away several paces to get some space. He took his sword off his belt and started to swing his staff around. It looked almost like he was doing some kind of dance.
Lyra looked at Kai incredulously. “Does he think he is going to do better by himself?” She whispered to him.
“I’m not sure what he’s thinking honestly, I’m sure it must be really difficult to join something so intense at such a late stage. We’ve already been here for over two months, could you imagine trying to jump in now?”
“I know, I know,” Lyra said exasperatedly, “Why do you always have to be so understanding of everybody else. Just let me not like him for now.” They laughed together and began to trade soft blows, slowly building their speed. Lyra was glad she had Kai with her. She was a little worried after their slightly awkward moment when Kai walked her to her room, but they hadn’t had any sort of awkwardness since then, and that made her glad. Kai had always been her closest friend, and she wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.
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Lyra noticed that some of the cadets were pointing at Rakon and whispering, it was clear that people were curious about the new recruit. Hopefully he wasn’t adding to the idea that Phoenix squad was the weak link out of everyone. She looked at him as he continued to do, well, whatever he was doing. She couldn’t help, but think he was more than a little strange for some reason.
A hushed silence started to grow in the room, and suddenly she saw the reason why. Captain Tempest had entered the arenas, and the cadets were giving him their full attention waiting to hear about the next competition. After all the noise had died down, Tempest stood up on one of the nearby benches.
“Good afternoon recruits!” He spoke loudly, his voice reaching every inch of the sandy arenas and bleachers beyond. “We will now be starting our next competition. I like to call it, ‘trial by combat’.” Grinning, he continued. “We will have a quick tournament, one on one combat, any weapons allowed, but absolutely no elemental weaving. If you are unconscious or you yield, you lose. If you win, then on to the next round for you. Individuals get a point for every round that is won, and these totals go to your individual score as well as your squad’s total score, so this could be a chance for some people to catch up to the rest of the pack.” Lyra could have sworn he looked at her.
“The only rule is no killing anybody, I swear if I have to report to the king we lost more cadets, I’ll kill whoever is responsible. Am I clear?” He raised an eyebrow expectantly.
“Yes Captain!” came the roar from every cadet.
“Great, then let us begin!” He gave a nod, and the scribe that was behind him handed him a sheet of paper. He began to read out names of those that would be fighting each other in the first round. Lyra listened closely to hear her name.
“...Niles and Hornby, Lucas and Yuric, Renea and Lyra…” She would be fighting Renea. She was nervous because she hadn’t talked to Renea since she chose to be with Tobias’ group. She was originally soft spoken when they first met, but since spending so much time with her squad, the Flaming Warriors, she had gotten a little ruthless. She also perked up at the name Lucas. Lyra had been trying to meet other cadets and remember names, and Lucas had stood out. She had talked to him a couple times and he seemed like a genuinely kind person. It was refreshing to know that there might be more good people in this hellhole of a place.
What stood out to her the most was his score on the leaderboard. He was in second place, and the only reason he wasn’t in first was because at the end of the last competition he got teamed up on. It was clear that he was the most proficient fighter amongst all the cadets, and Lyra wouldn’t be surprised if he was better than all the second years even. Now that this was a one on one competition, she was sure he was going to win the whole thing with ease.
After Tempest was finished reading off the names for the first round, she walked to an open ring and waited for Renea to join her. She unsheathed her sword and held it loosely in both hands. While she was a decent fighter in her own right, she knew she was not nearly the best one here, but she might be the best girl. She was getting stronger everyday, but her greatest strength was still her speed and her skill with the blade. Some fighters won with strength, she won because she was smarter than the rest of them.
Renea soon joined her in the ring, hopping lightly over the waist high fence that made the perimeter. “So, it’s good to see you again.” Renea said evenly.
“Yes, it is. How have you been?” Lyra said slowly. If possible she would love to keep Renea as a friend, she just wasn’t sure what the time spent with Tobias had done to her.
Renea walked up to her and engaged in combat. She held a sword similar to Lyra’s in shape, however Lyra’s was clearly the superior weapon. Renea gave a few easy cuts and slashes, testing Lyra’s defenses. Lyra blocked them easily, not sure what game Renea was playing. Lyra knew she was the better fighter, perhaps Renea was trying to save herself from an injury so that she could compete in later challenges. Some cadets have already gotten injuries from training, it was ruthless out here and each cadet was trying to win favor from trainers as well as keep other squads from competing at full strength.
Renea kept trading soft blows with her, never really committing to full strength. “Your friend Kai really likes you, you know.” She said suddenly.
“What?” Lyra said confused, “I know he does, we have been friends forever.”
Another slice, another block.
“You can’t tell?” she laughed softly, “Oh I didn’t know you were so blind. It’s so obvious that-” she lunged forward with lightning speed at Lyra’s midriff.
Lyra was so shocked she barely got her sword up in time to block the attack. She was mentally smacking herself, she can’t believe she almost fell for the oldest trick in the book. And what was her deal, was she trying to kill her or something? Lyra swallowed her emotions and quickly went on the offensive. The fight only lasted about another minute, after Lyra fended off Renea’s cheap attack, she was able to control the rest of the bout. It ended when Lyra attacked with a blisteringly fast combo that left Renea’s left side wide open. Lyra took advantage of the opening and pulled her swordpoint to Reneas exposed sternum before she was able to get her sword back into a defensive position.
“Yield.” Lyra said flatly, her voice offering no sympathy.
Renea didn’t say anything at first, her eyes flickering back and forth between Lyra’s swordhand and the tip of her sword.
Lyra could tell Renea was thinking about doing something stupid. She applied a little pressure to the tip of her sword, just enough to cause some pain.
“I yield!” Came Renea’s quick reply after that, dropping her sword. Lyra stepped back and let her pick it up. She gave a nod to Renea after she did so, and then turned back to report the results of the fight to the scribe, glad to be done with the fight. It wasn’t that it had been difficult, but she was just sad to see that Renea had changed so much in such a short time. She cursed Tobias in her head, frustrated that he could change such a sweet person into somebody she barely recognized.
Her team had fared well. Niles was the only one to lose his first round, which was to be expected. And he was still in decent spirits since, as he claimed, he did not get beaten too badly. Lyra was a little surprised that Rakon had won his fight, but glad that he was contributing. She wished that she could have seen it, but the fight was on the opposite side of the arena.
She waited impatiently after the first round was over, shifting nervously from one foot to another. It was one thing to trust in her skill with a blade, and another completely to actually defeat larger and stronger opponents. With her luck she would have to go up against Lucas in the next round, and she knew exactly how that would end.
Captain Tempest started to read off names again, which brought silence to the arena quickly. She listened closely to the names and when she heard her own she was not surprised to learn that she was facing somebody she had never met. She was trying her best to learn all of her yearmates’ names, but so far had only learned a few.
When she saw who she was facing, recognition touched her mind. She had seen his face only a couple times, and had just learned that his name was Travis. She actually liked Travis, she hadn’t interacted with him, but she noticed the way he treated his squadmates that made her believe he was a decent guy. Lyra was tall for a girl, but Travis was still taller than her, with a strong frame. He looked very capable of winning a fight.
Her mind was racing while they walked to their ring, she was trying desperately to remember anything of his fighting style. Nothing was coming to mind, instead she tried to quell her own nervousness and prepare herself mentally as best as she could.
The horn went off signaling the fight. Lyra and her opponent engaged slowly, each testing the other’s defenses without committing to an all out attack. This fight seemed similar to Renea’s except she could tell Travis was much more skilled already.
He stepped forward into a simple cut, designed to knock her blade to the side. She parried easily, feeling the strength in which he attacked. She returned with her own cut, trying to feel out the level of his skill. Travis blocked the blow completely, jarring her arm slightly. She followed up with a series of attacks, trying to slip past his defenses. He easily countered each of her attacks, knocking them aside as easily as the wind blew away the leaves.
He then advanced on her with his own sequence of blows. She retreated steadily, deflecting his attacks one by one. She could tell he was not aiming to hurt her, just defeat her. It was a nice change from the fight she had with Renea.
A few minutes into the fight the tip of her sword started to drop. She held it in both hands in front of her, trying desperately to keep her defenses up. In the end, Travis’s strength won out. Lyra could not keep up with the intensity of his blows, and on his last attack he maneuvered his sword inside her guard and flicked the sword gently out of her grasp. He held his sword point to her throat for only a moment, before dropping it to his side.
“Do you yield?” He said, panting.
At least he is as exhausted as I am, she thought, frustrated at herself for losing so quickly. “I yield,” she said out loud.
He bent down and picked up her sword, handing it to her. “You fought very well,” he said, “I actually thought you had me there for a moment.”
She could tell he was being nice, and she let him. “Maybe if I was as strong as you I would have won,” this brought a chuckle out of him.
“I have no doubt if you were as strong as me, you would be the best fighter here.” He shook her hand, the respectful way to end the fight, and went to report his win to the scribe.
Slightly dejected, she looked around for the rest of her squad. Again she was one of the last ones fighting, so she rejoined her group as they were walking closer to Tempest to hear the results. Herself and Kai had gotten out that round, which left Lev, Rakon, Gareth, and Olrick still fighting to earn points for their team.
The large majority of cadets had been eliminated already, so for this next fight there were many spectators. Kai stood next to her and together they watched Rakon and his next opponent square off. It was some cadet she had never seen before, who looked like a very competent swordsman, while Rakon just stood still with his staff held in both hands at his waist. She was confident this would be Rakon’s last fight, she almost wanted to tell him to back out now before he got seriously hurt.
The horn rang and the fight started. Rakon didn’t move, but his opponent sprang forward like a rocket. His speed completely shocked Lyra, he looked like he was built for strength and not speed. Rakon did not seem to be surprised however, right before the sword point hit Rakon in the chest, his staff blocked the blow. It wasn’t there a moment before, and then it was. Lyra couldn’t believe how somebody could move that fast. His opponent seemed to be as shocked as Lyra was, he quickly backpedaled and fell into a defensive stance.
Rakon walked toward his opponent with his staff held up, both hands held a little more than a shoulder width apart. He pushed his right hand out, making a quick attack with part of his staff. His opponent had to block as well as dodge a second attack coming from the other side of Rakon’s staff. Only his quick feet saved him from possibly bruised ribs.
Lyra had thought that a staff was a weak weapon, but now she could see how wrong she was. She couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to keep your eyes on both ends of the staff, especially considering the speed with which Rakon moved. She begrudgingly gave Rakon a little respect, even though something about him still rubbed her the wrong way. At the very least he was proving himself to be a valuable member to the team.
There was a gasp from the crowd as Rakon took a small gash across his arm. He was a little too slow in deflecting his opponent's blade, and now blood stained his uniform. It didn’t seem to be impeding his movement too much thankfully, but the cut imbued his opponent with more vigor and he was attacking much more ferociously.
Rakon continued to dodge effortlessly. His staff deflected and blocked every attack, his movements were so smooth it almost looked like he was dancing across the sand. The relentless attack from his opponent proved to be his own undoing. At one particularly aggressive and desperate lunge, Rakon neatly sidestepped and brought his staff down hard on his opponents wrist. There was a yelp of pain from his opponent and then a thud as Rakon swept his feet out from under him. After his opponent admitted defeat, Rakon helped him to his feet and then went to give the results of the fight to Captain Tempest.
Kai grabbed her shoulder excitedly. “Did you see that? That was amazing, Rakon is really going to help our team out a lot!” his hand lingered on her shoulder for a moment more than necessary before dropping to his side slowly.
“He’s definitely something special, that’s for sure.” She tried to match Kai’s excitement, but there was just too much going on in her head. First she couldn’t wrap her mind around what Renea had said to her in the ring. Did Kai actually have feelings for her? Or was it just something that Renea had said to distract her? And why did she have such weird feelings toward Rakon? She should be grateful that somebody so proficient in fighting joined their squad, but some gut instinct was telling her that something was wrong.
Rakon was the only one from the Phoenix squad that won that round, but Gareth wasn’t too upset. In fact he was practically giddy with excitement. He was certain that because of their performance thus far they were out of last place, they might have even advanced two places if they were lucky. Now that the third round was over, it was time for the semi finals. Lucas vs Saria, a vicious girl with lightning fast reflexes, and Rakon vs… Tobias.
When the names were announced Rakon looked around for his opponent. When his eyes met Tobias’s, he visibly paled. Lyra looked at Tobias for his reaction and was confused when she saw recognition in his eyes. There was definitely something going on here, and she was determined to figure it out.