Guardian Of The Grove (3 page)

I
woke
up feeling refreshed for the first time in weeks. Britta was lying next to me, and I remembered what happened last night. The thought of it brought a smile to my lips. Was I lucky to have her or what? I placed a soft kiss on her forehead and swung my legs out of bed. It felt good to have finally gotten some dreamless sleep. The decision to go home seemed to have lifted a burden from my heart. I hadn’t realized just how much I had needed to do this until it was almost driving me insane.

Marcus was going to be waiting for me on the arena floor, so I couldn’t visit Adam yet. As soon as we were done training, I was going to stop by his office and tell him what I needed to do. He would let me go, I hoped. The Ascendancy needed all hands on deck right now, but I needed time to finally grieve my parents’ loss. This was something that I had to do; I hoped he would understand.

I grabbed a clean set of workout clothes and quickly headed to the door. If I was too late, Marcus wouldn’t be pulling any punches, and I didn’t feel like taking another trip to the healers. My last trip had led to some unforeseen consequences. Mainly the fact that I had ended up in the shower with one of my best friends, April, and now I couldn’t get her out of my head. She had been slightly aloof since then, probably because I was still with Britta. So much had happened in the last few months that it was hard to wrap my head around the feelings I had for anyone.

I wasn’t sure what to do. Britta was there for me now, and she was great. I knew April would be there for me too, but how could I saddle her with all of my baggage? Plus, she was my best friend. I never wanted to risk losing that. Still, something in the back of my mind told me I would be better off with her. Should I trust that feeling or was that just my brain telling me to go after something new and shiny? April was a true friend and more. Without her help, I’d be dead by now, and I cared about her as more than just a friend. Damn, when had life gotten so complicated? Sometimes I missed the days when I had shunned everyone and everything. It was easier to be alone.

Marcus smiled up at me and shook out his dreads as I took the final few steps down onto the sand floor. “Hey, sleepy, you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’m never sure that I’m ready for an early morning beat down, but yeah, I got this.”

“I’ve set up some moving targets. I want you to shield yourself from my attacks and then hit the color of the target that I call out.”

“Anything special I should hit them with?”

“They are color coordinated. Red for fire, et cetera. Try and use an opposite element. So, if I call out blue, you could hit it with fire, earth, or air.”

“Cool man, I got it.”

“Then let’s get started.”

I could have sworn he flashed me a wicked grin before moving off toward the side of the arena. The targets rose out of their respective places and started to move around the far side of the space. This wasn’t going to be easy; some of the targets were really going to test my range. The targets moved at different speeds, and some of them moved in weird patterns. Hitting all of them would happen, I just wasn’t sure how many tries it would take. Having Marcus hurling spells at me while I tried to do it would make for an extremely interesting morning.

I managed to get my shield up just before the first spell hit me. The fire licked around the edges of my hastily erected shield, but it held strong.

“You have to be on your toes, Jackson,” Marcus screamed with glee from the stands.

This time, I had to block a blast of water from behind me. I felt the ground under me start to shake, and moved to the side just as he called out green. I sent a blast of hardened air at the target and watched it split in half before I deflected Marcus’s next attack. I dodged a few more attacks, and then he shouted blue. I sent a ball of flame at that target, and it was engulfed in flames instantly.

“Now, you’re getting it,” Marcus shouted.

Life got harder after that. Marcus started launching two or three attacks at me simultaneously. I spent more time dodging and rolling than I did on the offensive side, but I hadn’t been hit yet. My shield held against the continued assault. Three more targets went down, leaving three left. The ground shook again, forcing me to move at an awkward angle to the targets. I managed to clip the white one with a spear of rock, but the hit was off center.

“Now you’re in for it, Jackson,” Marcus howled, his laughter filling the air.

Three golems made of sand rose from the arena floor. Each of them was holding a huge club made out of stone. They shimmered, letting me know that Marcus had shielded them from magic. I needed to come up with a counter to them. No way would I be able to dodge all three of them and Marcus’s attacks. Not to mention there were still targets left that I needed to take care of when he called them out. I blasted the rest of the white target into dust as the golems charged at me.

Two targets left. Could I survive long enough to get them down? I wasn’t sure unless I came up with an answer for the golems quickly before I ended up getting clobbered by one of their clubs. I erected a wall of ice in front of the golems. As soon as they reached it, I heard their clubs begin to pound against the wall. It wouldn’t hold for much longer. What was I going to do? I managed to block two attacks from Marcus while I tried to figure it out. The first chunk of ice fell away from my wall. I only had moments to decide on a strategy before they were on me.

I decided to do what Marcus had told me and stick with different elements. He had sand people; I could make ice golems. I reinforced the wall I had made and started to work on creating my ice warriors. They rose from the ground, tall and lean, carrying blades made out of hardened ice. My creations looked more like people sculpted from ice then the blocky creatures Marcus had conjured. That was so cool. I didn’t even know that I could do that, but that was magic for you. If you thought of an idea and had the power, you could make it happen. I dodged another attack sent at me by Marcus as my wall finally shattered.

“Red,” Marcus shouted.

I sent my ice warriors into the mix and rolled away from a wave of earth Marcus had sent in my direction. I stood up and motioned toward the red target, covering it in ice. My shield took a massive hit from one of the sand golem’s clubs, flinging me sideways. One of my ice warriors moved into his path, blocking his next attack. I motioned toward the red target, and the ice shattered, taking the target down with it.

My warriors were falling to the massive sand golems, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. As their swords of ice broke against the massive rock clubs, I replaced their broken weapons with new ones. Marcus picked up his assault on me, forcing me to keep moving. I was blocking two attacks at a time and dodging through the legs of the giant golems. My arm hurt from the hit I had taken even though my shield had absorbed most of the blow. He had to call the final target soon. I wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Green,” he shouted.

Finally, I had the last target, but I couldn’t see it through the legs of the sand golems and ice warriors battling around me. Fire rained down on me from above, forcing me to stop and deflect it. At the same time, the ground started to shake again, and I was forced to roll away. A huge spike of rock burst from the earth where I had been standing. Every step I took, the ground moved, forcing me to run while dodging balls of ice and deflecting the fire Marcus continued to summon. I was near the end of my reserves, so I decided to get reckless.

Sprinting toward the nearest sand golem, I ran straight for his legs. I slipped through the gap and managed to throw myself to the side before the club would have hit me. I rolled, keeping my motion moving more or less forward. The ground erupted behind me again, and my shield took a blast from a ball of ice, sending me spinning sideways. I kept running. I split the legs of two more golems, probably with more luck than skill. I finally saw the last green target. There was no way I was going to miss this one.

I created five balls of brilliant blue fire in my hands and sent them out into the arena. The target moved and zigzagged, trying to avoid them. I spread the fireballs out in the air and then pulled them together, focusing on the target. Three of them hit the target, and it was destroyed. I jumped in the air to cheer, and a giant club sent me flying. I felt my ribs crack on the impact. It looked like I was going to be taking another trip to the healers after all.

Marcus ran forward and held out his hand to help me up. “Sorry about that, Jackson. I couldn’t stop the magic before he hit you with the club.”

“No worries.” That reminded me that I needed to get rid of a few of my own conjurings. With a wave of my hand, the ice warriors began to melt. After a minute, only four puddles of water were left, and those were quickly sinking into the dry arena sand. I limped to the side of the arena, Marcus following at my heels. When I reached the stands, I took a heavy seat, my ribs screaming in protest.

“Let me heal you, bro.”

“No.” There was no way that was going to happen. I had seen Marcus heal someone in class once. It hadn’t gone well.

“Come on bro, I’ve been working on it. Let me give it a try.”

Marcus had always been there to help me, but his healing was probably the worst I had ever seen. The rest of his magic was nearly flawless, but if he tried to heal you, there was a more than fifty percent chance that you were going to end up worse than you started. I nodded in consent, preparing myself for the worst. He placed his hands on my sides, and I felt the warm magic begin to flow into me. I felt my cracked ribs straighten and the swelling go down.

“Damn man, you really have been practicing.” I was impressed.

“Well, working with you has taught me one thing.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“That with you around, we can never have enough healers.”

“Screw you,” I said with a smile breaking across my face.

“What? It’s true.”

This time, I hit him in the shoulder. “Man, that was some workout you just gave me.”

“Pretty cool, huh? I’ve been working on ways to get you to use different kinds of magic at once. I bet not many people could have worked it out on the fly half as well as you did.”

“Thanks, man.” I stood, testing my newly healed ribs. Everything felt fine. He had really done a good job. “Nice work today man. What do you say we get together next week? That should give you enough time to come up with something truly diabolical.”

“Sure thing, bro. Hey Jackson, I know you and April are in a weird place right now, but you should stop by and see her. She misses you.”

“Marcus, she is the one who decided to stay away.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t be the one to put an end to it. Go and see her.”

I nodded. Marcus had a way of knowing what needed to be done to fix things. I decided to take his advice, and I headed in the direction of April’s room.

“Jackson.”

“Yeah, buddy,” I called over my shoulder.

“Maybe take a shower first.”

I just shook my head and turned back toward my room. He was right—I smelled pretty bad, and I was covered in dirt and God knows what else.

* * *

M
y heart started beating faster
; I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous. It was just a door to my best friend’s apartment. Why should that make me nervous? Reaching deep down, I managed to pluck up some courage. The urge I had to turn and run away faded, and I knocked on the door. My fear almost got the better of me after my hand landed, but it was too late to run now. April called out from inside. I didn’t have time to run, but maybe I could move back and go invisible. I stood there, paralyzed with indecision. The door opened before I could turn around and hide.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Hi, April,” I said with a lopsided grin, trying to play off the anxiety that I felt.

“What do you want, Jackson?” April looked at me, one hand on her hip. It wasn’t the warm invitation I had secretly hoped for.

“Can we talk?”

“I guess.” She moved to the side, making room for me to come inside. “So what’s this all about?”

“I never get to see you outside of our training sessions anymore. I just miss getting to hang out,” I said, making my way to the couch and taking a seat.

She sat down on a large plush chair, facing me, her legs crossed in front of her. She pulled a pillow into her lap and held it there. “I just can’t be around both of you together. It’s too hard for me. You know how I feel and what I think about Britta.”

“I just don’t understand it; everything was fine and then it just wasn’t.”

“You know this goes further than jealousy, Jackson.” She gave me a look as if daring me to challenge her on it. “This is about your safety, and if it affects you, it affects all of us.”

“Just because some fanger said something doesn’t mean she is a bad person, that she can’t be trusted. Britta has been there for me in ways I can’t even try and describe.”

“Jackson we are all here for you. The fact is Sarafina isn’t just some fanger. In these parts, she is the vampire, the highest ranking member of the fallen on the West Coast. What she said didn’t just call Britta into question, it implied something else. When I looked at it without emotion, it was like the wool had been pulled from my eyes. Once she told me that Britta couldn’t be trusted, I decided to watch and make my own decision. Something is wrong with her, Jackson. If you stay with her, it will only end in misery.”