Zinc 01 - Altors, page 18
part #1 of Zinc Series
"Isa Ryder tried to kill me and then Juglan Kish thought it would be fun to give it a shot as well." I grimaced at the memory of the revolver, but managed to shake off the shiver before it settled. "Datura had to take them out so I could keep breathing, and-" I was cut off before I could get any further.
"He killed them?!" Ilex demanded.
"No, no!" I said quickly. Why was I the only one on the receiving end of Ilex's wrath? I re-phrased. "He just knocked them out cold. He then brought me into the Valley for," I paused. "Personal reasons." I clamped my mouth shut, glaring in direction of the kitchen, hoping that the Keeper of the Dead could feel my wrath. I'd promised to be back by six to Ilex. I'd wanted to keep that promise to show the man I was going to start listening to him. Or at least, be polite or something. Datura had known this. Ilex grabbed my shirt though, pulling me back so I couldn't slip away.
"Wait a minute teenager-I-have-no-control-over, we still need to talk." I groaned, looking over his shoulder. My eyes narrowed when Datura waggled his eyebrows playfully my way, biting down onto a sandwich as he went up to the second floor, humming of course, that stupid braid of his swinging left and right in an annoyingly teasing manner.
"What about Lovelace?" I demanded loudly, pointing at the traitor’s retreating figure. This was so unfair. Ilex guided me over to the living space, pushing me down onto the couch.
"Datura is twenty-three, he laughs in my face when I try to talk sense into him." He held up his hand to cut off whatever I was going to say. "You're seventeen, Esquivel, you still have to grumble your way through my reasonable and logical points within these conversations. You can laugh at my face after you've listened." Stupid piece of paper that made me his. I shut up, crossing my arms in irritation and wiggling comfortably into the couch, knowing full well I was going to be sitting here for a while if he was going to go over all the bad things I had done these past couple of weeks.
He smirked in appreciation at my compliance, sitting down on the edge of the coffee table, his gaze becoming stern before slipping into a frown. Puffing out some air, he straightening his shoulders, the frown turning into confusion while he pointed a finger at me, but just as soon lowered it again.
He stared at me dully. "Obviously, I'm not very good at this. When Caltha and I accepted to train Altor soldiers, we made clear that Iris was to deal with the minors before sending them to us so we could train them further and then send them back to her." He paused. "We were really worried, Calycanthus."
"I had no idea time moved differently in the Valley.” I assured him. “I thought I was back on time." I showed him the watch. Ilex grumbled, detaching it from around my wrist, fiddling with the side button and then placing it back around my arm.
"Don't you want it back?" I asked, looking down to see that it was seven in the morning.
He shook his head. "No, it's fine. You need it and this way it'll give Caltha an idea for a gift for my birthday." He patted my hand. "He's been giving me socks two years in a row now. Not that I don't appreciate them." Ilex mumbled, the corner of his lip quirking upwards. "Alright." Back to business apparently. "Just make sure you don't miss anymore curfews, and listen to me as best your teenage angst can handle. I don't like this worrying feeling." He said gruffly. I nodded at him and the small frown that had been engraved onto his face ever since I'd walked back into the house, slowly smoothed over.
"Can you tell me about the sickness now? Do I carry the blue blood cell, is that why I'm feeling this way?" I asked softly, worried what it was, if it was bad, if it was nothing or if it was going to kill me. I'd been feeling better ever since we got out of the Valley though.
"You'll be fine." He assured. "I just want to make sure you're not allergic to anything before we give you the medicine." He stood then, gesturing for me to do the same. "Now go into the training room while I get Datura." I reluctantly listened to him, wanting to know how much he knew about my feeling sick, but clearly we'd go into detail at a later time.
When I stepped into the training room I was surprised at the view. A row of Altors in training were lined up by the right wall while Caltha and the woman I recognized as Iris were sharing a heated argument. I was glad to see Dandelion and Jatrop were here, making me feel a tad less uncomfortable, but before I could hide behind them, Caltha spotted me.
"You are in big trouble!" Iris smirked when his attention switched over from her to me. "Considering your genes, I shouldn't even be surprised." Excuse me?
"Caltha." Turning, I saw Ilex appear, Datura making his way around him so he could line up alongside the other Altors obediently standing there. "We want to ease him into things, not give him a heart attack."
Iris scoffed. "Talking about it in code is not going to tone down his curiosity." She was right, I was far from uninterested. Stepping over to me, she took my hand and shook it. "I'm Iris, Coliseum trainer. I cover manners and combat basics before handing young soldiers over to these two, who then cover history and minor raids." She placed an arm around my shoulders, giving it a squeeze. "Then they are sent back to me and I finish them off." She pointed at the faces I didn't know in the lineup. I recognized them from the portraits in the upstairs hallway, though.
There was a beautiful blond that didn't look like an Altor, but apparently was. "That is Ivy Neumann. Half Pallium, half Altor."
The guy with the goatee who's picture was ripped in half and for some reason looked familiar to me now. "Iso Ryder."
Ilex cut in. "You met his twin brother." Iso winced at that, making it clear that Isa apparently had a habit of terrorizing people as he had me.
"I'm Altor through and through." He said. "I'm sorry on my brother's behalf." I gave him a hesitant nod but didn't say anything as Iris was already introducing me to the next person, a little girl of about eight. She couldn't be a soldier, right?
"Anemone, my daughter." Iris said lovingly. Smiling at the girl, my eyebrows shot up in surprise when she started signing to me. "She is mute." Her mother explained. "She says that she is very pleased to meet you." I blinked when she walked over, taking my hand so she could turn it and place a kiss against my palm.
"It's how Altors show a sign of respect among one another." The woman named Ivy explained the action. Staring down at Anemone curiously when she offered me her palm, I gingerly took it and bent down so I could place a kiss against it. She reminded me of Solenum. Their skin color was very similar and her hair was tied into two pony tails. Where Sol's eyes were huge and yellow, Anemone's were slitted and grey, like her mother's.
Smiling brightly up at me, she stepped back into the line. I doubted Iris was training her already. I hoped Iris wasn't training her yet.
"This," I looked back at Iris when she spoke. "Is Vervaine." Her voice said this meaningfully, as though I should know the woman. I recognized her from her portrait. She was the one with soft blue hair and many piercings. The coloring told me something I couldn't have known before. She had a Regius for a parent. Before I could contemplate that, she broke out of the line and stepped into my personal space, gently holding onto my face.
"Vervaine!" Datura shouted, startling me further and making me feel scared. The woman ignored his warning though and meticulously scanned me over. Panicked, I looked at the people surrounding us and realized all of them had broken out of the line they'd formed, Ilex and Caltha standing closer as well, each one of them looking intently at the way Vervaine was holding onto me.
"Do you see?" The sound of her shaky voice had me look into her eyes. Now I remembered what had been most special about her when I'd seen her portrait. Her eyes were golden. Not yellow like mine and Solenum's, but pure gold.
"I-" I stuttered. "I don't understand." I felt relieved when I sensed Datura standing behind me, and he reached over my shoulders so he could gently grasp Vervaine's wrists.
"It's not worth it, you'll only hurt yourself." He told her, making me so much more confused. I thought I'd been in danger.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when her laughter rang through the training room. "He doesn't see!" She released me face before stepping back and smiling happily at me. Apparently the news surprised the others.
Annoyed beyond belief, I crossed my arms and pinned a stern glance at Ilex. "What is going on?"
Iris saved him from explaining. "Align!" Datura tugged me along with him so I was standing in the line up, with Vervaine on my left and Datura on my right. I peeked behind the soldiers backs, trying to make eye contact with Dandelion, who'd noticed my distress and was looking right back at me. She mouthed to me that everything was fine and that things would be explained. I was still impatient, but at least they'd talk to me at some point.
"Bad news?" I focused on Iris who was placing Anemone in the arms of Caltha, who saluted us before walking out of the training room. "We were attacked by the Regius." That seemed to unleash a round of cursed shouts and angry questions by the people that lived here.
"There were only ten." Vervaine cut it. "We handled them just fine."
"Normally, they attack the house." Jatrop reminded. "Imagine the Coliseum was training minors at the moment, we could have lost soldiers." That told me that I was the only minor present in this lot.
"What did they want?" Ilex asked.
Ivy was the one to respond. "Nothing. They seemed to have been looking for something specific, but left empty handed, so we assume they didn't get what it is they wanted."
"It was Rhamnus Dyson, Sir." Iso told Ilex.
"They're after Calycanthus." Datura and Ilex said at the same time, forcing shock to rush through me again. I was a nobody. What did the Regius want from me?
"A price was put on his head and we didn't know?" Iris demanded. "When this gets back to the District Leaders and Elders, we're going to come across as fools, Ilex."
The man raised an eyebrow at her. "Why? We're not in charge of keeping an eye on bounties, Cypress' men are. He's going to look like a fool for having missed it and put every one of us here in danger."
"You know that he's their favorite." Iris hissed.
Pressing my lips tightly together, I tuned them out and leaned into Datura. "One of you better start explaining soon, because I am really tired of not being able to follow more than half of the conversations that go on around here." I was startled when I felt a hand on my shoulder, but was glad to see it was Dandelion.
"The Altor system has a hierarchy. We have the Elders, the District Leaders, the Trainers, the Soldiers and many more." She explained. "Soldiers report back to their District Leader, and before they can take any action, they have to pass it by the Elders first. The Trainers speak to the Elders, but the opinion of the District Leaders is important nonetheless since newly trained soldiers are assigned over to them."
I nodded in understanding. "Which District does Cypress lead?"
"Cobalt City." Datura answered. "He, along with District Leader of Iodin City, Reed, are sons to two Elders." Ah, so that's how they were favored. "Cypress normally places an undercover soldier among the Rangers to keep an eye out on bounties. Apparently, something must have gone wrong since we had no idea the Regius are even aware you exist."
I waved that away. "What confuses me is why they are even interested."
"We thought you were closely connected to the Seers bloodline, but Vervaine just confirmed you aren't." Dandelion clarified. "Now we just have to hope the Regius realize that sooner rather than later."
"Jatrop!" Our whispered conversation was ended by Iris' voice. "You and Dandelion, hit the books and try to find an answer where it concerns Calycanthus' history." Both soldiers in training nodded, walking out of the room to do as instructed. "Vervaine, since Ilex and I have to have a long phone discussion with the Elders and concerned District Leaders, I'm asking you to go over the basics with Iso again," Iris pinned a glare on said man. "Since he clearly forgot them during the raid." Her tone was ice cold, making me want to try and never get on her bad side. "And you," I gulped when she pointed at me. "Ivy is going to find out for me what you are worth under Datura's supervision. Until the Regius know you are worthless to them, I need you to know a minimum of defense."
The remaining five of us waited calmly until Iris and Ilex had left the room and once they were gone, I heard Iso curse his trainer out, clearly frustrated she hadn't forgotten his punishment. While watching him jump into the boxing ring, I was distracted by Vervaine who offered me her sword.
"Try it." She murmured. I gingerly took the hilt out of her recently gloved hands, testing the weight of it. "Its name is Luminis, Pallium for 'eye'." The title didn’t surprise me. I noticed that at the top of the blade there were metal lids carved in, golden stones placed in the center of each. "It was passed down to me." It was as though she saw the blade as a person, caring for it. "Tell me how it feels in your hand." The sword was massive, both in looks, but also in weight. The metal was a deep matte black, only the sharp edge of it and the golden stones shone when the light hit it. Frowning in discomfort, I used my other hand to steady it before taking a battle stance, trying to let the weapon sway gently back and forth, wondering how I could possibly move freely and naturally with this thing like I did with the wooden sticks in The Ring. I tried holding it differently, then I tried adjusting my body’s position to the weight of the sword, but-
"It's too heavy." Which wasn't surprising, I was relatively sure that Vervaine was heavier than me mainly because she was so much taller. She was also trained and I wasn't. Taking back her weapon, she offered a smile before making her way to the boxing ring so she could re-visit the basics with Iso.
Datura made his presence known with his hum, stepping before me so he could offer a short sword.
“This will fit you.” Taking it from his hands, I smiled at how light it was and then slowly turned it over so I could eye the decorations at the top of the weapon with care. It looked like a copper wing had wrapped itself around the top, edging out at the border of the hilt that was enveloped by tough brown leather. The blade itself was of an icy white, translucent and I could see silver flowing through it, as if it were filled with a liquid of some kind. Knocking on the weapon to make sure it wasn’t plastic, Datura chuckled.
“The Extraxi. Pallium word for 'dragonfly'.” He said meaningfully, as if that should ring a bell.
"We're only going to test your blocking skills today." Ivy said, as Datura took the sword away from me. "Have you ever been in a battle situation?" She asked.
"He's decent." Datura replied in my stead.
I turned my eyes sharply on him."I'm better than decent."
He smiled slowly. "I was taking it easy when we did a round." He informed, making me wince at the memory. That had been rough. And we'd been fighting with wooden sticks.
"Decent is good, Cali." Ivy assured me while she pulled the guns out of the holsters she wore over her tight blue skirt. It's only now that I realized the people from the Coliseum didn't wear the combat overalls like they did in this house. Where Ivy seemed to be dressed for a picnic, Iso was in a regular pair of jeans and button up shirt and Vervaine similarly dressed.
Returning my attention to Ivy, I saw her replace her guns with a different set, these larger with longer barrels.
"She's going to use her guns?" Datura shrugged in response and I glared at his uselessness to me right now.
"Attention!" Ivy shouted, her arms outstretched, guns pointed at none other then myself while she walked back, create space between us.
"Datura!" Considering the situation, I was allowed to be panicked. He handed me a round wooden shield.
"They're paintball guns." He said this in a way that made it seem as though he was surprised I didn't know this. Maybe I should remind him that we didn't come from the same world!
“Don't worry.” He had the audacity to smirk. “We only let the enemy have a shot at killing you.”
"Round one!" Ivy shouted, and shot one off. Her aim was dead on, the paint knocked straight in the center of my shield.
"You're supposed to avoid them!"
"But don't we need to be on some sort of shooting range? I mean, what if you hit someone else because I happen to be standing right in front of him," I nodded at Datura. "But then jump away?"There was a beat of silence.
"Your point?" Ivy asked back. I grimaced.
"I'll avoid her." Datura said gently, nudging me away from him and the wall so I was standing face to face with Ivy again, several meters separating us.
"Round two!" She shouted. I exhaled and then jumped to the side.
"Do I just keep avoiding them, or am I-"
"Round three!" I yelped.
"OR." I continued grumpily. "Should I be doing something?!"
"Get her!" Datura shouted.
"Last warning, then we dive in blind Esquivel! You get the point of this game? Good! Round four!" I ducked to the ground, rolling over and zeroing in on her again. I avoided two more by stopping in my tracks before continuing and diving underneath the boxing ring. The shield wasn't supposed to get hit, it was only there so the paintballs wouldn't hit me. While that was very sweet, it wasn't helping me move around.
Pondering the matter, I dropped the shield and carefully made my way out from underneath the ring. Hearing a shot go off, I rolled back in and crawled my way to the other side. Had someone told me I’d get shot at today when I got up this morning, I’d... Well, lately I’d been coming in contact with guns pretty often, so I might not have been that surprised after all.
Jumping out and up, she shot another one and instead of ducking down, I flung myself over the boxing ring ropes landing on my feet. She’d managed to hit my shoulder, and because the sting forced me to do a double take, she’d also gotten my arm. Neither of these were killing blows though. If they'd been actual bullets, I’d most likely be lying on the floor screaming in agonizing pain. But the game wasn't over yet.
My heart was pounding so fast, I could hear it in my ears. She shot two in a row then, making me to dive, roll over, jump back up and run to the other side of the ring.
This reminded me of when Brass would chase myself and Sol down LV’s town center, throwing apples and tomatoes at us. I suppose some good was coming out of the ducking skills we'd acquired.
