Chapter 7

I wiped the sweat off my forehead, and speared another dummy.

" Do you need a break?" Scoot asked me looking up from the sack of straw he was murdering.

I shook my head, re-gripped my sword and began lunging, swirling and stabbing once again.

" Whatever you say..." I barely heard his words as I drifted into killing mode.

****

" I need to bathe!" Caiti said loudly as we sat down to lunch.

" Me too..." Courtney confirmed.

" Me three!" Clare yelled. We laughed.

" Sounds like we're hitting the lake this afternoon." Cole chuckled.

I glanced at Corinath.

" Alright... One afternoon off won't matter too much..."

Caitlyn whooped, Clare and Jimmy exchanged high fives and Scoot did a silent dance. I smirked.

****

"We're going swimming, we're going swimming!" Caitlyn said as she ran towards the lake. We all were soon wading in the lake and splashing each other.

" I've never actually been with anybody like this before." I said seriously.

Clare stared at me shocked. " You mean you didn't have girlfriends at The Hole?"

The Hole was Xiivu's camp grounds, and training area.

" Dude, the girl was a super ninja freak, you spent every waking moment training Xiivu's army, I doubt she had much time to like hang with friends." Caiti said blankly.

I smiled.

" Well, even if she didn't have friends, she certainly does now!" Courtney smiled.

" Yeah, friends and a boyfriend..." Caitlyn chimed in as she rung her long hair.

I looked at her puzzled.

" Uh, Scoot? Girl are you totally clueless?"

" Caiti!" Clare yelled.

" He likes me?"

" He's so in to you he could explode." Courtney laughed.

I smiled. " I don't think I 'do' earthlings..."

We laughed some more and splashed around. I had just figured out something... It was all very weird, but I liked it...

Chapter 6

I sat on the ground around a small fire. It had been three weeks since I had told Corinath and the others about our past. My ankle was still bandaged but I could now hobble on it.

" So, what's the plan for today?" Caitlyn asked taking a bite of her fried egg.

" Training." Enrayus replied. " We have to be ready. Xiivu's army has been training for years." he glanced at me. " I mean I'm sure Martisse could take us down any day."

" I want to start training again. But for the good side this time." I told them.

" Give your foot a few more days." Clare said understandingly.

" It's fine. Really." I said standing up quickly, ignoring the slight pain.

" Do you hear that?" Scoot asked hushing us.

We all strained our ears. I heard a faint buzzing...

" Everybody up!" Corinath shouted. " Grab the weapon of your choice and prepare."

" Numbers?" I asked him. He nodded.

" A lot of them too. Go in the tent."

I hated this. An army of evil mechanical aliens was attacking us and our camp and I could do nothing to help. But in Aeylan, it was proper to listen to your elder sibling. I trudged into the tent, and peeled back the flap so I could see everything. A few moments later they arrived. They came swarming down in huge herds, hundreds of them. They were as big as a human, except made of metal. And from the planet Aether. Everyone was soon submerged in battle. The invasion raged for about ten minutes. About twenty Numbers had been defeated, there were about 180 more. I saw the sweat forming on all of their faces. I suddenly heard a loud shriek. I locked eyes with Scoot, who was curled into a ball by a tree, a Number hovering over him sword in hand.

And then it happened. The Number brought his sword down deep into Scoot's chest...

No, joking. Only joking. I wouldn't let that happen if I had to die trying.

I ran out of the tent.

" Sword. Now!" I yelled and turned just as Corinath tossed one to me. I landed it hard into the Numbers' back panel.

Scoot gasped. I helped him up quickly. Glanced at Corinath who was staring at me. He nodded, his extra sword in his hand. I took the nod as permission, and set to work lunging, stabbing, slicing.

We fought for hours. We all sighed when Enrayus stuck his sword through the last Number. We all crowded around the newly aroused fire. Cole was hugging Courtney close as she sobbed in his arms. Clare looked pretty shaken, Caitlyn stared deep into the fire.

" What level are they?" Corinath asked me.

" Seven." I said, Courtney letting out another huge sigh.

" Is that all? Tomorrow. Training." he said and plunged into the boys tent. Everyone continued to thin out until it was just me and Scoot.

" Thanks for like, saving me." he said quietly.

I nodded without turning his way.

" Really. I would have died." He said staring at me. I turned my head.

" I know. That would be how I got to saving you." I smiled.

He laughed, and we continued to chat. Comparing swords and shields and random things.

" You know, you're pretty cool when you're not kicking people's butts." he smiled.

" Thank you."

" You're welcome." He got up, patted my shoulder and walked slowly into their tent. I sat there for a few more moments until my eyelids wouldn't stay open anymore. I hobbled into the girls tent, fixed up my bed and flumped down onto it, I was asleep in seconds.

Chapter 5

I woke up gasping.

" Hey there!" Courtney said.

"Hello." I managed. I was feeling a lot better than before. I sat up and pulled my feet towards me. I examined my ankle...

" Yeah, It is pretty bad." The boy named Ray said.

I stared at him. I made an attempt to stand up. That was not going to happen.

" Could you bring 'Corinath' to me? I need to talk to him."

Ray ran out of the tent, and Cori came in.

I told him my what I had dreamt. We sat staring at each other for a while.

" So, you're my... half-sister?"

I raised my shoulders.

He walked out of the room. I sighed and layed back down, just as confused as he was.

Chapter 4

" What are we going to do?"

" This is bad, this is very bad."

I felt my side. They stole my sword. There was nothing else to do... I sat up quickly. The girl with black curly hair and the Cori were with me. The girl was pacing . The boy sitting on a stool with his head in his hands.

My head throbbed.

" Whoa, not so fast." The girl said and rushed to my side. " Hi, I'm Courtney."

I laid back down...

" What happened to me?"

The boy with brown hair came in. " Well technically... When you were trying to kill Cori... You stepped between two rocks got your foot stuck and twisted your ankle. Then you fell and your head hit a very sharp rock and punctured your skull."

At that moment I realized the throbbing in my ankle, which was wrapped also.
A boy poked his head through the tent entrance. " Then blood started gushing out and you started having random spasms..."

" Jimmy!" The girl named Courtney yelled.

" Did that really happen?" I asked.

" Well sort of but..."

" Why are you being so nice? She tried to kill us!" Cori said.

" She's been unconscious for two days!" Courtney yelled back.

"Ugghhh" I groaned and blacked out.

Chapter 3

I was there for 10 and a half years. Training. Kabobing dummies. I was the only girl  training to fight. The rest of the girls were being taught to be spies. Wearing corsets and beautiful dresses. When I was ten I wondered why I wasn't like them. But Xivvu set me straight.

" If you were like those other girls you wouldn't be able to see me!"

Not that this was the most tragic news of my life. But Uncle Xivvu was the only person I knew personally.

When I was 12 I started training other students. At 13 I was working with the adults spearing hay. And at 14 I was training the adults. I'd been training them till my 16th birthday. When Uncle Xivvu told me it was my time. I would be sent on a mission. I was to find a boy name Corinath. I was told his features and was brushed away.

So I was on a mission. With one measly idea of the guy I was sent to kill.

I searched for him for seven months! When I finally found tracks. The tracks I was anticipating...

And then it all happened so fast...

I popped out of the woods and drew my sword. Corinath shouted orders and the girls started running towards the lake. The four boys waiting for me to make the first move.

After a few cuts with my sword, the three other boys were given orders to follow the girls.

The boy name Corinath and I clashed swords for awhile. He was good... Really good. But I kept up. At about the point were neither of us could take it any longer. He dashed away following the others...

Chapter 2

" What are we going to do with her?" a deep voice said.

" I don't know... I'm not ready to have another child." a gentle but strong woman replied. " Not after what happened."

" You know I can take care of this..."

"No. We will find another way."


***

" What can I do for you ma'am?"

" I need her appearance changed..."the woman said " She needs to blond... with deep gray eyes... relativity dark skin too..."

" May I ask why?" the wizard asked.

"No, you may not." the woman replied sternly.

***

" Well hello little recruit!" a man said. "Aren't you sweet!"

I stood there staring at the man blankly.

"Were'd you find her?" The man said with a totally different attitude.

"We found her in the woods. Lugging a fresh dear around." A soldier said. " She has a nice little home out there."

" What's your name little girl?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

" You mean to say you don't have a name?"

I nodded.

" Well what do you want to be called?" the man said " Elizabeth?"

I shook my head violently.

" Well?" he said.

" Marti." I said.

" Marti? Not very womanly."

I shrugged once again.

" Martisse then. Marti."

" Find her a dorm!" he yelled and stormed out.

Chapter 1

I was prancing down the creek, making sure to watch my footing. A blond boy about my age in front of me, running across the stones. The boy or man shall I say Master Xiivu had sent me to kill. He had shaggy hair and was wearing a black sleevless shirt loose pants and black boots. He had a leather breast plate on. His hands and wrists werebinded like he was practicing sword play.

In front of me he was getting close to the other side of the creek where all of his "friends" were waiting ready for battle. The boy "Corinath" I figured out later, was about 20 feet away from his friends.

15,

10,

5,

There.

He turned around quickly to face me, sword in hand. He centered himself in the middle of the half circle. Next to him a teen about the same age as Corinath with auburn hair. Her body was well built. She was wearing mens pants and a loose long sleeve shirt gathered at the side. Something I'd never seen a woman wear before.

Next to her another girl the same age. She wore a long pale green skirt and a t-shirt. Her wavy hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a bright green scrunchy.

Next to her a boy with dark shaggy hair with a sophisticated look on his face. He wore dark pants and a long sleeve shirt and strapling boots.

And next to him another boy with straight dark hair hanging down on his forehead. He had stunning green eyes.

On the other side of Corinath a boy. He had dark brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a button up shirt and pant.

Next to him a beautiful girl. With dark curly hair and light violet eyes. Her face was bright yet serious. She wore a pale purple dress.
I remember glancing at them and quickly trying to think of a plan...

But I didn't need to. With that one glance up I stepped on to what I thought was solid ground... My foot twisted and I screamed, my knees collapsed. I remember them rushing towards me... Then everything went black.