Element Restraint

Chapter 2: Erik

The room is dead silent. I search the black marble walls, waiting for it. The moment it will strike.

The lights begin to flicker in red as the alarm begins to buzz. I immediately step into my fighting stance, slowly spin around the small silver ring on the floor.

The buzzing stops and the lights return to normal. Holding my breath I listen. A small crackling noise rings through the room. I pause, counting till it is closer.

Ten steps. Six steps. Two steps.

I whip around and swipe the air. A gust of wind hits the black pixel silhouette and it shatters. Another one comes to my left. The silhouette moves like a shadow, racing towards me. I blast it with another gust of wind. Easy.

The simulation begins to move faster and faster the longer I am in it. Out of breath, I freeze to stare down the eight silhouettes around me. A bead of sweat running down my face.

I hold my breath, waiting for one of the silhouettes to move to me. I feel half disabled, unable to feel their emotions through the air as I normally would with a human.

I grow impatient and dive for the closest one. They all run for me as I shatter the pixel shadow to pieces. I punch one in its nonexisting face and run towards the wall.

"Focus Erik," I breathe. "Focus,"

I jump off the side of the wall, using my ankle, and land in mid-air. I run through the air with determination. Reaching to my side, I throw the chakram I have been waiting to use. It shatters through two silhouettes and gets stuck in the wall.

I do a backflip in the air, and land back on the ground onto another silhouette, blasting the sixth so it slams into the wall.

Looking at the last two standing before me, I run to the first one. At the last second I slide under it. I grab the chakram from the wall and toss it through the first one.

I grab the ankle of the final one so that it slams into the floor. I blast my air at it, directing it upwards. The silhouette hits the ceiling. As soon as I stop, it falls to the ground and shatters.

The lights brighten as soon as the simulation ends. I stand in the empty room breathless, wiping my curls from my sweaty forehead.

I look up at the door and can feel all my responsibilities piling up on me.

I will be king in three months now. I do not fear the crown itself. My whole life was training regarding that. But I was not trained to go against everything my father taught me to do.

Not to mention I am also going to get married to someone I can barely tolerate. But that is the least of my worries these days.

I step out the door through the training rooms. I lay eyes on Malyk, the Grand Duke Castellanos's son as he walks out of a training room with a busted lip.

He looks at me with dark silver eyes.

"Your highness," He bows to me.

"Malyk," I simply say. He frowns at the use of his first name lacking a title.

I never liked Malyk, and I have my reasons. First, he is very manipulative. To be fair everyone here is manipulative, but he takes it to another level. For years he has tried to secretly take my line for the throne but has been unsuccessful. After failing, now he just tries to be nice to me due to my coronation coming up.

"How was your training this morning?" Malyk asks me.

"Very eventful," I reply, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.