Mortala

6.

It's been two weeks since Adrian sent the letter to Cormac and she hasn't heard anything back from Jamesforth or Cormac. She didn't expect to hear from Cormac so soon but Jamesforth can at least tell her that they got the letter and sent it. 

Adrian allowed her old group to go back to their communities for a week before returning to hers to continue training. They're skilled fighters, however, her group has specific rules, formations, and other incredibly important things they need to learn. Once this week is over, they're free to go back to their communities for a longer amount of time but their training isn't c completely over yet. 

"You're gonna be pissed," Elania says, walking into Adrian's room as she's putting her hair in three French braids. "You should probably come to the major cells." 

Adrian immediately stops tying the last rubber band and turns to Elania. "What the hell do you mean?" 

"It's Daryl...again." 

"God fuckin' damn it." Adrian whispers, grabbing her whip and storming out of her room. Elania quickly tails behind her, mumbling something about putting Daryl down. Adrian's irritation is already vibrating off of her, the people around Lexington can tell as they part like the red sea for her to pass through.

"I swear to god if he tried to let-" Adrian's words stop as she enters the important cell room. In front of her, Malaou is cleaning up Blythe's face while Nyle is restraining Daryl. Blythe's face is painted with blood and bruises, something that doesn't happen often. "What...the...fuck..." 

Rage enters Adrian's system, filling her body with a red liquid only she can feel but everyone else can sense. All her shaky eyes can focus on is Daryl's scraped-up and swollen knuckles and Blythe's fucked-up face. "What happened?" she asks, slowly and warningly stepping closer to Daryl as he's being restrained by Blythe's angry best friend. "I better hear 'Blythe attacked me first, it was self-defense.' Because I swear to god...what...happened?" 

Nyle narrows his eyes at the back of Daryl's head. "Daryl snuck up on Blythe while he was feeding Maggie. Luckily it was just as Blythe was locking the cell so he couldn't let Maggie out." 

Adrian doesn't reply. She can't. If she does, fire may come out of her mouth. Instead of replying, she turns and faces Elania, closing her eyes and taking a deep, shaky breath. She tries to focus on the cold air slowly trailing through her nose and down to her lungs but instead, all she can focus on is the image of Blythe. Without warning, she spins around and right-hooks Daryl in the jaw, making him fall to the floor. "Get the fuck up and fight me like a man since you're so goddamn confident!" she yells, kicking Daryl in the ribs. 

As Daryl climbs to his feet, he says "You don't get it-" Instead, his words are cut off with another punch. He takes that as his time to start fighting back and he throws a punch, to which Adrian quickly ducks, kicks him in the stomach, and punches him in the side of the head. He falls to the ground but Adrian isn't done yet. All of the anger he's caused her is finally breaking free with each punch as she climbs on top of him. His face is bloody and bruised underneath her knuckles, his voice only able to create pained grunts. 

"Adrian, Adrian," Nyle tries, reaching to grab her but she shoves him off. "Adrian!" He finally manages to yank her off of Daryl, allowing Daryl to stand up and wipe the blood away from his eyes. 

Adrian huffs and puffs in Nyle's grasp, her knuckles swollen and tingling. "Take him to the interrogation room," she orders, her voice like ice. Nyle releases Adrian and grabs Daryl, keeping his grip tight and slightly painful enough to ensure he doesn't move. 

Once they're in the familiar concrete room she first saw her original group in, she and Nyle tie Daryl to a chair. "Go," she tells Nyle. 

"What?"