Into the Pit

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Calix leads me to the sword training station where Ajax and Myana are also training. Myana is teaching him some proper form or something.

"You put your hands on it like this," she grabs Ajax's hands and adjusts them on the hilt if the sword. "And then you get a stable stance like this," she nudges his heel to make his stance wider. "And then you make a real badass-smexy face," she licks her lips and raises her eyebrows.

If she was attempting to flirt, Ajax didn't pick up on it, but he did make a pretty badass face. "How's this?" he asks, keeping the same face.

"Oh yes that's perfect..." Myana smiles.

Calix rolls his eyes. "Oh cut it out Myana," he says.

"Can't I do anything around here?!" she pouts. "I'm only trying to help."

"Well all your going to be doing is creeping the guy out if you keep doing that," Calix says.

Myana groans. Meanwhile Ajax is still holding his pose, waiting for further instructions. His eyes squint in a concentrated serious stare. I wonder if he even heard the conversation.

Calix grabs a sword from a rack and walks up to a group of dummies. He takes a deep breath and puts his sword at the ready, stance strong. He pauses for a few seconds, then slits each of their throats with one, quick spinning motion. Then he comes at them from the back, knocking the back of their heads with the hilt of the sword. He blinks a couple of times before going back at ease.

Ajax had kept his still stare the entire time, but breaks it as soon as Calix relaxed. "That was so cool! You have to teach me how to do that!" he exclaims.

Calix chuckles. "You bet, best friend." Myana rolls her eyes and goes to where her sister's training. I look back over and see Veda still making Misto practice backflips. "Why are they still doing that?" I think to myself. But as soon as the thought enters my mind, Misto bends his knees and prepares to flip. Veda flinches back and squints her eyes tight when he miraculously executes the backflip. My eyes widen. How the heck did he do that? He can hardly touch his toes and he just learned to do a backflip in an hour. He laughs in shock and hollers with joy. Veda motions for him to do it again, and he gets into position. She seems to blink before he even lifts off the ground. He lands the flip yet again. Something is just wrong with that. Veda high fives Misto and puts her arm around him. She turns around and notices me staring. She winks at me and I lose my train of thought.

After two hours of training, we all decide to change and go back to Veda's place. The girls and I go into the locker room. Veda constantly praises us about our training as we change. "I saw you throw some really good knife shots Dylis!" she says as she finishes adjusting her hair in the mirror.

Dylis smiles. "Thanks, well Skytus helped me a lot. I hit one of the dummies right in the eye! Everything feels so much easier with you guys around."

Veda just giggles. Melina and Dylis finish changing and join the boys outside. I grab the key and try to find the locker I used...crap! I forgot which one it was! I pick a random one labeled R-237 which I think is in the general vacinity of where my locker is. I unlock it and find that my clothes aren't in there, but a book.

I reach in the locker and pull the book out. The cover is made with firm brown leather and has an intricate symbol engraved on it. There's no visible title. It looks like it hasn't been used in decades; the pages look yellowed and dust has accumulated on it. I'm about to open the cover when Veda slams it back closed in my hands.

"Where did you find that?" she asks me, her eyes looking darker than before.

"Just in a locker..." I say.

She takes the book from me. "It's just private is all," she says, calming her tone. She opens a different locker in the corner and puts it inside. "It's...umm...my diary. So, I just don't want anyone to see it. Your locker is R-274." She tosses the key at me and I fumble for it. Then with a batting of her eyelashes, she leaves.

Her diary? The thing looked like it was fifty years old! And what was with the symbol? I try to remember what it looked like but something clouds my memory. I decide to try and forget it and to hurry up and change. It leaves my mind almost instantly.

I finish up in the locker room and then we say goodbye to Maya and Tannex, and Myana and Devon decide to join us back at Veda's. Ludo, Skytus, Melina, Velotz, and Devon lead the way. I talk with Myana, Ajax and Misto in the middle. Calix and Veda take the rear.

"You need to teach me how to do a backflip," Ajax says. "Then I'll be even more badass than I already am." Myana giggles. "You got that right. You all have to come back for more!" Ajax nods. "I definitely plan on coming back. That way I can learn a backflip and then be that much more better than Misto again."

"Hey," Misto says. "No one can do a backflip better than I can. Veda told me she's never seen anybody master one in such a short amount of time. She says I'm a natural, and no one can be better than a natural." He crosses his arms.

I remember Veda had flinched so early-before Misto seemed to lift from the ground. What I can't seem to put my finger on was why I think there's something wrong with that.

"How did you do it?" I ask.

"Like I said, I'm a natural. I just did it and it worked," he says.

"Do you think it's weird that when you started you couldn't even flip far enough to land on your head, and then thirty minutes later you could do one perfectly?" I say.

"He said he's a natural," Myana says. "Some people work like that. Just like how Ajax is such a natural with the sword." She stares at Ajax.

"She's right," Misto says. "And why are you getting all worried all of a sudden? I thought you said I was the party pooper. You just want me to feel bad about myself don't you!"

"No I don't, I just-" I stop. I just what? Why should I be worried? I can't even remember why I thought there was something wrong, so there probably isn't. The lake water must still be swirling around in me. "Nevermind," I say. Nothing's wrong, nothing should be wrong. So I keep on walking and try to shake the feeling that a pair of eyes are piercing into the back of my head.