The Keepers of Azera ( Book 1 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 7

As we make our way to the Recreation floor, I'm surprised to run into Astrid and her Guardian. "Hey!" I exclaim, giving her a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she smiles. "I think I already got my training in Death, huh?"

"Come off it," James says. "Are you sure you should be up and about? You look pale, Astrid."

"She always looks pale, she's from the North," I point out.

"You know what I mean, Callie," James says, but Astrid shrugs. "I feel better now. I mean, it comes and goes, but it's been doing that for years. Yesterday just came as a shock."

"But she didn't feel well enough to come to lesson, for some reason," Isa says. She fondly tousles Astrid's hair.

"Not at all," Astrid replies with a grin, looking up at Isa. "Couldn't possibly make it."

Isa rolls her eyes. "You guys wanna play something with us?"

"We heard that some of the older Keepers were planning on playing a film," I say. "We were going to go check that out."

"Don't bother. They were planning on playing something inappropriate, but their Guardians shut them down," Isa says.

James sighs. Upon learning of the war, and apparently angered by the fact that while they are done with Training and are legal adults, they cannot leave the training base to fight, the oldest group of Keepers has been rebelling a bit. "When will they let them leave?"

"They say soon," Isa replies as we continue downstairs. "They've been going over special training in the gym."

The gym, which makes up the majority of the Recreation floor, has never had a good use besides letting the younger group of Keepers run around. Most of the time it just stays there collecting dust.

"What type of training?" I ask curiously.

"Mainly combat. Usually they had to go to the other training camp-you know, the one for soldiers-but for some reason, they won't let them travel there."

"It's too dangerous to travel now, with the war going on," James says.

"Is it now? I couldn't have guessed James," I say with a grin.

He glares at me. "Not funny, Calypso."

And I know by the use of my full name that I said something wrong.

Astrid and I jump around from game to game, while Isa and James just stand around and talk. We leave for dinner, then James and I go back to our dorm. James sits on the couch in our little living area and I sit down next to him. "Hey," he says quietly.

"Hey," I reply, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Something bothering you?"

I shrug. Then I sigh. "The war. The flashback. The premonition."

"Understandable."

"It bothers you too," I guess, sitting up straight to peer at his face. He nods and rests his head in his hand. "It's scary."

"I know."

He looks at me. "I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"You know why Keepers were created, right?"

I nod. "To have a special army, or something like that. Right?"

"To have an elite squad, a group of people who were unbeatable. Each power was created for a purpose. You can look into the past, see wars long-gone, look at strategies used, learn from mistakes. Your power was made so you could become an excellent strategist in war, believe it or not."