Chimera

Chapter Five: Jaylin

Once, when Jaylin was four years old, he had seen a beautiful dragonfly. Its wings were a deep azure, with streaks of electric yellow, the hue of lightning bolts, and its slender legs dangled beneath its sleek body. Flashes of stunning color met his eye each time the sunlight hit the insect's iridescent wings. Eager to catch the creature, Jaylin toddled after it, running on his short legs, drooling at its beauty. He left his garden, stumble, giggling, through the city and through the farm fields. Then he came to the wall.

When he was little, Jaylin was obsessed with climbing trees. Oaks, firs, willows, palms, anything. He could climb them all. So the ladder was easy. He hurried up the rungs to the top of the wall, his eyes searching everywhere for the dragonfly.

Then he froze. The landscape in front of him was one of pure beauty. He could see the golden grass of the fields, the faded green of the cacti, the orange and purple of the wildflowers. A lizard covered in the spiked skin of a cacti plant darted from rock to rock. A mutated desert ground squirrel scoured the desert with the huge, glassy yellow eyes of an owl. A raccoon with bat wings lounged in the shade of a bush.

The dragonfly was long forgotten. This is what Jaylin wanted to see, this is where he wanted to go. He made his way to the other side of the wall and began to clamber down, right on his way to the desert.

Suddenly, rough hands had grabbed him and thrown him back to the ladder. A group of Raptor Sentries had spotted him. They berated him for trying to leave the city, then told him to run back home. Jaylin sprinted away to his house, slammed the door to his room, and cried. He was trapped, and he couldn't see the beauty of the world outside.

Besides the fact that he was bigger and taller and didn't have spit dribbling down his chin, Jaylin hadn't changed. The sentries hadn't dampened his spirit. He still wanted to go beyond the wall, he still wanted to discover and explore. They might have been able to take away his chance of going out there, but the sentries would never take away his curiosity.

But now, more than ever, he had the chance to go beyond the wall. Lance was going, and he had transformed just two nights ago. He had told Jaylin that a girl named Camila had joined their group. She would be going beyond the wall too.

Jaylin walked through the city, on a direct course for the flat, barren training field where kids had the opportunity to hone their fighting skills. He and Lance liked to practice there every few days, just to keep up their fitness and ability. When he arrived, he found Coach Luciana standing in front of a crowd of kids ranging from fourteen to sixteen, bellowing orders.

"Form two lines, chop-chop!" Luciana said in a booming voice that made some kids cringe. The Coach wasn't exactly known for her grace and quiet presence. Jaylin rushed to join as two lines were made.

"The person across from you is your sparring partner for now. Remember, as soon as you're ready, begin," the coach said. Jaylin was facing a girl with blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

"Hey, Alana, ready to lose?" Jaylin said, remembering the girl from past training sessions.

"Bring it," Alana said, smiling. Out of all the kids there, Jaylin knew her as the most courageous, albeit the most hot-headed as well. Alana relished an adrenaline rush.

Jaylin sprang into action, sending a kick to her side. She staggered back, winded. But Alana recovered quickly, lifting her arms into a defensive position. She swung a fist at Jaylin, which he blocked. As fast as lightning, she twisted around and kicked his stomach. He tumbled to the ground, gasping. This fight was not off to a good start.

Alana lurched forward, hands raised to pin Jaylin down. He rolled away just in time, then jumped to his feet in one fluid motion. He tried to take Alana's legs out with a swift kick, but she jumped into the air, dodging the strike. She punched at him but he sidestepped the blow.

"Ha! You missed!" he crowed, doing a spontaneous victory dance.

"This isn't a game, Jaylin," Alana scolded, punching at him again.

"It can still be fun," he protested, barely escaping the blow.

"Psssh. How childlike."

Another strike. Another dodge.

"Trust you to think that," he murmured, barely audible.

"What?"

"No-thing!" he laughed in a sing-song tone.

Harnessing her frustration, Alana jabbed at Jaylin with her elbow. He dodged and grabbed her fist with an iron grip. He dropped to his knees, pulling her down with all his body weight. As she fell, she punched him and he collapsed on the ground. Taking the chance, Alana leaped at Jaylin and put him in a headlock before he could get up. Eventually, he tapped twice to signal his defeat.

"You win," he gasped.

"What did you say? I couldn't quite hear you over the sound of me winning," she smirked, holding a hand to her ear.

Jaylin's mind spun as he tried to think of a way to combat her arrogance. He grinned as he thought of a new way to infuriate her.

"Well done, Alana. You won the game! Hooray!"

"It's not a game," she reprimanded again, but despite her words, a begrudging smile spread across her face.

Alana released Jaylin from her grip and then stood up, brushing dust from her clothes.

"Be ready next time," Jaylin smiled, "I won't go easy on you!"

Alana laughed. Where Jaylin was positive and peppy, she was short-tempered and more than a little impulsive. But Alana had a fun side. Jaylin knew that she was capable of humor. He winced as he touched a hand to the fresh bruises on his arms, inflicted by her skillful blows.

And she's probably capable of besting half the adult sentries in a fight!

Once the last two partners had finished sparring, Coach Luciana called them all back. They regrouped in front of her.

"Well done, everyone. I can see that some of you have really improved your combat techniques. Now onto our next task... the obstacle course!" Coach Luciana yelled like she was announcing the grand finals to a prestigious competition.

Suddenly, a kid ran onto the training field. It was Lance.

He must have finished his medic apprenticeship session for the day, Jaylin realised, as his friend called eagerly to him.

"Hi Jaylin!" Lance said.

"Hi Lance!" he greeted, "and how fortunate, you're here just in time to start the obstacle course," Jaylin added with a wickedly mischievous smile.

The 'obstacle course' was the most massive understatement since the Great Deterioration. It consisted of a mud pit filled with undetectable snap-trap mechanisms that they had to wade through, a stand of trees that they had to swing from while avoiding flying arrows, and finally, the proverbial cherry on the combat cupcake... a battlefield simulator where actual professional Los Lagos sentries took a day off work to attack them in their full Chimera forms.

"Let's do this," Jaylin said with mock enthusiasm.

"Off you go!" Coach Luciana boomed. Jaylin was beginning to wonder if the woman was even capable of not booming when she spoke.

She clapped her hands loudly over her head, and all the kids surged forward.