Chapter Four

"All right, ladies!" Limbur bellowed. "We have some fresh blood with us today. Your mission is to put him in his place. Not all at once," he grinned wickedly, "that wouldn't be sporting would it? Never let it be said that I'm not fair; I'll even let someone else go first."

Jeice took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be a sparring match. This was a lesson in humility. They were going to beat him within an inch of his life just to prove they could. He'd be lucky if he got out alive…or would he? Jeice smiled. If it was a no-holds-barred massacre they wanted, they'd get one. He'd always been careful to maintain constant control when fighting…this time he would hold nothing back.

Camber was selected to go first. He smirked at Jeice as they circled.

"Remember when you wanted to know how good I was at sparring? Perhaps you'd like to find out now, if you think you're up to it."

Jeice held his peace. He'd never seen much point in trying to psyche out your opponent. It was a sign that you weren't sure you could win by skill alone. That, Jeice thought, was an unforgivable weakness. You didn't tangle with anyone who could kick your ass if you could help it, but if you did, big words wouldn't save you.

Swiftly clearing his mind, Jeice leaped forward, landing a kick in Camber's gut. Camber flailed, striking Jeice in the leg; an ineffective attack, but it threw Jeice off-balance long enough for Camber to nearly break his nose with a knotted fist. Jeice fell back and parried several blows before he was able to land any of his own. Once he'd broken through Camber's defenses, however, he made easy work of the larger boy…until something went very, very wrong.

Jeice felt it before he saw it: that strange prickling at the back of his neck, an electric feeling. He saw Camber fling his arm down in a sweeping motion and suddenly this force—this energy—slammed into his body, flinging him off his feet to land in an undignified, growling heap in the dust. Camber laughed as Jeice leaped back to his feet. Camber walked stealthily toward him, like a prowling cat.

"You don't even know what I did, do you? You still don't understand. There's so much here you don't understand, but you think they'll teach you, right? Think again. Limbur is only here to keep us from killing each other; because that's his job. He's not an instructor, he's a moderator. We learn from each other, from fighting, and occasionally killing, each other. So…if you want to remain conscious beyond the next few moments, you'd better learn that trick or something like it, and you'd better do it quick."

Jeice clenched his hands to fists, struggling to achieve that same state he'd had when Cheada attacked him. Camber looked amused as Jeice grunted, feeling the surge of energy through his veins. Okay so far…now how to direct it? He raised an arm in imitation of Camber, and with a strangled cry, released the pent-up ki.

The attack itself was true; his aim, however, was not. A jagged bolt of light streaked up to the high ceiling and bored into it before sending debris flying with a deafening explosion. Shouts and curses punctuated the cacophony as a large section of the domed roof collapsed and everyone below milled frantically, dodging falling chunks of the structure.

As the danger passed and the dust settled, Cheada appeared on the scene, staring in utter disbelief at the gaping hole in the ceiling, the heaps of rubble on the ground.

"What in the hell…" he bellowed, then saw Jeice crawling out from behind a concrete slab, looking guilty. One look confirmed it, and suddenly Cheada threw back his head and laughed, the sound ringing off the walls. Limbur hastily unearthed himself from a heap of debris and stood awkwardly at attention. Cheada ignored him and walked up to Jeice, standing close enough that Jeice had to crane his neck back to look Cheada in the eye.

"Just one question, boy: was that on purpose?" Jeice swallowed with difficulty.

"No." Cheada grinned.

"Better learn to aim, then. The objective here is to destroy your opponent using strength and skill, not the surrounding architecture." Still chuckling, he turned to Limbur, who hovered at his shoulder.

"Don't kill him," Cheada said succinctly. Limbur looked disappointed, but gave a curt nod and salute, and out of deference to the great warrior, waited until Cheada was out of sight before backhanding Jeice into a wall.

*****

Jeice woke up in his old spot, noting with irritation that he had yet another crop of bruises and a thumping headache. Mortar dust clogged his eyes and nose and felt itchy in his hair. He sniffled, sneezed, and blinked the grit from his eyes, taking a cautious look around. None of the other boys seemed to be present.

"It's about time you woke up." Jeice jumped at the sound of Camber's voice behind him.

"What're you doing here?" Camber's face twisted in a sardonic grin.

"They weren't content to just leave you in your misery. Plus, they needed a suitable punishment for me, so I'm babysitting."

"Punishment? What did you do?"

"You don't remember? Figures…if you did, you'd be kissing my feet right now. Limbur was about to ram a piece of rebar clear down your throat and out your ass when I, ah, reminded him of Cheada's order." Jeice winced at Camber's graphic depiction.

"How is that such a crime?"

"It's not, but I had to get his attention first, to distract him from skewering you."

"And?" Camber cocked an eyebrow in mock-hauteur.

"My actions were deemed…inappropriate behavior for one of so mean a rank," he said stuffily, no doubt imitating whatever officer had meted out his punishment.

"Was he really going to kill me?"

"He really was. The whole reason he's there is to keep us from destroying things, and you caught him off-guard, to say the least. You made a fool of him, in front of Cheada no less. If he's not out on his ass tomorrow, I'll want to know the reason why. Serves him right, though. He's killed more new recruits than he had any right to. You're lucky Cheada wants you alive." Jeice snorted.

"Probably just wants to kill me himself."

"No. You're still here; if he wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be. When Cheada wants someone dead, they're lucky if they even see it coming. Trust me." Whatever implications that might have been drawn from Camber's words were lost on Jeice as he plunged into memories of Lureine.

"Never saw it coming," he murmured quietly.

"What?" Jolted back to reality, Jeice shook his head, sending a shower of dust sifting from his hair.

"Nothing. So where are the rest of the recruits?"

"Clearing out the debris; in a way, I got off easy. That was an amazing attack, by the way; too bad you couldn't be bothered aiming it."

"I tried!" Jeice protested.

"Bull. You were too scared to think straight, and you panicked. Never lose your cool in a fight, Jeice, you should know that already."

"I do, but when someone's just knocked the wind out of you without even touching you…well, it's a little unnerving!" Camber chuckled.

"Knocking the wind out of someone is the least of what you can do with it, if you handle it properly. Think of the results if all that destruction you caused were focused on a single man." Jeice's eyes widened.

"It could finish him, couldn't it? It could kill a man." Camber smiled grimly.

"Unless he did something about it, yes. He'd barely know what hit him."

"Do all soldiers use this…technique?"

"Yep. You'll notice it if you ever go to the supply room: armor galore…no actual weapons. There's not much point to them, usually."

"So that's all fighting amounts to anymore? Just standing and blasting each other to hell and back? What about skill? What about technique?" Camber sighed.

"Jeice, very soon you will realize that this power is nothing without skill and technique, but it's far different from what you're used to. You'll learn…or you'll die trying."

"That simple, eh?"

"That simple. With any luck, you'll learn. It'd be a shame for that sort of power to go to waste…"

"It would be a lot easier if you'd just teach me…"

"I learned well enough on my own, so can you."

"But why should I have to? Just because you did?"

"If I lead you through this by the hand you'll be a hell of a fighter, but as a warrior, you'll be utterly worthless. There's more to a warrior's life than fighting, and if fighting's all you can do, you won't survive.

"There's no backing out now; the only way out of here is to embrace your fate. When you leave here, you'll do it one of three ways: you'll be stronger than you ever thought possible…a weakened shattered shell…or a corpse. Whichever you choose, you'll never be the same again."

"I see."

"Do you? I don't think so, but time will tell. You can worry about that later. For now, concentrate on staying alive." Camber looked him up and down, and sniffed critically. "May want to hit the showers, too. You're a mess."


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