Page 12 of Lies That Bleed
He just grinned in response.
Geez, these people were kind of maniacs. I was glad I was with them.
I peered at Anika.
She yawned as if bored. “I can kill a man with my bare hands and he won’t even see me coming.”
Now it was my time to roll my eyes. Egomaniac.Whatever.
I pointed to Tetra. “She won’t admit it but she’s amazing with a bow and has more courage than anyone here. She also has extensive knowledge of military strategy and logistics.”
Tetra smiled at me gratefully. I knew she wouldn’t want to talk about herself. Especially with no combat military training. She went to the Imperial Fleet Academy with us but only because my father got her accepted on account of my begging. She didn’t take any physical battle classes and majored in war theory, sticking to the books and academic side of things. She was extremely intelligent, which wouldn’t do her much good in The Wilds.
“And how about you, princess?” Anika asked. I wasn’t sure yet if theprincessthing was an insult. I was pretty sure it was. The Imbrians had royalty in their leadership, so calling me a princess was making me an equal to Kohen, their prince. My father stripped him of that title when he took over Imbria, but his people still considered him as such.
“I’m good with anything sharp, hand-to-hand combat, and leading teams. I’ve also taken survival training to live off the land and endure extreme situations,” I said as casually as I could. Stating your strengths was weird.
Meera raised her hand and I realized I’d completely forgotten her. I nodded, giving her permissionto speak: “I know how to make an odorless and tasteless poison from herbs found in The Wilds.” She smiled.
I shared a look with Tetra. We were definitely with the most lethal alliance in this cohort.
“Remind me not to put you on cooking duty,” I told her.
She nodded seriously, not getting my joke, but I saw Anika crack a smile.
The bus slowed then and pulled to a stop in a line of other buses.
This was it. Most would fall on the first night from creature attacks and fellow candidates. If you made it to night two, you would likely be weakened, injured, and exhausted. It was on that night you needed to bond with your creature, because going to night three was never really an option. We packed for three days, but no one lasted that long in The Wilds. It was too intense.
“Alright, let’s move out,” I ordered my team, catching Kohen’s gaze as we passed.
I was going to treat this like an exercise at the Imperial Fleet Academy. I was squadron leader and these were my teammates. Goal number one: keep everyone alive. Goal number two: bond with a creature. Goal number three: survive said bonding and make it out in one piece.
I wished I felt more confident. Truth be told, I didn’t have many weaknesses, I wasraised not to. But I hadn’t expected Tetra to be here with me. Her friendship was my weakness, and I feared Kohen had exploited it and tricked me into falling right into his trap.
There was only one way to find out if that were true…
Chapter
Five
“You will walk, not run, into The Wilds!” Brigita, an Imperial Fleet captain, shouted to the amassed candidates. She wore Fleet-issued fatigues that looked like they’d seen recent battle. The hem of her pant leg was shredded, and a small bloody cut had dried on her cheek.
Her creature, Sandor, was a lioness, and she prowled behind her, staring us all down like we were prey. Orange glowing ember stripes ran down the length of her back.
We were technically already inside The Wilds, with the fire sky above us and the thick trees all around us, but there wasn’t much action at these outer edges. My father had too many soldiers out here. The creatures knew to stay away; they didn’t want to test the boundaries for fear of dying.
“Once you are in there,” she said, “you are on yourown. We are not permitted to help, as this would defeat the purpose of only allowing the strongest into boot camp.”
Boot camp, commonly referred to ashell month. It was four weeks of training that brought candidates to mental and physical exhaustion, and the envy of everyone my age from the Marble Shores of Amersea to the Northeastern Mountains of Imbria. We all wanted in, and the only way you could gain entrance was to be chosen in the Lottery and bonded to a creature here in The Wilds. If you graduated, you were guaranteed a top posting in the Imperial Fleet and a paycheck every week.
“My brother is stationed at Thunder Cliff base,” one girl said beside us, “so I’m hoping to bond with a water creature.”
Thunder Cliff sat just at the front of the war and saw the most action. They were right on the edge of the water, and those who bonded to a water creature were automatically sent there so they could slink into the ocean and spy on the Luskins. My father would kill me if I went and bonded with a creature that would cause me to be bound to water. No thank you.
Brigita cleared her throat. “Stay alert, stay alive, and good luck.” She pushed a button on her airhorn and everyone began walking quickly through the giant trees and into the darkness that was The Wilds.
I began to walk at Tetra’s pace as she struggled to use her cane while stumbling over the uneven footing.People pressed around us and the landscape got rockier. As I passed Brigita, her hand snaked out and grasped me by the upper arm. She pulled me close to her, narrowing her gaze on the Imbrians in my group.
