Chapter Six

The act of passing the victor of a mock battle’s match a four-leaf clover was customary. Yan never quite explained the reason for the rule’s existence; Goran didn’t care so much about that. He’d done it, yet it nearly wrecked him. His heart raced as he sat on the steps, watching a bird circle the training grounds. The blue-tinted leaves of the mint trees spread before him swayed in the light spring breeze. Fish with pink scales swam beneath bridges spanning bodies of water. Goran lifted the cigar to his lips and took a puff.

He often came out here once his daily lessons were done. As the semester was just starting, he had an abundance of free time. That was something he both hated and liked. Free time meant a ton of time to do nothing, which he knew was counterproductive. It seemed like all he ever wanted to do was come out here and smoke. Bit by bit, his ambitions had begun to slip, and he was worried that he would be left with nothing.

Until now. It’d been days since the mock battle, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about the pretty girl with the brown hair and grey eyes. It felt wrong to think of her as pretty. He often caught himself when he was in the middle of thinking that way. It wasn’t that he shared the common belief that was spread through the boys’ dormitories. He just simply didn’t know what to make of girls like that. Goran felt like a deaf man trying to experience a musical. It just left him confused. All his life, he’d seen first hand the showcase of strength. His older brother had taught him the value of being physically strong.

Goran absorbed everything his older brother, father and male cousins told him from a young age. Isn’t this wrong? He often found himself thinking. Mom was strong, wasn’t she? Why aren’t there any girls in the family business? He pulled away his cigar and belched a blast of smoke.

That girl had not only faced him. She managed to subdue him with ease. What would his older brother say about that? He’d tell me I’m a punk, he thought with narrowed eyes. Be strong, Goran, his father had told him. Make me proud. Become a good Hunter, just like your old man. You have to. The family business will die out unless you do this. What if he didn’t want to? Thinking like that felt like betraying his family. That girl was strong. What was her name, again? Ami? Nah, can’t be right…. Frustrated, he angled his face towards the roof above him.

Only to find that very same girl peering down at him. Heart jumping to his throat, he lost his grip on the cigar; the girl’s gaze lingered on the bud. Her face remained still as stone before distaste flickered across it.

“Smoking on training grounds isn’t permitted,” she said. “You’re Goran, right?”

All he could do was nod.

“My name is Amynta. We fought a few days ago. The nurse said my wound was rather hard to treat. Your proficiency with shaping gia into weapons is rather peculiar. May I ask how you learned it?”

“Buzz off, man.” Goran picked up the cigar bud. “Can’t you see I’m busy? And don’t tell me what to do.”

“No.” Amynta’s eyes were laced with slight malice. “I will not. We are all training to follow a certain path. I am not asking for your hand in marriage. I simply just want to—”

“Get to know me?” He couldn’t help but snort. “Get real, man. Just because we’re trainin’ to become...well, whatever, doesn’t mean I have to become your friend. Hell, I don’t even have to like you.”

“Fair enough, but you cannot deny the truth in my statements. We may cross paths out on the field someday. I would prefer to be on good terms with the people I may be working with. Wouldn’t you?”

Goran blinked. Why won’t she go away? Amynta’s lips were curved into a smile that made his breath hitch. To distract himself, he tossed the cigar bud beside his leg and crushed it with his boot. Amynta’s smile dropped. A pity, he felt. You look much better when you do that. Now how could he get her to leave?

“I dunno, man,” he said at last. “Don’t see it any type of way…. And just so we’re clear: My ‘talent’ or whatever isn’t anything special. My family is stronger than me. I’m a freak compared to my brother, uncles, cousins and dad, man.”

“Why do you wish to be so antagonistic?” Amynta leaned in until he could see the slight lip gloss covering her lips.

“You kinda look like you wanna talk. So I’m talkin’. Don’t care if that’s ‘antagonistic’ or whatever. If you don’t like it and wanna leave, go right ahead. If not, I’ll just find a different spot.”

Annoying… Goran gave her several seconds. Amynta didn’t budge. Why is she so annoying? Sighing, he got up and didn’t bother dusting off his pants in the process. The door was within arm’s reach. All he had to do was pass through it and this would all be over…

“Goran,” Amynta said softly. “There’s no need to be so...stand-offish. I’m not asking for you to make me bear your children. I just want to talk.”

“About what? Me losing?”

“For goodness sake….no. You didn’t lose, you know. It was clearly a tie.”

“It was a loss, man. Accept it.”

“But we’re both eligible for quests now. Isn’t that something to celebrate?”

“You’re annoying, man,” he said. “I can’t be happy about that. Some man made a bet on me. Said I needed to win in order to...well, I don’t get what he said before, so I don’t know why he put his faith in me. Point is, man, I disappointed ‘em. That’s all. It was a loss. A talentless nobody like me can see that. People like you, who stand at the top, couldn’t ever get it.”

Goran left her standing on that porch without another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Goran was fetched right before dinner. He made the trip through the wide halls, ignoring the chatter that kept reaching his ears. Eventually, he reached the room. A man with patches of grey hair and zinc-colored eyes sat waiting in a plush chair, door cracked open just a tad. Goran could see a swath of books spread across a table. On the shelf, a spot was noticeably empty; he frowned as he entered the space.

“Goran,” Mitch said. “Do you happen to know where my textbook is? It was the most recent tome on ancient history. Shipped all the way from Asonia, no less. I paid a lot of coin for that book.”

Goran shook his head.

“Nevermind that,” he said. “So I heard it was a tie. My...sponsors are not pleased. The girl you fought… do you know who she happens to be?”

“Not really, no.”

“Amynta Barbosa. An orphan. The youngest to apply in quite some time. She rose through the ranks fairly easily. You might say she has a talent for this, ha. You had a chance, kid. And you blew it.”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to. I—”

“Save it.” Mitch raised a hand. “This isn’t the first time you’ve let me down, but it is the first I have been made a fool of. I can’t let my reputation go to waste because of you. Chin up, kid. There’s an opportunity for you. The Crown of Despair...it’s being sought after by a supposedly dangerous Voidroamer. If I were a betting man, I would say Barbosa will be among the few entrusted with securing it. Once Yan is pleased with their progress, of course. Blasted old fool, he is. Do you get where I’m going with this?”

“I think so,” Goran said. “You want me to find this crown, right?”

“Not find it. Protect it. Think outside the box, kid. Life’s more fun that way. And stop smoking. You stink.”

Cheeks flushing, he scratched his neck. He probably looked a complete mess. Mitch ran his gaze over him, no doubt noticing the slovenly way he wore the Corps’ uniform. Goran felt ashamed of his ways for the first time in a while. He supposed standing before Mitch had a way of doing that to him.

“The call for that quest I mentioned,” Mitch said. “Bit of a ways off. You Cadets will be sent on a much smaller quest first. A training quest, if you will. Just to get your feet wet. Yan always does this to weed out the ones who aren’t cut out for this type of work. I’m not mad, Goran. Just disappointed. There’s a difference, kid. Chin up. Get back out there. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your family, would you? Remember the cut you were made from.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mitch waved him off.

Goran exited the room, head hanging in pure shame. His thoughts shifted to Amynta Barbosa. She’s...special. That was obvious from the way he’d felt when she smiled. He often grew bashful around girls, yet he knew the shyness he’d felt and forced down around Amynta was a different kind. No way, man…. Don’t… He pressed a hand against his neck, not bothering to look where he was going. A shriek denoted that he had bumped into a girl; Ari rubbed her shoulder with a frown.

“Oh,” she said. “Did I hurt you?”

“I-I ran into you.”

Ari’s eyes filled with recognition. “Oh, yeah. I hope you’re okay. Sorry about that. You’re Goran, right? The grumpy-looking dude from before? I think...I think I remember you. Say. We’re having dinner right now. Want to join us?”

“Y-yeah, sure. All right.”

Ari beamed at him. So...so...cute. Goran bit his tongue, hoping his bashful nature wasn’t too obvious. He had noticed Ari right away several days ago, yet had tried to pay her no mind. It was somewhat easier with Linnea and Astrid, as those two were certainly rougher on the eyes. Ari, Amynta, and Emma on the other hand… Goran swallowed. No use dwelling on it. He followed Ari down the hall until the sweet aromas of dinner wafted up his nostrils. Ari slid open the door, exposing a field of tables where fellow Corps members dined. A section of the space was devoted to an arrangement of stoves and a pit of flame, the latter being where sticks piercing meat were cooking.

“Come on,” Ari tugged at his hand. “Everyone’s over there.”

Ari led him over to where the rest of the Green Cadets dined. Emma dined with her back facing everyone; Goran didn’t bother looking her way again. Amynta looked up from her bowl of nisata soup, the pink meat lodged in a sea of blue making his mouth water. Goran looked away as he sat down.

“Hey, Ari,” Aldric sang. “Can I, like, get escorted too sometime? It’s totally not fair that this guy gets to—”

“Shut the hell up,” Linnea said. “Hey, Goran! You’re late! We got started without you, dude. Even Emma’s sad that you took so damn long. Here, you can have some of my mitachi burger. I don’t want it after listening to Aldric go on and on for a whole hour!”

Emma didn’t so much as budge in response. Goran’s eyes grew wide as he considered Linnea’s offer. The burger did look appetizing…

“Sure, man,” he said. “Thanks...I guess.”

Linnea grinned and passed him the plate. Goran examined the burger quickly before sinking his teeth into the bun. He chewed cautiously. Not bad… Taner eyed him meekly before looking away. What? Amynta was busy eating and hadn’t paid him any mind.For some reason, that bugged him.

“Aye,” Astrid said. “Anyone else think that the fake battles were, ah, staged?”

“Eh?” Ari said softly.

“Ya know, sweet thing. Fake. Made to make us think we were bein’ tested, aye.”

“Huh?” Corinna said. “Don’t you hear yourself? Yan would—”

“Aye, that’s what ya think. But yer wrong, aye. Me thinks Yan just wanted to test us. Notice how those crystals were gettin’ small so fast?”

“Oh, brother,” Linnea said. “She’s at it again. Well, guess I’m gonna hit the hay now. See ya.”

Ari tugged at Linnea’s sleeve and made a face. “Linnea, please don’t go… I told you I’d help you with your room, but I didn’t eat yet…”

“You can have Aldric’s food. Just promise to kiss him and he’ll hand it right over. Saves you a trip to the cooks.”

“Can it,” Aldric snapped. “I am not that easily tricked.”

“Oh, yeah? What about that time you gave away all your coin?”

“That was just an accident, damn it!”

“Y-you can have some of my soup,” Taner said to Ari. “If you want…”

Ari blinked before smiling. “Aww, that’s sweet. No worries, though, guys. I’ll just get up myself.”

“See, Aldric?” Linnea said with a grin. “She was smart enough to not take your slop.”

“I’m seriously gonna—”

“Anyways,” Amynta said. “We did complete the mock battles. Three people are no longer in the Cadets. From what I gather, we will continue our lessons before we are assigned our first quest.”

“I was hoping we could just chill a bit longer,” Linnea said with a yawn. “Guess we’ll have to do actual work now. Hey, Aldric. If I pay you each week, will you carry my stuff around?”

“You’re right,” Emma said, still not facing them. “We’ll probably get our first assignment relatively soon.”

“Can you...eat with us and not by yourself?” Linnea asked.

“I’m at the table, aren’t I?”

“Guys,” Ari said. “Please don’t fight…”

“Hey,” Corinna said to Goran. “Heard you did a number on Amynta here. That’s pretty good.”

Goran scratched his neck. “It was nothing special, man.”

“It totally was. Have some confidence in yourself.”

Before Goran could respond, a chime pulsed through the walls. Dinner was over and everyone was to return to their rooms for the night. Goran wondered why Yan hit the signal so early. Wasn’t it still early in the night? It was a little unsettling. Linnea eyed Aldric; Aldric grumbled beneath his breath before getting up. Everyone soon followed.

As he exited the room, all Goran could think of were Mitch’s words.

It seemed like a harsh warning to him.