Morningstar

Killam is completely tired of his team. He is tired of his mentor’s incompetence. He is tired of everyone else getting attention from Icarus and gaining trainings with him while Killam remains watching. He is as good as everyone else, if not better.

“One of the basic skills that you need for the trials is climbing anything,” Icarus says, staring at the trees. They are tall thin trees with the branches being several meters above themselves. Killam knows that if he wants them to climb those trees, it is going to be hard for him. “I am sure that Fey, Beta, Moneo, and Kobo can climb these easily so I would like for you to help everyone.”

Killam is not glad about it. He does not need help from anyone and even less from the love birds, beastie, and the wannabe cool. He can do anything alone. He has done everything alone and in cases that he needed to depend on someone, it was on his group and no one else.

“Who would be the first volunteer?” Icarus asks. Before someone could answer, Killam sees Agrion run towards the tree. He did not expect him at all. Agrion traces his hands around the tree, searching for the best place to grab on. He begins climbing the tree when he finds it.

Killam shakes his head quickly. No. He won’t let Agrion take all the credit. He cannot be worse than a guy who does not know how to shoot. He runs to the tree next to Agrion. He does not bother to think where to put his hands. His best decisions always come from acting before thinking. He begins climbing the tree, not looking at Agrion. He will get to the top faster than him.

Halfway through the climb, he looks to his side at Agrion. He is around the same height as he is. Killam just needs to climb a little more. He pushes himself up, faster than before. He reaches for a piece of the tree’s cortex that is poking out. When he does, the cortex breaks. He loses his grip. Next thing that he sees is the branches of the tree as he falls.

***

Fey hears Icarus sigh. “Lexan, give me your spear,” he says. Lexan obliges, giving him the small cylinder. Icarus sprints a few steps, presses the button on the spear, and as the spear grows, he uses it as a boost for his jump. He lets go of the spear, flying higher and higher. His body crashes with Killam. As they fall, Icarus turns, rolling with Killam.

“Let go of me,” Killam yells as he pushes Icarus back. Icarus stands up, stepping away from Killam. Killam stands up and brushes his clothes.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Fey asks as she takes a step. “He just saved your life.”

“Fey,” Icarus warns.

“I did not ask for his help,” Killam answers. “I was fine on my own.”

“You were fine? You could have died if Icarus hadn’t stepped in. The least that you can do is thank him.”

“Why?” Killam asks. “It is his job.”

“What?’ Fey asks, wanting him to rethink his words.

“You heard me,” Killam says. “It isn’t convenient for him that I die, or he will face the trial at a disadvantage. If he wants to win, then he should keep an eye on us.”

“He is not your father to keep you safe,” Fey says.

Killam shrugs. “I do not want a father,” he says, “but maybe you do.” Fey’s eyes go wide. “Tell me, how many times have you thought of calling Icarus daddy? ‘Oh, yes, daddy. More, daddy.’”

Something snaps inside of Fey. She grabs her staff from her back and runs towards Killam. He is already drawing his katanas. She swings when she is close to him. He lifts a katana, parrying the attack.

“No,” Fey hears Icarus at a distance. She continues swinging her staff at Killam, not carrying if the no was directed at her.

“But you have to do something!” she hears Phoenix yell. “They are going to kill each other.”

“Let them,” he answers.

“I cannot believe you,” Phoenix answers, frustrated.

Fey does not care what is going on behind her. She is concentrating on removing the grin from Killam’s face. She wants him to suffer. When she finds an opening on his neck, she swings her staff like a bat. He falls to the side. She rises her staff over her and swings it down, but her swing is stopped. Icarus is holding the staff.

“That’s enough,” he says. “You all got your anger out.”

“But he–”

“I heard him,” Icarus interrupts Fey. “And you already punished him.” Fey looks at Killam. He is laying on the floor with his hand on his neck. He is having trouble breathing. “Calm down.” Icarus grabs her by the shoulder and forces her to turn. She heads back to where Beta, Moneo, and Kobo are.

“Bitch,” she hears Killam say as she walks away.

She turns around to make him swallow that word, but Icarus is already acting. He grabs Killam by the neck and lifts him off the ground. He pushes him against a tree. “Listen very closely,” he tells him. “I do not care who you think that you are. You are still a student, my student, and I can do whatever I want with you. If you do not want me to cut your tongue off, you better remain quiet.” He lets go of him, and this time, Killam does not speak.

***

For once, Phoenix is seeing Icarus differently. She saw the way that he threatened Killam. He was talking in a calm tone, almost silent, but she could feel it. She could hear his fury under it, the same fury that she felt when he yelled at her and then kissed her.

She hates Icarus. She does not like how he does not say what he likes or wants. But why can’t she stop thinking about him? Why did she feel attracted when he threatened Killam? She knows the answer, even though she does not want to admit it. Icarus’s fury has been the closest thing to being vulnerable. The fury that he had when he yelled at her, the fury in which he kissed her with, it is the real him. Those are his instincts acting; it isn’t him overthinking.

“Close your mouth,” Zanna whispers. Phoenix had not noticed that she was staring at Icarus with her mouth opened. She closes it quickly. Hopefully, he did not see her.

“Why are you standing around?” Icarus says. “I already told you what to do. Agrion is at the top, and I expected all of you to be up there already.” He turns to face Fey, Moneo, Kobo, and Beta. “Divide yourself. Each one assign yourself to a group.” He runs to the tree that Agrion climbed and begins climbing it without effort.

“I hate that man,” Phoenix says.

“Are you sure?” Rin asks. “The look that you were wearing says otherwise.”

“And I want him just as much,” Phoenix continues. Zanna’s eyes grow wide. Rin smiles.

“It was about time that you admitted it,” Rin says.

“How is that possible?” Phoenix asks. “How can I hate someone but still want him?”

“Because you actually do not hate him,” Zanna says. “You do not like the decisions that he makes nor his defense mechanisms, but you like him.” Phoenix nods slowly.

“So, what are you going to do?” Rin asks.

“Um, I guess that I am going to help you,” Kobo says, appearing next to them.

“Nothing,” Phoenix answers Rin. “When he wants me, then I’ll let him know that I do too.” She turns to Kobo. “Let’s get started then.”

***

Agrion reaches the first branch and pulls himself up. His muscles ache, but he does not care. He will show Icarus that he is worthy of being an assassin. He sits down on the branch, breathing heavily. He looks down. He is really high. He cannot hear what is going on. He only sees Icarus pulling Killam by the neck and pushing him against a tree. What is going on?

Icarus lets go off Killam. He then faces the rest, says something, and starts climbing the same tree as Agrion. Agrion watches him climb. It is impossible. He appears to be flying, using just the tree to impulse himself. How did he become so good at climbing?

When he reaches the top, he pulls himself up on the same branch as Agrion. “Stand up,” he tells Agrion. Agrion tries, but the branch shakes. He tries to remain with his balance. “Follow me.”

Icarus begins to skip from branch to branch. Agrion watches him and tries to repeat. The branches, even though they are thick, wobble whenever he steps on them. It takes him a while, but he learns that in order to keep them from shaking, he should keep going fast.

As predicted, Icarus accelerates the pace when he sees that Agrion is keeping up. He even makes incredible jumps between branches that Agrion cannot do. He has to look for another way to reach him. He slips once and almost falls, but he grabs the branch and returns to the race. In one moment, Icarus stops moving and waits for Agrion to catch up.

“Jump into the lake,” Icarus says. Agrion has not noticed that they have arrived at the end of the woods.

“What?” Agrion asks, trying to make his breath steady, even though he knows that Icarus senses that he is tired.

“Jump into the lake,” Icarus repeats.

“But we are too high,” Agrion says. “If I fall incorrectly, the water will not let me in. I could die.”

“A rogue should be able to face anything,” Icarus says. “They would find a way to–”

Agrion does not hear the rest. He is already taking a big leap. He will show Icarus that he will become an assassin. As he falls, he tries to move in the air to face down. He places his hands in front of him. If he has to dive into the lake, he will break the water first with his hands in order to make the entry smoother.

He enters the lake without anything going wrong. He lets his body submerge before the water start pushing him up. When he reaches the surface, he looks around for Icarus. He finds him standing at the edge of the lake. Agrion swims towards him.

“So, will you teach me?” Agrion asks when he is near.

Icarus stares at him. “The others might be waiting,” he says and begins to walk away without waiting for Agrion to get out of the lake.

***

Norm watches how Ilya climbs the three. Beta is staring at her from bellow. She is helping their group. Even though Ilya is going slow, she is getting the hang of it. She even lets out a laugh halfway up. When she gets to the top, she sits beside Tilray.

“Your turn, Norm,” Beta says.

“Um, how about Killam?” Norm asks.

“I am not climbing anymore,” Killam answers from several meters away. He is still angry about what happened between him, Fey, and Icarus. Norm knows that he won’t do anything until he calms himself.

“Then how about you, Shin?” Norm asks.

“Fine,” Shin says as he moves to the tree. He scans it for a second before he starts climbing it. They watch him as he moves up the tree faster than Ilya but slower than Tilray.

“You are next,” Beta tells Norm. Norm swallows hard, which Beta seems to notice. “You do not want to climb.”

Norm scratches his head. “I… I sort of don’t like heights,” he whispers.

“Ah,” Beta says. “There is no reason to hide your weaknesses.” She walks away to a bag that Icarus left in front of a tree. She pulls a rope from it and returns. “Hold this.” She hands him an end of the rope.

She then climbs the tree, passing Shin in the process. She arrives to the top, passes the rope over a branch, and climbs down again. Shin has still not made it to the top.

“Wrap that end around your waist,” she says. “I will hold the other end while you climb. That way, if you fall, I will hold you.”

“You are not making fun of…”

“Fun of your fear of heights?” Beta asks. “Why would I? We all fear something.”

Norm watches Shin. He is close to the top. “You are like me,” he says. “You are reasonable. You think before speaking.” He looks back at Beta. “Thank you for not making fun of me.”

“I fear spiders,” she tells him. “I can climb every tree. I can hunt almost anything. But I am still afraid of spiders.” She wraps her end of the rope two times in her hand. “Now, would you make fun of me?”

“Of course not,” Norm says.

“Then go on,” Beta says. “Climb. I’ll be holding you if you fall.”

Norm nods and heads for the tree.

***

Moneo is walking with Kobo, Beta, and Fey to the lunchroom. Moneo does not want to admit but that class made him feel as if he is good on something. He helped Vil, Lexan, and Wither to climb. He tried to make Vil laughed many times, but she did not laugh. Wither, on the other hand, laughed awkwardly and Lexan continued his jokes. It was a different atmosphere for him, and he liked it.

“Am I that obvious?” Fey asks.

“About what?” Beta asks.

“About Icarus,” she answers. “How did Killam know that I have a thing for him?”

“Wait, now it is a thing?” Beta asks.

“Well, you are pretty direct,” Moneo says.

“If I am direct, then how come Icarus does not notice?” Fey asks.

“He does notice,” Kobo answers. “He notices a lot of things. Do you remember when he told us a few days ago that someone in the team helped another member of the team that wasn’t part of his group? He was talking about East and me. I did not see Icarus there, but he must have been in order to notice. He notices a lot of things.”

“Then why hasn’t he made a move?”

“Maybe because he is not interested on you,” Moneo says.

“I think that he is not interested in anyone on the team,” Kobo says. “Maybe he just keeps everything professional. Or maybe…” Kobo trails off when he sees Heigl, Kimber, Zarf, and Miles walking towards him.

“Beastie,” Heigl says as he stops.

“What do you want, Heigl?” Fey says as she takes one step closer to him.

“Ah, letting a woman fight your battles, beastie?” Zarf asks.

Moneo sees Kobo’s chest rise. He must be thinking about the advice that Zanna, Rin, and Phoenix gave him. “Still bitter because Miles is interested on Kimber and not you?”

Zarf moves towards Kobo as Moneo moves between them, but Heigl extends his arm, stopping Zarf. Heigl smiles. “You don’t know, do you?” he asks and then laughs.

“What don’t we know?” Fey asks.

He laughs again and his group joins too. “There are rumors already of who will face whom at the second trial. Draconic is facing Malefic, our group. I cannot wait to see you and your mentor die by our hands.”

Kobo walks pass Moneo and stands in front of Heigl. Even if Heigl is taller than Kobo, Kobo does not let that bother him. “Bring it,” he says before he walks past Heigl and his group and leaving them standing alone.