2. ONE

ONE

S weat trickled down Davina's temple as she jabbed to hit her best friend's jaw. Leilani dodged gracefully with a grin on her face. Davina pursed her lips and groaned. She examined Leilani's posture, stance, and position. She had to beat her, that was the goal that Leilani had set for Davina five months ago.

In a matter of six months, Davina had to become a better fighter than the eldest Dunbar twin, if she wanted to become a Soldier in the Bellatorman army by the next Ceremony – the Ceremony only held once every six months – Davina was not willing to wait another six months to receive her Soldatus emblem.

"Stop showing off," Davina grumbled.

Davina twirled, sending a high kick to Leilani's chest. Leilani pushed Davina's leg away with ease.

"You need to be faster than that," Leilani chirped.

Leilani's blonde hair rippled as she blocked one of Davina's punches. "Come on, Davina. You only have one more month for the Ceremony. Land a punch. A jab. A kick. Something!"

Davina sighed through her teeth as she and Leilani circled each other. That was when the Aurisan Apprentice realized Leilani's skin was not shining the same way as hers.

"Lani, how are you not sweating?"

"I've been training since I was thirteen. Also, I heard Sadoc was visiting Castellum. I must look my best."

Leilani flipped her hair before ducking and swiping her leg over the black mat. Davina jumped, nearly losing her balance. She yelped. Lani punched an uppercut, Davina blocked. Leilani did a rear hook, Davina blocked again. Frustration fueled her muscles into grabbing Lani's arm and spinning to stand behind her.

Davina kicked the back of Leilani's legs, making her fall on her knees to the mat, quickly snaking her arm around the Dunbar girl's neck.

"I see that my lessons have worked." Leilani smirked.

Davina breathed heavily. There seemed to be chatter on the other side of the training room. Her eyes landed immediately on the boy with dark-raven hair. He laughed angelically at a joke made by his older brother, Beacon.

The Levina brothers stood next to Valerie, who had a grim expression and arms crossed over her yellow tunic.

Before she knew it, Davina was facing the rocky ceiling of the training room. She moaned from the impact.

"Sorry. I know the last thing you could ever want is for Ron to see you in a state like this, but this is why you should never lose focus. Even when he's around," Leilani said. "You must be the best Aurisan Soldier. You need to prove them all wrong." Low enough for only the two to hear. Davina nodded, then Leilani extended her hand for her.

But Davina wasn't going to let her win that easily. She grabbed Leilani's arm and twisted her around, pinning her to the mat. "Say that I won."

"No, you're cheating!" She fought against Davina's grip.

She tightened her hold around Leilani's twisted arm, careful not to push too hard, only hard enough to scare.

"I'm just fighting in the same way that you taught me. Now, say it."

"No."

"Say it." Davina pushed slightly.

"No."

"I think I can hear Sadoc walking over—"

Leilani sighed. "Fine. You win."

"That's what I thought." Davina smiled before letting go of her arm.

She waited for Leilani to recollect herself before walking over to their group of friends.

"That was good work there, girls," Valerie said.

"They could've done better," Beacon deadpanned before scratching his bearded face.

Davina rolled her eyes. "You only say that because of your lack of fighting talent."

"Alright, if I lack talent then let's fight right now. Come on." Beacon stepped closer to her.

"Calm down, Beacon. Will you?" Ron put a hand on Beacon's chest. Davina fought a smile while Leilani shifted awkwardly beside her.

"She started!" Beacon exclaimed, pointing at Davina.

"Beacon, stop. You are acting like a child," Valerie hushed.

Davina smiled slightly.

"Anyway… how are Snow and Caleb doing with having to deal with the aftereffects of the Predator attack from last night?" Davina asked.

"Caleb told me this morning that most of the sheep that grew sick died from having contact with the Predators. He needs to find a way to make the herds grow or buy more sheep from another shepherd," Lani explained.

Davina sighed, turning to Valerie for the response about Snow's music shop.

"The Predators were trying to break into the shop. The ice was strong enough to stop them from entering, but there were cracks made on the walls."

"Well, the good thing is, everything that was lost can be fixed." Davina shrugged.

Rushed footsteps resounded into the training room. Davina and her friends turn toward the young man in brown Mistran robes, with gaped lips and widened eyes. The other Apprentices and Soldiers who were inside the training room turned to the doe-eyed messenger as well.

"What is it?" someone in the room asked.

"Th—the…"

"Spit it out!" another warrior yelled.

"The Predators have attacked Mistral Island. Not too much damage has been done but they-they died before anyone could get near them. I-I came here to invoke all Mistrans, or anyone with Mistran family, to present themselves to the site of the incident," the young man's voice wavered.

Davina turned to Beacon and Ron. They'd have to present themselves to the site of the incident so they could identify the bodies of the Mistrans who were hurt in the attack, or the other Mistrans who transformed into Predators.

No one in the kingdom of Bellatorm was aware of why the people were turning into savage creatures overnight. These attacks had been happening for the past four centuries, yet they were occurring more frequently. There was no pattern, there was no sign. There was nothing that could give the islanders an idea of how to stop the transformations from happening.

Perhaps it was a disease, but was it contagious? If it was contagious, how could there be an avoidance of contracting this sickness?

"Bea, we should go see if father and mother are okay," Ron uttered, passing a hand through his black hair.

"We'll have to continue training tomorrow. See you then, girls," Beacon said. He gave Valerie a quick forehead kiss before waving at Leilani and Davina. The two girls waved back but then Davina and Ron met eyes.

Ron nodded curtly; Davina sent him a reassuring smile.

She wished she could go with him, but she wouldn't be of much help. No one knew much about the attacks. Much less did she.

All she knew was that she needed to find a way to protect her siblings from becoming the next Aurisan Predators.