The Cobra's Cage: Chpt. 4

Nitpick your heart out!

---

Phoenix

I tried hard to stay optimistic, knowing there were only a couple days left. But the sun had never been slower.

By the sixth day, I was cleaning out the sugar in both my candy boxes.

I wondered where they'd positioned Siv. Elysvania, most likely. It lay at the southern tip of Korath, the landmass home to my kind. The forests along its borders were infested. Or northwest Agarith, with its Shapeshifter population escalating. One of my friends recently returned from there. I couldn't help but be envious; I'd never stepped outside campus borders. It wasn't allowed, unless you were assigned a mission.

Tick tock. Tick tock. In the ancient writings, that phrase referred to time. Tick tock, tick tock. And so I muttered it under my breath, hoping it'd help to trim the sun's path.

Tick tock. A doctor handed me a food capsule.

Tick tock. The lights clicked off.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick -

The sun greeted me like an old friend, planting a kiss on my cheek. I looked up to see it ribbed with clouds, as though it needed protection from the cold.

And home had never looked so beautiful. Light pooled into its numerous buildings, while the sea sang nearby, the wind joining in harmony.

I caught a sunbeam and squeezed it, and its silver essence flooded my hands. Everyone always assumed a sunbeam's essence was gold, but it was silver - molten silver, just like that vampire boy's eyes. With the ability to manipulate light, I knew most everything on sunbeams.

Everyone in Korath possessed a magic power. The potency varied, though all deteriorated at age nineteen.

Pouring the essence down my throat, I felt the world sharpened into focus, energy swarming my veins.

There were some moments I wished I could freeze, moments I could lock into my skull. Moments I could preserve, moments I could relive at need. And there were some moments I wished I could stitch together.

Moments. They were like antiques, I thought, kneeling upon the soil; the greater their age, the greater their value, and ... the greater their fragility.

---

"You're late," Trainer Hendrix barked.

I meekly took my seat in the front of the room. Several agents snickered.

"Why are you late?"

"Please, I just recovered from - "

Hendrix stepped forward, folding his hands behind his back. "You can't fool me, Korsar. The hospital releases their patients shortly after dawn."

Dawn?

"They had to do a last minute checkup," I invented, trying to remember what actually occurred.

"He was strolling about the daisies, sir!" a boy called. "I saw him!"

"H-how did you know?"

The snickering exploded into laughter. I flushed red, realizing my mistake. Too late.

Ears aflame, I sunk lower into my seat. "Enough, boys and girls, settle down," Hendrix said, but not out of sympathy for me. He was still smiling when he collected last week's essays.

Physical Training was little better. Black spots danced throughout my vision, too reminiscent of my "grieving" days, and I felt vomit burn its way up my throat. But I swallowed it back down and increased pace.

"You've lost half of your muscle over that girl," a classmate laughed.

I ignored her, proceeding to do another push-up. It wasn't the first time I wished I hadn't met Scarlet. Or the second. Or the third.

By the time lunch rolled around, I could barely stand. I had to ask the assistance of Trainer Gora.

At least lunch tasted decent. Nuts, grilled vegetables, patties. I sat with my regular group, and although their humor seemed immature, I enjoyed their company.

It took it a while, but the sun fled the sky, and we were released. I skipped dinner, heading straight to my dorm. It was so achingly familiar, the coarse carpet, the mattress shoved under the window, strewn with various articles of clothing.

I was beginning to unzip my training suit when I heard, "Uh-hum."

My hand fled to my pocket. "Who there?!"

"Siv." She sounded amused. "That's the wrong pocket."

"What do you mean, it's the wrong pocket?" I pivoted on my heel, trying to locate her.

"I'm over here, you dope. No, on the chair."

I jumped. Sure enough, she was sitting in the straight-backed chair, dressed casually, her exposed skin pallid.

"What the hell are you doing in my dorm?"

"You were in mine," she said.

"No. That's different. I needed a place to stay while people were cleaning my dorm, and I had the key to yours. How'd you even get - ?"

Her lips ticked up in a smile. "Magic."

"Am I the only friend you have?"

"Yes," she said, unabashed. "Aren't you going to ask how my mission went?"

"I'm tired," I replied curtly, and I flopped onto my mattress, still fully suited.