Carolyn and I finally made it to the home of Chaz’s birth givers. We remained hidden as we normally do- before we left I made sure The Mystic took off the visibility spell he had placed on me. It was a good spell and everything- but walking in a heavily populated area and into someone else’s home was a bad idea if you could be easily spotted.

I knocked on the door to Chaz’s room, but I didn’t hear a reply. I gave Carolyn an uneasy look as I opened the door slowly, prepared for the worst. I was relieved when I learned nothing had been broken, there was no signs of struggle at all. That was good- it meant F.E.A.R. still didn’t know who our seer was.

I began to search the room with Carolyn for any note, warning, or sign that Chaz might’ve left- I was desperate for a clue to her disappearance.

”Jake…” Carolyn whispered from across the room.

”Yeah Carolyn?” I asked, my head snapping up from the desk I was searching.

”Come here.” She whispered, sounding a bit uneasy. I frowned and walked over to her. She had a piece of paper in her hands, and she was reading it. She held it out so I could read over her shoulder.

Dear Wild Ones,
I know I’m going to be gone for a long time, and I don’t know if you’ll come searching for me or not, so I’m writing this note just in case.

Mourner- you’re my protector, and I know you’re worried that I’m gone. It’s okay. I can’t say much other than the fact that I am safe. 100% safe. I’m sorry that I’m not saying much- I don’t want anything or anyone to be endangered if this note was found by F.E.A.R.

Just know I am safe, and I will return soon. I’m sorry I made you travel all this way to search for me only to have it still be a mystery. I promise I’ll explain everything soon. Everything is going a lot better than expected- and I can’t wait to see your faces when I show you.

Stay safe and protect the warriors- our legion. The Legion Of The Black. Keep training, don’t search for me anymore. I will return soon- I promise.

Love,
Chazona

When I finished reading I looked over at Carolyn.

”The Legion Of The Black- I like that. I like that a lot.” Carolyn whispered and smiled at me. I nodded and looked back at the paper.

”So, let’s go back home and resume training- shall we?” I asked, folding up the note and clutching it tightly. Carolyn laced her arm with mine, and we started our journey back to camp.

A few weeks had gone by- we continued our training as planned, but we still heard no sign- not even a whisper- about how Chaz was doing.

I heard a thump as yet another one of the recruits hit the floor, knocking me out of my thoughts.
“Again, you’re getting sloppy!’’ I shouted.

We had already been training for a couple hours today and they were all doing well considering we hadn’t been training for that long, but they weren’t doing well enough if we were to defeat F.E.A.R.

I watched one pair as they fought. It was a boy and a girl. I sized up the girl; she was fast on her feet, probably a dancer. She spun, dodged, and dove with a grace that only could come from years of training in dance. She was good at dodging and ducking- and although she had a lot of bodily discipline, her moves when it came to actually hitting the other person were sloppy.

The male was tall, very tall. Very muscular and fast, he hit hard and could take a beating, but couldn’t dodge very well. I watched as the girl attempted to kick his head. The boy grabbed her ankle spun her around and she hit the mat again.

“Okay you two, what are your names?” I asked, walking up to them.

“My name is Lily and this is Kyle” The girl replied shyly. Ever since The Mystic placed the spell on us so we could be seen, every time we talked to the recruits they seemed shy- not scared of us, more like they respected- even idolized us. It was very strange to get use to.

“Well Lily, you’re good at dodging but your hits aren’t good enough. You have to increase the rate you hit and the strength. Kyle, it seems you can’t dodge, at all.” I informed.

”Lily, did you use to take martial arts, dance, or do some sport that required body discipline before you became a recruit?” I asked, waiting for her answer.

”Y-yeah I took dance. I did ballet- I was the lead in Swan Lake at my Dancing Academy.” She said, her voice shaking a bit- as if I was a teacher quizzing her, or maybe even judging her.

“Good, well you have to teach all of the people who are struggling with dodging to dance. We need that fluidity in the movements.” I smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to convince her that I wasn’t mean or judging her.

" Kyle, you have to teach Lily how to land a hit that will hurt her opponent.” I said, turning towards the boy.

They nodded with wide eyes and went off to tell the others what I had told them.

I decided to take a small break from training the recruits and went to find Carolyn. She was sitting at the edge of the arena we had set up, carefully watching everything with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I sat down next to her, reaching for the bottle of water she was handing out to me.
“Is this going to be enough? Do we have enough people to defeat them?” She asked in a hushed tone, her eyes widened.

I thought about it, I could tell her the truth which was no- we had nowhere near enough people and that we needed more recruits… a lot more. But I could also lie to her to keep her from worrying. To lie meant admitting I cared for her feelings which meant that I felt something for her.
"I don’t know if we have enough- but I do know that the recruits keep learning and progressing the way they have- then I think we’ll be able to defeat them eventually.” I said quietly.

Carolyn nodded thoughtfully and her brow furrowed as she thought about the situation. I took a couple sips of water and carefully replaced the lid back on the bottle.

“I have to get back to training, I will see you later. Go and eat something, I’ll change your bandages when I’m done training okay?” I said.

Carolyn nodded, then got up and slowly walked away. I got back up and went over to The Prophet.

“You have anything on Chaz? It’s been a while, any signs of her?” I asked. We had been getting increasingly concerned about Chaz’s whereabouts. She promised she was safe, but with F.E.A.R. you never know.

“I do not know where she is but I sense, something has happened. Something is definitely off…“ He replied to me, he never made eye contact, just stood there watching the recruits fight.

They had been fighting against each other for well over six hours today; it was time to take a break. I slowly walked over to the recruits. What was this wrong thing that Andy sensed? How would it help? Goddammit what was happening out there? How could I help? With a sigh I pushed it from my mind; I could worry about it later.
“Okay everyone, you have done well today, you have worked hard. I appreciate your work to help defeat F.E.A.R. Take a break.” I called out.
Everyone stopped fighting and let out a few cheers. I chuckled lightly. Lily and Kyle, the fighters from before, came up to me.

“Uhh, Sir, we have a class set together, what time do you want me to teach them how to move?” Lily asked.

“Start the lessons tomorrow; right now I think everyone is too tired to be able to focus on what you are going to teach them.” I said. I waved my hand dismissively and they went off to the mess hall.

Notes

Hey, so I got a new co-author! She wrote parts of this chapter and I edited it.

Her username is Distorted-Mirror and I'm excited to have her help me out :)

Anyway, comment and tell us what you think!

-Ra