Morningstar

Tilray is one of the last people to arrive at room 23. She is bored out of her mind. She sits down and places her feet on top of the table, right next to the chessboard. She watches her enemies.

East is standing against the wall right next to Slier with his arms crossed. They are both talking. Tilray does not like how he thinks that he is so cool. He is not. Phoenix is sitting with her chin on the table as Rin talks about something and Zanna hears. Tilray is glad of what happened to Phoenix. She needed to be put in her place.

Fey is sitting across from Moneo. Kobo is next to her and so is Beta. They are talking, but Tilray sees the constant glances that Fey gives Icarus. Oh my… Tilray realizes something. Does Fey have a crush on the assassin?

“I saw something during our break,” Icarus says. “I was waiting for something like this to happen since yesterday, but it did not. I chose all of you for a reason. You all have your little groups, but you are all individuals. I have seen you defend your groups as if there were your own person. I admire that, but today I saw something. I saw someone in here stand up and defend someone from another group. That person treated the other person as part of the same team.”

Icarus looks outside. He places the half-eaten apple on the desk and stands up. “I wanted that,” he continues. “I wanted someone to see another member of this team treat someone as they would treat a member of their group.” He claps his hand once. “We will not be playing chess today. You may thank that person who knows the definition of a team.”

“Who is he or her?” Hakea asks.

“Does it matter?” Icarus asks. “We are heading outside.”

Tilray does not care who defended who. She only cares that for once, everything was working her way.

***

Slier follows the group into one of the forests in the campus. Icarus stops at an opening where there are many pieces of cloth on the floor. They are separated on piles by color: one red and one blue. “We’ll be playing capture the flag,”

“Something is better than nothing,” Tilray whispers.

“Yes, it is,” Icarus answers. “The difference is that the use of weapons is not allowed.”

“He is taking the fun out of this,” Shin says to no one in particular.

“Then how would we take someone out from the game?” Lexan asks.

“You will each wear an armband of your team’s color,” Icarus says, indicating to the pieces of cloth. “If an enemy takes your armband, you are out of the game and return here. The first team to capture the flag and return it here will win. Any questions?”

“What are the teams?” Fey asks.

“Well, I’ve taken the liberty to form the teams myself,” Icarus says. “Red team will be led by East and the blue team by Slier.”

“You are separating us,” Slier says as she moves to where the blue pieces of cloth are.

“You won’t be the only ones,” Icarus says. “Red team will be composed of East, Agrion, Xeon, Killam, Kobo, Wither, Beta, Norm, Zanna, and Shin. The blue team will be composed of Slier, Fey, Ilya, Hakea, Lexan, Vil, Phoenix, Tilray, Rin, and Moneo.”

“What?” Tilray asks. “You pretty much separated everyone.”

“That’s the purpose,” Icarus says. “You are a team now. You have to learn to work with everyone.”

Slier starts giving out the blue armbands. She hands the last one to Hakea. “Help me with mine,” she says. Hakea nods and ties the cloth on her arm. Slier proceeds to do the same with his.

“Here are your flags,” Icarus says as he hands Slier and East their flags. “Find a location, create a plan, and in exactly fifteen minutes you can start. Remember, I will be watching.”

Slier takes the flag and begins to walk away, expecting her team to follow. She will destroy East today. She will show him and everyone that she is the best.

***

“What about here?” Norm asks. He is pointing at a hill that forms a small opening where a shallow cave is.

East stands next to him. “Why?”

“Well, we can place the flag inside,” Norm says. “This will be the only opening. We could place a few of us in front of it. If the other team wants the flag, they will have to go through us.”

“They won’t have any other alternative,” East says, understanding his plan. “Very well. Place it in there.” He hands the flag to Norm.

Norm happily accepts it. He moves inside the small cave. He stomps softly with one foot on the ground, trying to find the softest part. When he finds it, he stabs the flag’s pole on the ground. It remains standing. He returns to where his team is.

“All right, we will divide in two groups,” East says. “One will attack and the other defend. I want more people attacking than defending.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Norm asks.

“No,” East says. “If we add more people attacking, we will get to the flag faster than them. We will steal it and return it to Icarus before they manage to get ours.” Norm nods. “I want seven attacking, and three defending.”

“I’ll volunteer to attack,” Shin says.

“Me too,” Killam says. “I shouldn’t waste my talents defending.” Norm should have expected it. His group does not like to play safe. Killam, Tilray, and Shin always likes to risk everything. The only ones that were cautious were him, Ilya, and Urho, and even sometimes Ilya went with the flow.

“All right, I am going so that’s three,” East says. “Norm, I want you to come with me so four. Who else?”

“Me,” Beta says, taking a step.

“What do you bring to the table?” East asks.

“You did not ask Killam nor Shin that when they volunteered,” Beta says, crossing her arms. Norm sees that she has a bow and some arrows behind her back. She must be a really good hunter. “Is it because I am a woman?”

Norm watches as East’s tanned skin begins to turn red. “N-No, I am sorry. I never meant to say that. You can join.”

“I’m in,” Zanna says. East opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it. He was probably going to ask the same question that he asked Beta.

“Anyone else?” he asks.

Norm watches the remaining four. Xeon is standing the farthest. He is taller than most of them in there. His black hair covers his eyes. He has a scythe behind his back. He might be fast enough to get the flag before anyone noticing.

Agrion is standing near him, probably looking for comfort the same way that he does with Hakea. Norm has not seen him speak since they joined Draconic. He does not know how good he is. He has a rifle with a scope, smaller than Zanna’s, behind his back. He might be good a shooting. His blue eyes are looking down, giving away his shyness. He might be a good shooter but not under pressure.

Wither is the next one. He has a sword behind his back. He might be as good as Norm with it. But Norm saw him beat Icarus’s in chess. He might be a great strategy. He is better to be left behind where he can plan the defenses.

The last one is Kobo. His fangs are out, even though his mouth is closed. He has brown gloves in his hands with blades that represent claws drawn back. His green eyes are not paying attention to anything.

“Beta, I have heard rumors about your group,” Norm says. “Is it true that you are all good at hunting?”

“Of course,” Beta says. “How do you think that the meat gets into the lunchroom? Morning usually pays us to go hunting outside of Morningstar and bring what we hunt.”

“You are allowed to go out?” Killam asks.

Beta nods. “For a period of time,” she says. “And we have to remain near the wall.”

“Then Kobo is your best choice, East,” Norm says. “If he is good at hunting, then he can be up in the trees with Beta and attack when the enemy least expects it.”

“I know,” East says. “I was waiting for him to volunteer. Kobo, you are coming with us. Wither, Xeon, and Agrion, you will remain behind defending the flag.” He turns. “Let’s go.”

***

Moneo is walking right next to Fey, following Slier. She does not talk much. What would Icarus choose her as the leader of the blue team? She is strong, though. She and East have a big reputation around Morningstar. They have even been chosen to escort Morning when another Lord visit the academy.

“Here,” Slier says, stopping. She buries the flag’s pole on the ground.

“Here? In the middle of the woods? In the open?” Phoenix asks.

“That does not seem very wise,” Tilray says.

“Yes,” Slier answers. “I know East. He will focus on attacking instead of defending.”

“Then why don’t we hide the flag?” Fey asks. “It sounds logical.”

Slier rolls her eyes. “It is true what Icarus said. This team has too many leaders.” She places a hand on her iron hammer behind her back as if checking if it is still there.

“Draconic is formed by smaller groups,” Tilray says. “It is obvious that there would be many leaders.”

“No, he did not mean it like that,” Slier says as she shakes her head. “Hakea is probably the leader of his group, but he can play a supporter when he needs to. You, Phoenix, and Fey cannot play another role. You three are born leaders. That’s probably why Icarus places you three in my group.”

Fey opens her mouth to protest, but Moneo places a hand on her shoulder. “She is right,” he says. He takes a step closer so that everyone can see him. “If we want to win, we must have only one leader, and that is Slier. You three won’t be bossed by each other so you shouldn’t have a problem.”

They remain quiet for a second. “I agree,” Phoenix says.

“I do too,” Hakea adds quickly.

“Whatever,” Tilray says. “What is your plan?”

“Well, as I said before, East likes to play offensive,” Slier says. “He will place only a few people to defend the flag. We should play defensively while some of us try to steal the flag.”

“That’s not a plan,” Tilray says. “That’s pretty much the point of the game.”

“No,” Slier says. How she has not lost her patience is a mystery to Moneo. “We will create a network of people up in the trees. Once we see them coming, we will ambush them. This is a team game. We will work together to stop them from advancing and that will buy time for the smaller team to fetch the flag.”

“Who is going to fetch the flag?” Lexan asks.

“Who wants to?”

“I do,” Tilray and Phoenix say at the same time. They glare at each other.

“All right then you two and…” Slier looks around. “And Lexan.”

“Me?” he asks. “You want me to be with those two? I don’t think that I will make it back.”

“I saw the way that you ran after Icarus on his trial,” Slier says. “I think that you can make it.” She crosses her arms. “For the rest of you, here is the plan.”

***

Shin looks up. He finds Kobo jumping from branch to branch. He turns his gaze to the other side to find Beta doing the same. He is surprised for a second. He thought that they were weaklings, not worthy of being part of Draconic, but they move through the trees with ease as if they are walking on the ground.

East points two fingers at Shin, Killam, and Norm and then at Kobo. They want them to follow Kobo. Shin nods and moves to keep track of Kobo. He wishes to be able to use his axes. They feel useless behind his back. He continues to follow Kobo deep into the forest and away from East, Zanna, and Beta.

Shin hears a birdcall. He looks up at Kobo. He has stopped moving. Then he hears another different birdcall. It takes Shin a second to know what it means.

“It is a trap!” Shin shouts.

No one, except for Shin, is able to react because from the trees start falling people. He spots someone falling towards him. He does a back handspring, evading the person. When he stands straight, he catches a glimpse. The person has ginger hair and freckles everywhere.

Moneo launches, trying to steal Shin’s armband. Shin moves away, but he notices that he is big and slow compared to Moneo’s smaller stature and faster movements. There is no wonder why he and his team are hunters.

“Fey,” Moneo shouts.

“Got it.” Shin hears Fey say and he feels someone pulling his armband.

Shin is out of the game.

***

Lexan stops on top of a branch to search for Phoenix and Tilray. He finds them arguing on the ground.

“That is ridiculous, Tilray,” Phoenix says. “We cannot just go head on!”

“And your suggestion of jumping on them from the trees is too,” Tilray says.

Lexan sighs. He knew that this was going to be difficult, but not so much. He sits on the branch, feeling it wobble. “You will never find a middle ground,” he says.

“Butt off,” Tilray tells him.

Lexan decides to act as if she did not say that. “I have an idea,” he says. “Why don’t we do neither of your ideas?”

“That’s not an idea,” Phoenix says.

“Leave the planning to the grownups,” Tilray says. “You can sit and watch some birds while we do.”

“Women,” Lexan murmurs, even though he doesn’t mean it as an insult. Then he says out loud, “Why don’t we use one of us as bait?” They both stop glaring at each other and look up. “I already went ahead while you were arguing and scouted the area. Wither, Xeon, and Agrion are protecting the flag. If I have to guess, the strongest of them all is Xeon. Getting past Agrion and Wither will be easier if we get Xeon out of the way. So, we need someone to act as bait.”

Phoenix looks at Tilray. “Na-ah,” Tilray says. “I am too pretty to be bait.”

Phoenix rolls her eyes. “Fine, I’ll be the bait.”

“Then Tilray, come up here,” Lexan says.

She looks up. “I hate climbing,” she says but starts climbing the trunk of the tree anyway. Phoenix watches and when Tilray is near Lexan, she begins running towards where Lexan said that the flag was.

Lexan follows her, keeping her distance. He sees her when she comes on view. The first one to spot her is Agrion, who is sitting beside Xeon. He hits Xeon on the arm and Xeon stands up. He says something that causes Wither, who is seated farther from them, to stand up.

Phoenix does not think twice. She rushes towards them. Xeon moves to confront her. A few inches away, he lifts his hand in a fist, but Phoenix makes a twirl, running past him. She is heading for the flag. She is faking it extremely well, even though she lost a lot of blood this morning.

Lexan looks down. Agrion has not moved from near the flag. Wither has and is trying to stop Phoenix. “Now,” Lexan tells Tilray.

Tilray jumps off the tree and lands in front of Agrion. He startles for a second but strikes with a punch. Tilray grabs him by the wrists and twists his arm behind his back. Agrion quickly uses his free hand to grab her armband.

Lexan does not see what happens next. He lands smoothly on the ground and rushes towards the flag inside the small cave. He pulls it off the ground and turns to find Tilray struggling with Agrion.

“Go!” she says, and so Lexan runs away with the flag.

***

Icarus watches how little by little people start arriving. The first ones to arrive was Shin, Killam, Kobo, and Norm. Then everyone starts arriving in fast waves until Lexan arrives with the flag. Icarus wants to smile. Ever since he saw Lexan arriving late to the meeting before the first trial, he knew that he has potential.

“Blue team wins,” Icarus says, patting Lexan on the back. Cheers explode of the blue team while the red team grunt. “Where is Phoenix and the rest?”

“They are on their way,” Lexan says and just as he finishes, Phoenix, Tilray, Wither, Xeon, and Agrion come into view.

“Did we win?” Tilray asks.

“We did,” Lexan answers.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less,” Tilray says.

Icarus takes glimpses of everyone. Moneo is talking with Vil. Slier and Rin are mocking East. Wither is finally smiling as he talks with Lexan. Beta is even talking with Zanna, who hardly talks. They are finally talking to each other. They might be starting to get along.

“Now that this is done, why don’t you take the rest of the day off?” Icarus asks. No one dare celebrate. They might think that this is a trap. “Go on. Leave.” They do not hesitate. “Phoenix,” he calls as Phoenix is leaving with Rin and Zanna.

“What?” she asks. Icarus picks a plastic cup that he left standing on the floor and hands it to hear. “What is this?”

“Tea,” he says. “It might taste bad, but will stimulate your body to regain the liquid that it lost when you were hanging from the tree… It is an old family recipe.”

“You know your family?” Rin asks. Everyone arrives to Morningstar or Nightlight when they are little kids. They hardly remember their family.

“I did,” he says and begins to walk away, not wanting to answer any more questions.