The Iron Rose: Volume 1

“Kunagi?”Gudomlayand Zhi dragged Bard down the steps into the dungeon of the tower. It was as muggy and dank as ever. But for some reason, its usual morbid atmosphere was a relief to be in. Bard tried to help them by walking, but he could barely drag his feet. The sound of his boots scraping against the stone floor made Gudomlaylook at him in a panic. “Kunagi!” She cried, desperately hoping that he wasn’t still recovering from earlier.

“M’lay...” Kunagi came to meet her sounding tired and lethargic. But when he saw Zhi, the warm blood dripping from Bard’s wounds, andGudomlay’steary-eyed face. He suddenly became alert and took Bard’s side whereGudomlayhad been and glanced at her. She went ahead. But when she looked back, Kunagi frowned deeply. He didn’t like all the scratches he saw on her face. She noticed his gaze, and with a downward glance, rushed to the infirmary.

She pulled the heavy sliding door open and got the nearest of the three beds ready. Zhi and Kunagi took Bard there and then lay him down. Bard grunted, grinding his teeth and wheezing with pain. Kunagi glowered at him.

“So, rat,” he drawled to get his attention. Bard glanced up at him. Neither of them had forgotten what had happened earlier that night. “Gudomlaycouldn’t protect you this time, huh?” He hissed, the sheen of his glasses flashing with loathing.

“Kunagi!” She pushed on him, the tears on her face silencing him.

He looked back at Zhi and nodded. “I’ll take care of this. Go write up your report, Master Fang.”Gudomlaystared. The way he spoke to him, it was as if he knew how Zhi was involved.

Zhi bowed and turned to go, thinking of all he would have to do. It seemed Britta had been wrong about why the D.S. students had attacked. This wasn’t a group of men going after a woman. It was a hate crime based off a pure and simple prejudice. But as he started out, Gudomlay hurried after him. Bard watched, a pain in his chest when he saw her grab Zhi by the sleeve and fling her arms around him. Bard set his head back and shut his eyes, his brow lowering as he listened to Kunagi get to work.

“Thank you, Zhi.”Gudomlaymanaged. Zhi, taken aback, awkwardly pat her on the back. “Thank you!” She sobbed into his shirt, her bloody hands tightening on the cloth as she clung to him. “You saved us both. Thank you,” she sobbed.

Zhi, his eyes shifting for discomfort, finally wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry I let you go. I should have followed you...” Sighing, he rested his cheek on the top of her head. For a moment, he simply rubbed his face against it, reveling in the softness of her hair on his skin.

She shook her head, reminding him of the situation. “No. I was being stubborn. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.” She covered her face with her hands. “They came after me because they knew I was weak. I shouldn’t even be studying at this academy after what just happened. Not only have I proven myself useless, but I got Bard hurt and caused you trouble.”

Zhi smiled softly at her, a look that she’d never seen before on his face as he stroked her hair. “Gudomlay. You said we’re friends, right?” She sniffed and nodded, and he pat her on the head. “Then don’t worry about it. Friends are supposed to take care of each other. And I promise.” Now, feeling a little bolder, he pulled her back into his chest and held her gently. “I will always take care of you...no matter what.”

She nodded, clinging to his back and letting out a breath that released some of her tension. She looked up at him and swallowed. “What will happen to the D.S. students?” She asked.

“Well.” He glanced back up the stairs. The passage was dark, but he could smell the remnants of Bard’s blood on the stone. “They’ll be expelled, just as they feared. But that will be the least of their problems. Once it’s realized they didn’t attack just any ordinary student,” he said with a stern look on his face.

“What do you mean?” She asked. She didn’t even realize he was still holding her as she continued to stare up at him. Something about his tone had her worried. And the comfort of someone’s arms around her made it hard for her to want to let him go when she suspected more bad news.

He looked back at her. “You’re a ward of the school, Gudomlay. The amount of money that’s been invested in you. It makes you the highest profile here no matter your origin or skill level. The truth is, the most powerful student and most privileged person at this school, is you.”

She stared at him, feeling strangely small at the realization. Why...? Why did that revelation frighten her so much? She lowered her gaze and nodded. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and then he reluctantly released her. Once he had, he hurried up the stairs to deal with the D.S. students. The brothers weren’t only going to get written up, but they were both seriously injured. She knew. Together they had a broken back, several cracked ribs, a broken jaw, nose, and possibly arm and leg. She shut her eyes, rubbing her arm with a hand. Those rich people she never thought about. She was beginning to realize. Could it be that...they owned her?

Afraid of the answer, she turned around and went back into the infirmary. When she went in, she shifted her gaze away from the sight of opened wounds and blood and cleared her throat.

“Is he going to be all right?” She asked, a catch in her throat. Even though she’d been there when Kunagi acted as a doctor many times, she still didn’t like the sight of broken flesh.

Kunagi, working on the stitches, glanced at Bard’s face. As payback for stabbing him in the back and to encourage further conditioning against pain, he hadn’t given him any medication. “If he weren’t a stripe, he’d be dead,” he replied, his needle glinting as if it’d wished he had.

Under the white fluorescent lights shining over Bard’s wounds, Gudomlay’s face crumpled. He watched her, his chest tightening as her hand came over her face. With that reality hitting her like a stab to the hand, she ran out the room.

“Gudomlay!” He moved to get up, but Kunagi made him lay back down. His hand on his shoulder was stronger than Bard imagined the professor to be. It reminded him of the strange incident and made him wonder what Kunagi really was. But his cold downward gaze set on him made him forget to ponder that.

“Don’t be stupid,” Kunagi hissed. His face, it was set in such a hateful expression. “She needs to know that this is partially her fault.”

“She already knows!” Bard shouted, his head lifting off the stiff pillow under his head. “Couldn’t you have lied?” Didn’t he care about her? Why would he want her hurt like that?

“You heard,”Kunagistated matter of fact. He looked away, pulling his shining silver needle up. The thread attached to it sung through Bard’s flesh in an uncomfortable rubbing sensation. That it made Bard’s teeth clench caused Kunagi to smirk with tempered sadistic glee.

As he poked Bard again, Bard glanced at the wound. The glittering brightness of his blood seemed so surreal. Every time he bled. It didn’t feel like it had really happened. And this time, it had made Gudomlay cry.

“Gudomlayis going to die,” Kunagi went on. “That’s the way of it. I never lied to her about that so why should I lie about anything else?”

“Have you no mercy?” He asked, glaring at him as he ground his teeth.

“That is my mercy,” he replied, snipping him free of his needle. “The only thing I can do for her is to be completely honest. And in this case, it’s the only way she will come to terms with the fact that she has to change. That or risk losing everyone she cares about before she can save them with her life.” He got up then and turned to clean his instruments. “Go to the showers and wash up and then rest. You have a day off. Don’t bother with M’lay. She isn’t for anyone at this academy... She isn’t for anyone.” He looked back at him, a warning light in his gaze. “So don’t entertain foolish notions that won’t come true.”

Bard sat up and set his feet on the cold gray and white spackled tile. “What. You keeping her to yourself?” He asked, frustrated and angry that he would monopolize her when it seemed she had so little time.

“Our relationship isn’t like that,” Kunagi stated simply. “It never was and it never will be. I am her guardian and only true friend.” He looked back at him, his deadly gaze even darker. “And you would do well to remember that. The only man I will give her over to is the man who must take her life.”

“Kunagi!” Bard roared and threw his hand over a tray beside him. The tools the professor had left on them crashed and scattered onto the floor.

Kunagi was on him in a second, his fingers clutched over his throat so he had him pinned down against the bed. Bard stared, his eyes wide to see that Kunagi’s hair had gone all black.

“Neither of you can save her. He may be able to, so that is the only man I will trust her with. Just because he must kill her does not mean she has to die. I will make sure of her safety. I’ve already decided. I will guard her forever until he saves her. And if he can’t, then I will keep her with me until the stars fall from the sky and the heavens crumble away into darkness. The very same darkness this land has embraced. I will keep her until we fade away a glittering dust of the sea!” He lifted Bard up then and threw him toward the door. “Now leave! And stop sulking over what cannot be!”

Bard, glowering back at him, left. When he was gone, Kunagi shut his eyes to settle the storm that had almost woken him up again. He took a breath and rubbed his temples. Lover’s Day had been nothing compared to this... Who knew that the threat of one man’s feelings would outweigh the flood of many.

__

Gudomlayswallowed. It 'd been a couple of days since the Death Stalker attack. Though one of the three teams had succeeded in obtaining their target, the second hadn’t. They weren’t able to get a hold of Britta, and they came out black and purple for their efforts too.

The group that went afterGudomlayhad been disqualified. And now, they were facing serious charges. Zhi was right. The people who were fundingGudomlay’seducation had come down hard on them and the school that had sent them. Not only were the students and their family’s facing a brutal onslaught of legal attacks. But the school itself was being examined in result of its student’s actions.

Now, Gudomlay was facing the tube with three talented stripes inside. And she was expected to fight them all. She turned to Kunagi, looking a little panicked.

“Look. I admitted my secret. I’m scared of pain. I told you I wanted to overcome it. I told you I want to push through and be able to take care of myself and my friends but...” She glanced at Albert and his companions. “Three stripes at once?” After what she saw that night, she knew. Not even her observing their combat class had revealed their potential. Bard had been amazing and terrifying, and she didn’t want to fight his peers who were probably hiding that they were just like him!

“You said not to hold back,” he replied. He was typing vigorously on his keyboard for some settings within the room. The tapping sound of the keys was like the laughter of his silent and hidden excitement. Despite his not showing it, Gudomlay knew he was pleased to be punishing them all with new ideas for pain.

She glanced at the tube nervously. The men were talking as with one another. Great. They were all friends. That meant they likely knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They could play off each other to gain the upper hand because of that. She glanced at Kunagi again, her fingers tightening into her palms. They were warm and a little moist for her anxiety.

“What if I--black out,” she whispered, looking genuinely concerned.

“Albert knows the song,”Kunagisaid with the wave of his hand. He was so relaxed and unworried he didn’t even spare her a glance.

“Kunagi! I’m not supposed to go berserk!” She cried, her hands balling into fists at her chest.

He turned his chair so he faced her and met her nervous gaze. “So then don’t.”

She blinked at him, a troubled look passing through her eyes. She rubbed her arm and glanced at the others and then let out a sigh of resignation. “Very well. But if I do...”

“You won’t,” he said with a nod and waving his hand for her to go. She didn’t know if he simply didn’t care whether she did or didn’t or…if he genuinely believed in her.

She frowned at him and then timidly walked toward the tube. Knowing Kunagi’s past, she was pleased and honored that he had so much faith in her. As far as she knew, there were only one or two others that he trusted. But…

She took a breath to steady herself and then pushed the button to open the glass door. It let out a sound of releasing air and then opened. When it did, the men turned to look at her as she entered.

Each grinned in welcome. But when the door shut behind her, they attacked.

__

Albert grinned as he sat cross-legged beside Gudomlay, who lay back on the ground in the tube. He was wrapping her left pinky and ring finger together, both of which she’d sprung. She sighed, twirling her ankles in turns to loosen them up. Her thighs were burning, and she was certain a bruise was forming on the inside of her shoulder.

“You did a good job,” he said, still smiling at her as he finished.

She sighed and lowered her arm. “Not good enough,” she grumbled with no sound of satisfaction.

Albert’s lips changed to a grimace. “Well, it takes time. You haven’t been practicing. But keep at it like this and you’ll improve quickly.”

She nodded, now bringing her hands up to cover her face. “Just keep beating me up,” she whispered, trembling for the pain in her body.

He gave her a pitying tilt of his head. “Nobody likes pain, Gudomlay. That’s why stripes go through conditioning. So we can fight through it. It’s like when you go berserk. You don’t feel it. Experience it enough and it won’t bother you anymore.”

“I know it’s a stupid thing to be afraid of,” she whispered, now holding herself as she lay there. “But I can’t help it. It’s not just that pain hurts, it frightens me. I don’t know why. It’s just. Always been that way.” She pushed herself up and looked at him. “What kind of conditioning?”

He tilted his head at her with a side glance at the other two. They were eating noisily. He sighed at their thoughtlessness and shifted a little to block their crude eating habits. It wasn’t something he’d thought about before he started dating Tapp. But now he was self-conscious not only for himself but everyone around him.

“Well, we had to go through a trial to see if we could even get into the academy. It was a kind of mild form of torture.” He laughed awkwardly at the horrified look on her face and scratched his head. “But after that, our first year was spent with random shocks. It was a bracelet but felt like a dog collar. Though I imagine the voltage on us was higher. From there, it went from shock bracelets to more torture like sequences. They were done in private or sometimes not so private rooms. We build up an immunity to certain levels of pain over time, like poison or something like that.”

She didn’t know if she should be worried about how casual he said all of that. “You’re immune to poison?”She gawked. How had they managed that one, she wondered?

He blinked and nodded. “So are you. Some, anyway. If you’ve ever gotten sick after eating school food, it’s because you were poisoned.”

“What? They can do that?” She gawked, now giving a wary glance at her lunch box.

“This is an academy for people who will be living their lives in all sorts of diverse and dangerous situations. They’re just nicer to the stars about it than they are us.” His amused grin made her wince. But she nodded, remembering when she was younger.

She did remember getting sick often. She wondered if the food was still being laced and with what. “I wonder if I ought to do some kind of conditioning?” She sighed, turning her gaze on Kunagi. He’d certainly help her with that if she asked. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

“I think it’d be wise,” Albert agreed.

She winced. “How are things going with Tapp?” She asked to change the subject. As much as she wanted to get over her handicap, she didn’t want to keep thinking about it. Or to be encouraged to embrace it and experience more of it.

He blinked with surprise and smiled bashfully. “Well.” He chuckled, and she grinned at the blush that rose on his cheeks. “Sneaking around is kind of fun, but it’d be nice if we didn’t have to hide it.” He shrugged, now looking even more nervous. “After the term is over, she wants me to meet her grandmother.”

“Are you going to?”Gudomlayasked, now sliding her food over to eat. Since she made it herself, she wasn’t particularly worried about whether it would kill her or not. She grabbed a small carrot, and with a glance at Albert, bit into it with a crunch.

“I think so,” he went on thoughtfully. “I mean. I’ve never been serious with a girl like this.” His eyes had fallen and turned soft as he smiled tenderly at the thought of her. “Like, I’ve dated on and off between school. Sometimes during, if she could handle a long-distance relationship. But. This is the first time I think I’ve been in love.”

That he had a troubled look on his face madeGudomlayfrown. She poked at her food and frowned. “I’m sorry,” she said in a quiet voice. He glanced up at her, his eyes a little wide and his brow a little risen. “I encouraged something that’s going to hurt you both in the end.”

Albert stared at her a moment and then grinned at her. It was with a kind of adoration that had come to threshold an older brother sort of feel. “No, I’m happy. Even if it doesn’t work out. I’m glad I got to feel this way. Even if it’s the only time in my life that I do. I hope... I hope Tapp agrees. To be honest.” His gaze fell again as he played with the hem of his coat. It was worn and fraying. But it seemed most stripe attire was that way. “I don’t know what will happen when they try to separate us but.” He looked up to meetGudomlay’seyes with a kind of fiery determination in them. “I don’t intend to ever let her go.”

Gudomlaygrinned at him and shifted her gaze to the glass behind him. He blinked at her change of focus and stared. Feeling himself go cross eyed and his cheeks burn, he grew embarrassed when he turned and saw Tapp. She was gazing down at him with a bit of honest surprise. She swallowed then and glanced back at Gudomlay, who giggled into her hand.

“How long?” He started to ask but wasn’t able to get more than that out. He looked up at Tapp who was smiling giddily now.

She lifted her hands up to the glass in the shape of a heart. He laughed awkwardly and tossed a worried glance to his fellow stripes. But they weren’t paying attention. So, he quickly lifted his hands to his chest and made the same gesture.

Tapp bounced, her face pink with happiness. And then she hurried back to Kunagi’s desk to watch as he started setting up the next set of training.

“Are you ready for this?” Albert asked with a glance at Gudomlay.

She set her food aside, knowing better than to fill her stomach up too much when she was about to fight, and nodded. “I no longer have a choice,” she said and climbed up to her feet as the floor beneath them began to rotate. At least, she wasn’t going to give herself one. No one was going to be hurt because of her again. Not if she was alive and breathing to stop it.

The other stripes stood also, rushing to put their things away with a shout at Kunagi for not warning them as panels began to flip over.Gudomlaythinned her lips. She wasn’t fighting the stripes this time. No. She was expected to have learned their strengths and weaknesses by now. In this test, she knew as the tube expanded and a mountain like terrain was created and an artificial thunderstorm started overhead, she would be helping them to survive.

“This,” Kunagi’s voice sounded over an intercom within the tube. “Is a simulated mountain storm like that within the Wild Lands. If you wish to venture into the wild, M’lay, you must be able to help your teammates survive it. Whoever lasts during the full simulation is the Mountain King... Good luck.”

And with that, Gudomlay’s transformation began.

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