Chapter 2 - Xaden

"The little killer is certainly dramatic." Sgeayl commented.

Murderous feeling drifted down the bond connecting us four, and I chuckled.

I was currently sitting on my bed, sharpening my blades. There would be a leadership meeting soon in here, so I had already hid everything that needed to be hidden, and was just waiting for it to start. A crash sounded from outside my door, followed by a curse. I slipped into the bond with Allani to see what was happening with the leadership. Aetos had tried to open the door, and ended up on the other side of the hallway because of my wards.

"Xaden, open the door right now before I raise a couple of dragons to torch you." Allani threatened.

I rolled my eyes. Of course she would immediately start threatening her fellow wingleader. I stood up, sheathing the daggers and opening the door. She was able to enter the wards, I had given her permission every time I warded my doors. Allani likely just wanted to piss me off, though if that was her goal, it was working.

Aetos was standing to the side, glaring at me like I personally pushed him. Allani was smirking, and the others were standing with their arms crossed.

"Why did you even call a leadership meeting? The squads have just been sorted with their new first years, so there isn't anything to report." Allani asked Nyra, the senior wingleader.

"We're discussing the new squads, who you think will be liabilities, and who you think will probably make it to graduation if they can keep up." Nyra said, her arms still crossed at her chest while the others have already dropped their arms to their sides.

"Fine. Come in." I move out of the way to let them in.

There wasn't anything in my room that could incriminate me, but that doesn't mean that I would drop my guard.

"First, I want to know how you plan to use Aetos's squad." Nyra started the moment they were all inside of my room, and I had shut the door.

"Why do you think that we'll use his squad?" Allani asked, settling on one of my chairs and pulling out one of her daggers, flipping it.

"Oh come on. Anyone in their right mind can see that you want something to do with Sorrengail. Don't even deny it." Mavis said, throwing her hands up.

Aetos stiffened at the mention of Sorrengail.

"What do you mean?" he asked, even though he seemed to already have caught on since the moment me and Allani moved him.

"We won't be breaking the Codex, Voldaren, so you don't have to worry about it." Allani said, avoiding the question while making it seem like she was answering it.

She's always had a way with words. Father would always say that she had the ability to tell someone to go to Malek in a way that they would like it, and it seemed to be working here as well as she spoke for a few more minutes, the others getting more relaxed as she continued talking.

"Ok. That's fine. Is there anything else? Or should we get back to our dorms to prepare for tomorrow?" Nyra asked.

"I think we're good." Izar said.

Shit. I must've missed the entire meeting. Hopefully it wasn't anything important, like a change to the schedules.

"You didn't miss anything important. They were just talking about their squads, and if any of them seemed like they would need extra time in the training gym and sparring ring." Allani said as they filed out the door.

I sent a wave of gratitude down the bond, settling on my bed again, staring at the ceiling.

"You should sleep." Sgeayl said.

"I can't fall asleep. It's easier said than done." I replied.

Sgeayl made a sound that was as close to a sigh as a dragon could get.

"The little killer is in the gym, if you want to train." Sgeayl said after a brief pause,

I was on my feet in an instant, already heading out the door, glad for the excuse to not lay in the bed trying to fall asleep.

"Be careful. It's after curfew." Allani warned, her voice distant, as though focusing on something else, which she probably was, since she was at the gym.

I got there soon, pushing open the door to find Allani training with some of the targets in the room. She turned to face me, tossing the dagger in her hand without looking at the target, and it landed spot on in the middle of its forehead.

Fuck, that should not be hot.

"You're finally here. Good. Let's spar" Allani said, getting straight to the point.

She stepped onto the mat, and I motioned her movements, stepping onto the opposite side of the mat.

"Until yield. No knockouts, we need to get back soon, and no blood. It's after curfew, so no one can know that we're even here." she ordered.

I smirked, nodding. 

Allani set into motion, circling for a few moments before I lunged, throwing a punch at her face. She sidestepped easily, her foot already up in a kick. I grabbed it, twisting her, but she used that extra momentum to bring her other leg up, this time the kick landed on my ribs. 

Shit. 

I stumbled back a few steps. Allani was already in position again, light on her feet and ready for whatever I threw at her. 

"You're not fighting as well as you usually are." Allani commented.

I ignored her, lunging again, this time in a different movement as I grabbed the punch she flung out, and pulled her against me, holding her in a headlock. 

"Yield?" I asked. 

One of her feet kicked up, hitting me straight on the back of my knee, and I fell onto a knee, leaving her free to move away.

Before she was able to come at me when I was in a vulnerable position, I sprang to my feet. 

This time, it was her who lunged for me, darting behind me before I could react and knees me in my balls. Excruciating pain erupts, and I drop, much to Sgeayl's disappointment. 

Allani was on me in an instant, pinning me to the ground with a forearm poised to cut off my air.

"Yield." she said. 

I tap the ground three times, and she jumps to her feet with the gracefulness of a panther, going to the training target and pulling out her daggers, before sheathing them and walking out of the gym without a second glance back at me. 

We've never been friends. More like... enemies with benefits. We bonded to each other because it would be more useful for the rebellion, if its leaders had a silent connection that they could use during battle. You never had to actually like the other person to bond with them, even though her parents loved each other, and so did her sister with her bonded. We would sometimes have sex if only to relive tension, but there was never any emotion behind it, just tension release. 

At least, that's what I told myself. 

"How did you even manage that? Your parents were as close as family with her parents." Sgeayl asked as I picked myself off the ground, standing up.

Normally she would be pissed if I lost a match, but me losing to Allani is a regular occurrence, so she learned to just deal with it. 

"I honestly have no idea. We've never gotten along when we were children either. It's always been me and her sister who've been friends." I answered, walking out of the gym and heading back to my room. 

"From what I've seen in your memories, Yanira was a lot nicer than Allani as well." Sgeayl 

"Yanira was definitely nicer than Allani. That's why she was a healer, even though her family thrived off blood." I replied. "Consider the fact that Allani isn't even merciful to people in her circle of friends, though she's definitely nicer to them than to other people to the people."

I tossed off my shirt, letting it land on my chair as I climbed into the bed, shutting my eyes as the exhaustion of watching all of the cadets fall into the valley below caught up to me, their screams still echoing in my ear, as I let the darkness pull me under. 

This chapter was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but here it is. How do you guys like the fanfic so far?