THE LAST KEEPER

The fourth-year Pentagon was a beehive of activity. The exams could start in three days, and the boys had been left alone to polish their studies and skills before the start of the exam. Sagiri, on the other hand, was required to do exams across all years, so his exams would take a week.

He had not realized how tired he was, and he slept in till eight. He did not need to carry much anyway, so he had only one request. He wanted to be allowed to be able to use his blades. He told Senraki that the weapon might have had something to do with his clan, and he was just as eager to know what it was, and something was telling him they might have the answer. Everyone was allowed to use their tribe’s choice of weapon to practice their secret arts. Tradition, after all, was the backbone of Tagayia.

The blades had retracted in dormancy now more than ever, and the blades had hidden themselves inside the handle. He, however, was not going to use the weapon right away as the exams were around the corner. The only weapons he had been trained to use were the spear and the blade, and since he had nothing more to learn from the textbooks, all he needed was to train.

The combat arena was more packed than usual, and when he entered, there was pin-drop silence as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. mixed feelings were flying all around, and most of all was curiosity and unease. He had never really fit in properly before, and it was as if now there was even more distance. He took another step wearily of all the attention. His hate for being the centre of attention had never changed. After another moment, everyone turned to their partner or partners. It seemed no one was using the straw men and human mad dummies to train for the exams.

it was all good for him, and he made a peeline for the dummies. When he pulled his blades out and started going at the straw men he could feel dozens of eyes on him as if everyone was watching but trying not to make it obvious. He had not seen any member of team 25 and he had never wanted to see a familiar face so badly before.

What a bother.

He could not even concentrate on his target because of the attention, and his blade slipped out of his hand after a couple of attacks. That had never happened before in the central pentagon and the sound of the blade clattering on the floor was louder than ever, and more eyes turned to him. He did not have his shells to block out sound, and he could clearly hear the gossip now.

’I can’t believe we lost two powerful cadets at this critical time because of him,’ one whispered.

’I saw him egg them on,’ another said. ’He must have planned to have them eliminated.’

’Why could the intruders break in to take him away?’ another asked.

’How did he even escape? I hear he was stabbed pretty badly by some of his team members.

Perhaps he faked it to get the twins eliminated. Perhaps the intruders took the twins on his order, another said

’He doesn’t look hurt to me, just clumsy. Stab wounds take months to heal,’ another said.

Two instructors died in one night. That has never happened before in the history of the Galka War Academy. He must have brought us bad luck,’ another spat

’Who is he anyway? I think he might be a child to some high-ranking member in society.’ another said, and Sagiri finally understood why he was getting the creepy stares.

So that is the rumour that has been flying around. Of course, everyone must have heard about the intruders and him being taken away. The twins’ stabbing must have also been common knowledge now. The only thing that was kept under wraps was his battle. It seemed the three boys were tight-lipped, which was expected of them. Kaka did not care about gossip, kiuga was a war general in the making, and he cared more about every anger of an outcome, and well, N’varu could never tell on him.

He did not know whether to be relieved or disheartened at the new information, but he knew one thing. He and the tamelku twins, if they ever met again, only one of them could make it out alive. Those two were a cancer, and just the rage made him pick up his blades. He breathed in, trying as much as possible to filter out the gossip, or rather, use it as fuel for his training.

He moved as if he were going against the twins yet again. It was always hard to train without a goal, and they had become his. This time, however, he did not want to use them as opponents and instead imagined Salka as an opponent. He was way faster than anyone he had ever seen, and if he wanted to improve, he needed a stronger opponent. His archive had recorded his fight with Salka and now all he had to do was visualize him standing in front of the dummy before he went for it.

He flipped the daggers and dived forward, but he did not stab the straw man. If it was Salka he could not have made the attack, and so he retracted them just as quickly and went for the [place where he could have dodged to. He closed his eyes as he went for maximum effect. Of course, Salka could evade the second attack and destabilize him without much effort. To respond to the attack, he prepared for it landing on his back with practiced precision before jumping to his feet. He kicked his feet out to sweep Salka off his feet, but of course, Salka could evade that too by jumping back, both his hands behind his back. He responded quickly and faked the sweep, but launched the daggers at his torso at the same time. The dagger landed in the belly of the straw man, and the other on the chest. He did not stop, and he went in with a moving punch followed by a moving elbow, which Salka could dodge and send him back with a kick.

He prepared to dodge the kick, but he knew he had to be fast, so he threw his body back on his hands till his back was to the strawman he had stabbed. His hands went behind his back on instinct, and he retrieved both weapons. Both acts were done simultaneously, but with his eyes closed. He twisted his body sideways to create space between him and the straw, but pushed one leg against it to gain momentum before he went for a stab with both hands stretched far back to reach Salka’s neck. Salka was a tall beast of a man, and just going directly could never stand him. Of course salka could evade the attack, and so he prepared for the fall and landed on one hand and shoulder, back to roll away from the intended fall.

If it were Salka, he could have time to catch his breath, so he was back on his feet again and went in for the attack again.

The gossip had died down now, and it had turned to curiosity. He knew he had improved, and he was proud of it, but he did not want to think that he was showing off to his peers. Three more sequences of attacks, and he was out of breath completely. He leaned forward to catch his breath and finally opened his eyes. Everyone had finally gone back to training, and as his showdown had fueled their rivalry, they were now going at it harder than before.

If he wanted to catch, he needed to also drive himself past his limits, so he got into a stance again and started going at it again. His breaths came in shallow and sharp, and his chest rose quickly, but he did not stop. Sweat poured down his face as he went, but stopping was not an option anymore. Salka had said that the exam would grant him respect and a position among the boys, and now more than ever, he wanted to prove he was as much a recruit at galka war academy more than ever. He did not want to depend on the archive to pass the exams, but also wanted to prove himself in combat.

When lunch time came, he was eager to eat more than ever, and when he served eight servings more, his eyes fell on him yet again. He yet again did not see any members of team 25, and he was starting to wonder if they had disappeared off the face of the earth. Just when he sat down, however, the nine walked through the door. It seemed that they had been training again, as if his almost-death encounter had brought them together. Of course, tragedies pushed people together, and he did not know if he was glad or worried.

Team 25 had finally come to accept him. At first, without a choice, then later they had just stuck it up.

Kaka’s eyes landed on him, or more like on his plate, and he lifted his head in satisfaction. The others only stole glances at him as they got in line. They did not join him at the table, and he ended up eating alone. seemed he had ruined the whole closeness by almost dying. He had always wanted to have friends, and right now he felt cold. The cold in his heart was whispering that he was not someone who could have friends. He somehow agreed with logic since he had put them in harm’s way and the coldness in his heart took shape.

perhaps it were better if he stayed away from everyone.