She was distracted--her mind elsewhere, despite my fists hurling toward her. This was not conducive for progress. If I was going to get her ready for war, I needed her full and undivided attention.

"Sparrow," I called, my eyes still seeing a distant glaze over her piercing blue-grey eyes. She'd been like this ever since she returned from Mulligan's earlier.

Relaxing my shoulders and no longer throwing slow punches for her to sloppily block, I crossed my arms and stared at the woman in front of me. Her hood had fallen back, which she normally would have corrected by now, but hadn't seemed to notice. Her dark hair clung to her sweaty skin as her gaze stayed on something in the distance.

I cleared my throat, this being the last thing I'd try before physically shaking her out of the trance, but she broke her statuesque manner herself.

"You were right," she muttered, though she hadn't removed her stare from whatever held it. Her voice was short, bitter, and it's usual rasp was more intense, like she was overwhelmed. "I left there worse than when I came."

"Yeah, well, Mulligan's known to have that affect on people," I responded, knowing all too well what a dead end the old lynk was.

My eyes studied Sparrow for any possible peak into what was going through her mind and watched as she sunk to the ground, taking full advantage of the break I'd initiated. Her head turned toward her shadoe, who stood a few meters away. The owl wasn't herself either, which bothered me more than I expected.

"How did his shadoe die?" Sparrow asked, her sights held on her own.

"I wouldn't know. He's never told anyone," I answered.

A low hum left her throat, acknowledging that I had spoken, and a second later her eyes flickered to mine. I could tell there was something she wanted to say, but instead she pursed her lips and hung her head low as she hugged her knees to her chest, taking in a deep breath.

"Can we start training tomorrow?" she asked, which was uncharacteristic for the fiery woman I'd wrestled with up until now.

A part of me wanted to cave in and give her the time she was asking for, but I shook me head, rejecting her request.

"No. We've delayed long enough."

Holding out my hand to pull her up, a chuckle left my throat when she swatted it away and stood on her own. It was the first Sparrow-like thing she'd done since that morning.

"Let's get this over with," she sighed, raising her arms into a defensive stance with nearly perfect form.

Now that I had her focus, I didn't hold back. It was my duty to prepare her for battle, and I refused to fail. Not because General Yates expected me to make a soldier out of her, but because it wasn't just her life that'd be on the line--it'd be all of ours.

"Come on, Sparrow!" I complained, having taken her to the ground for the tenth time in a row. "You have to move quicker than that!"

We had moved past sparring, now working on how to evade being grabbed and overcome. More often than not, if a man sees a woman on the battlefield, he'll try to overpower her with his strength and I wanted her to be prepared for that.

"Did you ever think that maybe it's unrealistic to expect me to dodge a man twice my size?!" she argued as she stood up.

"You've done it before," I pointed out, referring to the first day I brought her out to this icy field.

"With Oak's help, which she refuses to give until I can do this on my own."

She threw an agitated frown toward the bird, giving me an open opportuntity to strike again, and I took it. Charging at her, she rolled her eyes when she saw me, bracing herself for the impact she couldn't avoid.

My hands gripped her hips as I barely lifted her off the ground before diving into the stiff snow. She let out a gruff of pain, but I didn't stop until she was fully pinned and unable to escape. Locking her wrists on both sides of her head with my own hands, I could see just how frustrated she was, and smirked at the sight of her under me.

"Always stay aware of your surroundings," I instructed, looking her straight in her angry eyes."A second could be all the difference between victory and defeat-"

As the last word rolled off my tongue, I felt that familiar tug painfully pull at me. My body burned, growing hotter, and I could hear my own heart beat at a decibal unnatural for mankind. My vision blurred and suddenly, I was looking through the eyes of my shadoe.

Beau.

As infuriating as it was to endure the discomfort of a forced tether, I knew Beau only did this when he desperately needed me to see something--or, when he thought I did.

What is it?

As my surroundings cleared, I was able to see that he was at the camp's perimeter. Most of the time, when he wasn't asleep and I didn't need him, he would guard the edge of camp, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. There were plenty of times when he'd forced a tether and nothing was there. But, the few times he happened to catch something resulted in him saving lives, and made me proud.

Feeling him nudge my sights toward a paticular tree, I saw the unnatural shakings of the shrubbery around the trunk of it. Narrowing my eyes, I honed in, holding my breath when the shrub suddenly stilled.

One second.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds passed.

This better not be another squirrel, Beau.

The polar bear stood his ground, insisting it was not a harmless critter, so I put my doubts aside and watched patiently. That's when she moved.

The girl's large eyes scanned her surroundings as she gracefully walked through the white-coated forest. Thick bangs hung over her forehead, her hair white as bone as the length of it cascaded down her back. She was dressed appropriately for the weather, despite not wearing any gloves, but something about her was unsettling, and when I saw what marked her dainty hands, I understood why.

The cursed symbol burned into her skin was so simplistic yet daunting to anyone without it--a jagged "x" resembling uneven scar tissue, yet I knew she was born with it. They all were. It was God's sign to us of who they were, and I knew exactly what she was.

A forsaken one.

She hadn't spotted Beau, which was surprising, but I soon learned it was because he had burrowed himself deep into the snow to blend in with the environment. I watched closely for any hint at what her gift was. She was small, unintimidating to the naked eye, but I knew those were the ones with the deadliest capabilities.

Lifting her eyes to the canopy above, she blinked away the snowy dust and took in a deep breath, like she was smelling the air, and then an eery smile etched itself upon her lips. I felt frozen in place, a frightening chill creeping up my spine in suspense until it all climaxed. The second she opened her eyes, her gaze was fixed on Beau, but it felt like she knew. She knew that someone was watching from inside the bear's mind.

Her shrill laughter shook the ground around her, and the only thing I could do was shout for Beau to get out of there.

Run! NOW!

He obeyed my order instantly, standing up and charging over the snow dunes as he raced back to me. His breathing was heavy, and so was mine as I felt every fear he did. When he looked over his shoulder, I was relieved that the girl did not follow him, but the way she stood at the edge of camp was unnerving.

And when she looked behind her, my worst fear seemed to be a reality.

She's not alone.

Knowing I had to report this to General Yates as soon as possible, I started retracting from the tether, but Beau's panic was acting as a cage, keeping us connected. I pulled and pushed, trying to detach from the spiritual hold, but there was little progress. In his state, Beau's body was a barrier, keeping me from mine, and I was in the eye of his inner storm.

You need to calm down.

The moment the forsaken girl locked eyes with him, his heart beat rapidly increased, and it hadn't slowed since. If he didn't get a grip, we could lose any advantage we gained from him spotting her. He had wandered to the farthest edge of camp, and we didn't have time to waste when The Forsaken Ones were involved. Every second counted.

Beau! Let me go!

He was trying, but failing miserably. I couldn't blame him entirely--he had seen what even the weakest of their kind could do, and it made death look desirable. Still, the thought that I couldn't warn my people of the threat just outside our gates, because I was trapped in my own shadoe, made my whole being quiver. This was what I had trained years for, and yet I was helpless.

Beau's apologies did nothing to ease the pain of our situation, or the one approaching when they reached camp.

I had no words left to say, I just watched through his eyes like a hostage, knowing demise was near.

A dull emptiness settled in, numbing my being until a bright warmth started to form. It felt like a flame had touched my skin, dancing across the side of my face, but it did not burn. Rather, it was likened to the sun's rays, pulling me forward. I wasn't sure if Beau could feel the sensation as well, considering this was something I had never experience before, and yet I never wanted it to end.

I wasn't afraid when my vision began to blur. In fact, I welcomed it, feeling drawn into the icy grey pools of blue. Each passing second came with the clearing of the picture before me, and the more it came into focus, the more present I felt in my own body.

The heated thrill that drew me out of the tether never left--tingling like a burning kiss on my cheek. The feeling only intensified when I found myself hovering inches from her face, staring straight into those intoxicating eyes.

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Author's Note:

Hey, how you doin'?😏

It should be obvious whose eyes Avery is now looking into, but I have to ask. So, who do you think it was? 😉

Also, can I get a C-R-E-E-P-Y for the forsaken girl Beau found lurking at the edge of Camp Exodus?!

May we meet again.
(If you know what show that's from, I love you. Hint: they say it like EVERY time someone's about to "die")

-Mac

*I don't want to add the creepy forsaken girl to the cast until her name is revealed...so I'll just insert a picture here of the lovely and talented...

DAKOTA FANNING!

Can you picture her in the scene above? 🤔