The Eden Series: The Complete Collection (10 page)

The figure walked in, throwing back the hood to reveal a girl, not much older than he was. Aiden stood frozen where he was. He had expected a man, some big, rough-looking man, who would inflict pain on him throughout the rest of his training. Instead, in front of him was a goddess in her own right. She wore plain brown pants, and a shirt that fit tightly around her thin body. Her golden hair was held against her head by a thin headband, and her eyes were large and accented by a small amount of makeup.

“This is the warrior?” the girl asked. Aiden could tell just by the tone in her voice that she was disappointed. Clearly she had been expecting more, which was exactly what Aiden figured. His shoulders fell a bit as he felt the sense of expectation on him dwindling.

“Elisa, I would like you to meet Aiden, and yes, he is the warrior we’ve been waiting for,” Diana introduced them. “He may not be what you expected now, but he will be. Just give him some time.” The girl looked him up and down, and Aiden could see the scepticism on her face.

Clearing his throat, he held out his hand in greeting. “It is nice to meet you,” he said roughly.

She regarded his hand for a moment before grasping it. “Likewise,” was all she said.

“Elisa is the daughter of Captain Turk,” Diana explained. “She also happens to be the best archer in the King’s army.” This surprised him, as he had not realized she was a soldier herself. The girl didn’t seem impressed by his reaction. Instantly he felt bad, and didn’t recover.

“Is he ready to go then?” she asked, turning away from him.
Great,
he thought, kicking himself. Now her manner toward him would be cold for the rest of their journey.

Diana nodded her head and handed Aiden a small bag with some clothes in it.

“Make sure you listen to everything they tell you, and trust your comrades. Most importantly, trust yourself, and believe that you can do this.” She looked him in the eyes throughout her speech, and then gave him a quick hug before going back over to the door. “Be safe,” she said before they left. “Elisa, keep an eye on him for me, and help him out the best you can.”

“I will,” the girl replied, pulling her hood back up. Aiden was nervous to leave with the girl, especially so late at night, and with all the creatures waiting for them in the woods. He had already seen one during the day, and he could only imagine how much worse they were in the dark.

The two of them manoeuvred through the woods at a quick pace. The girl, Elisa, moved like it was second nature for her to be in the woods in the middle of the night. Aiden, on the other hand, was stumbling all over the place, visibly annoying her.

“Try to keep up,” she huffed. He was, he thought defensively, but it wasn’t easy. She led the way in silence, until they finally broke out of the trees and into an open field. He could see the high walls of the city in the middle of the field. Elisa held up a hand for him to stop behind her. “We must stay low to the ground now,” she whispered.

“Why?” he asked instinctively.

“Do you see those men on the walls?” she asked, pointing toward the city. He could actually, which excited him, because normally he wouldn’t have been able to. He nodded his head. “Those men are guarding the city. Ever since Aziz began sending his monsters down our way, it has been forbidden for anyone to leave the city walls during the night. No one is to approach it, either, unless permission is given ahead of time from the King himself. If they happen to see us, it is quite possible that they will shoot without asking any questions first.” Aiden gulped down the saliva that had pooled in his mouth. She looked over at him and smiled. “Don’t worry. I could shoot them all, before they even had time to string their bows.” This kind of reassured him, and yet it also made him slightly afraid of the young girl who stood beside him.

“How are you here, if no one is allowed out?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

She smiled again, her teeth glowing in the darkness of her hood. “I’m not just anyone,” she replied. “Let’s go. Follow my lead, and stay low.”

They crept through the field, stopping once in a while for her to listen. Before he knew it, they were up against the wall, their backs flat to the cold stone.
Now what?
he wondered. If no one was allowed in, and the front gates were closed, how were they supposed to enter? Looking up at the towering stone wall behind him, he prayed that she didn’t expect him to climb it.

“This way,” she whispered, grabbing his hand to signal him to follow her. His face heated when she touched him, making him thankful it was dark where they were. They went around to the side of the city, where the wall continued down for what looked like forever. They hadn’t walked far when Elisa stopped suddenly, crouching down beside the wall. He could see her feeling around for something. Whatever she was looking for, she seemed to find it. Aiden heard a click, and then a small opening appeared in the wall where she disappeared into. “Come on!” she called out from the other side.

Looking around, he dropped down onto his stomach, and slithered his way through the door. When he stood up, he was inside the city, and Elisa stood there smiling.

“So you’re not special,” he said, brushing off his clothes. “You’re just sneaky.” She laughed, the first time he had heard her do so. His stomach tightened at the sound. It was nice to see she wasn’t as serious as she had appeared to be in the cabin.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the dormitory. I believe the High Priest will want to see you in the morning, so for now I suggest you get as much sleep as possible. I don’t know what they have planned for you tomorrow, but if it is anything like what I can imagine, you’ll need some rest.”

He followed her obediently through the twisting lanes of the city. All the streets confused him, some ending suddenly, others turning onto other streets sharply, or rounding back to the same street as before. Elisa explained that the city was built that way so intruders would get lost easily. It appeared to Aiden that they had successfully achieved that goal. If she hadn’t been leading the way, he probably would have become lost for days in there. It didn’t help that the streets were overflowing with people. It seemed odd to him that there would be so many people out so late at night.

“What is going on?” Aiden asked, motioning to the crowds of obviously drunk people.

“It is the spring festival tonight,” she stopped to explain in his ear. It was hard to hear anything in the crowd. “It is a night for everyone to party and relax, which as you can see, the people take full advantage of.” They both smiled as a group of two men and two women approached them.

“Ah, young love!” one of the men cried out. He walked over to them, grabbing Elisa and kissing her on both cheeks, before turning to do the same to Aiden. He froze in the man’s grasp, completely embarrassed by both his outburst and his actions. Thankfully, Elisa was laughing, which made the situation seem less serious.

“You should see your face,” she exclaimed, laughing. He couldn’t help but laugh back, wiping the spot on his cheek where the man had kissed him.

“Let’s go,” she said, continuing on. They finally approached a tall, square building. It was plain-looking, made of grey stone, with numerous windows around it. “This is the dormitory,” she said as they stopped in front of it. “Everyone who isn’t married, and who serves in the army, lives here. A room has been prepared for you.” She greeted the two men at the door, each of whom gave Aiden a very disconcerting look. He could feel the colour literally draining from his face. “Don’t let them bother you,” she said over her shoulder. “They probably just think I’m bringing you home from the festival, and they’re imagining what my father might think. Ignore it.” Her reassurance only made him feel worse. Clearly, a girl that looked like her would not come home with a guy like him. He could only but imagine how many guys she had after her with a face like that.

After climbing four flights of stairs, they walked down a long hallway, stopping in front of a closed door.

“This is your room,” she said, motioning to the door. “I’m right here,” she said, pointing to the door on the other side of the hall. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.” He was surprised at how friendly she had turned out to be. His initial impression of her had been completely off.

“Thank you for all your help so far,” he said, smiling. Another door opened then, with three blonde girls who all looked the same, and a fourth one with flaming red hair, piling out into the hall. They were all laughing about something when they crashed into them.

“Goodnight,” they were saying over their shoulder. Aiden watched them leave, and then turned to look back at the opened door to see two boys standing there. They weren’t much older than him, but they were much bigger and stronger-looking.
Great,
he thought sadly.
This is who I have to train with.
His depression began to sneak back in again.

“Well, well, Elisa, who do we have here?” one was saying, walking closer to them. He wore only pants, his muscular chest bare for the world to see. He had shoulder-length hair, which was clearly messy from the company that had just left. The other boy was also naked from the waist up. He was much darker than the first boy, his skin tanned by the sun, and his hair a darker shade.

“Go to bed,” Elisa replied, trying to ignore him. Aiden felt a pang of hope, when he noticed the clear distaste she had for the guy. He could guess that he was popular with the ladies, but obviously not with this one.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” he continued, not taking the hint.

“You can meet tomorrow, when you’re sober,” she spat back. “Just go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she continued, turning back to Aiden. He nodded his head and quickly walked into the room, locking the door behind him. What had he gotten himself into? His nerves began to increase as he realized how real, and how difficult this was going to be. It was just like high school, but quite possibly worse!

The room they had given him was pretty small, with only a tiny bed in the middle of one wall, and a small night table beside it. A dresser sat on the other wall, and a tiny carpet covered the wooden floors at the foot of the bed. It was nothing special, but it would definitely do. He was exhausted, so any surface where he could rest was welcome.

Walking over to the window on the far wall, he looked out at the city that didn’t seem to want to sleep. Everything was so different there. Looking up at the sky, he saw the two moons there, and was still amazed at how big they were here, and how odd it was that there were two. It truly was a different world. Climbing into bed, he closed his eyes and tried his best not to worry over what was to come the next day. It would all be okay, he reassured himself. All he had to do was believe in himself. He had always wished for something more in his life when he was back at home, and now he had that—and more.

CHAPTER FIVE

Someone shoved him, bringing his mind out of the deep sleep he had finally fallen into. The morning light filled his room, bringing with it all the insecurities he had felt the night before.

“Hey, newbie,” he heard a male voice say. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he sat up and saw the boy from the hallway standing beside his bed, smiling down at him mockingly. The other boy stood by the door, leaning up against the wall. “Morning, sunshine,” he said, smiling. Aiden ran his hand over his face, wondering what time it was. His mouth felt dry, and his stomach grumbled hungrily.

“We don’t mean to wake you from your beauty sleep,” said the other boy, “but the High Priest has asked for you. You’d better start moving faster than that.”

“Yeah, come on, newbie,” said the first boy, pulling off his covers in one fluid motion. “We were given the task of being your personal escorts.”

Great,
Aiden thought. “Let me just get washed up quickly,” he said, his voice sounding hoarse. Getting up from his bed, he headed over to the small bathroom that was off his room. He could hear the other boys talking while he splashed cold water on his face.

“If it takes him this long to get going, he is going to have a hard time managing,” said the quieter boy.

“Ah, it’s newbie’s first day. Give him a break,” the good-looking one replied. That surprised Aiden, who had figured he’d be ready to make fun of him at the first opportunity.

“All right, I’m ready,” Aiden said as he came back into the room. “I’m Aiden, by the way,” he introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, Aiden. I’m Wolf, and this is Logan.” Aiden nodded his head in both their directions.

“Great, now let’s go,” the one named Logan said, opening the door to the hall.

Wolf snickered and threw his arm around Aiden’s shoulders. “Ignore him, newbie. He’s just in a foul mood today, because he had a little too much to drink last night.” Aiden smiled. “Didn’t you?” Wolf yelled at Logan.

They watched as Logan’s shoulder’s cringed at the volume. “Shut up,” he said in a low voice, making Aiden and Wolf laugh in response.

As they made their way through the streets, Wolf pointed out all the important buildings to him, including the taverns, which Aiden doubted he needed to know.

“And that there is Lila’s place.” Wolf smiled, pointing at a low building with a perfume shop on the main floor. “She is always up for a good time, if you know what I mean.” He winked.

“She also happens to be like forty,” Logan shot back over his shoulder. Aiden looked questioningly at Wolf.

He shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “She looks good for her age.” They continued on, until they came out of a street and into a large open area, which seemed to be in the middle of the city. Aiden turned his head and saw the palace behind another large wall.

“Wow,” he said, amazed at the sheer size of the place.

“That is the King’s palace, if you hadn’t already figured that out. Nice, isn’t it?” Wolf asked, staring at the place alongside Aiden.

“It’s huge,” he breathed. Wolf laughed beside him.

“Aiden!” he heard a girl call out. Turning around, he saw Elisa running toward the three boys.

“Hey!” he greeted her, happy to see someone he knew—not that the present company was unwelcoming.