Ellie stomped down the hallway, trying to find a positive way to let all of her surfacing anger out. She was aware that there were rumors circulating about her circumstance, but the fact that they thought she was trying to get an advantage over them was absurd. Ellie didn't need an advantage. She didn't want an advantage. She wanted to work just as hard as the others to be the best emissary she could be.
The sound of her cellphone ringing brought her out of her thoughts. Ellie frowned as she looked at the device. Why would her sister be calling her when she knew she had to be at The Academy this morning? It must have been important because Ellie couldn't think of a single reason why her twin would call. Taking a deep breath, she answered the phone, "Hello?"
"Ellie?" her twin's shaky voice called.
"What's wrong, Eve?" Ellie asked, concerned about her twin's tone.
It took a moment for Evie to answer, shuffling could be heard across the line. "I tethered, Ellie."
"That's fantastic, Evie!" Ellie said, a grin stretching across her lips. All signs of her earlier anger disappeared with the thoughts of her sister getting a happy ending. "Who is he?"
"It's not fantastic, Ellie," Evie said, her tone dark. "It's dangerous. Everyone I love dies. I can't lose anyone else. Let alone someone who is supposed to be my soulmate. I don't know what to do."
Ellie sighed. Her sister was too stressed for her own good. Of course, Ellie understood. David had died. He was the one person Evie thought would be there forever, and he was taken from her by the same monster that wanted Ellie. Evie was bound to be terrified to accept her tether, but Ellie couldn't let her miss out on true love, even if her own tether was a failed one. "Okay, just calm down. I'm going to tell you what to do."
"Okay," Evie muttered, ready for any kind of advice that her sister gave her.
"Take a deep breath," Ellie instructed before leaning against a wall in the long hallway. "You don't have to immediately tell the guy you love him, okay? That's unreasonable because the truth is the tether doesn't make you fall in love right away. It's the same as any other relationship works. You get to know each other and eventually fall in love. You just gain the knowledge that this person is the one person, besides yourself, who can make you happy, and there's an undeniable connection that you can't avoid, but that's just a side effect. Just get to know him, Eve. I'm sure he's a great guy if you tethered to him."
Evie was silent. Ellie assumed she was just letting her words settle in. After a moment, she spoke, "I can just be his friend for now?"
"You can," Ellie replied, hoping that her sister would take her advice. "You can go at your own pace, Evie. No one's going to push you into anything. Just take it slow. Those are the best kind of relationships anyway."
Evie sighed from the other line, "Thanks, Ellie. I really needed that talk."
"Any time, Eve," Ellie smiled, crossing an arm over her stomach. "So, do I get to know my future brother-in-law's name?"
Evie was silent for a moment before her soft voice sounded, "Quil. Quil Ateara the fifth."
Ellie was about to reply before a soft hand touched her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Felicity waiting patiently. Muttering a quick goodbye to her twin, Ellie turned the phone off and shoved it in her pocket before saying, "Hi."
"Everything okay?" she asked, her eyebrow arched.
"Yeah," Ellie said, a small smile twisting on her lips. "Just having a quick talk with my sister. She needed some advice."
"On tethering, yeah?" Felicity asked, rolling her lips into her mouth.
"Yeah," Ellie said, pulling her arms across her chest. "She was a bit unsure of how to handle it."
"And she knew you had tethered and could tell her how to go about it," Felicity said, a smile lighting up her face.
"Something like that," she said, her smile gone.
"Your tether did something stupid didn't they?" Felicity asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"He's just doing what he has to I suppose," Ellie said, not telling the whole truth.
"And by that you mean he did something really, really stupid," Felicity commented, not believing her.
"He left me behind," Ellie sighed, casting her eyes to the floor. "I guess I can't blame him that. I'm a bit of a handful, but he could have at least told me in person. He just left me a letter and told me not to follow him."
"And you didn't go after him?" she asked incredulously. "Excuse me, but you just don't seem like the type of person who let's someone go easily."
"He didn't want me to," Ellie shrugged, knowing it was weak of her. "I would do almost anything he asked me."
"But â"
"Ladies," a masculine voice interrupted causing both girls to look at the newcomer.
Ellie narrowed her eyes once she saw it was Garrison Reynolds coming to stand by them.
He smirked at her annoyance, "You've been summoned to Cartwright Hall for training. I'm going to tell the others now. Good luck." He started walking off before looking back at Ellie's curious face, "Oh, and Sweetcheeks, I'll save you a seat at lunch."
He stalked off down the hall before Felicity turned to Ellie with raised eyebrows, "Who was he?"
"Garrison Reynolds," Ellie replied with a shrug of her shoulders as they began to walk down the hall toward the large training complex. "I don't really know much about him other than the fact that he likes to call me names. He's the one who came to inform me about being here."
"Are we sitting with him at lunch?" she asked, keeping an eye on their surroundings. She didn't want to miss the room by accident.
"Maybe," Elle shrugged, finding the room tucked into a corner away from the other meeting places. "Let's see how this goes first."
Felicity eyed the big door and followed Ellie through taking in the large tapestries and gleaming marble floors. There was a gigantic statue at the head of the room of a tall, muscular man with piercing eyes and a bright grin. She presumed that this was the man the hall was named for. If she looked close enough, she could see the small plaque at the base of the statue which read *"In honor of Philip Cartwright and his many contributions."* The room looked pristine and proper, until her eyes found the center of the room.
There were six large, black mats lining the floors, each with the intent to soften whatever tumbles befell the emissaries, and there were sure to be many as the room was dedicated to their studies, a large portion being combat. Standing in the center of the mats was Guillermo, his body at attention and his eyes fierce. He waited patiently as the six emissaries gathered around him and took in their surroundings. At least the group was smart enough to know that if they were to succeed in any battle scenario, they would need to first case their environment.
When all six brought their focus on him, he lifted a brow and gestured to the surrounding mats. "Welcome to Combat 101. Separate into groups of two. Let's see what we have to work with."
As soon as they had paired themselves off, they were assigned a mat and told to wait.
Ellie could feel Guillermo's gaze on them, but his thoughts were silent. She could tell he had put up a barricade around his mind, and it reminded Ellie to do the same. This was part of their training, and while it came in handy to be able to read the other emissaries' next moves, it was hindering for them to be able to read hers. So, she cleared her mind and built her wall.
The corner of Guillermo's lips pulled up as he watched the six emissaries in front of him. They all thought they were strong, that they were ready for everything that the next four months had in store for them. They were all wrong. They were going to be pushed to the limit, and they were going to leave as new people.
He cast his eyes to the blonde emissary that had followed his lead and put up a mental barrier. She was feared by many of the emissaries in the building, but he knew better than most that the girl was just a manipulated child when she had committed her crimes. The Council, even through her short exile, had pitied her. Dawson's brother had a well known reputation in their growing community. He was vile and vicious. A monster by all accounts. His thirst for blood wasn't even his true danger, but the girl knew that better than anyone. She had experienced that firsthand.
If the blonde could complete her training, the prophecy would be closer to being fulfilled. That's all he had to worry about for now.
"You've all experienced different aspects of being an emissary at this point," he started, shifting his gaze between the various pairs. "Some of you have seen periods of peace, while others have had to fight for their packs. You are here because you have been hand selected. You are the emissaries that will change the dynamics between the mortals and immortals, but in order to do that, you must be prepared for anything. Use your gifts in this battle, but do not, under any circumstances, kill your opponent. The first to pin their opponent will be considered the victor. The ones who fall will have scrubbing duty for a week. Get ready emissaries. Your training begins... Now."
Ellie set herself in a defensive position and waited for Felicity to attack. She tried to push into Felicity's mind to catch her strategy, but like Ellie, she had put up a barrier.
Felicity smirked and slowly became invisible causing Ellie to frown. She hadn't considered that the brunette would turn invisible. She should have, though. It was merely three seconds later that the blonde was knocked to the floor, blood dripping from her nose, but Ellie wasn't going to give up easily.
She closed her eyes and reached to the right of her head gripping Felicity's forearm. Spinning in a circle, she tossed the girl's body to the floor causing her invisibility to flicker just long enough for Ellie to thrust out her hand and lift her in the air before slamming her body onto the mat again.
Felicity's body became fully visible as she hit the mat, and Ellie took her opportunity to pin her down. Unfortunately for the blonde emissary, Felicity wasn't going to go down easily. She twisted out of the pin and quickly turned invisible again.
Ellie tried to use her other senses to find Felicity, but the brunette had made herself completely untraceable. Ellie had thought that sparring against Felicity would be simple and to the point, but it wasn't until Ellie felt a blow to the back of her head and a sharp pinch at the pressure point in her neck that she realized Felicity was more experienced than she had let on. Felicity's triumphant smile was the last thing Ellie saw before her vision went black.