It had been eleven years since that fateful day, when Jaylan unknowingly joined a band of rebels to cure her sister. Back then she probably should have asked more questions about what she was getting into, but if she could do it over she wouldn't have done a single thing differently. She loved her work. It may sound strange seeing as she was being used as a human weapon to fight against the king and Aztah, but she wasn't helpless anymore.
After Zee had come to get her that first day, they had become fast friends. Along with Ember and Roselyn, they were the strongest team in the Talama branch. Roselyn and Ember were sister and brother. They had been raised on the streets like Jaylan. Ember always cared for his sister. In some ways, they reminded her of her and Ithriel. Zee was the son of an exiled mage. When he was a child he had been left with the rebels after his father was caught.
She stood up from the project she was working on. Throwing a blanket over it she stuffed it under her bed. Her first class was in thirty minutes. It was just enough time to grab a quick breakfast.
She was on her way out of the dining room, a piece of toast in her hand, when she ran straight into Zee. He was about a head taller than her, and to most people, he was quite intimidating due to his cold appearance.
"Jaylan! I was just looking for you. We're having a match in class. No weapons. You'll lose today for sure." He shoved her jokingly.
"You'd be surprised," she said, punching him lightly on the arm.
The two of them headed to the practice area. When they got there, they joined the group surrounding the instructor. He paused in the middle of his speech about sparring safety. "Jaylan, Zee, thank you for joining us." He said in a sarcastic tone. In a completely calm voice, she said, "You're welcome, it's no big deal." Everyone started laughing. Even Ember smiled a little, and he was always very serious.
"Dammit, Jaylan. I don't want any of your smart ass comments today." This only made the class laugh harder.
"Ok, class starts in three… two… one…" When he was done counting, everyone was at attention standing shoulder to shoulder. No one was laughing anymore. Even though no one's physical body was moving, everyone's magic was searching the area. They were looking everywhere, in the shadowy corners of the room, outside in the hall, they were even searching the people. They were searching for anything and anyone.
She could smell the sweet scent of a mana mask coming from her right. A mana mask is a technique that lets any magic-user disguise their mana. She searched down the row to her right until she reached an unfamiliar mana. He had the slight scent of… Mr. Dari!
Chains wrapped around him and covered his mouth. As soon as he relaxed into her chains, she knew she had won. Without moving her body at all she threw him up into the air and set him down in front of the instructor.
Even with Mr. Dari captured no on let their guard down until three traps had been disabled and the instructor yelled, safe.
"Moving on, we will be doing magical combat today. These are the groups. Jackie and Sol, Tarah and Malia, Ember and Roselyn, Mika and Rey, and finally Zee and Jaylan. Here are the rules. You may not walk into the battle with weapons. Weapons that are created by magic after the match has begun are alright. Other than that, the only rule is no deaths or injuries that cannot be healed easily by elven magic," he explained
"Sir," Roselyn said with a wink to Jaylan.
"Yes, Roselyn." He responded.
"Uhh, Sir. We can't go into battle without weapons. We are weapons." Everyone stiffened. Ember nudged his sister and shook his head. Jaylan and Sol looked at each other and shook their heads too. Even for them, the two biggest jokesters in the class, this was over the line.
Roselyn was her best friend, but she could be very clueless. Almost all of them got very upset when the term human weapon was used or even implied. It was an insult that was constantly being thrown at them by the other rebels.
The problem was, they were not wrong. That's exactly what they were. The elite Unit 1, a group of powerful magic users that were training to become the secret weapon of the rebels. Eventually, the king would find them, and they would be the last line of defense, they would determine whether any of them would walk away from the battle. None of them were more than half-human and each one of them had abilities that could destroy cities. This power was little compared to the king that could destroy empires and the Aztah who had the power to crumble the continents themselves.
"Ok, Mika and Rey are going first." The two of them headed to the center of the ring. It was a good match up. Mika really forced Rey to be at the top of his game. They had both come from the same mage tribe, so they both had the same fighting style. That's why they don't often fight. When they do fight, you're in for a treat. Their fighting style was so quick that a normal human wouldn't be able to see it with the naked eye. They relied on complicated footwork and speed enhancing magic.
She watched them exchange blows. Not a single one had hit yet. It was a very dangerous technique to use during sparing because if they missed the pressure point it's very likely they would kill the other person. That's why they both always have complete control over their movements.
The fight was over in a couple of seconds. Mika stood triumphant over an unconscious Rey, her arm hanging limp. With the pressure points that were hit, the effects would only last a minute. As she had estimated, around a minute later, Rey regained consciousness and Mika could move her arm again.
"Next up is Jaylan and Zee."
She raised an eyebrow at Zee and headed to the center of the ring. They faced each other ten paces apart.
"Start," the instructor yelled.
Everything was still and silent for one breath. A sound like thunder cracked through the air as the two top students flew at each other. The dagger Jaylan held was created by her shadow creation magic. Its was pretty much indestructible and had lethal sharpness, but it was blocked easily by Zee's lighting magic.
The two of them used the force of the collision to throw themselves back. Twisting in midair she threw the dagger ahead of herself so it stuck in the wall. She landed gracefully on the handle. Zee had landed on the ground by pushing off the wall. She could hear his cursing from all the way across the room when he realized his mistake.
Creating an original object with her shadow creation magic was extremely draining and time-consuming. She worked on each project in parts over the course of three or four months. After creating something for the first time, producing it became second nature. She could also memorize the construction of an existing object and create it at will.
Her bow and array of arrows were her most prized creation. They had taken her a year to complete. Each arrow was infused with a different magical ability. For example, her explosion arrow exploded on impact causing great damage.
This was exactly the arrow she had loaded into her bow. Zee narrowly avoided the explosion. She shot arrow after arrow, Zee avoided them all.
"Jaylan! Stop destroying the arena." The instructor yelled. This gave her an idea. She leaped from her perch, getting behind Zee. She doubled the size of her bow to increase the speed, and drew back what seemed to be an unloaded bow.
In reality there was an almost undetectable arrow loaded in the bow. The arrow dissolved an inch before hitting its target soaking it in paralyzing spray. Midair she released the arrow. Zee didn't see it coming. At the last second he tried to dodge, but he couldn't avoid the mist. He collapsed to the ground unable to move. Her leap off of the wall earlier had sent her to the opposite wall which she pushed off of. She twisted, landing gracefully in front of Zee. She grinned at him.
"Cocky bitch," he managed to choke out. He returned her grin.
"I guess you must be pretty powerful to be able to overpower my paralyzing spray enough to talk." She dispersed the mist and helped Zee to his feet.
They started laughing. "I thought you said you were gonna beat me." She said jokingly.
"I knew I could never beat you, you're the best. By the way how many different arrows do you have. It seems every time we fight you have a new one."
"Hmm… around forty or forty-five, maybe."
Zee let out a breath. "Wow that's a lot."
Together they walked off the arena as the instructor said they would be taking a break so they could fix the arena.