The Beast Within (17 page)

Cheers rang out from the audience and even the Council members couldn’t help but smile. A few even applauded. It was hard not to root for the underdog.

Morrigan leaned into his ear and shouted to be heard over the noise. “I knew you could do it. Thank you.”

Connor smiled back, wondering what he’d gotten himself into, at the same time not regretting a word.

Soon the applause stopped and Christof was speaking again. “Let him start now, then. Let us not hinder justice. Send him to the Tests.”

“The customary period given to any Judge to prepare for the Tests is seven days,” Morrigan said.

“But as you claim, he isn’t just any judge. He is the savior. Is he not capable of going now? Is our savior not able to begin?”

“Enough,” Adolpho’s voice broke the argument. “I would like to honor our tradition and give a full seven days. With not only the outcome of this trial but the possibility of a greater evil at hand, it is best to start as soon as possible. Connor will be given three days to prepare for his quest.”

As they left the Council Chamber, Connor knew he’d swayed at least a few of the minds in the room. Slaps on the shoulder and encouraging shouts confirmed this.

Like the day before, he was directed to a banquet room so he and his companions could share a meal in relative peace. The walk there was short and filled with well-wishers, denying them the ability to talk confidentially.

As soon as the doors to the banquet room were closed, it was fair game.

Laren launched herself into his arms. “I knew you had it in you!”

Morrigan was smiling and even Lu gave him a compliment. “You have balls, kid. I’ll give you that much.”

The four sat down to a beautiful spread of meats and cheeses. There were so many varieties of bread at hand Connor wasn’t sure what they all were. A fruit and vegetable platter was available for the conscientious eater and representing the other end of the health spectrum was a huge cherry pie.

“Well, there’s no keeping those bloodsuckers out of it now,” Laren mused over a plate of salad and fruit.

“Vampires?” Connor’s voice nearly cracked as he asked a question he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Connor, that would be crazy.” Lu shook his head from the opposite side of the table. “She’s talking about journalists. You’re big news now, buddy, whether you like it or not. Reporters are going to be all over you.”

“News reporters? I thought as an Elite, things were kept secret about our existence.”

Morrigan agreed. “We
are
kept secret, but as you can imagine, similar to any sub-culture, we have our own newsfeeds. Since there hasn’t been a Judge challenged for a long time, Connor, this is history in the making.”

“Great. How many times has this happened before?”

“If I remember my history classes correctly, there have been twelve Judges that have been challenged and accepted the Tests.”

Connor thought about this for a minute and decided to be optimistic. “Twelve? That’s not that bad.” He had taken off his blue jacket and tie and was reclining in his chair. “If twelve of my ancestors could do it, I’m sure I can, too.”

“Twelve tried, Connor, only two survived.” Lu said this around a mouth of cheddar cheese and ham.

Connor fell backward in his chair with a thud. Before anyone could move to help him or ask if he was all right, his head popped up from the other side of the table. “Two? There have only been
two
Elites in the history of our kind that have done this?”

If looks could kill, Lu would have been dead twice over as Laren and Morrigan shot him looks full of scorn.

“What? He deserves to know what he’s up against.”

“Connor,” Morrigan drew his attention. “You are going to be the third.”

Grateful for her support, however lacking in confidence at the moment, Connor righted his chair and stared at his empty plate. He knew he had to ask the question.

“What are the Tests?”

The rest of the table shared awkward looks amongst themselves, hoping they wouldn’t have to be the one to break the dreaded news. Morrigan took the lead. Smoothing her long black hair behind her, she took a deep breath. “There are three tests that will challenge your strength, mind, and spirit. We can look to your predecessors for examples of these Tests. Unfortunately, we don’t know which three you will be faced with.”

Connor took a second to digest what she explained. “What do you mean ‘We don’t know which I’ll be faced with?’”

“The Tests chosen for you will be revealed one at a time upon completion of the previous Test. I’m not sure if the Council plans to do it the exact same way. Historically, the Lead Council member chooses the Tests at random. They are written individually on ancient stones. They are concealed within an iron vessel. One at a time, the Lead Council will place his hand in and choose a stone.”

“How am I supposed to train for a Test if I don’t know what I’m training for?”

“Well, that part’s easy, Connor,” Lu chimed in. “We train for everything.”

Chapter 15

W
hat everyone else referred to
as training was torture to Connor. It started that same day after their meal. They quickly decided Lu would teach him how to harness his strength, Laren would instruct him on the speed he now possessed yet didn’t know how to use, and Morrigan would guide him in mentally mastering his inner power.

“Come on, rookie, let’s go.”

Connor looked at Lu as though he was crazy. Sweat trickling down his bare back, he gathered himself for another attempt. They were alone by a small river that ran between two fields of grass. The sun shone down, beating its relentless rays against Connor, bronzing his already dark skin.

Once again he grabbed the chair-sized boulder at his feet, assumed a squatting position, and pulled. Back straight, head up, legs doing all the work, his technique was flawless; what was lacking was strength.

Connor could feel his face turning red as he released every ounce of power he owned in moving the object—nothing, not a budge, not even the tiniest of shifts. He released his grasp and fell backwards on the grass, panting and shaking his head. “It’s too big.”

Lu raised an eyebrow, and without taking his eyes off of Connor, walked to the boulder, lifted it from the ground and hurled it to the opposite bank.

Lu was bigger than Connor. Bare chest exposed, Connor had a first-hand look at the beast. Hair pulled back in a ponytail, muscles bulging, Lu gave a visual example of raw power.

“You’re bigger than I am, stronger.”

“Do you really think the size of my muscles has anything to do with me picking up that boulder? That thing has to weigh over a ton. I’m able to lift it because I’m able to tap into that inner power. I have control over my beast within, it doesn’t control me. Now get up and try again.”

Thirty minutes later, when Connor was just about ready to give up on the boulder exercise, Lu called a break. “Well, it doesn’t seem like we’re getting anywhere with this today, let’s try something new.”

Connor was all too eager to agree, anything would be better than this. He followed Lu across the field to a line of trees that marked the entrance to the forest.

“Watch me,” Lu instructed, lining up to a tree. The tree was massive, easily three stories tall. It loomed over them, spreading its branches in every direction. Lu took a boxer’s stance and balled his right hand into a fist. Breathing out with a grunt of exertion, he punched the tree, throwing his entire weight behind the blow.

Connor did a double take and thought for sure he saw the tree vibrate. Examining the spot where Lu landed his punch, he saw an indention in the tree. It was two inches deep and looked like the outline of a fist. Shocked, he looked at his instructor.

Lu held up his right fist. It was clean. No blood, no broken bones puncturing the skin, not even the slightest sign of swelling. “Use what you know is inside of you, concentrate and punch through the tree, not at it.”

“I’m going to break my hand doing this.”

“If you’re weak enough to think that, you probably will. Doubt is your greatest enemy.”

Connor took a deep breath and approached the tree. His opponent welcomed him with open branches. Connor knew the tree didn’t have a face, although through the bark he could almost make out a jeering grin. Taking the same stance as Lu, he prepared himself. “I know I can do this. Punch through the tree. I have the ability.” He repeated this to himself over and over again until he was ready. His fist met the exposed bark of the tree at bone-crunching speed. Connor was sure he’d broken something as he drew his hand back in agonizing pain. He groaned in discomfort, hunching over his hand as he drew it in close to his body.

“Did- did I do it?”

“Well, it looks like you sure taught that tree bark a lesson.”

Hand throbbing, he stood next to Lu. The spot where he’d landed his blow cleared away some of the hanging bark, and that was it.

“Well, let’s try again.”

“My hand feels like it’s broken.” Connor raised it up for both of them to see. There was blood on his knuckles where the force of the blow had torn though his skin.

“I guess it’s a good thing you have two, then, isn’t it? Besides, even if it was broken, our healing factor won’t leave it that way for long.”

Four long hours passed. The sun was setting and Connor had yet to pass any of Lu’s tests. He couldn’t move a boulder, punch through a tree, or even get close to pinning him in a wrestling match.

Connor’s knuckles were bloody. Lu was right, his knuckles healed quickly and the wounds were already gone, just the blood remained.

Lu threw him to the ground for about the hundredth time. His legs and back ached from trying to heave boulders and every other part of his body was screaming in discomfort from being thrown so many times.

“Emotion.” Lu stood over him once again. His green eyes stared intently at Connor. “That’s what you’re missing. You have the ability, the drive, and the desire, but you’re missing the most important thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why haven’t you gotten angry this whole time?”

“What?”

“Yeah, we’ve been out here for almost five hours and you haven’t been able to do even the smallest thing right. The entire time you haven’t shown any anger or frustration. Why?”

“I guess I know it will come. It’s only the first day.”

“What if it was the last day? Where’s that guy I saw in the forest? That crazy maniac who stormed through the front door with a pickaxe?”

Connor thought about this for a moment. “I’m not angry. I was angry then. Angry about what they were doing and what they were going to do to you and Laren.”

“You were angry. You used that anger and turned it into something good. You used that rage and saved my sister and me. We need to find that rage again, Connor, and teach you to harness it.”

Connor thought about it. It made sense. Before, he would find that rage and channel that power into school sports or runs. It made him a star athlete and never let him down. Now he not only had full access to this power, he understood what it was.

“What makes you angry, Connor?”

“People who talk in movie theatres, people who leave their cars parked in the middle of the road with their hazards on when there’s not an emergency.”

“No, I mean really angry, like you’re going-to-stab-someone-in-the-head-with-a pickaxe angry.”

“You haven’t been too hard on him, have you?” Laren’s voice was like a school bell signaling recess.

“Of course not. Our Judge has to be in perfect condition for his Tests.”

Laren arrived on the scene, and much to Connor’s dismay, she was wearing running shoes, black shorts, and a tank top.

One glance at his knuckles and she turned a disapproving eye at her brother.

“What? They’re already healed, and technically the tree did that to him.”

“I’m fine. So training’s over, right? Dinner time?”

“Well, it’s over for me,” Lu said, gathering his shirt and throwing a peace sign to the two of them over his back. “I can smell a steak calling my name.”

“Kind of,” Laren replied. “I was thinking this would be a great chance to work on your speed and teach you how to survive off the land. Since we don’t know where The Tests will be taking place, it’s better to prepare for everything.”

“Can food be involved in this exercise somehow?”

She helped him to his feet and handed him a backpack filled with his own running clothes. “Yes, I think we can manage that.”

“This isn’t what I meant when I was asking about food.”

“Shhhhh. You’re going to scare it away.”

The next two hours were spent roaming through the forest. Laren was instructing Connor on how to find water, what plants were edible and which were not, and how to track small animals for food. Connor and Laren had picked up the tracks of a rather large rabbit and followed his trail.

Now they hunched behind a fallen tree, yards from their prey. He was a brown fellow with a white tail, a twitchy nose and equally twitchy eyes.

“Always stay downwind, and when the time comes to strike, don’t hesitate.”

“This is all great stuff to know, but how do you expect to catch it when we don’t have any guns or bows?”

“With these.” She raised her empty hands, gave him a wink, and was gone.

Connor looked around, not believing how fast she’d moved. He stood up, all thoughts of the rabbit lost. It was impossible that she’d just been there next to him.

“Connor, I’m over here.”

Connor turned his head. She was standing twenty yards away, half obscured by a tree, holding the dead rabbit in her hands. “Poor guy thought he could get away.”

Connor ran to her side, still trying to understand exactly how fast she was. He’d run with her once before, that was nothing like the speed she’d just exposed.

“How did you do that?”

“I snapped his neck.” She held up the rabbit for him to see. “It’s the fastest and most pain-free way for them.”

“No, I mean how did you move like that?”

“Let’s eat and I’ll teach you.”

She chose a place by the river, and producing a small hunting knife from her pocket, showed Connor how to skin a rabbit. Connor had never been in the Boy Scouts. He imagined that this was close. He learned how to make a fire, spit a rabbit, and the best way to cook outdoors.

It was getting dark as Connor reclined against a tree stump eating his meat. He couldn’t help thinking it was the best thing he had ever put into his mouth. He devoured his portion in minutes and Laren laughed as he timidly eyed the remaining meat on the spitted rabbit.

“You can have it, Connor, I’m already full.”

“Thanks.” Connor finished the remaining rabbit in record time and laid in the cool grass, stretching.

He looked up into the sky. The sun was gone now and only the moon and stars illuminated the forest. Soon he was nudged by Laren’s foot. “Ready to go? We haven’t even started your speed training yet.”

She helped him to his feet and pulled a rogue leaf from his hair. “Connor, I’ve been thinking about you and me and everything that’s going on right now. I don’t want you to feel pressured or obligated to try to put a word to the bond that we share. I understand. There’ll be plenty of time to sort it all out when everything is behind us.”

“Thank you,” Connor said, looking her deep in the eyes and thinking for the hundredth time how beautiful she was. She was amazing—not only gorgeous, strong, funny, and brave, she was understanding.

How can someone so young be so wise and mature? Wait a minute, she’s not nineteen, how old is she?

“Wait a minute. How old are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I know you’re not nineteen anymore. How old are you?”

“Why, Connor Moore. If your mother knew you were asking young ladies their age, what would she say?”

“She would probably say you should stop avoiding the question and give me an answer. What are you, like a hundred, two hundred years old?”

Laren bit her lip in contemplation. “I’ll tell you what. If you can catch me, I’ll tell you.”

“We both know that’s not going to happen. You’re too fast.”

“You’re going to let a girl beat you? Come on, where’s your competitive spirit?”

She was right. No matter how tired he was or how much of an edge she held, the only way he was going to get better was with practice.

Connor and Laren spent the rest of the night running through the dark forest. The many paths and dense foliage added an extra element to training.

“Want to play hide and seek?” Laren asked.

“Aren’t we supposed to be training?”

“Who says we can’t do both? Close your eyes and count to one, slowly.”

“Just one, huh?”

“That’s all I’ll need,” she promised.

“All right.” Connor closed his eyes with Laren smiling right in front of him. He thought for sure he would see her back down the path, or at least hear her when he opened his eyes. He slowly said,
one.

Opening his eyes, Connor saw nothing. No moving branches or shaking bushes signaling the path she took. She was a ghost in the forest, vanished into thin air.

Connor turned around, stunned, and had absolutely no idea where to start looking for her.

“Impressive, right?”

The voice came from somewhere close. With only the moon’s light to navigate by, it was impossible to tell where the voice was coming from. All Connor could tell was it was close.

“Very impressive, Miss Abelardus. Now where are you?” Connor asked the darkness.

“With your vision limited, your other senses will kick in to help. Concentrate on what you hear. Listen.”

Connor stood still and closed his eyes. He couldn’t see much, anyway, and it helped him concentrate better. He heard the tiny paws of creatures in the forest, the soft flow of the river, and slight creaking of branches. The branches swaying back and forth took precedence over the other sounds and he could almost make out each branch individually.

The larger trees groaned and the smaller trees almost sighed. One branch in particular groaned louder than the rest. Opening his eyes, he looked up and saw Laren’s face smiling down at him. “See? It’s not that hard.”

She jumped down beside him. “With enough training, we’ll have you separating the noises that should be there from the ones that shouldn’t. You’ll be able to do what you just did in seconds.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I never thought I would be able to tell the difference between the sounds tree branches make.”

“Yeah.” Laren paused thoughtfully. “I guess sometimes I lose track of how awesome it is. Being born an Elite, I take it for granted sometimes.”

“I can understand that.”

“Keep practicing and you’ll be able to hear the world in a way you never have before.”

Connor nodded. “Race you back to the castle?”

“Now that’s the Connor Moore I know.”

Connor ran and he thought he was able to run faster than before, yet he was still nowhere close to Laren’s lightning speed. Connor and Laren walked back to the castle close to midnight. The guards at the front gate immediately recognized them and allowed them to enter. Due to the late hour, there wasn’t much activity in the castle as they made their way upstairs.