Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (18 page)

Nikias chuckled. “Listen,
tiro. This is the Aeon Legion. Here we have to fight for what is
right. If you have a grievance against a fellow tiro, then save if
for a Trial of Blades. The instructors will not fight your battles
for you and if you are unwilling to fight, then you shouldn't be
here.”

Vand smiled as Nikias walked
away.

Terra noticed the other
tirones watching as well. They eyed the others already in the muddy
pit. It didn't take long for tirones to start fighting one another
for coins. None succeeded at taking a coin though, even the ones who
tried to pick pockets. Terra considered wading back in to try to find
a second coin, but the others watched her. She couldn't even try to
hide the coin as the thieves would get it.

When the last tiro came out of
the muddy pit, only two out of three had found a coin. Those who
tried stood soiled in mud up to their necks. Five stood clean to the
side, Vand included.

Nikias turned to the clean
tirones. “Last chance to get dirty?”

No one moved.

Nikias faced the dirty
tirones. “Present coin!”

They all held up their coins
as Nikias walked down the line. He typed on a holoface as he passed
each one, ending at the still clean Vand. “Everyone who holds a
coin gets one point. Those who didn't, well there are two more trials
after this.”

After Nikias awarded points,
he glanced to those who were dirty, including Terra, before noting
something on his shieldwatch.

Vand smirked at his pilfered
coin. He chatted with a few others, already forming a gang of beta
males with him as the alpha. Terra wondered why someone like Vand
would be in the program at all? A cold hatred crept into her chest
and she wished someone would crush his neck. Of course they would let
Vand in. They let a cheater like Roland in. It was then that Terra
spotted him.

Roland stood muddy, but
without a coin. Terra hadn't noticed him until she remembered that
day a few weeks ago. Now though, Roland had to share Terra's hatred
with Vand. She did find it curious that Roland had attempted to find
a coin at all. She guessed it appealed to his lazy nature since he
already was a dirty cheater.

Nikias called for attention
before touching a holoface. The ring descended again, returning the
area to its original state. “Okay. Let's see what course to use
this time.”

The tirones watched as Nikias
changed the salient with his shieldwatch. A spherical translucent
field kept the area contained as the weather changed within. Each
time Nikias changed it, the tirones tensed.

He touched a holoface and the
area ahead transformed into a snow filled landscape swept by a
blizzard. Huge sharp chunks of ice protruded from the ground between
glacial cliffs. “Too cold,” Nikias said, frowning.

He then changed the landscape
into a field of broken glass and razor sharp twisted metal. “Eh.
Too bloody. Maybe next year. Oh I know.”

Nikias transformed the area
into an open field with numerous obstacles laying in a row. The
course held a pattern of wooden poles clustered together to make
running between them difficult. A series of walls laid across the
path after the poles with the first one knee high while the last one
was chest high. At the end was an elevated row of metal bars over a
deep pit. Walls on either side seem to channel anyone attempting to
traverse the obstacle course into a narrow straight through the
center. But the ambiance seemed peaceful as the dry golden grass
swayed gently in the breeze. Birds chirped in the background.

Everyone breathed a sigh of
relief.

Nikias gestured to the course.
“Your next trial is also simple. Make it to the other side of an
obstacle course and you get a point.”

“Well that doesn't sound so
bad,” a tiro said.

Nikias scowled after seeing
the serene landscape. “Oh. Just a second.”

He touched his shieldwatch's
holoface and the peaceful scenery transformed again. As the ring
descended it left the obstacle course the same, but on fire. An
energy field now kept the raging flames locked inside the ring.

Nikias smiled. “Much
better.”

The third category of
recruits are the trash. These are individuals who only technically
qualify for the Academy. Most are picked up by some lazy legionnaire
who is just trying to earn an extra time bonus. Almost all the trash
dust out the first week. However, every once in a while, a piece of
trash turns out to be something more. Some of the best legionnaires
have come from this category.

It should be noted that I
don't have a category for those who make it through the training with
certainty.

-Excerpt
from Chapter Three of the Aeon Legion's
Squire Recruitment Manual
by Praetor Lycus Cerberus

T
erra stared
at the burning
plain. The flames raged across the dry grass in a shifting sea of
fire. There was no way across without enduring burns. If she had kept
the coin from Vand she could have skipped this test.

Vand shook his head. “You
have got to be joking. I'm not running through that. I'll be burned.”

Nikias grinned. “What's the
matter? Afraid of a little pain?”

Vand crossed his arms. “Hey!
I already proved myself. I have over one hundred confirmed kills.”

Nikias rolled his eyes.
“Civilians don't count, Vand. Now like I said. All you have to do
is make it across to the other side.”

“So if we did the first one
then we don't have to do the second?” Vand asked.

Nikias shrugged. “If you
don't want to then don't. Technically, every part of the training is
optional. We can't force you to do anything.”

The tirones exchanged
uncertain glances.

Terra regarded the burning
course while she pondered Nikias's words. Why would both of the these
trials be optional? This wasn't teaching or training. These tests had
another purpose. She wondered if the test was to see if one was
stupid enough to even attempt it. Perhaps those who blindly rushed in
would fail? One thing was certain; if she braved the course, she
would be burned and endure pain.

A tiro stepped forward while
the rest hesitated. She was the Asian girl without any weapons or
armor that Terra had noticed earlier. She took off at a dead run,
weaving around and between the burning poles with speed and agility.
With skilled reflexes, she dodged the ever shifting flames with ease.
Though the fire roared around her, the girl seemed to dance with it
rather than merely avoid the blaze. Terra watched, awestruck at the
girl who danced with fire. She jumped over the first wall before
using her momentum to flip herself over the last, avoiding the wall
in the center entirely.

When the girl approached the
row of metal bars, they glowed orange from the intense heat. Instead
of grabbing the heated bars, she ran and jumped onto the small wooden
side beams. The beams were as narrow as her foot yet she balanced on
them with one foot in front of the other as though on a tightrope.

She ran across with perfect
balance before flipping off of the beam onto the ground with grace.
The girl walked the rest of the way, making it to the ramp without so
much as a burn while mud and dirt from the last trial flaked off. She
walked out of the trial cleaner than when she had entered. The other
tirones cheered when she returned.

Nikias grinned. “Well, I
must admit to being impressed. It has been awhile since we had a tiro
make it across without being burned. It's rare that they make it
across at all. What is your name, tiro?”

“Tiro Hikari Urashima,
centurion,” she said in a plain tone. “We met before when we
sparred.”

Terra felt a twinge of
jealously after seeing Hikari's display of raw skill. This girl had a
rather scrawny appearance that seemed to hide her true strength.
Standing there with the flames behind her made her appear radiant.
Long smooth black hair partially covered a triangle shaped face yet
did not obscure bright amber eyes that reflected the orange glow of
the fires.

Nikias nodded. “Yes. I
remember now. The Japanese girl. Well done. I will give you a point
for that.”

The other tirones gathered
around Hikari, congratulating her as if drawn to her. Terra wanted to
join them as well, but held back, resisting the urge. Hikari,
however, pulled away from the crowd.

“Anyone else who wants to
attempt the course better do it now!” Nikias yelled before the
crowd pursued Hikari any further.

Several attempted the course.
The Zulu made it through after numerous burns. The Celtic girl got
both of her arms burned after pushing through a large inferno,
unwilling to wait for it to weaken. Roland kicked down the half
burned row of bars and attempted to use it as a makeshift bridge, but
fell through which got a chuckle from Terra. She suspected that
Roland was all talk and this proved it to her.

It took Terra a while to
gather the courage for an attempt. Heat washed over her the second
she crossed the translucent field. She sweated the moment the heat
hit her. Thankfully most of the obstacles had burned away. Terra
walked past the burning debris before reaching the metal bars which
still stood. She jumped, grabbing the bars, but they burned her
hands. Terra screamed as she fell, but her fall slowed when she got
caught in another energy field. One of the optios helped her return
to outside the salient.

When Terra joined the others,
she found Hikari was no longer alone. Hikari scowled while Vand and
his gang gathered around her like insects to a light.

“And that's how I got this
scar here,” Vand said while smirking.

Hikari regarded Vand with an
irritated expression.

Poor
girl
,
Terra thought even as she nursed her burns.
Hikari
is probably too polite to tell Vand to go away.

Vand smiled. “I can show you
my other scars.”

Hikari stared at Vand,
expressionless. Then she turned to leave.

Vand frowned. “Don't make
enemies with me girl. I have learned ten styles of martial arts and
close combat techniques.”

Hikari
regarded Vand with a smoldering hateful gaze. “I know only one
technique and if you don't leave me alone I
will
show it to you.”

Vand looked over Hikari's thin
body with a critical expression before his posture relaxed.

Terra thought that Hikari
didn't look like much while standing in front of Vand whose muscled
build towered over her.

Vand shrugged. “Well I can't
really say I feel all that intimated. After all, men have denser
muscle mass, a larger heart, and more lung capacity. Little things
like yourself are good for only one thing.”

Terra grew tense. Vand was
about to start a fight. As fast as Hikari was, Terra didn't think
Hikari stood a chance against Vand. He wouldn't fight fairly. Hikari
would fight with honor and lose.

Hikari walked past Vand
without response.

Vand scowled. “Hey! I was
talking to you!” he said as he grabbed Hikari's shoulder.

It happened in a flash. Hikari
made a quick movement and Vand was on the ground with a foot on his
windpipe. But, Nikias had appeared in an instant next to Hikari and
grabbed her hand before she dealt the final blow.

Nikias grinned. “You realize
that you are forbidden to kill the other tirones?”

Hikari glared at Nikias for a
long moment. Then she released Vand. “I was not aware of this
rule.”

Nikias gestured for the other
tirones to join him. “Fighting between tirones is not forbidden,
but killing is. No breaking necks either.”

Vand dusted himself off before
pointing at Hikari. “Are you going to let her get away with that?”

Nikias rolled his eyes. “You
weren't complaining a moment ago when you were doing the same thing.”

Vand balled his fists and
glared at Hikari with clinched teeth. “That wasn’t fair! I wasn't
ready! I want a rematch! This time I'll kill her!”

Terra knew that look. That was
the look of a humiliated bully. Bullies need to regain their lost
reputation after a defeat. Hikari had escalated things.

Vand gestured to Hikari. “She
didn't fight with honor.”

“Honor?” Hikari scoffed.
“Only fools fight with honor.”

Terra stared wide eyed. Had
Hikari just said that? She had thought the Japanese obsessed with
honor, or at least their version of it.

Nikias
smiled, rubbing his hands together. “Well then. What we have is a
disagreement between tirones. There is a solution for that; a
Trial
of Blades
.
Normally, differences between legionnaires are settled by an aeon
edge duel called a Trial of Blades. However, since neither of you
have earned your aeon edges yet, you may fight with whatever weapons
you brought with you. Whoever wins gets a point from the loser.”