Sharp breaths scorched her lungs. She could barely hold herself up, but she refused to stop. The brown of the dirt on her clothes contrasted the brown of her skin. With a wobbly stance she knew she was weak on all sides, her balance compromised, but she widened her legs, stood tall and brought her sword up beside her face with both hands.
“Raven, give it up for today. You can try to get your mark tomorrow,” her husband, Eric, called out to her. The worry in his voice sickened her. She’s stronger than this.
“Mom, don’t push yourself too much,” her adopted daughter, Jade, yelled. Not her daughter, too.
She sprinted forward again, eyes locked on her target. The pressure behind them told her they were changing to a glowing blue-orange. As the first born of the original mutated human race that is the Meta breed, the glowing eye color warns other second-generation Metas who lack her power. No one matched her speed or strength, until today. Lilith, Raven’s mentor, vanished before her eyes, her speed too much for even her.
Lilith’s knee crashed into Raven’s stomach like a steel hammer. She gasped, blood flowing from her mouth onto the dirt. Lilith’s fists clamped together, slamming into her back, throwing her to the ground, an inhuman groan escaping from her being knocked from her lungs. Before she could even twitch, Lilith stabbed her, pinning her to the ground until the hilt was against Raven’s back. Scarlet droplets stained the brown earth with tainted descent.
Raven coughed up the blood that had pooled into her lungs, splattering more of its disgrace across the ground. This happens to her kind all the time, history repeats more than she wishes it would. Her mentor sneered at her, arms crossed over her old chest. Lilith’s own dimly illuminated, blue-orange eyes bore down into Raven’s glazed orbs. Raven tried to rise, pushing up on her elbows, away from the pool of her own precious fluid. If mom could see me now she’d probably give me the same look. Her thoughts hurt her more than the sword in her torso—robbed of this chance to be what she always dreamed of… She can’t fail now by being beaten so easily.
“Raven!”
“Stay back!” Her voice grew weak; she was surprised she could still draw any breath at all.
“Look at yourself. Useless.”
Raven looked up, her breathing slowed, mouth agape while she struggled to move. She saw herself in the sword, her right eye was bleeding, dirt all over her face, bruises purple and pink all along her cheeks. She could see the sword piercing her body. Still, she’d been through worse, so had her ancestors. She snared at her mentor, blue-orange orbs glowing brighter than any Meta in all the land.
“Rebellious eyes. If only they’d help you now,” Lilith said as she pulled up her own uniform sleeves. A marking on Lilith’s wrist flashed across Raven’s vision.
A black-inked heart with wings in chains. Her own heart tightened in her chest, heat ran through her veins as the blood flowed from her wounds. She bared her teeth at Lilith’s back. She pushed herself up from the ruby ground. Her limbs wouldn’t stop shaking but she couldn’t stop just yet. What example would she be setting for her daughter if she did?
“Don’t look down on me, old woman.”
“Come on then.” Lilith granted.
“Raven, please stop!” Eric pleaded. Still, she stood her ground.
“This is it, Raven. If you can’t beat me, I’ll have you dropped from the military.” Lilith spoke again, Raven’s eyes widened. “You’ll become what you were before, a blood cow for the cure to the Meta disease.”
Please, not again! The pain that she felt while being used like that was worse than this pain 10 times over.
She knew she could never really be free, never, because the way she and her kind were born or even made. She will be able to live among the humans, but still be hated for who she is, who she never chose to be. This is her chance for it to get better, at least a little. In the land where humans are free, the ones who fight against their own kind are still imprisoned by their own broken mental states and that of the ones they serve. They protect. She won’t fail. She’ll make everyone see that Meta are as good if not better than the humans.
Raven calmed her breathing, stilled her body. She reminded herself what her mother always told her. Focus, breath, feel the blood flow control it. Her eyes scanned her mentor, looking over every aspect of the old woman, all her weaknesses, physical and mental. She’d been fighting like a human who has to learn to fight like an animal, when she was born a fierce animal. Her daughter’s scared voice rose above her thoughts, “Mom!” She finally let her natural instincts take over.
Raven ran forward with her full Meta speed, eyes lit to full power, her wounds burned as they healed, hands clamped around her own sword’s hilt. She jabbed at her mentor’s head, Lilith easily dodging it, bored. She shoved her hand into Raven’s chest, knocking all the air from her. Raven took the pain, smirking. Lilith was just about to knock her silly again, when Raven let loose.
With speed that matched her teacher’s, that served her well in other battles, she dodged Lilith’s fist, grabbed her hand and shoved the sword into the ground. Hands tight on Lilith’s own, Raven used both hands for leverage as she threw herself into the air, kicking Lilith in the chest. Lilith stumbled back, Raven gritting her teeth, ready to end this. She catapulted and landed onto Lilith’s chest. Without a moment’s hesitation, she stomped down, cracking bones, a wheeze escaping her mentor. Raven’s own chest heaved up and down with exhaustion, she threw her sword to the side. She stepped down from the chest of her mentor, still alive judging by the way her body shook. With a smile to her family, Raven let out a quick laugh. They whistled at her, excitement evident on their faces.
Before she could even scream, she was hurled into a tree, her back crashed into the tree first, her open wounds stung with the burn of a thousand volcanoes. All she could register before she passed out was a pathetic sound that escaped her and someone else’s voice: “Not bad, Raven.”
***
A cool hand wiped sweat from her brow. Raven felt she was wrapped up in bandages, everything so sore the slightest movements caused her agony.
“Raven.” She knew that voice—Eric. “You awake?” She forced her eyes open to find her daughter and husband watching her closely, neither looking too happy with her at the moment.
“You must have a death wish or something,” Eric said.
“Mom! You can’t keep doing that,” Jade interjected her adorable face, scrunched up in anger.
“Do you even know how worried we were?” Raven smiled gently at the two and raised a hand to the child, ruffling her hair affectionately.
“Sorry.” She was sorry for many different things now: making them worry, sending herself back into the infirmary, and for failing to get her marking.
It would have meant she was finally a respected member of the military at last; now she was back to being used for experiments and having blood taken. Tears pricked her eyes at the reality of her failure and the next stages of hell she’ll have to endure until she can try again. Footsteps came towards her bedside. The old woman must have come back to gloat. She stood in front of her, hands holding both swords.
“Raven. Look at your left wrist.” Raven tilted her head before peeling away the bandages on her wrist. Black ink graced her skin, contrasting with the brown coloring in a subtle yet distinct way a heart with chains circling it and wings on its back. Like the bird for which she was named.
“But… I didn’t beat you.”
“You’ve earned it.”
At that, her heart swelled, filling with a combination of relief, joy and contentment. Her eyes overflowed with the salty tears that she held back for years. She let out a calmed breath, anxieties melting away. Raven silently thanked her, Lilith inclined her head respectfully and headed for the door. Lilith left her sword by the bedside.
“Welcome kid. It only gets worse from here.”
Raven smirked at her mentor’s back. “We’ll see, old woman.”
Tierra Woodford is a sophomore at Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School (CASA).
