Natasha sat quietly in meditation. She rarely got the chance to meditate, but everyone training with Clive gave her the chance. Her master had told her that getting to Iron would take much longer than getting to Copper, but she wanted that power so badly. She spent much of her free time absorbing Aether, all so she could purify it and add it to her Essence.

  Natasha’s Essence took a very different shape from Austin’s. Austin was calm and like a solid object. Meanwhile, Natasha’s Essence was a deep, dark purple, almost black. It took the form of a sphere, but it constantly circled around itself. It twisted and spun like a violent storm. As she purified the Aether, it tore apart into scraps of dark Essence. The scraps were drawn into the central storm of her core and quickly blended together.

  As the last bit of the Aether tore into scraps of shadow, Natasha started to feel someone draw close to her. Her master had instructed her to always be aware of her surroundings, even while meditating. So, she was very rarely snuck up on. Her eyes flashed open in a wide stare, and she saw who was in front of her. To Natasha’s surprise, it was Ava. Ava very rarely talked with Natasha due to being a caretaker and not a fighter.

  “Uh, hello,” Ava seemed taken aback by Natasha’s sudden opening of her eyes. “I thought I would let you know that I sensed a group of people approaching. They all seem to have powerful Essences.”

  “Sorry if I scared you,” Natasha’s face flashed into a comforting smile from her previous serious expression. “Thank you for letting me know. I will go take a look. I appreciate you keeping a lookout.”

  “Of course,” Ava nodded. “It’s the least I can do.”

  As Ava left Natasha to return to the children, Natasha stood up and looked for people to accompany her. She gathered Mike, Jess, and Beth. Austin was fast asleep, and Mike made her aware of his exhaustion. Natasha was surprised at how willing Austin was to help the people of the camp. Especially because he acted like he mostly cared about his family and no one else. His words definitely betrayed his actual kindheartedness.

  After gathering her companions, Natasha led them to the edge of the camp. They stood in silent anticipation. While they looked relaxed, each member of the group was ready to spring into action and defend the camp if needed.

  “Well, if it isn’t Natasha and her trusted companions,” an arrogant voice pierced through the forest. “I’m incredibly grateful for the welcoming party.”

  “Natasha, is that?” Jess whispered.

  “Yes, it is,” Natasha nodded in response before she turned her attention back to the voice ahead. “What are you doing here, James? You know this is my territory.”

  The source of the voice walked forward into view. James was a striking presence with his piercing blue eyes. He wore sleeveless black training robes that contrasted with his bright blonde hair. His subordinates came quickly into view as they lined up behind him.

  “I just thought we could have a discussion, king to king,” James said with a wicked smile. If Natasha’s smile disarmed people with gentleness, James’s put them on edge. His smile was a tool to unnerve people and put them on the defensive.

  “Why would I have a discussion with you?” Natasha said coldly. “You’ve made it clear what you think of my people and me.”

  “I may have misjudged you,” James said. “At the very least, it is important we address the problem in the forest.”

  “Oh? What made you so interested in him now?” Natasha raised her eyebrow in skepticism.

  “Luke and all his men are dead,” James said flatly. “We need to take care of this menace.”

  Natasha’s eyes narrowed as she took James more seriously. Luke was far from her favorite person. In fact, she liked him less than James, but Chet killing all his men definitely made him even more of a threat. Natasha just did not understand how he got the power to do so after he was pushed back from her camp.

  “Fine, you come with me,” Natasha said to James. James and his men started to move in response. “Just James, the rest of you will stay outside the camp with my men. After we talk, I may let you inside.”

  Mike, Beth, and Jess stood to the side and made a path for Natasha and James. Natasha started to walk back towards the inside of the camp with James following. Once inside the camp, she took a spot to sit and motioned with her hand for James to join her.

  “So, you want to talk about how we are going to deal with Chet and his woman?” Natasha asked.

  “Is that his name?” James asked as he sat down. “I just know he is a problem.”

  “Yes, someone here has encountered him before and made me aware of his name,” Natasha said. “You must be really worried if you are coming to me.”

  “I am very worried,” James admitted. “I think that this Chet is a sign of things to come when we get back to Earth.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “When we get back, the invaders will not give us mercy. They will be mostly interested in taking control of Earth and its resources,” James explained. “To deal with that, we will have to band together. Just like we need to band together to defeat Chet.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Finally seeing it my way, are you?” Natasha smirked.

  “As much as I hate to admit it, yes. We should have joined together much earlier,” James frowned. He was not the type to like to admit he was wrong. “I should have thought about the bigger picture like you did.”

  “So, you want to join our groups together?” Natasha asked in confirmation.

  “Yes, it’s the only way we can deal with Chet, and he needs to be dealt with before the Survival Game ends. He is a threat to humanity’s survival as a whole,” James said.

  “Okay, but say you were wrong again,” Natasha smirked.

  “What? What does that have to do with anything?” James’s voice rose in anger.

  “I want to hear you say you were wrong again. Then, I will consider your request,” Natasha said.

  “Fine,” James sighed. “I was wrong. We should have joined together earlier.”

  “Good,” Natasha smiled as she held out her hand. “Let’s work together.”

  “Thank you,” James grabbed Natasha’s hand in a firm handshake to seal their deal.

  ***

  Maya’s first partner for her training exercise was Katie. The two started to get into a comfortable rhythm. After a few attacks, they would switch off their roles of attacker and defender. As they grew more comfortable, their footwork and awareness started to improve.

  At the beginning of the exercise, Maya focused strictly on avoiding the oncoming attacks. This would typically result in her stepping backward and creating a larger distance between herself and Katie. While this would succeed in avoiding an attack, it basically reset their positions back to the start. Later on, Maya started to move more to the side of the oncoming attacks. This small change allowed Maya to recognize more openings and see where she could have the chance to counter.

  Just as Maya felt comfortable, Clive began to speak. “Go ahead and switch partners! Just rotate to the left!”

  Everyone moved to the left and stood in front of a new partner. Maya hoped that she could still successfully dodge the moves of her new partner. She had no idea how they would move or act. As she took her new spot, she realized that she stood in front of Josh. He stared at her with disinterested and cold eyes. Ever since the games, he had acted differently around her. She was not sure what happened that made his attitude change.

  “I’ll attack first,” Josh said coldly as he moved into a ready stance.

  Maya nodded and entered a ready stance of her own. Before she could fully ready herself, Josh already moved forward to attack. Maya had no choice but to take a step back as she was caught off guard. Josh did not reset to position; he followed up with another punch. Maya was more prepared for the follow-up and dodged to the side of his fist. He did not stop there, though. He quickly pivoted with his back foot and swung his fist at Maya. Maya stepped backward as Josh’s fist swung in an arc in front of her.

  “Your turn,” Josh said as he took a step backward.

  “You know you’re supposed to stop after each attack and reset,” Maya said with an annoyed expression.

  “I just figured that you could handle it,” Josh said condescendingly. “Can we get on with the training?”

  “Fine,” Maya said flatly. She grew frustrated with Josh. She did not do anything to him, but he was acting like she was his enemy now.

  Maya tried to put her feelings aside and entered a ready stance. If he was going to do multiple attacks in a row, she decided that she would do the same. She quickly entered with a forward punch, which Josh dodged to the side. She did not let up as he dodged and pursued him with another punch as she twisted her body towards him. This time, Josh dodged backward.

  As Josh dodged backward, Maya followed up once more, but she was caught off guard when he moved towards her. He ended up dodging past her by going towards her side. As Josh moved inward, he grabbed Maya’s arm and kicked her foot out from underneath her. Maya abruptly fell on her back from Josh’s counter.

  “What the hell was that?” Maya yelled in anger as she looked up at Josh.

  “Like I said, I thought you could handle it,” Josh smirked. “You got all that extra training with Austin.”

  “Are you really throwing a fit about that?” Maya asked as she stood up. “You’re acting like a child.”

  “Austin has completely ignored me since we got to this camp,” Josh protested. “I’m not just gonna be sidelined.”

  “You’re an idiot,” Maya said. “Do you think he is just out having fun? He has been busy trying to help the people here.”

  “He still could have trained with me before the contest,” Josh said. “He completely ignored my request and trained you instead.”

  “Whatever, there is no sense in arguing with you,” Maya sighed. “Let’s just get back to it.”

  Josh hesitated for a moment as if he was considering Maya’s words. Maya grew even more annoyed. They were there to train, not to have petty squabbles. Since he did not start, Maya pursued him with an attack. Josh was caught off guard and stumbled as he tried to dodge Maya’s punch. Maya continued forward as Josh tried to dodge her attacks. His movements were less precise as he barely avoided each of her attacks.

  “Get out of your head and train with me,” Maya said coldly. “If you are really so upset about Austin, then go sulk in a corner and stop wasting my time.”

  “It’s just not fair,” Josh quietly responded. “Before this whole camp thing, I was supposed to train alongside him and you. He can cut out time for you but not me.”

  Maya sighed and exited her battle stance. She decided that she should try to make Josh see reason. “Did it ever occur to you that he isn’t ignoring you on purpose? There is just so much going on, and it’s hard for him to prioritize. I won’t apologize for him training with me. I am his wife. But I think he is just trying to balance everything. Maybe, instead of being mad, you could try to support him.”

  “I guess I didn’t consider that,” Josh admitted. “It just felt like I found a friend here and that he is drifting away.”

  “He isn’t,” Maya resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Josh’s statement. She thought it was obvious that Austin had been incredibly busy since they arrived at the camp. “Why don’t you try thinking more about what you can do to ease his burden and less about what you need from him?”

  Josh let out a deep breath as his shoulders relaxed. “Fine, I’ll do that. I guess we should continue training.”

  “Yes, but let’s do it the right way,” Maya smiled. She was still annoyed with Josh’s attitude, but she knew it was better to smile to provide him comfort.