Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Weeks passed in a blur for the team. With Olivia spending most of her time in the research center, Sarah training with Jonathan, and Alex out training almost nonstop, Sam found himself with free time for the first time in what felt like a year.

He and Mark spent time together for a while, until they both created self-appointed roles within the HA compound. Mark helped train other warriors, while Sam began working with some of the medics interested in healing, doing his best to pass on the knowledge he had.

Everyone continued to make progress, but it was more like a consolidation of the power they’d rapidly gained in the previous few months, rather than a continued grind.

Except Alex…

His mind drifted to his friend, thinking of how hard Alex was pushing himself for his companion’s sake, though his thoughts were pulled back to the present as the formation he was standing in ended.

The sun struggled to shine through the thin clouds overhead while the commanding officer continued to shout his orders at the packed formation field. “Failure to comply with the mandate set forth by the Director himself will result in immediate termination or penalization. Does anyone disagree with this mandate?” The military officer, standing tall on the raised platform, looked seriously over the crowd.

Sam thought he was almost daring someone to speak out.

“Good. Dismissed!” He commanded, signaling the end of the afternoon formation.

He let out a breath and relaxed his posture some.

“You don’t need to be so tense, Sam,” Jonathan said from behind him.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Sarah and Jon walking side by side. “I know, but it feels weird to be a normal guy surrounded by all of these military people. I might not be in it, but they still asked us all to come and stand in lines and listen to that guy shout at us.”

Jonathan laughed. It was the genuine kind of laugh that, when coming from such a stoic man, caused others to crack a smile as well. “The ‘lines’ are called formations and he wasn’t yelling at you. Morning formations are standard in most military units. The commanding officer just has to yell to project his voice to the entire group.”

“I don’t know,” Sarah added. “That time, it really did sound like he was yelling.”

“Well, yeah… Sam, aren’t you coming back to the common area?”

“No, I think I’m going to take a bit of a walk. I might take a trip to Tianluo before I jump on shift at the med-bay this evening.”

They both looked a bit uncomfortable. “All right. Just be safe,” Sarah said.

He thanked them and waved, walking in the opposite direction.

The crowd continued to disperse, and he followed those moving toward the inner section of the Hunter compound. He listened to the conversation of the two Hunters in front of him as they went.

“Can’t believe that was another one,” the warrior said.

“I know. People are just way too selfish. Do they really not understand that if they keep killing them, just for the small benefits now, the Rift will close?” The woman shook her head and scratched the head of the creature that rode on her shoulder.

From his angle, Sam couldn’t tell what it was, just that it had a skinny pink tail that reminded him of a rat.

“Do you think we’ll be the only rotation to get to come through?”

“Maybe… I am a little shocked, though. I could have seen this as more of an issue if it were still all of the highest-powered Awakened in the Rift. But the fact that it’s some of the mid-levels and a ton of researchers, you would think that they could follow the rules a bit better.”

The warrior snorted. “What are you calling us?”

“We’re definitely mid-levels,” the woman laughed in response.

They peeled off, heading toward the personal quarters section of the compound. Sam continued to walk in his original direction but thought about their conversation.

He pulled up the Rift Quest window too, feeling a sense of guilt ebb into his chest.