Conflicted: Elemental Academy - Book 1 by A.R. NITUS

Author:A.R. NITUS [NITUS, A.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nitus Books Publisher
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter seventeen

A Flutter of Power

My heart skipped a beat when I heard his name and it thudded in my ears as he walked over and climbed the stage. The entire training hall went silent. Everyone knew Aaron was one of the best fighters. Coach Su herself had chosen him for the demonstration on orientation day.

I hated the fear of failure creeping into my chest, and when our fight started I was shaking from head to toe and had to make extra effort to hide it from the others.

We circled around the stage and waited for each other to make the first move. I was buying time for myself to regain some composure and stop shivering. After about ten seconds, Aaron took the first step forward.

Fifteen minutes into the fight, I lay down on the ground, clutching the pain in my stomach where Aaron had just kicked me. That was the third time during our fight he’d gotten the upper hand.

His movements were patient and calculated. There was no rushing. Each time I went down, he waited for me to either get back to my feet or tap out. But I was too stubborn to tap out.

“Ms. Reed, it’s okay if you want to end this now.” Coach Su seemed to be regretting her decision to pit Aaron against me. Not that he’d done anything wrong.

On the contrary, he played by the book and remained gentlemanly despite the harsh blows he landed on me. He wasn’t arrogant on stage. He was respectful, even when he got the upper hand. I had a couple moments of celebration when I landed a punch or a kick on him, but otherwise, most of the fight remained woefully one-sided. The only problem was, I wasn’t willing to end it.

Without responding to the coach, I got to my feet. My face was wet, whether from sweat or tears I didn’t know. I was angry. I was upset. I was in pain. Except for the occasional wincing and gasping, the spectators remained silent.

“Alya, are you sure you want to continue?” Coach Su asked. It was the first time I’d ever heard her call anyone by their first name.

Whether because of the pain or in spite of it, my mind was as clear as a cloudless sky. I’d been pulled into countless fights on the streets while growing up, and tapping out after being knocked down never ended those nightmarish situations. The older I got, the better my fighting skills turned out to be. But before I reached that stage, losing a fight meant passing out on the street until some stranger was kind enough to call for medical help.

When I stared into Aaron’s confused eyes, it felt no different than the other times I was on the verge of defeat. Either I defeated my opponent, or I died trying. If I tried to explain that to the crowd that day, they probably wouldn’t have understood and might have even thought I’d lost my mind.

With pain radiating all over my body, I steadied myself.

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