The Fractured World 4 by David Aries

Author:David Aries [Aries, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16 - Casella

The xioths and their ‘boys’ surrounded the arena as they watched the show.

Vay skipped back. “Come, little ones! Don’t tell me you’re tired already?”

Casella and Akko panted as their bodies glistened with proof of how hard they’d worked.

“Let’s stop this, sweetie,” Akko gasped as she clutched her knees.

“Not yet,” Casella responded. “We can’t… afford to. Must get… stronger.”

Her legs disagreed. Casella’s calves and soles competed to see which could burn the hottest with her lungs not far behind. They begged her to give up this pursuit of strength.

Never!

With a tired cry, Casella charged toward her grinning tutor… and fell on her front.

“Sweetie!” Akko said as she scrambled over. “That’s enough.”

“No,” Casella protested while struggling to stand. “I can still—”

“Your friend is right, little one,” Vay said as she towered above Casella. “Continuing now would be pointless.”

“That’s not true!” With some effort, Casella got back up. “Let’s go!”

“Admirable. Very admirable… but foolish.” Vay pushed Casella back with her pinky, toppling her.

Casella groaned… but she tried to stand again regardless.

“Sweetie, stop it,” Akko said as she held Casella down. “And, you. Don’t hit her like that.”

“Do not fear. I held back. I don’t enjoy picking on weaklings.”

“Stop calling me a weakling,” Casella said.

“Apologies, little one. You deserve more respect after how hard you trained. I’m impressed you lasted so long on your first session.”

Casella’s eyes lit up. “You really and truly mean that?!”

“I do! Such spirit deserves my praise. To think an adorable little zerrin would show such heart.”

Casella beaming radiance brightened. “So soon I'll be a super awesome fighter too?”

Vay laughed. “Let’s not get carried away, little one. You still need a lot of polish before you’re ready for the ring. However, with this character, I bet I can have you ready for your debut within the year.”

Her heart sank. “A year?! That’s too long! I need to get strong now!”

“I cannot do the impossible. These things take time.”

“But we don’t have time!” Casella jerked upward.

Akko held on. “Sweetie, no.”

Casella squirmed free of Akko’s hands and stumbled back to her feet. “Come, Miss Vay. Let’s continue.”

“Absolutely not,” Vay responded.

“What? Why?!”

“Because you’re being reckless, little one. This isn’t the spirit I just praised. You’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t respect your limits.”

“Those limits are the problem! I can’t keep being useless forever! If I don’t get strong… if I can’t change…” She curled her trembling hands into fists. “Stop holding back and fight me properly!”

Vay grabbed Casella’s shoulders. “Calm yourself, little one. What is the matter with you?”

She tried to wiggle free, but escaping from Vay’s stupidly-strong hands was a very different challenge to breaking away from Akko. “You’re so strong, you wouldn’t understand! I bet you’ve never caused trouble for others you couldn’t fix yourself. Then there’s me. Because of my gift, so many people have been placed in danger. Faris was attacked, Trez got kidnapped, Sylvetty too… and there’s the endless amount of times I’ve caused trouble for Brandon. Now I’m doing it to everyone. So many people are in peril because of me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.