Chapter 21

He walked over to the middle of the warehouse, turning on a lamp that was there, placed to light the man who was hanging from the ceiling.

A chain was wrapped around a nude man's neck. His body covered in small cuts. Long dark hair loose.

" Jack. I guess you didn't run fast enough. "

He wasn't happy that the man was dead, but he couldn't bring himself to be sad or surprised. He had seen enough death in his life. From birth he was taught not to fear it, but to embrace it as a natural part of life. Death was fate. And one should always embrace theirs and others. And now, staring at the men that he had left alive not even 24 hours earlier, he didn't think about the fact that she had killed yet another person because of him.

All he could think about was her, their memories, of a time when he was falling for her. A time when he had yet to defy what destiny had in store for him.

Artemis and Scot stood in the middle of the training room. They were both barefoot on the cold stone floor, the only difference from their usual uniform. The room's temperature cold aswell. How to withstand different temperatures without letting it affect their performance was one of the first lessons an apprentice took. A fighting master stood by the wall, observing their every move.

The two teenagers, now 14 each, stood neither moving a muscle, but both relaxed, ready to jump into action at the smallest of signs. That's when he saw, the almost invisible smirk. If it was someone else in his place it might have gone undetected, but he knew her too well. She was going to make her move.

He went for it first. They moved fast, each tying to lend the first blow, only to have the other dodge it on the last moment. But eventually they hit. Their hits were efficient, only on the places where they would get the best result.

They didn't train with other of their age range. The Order worked in a different way. Up to a certain age, the classes were made by age. After they apprentices turned 6-years-old, they got place by ability. Scot and Artemis were further along on their classes than other their age. They were not old enough to graduate up from apprentice, so they trained alone. The masters said they were the best currently in training, even better than older members.

After 20 minutes of intense fighting the master began with the next stage, while they fought, the masters asked about poisons, and the best way to use them. Those were the questions where Scot excelled, poisons were his favorites, silent ad efficient, nothing futile, just the job. After poisons, the master would go over weapons, strengths and weaknesses.

After that, a situation would be presented, and they would have to answer with a solution. That was were Artemis would shine, she could look into a situation and always have the most efficient way to mess with someone's head. How to shake people's confidence, being toying with the victim or with the family and friends they left behind. Like Scot's mother, the girl had a real talent to make statements. She loved playing games, and managed to turn people into the pieces on her board.

They were fighting for almost two hours before she managed to defeat him. Him back on the floor, her hand high stopping inches from what would have been a final blow.

" That makes us, what? 34 for me, 32 for you? " She said panting, but with her grin in place.

" Just wait until tomorrow. And do not forget, we have an infiltration class after this. You know I will win that one. " He answered, in his usual confident and almost emotionless tone. Only a hint of grin passing through his lips. Their usual quarrel, being one of the few times he ever made jokes. His seriousness the complete opposite of her always playful mind.

" We'll see. "