Chapter 8

Isabelle didn't like how quiet the room was. Jason was always here waiting for her when she arrived. So where was he now? Approaching the table slowly she picks up the note that had been left there. Her name printed neatly on the front of it and when she flipped it around it was blank. Revealing nothing to her on who wrote it or what it would contain. The envelope was sealed with a wax seal, imprinted to look like vines with delicate flowers. Giving the hint that Jason was the one who had left the note for her. Breaking the seal she opened the envelope to reveal only two words.

'Look Up.'

Her face twisted into confusion as she cranes her head up to look at the ceiling. At first she didn't see anything unusual until out of the corner of her eye she saw something moving. In the far corner there was some sort of creature clinging to the ceiling. It looked to be about six feet tall and made entirely of plants, mostly wood and bramble. It reminded her of a tree with moss clinging to it. It was made of a dark wood and gnarled knots making up the joints. Branches making up long and sharp looking fingers. The creature looked to be something that would come straight out of a horror movie. It's eyes looked to be made out of rotting berries that glowed with a soft blue light. Her gaze was locked with its eyes and it made her blood freeze. It's mouth opened and let out a ear splitting screech. Making Isabelle cover ears as the sound pierced her eardrums and bounced around in her head. Allowing itself to detach from the ceiling fall down to the ground. Quickly, she dived to the side to dodge its razor sharp claws, missing it by mere inches as she rolls back into a stand. Upon further inspection closer up, Isabelle discovered it's entire body was covered in thorns.

"This has to be a test," Isabelle thought, "Jason would not put me in danger otherwise on purpose".

The creature's movements were jerky as if it was getting used to its body still. Once again it lunged at her and she leapt to the side. Desperately thinking about how she could defeat this thing. Without the use of fire she, she wouldn't be able to burn it away. She couldn't beat it with brute force in this form either and she smiles.

"Let's change the odds here," she thought to herself. The image of a tiger coming to mind and the familiar icy feeling of the change came over her. Her center of gravity changed, making her balance shift and pitching her forward to her knees. Only to land on paws as her claws dug into the floor. Feral power rose up filling her with nothing but raw power. A feral roar ripped from her throat as she launched herself at the creature.

It raised its arms and batted her away like a fly, the sharp thorns covering its body digging painfully into her skin as she flew towards the wall. She winced at the pain but ignored it. Twisting her body around to land on the ground, skidding a few feet before she came to a stop. Feeling the blood drip from her body she ignored it as the creature raised it's arms once more and thorns shot from its hands. Forcing Isabell to leap away from the thorns as they buried themselves into the floor. She launched again at the creature but met the same result. Giving it one more try she dove for the creature only for it to grab her and slam her against the wall. Grunting in pain she had no time to recover before its fist connected with her stomach. The thorns piercing into her flesh as all the air was pressed from her lungs. She roared in pain as it threw her and she smashed into the ground. It took her a moment to stumble back to her feet as she struggled to drag burning air into her lungs.

"It's no use, if I keep launching myself at it it'll just throw me around like a rag doll," she thought as she took in the creature. Her keen eyes darting wildly across it as she tried to find some sort of weakness.

The creature continued it's assault. Bouncing back and forth from shooting it's thorns at her and attacking physically. Finding it hard to think when she had to continue to dodge it's attacks constantly. Tearing it apart wasn't going to work, nor was burning it but it was intent on throwing her around. So perhaps she needed to be something that it couldn't throw?

She searched her memories, thinking to the largest creature that could move on land. It wouldn't do her any good if she turned into a whale but couldn't move. The icy tingle rushed through her once more as she felt herself change from the small, lean, lethal tiger she was into a much larger but equally powerful African elephant. The floor got farther away from her as she grew and felt her muscles expand far beyond what they had before. Leaving her to look down at the creature as if it was nothing but a small rabbit. Releasing a loud trumpet she charged at the creature and it tried to escape from her path. Jumping into the air, the thing clawed at the tough hide on her side making Isabell let out a wail of pain. Making an effort to dislodge the creature she slammed the side of her body against the wall, crushing it between the hard surface and her weight. It worked, the creature lost it's grip and slid down her side before losing itself underneath her large feet.

Isabell seized her opportunity and started stomping into the ground. The creature roared as it tried to use it's thorns to get Isabell to get off of it but the soles of her new feet were to tough for the thorns to pierce through. She only trumpeted her victory as she continued to stomp the creature. Crushing the creature until it there was nothing left but a pile of broken twigs. For a moment she stared at the pile, frozen as she half expected it to rise again. Reforming the creature to launch at her with it's crooked claws.

That didn't happen though, instead there was a soft click above her and she snapped her head to the ceiling. Expecting another one of those creatures to unlatch itself from the ceiling and drop down onto her back to start the battle anew. There was only a single slip of paper that was fluttering down, unthreatening to her. She watched it drift its merry way down as she changed herself back into a human. Not sure if this note would end up leading to another test like the last one. As Isabell watched the note make it's way down to her the captains above were chattering away.

They had all faced the same tests and challenges that Isabell was going against now. All of them having faced the Brambles. Many had chose to charge at it with a rhinoceros, even though it would lead the creature to creating more of itself out of the splintered pieces for them to have to pick off as well. No one had thought of actually stomping it as a elephant. It's tough hide unable to be pierced by the thorns and it's size and weight capable of smashing it into to small of pieces for it to regenerate.

"That was a job well done! Never did I think of actually dropping an elephant on the Bramble," Sapphira boomed with a laugh, excited by the demonstration she had just witnessed.

"Truly Sapphira must you be so brutal, she almost didn't figure out how to beat it in time," Harlene rubbed her temples as her concentration was broken from her never ending meditation, "Any longer and the Bramble would have gotten more aggressive then it already is."

"But look at the marvelous job that she did! Even I didn't think to just stomp it to bits and I know none of you morons have thought of it either."

"It's not nice to call people names, Sapphira. The girl did almost get hurt," Jaynee pipped up from her corner. Her concern having started to rise when Isabell started to take hits from the creature.

"Ah lay off it Jaynee the girls all right. I can feel a fire that burns in this girl," Nellie joined Sapphire. Having been impressed with the display before her.

"It dosent feel like a fire, but something that burns just like it," Harlene looked at Nellie with a raised brow "Are you so certain that she will be placed under your order?"

"Of course I am. Look at her! If that's not a member of squad one I don't know what is! She was so efficient at it's destruction and she did it with such fury! She must be in my squad!" Nellie was getting excited by the prospect that Isabell would end up in her squad.

"Careful now Captain Stavroulakis, disappointment can make a terriable fall," Captain Myer spoke up from the back of the room. The three silent men having been watching the fight with blank faces. Not any one of them giving away their thoughts on the battle that had just occured.

"Oh come off it Myer. You see it just as much as I do. Or are you just jealous that such a promising recruit will be under my jurisdiction?" Nellie crossed her arms over her chest with a smug grin.

"It dosen't matter what squad she ends up with. She will be just another soldier to add to our ranks regardless of how promising they seem," Kaden Shanco pipped up, his piercing eyes staring down Nellie.

"So then what do you think Captain Shanco? Are you saying that you expect her to be in your squad of frozen statues?" Nellie growled at him. The two always being opposing forces to each other.

Kaden only sighed as he stood up straight from where he was leaning and started to leave the room. Calling back over his shoulder as he exited.

"I don't care where she ends up. At the end of the day she is no different from the rest of us that are here. Just another solider in another war to be waged in the time to come".

"Captain Shanco, would you hold on for a moment?" Harelene pipped up, making Kaden stop and look at her with a raised brow in silent question, "I would like to speak to Jason about a matter that I can not divulge quiet yet. I get the sense it has something to do with this recent candidate."

"And why would that be?" Kaden questioned as he turned fully to Harelene. The others knowing that something was going on here.

"I cannot say, or I would rather not say yet. It is all still a bit hazy and would like another like mindedness person to speak to about it," she looked at him seriously.

He sighed and waved his hand as he turned back to the exit. "I'll go let him know, I'm sure by now she's going to be heading for the training room and from there it won't be long before shes in the Heart. I'll go tell him so that when this is over he can speak with you".

Isabell had approached the letter as it fell towards the ground, snatching it out of the air before it could land. Turning it over she noticed it had the same seal as the previous letter and she knew it was his even before seeing Jason's name printed in the bottom corner. Proving to her that these notes and the creature from before had all been apart of the test. Breaking the seal she opened the letter and read through it.

'Good job destroying the Bramble. Scariest thing I've ever seen but it comes in hand from time to time, especially with training exercises. This battle will probably be the easiest battle you will ever have. As you may have realized by now this is all part of your test. Sometimes some of the enemies you will face will not be entirely human and other times they will be and you must be able to finish the battle, what ever it takes. But now that you have started there is no turning back and I can not wait for you to finish the next challenge and prove your worth here. Many, including yourself I'm sure, are curious as to who and/ or what your protector will be and it is time to stop the suspension. Meet me in the training room and don't keep me waiting to long.'

Folding the letter up, Isabell gave a heavy sigh before she made her way to the training room. Never did she think that Jason create such a terrifying monstrosity like the Bramble. He was so kind and while she had fought the monster all she could feel from it was a sense of anger and hatred. Perhaps that was the darker side of Jason that didn't come to the surface? She shook her head of the thoughts as she focused. There would be plenty of time for figuring out what the Bramble was and why Jason would create something like that in the first place later. She was also curious as to who else was interested in her protector. Why would anyone else be curious about it in the first place? There wasn't anything truly special to her, at least not to her knowledge. She was just another face in the sea of people that also worked here but these were all thoughts for later. Pushing them out of her mind to focus on the task on hand. While she was following the route she had taken so many times to the training room she did notice something different.

Silence.

Each room that she passed was empty. No one was darting around the rooms with paper work and coffee or dashing down the hallway to bring something or another to someone else to be handled. Every other day she had been here, Jason and herself would encounter at least one person hurrying down the hallway. Giving a quick good morning to Jason and a respectful nod to herself before hurrying on their way. It was strange to her, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of her testing. Had they sectioned this side of the building off? Regardless if that was the truth or not it did seem strange to her. Why would they feel the need to have to do something like that?

Her questions would have to wait till later as she strolled into the training room. The doors having been left wide open and waiting for her. Jason was standing in the center of the room where they had been training for the last two weeks. For once, the ground wasn't littered with training dummies or weapons. Leaving the area clean and cleared as if it hadn't been used since yesterday. Jason's back was turned to her and he was fiddling with the sword that was hidden under his cloak. Iris was on the far wall making plants row but kept a close eye on the room and Jason. Even in their home, Iris proved to be exactly what a protector should be regardless of location. Besides the two of them, the room was empty and Isabell stopped right at the entrance. Curiosity poking at her as she wondered what sort of test was going to happen next. It was Iris, that noticed Isabell enter the room first and she cleared her throat to get Jason's attention.

"Good to see you made it," Jason beamed as he turned to face Isabell, "How did you like the Bramble?"

"It was absolutely horrifying," Isabell scowled at him as she came farther into the room.

"It most definitely is, but despite the horrific creature you still managed to beat it, congratulations. You get your protector now," he spread his arms out wide with a mocking grin.

"It's not that easy, I'm not a moron." Isabell crossed her arms and looked at him doubtfully.

"Well nothing ever gets by you now does it?" Jason laughed before he became more serious "Are you prepared?"

"I am." Isabell nodded.

There was no doubt in her mind that others may have fallen for such a simple trick in the past but she was not going to be so easy to fool. She never was the kind of person to be easily led astray by the lies of others. Knowing when people were telling her the truth and when they were telling her a lie. It didn't take a genius to figure out that there was more to getting your protector than just fighting the Bramble.

Out of the corner of her eye Isabell watched as a boy entered. His cloak was white, like Jason's, with a large ten printed on the back. Ice crusted around its edges in a shimmering blue that glistened in the light. His hair was white but not the same shade of white that elderly people had. It was healthy and shinning, as pure as the snow. It stood up at strange angles but not in a way that looked like he just rolled out of bed, it was a kind of messy that also seemed neat. He looked to be about Isabell's age, around sixteen, and was just a couple inches taller than her. He was well built, not overly muscular but you could see that he was well defined and walked with a sense of purpose. Her eyes traveled to his sword which was strapped across his back instead of at his hip like the others she had seen with the blades.

The guard looked to be a four pointed star, also encrusted with ice like his cloak. The hilts padding was a shockingly clear blue and the cloth that held the sheath was the same hard green as his eyes. That is what caught Isabell's attention the most.

His eyes.

His hard green eyes seemed to stare right into you. Like he knew everything wrong thing you had ever done in your life. A boy that lived his life guarded against the rest of the world around him but deep in his eyes something else was buried there as well. The look of pain, of someone who had experienced something terrible and was unfortunate enough to have to live with the burden of it. The sight of that pain felt like a sharp knife in Isabell's chest. She knew all to well what it was like to have to live with something horrible. How no matter how many long nights you thought through every moment of it. Or the long days where you did everything you could to forget. It always stayed with you, hiding in the darkest parts of your mind and just waiting to torment you again. She shook the thought from her head as she focused back on the task on hand. Now was not the time to get distracted, even if the distraction was someone else's own pain.

"Captain Shanco," Jason greeted the boy, offering a wide warm smile despite Shanco's icy gaze.

Isabell finally turned to get a good look at Kaden. She had to admit, she was a bit curious of him. Besides Jason and Captain Silick, he was the only other captain she's seen. It hadn't even crossed her mind that there would be a captain that was the same age as her. There was only a small group of people here that were around her age and most of them were kids who had been left as orphans. The thought of it made her sad and she couldn't help wonder if this was the same for Kaden. Would that explain the pain behind his eyes?

"I figured she would have been in the cave by now," Kaden thought to himself before speaking to Jason, "Captain Ru is looking for you. She wanted to speak to you on something".

"Well I am in the middle of something. I refuse to believe that the other captains haven't been spying on this particular initiation now can I?" he raised a brow at Kaden, knowing he was right.

"Yeah well you know the rest of them. When someone becomes interesting to them they tend to stick their noses into places where it doesn't belong," Kaden shrugged his shoulders as he entered the rest of the room.

In all honesty, Kaden had intended to go back to his quarters. He was getting tired of listening to the other captains squabbling amongst themselves. Most of the time Captain Ru and Hargravel would get into arguments over the littlest of things and they Nellie would come in making matters only worse. They one of the other more mild mannered captains ended up having to step in and separate them all and the whole ordeal annoyed Kaden greatly. He did have to admit though that he wanted to get a closer look at Isabell. During the first few weeks of training a new candidate the captains tended to make themselves scarce. Finding it better since they had a tendency of putting the new blood on edge. So all they had to go on was the word of the squad members and the training reports which often lead to more questions than answers. Although he had expected her to have entered the Heart by now. The possibility of meeting her face to face had not occurred to him in the time it took him to get here.

He kept his pace slow, allowing the doors to close behind him on a strong gust of wind that ruffled his hair a bit as he entered the room. His eyes on Isabelle as he took her in, he couldn't figure out what it was but there was something about Isabell that he couldn't quiet explain. A hidden ability perhaps that was still locked in the deepest parts of her soul? It was a possibility, most people did have some sort of ability that was awaken when they gained their protector. This though felt almost, akin to his own. He hadn't felt a connection to anyone for years, the thought of someone having that kind of pull on him put him on edge. It was something he felt the need to crush down before it became a problem later.

"Well I'm sure I don't have to send you back to tell her that she will have to wait until the end of Isabell's test," he stepped aside putting Isabell into full view, who had unconsciously moved so that she was hidden behind him.

The two locked gazes and the both of them seemed to freeze. Trapped in the intensity of the others stare. Kaden tried to stare her down but she surprisingly stood her ground. This was new to Kaden, most people couldn't look him in the eye for very long. Many found him intimidating and his cold nature didn't help with that but Isabell was unaffected by this. This intrigued him but he would not let Isabell win. Jason looked between the two and he could feel the tension in the air but there was something else as well.

"Their relationship is going to be interesting," Jason thought with a small grin.

For a while they just stared at each other, neither one of them wanting to back down. In the end it was Kaden who broke the connection with a heavy sigh. He turned to Jason and nodded his head. The fact that Kaden looked away first had surprised Jason, knowing that he wasn't one to back down from anything.

"Would you like a closer look," Jason asked turning to the center of the room, not waiting for Kaden to give an answer.

"I guess," Kaden shrugged "Gets me away from Harlene's and Sapphira's arguing".

As he walked past Isabell she could feel a wave of cold air hit her. As if she had been placed right next to an AC system and it had been turned on full blast. Isabell shivered as the cool air brushed against her bare skin but not because it was uncomfortable but because it felt pleasant. She knew his squad was based around ice and cold but this was on a whole other level than what she expected. Isabell wanted to sit there and bask in the cold air that Kaden's power released but there were other things she had to focus on. Mentally shaking herself Isabell tried to get her mind back on track. Having to jog past Kaden to catch up with Jason and taking one final moment to enjoy the waves that rolled across her skin. All the while Jason hadn't realized that Isabell wasn't behind him.

"Remember when you first came here you asked me where the heart of the agency was," Jason asked drawing his sword.

"How could I forget, that's when all of this started," Isabell said coming to a halt beside him.

Isabell had taken out her sword and took a good look at it. He rarely drew it from it's sheath so this was her first time seeing it. The guard looked to be in the shape of some sort of flower, a lily perhaps. The hilt was not cloth but rather a soft looking bed of moss. The blade itself looked like it had vines engraved into the metal. It suited him and his personality and Isabell hoped that hers would fit her as well.

Jason struck the ground with his sword and like magic the ground disappeared. Revealing a underground cave hidden beneath the training ground. The bottom looked several thousand feet below them and the set up reminded her like a mine shaft without an elevator. Isabell poked her head over the edge and found she couldn't see the bottom of the pit

"This is the center," Jason said as he sheathed his sword, "This is where we come to get our protector. I came here and those before me as well have come here. Now it's your turn to make the journey".

Isabell shifted so that she was sitting on the edge and leaned forward. Looking into the cavern she strained her eyes to see the bottom but found that even if she had a light she wouldn't be able to see. A few hundred feet down there was a white mist that hid the inside of the cavern. After taking a moment she gave up and turned to look at Jason. Hoping to find some sort of explanation.

"So how exactly does this work," Isabell asked.

"You jump in and you'll be kind of thrown into protectors world," Jason started his explanation, "There will be various tests and your first one will be that your body doesn't die. When you get towards the bottom your body has to know when to change without your conscious mind. Hence why we trained for as long as we did, to the extent that we had."

"Aren't there some stairs or something that I can take so I don't, you know, die."

"No," Jason said and rolled his eyes at the soft chuckle from Kaden behind them, "that is what forges the connection between our world and theirs".

"So, in other words, there's no other way and don't screw up or you'll die."

"Pretty much".

They sat in silence as Isabell stared down into the cave. Jason was thinking about the time when he first got his protector. Isabell on the other hand was thinking about who or what her protector might be once again.

"Before I do this," Isabell asked "Can I ask what I should expect my protector to be like. The question has been driving me crazy".

"I can't," Jason shook his head "The Protector is born from the Warriors power, their soul. We can never guess how a Protector will act or even how they'll look. It's the reason why there can't be more than one protector that are exactly the same. Even if we have twins their Protectors turn out to be different. The rarest case we ever had was a set of twins sharing one Protector."

"Alright, well then I guess I having nothing left to lose," Isabell sighed and she slid off the edge. Feeling weightless as she was thrown into their world and she was enveloped in a flash of light.

"Wait, "Jason screamed but she was already gone.

"That's a risky one," Kaden chuckled as he came over to the edge and looked down.

"That's Isabell for you but I recall you doing the same thing. Just walked right off the edge and dropped like a stone".

Kaden only smiled as he thought back to when he got his Protector. the memory quickly fades as he looks down into the pit. More questions raced through his mind. He could already see some connections between him and Isabell. It was unsettling to him but there was something else that he was feeling. Something that he couldn't quiet put a name to and he couldn't help but wonder.

"In what other ways are you like me."