It wasn’t until the Nod Complex students moved up to get their marbles that Eva found herself growing worried.
The violet light still only had herself and the Isomer girl. Though unlikely, it would be just her luck to wind up with both a nun and a vampire. She had already done that dance once with Serena and Nel and it hadn’t been a lot of fun back then. Those two were at least friendly. To Eva.
She actually let out a short sigh when she saw him pull out a red marble. At least she wouldn’t have to doubly watch her back. He would still be around the playing field, but she could maybe get away from the nun before then. Or maybe set the nun on the vampire.
“Is he that dangerous?”
Eva glanced to the nun with a raised eyebrow. “The vampire?”
“You weren’t half as agitated when you saw me walking over.”
“Between him and you, I’d much rather be partnered with you.”
Eva took her eyes off the nun, watching as the vampire meandered over to the other Isomer student. The two boys nodded at each other, not having anything resembling the hostility Eva might have expected from an undead and a ‘Holy’ Academy student. He was probably just a normal kid. The school wasn’t entirely made of Elysium Order recruits after all.
“He’s already attacked me in an attempt to get my blood,” Eva continued.
“And you fought him off?” the nun said with a scoff. A clearly disbelieving scoff.
Did she not think that demons would beat vampires?
Holding out her hand, Eva flicked her wrist. Flames lit up all the way to her elbow.
“Vampires can’t catch you if you’re on fire,” Eva said with a wide grin.
The nun harrumphed and looked away.
Just in time for the two of them to see a third student heading over to the violet light. One of the poor students from Mount Hope. After being shoved aside by Isomer, the rest of the schools took that as a go-ahead to select their marbles first. The Hope students just sat around awkwardly as everyone pushed past them.
The one coming towards Eva looked fairly young. She couldn’t be much older than Eva. Maybe a year at the most. She gave Eva’s hand a wide berth, eying her as she walked up to them. Despite that extra space and the slight look out of the corner of her eye, she smiled at both Eva and the nun.
“Emily,” she said with a happy nod of her head.
Eva extinguished her hand. “Eva.”
Both looked towards the nun. Emily, probably because she was being friendly. Not so much in Eva’s case. She put on her widest smile, fully channeling Sawyer as she looked at the nun with expectant eyes.
“Anise,” the nun said, barely managing not to sneer at either one of them.
Before any further introductions could be made, Redford got back to his feet. He leaned slightly on his cane as he made his way to the front of the stage.
“You’ve all been distributed,” he said, prompting Eva to glance at her schoolmates.
Rachael wound up with the Nod Complex’s dryad. With a face looking like it was made of pale wood, the dryad’s expression was near impossible to read. However, the two were speaking softly to one another. Nothing hostile, as far as Eva could tell.
Eva did take a moment to look over the dryad using her other senses. Though she wouldn’t be openly using blood magic, she could use her sense of blood without care for being found out.
The dryad, she found, did show up. But it was weird. She obviously had something flowing beneath her… bark. It counted as blood, yet it was slow and sticky feeling. It didn’t move around her body in any way that Eva could liken to anything else living that she had seen. She didn’t have blood vessels or organs, as far as Eva could tell. There were patterns, especially in her face where eyes, mouth, and nose all had distinct shapes.
Eva shook her head. Even if the dryad was strange, at least she could sense her presence with blood magic.
Randal, on the other hand, was entirely alone. The only student to have avoided being paired with anyone else. Two colors, violet included, had three people. Everyone else was in pairs.
He didn’t look all that upset about not having anyone with him. Rather, his grin could rival Eva’s.
“You will be directed to your starting positions momentarily,” Redford said. “As a reminder, straying too far from the light will result in disqualification until it disappears. I suggest you pay attention.”
He didn’t say anything more, choosing to return to his seat.
One of the robotic drones flew by, giving a view of the divided students.
Eva gave it a small wave. Maybe her old friends at the veterinarian’s clinic were watching. Though, she doubted they would recognize her. With her short hair, sharp teeth, red eyes, and literal claws, she had changed a great deal since she last saw them.
The light above her head flashed twice before slowly drifting off, heading deeper into the woods.
All three of the students followed after it in silence.
At least, they started in silence. While the nun looked like a conversation was the last thing on her mind—something Eva certainly didn’t have an issue with—Emily started fidgeting almost as soon as they were away from the rest of the groups. Her eyes constantly flicked between the backs of Eva and the nun, as both were walking a step or two ahead.
For a moment, Eva almost let her continue her fretting. If only for wondering how long it would last. The nun wouldn’t notice; her eyes were glued forward. As such, it was up to Eva to break the silence or wait for her to finally speak up.
Three steps later had Eva deciding to take pity. The girl’s heart rate was steady, but the twiddling of her fingers grew ever more intense as they continued walking. Much longer and she might have a panic attack.
“Was there something you needed?” Eva asked with a glance over her shoulder.
“Oh! I, um… There was just… It’s not that–”
“Spit it out already,” Anise snapped. She closed her eyes and shook her head, almost tripping over a fallen branch. “I’m sorry,” she said, opening her eyes again. “Just nervous.”
“Me too.”
Eva wasn’t. Not about them, anyway. The only person she was actually concerned about at the moment was the vampire. And possibly whatever creatures were out in the forest to cause problems. No one had been able to come up with a creature other than a gorgon that might have metallic scales. Someone had suggested a dragon.
The forest wasn’t on fire. Eva had dismissed that claim.
So Eva decided to come up with a list of as many scaled creatures as she could. One might have a sub-breed with metallic scales. Basilisks were at the top of the list of creatures she did not want to meet tonight, but she felt as if they might be too dangerous for a children’s school game.
Then there was the idea that the scale was not a scale at all, rather a piece of something else. She did not yet have an idea as to what.
“We’re not going to betray each other as soon as the event starts, are we?” Emily asked with a slight quiver in her voice.
Eva and the nun glanced at each other. Well, Eva glanced. The nun glared.
“I can agree to a truce,” Eva said, offering an olive branch before the nun could say a word.
“And why should I believe you won’t stab us in the back the moment we let our guards down?”
“Let’s just say that I have a vested interest in ensuring anyone wins with the exception of the Nod Complex.” Which was not even a lie. Eva did want to win, but she was perfectly capable of being pragmatic when needed. “The longer I can keep you alive,” she said with a vague gesture towards the nun, “the rougher time the vampire is going to have.”
“A-alive?” Emily had probably intended to shriek. She failed, instead somehow managing to whisper at the top of her lungs.
“A slip of the tongue. I’m used to harsher combat than whatever Redford has in store for us. Probably. I doubt they would send students into anything truly dangerous.”