The Last Healer

Chapter 60: Alexander

Chapter 60 Alexander

"Now, being a Captain doesn't necessarily promise people will like you. The whole purpose of the position is to care about what's best for the City of Shona and the Powered People, not one or even a handful of people." Captain Mathews leaned forward in his seat, his eyes dancing with eagerness. "To do that job, you need to understand that you will have friends and enemies, that you'll have to make decisions that may endanger the people you care about, that you'll get close to many people and watch some of them die."

"And the paper work." He snorted at my comment and gave me a soft smile before nodding.

"Aye, and the paperwork. Of course, you'll get less work to do, then most of us." Captain Mathews stood up, his hand wrapping around the sheath of his sword as he pulled it off the corner of his desk. "With a Healer to tend to the injured, you'll only have to worry about those who die or the ones she cannot help. The others will require very little attention."

"Sounds like the paperwork picked up after what happened in the hospital." I bit back a grin, unsure if it was right for me to say anything about it, but couldn't stop myself. A room full of people were Healed and now wanted to get back to their regular lives.

"Yes, well, that's to be expected." He walked around his desk and flicked his hand upwards as he walked passed. "Come, let us see what you can do. Without me actually wanting to kill you." The humor in his voice disturbed me slightly, it was like he wasn't sorry for what had happened but, rather, found it entertaining.

I pursed my lips as I stifled a sigh before following him out of the office and down the hall. We slipped through the last door on the right and found ourselves in a large circular room with pillars surrounding the arena in the middle. Men and women exchanged blows with each other, the high pitched clashes of the metal swords rung out through the room. Children stood gawking as the adults fought, a few of them attempted to mimic with sticks or wooden swords. This was normal for the middle of the day, people training to become stronger.

"Now, this won't be a full battle, more of an assessment of what you can do and what you need to learn." Captain Mathews explained as he led me towards the center of the arena. He turned to me as he slipped his sword from its sheath. "When we battled, I was more interested in defeating you than giving you a chance to show what you can do. So, ready yourself."

My hand tensed on the hilt of my sword, every fiber of my being telling me that this was a bad idea, but I knew I couldn't keep him waiting. A scraping sound filled my ears as I pulled my sword from its sheath, the blade brushing against the metal top. My feet slid apart, my shoulders straightened, and my knees slightly bent. He nodded once before joining in a similar position.

"Attack me, Alexander. Like you wanted to kill me."

I snorted softly before kicking off the ground. There was no reason for me to hold back, I couldn't beat him anyway.

The swords clash, the noise ringing in my ears as our swords crossed in front of my eyes. He nodded once before pushing against me, the blades slowly inching towards me. Ramming my left arm upwards to collide with his right hand, batting his sword away, I jumped backwards as he swung down again, his blade barely hitting my shirt.

"Come on now! No running!" He chuckled and I sighed, realizing that he was having far too much fun with this.

"Fine by me." My feet beat into the ground, the thuds filled my ears as I lifted my sword up in the air, slashing upwards at an angle as I rushed forward. His sword met mine, level with my waist, the metal clashing filled my ears, but something was off. A dull thud followed and my eyes shifted to the ground where it came from. The tip of my blade laid there, lifeless and useless.