Kel knew Harven was up to something the second he saw the map.
The captain had it spread across his desk when Kel and Luno walked into the command building that morning. Their new squad was already waiting near the door, looking about as excited as Kel felt. Harven tapped a spot east of Durnfield.
"Brindle settlement. They need water filters, medicine, and replacement tools. You six are delivering them."
Kel leaned over the map. The route cut straight through a narrow section of broken hills called Split Pass. He looked at Luno, and Luno looked right back at him.
Last night, Harven had spent nearly an hour throwing rocks at their heads in the dark.
"You knew," Kel said.
Harven's face didn't move. "Knew what?"
Luno slapped a finger against the map. "Split Pass has blind ledges on both sides."
"Does it?"
"You know it does."
"I know a lot of things."
Kel stared at him. "You trained us for this."
Harven rolled up the map and shoved it into Kel's chest. "I trained you because you needed training."
"For this mission."
"For every mission."
"That means yes," Luno said.
Harven pointed toward the door. "That means leave."
Kel took the map. He was beginning to understand something about Captain Harven.
The man enjoyed being difficult.
Outside, the rest of the squad waited with the supplies. Mira had already checked every strap twice. Toma kept touching the knife at his hip like he needed reassurance it was still there. Puck looked half asleep while holding a crate of medicine against his chest.
Doss had brought an iron club.
Kel looked at it. "Why?"
Doss looked down at the weapon. "Why what?"
"The club."
"We're guards."
"We're delivering water filters."
"Bandits don't care what's in the box."
Kel couldn't really argue with that. "Fine. Just don't hit anybody unless they're actually trying to hurt us."
Doss smiled. "No promises."
Kel immediately regretted being given a squad.
Luno walked past them, adjusting his hat. A tiny voice came from underneath it.
"He's annoying."
Luno covered his mouth to hide a laugh, but Kel heard it anyway. He looked at the hat.
Spark went silent.
Kel pointed at Luno. "We're talking about that later."
"Talking about what?"
"Your talking hat."
"He doesn't like being called that."
"I'm not apologizing to your hat."
From beneath it came a quiet, "Rude."
Kel stared.
Luno grinned and started walking.
This was going to be a long day.
For the first hour, nothing happened.
The road east of Durnfield wound through dry farmland before the ground became rougher. Grass disappeared, and the few trees they passed were twisted little things growing between stone and hard-packed dirt.
Kel kept waiting for something to go wrong. Nothing did, which somehow made it worse.
Doss wandered too far ahead twice. Kel called him back twice. The third time, he didn't bother being polite.
"Doss."
"What?"
"Get back here."
"I'm twenty feet away."
"And somehow that's twenty feet too far."
Doss walked backward with his arms spread. "You scared I'm gonna disappear?"
"No. I'm scared I'm gonna have to explain to Harven how you got yourself killed on our first day."
Mira laughed behind them.
Doss looked offended, but he came back.
Luno had barely spoken for the last few minutes. He was watching the insects inside his jar instead, turning it slightly every so often as if he were trying to catch them doing something.
Kel bumped his shoulder. "You good?"
"Yeah."
"You've been staring at that thing forever."
"They're acting weird."
Kel glanced at the jar. Looked like bugs to him.
"What are they doing?"
"I don't know."
Luno tapped one side of the glass. Several insects moved toward his finger. He tapped the other side, and two followed.
Luno smiled. "See?"
"No."
"They're listening better."
"Maybe they're hungry."
Luno frowned. "Why does everything have to be food with you?"
"Because we're walking through the Badlands carrying lunch."
"That has nothing to do with this."
Kel shrugged.
Luno went back to the jar. He didn't notice the faint warmth gathering in his fingertips.
Split Pass looked worse in person.
The road narrowed until there was barely enough space for a wagon. Rock walls climbed on both sides, full of cracks, shelves, and little hiding places. Kel stopped at the entrance, and last night's bruises suddenly made a lot more sense.
Luno slowly looked up at the ledges.
"Oh, that bastard."
Mira raised an eyebrow. "Captain Harven?"
"Who else?"
Kel pulled out the map. There wasn't another reasonable route. Of course there wasn't.
"Okay. Nobody spreads out."
Doss sighed.
Kel ignored him. "Mira, take the rear. Puck and Toma stay middle with the supplies. Doss, you're up front with me."
Doss immediately looked happier. "Finally."
"Don't make me regret it."
"No promises."
"You keep saying that."
Luno stepped beside Kel. "I'll watch the ridges."
Kel nodded, then remembered last night.
Cores.
He almost laughed. Harven wasn't even here and the man was still ordering him around.
Kel closed his eyes. At first there was only his breathing and the steady beat of his heart. He tried going deeper, searching for the sensation Harven had shown him how to find.
That strange warmth was there again, somewhere beneath everything else. He couldn't see a core. He couldn't even say exactly where the feeling started, but he could feel something—a slow current waiting inside him.
Kel opened his eyes.
Luno was doing the same thing, except he had one hand wrapped around his insect jar.
"You find yours?" Kel asked.
Luno opened one eye. "I think."
"That's helpful."
"Did you?"
"I think."
"Then shut up."
Fair enough.
They entered the pass.
Five minutes went by. Then ten.
Nothing.
Doss eventually looked back with a smug grin. "All that worrying for nothing."
A pebble clicked against the road.
Kel stopped.
Another bounced off the rock wall behind them, and Toma immediately reached for his knife.
"Relax," Doss said. "It's a rock."
Kel looked up. The ledges were empty.
At least they looked empty.
Something inside Luno's jar started scratching against the glass. He lifted it and found several insects crowded toward the left side.
"What are you doing?"
The insects shifted again.
Luno turned left.
Nothing.
Spark's voice came quietly from his hat. "Someone's there."
Luno stiffened. "You sure?"
"Who are you talking to?" Mira asked.
A clay pellet cracked against the ground between Kel's boots.
Everyone jumped.
A second one came immediately after.
"Down!"
Kel grabbed Doss and pulled him sideways. The pellet shattered against the wall, and then the whole pass came alive.
Shots bounced off stone from somewhere above them. Toma ducked so fast he nearly dropped his pack. Puck stumbled with the supply crate, but Mira caught one side before it hit the ground.
Doss ripped his club free.
"Where are they?"
"Left!" Luno shouted.
Kel looked but couldn't see anybody.
Another shot came down.
"Move!"
The squad pushed forward. Doss immediately started toward the rock wall, and Kel caught the back of his shirt.
"What are you doing?"
"Going after them!"
"That's exactly what they want!"
"How do you know?"
Kel almost yelled that he didn't.
Then he remembered Harven throwing rocks from different angles while they stumbled around in the dark.
"Because I fell for it last night."
That shut Doss up.
Another pellet flew.
"Right!" Luno yelled.
Kel moved before he thought about it. Something tightened inside his legs. One second he was beside Luno, and the next he'd crossed in front of Puck.
He barely had time to wonder how he'd moved that quickly before a pellet slammed into his forearm.
Kel braced for pain.
It hurt, just not nearly as much as it should have.
He stared at his arm.
What the hell?
"Kel!"
Luno's voice snapped him back.
Another shot came down, and Kel ducked.
"Keep moving!"
They pushed deeper into the pass. Mira stayed close to Puck, and Toma was scared—Kel could see it all over his face—but he was still moving. Doss had finally stopped trying to charge everything he couldn't see.
That was progress.
Luno was having a stranger problem.
His insects wouldn't calm down.
Every time something moved above them, the jar reacted first. Left. Right. Then left again. He could almost feel where they wanted him to look.
His fingers tingled against the glass.
"Guys," he whispered. "What are you doing?"
The insects pressed toward his hand. Warmth slipped through his fingertips, but Luno didn't feel it leave him.
Spark did.
"Luno."
"Not now."
"Something's—"
The insects suddenly scattered toward the back of the jar.
Spark shouted, "Behind!"
Luno spun. "Mira, DOWN!"
She dropped.
A pellet passed through the space where her head had been.
Everyone froze for half a second.
Mira stared at Luno. "How did you know?"
Luno stared at the jar.
"I…"
He had no idea.
"Lucky guess."
Spark muttered from his hat, "Liar."
"Not helping."
Kel heard that one, but he didn't have time to ask.
A figure moved above them.
Kel finally saw him.
"Up there!"
Doss saw him too. "Got you."
He started forward.
Kel grabbed him again.
Doss groaned. "Would you stop doing that?"
"No."
More movement appeared on the opposite ridge. Kel counted at least three shapes before they disappeared again.
They were being pushed forward.
Not trapped.
Pushed.
That bothered him.
"Don't chase them," Kel said.
Doss looked ready to argue, so Kel cut him off.
"Mission is the supplies. We get the crates through first."
Something about saying it out loud made Kel understand.
Harven's lesson hadn't really been about dodging rocks.
It had been about staying together while somebody tried to make them split.
Kel almost smiled.
Sneaky old bastard.
"Move!"
They ran the last stretch together. Pellets followed them until they reached the wider ground beyond the pass.
Then everything stopped.
Kel turned around, breathing hard.
Four figures climbed down from the rocks.
Doss raised his club. "You've got to be kidding me."
Kel recognized the uniforms.
Durnfield Guard.
Trainees.
One of them gave an awkward wave. "Morning."
Luno's mouth fell open.
A fifth figure stepped from behind the rocks.
Captain Harven.
Kel stared at him.
Harven looked over the squad, then at the intact supply crates. His eyes lingered on Kel and Luno before returning to the others.
Luno pointed at him. "You!"
Harven raised an eyebrow. "Me."
"You trained us for this!"
Harven glanced toward the pass. "Did I?"
Kel bent forward with his hands on his knees. "I really hate when you do that."
Harven's mouth twitched.
Not quite a smile.
"Good."
Kel straightened. "Good?"
Harven walked past him and tapped the medicine crate. "You got angry. You got confused. One of you tried running toward the threat."
Doss suddenly found the ground interesting.
"But the supplies made it through," Harven continued. "And nobody got left behind."
Last night's words came back to Kel.
Without separating.
He finally understood.
This hadn't been their mission. Not really.
The delivery was real, but Split Pass, the ambush, even the way their squad had been arranged—it had all been part of Harven's test.
Luno apparently reached the same conclusion.
"You're going to keep doing this, aren't you?"
Harven started walking toward Brindle. "Doing what?"
Luno stared after him.
Spark laughed beneath his hat.
Kel sighed and picked up one side of the supply crate.
"Yeah. He definitely is."
Luno grabbed the other side.
Behind them, the insects inside his jar slowly settled.
All except one.
A tiny beetle remained pressed against the glass nearest Luno's hand. When Luno looked down at it, he could've sworn he knew exactly what it wanted.
Not words. Nothing that clear.
Just a simple feeling.
Closer.
Luno smiled and tapped the glass.
"I'm right here."
The beetle tapped back.
Luno stopped walking.
Kel nearly dropped his side of the crate.
"Seriously?"
"Coming!"
Luno hurried after him.
Neither boy noticed Harven looking back.
His eyes moved from Luno's jar to the spot on Kel's forearm where the pellet had struck.
Both boys had done more than survive his first test. They had responded to it, each in ways Harven hadn't taught them.
That was what concerned him.
Harven turned back toward Brindle.
Tomorrow night's lesson would have to be harder.
End of Chapter 12 — The First Test