Chapter 8: Steady Now
"Shhhhh...." Kordelia lowered herself further into their crouched position, her fingertips nimbly bringing down the aim of Actaeon's rifle a fraction. "Remember your training yesterday. Breathe in, breathe out. Both eyes open. Steady now..." She continued to whisper, her voice barely audible.
Actaeon's grip tightened on the firearm, he cautiously glanced her way, and she nodded once. He positioned is aim downwind, and leveled his eyes with the scope. Kore took a step back, her optical focused on their target. Riggins let out a short breath, relaxing his arms, and squeezed the trigger. The shot rang through the trees.
"Motherfucker!"
Kordelia let out a howl of laughter, bracing her back against the trunk of the large oak tree her and Riggins were perched in. Actaeon joined her, pride beaming on his face.
"You can come out now, Felix! We got you!" Kore giggled as the massive target burst through the brush just below them.
Felix looked annoyed, but he peered up at them, his massive arm blocking out the evening light. He looked between the two of them and growled under his breath. "Those fucking rubber bullets hurt like hell." He lifted his blacked out t-shirt to reveal his abdomen. Waves of muscles layered his stomach, along with a reddened spot just below his naval. It was already bruising, and he hissed as he touched it, trying to inspect the damage. "It doesn't help that he has YOU of all people to train him, cheater."
Kore scoffed, pretending to take interest in her cuticles. "Actaeon found you all on his own. Not like it was that hard, to be honest. You walk around these woods like a damn bear looking for his next meal."
"Oh, I'll show you a damned bear." Felix lurched forward, gripping the bark of the old oak with his bare hands, and beginning to climb with unbelievable speed.
Kordelia screeched with laughter, leaped from her spot and landed with a thud on the ground. Actaeon followed suit with a grunt. "You even move as slow as a bear!" She started to back away. Felix jumped down to land just feet away from her. "I'm going to make you eat those words, Ko-.."
She broke out into a dead run, aimed for base, before he could finish. "Training dismissed!" She hollered behind her as she went, wild curls fluttering in the breeze. Felix laughed, giving Actaeon a hard pat on the back before taking off after her.
***
Felix had caught up to her as they reached the outskirts of the forest, just outside the lines of the training field. Other teams were finishing up their routines. They could be seen grouping up in the distance. Felix crouched as he ran up behind Kore and swept her right off her feet and slung her over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. "Gotcha, ti sè." He rumbled with merriment as she squealed. He hadn't heard that sound come from her in almost a month. Their entire squad seemed to be on edge, and it was a relief to hear actual happiness come from Kore. She squirmed fiercely, and he only tickled her in response, causing bellowing giggles to erupt from her lips.
He still had a hold of her as they approached the rest of the platoon. Wolfe and Madocc pushed past the others to join him. They all laughed together at Kordelia's expense.
"What'cha got there, Fee?" Wolfe chuckled, even Madocc was smiling.
"Well, it seems that I caught myself here, a wild Kordelia." He tickled her side again for added measure.
"Release me, you big oaf." She struggled, and just like that, he plopped her on the ground with an 'oof'.
She stood, brushing off her clothes, glaring up at her three brothers. She broke with a smile, shaking her head. "One of these days, I will get all three of you back for ganging up on me all the time."
Actaeon finally caught up with them right as they all began to turn to head inside. Kore snaked an arm around his middle and gave a squeeze. "Great job today, Riggins. You'll be a great sniper yet. Just you wait."
Over the past couple of days, Kordelia and Actaeon had really taken with one another. She kept a watch over him, on and off the training field. She couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for him, protective even. They had been continuously working together to sharpen his skills with a rifle. She had to admit, he was a quick study. It most likely had something to do with his childhood trauma. A broken leg would limit anyone physically, so stretching your brain muscles seemed to be the only remedy that made sense. She had yet to talk to Alekai about his physical training, keeping it on the back burner. She knew she would have to confront him sooner rather than later. Whispers were being traded among the new recruits, and she didn't want a single one of them to think that she was giving Actaeon special treatment. She knew what that led to, having dealt with it herself.
They all entered mess together. Actaeon took his new place on the other side of Kordelia's, fitting in with her squad quite well. Madocc, Wolfe, and Felix's trainees still had not made any sort of appearance, but Riggins felt more comfortable with them rather than the group he started with. No one hesitated and accepted him with open arms, largely due to the way, they knew, that Kore felt about the whole situation. Kore was the only one to stay standing. Her eyes danced as she watched her squad delve into today's highlights, the four men laughing and carrying on like it was effortless. A wash of sadness fell over her, and Wolfe chose that exact moment to make eye contact. He simply looked and understood, but before the others could notice, he joined back in the discussion.
"I'll be back in a moment." She smiled, gave a small wave, and exited swiftly. "It will all be worth it in the end." She whispered to herself.
***
Kordelia paused, her hand pressed against the regal doors. Her eyes were closed, forehead gently laid against the carved wood. She needed to find her peace, and it their world gone to shit, this was it for her. She pushed against the doors, causing them to groan with apprehension. She allowed them to close behind her. The giant room sucked into darkness aside from the soft warmth of the alter ahead lit by thousands of candles.
Center stage was Mother. The ivory carved statue practically glowed in the ascending moonlight. She stood overhead, her robes of white flowing to the floor to cover where her feet would have been. Her arms were outstretched, her angelic face a mask of compassion and love. The blank eyes always stopped Kore before she could draw near. The nearly perfect rounded face brought her comfort, but she always lingered on the eyes. Kordelia believed them to be the windows to the soul, and for their Mother to have nothing but emptiness reflected in hers...
Kore arrived at Mother's edge, slowly dropping to her knees, sitting upon her feet. She neatly folded her hands in her lap. Tears threatened to spill.
"Mother, I need your guidance." She spoke quietly. "The end is coming, and I need you here with me. I need to know that what I am doing is right. I need you by my side, to keep me strong when I feel weak. To ease the waves of doubt that I have been carrying. Please. Please, watch over us."
She bent and pulled a large unlit candle from the group and set it directly in front of the statue's base. Grabbing a taper stick from the batch of others, she lit the end with another candle's flame and then gently placed it against the wick of her's. The taper went out. Sighing, Kordelia bent to relight it. Suddenly, the candle's wick burst into a small flame. She froze, dropping the taper. She looked up, directly into Mother's accepting arms.
"Don't abandon me now..."
***
"Am I interrupting?"
She hadn't heard him enter the chapel, but she had felt it. Kore kept her focus forward, not turning to meet the argent gaze that was probing her backside. It took all of her strength not to tense. She must have been seated in the same spot for hours. The moon had shifted over the glass windows, giving evidence of the time.
"Commander." She barely acknowledged him, saddened by his unwarranted intrusion.
"Kore...I can leave." He spoke low.
"No need." She shifted her weight off of her feet, sitting upon the floor, her legs curled by her side. "I just needed some time to be...-"
"Alone." Alekai finished for her.
"Yes." She looked up toward's Mother. "Well, not exactly alone."
Alekai's footfalls stopped short just behind her, the groan of the pew under his weight her only cue that he had sat down. She stood, her legs cramping in protest, and joined the pew, sitting right next to him. He sighed, closing his eyes to her proximity. She tiredly rested her head against his shoulder. Neither one offered anything to the other for a long while.
"Being upset with you is awfully exhausting." She murmured finally.
He looked down at her with a sad smile. "I hated upsetting you in the first place."
"Your birthday is tomorrow." She smiled on a yawn, eye watering.
"No need to remind me." He nudged her gently.
"I always need to remind you. You're going to be an old man soon." She giggled halfheartedly. "Who else is going to annoy you until they day we have grown old and are beginning to succumb to our death's?"
"Our death's? Who says that you or I will ever die? We're both entirely too stubborn for that."
"I hope that is true." They both fell into comfortable silence, just taking solace in each other's company. "If anything, we will always have one another."
"You think so?"
"I will make sure of it." She yawned again, bigger and longer. "But, as for tonight, I need to get some sleep." She took his hand as she stood, and gave a modest flex. "I do love you, Alekai."
He let his hand fall from hers. "Goodnight, Kordelia."
"Goodnight, Alekai."
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