Reversed

xxi. twenty-one

Sophie's body still ached when she waked up the next morning, but less so. It still felt like she'd been hit by a train—but only once. Which was an improvement.

Sophie rolled onto her side and felt under it for spare weapons. When her fingers brushed a goblin throwing star she shifted herself onto her knees with a groan and tucked the star away.

She didn't know how early it was, because her sleep schedule was bound to be off. But she decided it was as good a time as any to continue training. She could use a good fight to take her mind off her sore body.

From the windows in the hall, Sophie could see that the sky was the dusty black color of pre-dawn. It was probably one or two in the morning; she would be able to get some good practice in.

Sophie pressed her fingertip against the DNA scanner and restocked her cloak's pockets with weapons from armory. She picked out a few of the new gadgets the Technopath must have just built and slipped them away in case she needed to make things fun.

Shedding her heavy cloak, Sophie stood in the middle of the arena and warmed herself up. She worked her way through a series of stretches, kicks, and maneuvers that raised her heart rate in record time. She ended with swinging weapons, getting feeling back into her arms. She tried to push through the achiness.

By the time she had gone through all her usual exercises, Sophie's head was spinning. She had to stumble over to the wall, lean against it, and take a few shuddering breaths before it was clear again.

She clicked the last button in a row of five against the wall next to her. They each had some sort of elf-y rune she couldn't read carved into the surface, but Ruy had explained to her what each meant in the arena. Sophie had clicked the one that basically turned the arena into a booby-trapped mine field. 

Armed dummies, sharp-tipped arrows, and glass water traps were just a few things that could pop up without warning. Vespera had recently added some illusion work that had apparently gave even their Technopath trouble.

Sophie slid a dagger into one hand and a throwing star into the other. She stood in a fighting stance, poised, head cocked for the slightest hint or sound of what was coming.

Something whizzed towards her ear, and Sophie dropped her dagger and spun, catching it out of the air. An arrow. Sophie exchanged it for the dropped dagger, rolling out of the way of the next projectile that tore through where she had just been standing.

This was exactly what Sophie had come here for; an escape. Soon, the walls spit arrows and ticking gadgets so fast that she didn't have time to think. She was just a moving blur, flipping, rolling, dodging, and slashing, senses religiously dedicated towards keeping her body from being impaled.

Soon, she had sunk into a routine, and she was able to find time in between dodges to glance around for the source of the projectiles. Or multiple sources, rather, she soon found out. Small sections of the wall smaller than her hand melted away, revealing a canon-like gadget that locked onto her figure and hurled the projectiles. As soon as it fired, the wall closed back up.

Sucking in air and ignoring her pounding limbs, Sophie focused on the pattern in which the six canons opened and spewed projectiles. Once she had the idea, she narrowed her eyes and quickly released daggers in a pattern of her own: Grab, spin, throw. Grab, spin, throw.

She stopped after the seventh grab and looked around. The wall sections were stuck open, and a silvery dagger stuck out of each canon.

She barely had time to wipe the sweat from her brow before the ground rumbled and dark, slippery, human-shaped figures rose out. There were four of them; and they hissed in chorus and simultaneously lunged at Sophie. She whipped out a throwing star and hurled it at the nearest one.