Once again, I stood at the edge.
It was the first day of my first Earth summer vacation, so what better time to jump off a cliff?
From our perch across Laurel Lake, I could see the entirety of my adopted home in all its rustic glory. The town’s beating heart, Main Street, was full of local businesses and cut right through the centre of town. Between Main Street and a dense forest were the majority of Gravenbridge’s homes. Where the commercial and residential centers began to bleed together, I was able to make out the shape of my school. An obscured view from across the lake is about as close as I wanted to get. Bordering the lake’s shore was Buche Park. From where I stood, I could see our usual hangout, the Park Pavilion, as well as the playground and fountain.
My eyes drifted to the far left, where glamorous summer homes crested the forest canopy. Olympus, my friends called it. It was apparently named after the home of one of Earth’s pantheons. I didn’t understand the reference, but I was told it was meant as an ironic insult. Those I could appreciate. While Gravenbridge-proper had the park, Olympus had a beach and central dock. A large portion of the homes in Olympus had their own private access to the lake, but the dock served a central ingress for anyone who wanted to venture out onto the beach. However, my friends told me there was another, secret dock, nestled somewhere in the trees.
Laurel Lake glistened in the sunlight. I closed my eyes and listened to the waves crash against the cliff face. I took a deep breath of lakeside air as a gentle breeze passed through my tangled mess of blonde hair.
I spent most of my life underground, so being near large bodies of water was rare for me. Until I relocated to Gravenbridge, of course. Aside from (some of) the people, being near the lake was my favourite part of living here.
“Is she going to do it?” Carson’s voice brought me out of my moment of peace.
Even with the sun beating down on us, a shadow fell over the forested area behind Gravenbridge. Surely a coincidence, but it reminded me of the night I came to this realm. A night that I did not need to revisit more often than I already did.
I turned around to face my friends.
“Do you really need to ask?” Mina scoffed. Instead of contributing to their conversation, I just smirked.
“See?” Mina followed up as she met my eyes. She grabbed at the pink ends of her deep black hair and tied it into a ponytail. “If you do it, I’ll do it.”
“You really shouldn’t go backwards,” spoke our meek and mousy friend Joe, who sat as far away from the cliff’s edge as he could. He side-eyed Wes, looking for any kind of assistance.
My brother, Wes, just chuckled. Since returning to Gravenbridge, his appearance changed dramatically. His shoulder-length hair was now feathered and rested just low enough to cover his ears. Without constant training, his frame had slightly contracted around the shoulders. Still, if I had to guess, he could probably take anyone who tried to mess with him. At least, anyone from this realm. But what stuck out the most to me were his eyes-- they had new life in them. Coming home had re-ignited a piece of him that had long been missing.
That was the difference between the two of us-- coming to Gravenbridge reunited Wes with his family, while I lost mine. He was all I had left of my old life, but sometimes it felt like he didn’t want me to be part of his story any longer. But only sometimes.
“She’s done stupider things and walked away,” Wes assured Joe. Joe nervously re-adjusted his glasses, but said nothing else.
“Yukon girls are built different,” said Lia.
Lia and I met on my first day at Gerald Graven High. She insisted on becoming my friend after I knocked another girl, Tory, on her ass during dodgeball. She recruited me for the girl’s basketball team and we’d been friends ever since. She didn’t know where I actually came from, but she had my back. Not that I needed someone watching it, but it was nice to know I had an ally I could count on. Still, keeping Redrania a secret from her became difficult after her and Mina began courting-- or ‘dating’ as they called it here on Earth.
The mix of concern and anticipation on my friends’ faces amused me. This was not the first cliff that I had jumped off, nor would it be the last. However, it might have been the lowest.
“See you at the bottom. Unless you’re a coward, that is,” I snarked before launching into a backflip off the cliff.
While I was still within earshot, I heard my friends shuffle to their feet. Joe lamented aloud, “No one listens to my safety concerns.”
I completed my flip and with a satisfying KERSPLASH I broke the surface of the water and was enveloped in the cool embrace of the lake. With my breath held, I floated below the surface, basking in the peace of being underwater. A muted splash to my side prompted me to surface.
I took a large inhale and began treading water as Mina emerged from the lake. “Told you I’d follow.”
Instead of responding, I turned my attention to the top of the cliff. Carson, Wes, Lia, and Joe were all lined up at the edge to get a good look at the two of us. “You guys going to join?” I shouted up.
Carson was the first to move, his mane of curly hair bouncing as he reared up and leapt into the air. “YAHOOOO!” he hollered before splashing into the lake in front of me and Mina. He broke the surface, his hair completely flattened by the water and sticking to most of his face.
“Ew, I think I got some in my mouth,” he spit as he cleared his eyes of hair.
“That can’t be the grossest thing to go in your mouth,” Mina joked. Carson responded by splashing her. Mina cackled and splashed back.
Lia hit the water with a satisfying KERPLOOSH, once again dousing Carson’s face with lake water. “Don’t splash my girlfriend,” she giggled as she pushed more water in Carson’s direction.
“Sadie! The lesbians have turned on me!” he shouted between volleys of water.
I started coasting backwards to soak up the sun. “Sorry, this is a battle you’re going to need to handle on your own.” To make sure he knew I wasn’t being an actual dick, I flashed him my highly-practiced well-meaning smile.
“Traitor,” he scoffed before launching an assault of splashes at Mina and Lia. My eyes drifted upwards, where in the glare of the sun, Wes had set himself up for a dive. He launched off the cliff, leaving Joe on his own, and gracefully slipped below the lake’s surface.
I could see his shadow kick forward before he surfaced behind me. As he swam back towards the cliff, I smirked at him. “Show off.”
“Says the girl who did a backflip,” he shot back as he drifted over towards Mina, Lia, and Carson. “Now, I heard we were all ganging up on Carson?”
“You guys are just jealous because I’m Gravenbridge Royalty,” Carson groaned.
“Royalty?” Wes chuckled. “Being the mayor’s son doesn’t make you some kind of prince.”
“Why not?” Carson challenged.
Lia interjected before Wes could respond. “Plus, your dad hasn’t won the election yet!”
“He’s running unopposed! Besides, he has the best campaign manager.”
“Oh, did he fire you?” Mina smirked.
Carson rolled his eyes but the rest of us laughed. It felt good. A genuine laugh always did, and they’d become more common over the past few months. I tried not to think about it too much, else I ran the risk of thinking about all the people who would never laugh again; all the people I left behind in Redrania.
Not to mention the boy I saw skewered in front of my eyes.
I glanced up at the cliff top, but our last friend was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the shore and saw Joe stumbling his way back down the cliff towards a small patch of sand at the water’s edge. Without a word to the others, I swam over.
I shored up next to him and rested my forearms on the solid ground to anchor myself, leaving my legs free to float in the water. “Hey,” I said, “You good?”
Joe and I had become unlikely friends over the past few months. He and Carson filled me in on everything that happened in Gravenbridge after Grayson was sent to Redrania. I became Joe’s go-to expert on all things Redrania, and I became very interested in the secret society that sought to decide Gravenbridge’s fate from the shadows.
We clashed with the Order of the Opened Eye when we first got to Gravenbridge, but after Prince Nire followed us through the gate, they turned into cowards and seemingly went underground. Carson believed it was thanks to he and Joe threatening one of their leaders, Henry DuBois. Joe worried that they were simply biding their time. I tended to agree with him, though I appreciated Carson’s wishful thinking. I just couldn’t picture any magically attuned person being threatened by two seventeen-year-old boys.
“I’m good,” Joe said, forcing a smile. “Danger finds us often enough. I just figure we don’t need to tempt fate.”
I peered over my shoulder. The other four were gently floating, talking amongst themselves. A chorus of laughs found its way to the shore. I brought my eyes back over to Joe. “I don’t think the others see it as tempting fate. More like enjoying themselves.” While I was glad someone had the sense to be cautious, I wished better for Joe. They might not have realized it, but the uneasy peace in Gravenbridge was a blessing. Call me crazy, but I preferred it over constant war.
He sighed. “Yeah, I guess.” He sucked in some air before finishing his thought. “I just don’t know what to expect anymore.”
I nodded. That was a feeling I knew well. It was one that I learned to alleviate with constant planning and rigorous training. The others didn’t have that benefit. But I made a silent promise to myself months ago; whoever tried to screw with this town and its people would find themselves face-to-face with me. And they’d lose. Just like all the others before them. “I get it,” I told Joe. I wanted to say more, but despite our budding friendship, I still found myself holding back. “Just remember. Life’s too short for you to be a wimp.”
A dry laugh escaped his lips. That was his way of acknowledging that I was right without continuing the conversation. He pulled his phone-- a device I barely understood-- and checked the time. “Don’t you guys have a barbecue at six?”
“Yeah. Why?” We still had plenty of time, didn’t we? I swore we had only been here a few hours.
“It’s half-past five,” he stated. I wasn’t sure what to take away from that, so I stared blankly. “It’ll take a few minutes to change, twenty to get back into town, two mo--” Joe stopped when he realized that I wasn’t even making an attempt to follow his train of thought. He cut to the chase; “Leave now or you’ll be late.”
“That’s all I needed to know,” I grunted, pulling myself out of the water and onto dry land. Sand clung to my legs, so I dusted it off as I yelled over the lake. “LIA! MINA! WE NEED TO HIT THE ROAD!”
Four pairs of eyes turned in my direction. While Mina and Lia swam for shore, I swiftly ran back up to the top of the cliff to grab our towels and bags. I returned to the shore just as Lia pulled Mina from the water.
“Here,” I offered.
Mina took both towels, burying her face in one of them. “Thanks,” she said behind a heavy muffle. She pulled the towel away from her face and draped it around her shoulders. She took the second towel and did the same to Lia, who was rummaging through her bag for keys.
“Come on, come on, come on,” Lia let out a frustrated scoff as her wild eyes scanned the inside of her bag. Mina leaned over her shoulder and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek, immediately causing Lia to relax. The next moment, she found her keys. “Hell yeah,” her melodic voice returned to its usual tone. “Let’s get moving.”
“You guys gonna be all good?” Mina asked Joe. I eyed the lake. Carson and Wes were both making their way back to land, but they were in no rush. They weren’t coming with us anyway.
“Yeah, Wes has Brennan pick us up.”
Mina nodded, and the three of us bolted down the sandy path back to the parking lot. On Redrania, we didn’t have cars, but they became pretty normal for me after being jammed into the backseat so many times. The car hummed to life and Lia turned on the music. “We’re going to be late, but that’s fine.” She was looking at me through her mirror, but I felt like she was trying to assure herself.
“They’ll wait for us,” I shrugged.
“Party doesn’t start until Sadie walks in,” Mina chuckled from the passenger seat. She put her hand on Lia’s thigh, which seemed to calm her. While Lia pulled the car onto the road, Mina turned to her girlfriend. “Plus, being fashionably late never hurt anyone,” she said.
We pulled out of the parking lot and onto the dirt road back towards town. “Well, fashionable or not, I hope you guys are prepared to make an entrance,” Lia laughed before she glued the gas pedal to the floor.
The Buche Park Pavilion was one of my favourite locations in Gravenbridge. It was a long rectangle with three open sides. Along the fourth wall was a small kitchen and concessions counter. Now that the weather was warm, local restaurants were taking turns renting out the pavilion’s kitchen on Saturdays. Underneath the pavilion were two rows of picnic benches that ran long enough to sit fifty people, if not more. And from your seat, you got a great view of Laurel Lake. On the edge opposite to the kitchen was a community barbecue, which was the centerpiece for tonight’s meal.
We arrived at Buche Park five minutes after six. It took us a few extra minutes to get from the car to the Park Pavilion, but all things considered, we got there pretty fast. Especially since we, including Lia, had to change out of our bathing suits while on the road. Regardless, we were still the last to arrive.
The entire rugby team was waiting for us as we approached the pavilion. “Thank GOD,” exclaimed Callie, one of our teammates, “Now we can finally eat.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Lia said as she plopped down at a nearby table. “We lost track of time.”
Another teammate, Tory, made a snide remark to the girls behind her. “Not the first time.”
“What was that?” Mina growled, immediately coming to Lia’s defense.
Tory brushed back her hair. In the winter, it was a deep brown, but it lightened in the sun. She gave Mina a look that reminded me why I knocked her down on my first day of school. “Your girlfriend is bad at time management.”
Before Mina could say anything else, I took a single step forward. Tory took a step back, punctuated by her heeled boot hitting the pavilion’s concrete floor. She glared at me through her winged eyes, but said nothing else. I took another step forward.
She stepped back.
I could feel an uneasy tension spread across the rest of the team, but it was quickly broken. “Season’s done girls, we don’t need this kind of fire,” Coach Clay sounded out from behind the barbecue.
Coach was a tiny woman, but she had a presence you couldn’t ignore. Her eyes could bore right through you and figure out exactly what you’re thinking. Under normal circumstances, her voice was sweet, drawing you in like a fly to a trap. But when needed, her words would ring out so loud they could be heard across the entire rugby field. That’s when you knew she was saying something you should not ignore, even if you could. She was our basketball coach during the winter, and once the season ended, she asked if I wanted to join the rugby team. Once I learned what rugby was, I couldn’t refuse. Basketball was fun, but the rules about contact were frustrating. But rugby really let me cut loose.
Coach Clay came around from behind the grill with a full plate. “Alright, potato salad is on the table, drinks are in the kitchen, and burgers are on the grill. Help yourself and sit down.”
We did. Each of us took turns loading our plates and found ourselves a seat at the picnic tables. Despite some of our… personality clashes, we all sat together. I’d never admit it aloud, but it was nice.
In the Underforge, I only ate meals with the people I knew. My dad, Uncle Darius, Wes, Halia, Mirthal, Brotum, maybe a few others here and there. The only time there was ever a big group meal was at base camp before a battle, and that was completely different. There, everyone would try to have a good time, since we all knew it might be our last night drawing breath, but the stakes and tension would exacerbate any festering conflicts.
But on Earth, all the negative thoughts seemed to blow away in the wind. The benefits of peacetime.
Once most of our plates were clean and the conversation started to wane, Coach Clay stood up at the head of the table.
“Girls, if I can have a moment,” she started.
“Coach! Stand up!” Mina heckled.
Everyone laughed, while Coach Clay tried to stifle her own amusement. “Bendall, one more remark like that and you’re off the team.”
“The season’s over!” Mina protested.
“Uh, also she wasn’t even on the team,” squeaked Callie.
“Yes! That too!”
It’s true-- while Mina got an invite to the barbecue, she never actually played with us. While she and Lia were pretending to not have the hots for each other, Mina volunteered to be Coach Clay’s assistant. This mostly meant getting water refills, but she didn’t seem to mind. I appreciated both the cold water and a friendly face.
“As I was saying,” Coach Clay pushed on, “I just wanted to take the chance to thank you all for a great year. I’ve been coaching most of you since you started at GGHS, and it’s been a pleasure to see you grow up into county champions, twice over.”
The team erupted into cheers, myself included. I loved winning, and we did a lot of it over the past two seasons. When I started basketball, I quickly learned that I had one big advantage over everyone else; I’d been training for war my entire life. Once I got moving, it was hard for anyone to keep up with me, much less stop me. The rules took some time to get used to, but that’s besides the point.
“I want to give a special shoutout to all of you who have been on our teams since you started school. We don’t have a ton of students, so it’s really special to have enough players to even have a team. And it’s even more special to have a group of such motivated and tenacious players.” I looked around the table as Coach continued her speech. My teammates beamed with pride, though some kept their smiles to themselves. Most of them deserved to be proud of themselves. Others were dead weight, but I was told that wasn’t ‘sporting’ to say aloud.
“And I want to finish off by giving an honourable mention to our newest teammate, Sadie.”
While I didn’t seek the spotlight, it never intimidated me. But with all eyes on me, I grew made me self-conscious. Some were filled with admiration, but most were filled with fear or uncertainty. I expected as much. Although I stood as tall as most of the girls around me, I was acutely aware of the differences that set me apart; the scars littering my body, the muscle tone earned over a decade of training, eyes that could see the most efficient way to put someone in the ground.
On the ground, I corrected myself. We put people on the ground.
These looks were nothing new. I saw them steal glances at me when I hopped off the bench, I saw them judge me in the changeroom. But it was… unnerving, having all of them intently watching me as Coach paid me a compliment.
“Sadie was our missing piece, the final addition to the roster that helped make this team champions. She came here from the Yukon, not knowing how to play any of our sports, and I’m so proud of how far she’s come since January,” Coach finished. Her proud smile in my direction reminded me of my mother; it was warm, meaningful, and rare. It helped me ignore my discomfort.
It quickly returned as silence settled over the table. Luckily, our assistant coach saved the day. Mina stood up and asked the entire table “Who are we?”
“Gladiators,” we all replied in unison.
“Who are we?!” Mina asked again, pumping her arms up.
“Gladiators!” we shouted.
Mina cupped her hands around her mouth and called out one more time. “WHO ARE WE?!”
Our cheer echoed across the lake. “GLADIATORS!!”
We carried through the evening by discussing the summer ahead and enjoying each other’s company. As the sun was setting, Mina pulled out a speaker and started blasting music. Her, Lia, and most of our other teammates danced barefoot on the grass. Meanwhile, I watched the lake reflect the orange glow of the sky.
When I was little, my mother spent a lot of time in the field. Whether she was gathering intelligence, hunting down magical artifacts, or fighting back raiders, she tended to be gone for a long time. I missed her, but I don’t think even I missed her as much as my dad did. Every now and then, when mom was gone for longer than normal, dad would take me up to the surface. We’d sit on a blanket he knitted for my mom when they met and watch the sun slowly make its way down the horizon.
“What do you think she’s doing?” I always asked my dad.
His answer was always different. But there was one answer that stuck with me. “I’ll bet,” he said, “I’ll bet she’s sitting at her camp and watching the same sunset as we are.”
Even after all these years, that idea filled me with warmth.
Earth and Redrania might not have shared the same sun and sky, but still, I wondered if dad was watching the sunset too. I wondered if he was thinking about me and what I was doing.
I didn’t return to reality until there was a hand waving in front of my face. “Sadie…” Mina prodded, “Earth to Sadie.”
I grabbed her wrist. “I’m here. Hi.”
While still in my grip, she turned her hand and grabbed my wrist in kind. “C’mon, dance with us,” she insisted as she tugged me from my seat. I had half a mind to resist and pull her down, but breaking Mina’s arm didn’t sound like the best way to end the night. And while I wasn’t a dancer, that was the only other option I was given.
Mina released me, which allowed me to kick off my shoes, awkwardly take off my socks, and join the other girls. The cool blades of grass touching my toes sent a shiver through my spine. It was reinvigorating-- and it helped me leave my memories behind.
“Now it’s a special occasion,” Lia grinned as Mina and I approached. She turned up the music, bounced over, and grabbed both my hands. She swung me around to the high-tempo music and I felt a laugh escape my throat. Not because anything was funny, but because I didn’t know how else to express what I was feeling.
Not a single person on the team was doing the same move, but we didn’t care. We danced until the sun bowed out and the stars decided to join in. And finally, I realized something; I actually liked Earth.
