The next step was the part that I had feared the most.

We waited.

I was terrified that nobody was going to show but it was still so early that I couldn't be sure.

Time seemed to be going a lot slower than usual.

Veera was sitting alone on the steps while Malvin and Jake argued about something. The conversation had started with us asking why they'd come out of a room together with morning hair and guilty faces.

Malvin had claimed that they'd just been talking and fell asleep. Veera hadn't said anything to defend herself, not that she needed too.

I was just... surprised.

I didn't have a watch on but Jake kept assuring me that it wasn't time yet. He could trick me into waiting there all day if he wanted too.

Maybe Jeremiah was right. 

Maybe we wouldn't even get the opportunity to fail because we wouldn't have the manpower to try.

"Jake." I called out, interfering with their argument. "Maybe we're wasting our time."

He shook his head. "They'll come."

"You keep saying that, but cults are very loyal to their leader." I explained.

"What if what I said wasn't enough to break that?"

"Have a little faith." Malvin smiled.

"He's right." Two words I never thought I'd hear come out of Jake's mouth. "It's just going to take them some time."

I glared and sat back down again and folded my arms like a child.

I wasn't a very patient person.

My boredom made me consider whether or not I should go over to Veera.

Her head was down like she was at a funeral. I rolled my eyes accepting defeat and went to sit next to her on the step.

"Veera..." I began.

"What?" She snapped.

She folded her arms unable to make eye contact.

"We were just talking, okay? I'm not trying to steal your lap dog. It wasn't even a good conversation."

"I know that's not why-" I paused. "On the news back there they called you Mercia."

"So?" She snipped.

"I've heard that name before in Malvin's stories -"

"God." She rubbed her temples. "Is there anyone in the world that he didn't tell that story to? Well go ahead. Call me barbaric or whatever superior remark you have for me this time."

I stared at her.

"I'm sorry Veera."

She rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you just admit that your jealous? I saw the look on your face when you saw me with Malvin!"

Her cheeks turned red but she continued raising her voice for everyone to hear.

"You know what your problem is, Pacem? You're so obsessed with getting everything you want. Well guess what? You can't have both of them."

I glanced at Jake and there was a solemn look on his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

She laughed.

"So that wasn't you kissing Jake last night?"

My eyes widened. "How did you-"

"I saw you. God knows what you did after I was gone."

"We didn't-"

"Whatever." She stood up. "Just don't give me all this friend shit when all you're doing is checking that I didn't steal one of the men fawning over you."

She turned it around so that my cheeks were the ones heating up.

Jake and Malvin both were fixated on us.

"Malvin and I aren't like that, Veera!" I found the anger bubbling slowing inside of me.

"I was checking if you were okay. Jeez! Nevermind."

Obviously, I felt the need for a swift retreat.

I ended up climbing the steps out into the woods to check on Shir. She had been waiting for me at the top wagging her tail.

Something was in her mouth that looked like a mouse. I just laughed grateful it hadn't been something bigger.

She provided a good enough distraction for a while.

I patted her, scratched her. I even let her chase me around for a bit but as soon as I heard Jake shout my name, I sprinted back down those stares so fast. All that was missing was the "Grease Lightning" theme song.

When I finally allowed myself to look, I saw five strangers standing in front of me.

Five? I thought Five wasn't enough.

I glanced at Jake disappointed but he gave me a look and simply said,

"They want to help."

I bit but lip.

If Jake thought these people were enough then we were going to make it so.

"Okay," I said sternly. "Who here feels like they have a stronger bond with nature and would rather work on that than combat?"

Two people, very hesitantly responded, "me" and "sort of"

"Good, you're coming with Malvin and I. The rest of you will stay here and learn how to fight with Jake and Veera."

They all seemed incredibly nervous. As if they were battling some huge decision or performing some incriminating act.

All I had to do was calm them down and make sure they new it was the right choice. Although, if calming them down was the main objective, I probably should have told them about my pet lion.

As soon as Shir crept out from behind the tree, the woman who had joined the group screamed in horror. The man pushed her behind him as if he could take on the king of the jungle.

"It's okay." I walked up to Shir and bent down to pat her. "This is Shir. We're connected somehow. She won't hurt you."

"You're connected to a lion?" The woman pushed herself to the front again, cautious yet curious.

I glanced at Malvin since I'd noticed he'd been abnormally quite.

He was just watching tentatively in the shadows. I wondered what he was thinking after Veera's tantrum.

He certainly had on an rare poker face.

"I am." I nodded. "As soon as I saw her something happened. We just seemed to understand each other in a way I can't explain."

"That's impossible," the man concluded stubbornly.

"Shir. Up." I ordered and she immediately leapt to her feet.

"So the creature has been trained." The man shrugged. "It's not unheard of."

I shook my head bending down and whispering something in Shir's ear.

The lion looked at me quizzically before stepping closer to the man. He immediately stepped backwards, pushing the woman in front of his path.

Some hero.

Shir continued towards him, ignoring the woman completely and focussing on her target.

The man was so terrified by the time Shir reached him, that he couldn't move, frozen like a statue.

The man was about to let out a piercing cry but Shir hopped up onto him and licked him right across the face.

His eyes were so wide that I thought they might pop out of their sockets.

"See?" I said. "She won't hurt you. And she hasn't been trained. It's the bond that her and I have formed. It makes her understand who's a threat."

"How?" The woman asked eagerly. "How do we do that?"

I smiled.

"I'll show you." 

We worked the entire day after that.

The truth was I'd had no idea how to answer Danielle's question (that was the woman's name from before). But I thought if I appear confident everything would be fine.

The strategy had seemed to work for Jake.

I started at the beginning and asked them what made them say nature was the forte.

The man, Tom, had remained unresponsive, but Danielle had told me it was more about the strength that she feels when in nature itself.

She said that she had a herb garden and that it made her feel safe.

So we worked with that, unsure of our main objective. I used to do Yoga and I remembered a lot of the breathing techniques that would help get a person focussed.

I figured if I could get her to feel consumed by the connection like I had, something would happen.

Just as I was starting to doubt myself entirely, the vine in front of the woman twitched. There wasn't a wind blowing, but I didn't say anything in case I'd  imagined it.

My eyes flashed around to see other's reactions. When nobody said anything, I continued to watch the vine.

It happened again.

This time the vine didn't stop. It swirled into the air and created a spiral in the centre of the four of us. It was literally defying gravity.

"My God..." Tom mumbled and Danielle opened her eyes to see what the commotion was about.

When she saw the scene in front of her, she immediately shot up from the ground that she'd been sitting on and the plant dropped to the floor limply.

"Did... Did I do that?"

The time had passed when things like this surprised me.

Now I just took it in my stride. I knew better than anyone that anything was possible.

"You did that," I confirmed. "We'll work on trying to developing the skill tomorrow, but that really was amazing."

She gave me a look of disbelief before allowing herself to smile. Slowly, she put her hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you."

I nodded.

I said goodbye to Shir and then we all headed back through forest before the sun could go down.

Malvin was staring at me quizzically, but I didn't quite know what it he meant by it. There was no use in trying to understand what was going on in his brain.

Danielle was so happy that she practically was skipping, and Tom slugged after her with his hands in his pockets.

He'd obviously followed me for a reason and was battling some type of inner turmoil, but he was slightly annoying, and a part of me wanted to just leave him be.

The other part was too curious, so I called him behind whilst the others drifted down the steps of the amphitheatre.

"Look," he said. "I apologise for being rude. I didn't mean any disrespect; this is all just very overwhelming."

"Don't worry about it." I folded my arms.

"Can I be honest with you, Miss Creed?"

I nodded.

"Jeremiah sent me here to spy on you."

It had been a low blow, but quite frankly I wasn't surprised.

Tom had spent the entire day making mean and abrasive comments that had no trace of open-mindedness.

He definitely didn't fit the profile of somebody looking to learn or even going through an inner struggle. He was just too inflexible and what he was saying made perfect sense.

"What do you plan to tell him?"

"That I'm not spying anymore," he confirmed. "I thought you were the fraud, but it seems I've been looking at things the wrong way. I'll be back tomorrow, but I'll probably go to learn how to fight, if that's okay."

I grinned, slightly relieved that I wouldn't be seeing too much of him anymore.

"No problem."

I started to make my way down the steps, but he called out to me.

"Yes?" I asked turning around.

"What you just got these people to do today." He looked more serious than usual.

"It's going to change everything."

Is Pacem going to change the world?

Or will someone stand in her way...