"Guard your face." Daniel urged as he advanced towards me. "Now do the front kick."

I pulled my knee up and kicked out at him, missing him as he quickly stepped aside. "Move faster and lift your leg higher!" He ordered, demonstrating the move.

While we sparred and exercised the move, I surprised him. Spinning on my leg, I kicked him in the shoulder. "Good! You've learned something!" He nodded in approval. "Do the roundhouse kick again."

I repeated the kick a few more times, rising my leg as high as I could. He blocked my kicks with his hand every single time, sending me flying to the ground. My bones were rattling and my hip was noticeably swollen because of his powerful strikes. It was a God's gift I healed so fast but also a curse, considering this game was an endless torture. However, I knew that this was nothing compared to the pain I would have to endure on the real mission.

Daniel stepped closer, putting his hands on my shoulder. He leaned towards my bruised face, looking into my eyes "My intention isn't to hurt you Korina. I simply want you to reach your potential. I expect great things from you." His eyes softened and lowered to my mouth.

I felt unease as he stood so close to me, too close. As his head slowly lowered to my lips I reacted. I didn't even comprehend how fast I must have moved. Mimicking his stance, I put my hands on his shoulders. I reached for my power, or at least what was left of it as I knee stroked him in the groin.

He groaned loudly, dropping to his knees.

I suddenly realized what have I done. I pressed my hand to my mouth, looking shocked, seeing his red face.

"Oh God! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear!"

"Don't apologize, you did well. You surprised me and blocked my advances." He said, though not looking very thrilled about it. "I believe we had enough." He announced, still grimacing. He awkwardly walked off, not even glancing back at me, leaving me completely mortified.

*

After the studies Sanna accompanied me to the gym, happily chattering about a new software program she was developing. I tried to follow what she was talking about, but honestly, I didn't understand the half of it. Mark on the other hand, would be probably thrilled if he would be here. An overwhelming feeling of sadness enveloped me as I thought about my friend and how I won't be able to see him ever again. But he didn't even remember I existed anymore.

As we stepped out of the commons a deafening, beeping noise suddenly went off.

"What is going on?" I said, nervously looking around.

"It's the alarm, something must have happened. Let me check." She said typing away on her comm device. "Damn it!" She cursed loudly.

"Tell me! What is going on?" Concern washed over me as I saw her pale face.

"There's been a breach! We have to hide!" She said with pure horror in her eyes.

Sanna grabbed my hand pulling me into one of the smaller corridors. We ran into a tiny room which looked more like an unused storage.

"Sanna we can't hide! I have to help them!" I tried to open the doors, but she has already overridden the command on the them.

"There is nothing you can do Korina! You've barely started with your training, you would slow them down! Please!" She begged me with her eyes, willing me to calm down.

"But I can't just uselessly hide here like a coward and wait for it to pass!" I tried to reason with her.

"That's exactly what we are going to do, besides I can't fight, so you can protect me. Whoever has breached our systems must be looking for you, so you need to stay out of their way!" She clutched my hands, staring at me widely.

I strained my ears to hear anything that would let us know what was going on the other side. But there was only silence, no struggle and no shouting.

"Do you hear anything?" She said with impatience.

"No, not even a sound." I frowned "I expected chaos." I shared a look with her.

"I don't understand. Maybe it was just a false alarm." She told me, her expression confused.

Then I heard light steps approaching our hiding place, stopping in front of the door. The person gently knocked, and we moved back, dread filling our lungs.

"Sanna! It's me! Are you there?" we both sighed in relief as we heard Elliot's voice.

"You scared the shit out of me Elliot!" Sanna barked.

He quietly laughed "It's safe to come out. Everything appears to be fine." He spoke calmly.

Sanna relaxed a little, typing the command to release us out. "What happened?" She said, confused as she looked at him.

"There's been an error somewhere in the system, they are trying to fix it right now." He assured us.

"Are you sure?" She said, not really convinced "There are no errors in the system, Landon and I designed it ourselves."

A low growl welled up in his chest and his pupils dilated with rage. In an instant he had a dagger against her throat, violently pulling her head back by her hair. I watched in a haze, paralyzed as he tore her hair out with a sickening sound. She cried out in surprise "Elliot! Please! What are you doing? What is wrong with you?" Shock of the betrayal was evident in her eyes.

"Release her!" I said, dropping my voice low.

"I am not afraid of you! You are no threat to me!" He mocked me. "You've barely manifested!" He spat.

"Stay where you are or she loses her head!" He warned me as I took a step forward, trying to approach them.

"What happened? You were my friend!" Sanna cried, trying to wriggle out of his death grip, but he pressed the dagger tighter to her neck. "Don't move bitch!" He growled, but he made a mistake as he momentarily turned to her to hit her with the knight handle. I took advantage of the moment and leaped at him.

I used all of my body weight to knock him on the ground. His knife clattered on the floor as we fell.

I heard Sanna whimper, seeing her hand flying to her slightly cut neck. As I assured myself she wasn't badly hurt, my concentration turned back to Elliot.

He roared in rage as he attacked me. I ducked his assaulting fists, my movements blurring with speed. I had speed and strength on my side, but he was too well skilled. It took one blow to crack the bones in my jaw. I staggered back, surprised at his agility.

He was a mage, he shouldn't be so strong. I evaded the next powerful blow. Ducking low, I spun on my heel, striking his hip. The force of it nearly broke his spine.

As I hesitated, his hand sprung out grabbing the nape of my neck, hitting my head on the concrete wall. My eyes rolled back as I broke my nose with the impact. As his knee connected with my face, I fell to the floor, completely exhausted and feeling utterly useless. How was it possible that he was stronger than me?

Sanna was sobbing and quietly fiddling with her comm, no doubt trying to call for help. My swollen eyes widened in horror as I saw two unfamiliar men appear behind her. "What are you trying to do pussycat?" Said one of them with a sickly sweet voice. She cried out in pain as he ripped the comm out of her hand.

"Please no! Don't hurt us!" She begged them. But her pleas were futile as Elliot approached her, lifting her by her neck. She slumped in his hands like a cloth doll, unable to defend herself. "I said, shut up!" he roared in her face.

"Your eyes-" She stuttered "You are not Elliot!" She cried out in relief.

"Took you long enough. You should be ashamed, what a friend you are!" He ridiculed her.

I glanced at him over the two men surrounding me, and then I noticed it too. It was his eyes, they were almost owlish-like, bulging, with the unmoving stare. He was a Skinwalker, imitating Elliot's appearance.

She spat at his face, breaking his cool as he snapped at her, smashing his fist in her face. Her head lulled to the side, blood trickling out of her nose.

"Sanna!" I screamed, forcing my injured body forward. But the other two Skinwalkers blocked me, pushing me back against the wall.

Anger welled inside of me, making me see red as I leaped on one of them. Instincts overtook as I sank my teeth into his neck, biting as hard as I could. I must have done quite a damage as he gurgled, sinking to his knees. Something cold pierced my side as I fought as fiercely as I could. I stroked out with frenzied moves, hoping to hit someone in the process. Blood was oozing out of my forehead, dripping into my eyes and mouth. My hip hurt, the injury considerably slowing me down.

"Control her!" Elliot-look alike screamed at his men.

He let go of Sanna, sprinting towards me, he swung his fists, burying them in my stomach. I coughed wildly, blood dripping out of my mouth. And then he went berserk, beating me senseless. I fought the two men who were holding me, trying to evade his everlasting blows, but it was no use.

I sank to the floor, my head hitting the hard ground.

And then the real chaos began.

Warriors barged in surrounding the invaders. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Traxx mauling the Skinwalker that imitated our friend. His pretense swayed as he looked at him in terror, momentarily showing his true face.

Ria lifted Sanna in her arms, rocking her as if she was a child. Then she looked at me, pain obvious in her eyes.

"Get her to the med bay!" Daniel commanded, kneeling over me. "Oh, God!" He said, gulping.

I must have been in a terrible state, considering everything hurt. I barely saw anything with my left eye and there was a dagger sticking out of my hip.

"Forgive me. This will hurt." He said, quickly pulling the knife out. I roared in pain, my eyes welling with tears.

"Korina, listen to me. You heal fast, I can assure you that you will be already up in an hour. I will get you to Elliot, he will know what to do." He lifted me effortlessly, carefully avoiding my wounds.

The next thing I knew he put me in the hospital bed next to unconscious Sanna. "How is she?" I said with an effort. I already felt my wound closing as a familiar tingling sensation crawled all over my body.

"He hit her in the head, but she will be ok. There is no critical damage, she is a Tracker after all, so she is already healing." Said Elliot, standing beside me. I winced as I saw him, fear filling my lungs.

"He looked just like you." I said with a shaky voice.

"He was a Skinwalker, imitating him." Maximillian stepped into the room.

He apologetically looked at me "I promised I would keep you safe and I failed." He lowered his head, grave expression settling on his face.

"You cannot always protect me. That is my job now." I said, covering his hand with mine.

"You should have seen the damage she had done to those bastards!" Traxx laughed. "She must have fought like an animal!"

"You've done well Korina. You made me proud." Daniel nodded approvingly. He turned back to Maximillian, his expression changing abruptly.

"How could they break in so easily? Our systems would never allow it." Daniel rubbed his forehead, a look of apprehension on his face. "There is no way. A Skinwalker's appearance is only an illusion, they would have been detected instantly."

"There is one possibility, which would be upsetting for all of us." Maximillian said as he looked at every person in the room.

"What is it?" I asked, propping myself on the elbows.

"We have a traitor in the building."

"No way! We are a family, who would do such a thing?" Traxx jumped up, nervously wandering around the room.

"I am sorry, but everything points to that conclusion. Someone must have disabled the system for long enough they could sneak in." Maximillian said, his expression distressed.

"But they've made a mistake. Cameras recognized an unauthorized entry, and the alarm went off." Daniel explained.

"Sadly it was too late. They already followed Sanna and Korina." Elliot joined in.

"Did you question the bastards?" Ria sat on Sanna's bed, her fists clenched tightly.

"Yes, Kellan and I both did. As we suspected they work for Laurel. That's all that we could get out of them. They are not talking." Maximillian's mouth set in a hard line.

"Then I will make them talk." Traxx's lips curved into a wicked smile, exposing his sharp teeth. I shuddered at the thought of being interrogated by Traxx. If one threatened his friends, couldn't expect to be treated by his friendliest demeanor. And he wasn't the type of person who would back off.

"You could try, but they are already badly battered. They must have been severely brainwashed." Maximillian added, looking at Traxx.

"I bet they would piss their pants when they see Traxx." Ria's mouth twisted as everybody nodded.

"Well, we can definitely try. But there is also one more thing. We need to upgrade our systems and for that, we need someone who is top notch. I already contacted Central, he is coming in first thing."