Forever Lasting

Chapter One

Sweating. Heart pounding. And a terrible side stitch. "Cullen! Keep moving! Who told you you could stop and catch your breath?" "Ok, ok, I'm going," Cullen replied as he slowly picked the pace up again, continuing to dodge the knives the metal shifters threw.

"You need to get as fit as you possibly can to become king! Your father will choose your brother if you don't prove yourself worthy!" Yelled an authority figure, gone by the name of Judis.

Cullen had layers of muscle all around his body, making him look like a boulder compared to everyone else in the room. People would always be terrified of his statue, but once they looked closer, his face was innocent without a single scratch, freckles dotted on his cheeks, and a light chestnut hair well kept by his servants. Judis on the other hand was a short man, hunched over, with a permanent scowl that frightened anyone.

Cullen was about to turn eighteen, which was the most special year for people as that is when they got their gift if any. Cullen's family had a long line of fire shifters, which was known as the most powerful, and anyone who received this gift was accepted to work for the royals. "Alright, you can stop now you've been running for over three hours. You did terrible today you didn't even keep a pace," Judis said unmeaningfully as Cullen limped over to the table to grab a drink of water. "Today, I'm giving you a slight break all because it's your birthday tomorrow and I want you to be well-rested so we can work on your gift. Eat a good dinner to build muscle up."

"Yeah yeah I got it 'your majesty,'" Cullen said sarcastically as he took his armor off. He wished he had a better trainer, especially one who wouldn't die in the next year. "Oh just shut up and go eat. I'm tired of your nonsense Cullen. GO!" Judis yelled, spit flying in every which direction. Cullen put his hands up in the air as he slowly backed away out of the room.