Time To Fight

Chapter 4

“Now this will come in handy.” I spun around to fight all three of them walking backwards with their hands up in surrender.

“It would be best if you all get situated before we start any lessons.” Mintos walked away and headed back to the weapons corner.

“No kidding. Please don’t kill us. Ariel and I are on your side, remember?”

I let the fires around my new swords disperse as I brought them down. “Sorry. You can blame my natural instincts if you want. After all, you are usually on the other side of my attacks.” Then I stuck out my tongue like the little girl I felt. It was rare I got new toys to play with. Why wouldn’t I want to use them on my favorite moving battle dummy?

Ariel shook her head and chose to not say a word. Perhaps she now understood that trying to stop us would be useless? No, I doubt that.

Mintos now came with a hilt in his hands. “You may keep the hilt, but for now, please leave the swords here in the training room.” Obeying his command, I gave up my precious new toy. “Take a left when you reach the West wing. The first three to your left are your rooms. There is fresh clothing for you all to wear and if you take a right when you reach the West wing, you will find the entrance to the spring.”

After placing the swords back in their proper place on the wall, he walked with us up to the East wing’s hallway. As we reached the main hall, Pane was coming towards us with a cheerful smile on his face. “I gather you have seen the swords?”

“Kyra had a bit too much fun with them,” replied Ariel, finally breaking her silent vow of silence from earlier.

“Rooms are to your left and the spring is to your right. Please make yourselves at home.”

This time Jaden responded. “Yeah, we know.”

As Pane passed us by, the small shift of wind amplified the coldness I began to feel. His words reminded me once more that this might as well be home now. There would no longer be going back home. There would no longer be watching mother take of the neighbor’s children and watch them help her make my favorite desserts. There would no longer be running down the stairs only to run right into our locked front door. There would be no going back.

Jaden stopped us right before we were about to open our rooms. “Why don’t you two use the spring first? I’ll just wait in my room until then.”

“Alright,” I muttered as I entered the room closest to the beginning of the hall. It was all I could muster while my mind was still filled with the thoughts of what I have left behind.

The moment the click of the closed door reached my ears, my back slid down the door. My shoulders hunched forwards as I stared in front of me. I could see how the room was a reasonable size, how the floor was also made of tatami, how the gray sheeted bed was long wise against the right side of the wall, how there was a glazed wooden dresser on the left, but they didn’t register. Tears refused to fall down my face. No, this time, it was the void created from having lost something that was consuming me.

The priestess said I would have a child that brings destruction, but how could that be? That would require loving someone. Well, I do love my mother and Ariel, but that isn’t the same. Not once had I thought of an intimate kind of love. Fighting, learning to protect those I loved, that was the only other love for me. Just like my deceased father, I wanted to be able to fight against the enemies of this world, of those who chose to do harm.

Our neighboring country, Olan, has been causing all sorts of trouble for Andova. Bandits have taken crops from our towns having raided even more while the leaders of Olan have never done anything to stop them. It has only led to battles and will soon be labeled as a war. Mother says it was those from Olan that killed father. Those are the kind of people I wish to stop.