The Iron Hallway

Chapter 9

Though the action brought me a moment of pain, the relief afterward was far greater. "Thank you." 

"You are welcome. Now drop the attitude, or you will never learn anything." 

"Okay, okay." I inhaled and stood as straight as I possibly could, which drew a half-smile to Khemera's face. 

"That's a start. But you've forgotten to position your feet correctly, undermining the whole posture. Draw your legs together so they're touching." 

I quickly obeyed, though not gladly. "Why're we doing this, again? Standing like this just seems like I'm inviting you to knock me over like a bowling pin!" 

Khemera face-palmed. "Do you truly think I'm teaching you a fighting stance? I've been telling you this whole time, this is the attention stance!" 

"What use is that to me?" I shouted, much louder than was appropriate for that time of night, "I need to learn how to fight so I can not die when we get to the Iron Hallway!" 

"Baird, you need to humble yourself. Which do soldiers learn first? Do they learn to fight first? Or do they learn how to march, stand at attention, follow orders, and all the other protocol the military follows?" 

"Yeah, they do all that other stuff." 

"And why is that? Let's see if you know." Khemera crossed his arms. 

"Because, it instills respect and subordination into them. If they can't follow orders in peace, how much less can they do that in the heat of battle, where it's of utmost importance?" Only after speaking did the parallel hit me, and my foolishness was revealed to me through my own words. 

Khemera smirked. "You have spoken wisely, Baird. And do you see how that carries over here? If you can't submit to my teaching even in these things, the boring and the foolish, how much less can I expect you to listen in larger matters?" 

I slowly nodded, only to realize that I'd subconsciously shifted back into the attention stance and made Khemera proud. 

"Well," the martial artist began, "this is a good start. Don't forget to show your respect through that stance. That is all for tonight." 

"You aren't gonna show me any moves or anything?" 

The old man laid his hand on the doorknob. "You need to build your strength up first. Do twenty crunches and twenty pushups before you go to bed. That's a start." 

"But...I can't even do half of either of those!" 

Khemera glanced back at me. "A bad mentality is the seed of all failure. If you've lost the battle in your mind already, how much less can you succeed with your body, which draws vigor from the mind?" 

With that, he left me to reflect over his words. I closed my eyes, sighed, laid down on my back, and put my hands behind my head. This was gonna hurt. 

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The next morning, I awoke with a groan and sat up with painful effort. My abs burned no matter how I positioned my body, and my chest cried out against me too. I had only been able to make it through half the repetitions Khemera had prescribed, and yet I was feeling like death had claimed all but my soul for its own. 

With a sigh, I glanced at the clock and realized it was 8 a.m., my usual waking time. I stumbled out of bed and stepped up to the mirror attached to the bedroom door. To my surprise, my pectoral muscles were noticeably more defined. Fitness was never something I'd valued very highly, but seeing how a little exercise made such a difference, I began having second thoughts about that mentality. 

I slipped my clothes on and exited the room. The hallway was so quiet and still, that my footsteps were the only sound to be heard. That fact made me feel quite self-conscious. 

After passing down the hallway, I came to the living room, and there, I perceived my first signs that somebody else was awake. The clanking of pots and pans over in the kitchen, as well as the delicious smells of a tasty breakfast being cooked, were more than enough to alert me to another person's presence. 

I stepped into the kitchen doorway and met Keira's gaze. I smiled graciously at her. "Good morning, Keira. How are you this morning?" 

"I'm doing well." she answered vaguely, and I suspected, somewhat less than truthfully. "I could use some help here, though." 

I stepped closer. "Sure thing. What do you need?" 

"Just set the table for me, please. The utensils are in that drawer, and the cups are over in that cabinet." 

"Will do." I replied before glancing into the pan. "Wait a minute, all that food is just for you and Aaron?" 

"No, silly! Why would it be?" 

"I dunno, you seemed kinda stingy about it last night." 

Keira huffed. "Well, in case you didn't notice, last night wasn't the easiest time for me! You have no idea what I'm going through!" 

I could hardly handle the self-guilt that suddenly gripped my heart. "I'm sorry. I really don't have any idea, but I'm willing to listen." 

Keira sighed as she flipped an egg. "Imagine falling deeply in love with someone, only for them to turn around and kill a couple of your family members, along with a big part of you, and getting no punishment for it. Then imagine them coming back with a brazen face and literally zero contrition! That's what I'm going through right now!" 

I closed my eyes and nodded as I set a fork and knife down. "That does sound rough. I'm sorry." 

Keira glanced over at me with tear-filled eyes. "Thank you for understanding." 

I sighed and reached out to give the woman a hug. She hesitated for a second before plunging herself into the embrace and letting a few tears drop onto my shoulder. When she finally pulled away, she mouthed, "Thank you" again, apparently having had lost her voice. With that, I continued setting the table, while Keira kept on cooking, her countenance slightly lifted. 

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A/N: Well, that was a bit of a short one, but a goodie nonetheless, I think. And since you'll be getting another chapter just tomorrow morning, you can't complain too much. 😂 

Anyway, if you liked this chapter, make sure you let me know that by leaving a vote and some comments. 

So, it looks like this will be a pretty short note, because I'm groggy and have no ideas, lol. But any particular thoughts on this chapter? 

And ooh, I've got a good one for you: What's the weirdest PM you've gotten on Wattpad? (Or elsewhere if you want.)

(For me, it'd have to be when this one girl [who shall remain unnamed] out of the blue sent me "THIS IS IT. WE'RE GETTING MARRIED." It was the most bizarre thing on earth, and to this day, I'm unsure if she was joking. I don't think she was. 😂) 

Well, that's about it. I wish I had more, but my Bruh-it's-literally-6:30-in-the-morning brain isn't being generous with either of us. So I wish you a good day, and I'll see you tomorrow morning, hopefully at an equally unrighteously early hour. So without further ado...

*fake soldier salutes you* 

FALCON OUT