I had barely slept when the pack life in the hallway woke me up. My room didn't have a window, so there was no way of knowing how early, or how late, it was. But people were moving about behind my door, chatting and wishing each other good morning as they passed each other. I rubbed my eyes as I sighed, not ready for this new day. Last night had been intense, and I didn't quite know what to think of it.
But with my fellow pack members getting ready for the day in the hallway, I knew I wouldn't be able to catch up on sleep anymore. I stretched my arms, building up the courage to get out of bed and let the day begin.
Aven had said I would start my training today, with Feytan. Lotta said he was the commander of Death Moon, and he lived on the second floor. I wasn't sure why Aven thought he could waste Feytan's time on me, but perhaps it was because in my current state, I was such a lost cause that I needed the best of the best to even have a shot at overcoming my own weaknesses.
I put on some of the clothes that were provided for me, and found my way to the main dining hall, where I assumed breakfast would be. I greeted some of the wolves I passed in the hallway, but none returned the favor. It was a tense and lonely walk to the dining hall, where I was hoping I'd see Lotta's already familiar face.
But as I scanned the room and the already seated wolves, I couldn't see that short, dark-brown hair I had spent yesterday evening with. Aven and Jerr were seated at the front table, alongside the two wolves who stood beside them last night. The older woman I assumed was Mallee. Her face was wrinkled, and her hair was colored gray. By the looks of it, she'd be maybe a decade older than how old my parents would have been. At the other end of the table, a longer haired man was seated, the eldest of the three men, but still younger than Mallee. He had to be Feytan. But Aven and Jerr paid me no attention as I walked in the room and tried to find an empty spot.
It wasn't easy. Every empty seat was already taken, I was told. But I knew better, I knew they just did not want to sit next to me. The Ascension and the tattoo hadn't made me Death Moon in their eyes. To them, I was still Fire Moon, the enemy. And that stung. I eventually found an empty chair at the end of a table, where no other wolves were seated in the chairs directly next to me. They had ordered me to sit as far away as I could, with nasty grimaces on their face as they saw and smelled me.
I grabbed some of the food that was laid out on the table, a pear and some other piece of fruit I didn't recognize, but my appetite had been lost among the rejections of today. The sweet, yet sour taste of the oddly pink looking fruit danced around on my tongue, but I had to force myself to chew and swallow it. Some of the wolves ignored me, but most of them sent me daring glares, almost drowning in their own disgust.
My heart dropped at the realization that I once again found myself in a pack where I wasn't wanted. I wasn't welcome and I wasn't sure if I would ever be - not truly. Where was Lotta?
A bowl, filled with something light brown, suddenly slammed down on the table, right before me. "Lesson one, get enough nutrients." I looked up at the long haired man who was sitting next to Jerr earlier. Feytan. "One pear and one ribag do not constitute a sufficient breakfast."
"Ribag?"
"That pink thing you're eating," Feytan said as he sat down opposite me. "Oats and milk, eat up." He shoved the bowl under me and offered me a spoon.
I hesitantly took it, not sure if Feytan could be trusted yet or not. By the first bite of the oats, I knew I liked my fruity breakfast better. This tasted bland to say the least. "So," I said as I munched on the dull breakfast, "I assume you're Feytan and you're going to train me?"
"You'd assume correctly. And I'm not going to train you, I already am training you. Or did you already forget your very first lesson?"
"I'm eating, aren't I?" I raised my spoon in the air before taking another bite of the oats.
Feytan leaned back in his chair and watched me consume every mouthful of that horrid food. Its taste seemed to worsen with every bite I took. "So, how are you liking Rahas so far?"
"It's a beautiful city," I said. "I haven't seen much of it yet, but I'm hoping that will change in the upcoming days."
"I'm sure you will find it even more beautiful with every street you discover. Now, hurry up. Training starts after your breakfast, and I have other things to do today, as well."
I raised my eyebrow. "Didn't my training start already?"
He clapped his hand on his leg as he laughed. "Ah, I did say that didn't I?"
I had hurriedly eaten the rest of my oats, and then quickly devoured my ribag to wash away the lingering taste of the oats. I had eaten my ribag on the way to wherever it was we were going, because as soon as I had eaten my last bite of oats, Feytan had ordered me to follow him.
He had guided me somewhere close to the wall, to a large clearing where other wolves were training, too. They all intensified with what they were doing when they saw me arrive, as if they had some newly build up anger that they needed to release at the sight of me. Vince hadn't been kidding when he told me not everyone here would be as accepting. I experienced that only a very, very small minority was somewhat accepting of me. But I couldn't really blame them.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you have any combat experience," Feytan said as he looked me up and down. It didn't feel condescending, albeit a bit judgmental. But mostly he was determining what he was working with. At least, I hoped that was the case if I had to work closely with him for the coming days. Or would it be weeks, or months?
"I don't." I scratched Beckett's face. But somehow, I didn't think that counted as combat. In my entire life, I hadn't fought. Not physically, at least. I ran. I had run away from the two wolves in the forest, I had run away from Beckett after he demolished my fingers, after he had clawed my arm.
"We will start from zero, then. In any case, we have to build up your body first before we begin with one-on-one combat. Now, let's start."
The first exercise Feytan had given me, involved some jumping and floor-touching. I got out of breath fairly quickly, and after a few sets, everything I did felt like torture. The exercises that followed were some more of the same, and my body started hurting in places I didn't even think it possible. Feytan kept correcting me on my stance, giving me pointers on how to adjust my body to really use the muscles intended, and not hurt myself in the process. At least not any more than I had to. He had to make the same correction multiple times, since it seemed I even forgot how to properly stand after each exercise, but he never got mad or frustrated about it.
He also had to push me to keep going. By the fourth exercise, I was completely exhausted and it felt as if my body was about to shut down. At some point I had felt a bit dizzy, but after slowing the pace down for a bit, the dizziness seemed to fade away. When Feytan had said five more reps, I forced my body to continue, to finish my very first training. It felt like hell, and those five last reps felt like fifty, but I managed to do them all.
Proud of myself, I dropped my hands on my knees, staring at the floor while I tried to catch my breath. I saw some drops of sweat fall down on the ground beneath me, proof of the effort I had just taken.
"Come, water break," Feytan ordered, nudging me to the side of the field.
"Break?" I asked, panting heavily.
"Yes, break," he answered, as he tossed me a flask of water. I barely managed to catch it. "This was only the warm up."
"Warm... up?" I opened the flask, welcoming the fresh water in my mouth. I hadn't even noticed how thirsty I was.
Feytan chuckled. "Yes, you did not think training with me would be this easy, did you?"
"Not... easy," I exclaimed, shaking my head. How was this easy?
"You'll get used to it quite soon. And even now, you'll recover quite fast. You can thank our Moons and their gift for that. Now, finish your water and then we will begin the actual training." I obliged, and drank more of the water. I noticed, just like he said, that my heart was slowly beginning to pound less and less in my ears and my breathing was getting more even with every breath I took. But it was still immensely shaky. "Today, we will be focusing the training on your core. We'll focus on a different region for each training, to not push your body over the limit. I'll give you two minutes to rest a bit, then we'll start again."
I nodded in confirmation, but I didn't think I really had a choice here. But even if I did, I realized I wanted to train. I wanted to get stronger, I wanted to be able to transform and run as a wolf. But more importantly, I wanted to be able to fight back against wolves like Beckett. I wanted to be strong, inside and out. And I wanted it as soon as I could get it. Which would mean I'd have to endure every set of exercise Feytan threw at me. I'd do them, I decided, and I'd do them for me. Not for Aven, not for Death Moon. For me.
And so that's what I did.
It took everything I had in me. I pushed myself in more ways than I could count, Feytan helped on that front as well, but after what felt like an eternity, Feytan finally called the last round. The last sets had been on the ground, and as soon as Feytan let me finish, I dropped my hands on the floor next to me, causing some sand and dust to come up in small clouds.
"Well done, Sari," Feytan congratulated me as I lay there on the ground, trying to regain control over my lungs. The dust that had come up stuck to my body, mixed with my sweat. I already longed for the hot bath that was waiting for me back in the Manor.
"Thank you," I breathed out.
"When you're feeling a little more at ease with your breathing, we need to leave again," he said.
"To where?" I asked.
"Aven called for us as soon as your training was done. So we need to leave in a few moments."
"Like this?" I motioned my hand up and down my body as I slowly got up, covered in sweat and dust.
"Maybe pat the worst of it off, but we don't have time for you to take a bath. Unless you'd like to keep Aven and the others waiting?"
I clenched my teeth. I wasn't prepared to meet with Aven in this state. He already thought badly enough of me. But disregarding his orders to take a bath wouldn't be a good look, either. "Let's go, then," I said as I gathered myself.
"If it makes you feel any better, you smell more like you and less like Fire Moon than earlier," he comforted me.
And it did make me feel better.
A/N: Dearest reader, thank you for following Sari's journey. What's your opinion on Feytan? And what's your favorite chapter so far? I'm curious to know. Mine (so far) is coming soon! ;)