24 Hours

Training

“What are you even doing?” I yell at the recruit I was training, “With the way you’re fighting, you’ll be killed instantly on the battlefield. You need to stop swinging your sword around as if you’ve never held one before. It leaves you wide open, and a vampire will kill you in an instant.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt ma’am,” the boy recruit looked timidly up at me, “But can you stop being so harsh on my sister? It was one mistake, and we aren’t in a battle yet.”

“Do you seriously want to be a soldier in this army?” Both of them frantically shook their head, yes. “Then every step you take outside the walls of the city is a battlefield. Stop acting like kids. We are at war, and the only way to win is if we kill the vampires before they kill us. If you are not serious about being a soldier, then you can leave. I will not have anyone out there who will be a liability and hinder the soldiers who are taking this seriously. We are going to be fighting in a battle anytime now, and if you don’t like the way I am training you or if you are scared of being in that battle, then you can leave now and not ask me to train you again.”

Both of them had their heads down in shame, “I’m sorry ma’am. My brother misspoke. I will try harder and fight like you expect me to be able to fight.”

“Good. I’m not going to sugar coat anything, and I most certainly will not go easy on you. Now back to a ready position. Attack me with your best, so I can crush it into oblivion,” I smile in anticipation. 

She rushed at me, this time keeping her sword close to her body. When she swung at me, I quickly blocked the blow that would’ve landed in my stomach. I countered her with a blow to her head with the pommel of my sword. She fell to the ground and held her head with tears in her eyes.

“You’re still too weak. Don’t ask me to train you again until you get stronger. Get your head checked out and then go back to the city and train some more. I will not allow you to be in camp and fight in battles when you cannot even land a blow on me. I took you down too easily.” I turn away from her and look at her brother, “Time to see if you are just as weak or if you will be able to fight alongside us in the battle.” 

He took out a battle-ax, and I smiled. It’s been a while since I last fought someone with an ax.

“Looks like you’ll be more of a challenge.”

He didn’t say anything in return and started rushing at me. Fighting with an ax is different than fighting with a sword. An ax gives you more power to swing it around and cut down your enemies, but it can’t do as much as the sword. The fight was over before it even began. I tackled him to the ground and pointed my sword at his neck while pinning down his arms with my feet.

“You are also too weak,” I hiss in his ear, “Come back when you are better trained with your weapon. When running straight at your opponent with an ax, don’t raise your arms over your head. You either throw your ax and hit your target, or you swing from the sides, but you never swing it above your head.”

I get off of him and watch as his sister runs over to him. She checks to see if he is injured at all and gently massaged his head when he indicates his head hurts. I look at her in interest. She looked more like a healer than a fighter.

“Why do you want to be fighters?” I ask when she was done.

“Our parents were killed right in front of us, and the vampire who killed them is still out there. We want to kill that vampire and get our revenge. We want to be just like General Mercia and become powerful like her. She got to where she is today because she wants revenge and she’s cast everyone off to be able to get that revenge,” The brother had a glint in his eyes when he spoke about me.

“She didn’t cast everyone off. She has her animal, a fiance,  and a whole army to lead who will stand by her in times of need. She’s not all about revenge, you know,” I turned to walk away when his next comment stopped me.

“How would you know? She’s so high up that no one can speak to her unless they have an appointment. Are you her friend?”

“Do you have an appointment to speak with her?” They both shook their heads, “Then, as you said, I probably shouldn’t be speaking with you… Geez, are these the rumors that are going around about me? Anyone can stop and talk to me if they want to.”

The girl gasped, “You’re General Mercia?”

I smile at her, “You look more like a healer then a fighter and you haven’t used a sword for very long, what were you learning before you tried fighting?”

“I was a healer at Home City where the General’s family is located,” She had pride shining in her eyes.

I look at her in admiration “Impressive. It’s tough to become a healer in Home City. How old are you?”

“Sixteen. I started training when I got my animal at eight.”

I look at her for a moment then sighed, “Normally I would never invite someone as young as you to do this, but seeing as your parents are dead and you have an animal, then I have no choice. I would like you to become a healer here in this camp. You are not fit to fight, but you can heal. What animal do you have?”

“A panda ma’am.”

“Really,” I was intrigued, “You’re even more special then I thought.”

“What do you mean she’s special and I thought you didn’t want her on the battlefield,” The brother looked at me angrily.

I glare at him “She won’t be on the battlefield. She’s a terrible fighter, but she can heal people better than anyone else. She’s got a panda, pandas are natural healers and enhance the healing abilities of whoever they are bonded to. Getting one is rare, though not as rare as my bond,” I glance proudly at where Shadow was laying in the shade, “It looks like she was given the role of healer in the army because she has a panda. Where is it? I would like to see your panda.”

Just as the girl was about to respond, I heard a ferocious growl from behind me. I turn and see Shadow about to pounce on something in the bushes.

“Aralyn!” The girl starts running towards Shadow.

Shadow lunged at the girl instead and growled in her face. Her claws were pressing down on her in a warning. Her claws didn’t pierce the skin, but they put holes in her clothes.

“Shadow get off her, now!” I point to my side and Shadow walks over with her head down submissively, I knew that was her way of apologizing. She hates it when I yell at her. I think it’s because I yelled at her when I was training her to be good. Whenever she did something wrong, I would talk sternly at her and pointed to my side, letting her know she was in trouble.

“Are you ok, Rebeka?” The boy called out as if nothing happened. 

“I’m fine that was just unexpected,” she laughed it off as a red panda emerged from the bushes, “General meet Aralyn.”