Chapter 14: “Training”
1080 Words
Dawn came with no rain.
For once.
Kael was already up, dragging logs to make a training circle in the dirt. “Everyone up! Walls won’t build themselves and wolves won’t learn to fight in bed!”
Groans. But people moved.
11 people. That was still weird to say.
Jace was rubbing his eyes. He hadn’t slept well. I don’t think anyone had after the raven.
Mara had her sleeves rolled up. Rhea was testing her bad leg. Dell was already by the fire with a pot.
“Today,” Kael said when we were all standing in a ragged circle, “we stop pretending we’re safe. Because we’re not.”
He looked at me. “Darius sent that message for a reason. He wants us scared. So we don’t.”
Toren cracked his knuckles. His wolf was close to the surface today. “What do we do?”
“Split up,” Kael said. “Group 1: walls. Group 2: combat. Group 3: with Ella.”
Lina raised her hand. “What’s Group 3?”
“Learning,” I said. “The staff isn’t just for building. I think... I think it can do more.”
Kael nodded. “5 days. We need every edge.”
Group 1: Walls
Dell, Mara, and Nina took picks. Sera carried water. They started on the east side. That was the weakest point.
“Higher,” Kael called. “If they come, they’ll come there first.”
Group 2: Combat
Toren, Jace, and Rhea.
Kael had them running drills with wooden sticks. Jace dropped his twice.
“Again,” Kael said. No sympathy. “You don’t get to be slow when Darius comes.”
Jace’s jaw tightened. He picked it up.
Toren was different now. Stronger. Faster. But he kept pulling his punches with Jace.
“Don’t,” Kael snapped. “Treat him like an enemy. Or he’ll die like one.”
Toren flinched. Then nodded. He hit harder.
Group 3: Me
Just me, Lina, and the staff.
We went to the center of Ashford. Where I’d first planted it.
“Sit,” I told Lina.
She did. Cross-legged. Watching me.
I held the staff. Closed my eyes.
The white wolf was already there. Waiting.
“You’re trying too hard,” she said. “Stop pushing. Listen.”
I took a breath. Let go.
The staff warmed. Then pulsed.
Silver light ran down into the dirt. Not a wall this time. Threads. Like roots.
I could feel the ground. The stones under it. The water deep below.
And I could feel them.
All 10 other people in Ashford. Like 10 little fires.
Jace’s was small. Flickering.
Toren’s was bright, wild.
Lina’s was steady.
“What are you doing?” Lina whispered.
“Trying to see,” I said.
I reached for Jace’s fire. Gentle.
I’m here, I thought. You’re not alone.
For a second, his fire flared. Brighter.
Then it snuffed out.
I gasped. The staff went cold.
“Ella?” Lina grabbed my arm.
“I felt him,” I said. “For a second. Then... nothing.”
From across the yard, Jace stumbled. Dropped his stick.
Kael was there in 2 steps. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jace said. He looked at his hands. “I felt... warm. Like something was here.”
Hope hit me so hard it hurt.
“It’s working,” I said. “Slowly. But it’s working.”
Kael looked at me. Really looked. “You can’t burn yourself out before Council, Ella.”
“I won’t,” I said. “I’ll rest.”
We broke for lunch. Stew again. But Dell had found herbs. It tasted better.
That’s when I noticed it.
Sera wasn’t eating.
She was sitting apart, picking at her bread. Watching the trees.
“Hey,” I said, walking over. “You okay?”
She jumped. “Yes! Fine.”
“You’ve been quiet.”
She shrugged. “Just... a lot.”
Lina came over too. Sat down. “We’re safe here, Sera. You can talk.”
Sera looked at me. Then at the staff. Then down. “I’m not... I wasn’t supposed to be at the market.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?” Lina asked carefully.
Sera twisted her hands. “Nina and I. We ran. Our Pack... they were going to sell us to Blackstone. For labor. Because we’re wolfless twins. Bad luck, they said.”
Oh.
“You didn’t run from the market,” I said. “You ran to it.”
She nodded, tears starting. “If Darius finds out... if he knows we’re not rejects, but runaways...”
“He’ll use it,” Kael said. He’d come over without me hearing him. “To say we’re harboring criminals.”
Sera covered her face. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.”
“Hey,” I said. I pulled her hands down. “No. Don’t be sorry. You’re Ashford now. Runaway, reject, whatever. Same thing to Darius.”
Lina nodded. “We don’t send people back.”
Sera cried then. Quiet. Nina came and held her.
Kael looked at me. “This changes things.”
“How?” I asked.
“If Darius knows they’re runaways, he won’t just bring this to Council. He’ll bring guards. Now.”
The fire felt colder.
“Then we work faster,” I said. “Walls higher. Everyone trained. And I keep trying with Jace.”
Kael studied me. “You sure?”
I looked at Sera. At Nina holding her. At Jace practicing with his stick, determined.
At 11 people who had nowhere else to go.
“Yes,” I said. “We’re not hiding anymore.”
That afternoon we worked until the sun went down.
Walls were waist-high now. All the way around.
Jace didn’t drop his stick once.
And when I touched the staff to the ground before bed, the silver light went further.
Not much. But further.
That night, as everyone slept, I sat with the staff.
“You did good,” the white wolf said.
“I’m scared,” I admitted. “Of Council. Of Darius. Of failing them.”
“Good,” she said. “Scared people pay attention.”
I smiled a little. “4 days.”
“4 days,” she agreed. “Then we show them.”
Outside, the forest was quiet.
But inside the walls, 11 people were breathing. Safe.
For now, that was enough.
- Writer
