Valencia

    Killian led me away from the spot we usually practiced and towards one of the small buildings around the castle that I thought were abandoned.

    The stone structure was over three stories tall, and it didn’t seem like many people visited it.

    Killian stood in front of it with his hands folded behind his back and muttered.

    “This ce was built long ago to train our soldiers for war. But ever since thest war came to an end, the use of this ce decreased.”

    I stood beside him and observed the building. It was far more wide than it was tall, and there were telltale signs of neglect just outside the door.

    I could see the wooden beams supporting the stone pirs chipped in ces, along with the slight growth of moss at some corners.

    “But dont you have rival kingdoms wanting to tear down Elorin?” I asked, in surprise.

    I recalled Maelyn being from another kingdom, so there were definitely friends and enemies of the King of Elorin. It would not make sense to just stop training the soldiers because Morwenna disappeared out of the blue.

    Killian looked impressed.

    “Good observation. Yes, I was of the opinion that we do need to continue training the warriors as rigorously as before, but King Aecidus believed that the worst was gone. Besides, the other kingdoms aren’t as big or mighty as Elorin. So when themander in chief of the army suggested that the workers be given some time to rx, King Aecidus agreed. But ‘some‘ time turned into ‘indefinite‘ time because then the King became obsessed with finding a

    cure.”

    Killian pulled out a key from his pocket, and we approached the huge metal doors that creaked a little when he shoved them open.

    I coughed as dust flew around, but once it settled down, I realized it was really a gym of sorts with all the equipment that could be used to train soldiers

    for war.

    There were swords hanging down from one wall, along with knives and short des. There were also a few wooden instruments I didn’t quite know the

    names of.

    Large mats were rolled and ced neatly in a corner, and when we crossed the hall to open the back door, a cool breeze fluttered in through.

    “That is a nice view,i” /iI said as aw the clear skies above and the blue water below it.

    “The soldiers would sometimes train here in the open if the castle grounds were upied.”

    We walked towards a section where I saw a few wooden poles sticking out from the ground. A huge bup sack filled with hay was hanging down a chain

    from one of the poles.

    He pulled it down and began arranging a few more of them on different wooden sticks. They looked like really thin and useless scarecrows.

    I watched him arrange them all to his liking, and when he was done, he finally called me over.

    “Since you are unable to hit a moving object, I figured you would find it motivating to hit a steady one.”

    Ouch.

    “I never asked for this,” I grumbled, but he had already turned away from me and was again repositioning them.

    “You did when you failed multiple times. Either way, I want you to practice on these dummies before you move to fighting ba /bbreal /bperson.”

    I wanted to argue with him that he should let me try to hit him and that he was just dying it to not give me the answers I wantedb, /bbbut /bbthere /bbwas /bbsome /b

    truth to his words.

    I would be ashamed to continue missing him for days, if not weeks, so maybe 1 would gain more confidence with hitting dummaries,

    He tilted his head to the left most dummy.

    “Go ahead, hit it.”

    I marched straight ahead and pped the bag of hay.

    “Again. With a bit more force.”

    I took a step back and hit the dummy again.

    “Keep doing it until you have carved a hole in that punching bag. It is made of hay, should be easy work, right?i” /i

    Killian remarked, and I only rolled my eyes but kept hitting the dummy again and again. However, the stupid hay would just not stay still no matter how hard I punched or kicked. It was like hitting something stic, it would momentarily lose shape but not enough to make it look like I had hit it.

    Killian looked around for a ce to sit and picked a small boulder where he proceeded to lounge with his hands resting on the cold stone and leaning

    back.

    “Go on. Keep trying. We have all day.”

    He kept looking merrily at the sea, and enjoying the cool breeze while I kept doing as he had instructed.

    And I realized this was no better. An enemy that didn’t move, didn’t react or didn’t try to run away from you made you more frustrated than focused.

    After hours of trying, I was panting and had fallen down on the ground. Hay had fallen around a bit, the loose bits flying around in the air, and wredo sweaty body fell on it, it clung to me all.

    Irritated, I tried to shake it off, but the more I did, the more it stuck ito /imy fingers.

    I was also feeling very hot and bothered, so the cool air felt like an immediate relief.

    Angered, I took my shirt off and began wiping down the pesky des of grass. I wasn’t naked, of icourse/i, I was wearing a bra that provided decent coverage, so I felt that it was the right thing to do.

    I immediately angled my body in the direction of the breeze to let it fall on my back and caress my hair that was sticking to my temples.

    “I have learnt many fighting techniques, but stripping isn’t one of them” I heard a growl behind me and immediately looked up to see Killian ring at ollime. /li/ol

    “I was sweating and needed to cool down,” I shot back, but he only muttered.

    “Yeah, good job dangling yourself like a nice piece of flesh in and full of hungry lycans and werewolves.”

    I had barely enjoyed the breeze ifor /ia moment but now I was pissed as I got up and jutted my chin up to re at him.

    “I am not doing that,” I said indignantly.

    “Oh, I can’t hit a moving or a steady object to save my life, so I will just distract my trainer with a striptease.”

    Killian said in a taunting voice, and my hand automatically flew up to p the shit out of him.

    However, his hand grabbed mine, twisted it and then my back smacked against his hard body even as he kept my hand twisted behind bmy /bbback/b. “Wearfortable clothes that dont want you to start stripping unless you are on the bed screaming my name,” He said and then pushed me baway/b.

    I was taken by surprise at his choice of words. Wasn’t he the one who wanted us to be professional and focussed on the training and leave the dex table for the bedroom?

    b“/bThat was highly uncalled for,” I shouted back, but hepletely ignored me and kept stalking towards a group of men I had not seen earlier.

    They seemed to be lurking from behind a tree, and Killian scowled at them when he approached them. They all fled in different directions, but he managed to grab one by the scruff of his hair and smacked his head hard.

    “You are going to clean the bathrooms of the entire castle for a month”

    He said as the man tried to scurry away but not before lodging a kick that narrowly missed his butt.

    Huh?

    What was all this rage and anger about?

    2

    AD