“I’ve never picked up a bow and arrow before,” I admitted.
“It takes time to learn skills such as bow and arrow.”
I nodded, knowing that both way, I didn’t have a choice and I would just have to see how things went.
“In battle, there are always three groups of fighters, mages, archers, and sword fighters. Of course, we’re all dressed up like soldiers, so enemies can’t tell us apart other than by weaponry.”
“Will we train with the soldiers? How old do you have to be in the army?” I asked. How many people were willing to fight for their city or the Ones of Within who weren’t actually apart of it?
“You probably won’t get to see the soldiers much here because they train separately in the training grounds and in large packs usually. People in Sybra also choose their occupation, but we do have guidelines to age. James won’t allow anyone under the age of thirteen to begin a soldier’s training, and they won’t go into combat until two years of training if he can help it,” Emilie replied.
The number sounded fairly reasonable; after all, I would be fifteen in a few weeks. Besides, I remembered that some of the Ones of Within members I had seen in the meeting room were younger than me like Kat.
“You will be taught through time the vast knowledge of our history, culture, and skills. There is more knowledge than you can imagine. I’m sure that your schooling in our history will start today too.”
My mind traveled inexplicably to my decision this morning to use the most of my newfound freedom while I could and realized that I still had obligations to school here. The thought sent me right back to the image of my father, sitting hunched over his desk covered in paperwork with coffee stains.
“How long does this schooling last?” Like most teenagers, I loathed the existence of school and the endless hours of wasted time. I wondered how long it would take before I wouldn’t have to be taught like history. Somehow, I still thought school with the Ones of Within would be way more interested than it was on Earth.
“It’s different for everyone. Most people take the classes through their twenties, but people with a few years of experience are sent out to other cities or participate in patrols for the majority of the time. It really depends on how quickly you learn the material,” Emilie said, seeming to read my thoughts. “Training here is much more fun than school on Earth, trust me.”
Kat, Dominic, Adam, and Austin came over.
“Archery for all of us.” Kat said. After a few minutes, we figured out all six of us had archery. What were the odds of that? Like Emilie had predicted, the training must be a little different today. After all, Adam and Emilie were definitely more experienced than the rest of us.
“Are the training grounds as big as Emilie said they were?” I whispered to Austin as we followed Emilie.
“Just wait,” He smirked.
“That’s helpful.”
“Yep.” He winked at me, and I found myself smiling at the response.
We filtered out of the dining hall and entered the large room filled with doorways I had been in last night.
“The training grounds aren’t too hard to find when you know what you’re doing.” Emilie said, also winking at me. I began to protest, but she had already through the doorway. With a sigh, I walked after her with Kat, who was trying not to laugh beside me.
“I wonder what happened to that Shadow Bringer.” I said as I caught up with Emilie. The image of the Shadow Bringer leering over me and kicking me hard in the ribs was still fresh.
“He’ll probably be questioned by Shay and James. Then, they might hold him prisoner and try to see if he would ever be able to join us. Some Larta members only remain apart of the Larta because they are scared of Lucia,” Emilie replied.
“Do we ever get a sword?” I asked, remembering the heavy one I’d wielded only the night before.
“At one point in time. Adam and I each have a sword. You probably have to get a little better with a sword, so you don’t end up cutting yourself with it.”
I supposed that it wouldn’t have been smart for the Ones of Within to give out swords to untrained fighters. “How long did it take you to get yours?”
“I think I got mine… maybe a month after I joined? I wasn’t very good at a sword when I first started. I’m much better at archery.” Emilie laughed.
“Wasn’t it very good? That’s an understatement.” Adam grinned, glancing over at me. “Don’t believe her for a second. She could barely hold her sword let alone use it properly.”
“That’s hypocritical! How long did it take you to hit a target in archery?” Emilie protested, but I could tell she enjoyed the teasing.
Emilie and Adam argued for the next few minutes over the subject as we walked through a few more rooms. Finally, Dominic shut them up by distracting Emilie with a more important topic. Emilie answered his question to the best of her ability, and we fell quiet for a few minutes.
“Almost there.” Emilie called from in front of us.
“Emilie, there’s something you never explained to me. Why Earth is in danger of being destroyed?” I asked, surprised I hadn’t asked before. I had been thinking of asking her, but the past day had been a blur.
“You haven’t told her yet?” Dominic asked, disbelievingly, and sent Emilie a look that seemed to be the precursor to a new argument.
“There was no time!” Emilie insisted, before turning to me. “Natalie, I’ll tell you later.”
Eventually, after about a minute more of walking through the Kartica, we exited the building. The training grounds hadn’t been exaggerated at all. There were at least several miles of grassland and forest around me, and they stretched so far into the distance that it was impossible to see the end. It was light out, but, as promised, the sun wasn’t producing any light. Instead, a blanket of white fog covered the sky so thoroughly today that only small pieces of blue managed to break through the coat.
This part of the territory was a meadow covered in a plethora of flowers, but further away, I could see rugged terrain in the distance. To the right, I saw a massive forest of towering trees covered in autumn leaves, which were slowly starting to fall to the ground due to the approaching winter.
“Here’s our training grounds,” Adam said. “In the forest is archery training. To the left, in the meadow, is sword fighting. Magic is straight ahead, and much farther into the territory is endurance and agility training. There are a lot of skills trained out here. Eventually, you will learn where they are all located.”
Each of these skills would be necessary to master if I wanted to be treated like real Ones of Within member. I hoped I hadn’t joined the Ones of Within to make a fool of myself or to be forgotten in the crowd of people. I didn’t want this life to be just like my old one. In this world, I didn’t have to be a number hidden in the background.
“Have you ever been on patrol?” Kat asked Emilie.
“Yes, I’ve been on patrols many times. The senior members usually go, but sometimes less experienced members join them.”
“Lets hurry. We don’t want to be late,” Dominic said, interrupting the conversation. I could see the first signs of nervousness in him, much to my surprise. His lips pressed together tightly and there was the slightest of frowns starting to appear on his face.
Adam took the lead from here and brought us deeper into the forest. After a few minutes of walking, we came across a large clearing with many targets in front of the tree trunks. Looking at the large targets made me feel a little more calm about archery. My eyes closed as I slowly tried to imagine the blurry image of my mother, wondering if she had once stood where I was, training beside the Ones of Within. I still hadn’t found her yet, but I hadn’t given up hope. She had to be here somewhere, right?
I sighed, opening my eyes to focus them on one of the targets. Was she dead, like Emilie’s father? Had she been a Shadow Bringer after all? Was she no longer a member of the Ones of Within? These questions didn’t help settle well with me.
&
nbsp; “Are there a lot of battles between the Larta and the Ones of Within?” Kat asked Emilie from beside me.
“There hasn’t been much happening recently, but we know that as the volcano cools, the Larta prepares to strike. We aren’t sure if one of their Shadow Bringer’s has the desired Vatra so a few senior Ones of Within members guard the volcano on a regular basis. We’re waiting for one of our recruits to gain the desired Vatra, so we have more power over the volcano.”
“There are volcanoes on Aughmortor? What is the desired Vatra?” I asked, overhearing their conversation.
“I will tell you that later.” Emilie replied. I sighed at the response, but I knew it probably wasn’t the best time since archery was about to start. There were piles of bows and arrows on the ground beside the targets and many other people in the clearing that I hadn’t really met yet. A few of the other students were looking through the piles, while a man stood over them, instructing them on their choices.
“I’ve had this guy for the past two years. He really knows how to use a bow and arrow!” Adam whispered to me.
The teacher was about my height but was built like an athlete with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He was fairly young, maybe twenty-five, and had short red hair and a friendly, freckled face.
He walked over to where we stood, taking long strides. “Hello there. I’m Aaron.”
“I’m Natalie,” I replied, shaking his hand. He shook it violently with a firm hand. After shaking my hand up and down for a few seconds, he released it and took a few steps backward.
“Nice to meet you. We’ll have to see how you fare with a bow and arrow,” Aaron said with an air of superiority.
“I’m not sure if…” Emilie cut me off by elbowing me hard in the ribs as Aaron glanced away from my face.
“We certainly will see!” Emilie said. Aaron walked away with a smile on his face as he went to talk to the people gathering around the bows.
“What was that for?” I hissed under my breath.
“He takes great pride in his archery. Thinks he can make anyone as good as him.” Emilie didn’t seem unsettled by my annoyance. It didn’t seem like much phased her, to be honest.
“All right! Straight to work!” Aaron clapped his hands together three times. “Everybody, grab five arrows and a bow.” I hurried over and picked up a random bow and set of arrows. It wasn’t like any of the bows could give me a better chance of not making a fool of myself. “Remember, everyone. Wait until everyone shoots all of their arrows before retrieving your own!”
My hands clenched into fists in deliberation. I would hit all of my arrows on these targets, experienced or not. “Get ready!” Aaron shouted. The targets started moving by themselves. Magic. They moved in circles in front of the tree trunks, one in front of each tree. “Pick your target and prepare to shoot!” This was going to be interesting. Trying to hit moving targets was a whole new level of challenge. I picked the target between Austin and Dominic and tried to stay positive as I watched the target’s movement.
“Natalie! Straighten your back!” Aaron walked over and corrected my posture. He looked frustrated when he left, which didn’t help my concentration.
“Shoot!” I pulled the bowstring back as far as I could until it was taut and then released it. My arrow flew several feet away from my target, a few inches from hitting Dominic’s.
“Oops,” I muttered, totally humiliated. Dominic laughed and shot an arrow that hit the outer edge of his target.
“Obviously, you don’t only need to practice your posture,” Dominic said, smirking. I glared at him and notched another arrow. I shot another arrow off. This time, it hit the tree trunk, about three feet above the moving target. I glared at the arrow sticking in the tree trunk with frustration.
Somehow, Dominic could trace the target’s confusing, unpredictable path. He hit the target about three inches from the center. “Looks like we have an archer over here. Too bad, Emilie is still winning.” Three arrows had hit Emilie’s target, two of which were in the right in the center. “Let’s see how Natalie's doing…” Aaron scratched his head as he looked at what I had to show. “Looks like you need to work on your aim.”
No way. Dominic barely controlled his laughter beside me, but I found myself smirking as well. It was kind of funny, really, how bad I was proving to be at archery. I turned to see how Austin was doing. He had managed to hit one area of the target while another arrow was stuck a half-foot above his target.
“Nice job,” I said to him, before turning back to my own work, refusing to be frustrated that both boys were doing better than me. I prepared to shoot another arrow.
“Wait for the target to come to you,” Austin said helpfully as Aaron came over to help me.
“Aim at the center of the target.” Aaron watched as my bow shook in my arms. I tried to follow the target movements. The targets weren’t going that fast, but you had no idea which way it would go next. I had to release it quickly before it moved. Or at least try.
I watched the target move for a second, waiting patiently for the right second. When it got close, I shot my arrow. It shot into the undergrowth, probably diving under a bush. I frowned in self-disgust- I shouldn’t let my anger continue to screw me up, but I couldn’t help it. After a few deep breaths for mental preparation, I tried again. Despite all my effort, my arrow missed again. Most of the people in the clearing averted their eyes as I glanced at them.
Archery training dragged on for what seemed like forever. Out of all the arrows I shot at the target, none hit their mark. Aaron seemed embarrassed like it was his fault, which made me feel even worse. Dominic and Emilie thought it was hilarious that I couldn’t seem to hit the damn target or get even close. After we had gathered our arrows and placed them down on the ground beside the bows, Aaron gathered us around. “You’re all headed to sword practice.”
“Hopefully, Natalie is better at sword fighting than archery!” Dominic said loudly, winking conspiratorially over at Emilie, who repaid the favor. I glared at them both in return.
“I was just as bad the first day I learned archery. I almost hit Aaron!” Adam laughed at the memory, which made me feel a little better.
“Have you used a bow and arrow before Dominic?” I asked out of curiosity.
“I did yesterday, but that is the only time in my whole life I had even touched a bow and arrow. I must be a natural.” He grinned at me, proving he was joking, but it seemed weird that he was so good at it without any experience. Still, I wish I had the same skill.
“I’m excited to try out a sword,” I said, deciding to look away from my painful experience with a bow and focus on sword fighting. I wouldn’t let my bad experience interfere with how well I did with a sword. Dominic looked as though he was going to make another snarky comment on my words, but Austin glowered at him, which seemed to stop his upcoming joke.
“You probably will do pretty well with a sword. After all, you managed to swing it pretty nicely last night.” Emilie gave me an encouraging smile.
“Is the armor used in battle heavy?”
“Yes. When you get better at wearing armor, you’ll have to do agility in it too, which isn’t fun.” Was agility going to be tasks like climbing ropes and things like that? I didn’t particularly enjoy the thought of trying to pull myself over a wall in heavy armor. I would need to learn all of the skills eventually, though. It was only my first day, so I probably would do poorly at most of the things I learned today, but if I worked hard enough it would pay off eventually. Hopefully, I would do better in the sword fighting portion of today, but I wasn’t feeling too positive after my ‘stellar’ archery performance.
Chapter Eight
A few crinkled, brown leaves twisted to the ground in the wind as we left the forest. Without the forest’s trees to block the wind, I felt its full fury. Long strands of dried grass whipped at my jeans, and my hair lashed against my cheeks and the air around me. I found myself full of questions about this new life I was living. I hoped I di
dn’t bother the others with all of my questions, but I couldn’t help wanting to soak up all the knowledge I could. It would help me become a better Ones of Within member too.
I peered at the fog, strangely missing the sun. The sun was always around upon Earth; it was almost like a vigilant watcher. It just seemed weird for the world not to have sun during the daytime or a moon at night. The new sky reminded me somehow of a cracked mirror as only small sections of blue showed through.
“Is the fog always this strong?”
“Sometimes, it will be lighter, but this is what it looks like here normally.” Adam stopped to admire the sky for a moment before walking quickly to catch up with the rest of us.
“So, what do you think of Aughmortor so far?” I asked Dominic, slowing down to walk beside him and trying to make conversation. Kat, Austin, and Emilie were walking in front of us, discussing how well they had done at archery today, a good example of a conversation I absolutely didn’t want to be apart of at the moment. Adam was walking ahead of everyone, obviously looking forward to sword fighting.
“It just feels right here,” Dominic said, finally.
“I’m not sure how I feel yet. I hope we get time to explore Sybra and the Kartica later.”
“Yesterday was overwhelming,” He admitted, “But not as stressful as today. We’ll get used to it.”
I still have so much to learn. But I will become strong, and I will learn about my mother’s past. Dominic turned his head to look at me. “Have you seen the prophecy?” His voice was quiet and somewhat meaningful. I shook my head. “You should.” I couldn’t comprehend the emotions I had seen on his face or perhaps the lack of emotions on his face. I couldn’t decide.
“What about the prophecy? Why is it so important?” I grabbed his arm, but let go immediately after, confused by what had brought me to do that in the first place.
He turned back in my direction. “I’ll show you tonight.” I didn’t understand why everyone was giving me these hollow answers. There was something hidden, something that might change my understanding of the task ahead, which I wasn’t aware of until now. There was something secretive about this place that I didn’t like, some impending thing that people either tried to hide or didn’t want to speak of.
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