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Chapter 10: Test Of The Mist
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Sethlzaar and his peers learned of the existence of tests from the older boys as the days stretched into months, and finally into a year. They were trained in techniques required in fights.
"We teach yer not for the defense of a man, but the defense of a realm," Ordan told them one morning before training began. "We do not teach yer how to defend yerselves. No. We teach yer how to kill a man."
Arrsahel was the day of the sword, first of the week. They woke before the break of dawn and took to the courtyard where they trained.
Father Ordan remained brutal with the sword, giving Sethlzaar reason to believe he indulged them more for the opportunity of brutality than teaching them how to kill a man.
Narvi proved adept with the sword, parrying strikes from the priest and occasionally finishing a spar with only so much as aching hands. It always left Ordan's mood fouler than usual. The children dreaded going after him, as
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Sethlzaar made to rejoin what was left of the group, but his pride served to keep him in place where he fell to his knees.He rose to his feet. They trembled in fear. Cautiously, he waded through the mist, finding only more of it with each step. As he wandered, he considered the possibility of Narvi and Cenam being the last a conscious choice of the priests. He decided that if he was to place a wager on who would be the last out of the group it would be on Cenam.The sound of a twig snapping pushed panic into his mind. It sent him on a panicked sprint through the mist. Slowly, the mist thinned into nothingness.He sidestepped a tree as his vision cleared, narrowly avoiding it. A stray branch hit him in the face immediately after. He crashed to the ground, like a discarded log.Sprawled on the floor, he opened his eyes. The sun was at its peak. The direction with which the light bore through the shades of the trees w
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Antuas took Sethlzaar by the shoulder and covered him in a thick cloak. He led him through the gates and into the fort. They walked past the field, and Sethlzaar watched the first light of day covet the sky. He knew he was the last of the participants to walk through the gates.On their arrival at the walls Antuas took the cloak off him. "We don't want the others thinking you get special treatment," he said smiling. "Now go on. You are to remain in your room like the rest of your mates until you all are called for."Sethlzaar walked into the compound as the portcullis was raised, alone, and filled with a loss of achievement. One year and it still doesn't feel like home.The group he met in the room was not too surprising.Cenam was rested on his bed with a certain care free nature he only displayed in the wild, Narvi was biting his nails, something Sethlzaar had noticed the boy only did when
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"What are you doing here?""I could ask you the same thing, but I fear the answer would only sadden me." The old man smiled. "So, rather, I would ask: why are you sleeping in this blizzard without a fire?"Sethlzaar frowned. "I already told you. The wood was wet.""Oh well, it's a good thing I ran into you then. I've been told luck tends to favor me."Sethlzaar doubted luck had any hand in it.The man took out a piece of dried meat from his cloak and offered it casually. "Are you hungry?"Sethlzaar's stomach growled at the invitation. But his brain, understanding there was a reason it was called a test, and why it was done individually, shook his head.The man shook his head too. "Just like last time," he said blandly. "Still pulling crazy stunts. First, a misty forest. Now, a raging blizzard." He cocked his head to the side questioningly
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Sethlzaar woke to the smell of roast meat wafting through the shelter as well as the absence of the old man. He stepped out, wondering if the old man had gone on his way.He found the snow elevated at least three feet high. A small path waded through it, an obvious track left behind by the man in his departure. Yet, the smell of meat followed through, up to the high ground. It left Sethlzaar with questions.Wondering what was going on, he cautiously climbed up to see what was above him. There he saw the old man.The man sat, roasting a snow hare over a flame in a small clearing. The smell was torture to an empty stomach, and Sethlzaar wondered if the man did it intentionally."I didn't wish to wake you," the man called out, "but since you're up, I could use the company."No use hiding, Sethlzaar thought. He climbed up and joined the man at the fire.
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