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Chapter 10: Test Of The Mist
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2020-09-11 12:31:49Sethlzaar 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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