Chapter 13

Training starts the next morning and I already hate it. Derek wakes me up before dawn by pounding on the door until I want to murder him. I stumble downstairs still half asleep and he's standing in the courtyard looking way too awake and happy.

"Ready?" he asks.

"No."

"Too bad. Let's go."

He leads me to a training area behind the fortress. It's just a dirt clearing surrounded by trees with some weapons hanging on racks and a few practice dummies that look like they've seen better days. There are other warriors there too, already training, and they all stop to stare when I walk in.

Great....