The sun had already set when Aurel and I began to make our way back to the barracks. We sat at the pub for a while, discussing the reasoning behind my sister suggesting we train a unit of special warriors. Understandably Aurel and I were quite vexed. 

"Honestly, I don't know why you think of this as punishment. This is an opportunity for you to prove your usefulness to father, and it will focus the mind of this useless drunk on something other than women and drink," she said while gesturing towards Aurel at the useless drunk portion of her statement. 

Of course, I still protested. What she had thrown at us was no easy task. Aurel and I had completed our training at age 20, but we hadn't accumulated as much experience as the more senior warriors. The task of training warriors required the possession of significant knowledge of warfare, and we were still babies. 

I mean, Aurel and I struggled against a single Lycan. No matter how one thought of it, the task was beyond us. It was one thing if we would only be training new recruits, but I had a suspicion some veteran warriors would want to be trained too. How were we supposed to handle people who were significantly more experience than we were? 

In the end, we settled on meeting the leader of the warriors. He would most likely help us come up with a plan. After all, father would've consulted him before appointing Aurel and me to our new assignments. I was sure he would have helpful opinions for us. 

Sister left the pub early, while Aurel and I sat and talked about the events that happened while I was unconscious.  

I was told of the insane amount of abuse he had to endure these past ten days. Using the excuse of testing Aurel's fitness to train a new unit, the leader had forced Aurel into a sparring session every day for the ten days I was out. Even though it was called a spar, it was mostly just Aurel getting beat up. 

I was starting to feel thankful I had escaped such hell when Aurel looked at me and smiled. 

"You think you've escaped the worst of it, don't you? Let me tell you what the leader said to me today after our spar," he said, pouring himself another drink. 

“‘Once Silas wakes, he can share in your burdens’ were his words to me today; after he beat me senseless," Aurel continued, after chugging down the drink he'd just poured himself. 

I wasn't much of a drinker myself. I didn't like the bitter taste of alcohol, but I drank on occasions. Today was one such occasion when I craved alcohol. The news Aurel had just relayed to me soured my mood, and I was determined to drink myself senseless as a way to escape, even if just temporarily. 

Aurel and I stumbled drunkenly through the night into the barracks. When we were apprentices we shared the same sleeping quarters with all other apprentices, but as we were now full-fledged warriors, we were provided with our own sleeping quarters. Aurel's was adjacent to mine. 

We said our drunken good-byes and each retreated to our quarters to rest for the night. I particularly needed a good night's sleep. Ever since I'd woken from that dream, I had been feeling just a bit tired and anxious. I couldn't say exactly why, but it felt like I had been awake for days. 

The alcohol in my system would play its role I thought, as on previous occasions when I'd gotten drunk, I slept like a newborn. This night would be no different I thought. Come sunrise I would be feeling refreshed again, once I dealt with the hangover. 

I found myself in a strange place once more. This time I was outdoors, in a plain filled with greenery. The scene before me would've been beautiful but for the bodies that littered the ground. All around me the sounds of battle raged on. The sounds of metal weapons clashing. The screams of pain, anguish, anger, and triumph. Offensive magic was fired non-stop, in every direction. What I was looking at was the definition of chaos.

I was very confused. The last thing I remembered before ending up here was falling asleep. Logically, this should be nothing but a dream. In my head, I knew this. However, everything in front of me felt too real. 

The hilt of the sword in my hand. The sweat running down my back. The sensation of fresh blood drying on my face. The heat from the sun beating down on me. The sounds. Everything seemed so vivid and real. 

In my stunned state, I wasn't even aware of the enemy on the battlefield. All around me was chaos, but my mind was perhaps the most chaotic. I told myself to wake up internally, what started as a quiet whisper soon turned into a desperate internal scream. 

I was so dazed and confused I didn't even notice a hand was plunged into my chest. I did not know how it felt to have one's heart squeezed, but I imagine what I was feeling right now was very close. I looked up to see a sinister Lycan bearing his fangs at me. 

I recognized this as the mythical creature that was described to children to scare them. He stood about 20 feet tall. Eyes as black as a moonless night. Fangs bigger than my fingers, and the saliva that dripping from his mouth looked toxic. But it was the red fur that made me realize what it was I was looking at. 

I was lifted up off the ground and flung away like a weightless doll. I felt my body start to grow cold, starting from my extremities. I felt the urge to cough, but my lungs felt like they were on fire, and I was choking on my own blood. The pain I felt was so intense I could hardly keep my sanity. My screams couldn't escape my lips. Every time I tried my lungs only burned intensely. 

Slowly, very slowly, everything in front of me began to blur. The sounds all around grew dimmer and dimmer. I lost all sensation in my body. Whereas I was trying to escape this place before, now I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I knew what it meant once I closed my eyes, I would fall into eternal slumber. 

As hard as I tried, I couldn't stop the inevitable. Soon, everything turned black. However, I still retained my awareness. It felt like I was at the bottom of a very deep pool. I felt weightless. I couldn't move my body, and that was because I felt something heavy constraining me. 

It wasn't before long I woke up, startled. I was sweating profusely. I immediately clutched my chest relieved to find no gaping holes there. I took deep breaths and it took me a few moments to calm down. I wasn't immediately aware of where I was. I looked around in the dark, straining my eyes to pick out any detail around me. But it was the sounds of crickets in the night that made me realize I was back in my room. 

The room felt stuffy, I felt suffocated by the darkness. I looked out the only window I had, and the sky looked just as dark as my room. I decided to go out for some air. 

The crescent moon in the sky did a shoddy job of illuminating the night. I sighed several times and wondered, why did it have to be so dark. I walked around the barracks aimlessly. I tried very hard to get that dream off my mind, but I was unsuccessful. 

I still remembered the last moments vividly. The pain in my chest, the sensation of choking, and my lungs burning. The feeling of helplessness as I laid on the grass, slowly losing sensation in my body. It didn't feel like a dream, it felt like something I had experienced just yesterday. 

I recalled who or what it was that had put me in that state. I remembered the soulless black eyes that looked down at me. There was no emotion in those eyes. Even as the beast flung me away, he looked at me as one would look at a doll. My life meant nothing; I was nothing more than an ant squashed under his boot. 

I was lost in thought, I didn’t even notice when dawn came. The very first rooster crow was what pulled me out from my daze. I made my way back to my room to prepare to face the day.

Aurel, having been drunk the previous night would probably still be asleep. It was my duty to wake him up. I changed into a fresh pair of clothes and made my way to his room. He hadn’t locked his door, so I simply entered. 

I found him sprawled on the leather mat, snoring so loud one could mistake the sound for an erupting volcano. There was a bit of drool running down the side of his face. I felt elated to find my friend in such a state. Ever since Titus’ death, he’s never had a good night’s sleep. Seeing him sleep filled me with so much joy. At least, finally, his grief was reducing. Well, perhaps the fact that he was very intoxicated last night helped too. 

I would’ve let him enjoy his sleep more, but we had to be at the training ground by the time the rooster crowed a third time. I kicked him gently to wake him up. 

“Wake up Aurel, we have to go meet the leader at the training ground,” I said to him. He grumbled, opened his eyes to look at me before slowly getting up. 

“Brother, you look like you aged a million years. Did you get no sleep?” Aurel asked me once he was done preparing and fully awake. 

I probably did look bad, after all, I barely got any sleep. My body didn’t feel heavy so I hadn’t really paid any attention to it, but others looking at me could probably tell. 

“I was too nervous to sleep well. If what you told me is true, then I will be in a world of pain soon,” I lied. 

“Don’t worry too much. The first time is the worst, but you'll get used to it soon,” Aurel said with a sinister smile on his face. I had no doubts in my mind he was looking forward to the leader dishing me the same sort of abuse he had endured the past ten days. 

“Can you try not to look so excited,” I said to him, a little bit cross with him. 

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Over time you too will come to look forward to the sparring sessions with the leader,” Aurel said as we made our way out of his room and to the training grounds. 

When we got to the training grounds, the leader was already there waiting for us. He was a monstrous man. He stood about 7 feet tall. His arm was almost as big as my thigh. Looking at him, one would imagine that his style of fighting would be similar to Aurel’s; a brawler that relied on strength more than technique, but he was perhaps the most technically gifted warrior in the settlement. 

Not only was he strong, but he was also really fast. Whenever I watched him fight, he reminded me of the dancers that accompanied minstrels. His movements were so graceful. He never used more strength than necessary, he never forced moves in a fight, he instead led opponents on as he cornered them. 

He could never beat Titus cause Titus was just as gifted, but Titus had enough brute strength to overcome most opponents. Neither Aurel nor I had that kind of strength, and in terms of technique, the leader was far above us. 

“Silas, it is good to see you up and about. You had Ion worried there,” the leader said to me once we were in his presence. 

Ion was father’s name, and very few people addressed him only by his name. The three people other than Titus I knew who did were the chief blacksmith, the custodian of the library, and the leader of the warriors. It probably had more to do with their stations than their relationship with father, as only Titus could be considered father’s friend. 

“How are you feeling? Is your body in a good enough condition to handle today’s spar?” the leader asked me. On the surface, it looked like I was being presented an opportunity to withdraw from the session, but I knew no matter what my answer was, he would still force me to participate.  

In the corner was a healing mage I recognized, I wanted him to heal us before we started. Aurel was probably feeling hungover, and I had barely gotten any sleep last night. Against the leader, even if we were in the best condition, we would still lose, but at least we could put up a decent fight. However, in our current states, I wasn’t sure we would even survive the first clash. 

“My condition isn’t the best, and Aurel had a bit too much to drink last night,” I answered. The leader smiled and beckoned the mage. 

“Heal these two before we begin,” he told the mage.  

Not long after I started to feel the effects of the magic. I felt reborn. My body felt really light, and my muscles felt very tight. I felt like if I started running now I would move so fast it would feel like I was flying. Instead of healing, it felt like someone had cast incredibly potent buffing magic on me. 

I looked at the mage, then at Aurel, but it didn’t feel like either of them was aware of what was happening. I didn’t know what it was, but I decided to worry about it later. For now, the task ahead was more important. I had to find a way to satisfy the leader’s sadism while taking as little damage as possible.