Shela felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. This was the first time she had felt like this. Grief started to set in. Why couldn't it be her, why did the one person she cared about be injured in such a manner.  How could she be such a fool to leave him alone in the middle of combat. 

The memory of him falling repeatedly played in Shela's head. "Why did you fight? Why did you not stick close to me?" Shela began to panic out loud, "why did you leave me." 

Unbeknownst to Shela all the guards including Eliza, Lilith, and Denz, were listening very intently to Shela's plea. The group of around seven huddled together.

"What the hell could we do to cheer her up?" Lilith whispered into the huddle.

"The best we can do is support her when she opens up," Moll limped over, "and stop slacking and eavesdropping, it is getting annoying." 

A week past, Eliza was forging hard to show Carth how improved she had gotten, Lilith was back to her scheduled guard duty after recovering from a shattered leg, Moll recovered and is back to commanding all her people, Denz is still Denz, and Braith was well on the recovery path. But as for Shela, she stayed inside watching over Carth day after day. His condition seems to be improving, but a lot slower than most. People constantly visit the room to "check up on Carth", but in reality they are more worried about Shela's mental state. Seeing a shek look depressed was a big surprise to everyone in the village. The look on her face was stern yet somber. 

"Hey" knock knock, "can I speak to you?" Lilith entered the room. She was holding the blade Carth had made her. "I wanted to see if you could help finish the training of the trainees. They all gathered and started practicing with each other again, but it is not the same without a teacher. Namely, it's missing you."

"You think I even made a difference? How could I teach you defense if I can't even defend one person." Shela sat there looking at Carth’s unconscious body, "I don't believe I am worthy to teach. I have failed haven’t I? Many of them are dead, my teachings are worthless."

"You did not fail Shela, many lived because of your lessons. Many brag they lived because they were taught by a shek. There was a phrase my father said that I hold dear "An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered" in other words this is a step on a new journey. Look beyond this hurdle and view it as the next step" Lilith looked into Shela's eyes, "please continue to teach us."

Hearing her words made Shela realize that she still had a job that she should not put off. If they are willing to learn, she needs to learn to look past her current dilemma. "Fine, let's push them more." 

Shela followed Lilith to the field. She was greeted warmly and some of the survivors that were not part of the twenty previously seem to want to join the program after the latest attack. There were many faces missing, but the new ones seemed very eager to learn. 

The training sessions were underway. Shela walked around to witness each person's style in the dual. Many seemed clumsy with their swings, others try to block too early causing the attacker a chance to redirect their swing. 

"You got the basics down but you're lacking, timing is everything in combat. Your opponent will not wait for you and neither should you," Shela began her lecture, "focus on two points, a point on the enemy you want to strike, and their weapon. You must learn to block when they swing and strike when you either block or dodge. As Carth would have put it in his forge, strike while the metal is hot."

The trainees applauded and cheered after the speech and immediately implemented the words she had said. Though it being their first time, they seem to have understood the importance of focusing on the two points. One trainee in the back walked towards Shela.

"I want a real fight. Shela, fight me," the young man demanded, raising his sword as if he was a master, "give me a challenge."

Shela just shook her head and raised her large club made to mimic the weight of her axe. The man charged in for a quick blow but was dodged easily. 

"Stand still so I can hit you!" The man shouted, trying his best.

He took another swing targeting her shoulder. With a quick step and clash,  Shela's large club blocked the attack easily, as the weight of her weapon greatly outweighs his. 

"You're rushing every swing, try more deliberate strikes with the knowledge of where my weapon is." Shela took one step to the side, leaned forward and swung her club against his legs knocking him to the ground.

"You're getting too cocky, any attack will fail if done based on emotions, shek uses outrage deliberately for a stronger strike. This is no fairy tale, this is the real world and those cannibals won't disappear because you think you are high and mighty," Shela stepped aside to let him get up, "I hope you got the challenge you were oh so desperately wanting Haha." She chuckled at the face of a man losing his dignity and pride. When she looked up she realized everyone stopped to watch the fight with great interest.

"BACK TO WORK," Shela shouted over the crowd, "USE THE LESSON YOU JUST WITNESSED AS INSPIRATION."

Training went on for another week. The trainees new and old learned plenty of fighting tricks and techniques, good enough to dodge Shela's large, fast swings. 

"Congratulations, you succeeded in passing the courses I could provide. For those who joined us late Eliza made weapons with Carth’s training for you guys," Shela pulled out a barrel full of newly made swords with a Catun 1 grade, "pick your weapons that suit you, you guys earned it."

After handing out the weapons she returned to her room. She instinctively went to check how Carth was doing only to see He is not in bed. Panicked, she looked around for any signs of him only to find the back door open. Rushing outside she saw movement go around the corner. When she reached the corner she saw Carth sitting there with almost a blank stare staring into his blade.

"Don't scare me like that you little shit," Carth said nothing, just sat there continuing to stare, "hey… are you alright? I haven't seen you so gloomy." Shela sat beside him wondering what he was thinking.

"Shela, how long was I out. To me it felt like a week. I was semi conscious the entire time. I could hear you, day in and day out you cried. I tried to speak only to have nothing come out. I heard nothing but silence. It was odd to hear but I had no control," Carth showed very little emotion, except for the tears forming in his eyes, "when I panicked, nothing showed. When I tried to scream, there was no voice."

Shela was in shell shock. She could not believe what she was hearing. To see Carth in such a state worried her more than when he was unconscious.

"Why do you act sad, you're walking and talking now right? You need to snap out of it or else you'll be dragging down others," Shela sat down and hugged him. Both started to tear up. "We must live on for those who sacrificed and die for others."

Carth sat up with tears still in his eyes, "I was not worried about the others, I was more worried about you Shela. Hearing your pleas, I could feel you when you were with me. You were there constantly watching out for me while I was in that state. It was nice to have you around but one thing bugged me. You were always downing yourself," he looked up to see her staring into his eyes with a worried look.

There was a slight pause before either of them spoke, "Let's just go to bed, being this sad makes me tired," Shela said, trying to change the subject. They both went back in and went to sleep in each other's embrace. 

The next day Shela rose from her sleep, Carth was no longer in the bed with her. Getting up in a panic she looked around for him.

"Dammit Carth you need to stop doing that," she mumbled to herself. Taking a step outside she saw him going through a large basket, "hey what you looking at? Oh and STOP DISAPPEARING, you scare me when you do that."

"Sorry, I just couldn't sleep, so I forged some new weapons to use later," inside the basket was a mixture of small arms. Knives, daggers, and short katanas were the bulk of the weapons. He pulled a knife out and stared at it, "at least I have a skill that will always be in demand. Just wish I were more useful." 

He sat there feeling almost defeated. He still had hope in both Shela and his ability to smith. But the sense of helpfulness fades to nothing as soon as combat occurs, which is all the time. He never learned any decent fighting skills since he was always in a peaceful location.

"Shut up and listen Carth, I can't do shit other than fighting, so you have more skills than me. And second you may be a weakling, but you're MY weakling. I love you for the way you are," Shela hugged him and pecked his cheek, "now let's get started with our day with more confidence in yourself."

Carth took a deep breath and sighed. He got up and organized the basket of weapons. "Alright time to hand out some self defense weapons and see what else I can do."