“Alright, keep your back straight. Pull back on the string. Find your anchor point.” Sam said as he was showing his daughter how to line up a shot with her bow. Both kids had gotten bows for Christmas, and they had been so excited that they were in the back yard practicing. “Once you find your anchor point, the peep hole should be lined up with the pin in the sight. Line all of that up with your target. Once you’re ready, slowly squeeze the release.” Sam waited a moment as she steadied her shot, listening to his advice and focusing on her target. The compound bow twanged a moment later sending her arrow twenty yards into the foam target they were using for practice.

            “Did you see that? I hit it this time.” She said, with excitement in her voice. Sam looked over and saw a huge smile spread across her face. She high-fived him and then stepped back to let her brother go next.

            “Great shot sweetie. Alright bud, you’re up now.” His son moved up to stand beside him and looked at the target in the distance. He was an eight-year-old boy and the idea of shooting a bow is what had excited both kids into getting bows. He stared eagerly at the target as he knocked his arrow and started to line up his shot. Sam gave the same advice as he had earlier, adjusting his stance and his positioning a little as he helped him line up the shot. “Alright, whenever you’re ready, just slowly pull back on the release.” His son’s bow twanged a moment later and the arrow thudded into the target next to his sisters. He responded to this by pumping his fist in the air. He placed the bow on the ground and both kids started off toward the target. It only took a few steps for it to become a race between them as they ran full speed toward the target and their arrows. Sam turned back and smiled at his wife as she brought some lemonade and snacks out to the three of them. Suddenly, he heard one of the kids cry out in pain and turned back to see his son laying on the ground near an old live oak that sat in their back yard. His daughter was standing over him and waving quickly at Sam. He called out to his son as he ran to them but only got tears in response. His wife was running to join them as well.

            “What happened?” Sam asked to his son as he knelt down next to him. His son was still crying so he turned to his daughter for an explanation of events. She had started to cry a little too. She had always been so empathetic toward everyone, especially her brother. She took a deep breath and started to explain what happened as Sam pulled his son in close to give him a quick look over. He turned him to see fresh blood on his face.

            “I don’t … I don’t really know what happened. We were running to the target and suddenly he tripped and fell to the ground. He was crying and there was blood.” Sam had used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away some of the blood and get it out of his son’s eyes. He had a small gash over his left eye that had swollen up and was still oozing blood. Sam held pressure on the cut with his shirt and turned back to his wife who was just now reaching them.

            “He’s got a cut. Let’s get him inside and get it cleaned up.” Sam said, starting to pull his son up to his feet. He whimpered as he got up and wasn’t putting any weight on his right ankle. “Did you hurt your ankle bud?” Sam asked as he lifted him up completely. The boy pointed a couple steps back to an overground root that had apparently tripped him up and caused the initial fall. Sam carried him back to the house and started cleaning up the wound. This brought some fresh tears as he washed it under the sink. After getting it cleaned up, he was glad to see that it would close up with some skin glue instead of stitches. After that was taken care of, Sam moved to his ankle and felt around. None of the bones crunched or caused pain when he pressed on it. He slowly moved the ankle around and this did cause some discomfort. The outside of the ankle was already starting to swell up and Sam figured he had sprained it instead of broken it. He moved his son to the couch and placed a bag of frozen peas on the ankle with a towel separating the two. “Let’s just relax for the rest of the day and enjoy some screen time.” It was amazing how quickly his dampened mood changed at the mention of screen time, and he smiled through his tears. The dream blurred for a moment before Sam found himself driving in the car with his family.

***

Darkness greeted him as he woke with a start. The same dream. The same ending. The same cold sweat. And the same early morning wake up. He was in his room on the second floor of the team house. His room had a bed in it already and it made for a more comfortable night than the sleeping mat had the night before. Regardless of how comfortable his surroundings were, they always led to the same conclusion of a restless night followed by an early start. He laid in bed for several minutes thinking on the past two days and listening for any other movement in the house. After determining that no one else was awake, he rolled out of bed. He started to reach for the container next to him and open it to reveal the light from the energy stones but stopped himself. He wanted to try something first. He turned his attention to his right hand and sent some energy into the ring. His vision changed from top to bottom almost as if a filter was dropped over his eyes. The room went from darkness to a world of varied greyscale. He could tell the details of the room without any visible light assisting him. This will do nicely he thought to himself. He turned the ring back off and reached toward his side table. He lifted the lid on the box and the room filled with a soft white glow.

There were several stones within the container that produced enough light to help him get dressed. Lighting in the camp was accomplished by several different means. There was the usual light produced from fire in the form of torches, candles, and oil lanterns used among most of the populace. A few fires were located along the guard towers on the walls. The other source of light came from energy stones. The stones appeared in veins almost like precious metals. They could be mined and served a dual set of purposes. People used energy stones as a light source; however, the stones could also be used to supply a limited amount of energy directly into items. Some items that required energy could pull that from an energy stone as a source.

            He dressed in his clothes from Earth using the glowing stones to guide him. He stayed silent as he moved out of the room and down the stairs onto the first floor. Still not hearing any movement from the other rooms, he left out the door and found himself back on the main street between houses. There were some torches down to his left at the commander’s house. There were also a few fires lit on the walls behind him closer to the main gate. No one moved on the street but there were several roaming soldiers on the wall and close to the entrance gate. Sam started left moving toward the corner of town. He turned right as he approached the commander’s house, paralleling the town wall. Although there was occasional light, much of the street was in darkness and Sam switched his night vision back on. This let him move more confidently along the street as well as tell the details in the side streets between houses. He moved along this street heading for the back of the town. Once he got near the back, he started stretching out his legs preparing for his morning run. He turned along the back street of the town and started off on a slow jog. He stuck to the outside perimeter of the village as he moved along the back wall. He still hadn’t passed anyone on the street itself but noticed a few strange looks from the guards on the wall. The town itself wouldn’t wake for at least another hour. He figured it was still quite early in the morning as all three moons were still in the sky with the lead moon just barely visible as it started to descend behind the horizon. He slowly picked up his speed until he was running his usual pace. The back half of the village consisted of a multitude of similarly constructed houses that likely served as the residences for the non-combat personnel in the area. Sam worked his way back to the front of the camp along the last wall of the perimeter. There were several more houses along this stretch as well as a few shops that weren’t part of the main market square. After returning to the front gate, he turned toward the market square. He started to explore the interior of the town. He turned down different streets and alleys keeping to the front left quarter of the city. He ran for close to an hour before ending up near the team’s house.

The last moon was now split in half as it receded behind the world. He moved quietly through the front door trying not to wake the team if they still slept. Lucas was sitting at the table in the common room with a mug in his hands. “It is pretty rare that anyone beats me awake. Let alone gets a run in before I even finish my first drink,” Lucas said lifting his mug toward Sam in a sign of respect.

“Couldn’t sleep so I figured I would explore the town a little,” Sam said with a shrug.

“I hope you don’t regret that later. Training starts today and it can be an intense schedule. But I understand the need to exercise a little to clear the head. I’m still having trouble grasping everything that has happened in the past couple of days. What with the Soulmonger prophecy and your arrival. I can’t imagine how you’re handling it.”

“It’s overwhelming but the best skill I learned in life is to take things one step at a time and tell the difference between things you can change and things you can’t.”

“That’s a good motto. You’re part of this team now though so don’t hesitate to lean on us for anything you need,” Lucas said earnestly. Sam nodded in thanks before moving upstairs to his room. He would change into the clothes he borrowed yesterday since he had sweated these out. He ran into Alannah on the stairs as he exited at the second floor.

“Good morning.” She said looking over his sweat covered clothes.

“Morning. I’m gonna change really quick.” He got back to his room and stretched again loosening the already tightening muscles in his legs. He grabbed the borrowed clothes and cleaned himself up quickly in the bathroom. He was happy to learn that the camp had running water. He finished rinsing off and stopped in front of a mirror that was in the room. He had a slightly muscular frame at six feet tall that was hidden behind the beginnings of a dad bod. Several days growth of facial hair had formed a slight beard. His hair was short and pushed off to the side. It was a dirty brown color. His eyes were blue at the moment but in certain lights they took on a greenish hue. Sam got dressed and moved back downstairs to join the siblings. He grabbed a large glass of water and sat down close to Alannah.

“Well, at least you smell better,” she said with a teasing smile. Sanders had walked down the stairs behind him and leaned over to sniff Sam after hearing the comment.

 Sanders scrunched up his nose, “He smelled worse than this earlier. That’s rough mate.” 

Sam just chuckled at the jibe before turning to the group. “So, how do we have running water?” Sam asked, wondering how it worked in the setting of a medieval town.

“Magic,” was the only response he got from Sanders. The others just nodded their head in agreement.

“Super helpful as always, Sanders.” Sam said. He learned later that it was related to a water element in concert with storage spaces. There were certain artisans that could create storage spaces that were connected to a central unit. These spaces remained open constantly and the switch that turned them on actually connected an energy stone to this space which allowed it to connect to the central unit of water. He also learned that the water was purified through magical means as well.

The team left the house shortly after breakfast and moved toward the barracks. “Everyone start with endurance training while I get Sam squared away with his gear,” Lucas said to the group before continuing past the training area with Sam and heading into the barracks. They approached the office on the left side of the hall. The door that had been closed the day before stood open now with Ivanna sitting behind a small desk. The desk was much more organized than the tables and desks he had seen at the commander’s office. Ivanna was reviewing some paperwork as they approached and knocked on the open door. She smiled as she stood to greet them. “Can I drop him off with you to finalize any administrative items? We’ll be in the training square once you’re done with him.”

“That would be fine Lucas,” Ivanna said sitting back down at the desk. “Good morning, Sam. You impressed Sushanna and Bruce last night and we all appreciate your efforts in healing our troops. Now, most of the necessary steps have been completed to have you officially join the team.” She handed him a rectangular stone. It was similar in size and shape to the soul credit stones he had received earlier but instead of a five marked in the corner, it had two wings with a halo atop them. “This marks your membership in the army. You can use this to identify yourself to others in the army as well as other friendly forces. I need you to instill some energy inside it and then we’ll lock it to your energy signature. This keeps people from stealing these items and pretending to be one of us.” Sam pushed some of his energy into the card. She placed another device on top of the card afterward. He then took the card and put it away in his pouch. “Next, you should go see Lily who can outfit you with some basic gear.”

Sam left the office as she returned her attention to the paperwork in front of her. Lily greeted him with the same business-like attitude as the day before. He showed his identification card and she presented him with three identical pairs of clothing that reminded him of military fatigues. She had guessed his size quite well by just looking him over. He received two pairs of boots as well. She presented him with a plain sword, spear, and shield. The sword was simple steel with a small hilt and leather grip. The spear stood to the level of his chin and was also a simple wooden spear with a sharp metal head. The shield was in the shape of a circular buckler with no significant adornments and two leather straps on the inside for him to loop his arm through. After stowing his gear in his pack, he asked about a bow. She went to one of the back shelves and returned with a brown recurve bow and a handful of arrows. He moved these to the pack as well and thanked her.

Sam left the barracks and moved back toward the training area. As he entered the area, he noticed Lucas off to one side and joined him. About twenty soldiers were using the area at the moment. A large obstacle course ran along the back wall and far side of the enclosed space. This ranged from a few climbing walls, rope swings, and a small course that looked set up for parkour. The area where Lucas and Sam stood held a collection of weights, heavy ropes, and other rudimentary strength training equipment. Two separate areas at the front of the training grounds were sparring rings. One was circular and the other was a large square. These were offset slightly in the ground about a foot deeper than the rest of the yard. The square was thirty feet by thirty feet. It was for larger groups of combatants training together. The circular area was only about ten feet in diameter and was for one-on-one combat training. Lucas was putting himself through burpees but stopped his reps as Sam approached.

“Everything taken care of?” Lucas asked. Sam nodded in response. “Run back and change into your new clothes. The rest will be back from their run by the time you get back.”

It took Sam only a few minutes to get to the house, change into his new fatigues, and make it back to the training square. Lucas was still on his own and had moved into pushups. As he waited for Lucas to finish what had to be fifty pushups, the rest of the team jogged into the courtyard. Lucas then led the team through a loop involving the obstacle course and the parkour area. Every fifth loop would be followed by a round of stretching. This repeated for at least an hour as the team pushed through the course again and again. The other members of the team had no problems pushing through the course repeatedly; however, Sam was already struggling after the first set of five. He made it through two more sets of five before having to sit the last few out. He could hear Bard snort derisively at him as he told Lucas he needed a break. He sat, slightly shaded by the wall at his back, and watched the team continue to move from one obstacle to the next. Bard and Sanders had a more aggressive approach and would just use brute strength to get over walls and move from one part of the course to the next. Alannah on the other hand was quite graceful as she moved through the course. Lucas was a mix of both strength and finesse.

Azuriel entered the training area and indicated for Sam to join him. They moved to the circular sparring ring and Azuriel had him practicing both offensive and defensive moves with the axe. His arms already felt heavy after the course runs but Sam pushed himself as hard as he could. The rest of the group had moved to the larger sparring square and had paired up in teams. They went through this type of training for another hour with different members of the team trading out with Azuriel so that Sam had a different teacher every twenty minutes. Finally, there was a break in the training and the team moved back to the barracks for lunch. Sam felt like he had to drag his body forward to get back to the barracks with the team. He didn’t even move to get food but collapsed at one of the nearby tables. The team joined him shortly with a plate of food and some water for him too.

The afternoon’s schedule was lighter. Sam joined Lucas and Alannah at the archery range which was outside the walls on the left side of the town. There was a mountain of hay piled up along the wall. A path was cleared from the hay into the woods to give a ten-foot-wide lane for shooting. A few markers were posted on surrounding trees indicating different ranges up to fifty yards out. The hay had paint marks indicating two circular targets on either side of the target. In the middle was a crudely painted humanoid creature with smaller circles in the head and chest. They spent a couple of hours training here, with the siblings giving him pointers about how to hold the bow and how to optimize holding the arrows. They both hold two arrows in their bowhand while having one arrow nocked in their other. As they release the first arrow, they pull one of the held arrows back and nock it almost immediately. Most of Sam’s shots were from standing at different ranges but the other two would take shots around trees or while walking at different angles to the targets. Although he felt like he was shooting well for how tired he was, his groupings were always disappointing compared to the other two.

After some more sparring with the rest of the team, Sam left the group and returned to the healing house. There were only a few patients in the building, none of them with severe injuries. Sushanna greeted him as he entered.

“I was hoping to help out and get some more experience with my healing abilities,” Sam said as she approached. The two moved toward the first patient and got to work. She talked about how she pulled some of her energy from the air instead of supplying all the healing energy from her own stores. Sam tried it on each of the patients they saw but couldn’t get the technique to work for him. They discussed other items such as healing tonics and poultices that were available when he was out of energy. She showed him a few of the plants and ingredients used to make them.

Sam rejoined the team for dinner at the barracks. Afterward, they did stealth training through the town as the sun started to set. They would move between buildings and alleyways in a systematic method checking side streets and rooftops for potential enemies. They had hand signals that allowed them to communicate silently during this part of the training. Sam absorbed as much of the information as he could, hoping to avoid being a liability for the group. That night, he hadn’t even made it out of his clothes before dropping onto the bed and falling asleep.

***

Anarak stood a couple hundred yards away from the entrance to the military camp. Night had fallen again, and he was masked by the shadows of a group of trees. He watched the guards atop the entryway and waited. His prey had come this way and the trail stopped at the town. He could not enter easily given his appearance, but he had three members of his team enter the town. The humans under his command could blend with the town’s people much easier and gather information about the group he was chasing. For now, he would just have to be patient. It was not his strong suit.