004: First trial

Elara's POV

The next three days blurred together into one endless cycle of pain, exhaustion, and getting knocked on my back over and over again. Every morning I woke up sore and every night I went to bed even more bruised than before. My hands developed calluses from gripping the practice sword and my muscles screamed with every movement, but Kael never let me stop for long.

"You're too slow," he said on the second day after knocking my sword away for the hundredth time. "Stop trying to overpower me. You'll never win with strength alone."

I picked up my sword and tried again, putting all my force into the strike. He blocked it easily and swept my legs out from under me. I hit the ground hard and the air rushed out of my lungs.

"What did I just say?" His voice was cold and flat. "You're not listening."

"I'm trying," I gasped, pushing myself up on shaking arms.

"Try smarter, not harder." He moved into position again. "Use leverage. Use my momentum against me. Stop fighting like you have something to prove and start fighting like you want to survive."

Something clicked in my mind at those words. I shouldn't try to beat Kael in combat because that was impossible. I should try to survive long enough to get away. That was different and it required different thinking.

The next time he swung at me, I didn't try to block with force. Instead, I stepped to the side and let his sword pass by me. It wasn't graceful and I nearly tripped over my own feet, but I stayed upright.

"Better," Kael said, and it was the closest thing to praise he'd given me.

By the third day, something was starting to change. I still couldn't beat him and I still ended up on the ground more often than not, but I was learning. My footwork improved and I started to understand how to use my smaller size as an advantage instead of a weakness. I couldn't overpower an opponent, but I could be faster and harder to hit.

"Watch my shoulders," Kael instructed during an evening session. "They'll tell you where I'm going to strike before my sword moves. Everything starts from the core."

I watched his shoulders and saw the slight shift right before he swung. I ducked under the blade and rolled away, coming up on my feet a few steps back.

"Good," he said. "Again."

We trained until I couldn't lift the sword anymore. My arms felt like dead weight and sweat dripped into my eyes, but there was something satisfying about it. For the first time in my life, I was learning to survive by fighting instead of just learning to survive by being invisible.

The night before the first trial, I couldn't sleep at all. I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling while my mind raced with every terrible possibility. Three days alone in the forbidden forest where rogue wolves hunted and worse things lived in the shadows. How was I supposed to survive that when I could barely survive a training session with Kael?

Finally, I gave up on sleep and made my way to the tower balcony. The door was unlocked and the night air was cool against my skin as I stepped outside. Under the moonlight, the forest was visible in the distance, a dark mass of trees that looked like they could swallow someone whole.

Tomorrow I would enter those trees and most likely never come out.

"Can't sleep?"

I jumped and spun around to find Kael standing in the doorway. He must have heard me moving through the tower.

"No," I admitted. "I keep thinking about tomorrow."

He moved to stand beside me at the railing, his eyes fixed on the distant forest. We stood in silence for a while and I was surprised he didn't just order me back to bed.

"You're scared," he said finally. It wasn't a question.

"Of course I'm scared." I wrapped my arms around myself. "I'm human and they're sending me into a forest full of creatures that want to kill me. Only an idiot wouldn't be scared."

"Fear can keep you alive if you use it right," Kael said, his voice less cold than usual. "It sharpens your senses and makes you careful. Just don't let it paralyze you."

I looked at him and in the moonlight, his scars looked less harsh somehow. He stared at the forest like he was remembering something painful.

"Were you scared?" I asked. "During your first real fight?"

"Yes." The answer came quick and honest. "I was four years old and hiding in a cupboard while rogues killed my family. I was terrified." He paused and his jaw tightened. "But fear didn't save them. Only I survived."

The raw edge in his voice made my chest ache. For just a moment, the cold warrior mask slipped and I saw the boy who lost everything.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Kael turned to look at me and something flickered in his silver eyes. For a heartbeat, I thought he might say something real, something that wasn't cold and distant. Then his expression went blank and he stepped back.

"You should sleep," he said, his voice cold again. "You'll need your strength tomorrow."

He turned and walked back inside without another word, leaving me alone on the balcony.

The first trial began at dawn. The entire pack gathered at the edge of the forbidden forest to watch me enter, and I could feel their eyes on me like physical weights. Some looked eager to see me fail. Others just looked curious about how long I would last.

The Alpha King stood at the front with a cruel smile on his face. "Three days, human. Survive three days in the forest and return here at dawn on the fourth day. If you succeed, we'll discuss the next trial. If you fail..." He shrugged. "Well, the forest will take care of that problem for us."

I looked at Kael but his face was blank and emotionless. He stood with his arms crossed and watched me like I was a stranger.

An Elder handed me a small pack with minimal supplies. A water skin, some dried meat, a knife, and a flint for starting fires. Nothing that would actually help me survive against rogues or worse.

"Begin," the King said.

I walked into the forest and didn't look back. The moment the trees swallowed me, the sounds of the pack disappeared and were replaced by forest noises. Birds calling, branches creaking, and underneath it all, the sense that I was being watched.

I walked for hours, trying to put distance between myself and the pack's territory. The deeper I went, the darker the forest became. Less sunlight made it through the thick canopy and the air felt heavier somehow, like the forest itself was alive and waiting.

By nightfall on the first day, I found a hollow tree and crawled inside. I ate a small piece of the dried meat and tried to make myself as small as possible. Every sound made me jump and I barely slept at all.

The second day was worse. I heard howls in the distance and the sound of something large moving through the undergrowth. I stayed quiet and still, remembering Kael's training about using my size as an advantage. If I couldn't fight them, I needed to make sure they didn't find me in the first place.

I covered myself in dirt and crushed leaves, masking my scent the way I'd seen hunters do when they didn't want prey to smell them coming. It was disgusting and uncomfortable, but it might keep me alive.

By the third day, I was exhausted, hungry, and starting to lose hope. My water was almost gone and every muscle in my body hurt from sleeping on the ground and staying tense for so long. But I was still alive and that had to count for something.

As the sun started to set on the third day, I heard them. Wolves howling in the distance, closer than before. The sound sent ice through my veins because these weren't pack wolves. These were rogues and they were hunting for real.

I climbed a tree as quietly as I could and wedged myself between two thick branches. My hands shook as I gripped the rough bark and tried to control my breathing. Below me, I heard footsteps. Heavy paws moving through the undergrowth, sniffing and searching.

"I smell something," a rough voice said. One of the rogues said.

"Human," another voice answered. "Fresh trail. Can't be far."

My heart pounded so hard I thought they might hear it. I pressed myself against the tree trunk and didn't move, didn't breathe and didn't make a single sound.

The wolves circled below my tree and I could see their shadows in the moonlight. Three of them, all bigger than I ever imagined. Their eyes glowed yellow in the darkness and their teeth were long and sharp looking.

"Where did it go?" the first one growled.

"Has to be close. I can smell the fear."

They were right under me now and if any of them thought to look up, I was dead. My fingers ached from gripping the branch so hard and my legs cramped from staying so still.

One of the rogues stopped directly below me and lifted its nose to the air.

Then it looked up.