Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121924 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Passing the test hadn’t earned me anything. Never did. That wasn’t how it worked here. The only real reward you had was not passing out.
After my evening meal, I’d been sent to the storage shack near the bathhouses to see what Vesper had in store for me, which happened to be this.
So, in sum, the days were grueling. Our food and water rations were small when we were trekking, which made it harder for everyone to keep going. And it certainly didn’t help that we didn’t get much sleep.
Sometimes we were woken at three am, sometimes at six am, sometimes somewhere in between. And we were all feeling the physical effects of how little rest we got.
But I was still here. Although I was physically weaker than the godkin, I hadn’t cried foul as some had. While strength and speed and suppleness were really good to have, they provided no certainty that a candidate wouldn’t decide they were ‘done.’ You couldn’t rely on physical strength when so fatigued. It was mental endurance that kept you moving when your body cried foul.
Or, in my case, it was the prospect of undergoing ‘tests’ at the hands of the Sovereigns.
They’d once performed tests on Talon too, curious about what he could take, what he could do, what would break him. I wasn’t feeling inclined to become familiar with any of that.
So, I had to have a ‘keep going’ mindset. Had to persevere, not forget my objectives, remain mentally switched on, find my way past obstacles, and adapt to whatever environment I was tossed in—which were mostly areas of Reaper’s Pines. Thanks to the ever-present smoky haze there, visibility was always poor as shit, which wasn’t helpful. As such, my eyes would water and itch from the constant strain of simply trying to see.
Exposing us to the environments wasn’t merely about putting us through hell. It was about giving us a taste of what it was like to patrol and be stationed in such harsh terrain. It was apparently also to prepare us for the ‘final stage’ of Xalbia—something nobody would elaborate on.
No matter where in the Pines we were, there was a lot of walking, marching, running, climbing, descending.
Falling.
I’d had a few little accidents. Once, I’d fallen into a river and almost gotten swept away by the current. There had been nothing graceful about how I’d clung to a branch and awkwardly climbed onto the bank.
Talon had stared at me as I’d stood there soaked to the bone, my wrist broken. And I’d known he was waiting for me to announce that I was ‘done.’ Instead, I’d quipped, “I look pretty right now. Admit it.”
He’d grunted and walked away.
Another accident had happened when I’d tried dragging a fellow candidate out of a ditch. They’d ended up pulling me down there with them. We’d eventually clambered out—none of the officiates had helped; we were expected to help ourselves, just as we would do if on patrol.
When I’d reached the surface—covered in dirt, scratches, and wrestling with the pain that came from a twisted ankle—Talon had arched a Now are you done? brow.
I’d smiled and said, “I really love our stare-outs. They bring spice to my day.”
He’d sighed and stalked off.
Another time, I’d slipped down a mudslide. His jaw hard, Talon had watched me awkwardly make my way back up, glaring at me like I’d done it on purpose to inconvenience him or something.
When I’d gotten to the top caked in mud, Seneca had laughed her ass off.
So I’d hugged her.
She’d squealed like a little girl. It must have been a trick of the light, but I’d thought Talon’s lips might have quirked for the merest moment. He had then given me his usual, Have you reached your limit yet? look.
I’d said, “That was my favorite accident so far, because I haven’t broken or sprained anything.”
He’d gifted me a dry look and, as usual, walked away.
There were days I hated him, the Marshalls, and whatever officiates accompanied us around the Pines. Why? Because they traversed the entire territory with complete ease, no matter the conditions. No one could claim that they weren’t incredibly tough.
There were many days where I returned to the garrison with injuries. Slashes from whipping branches. Blisters from walking. Strains from twisting my ankle. Bruises and grazes from falling.
Interestingly, my wounds healed a little faster than usual—and it wasn’t merely due to the ointments available at the apothecary. But the injuries never healed before I made it back to the garrison. Because, yeah, we’d be required to keep going, no matter how bad our wounds were or how many we had.
A few candidates passed out while on treks. They had been woken quickly by a Marshall and urged to either keep moving or stay out there and let the beasts roaming the terrain have them.