Dawn
Alya jerked upright and cracked heads with Nyla, who'd been shaking her awake.
Nyla dropped onto her butt with a groan, clutching her forehead.
"I'm so sorry," Alya said, scrambling to her knees to check on her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Nyla said, wincing. "Are you?"
Alya nodded. "It was just a dream."
"Okay. Come on, let's go freshen up."
They left the tent together.
By the time Alya, Nyla, and Kellan reached the training grounds, Master Roric was already waiting, his arms folded.
"You're late," he said. "Training began ten minutes ago."
"We're sorry…" Alya started to apologize, but he cut her off.
"No special treatment on these grounds. Not even for the Pure Tide." His stare stayed fixed on Alya.
Alya almost shivered. There was something in that stare, an energy she could feel from where she stood. She had to look down to escape its pull.
Master Roric summoned his orderlies, who came and directed the trio.
Their punishment was carrying huge clay pots of water on their heads across the field. Kellan received a different punishment, since carrying water wouldn't have bothered him at all. He had to balance on a narrow pole on one leg, with a pot on his head.
"Kragmoor is a madhouse!" Nyla sobbed. "Kellan and I never faced this during training in Veyloria."
"Those are different, Nyla," Kellan grunted, straining from where he stood. "We're training with warriors now."
Kaelith arrived partway through, took one look at them, and had to stifle a laugh. Nyla and Alya gave him a death glare. Kellan nearly dropped his pot trying not to laugh along with him.
Kaelith greeted Master Roric, who responded warmly. Apparently, everyone adored Kaelith.
"Stupid elf prince," Nyla fumed.
As he walked off, he glanced back over his shoulder.
"This is only the beginning."
And true to his word, it was the beginning of their turmoil.
Every single day, they were met with one punishment or another, even when they showed up early. It didn't matter. There was always something. They'd slip during a stance, miss a step in a routine, or trip and land face-first in the dirt, the last being Alya's specialty.
Within three days, Alya had won herself bruises on her hands, knees, face, and ankles. Almost every part of her had a small cut or a dark bruise.
A few more days in, Kellan and Nyla's punishments started to ease off. They weren't new to Lunari techniques, and picked up the more complex ones quickly.
Alya had it tough. She couldn't get the routines right. She was always the one carrying the water pots, picking grains of rice with a single stick, or standing on her head with her legs raised against the wall.
Some of the other pupils started making fun of her.
"Well, a toddler could do the routines better," one had said.
"I wonder how the moon chooses its hosts," another snarked.
"It should have been Sayana," another said.
"What a powerful combination that would've been," yet another added.
"She wouldn't even wait for the Rot to come find her. She'd go head-on and rid it of its rotten existence," the first said again, and the rest chorused their agreement.
"I'll get rid of your rotten existence," Nyla snapped, lunging at them before Alya and Kellan caught her by the arms. More than once, Nyla had nearly gotten into a fight over it.
Other Lunari were kinder. They told Alya it was normal to struggle this early. It was easier for them because most of them had started as children. She just needed time to catch up.
"Where's your trusted assistance whenever you need him?" Nyla would ask every time.
They often caught sight of Kaelith surrounded by admirers. Nyla would roll her eyes at Alya's so-called assistance. Kellan would hoot along in support. Alya didn't seem to mind it much. She'd never really bonded with him anyway.
Even with the chaos around her, she kept trying. She stayed back after training ended to work through the routines on her own. Some of the new friends she'd made would stay back too, showing her techniques when they could, though they couldn't do it every night. Moving energy for hours on end, day after day, wore all of them down.
That was why Lunari and other warriors who wielded energy were fed differently and given longer hours to sleep. But Alya would go back to the training grounds after hours and keep going.
After another rigorous session riddled with more tripping and landings face-first in the dirt, Alya waited until Kragmoor had gone quiet, then made her way back to the training grounds. She wrapped her bruised hands and knees and readied herself.
She spread her feet, sinking into a low stance, crooked her elbows at her sides, and conjured her energy, pushing it outward through her hands. But by the time it reached her fingers, it dissipated. She tried again. The same thing happened. She tried once more and met the same failure.
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed, Pure Tide?"
She turned and found Kaelith standing at the entrance. She sighed and turned back to her concentration.
"You're doing it wrong."
She didn't respond.
"Your stance is terrible," he added.
Alya threw up her hands in exasperation, then turned to face him. "Why are you here? To make fun of me?"
Kaelith chuckled. "I'm your assistant, remember?"
"Funny, I hadn't noticed. Not from all the way over there with your fan club."
"Don't worry. You're in good hands. The master will shape you into the perfect Pure Tide."
"Thanks for the input. If you'll excuse me, I have techniques to master."
"You're still getting it wrong."
"And how would you know? You're not even Lunari."
Kaelith raised his hands in surrender. "With that stance, you're going to trip and fall." He turned and walked off.
Alya sighed and tried again. True to what he'd said, she tripped and fell on her butt.
"Ha! Told you!" Kaelith called out.
"Go away!" Alya yelled back.
A rustle sounded behind her. She turned and saw no one. She let out a breath and went back to her stance.
The sound came again, closer this time. She turned all the way around, only to find two beings passing the entrance. She let out a sigh. They were warriors returning from a late patrol.
Alya took her stance again, but she couldn't shake the feeling creeping up on her. It was similar to the one she felt when she stared into Master Roric's eyes, but this was more… unsettling. Even the hairs on her skin stood on end. She scooped up her things and headed back toward the tents.
Behind her, deep in the trees, claws wrapped around a branch as huge red eyes followed her wobbly figure out of the training grounds. The creature bared its white fangs and growled.