Training is brutal. But I made it that way. As soon as my father figured out what I was doing , I felt the need to prove myself to him. So I stepped it up a bit.

Jasper was swinging harder, doing everything in his power to win. I’m not gonna lie, it’s hard. Years before Jasper joined the army, he had been training himself to protect his family.

He was teaching me everything he knows. He took me out to the mountains surrounding the castle. He said it would teach me to work in all kinds of places.

“Stop!” He yelled. He sighed and walked closer. “You have to work on defense. You are great at attacking. We already know that.” He winced slightly and touched a long cut on his right arm.

I smiled and laid down in the soft grass. “Sorry.” Maybe I had been a bit to eager. He shook his head.

“Don’t be. You did well. You just have to practice.” He came over with a water bottle and handed it to me.

I nodded my thanks and took a long swig. I looked around for a second and admired the my home.

Mountains surrounded from almost every side, tall and green. Trees with red leaves were all over the place, showing signs of early fall. I turned my gaze to the little pond that sat near us. There were ducks and swans and frogs. The beauty of it was like an enchanting spell.

If only I knew that it was about to be broken.

The castle grounds started to shake and I looked around wildly. “What the hell?” I asked aloud. Jasper put a hand on my shoulder and I snapped my gaze to him.

“We have to get back to the castle!” He looked fearful. He started to run around, gathering all of our equipment. He tossed me Wind Reaver, my sword, and its sheath.

I attached it to my belt, not knowing what else to do. “What’s going on?” I asked. I was confused as hell.

“Their attacking. We have to go!” He said. He grabbed my hand, pulling me along. I stumbled behind and he only ran faster. “Who are? Where are we going?” I shouted.

As soon as we got to the entrance, he yanked me into a small corridor and pushed me into a room. To my surprise, the queen and her daughter were already there.

He lead me to a seat and stood in front of me. “I have to go. Please, for the love of god, don’t leave this room,” He pulled me into a kiss and I felt a tear slip down his face.

“What?” I asked. “Where are you going?” He ignored me and saluted the king. He ran out just as the first boom sounded. I jumped and covered my ears. “What was that?”

The little ten year old princess ran over to me and buried her face in my stomach. Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke.

“The Eldorians are coming!” She said. I gaped at her. She had to be wrong. The Eldorians have been peaceful for years.

I looked over to the queen. “They have decided that we have controlled them for long enough.” She confirmed. She looked grim, and she kept looking out of a small window at the top of the wall.

Something else had to have caused them to attack. We didn’t control them. As far as I knew, there has never been any agression between the two kingdoms.

Just as I thought the Eldorians were done with the bombs, the cave collapsed, trapping us all under them.

[So I have this idea that they can make a bomb-like explosion using rust powder and a reactive element. Should I keep going with this story? I don’t know. I’m kinda having a hard figuring out what to write. It’s like I have the big picture in my head, but I can’t seem to put it on paper. Have a good day! 💙]