Dawn of a New Age: A Sons of Satrina Novel (19 page)

“I think they still want me to sit out for a while.”

“That’s probably for the best. You should make sure that you’re ready. Don’t push yourself too hard. They’re trying to do right by you.”

Ash rolled her eyes at him, but smiled. At least he was finally showing her some friendly concern. “I’m fine. I feel ready for it.”

“Perhaps he’ll let you back to train in a couple of weeks?”

“A couple of weeks?” Aisline’s voice rose a little higher than she had meant to, drawing the eyes of those closest to them. “You must be kidding. There’s no way that I’m waiting another couple of weeks.”

“You don’t want to be doing too much too soon.”

“I’ve been waiting for long enough already.”

Jackson grinned. “You’re so stubborn.”

“Damn right I am.” She laughed, pleased that the air between them was so easy going once again.

“Do you want to go back out and join Denver?” Kelton bellowed at Jackson, making the pair of them jump.

“No, sir.”

“Shut the hell up then.” Kelton wasn’t in the mood for any of their nonsense today. He had a killer headache, especially after having to speak to the council and the thought of their imminent visit put him on edge. They could always make a good day turn crappy.

It wasn’t going to be a good day. Jackson was lucky that he had taken pity on him and allowed him back into training. Denver was still outside on the exterior agility course being watched by the eagle eye of Dixon. He had meant to bring them both back into training after they’d completed a couple of circuits, but when Denver had started bitching and moaning, he decided to make him go a few more rounds. Dixon was going to send him in when he thought he’d had enough. He wouldn’t be out there much longer because he didn’t want the boy too exhausted to train, but Denver really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

Kelton was already kitted out in his work out gear so the guys knew that they were in for a gruelling time of it. He was one of those men who didn’t like to just teach. He liked to do it all himself. It was a way of proving to the trainees that the things he was asking of them was possible. If he could do it, then there was no reason for them not to give it their all.

“Right. Team up. Four to a group. We’re heading outside.”

The trainees looked at one another but didn’t make any comment. Jackson inwardly groaned as he knew that it probably meant that they would be going out as a group to test the new course, but when they moved through the mansion and out of the front of the building, he was surprised when Kelton stopped there.

“We’re working in relays. One member of the team will run the path around the exterior of the academy while the other three members will be doing continuous wide-arm press-ups. Ready?” Kelton glanced around at the group. “Go!” and several of the trainees raced off. They didn’t need to be told twice that there would be a penalty for the team that performed the worst.

“What do you want me to do?” Aisline asked.

“Do you feel up to some light exercise?”

Ash grinned. “Yes!”

“Right, I want you to stay with the group here and work on your stretches. When I say light exercise, I mean it. If I see you pushing yourself too hard before the doctor has given you the okay to train, then I will pull you off training permanently.”

Aisline nodded solemnly, knowing that Kelton wasn’t bullshitting her. He was giving her a bit of leeway and she wasn’t about to push her luck. Heck, he could have sent her back into the library to do some more research, or to help with the ongoing unpacking, but he hadn’t. Not waiting for him to change his mind, Ash didn’t waste a moment in starting to stretch her limbs.

Kelton watched her for a moment to make sure that she didn’t jump straight into any strenuous press-ups before he moved over towards the far side of the mansion. The first group of runners were already sprinting around the corner, trying desperately to out-race one another.

As the next group raced off down the path, Denver came staggering around the corner, having to jump out the way so he wasn’t trampled. It was clear that he was trying to walk with his usual swagger and confidence, but failing miserably. The aches in his limbs weren’t making his movements very fluid and frown lines were etched between his eyebrows.

“Dammit Denver! This isn’t break time. Get a move on and get into a group.” Kelton roared.

Denver smirked and strolled over to where the rest of the guys were on the ground, apparently oblivious to Kelton’s ice cold stare. He was back in his element now that the punishment was finally over and done with. This training lark was going to be a breeze after all that hard work.

“What the hell are you waiting for?” Kelton barked.

Denver mumbled under his breath as he slid to the floor to join in with the rest of the group that were closest to him.

Aisline was watching Denver warily. There was no surprise that she didn’t trust a single move he made. The boy had done nothing to instil any trust in her. He had been the one that had put the group in danger when they were out in the field and despite his many apologies, Aisline wasn’t inclined to believe that he was going to change into a better person. Hell, he’d tried to push his luck with her from the moment she had stepped in the academy, including coming on to her a little too strong so that she had to injure him where it hurt to fight him off. Denver was the kind of guy that thought he was God’s gift to the female sex and unfortunately for him, he didn’t seem to understand the word ‘no’. Ending up on the floor writhing in pain sure hadn’t been part of his plan when he had turned up in her room that night. And, right now, from the look that crossed his face, he was about to start up some more trouble.

“Look what the cat dragged in.” Denver snorted, finding his own joke hilarious. “Or should I say, the dog?”

“Denver, give it a rest.” Ash hissed at him.

He had been the main one to ridicule and torment her when she’d first come to the academy. He had thought it was all one big joke that a girl had received the warrior mark, until she had knocked him flat on his backside during her very first sparring session.

Although Ash welcomed the reprieve from Denver’s jibes, she knew that it wouldn’t last for long. At the moment, he was still weighed down with guilt over what had happened to her and he could barely bring himself to look at her. However, she didn’t think that it was particularly wise of him to start something with the shifter. They were well known to be an unruly bunch, unpredictable. Caleb for one was clearly uncomfortable being there and a shifter on the edge wasn’t something that anyone should mess with. There was no way that way Caleb was going to take any of Denver’s crap lying down.

Caleb stood up, topping Denver by several inches. Caleb may have been standing alone against Denver and his cronies, but he didn’t look the least bit intimidated by any of them. “Have you got a problem, fanger?” he growled huskily.

Denver didn’t back down. He didn’t know when to back down. That was one of his main problems. He thought he was invincible. The Mortuorum had shown him that he was anything but, but here on his home turf, he had clearly forgotten that.

Trey stood up next to Caleb, but he didn’t seem to notice. Ash did and she appreciated the sentiment.

“Get back to it, all of you.” Kelton demanded, moving over briskly when he saw the boys bristling for a fight.

Denver smirked again as he casually curled to the floor to continue with the exercises. Caleb took another second or so before turning around and walking back over to where he and Trey had been exercising. Denver was still looking amused, but Caleb looked royally pissed off.

After speaking to Caleb the other day, Aisline was simply annoyed at Denver’s behaviour. He was reinforcing everything that Caleb thought about them all and about him not being able to fit in there. She hoped that Caleb would take a little more notice of Trey and see that the rest of them were nothing like Denver. He was in the minority.

“Denver, I seriously don’t expect to hear of any more problems involving you. I think that you’ve done more than enough in your short time here, don’t you? Wasn’t that punishment enough?” Kelton stabbed a finger in the direction of the exterior course.

Shaking his head, Kelton narrowed his eyes at the trainee. After the boy had completed his punishment, he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and not resort to bringing up his past mistakes, but he also hadn’t expected Denver to roll back in here with his dumb-ass comments. Kelton had hoped that the boy would have learned something during his time of hard labour, but clearly not.

To give him his due, Denver had shown immense remorse for the situation that he had put Aisline in. It was not common knowledge what had happened out there in the field. The rest of the trainees knew nothing of Denver’s part in it, or Merion’s for that matter. That was on a need to know basis, and they didn’t need to know. Discretion was the better part of valour in this case.

Kelton glanced around at the trainee’s working up a sweat. Those that were on the floor doing press-ups were already flagging and the sprinting speed had slowed down considerably. “On your backs for sit-ups! Get moving!” he called out, wanting to give the guys a full body work-out.

He continued to watch them for a further forty minutes. It was clear that they all needed to increase their stamina, which was why Kelton had decided on this kind of exercise for tonight. As warriors in training, they had to have the full package. There was no point in being excellent in the fighting aspects of the work if they were tired out after the first minute. It would put their whole group in danger if they couldn’t keep up the speed out there in the real world. It was Kelton’s job to get them ready for that, in every way possible, and that was what he intended to do.

“How long do we have to do this for?” Lewis whined, the sweat dripping down the side of his face as he panted like a dog.

“Until your stomach muscles are screaming and your legs feel like they’re going to drop off. And even then you’ll keep on going.” Kelton said, not sounding out of breath in the least. He was on the ground, exercising along with the kids. If he could keep on doing it, so could they. He could feel the muscles burning and it felt good.

A collective groan rose up from the others, cursing Lewis for speaking up and probably making matters worse.

Pushing them for another ten minutes, he knew that the guys had had enough. Kelton sat up and called time. The runners fell to the ground as they finished up their sprint and the boys on the ground stretched, moaning at the relief.

“You’re all warriors in training. This isn’t an easy life. You have to constantly work at it. This is only the beginning for you.” Kelton said in a slightly softer tone. They’d done him proud. He rode them like he did because he had to, he had to get them prepared for the life they were going to lead. Sure, they might hate him for it now, but they would all thank him in the long run.

“All of us?” Denver snickered.

Kelton glared at him, knowing exactly what he was insinuating. “Yes. All of you. Every single one of you out here. You are all going to be Sons of Satrina warriors. That is what sets you apart from the rest. Not your race or your gender. You are all here to work towards the same goal. You work together as a team now and you’ll trust one another with your lives out in the field when it really matters.”

“But, seriously, how’s that going to work?” Lewis piped up.

“How is what going to work?” Kelton looked at him blankly. If the kid had any sense at all, he would have dropped that line of questioning, but Lewis wasn’t showing any kind of sense at all. The more time he spent with Denver, the more arrogant he got.

“Well, um, uh, I mean, they’re shifters, right? Who are they going to protect? Us or them? It makes no sense?”

“What happens in the future is of no consequence to you. Caleb and Rees bare exactly the same mark as you and will both be going through the same rigorous training as you. They are warriors, same as you.” Kelton glared menacingly. Lewis couldn’t think of anything to say to that so Kelton continued. “You will all go through the same training and you will be out there working in the field together. I suggest that you consider this when you make such remarks. One day, you could be relying on one of these young men to have your back.”

There were selected murmurs of agreement. Caleb stared stonily ahead, hating being thrust into the limelight once again. A few of the other guys were exchanging grins and fist bumps, loving Lewis and Denver being taken down a peg or two.

Ash knew that it was going to be hard for Caleb during his time at the academy, surrounded by ‘bloodsuckers’ day in, day out. She knew that he would jump at the chance of going back to his old life, but that just wasn’t and option for him anymore. He would have to learn to work with what he had or he was going to have a very miserable life. Looking around, there were plenty of guys that were trying to be right with him, but he wasn’t seeing that. Hopefully, he would open his eyes one day soon. They weren’t all like Denver and Lewis.

Caleb glanced over at Aisline in that moment. He didn’t know why. She was a reassuring presence. Plus, she was strikingly beautiful, that was if you were into the fanged variety. That long dark blonde hair of hers was wrapped up into some intricate knot on the top of her head, showing off the warrior mark on her temple proudly. It wasn’t just that she was the only female his age in the place, she would have been a knock out in any given situation. But, it wasn’t just her looks that held him in fascination. It was how she was.