Chapter 20: Proving Grounds

It was a new day in the Fae world. The moon light was shining through the window lighting up the room considerably in a silvery white colour.

Feeling refreshed from resting his mind he looked over and noticed that Tahan had gone. Zyra was up doing some sort of stretching routine next to the bed. She bent down to touch her toes but winced in pain inches away and stopped, clear evidence that her leg still had not fully recovered.

"How you feeling?" he asked.

"Good minus the periodic jolts of pain up my leg and the stiffness. At least I can walk now." She put her knee high black leather boots on.

"Not sure if you know but one of your close friends showed up late last night." Xev said as he sat up curious to see her reaction.

"Tahan. I could tell she was here. I was going to tell you about her but I wasn't sure when the right time was." She replied.

"It's good that your close. She's nice."

"Thanks. I wanted to keep our relationship a secret because I care about her and don't want that to be used as a weakness against me from our enemies." Zyra said.

"I understand." He got up and stretched. "She will be taking your place as our trainer until you have recovered fully she said."

"Okay. Don't go easy on her, she's just as skilled as I." She joked.

After washing up in the bathing room down the hall they met up with Zanir back in their room and waited for any orders regarding their testing that was surely to come.

"Can we get it over with already?" Zanir said as he paced around the room anxiously. 'These longer days are messing with my head."

"I feel the same way Zanir." Xev said. "Do you think Svarturvog will be allowed to join us?"

"I'm not sure it would be the best idea. He's still fairly unpredictable and the testing could make him uneasy." Zyra replied as she sat on the edge of the bed massaging her leg.

"That's true. I just don't want him to be locked up any longer. He's a wild creature that needs to have room to fly and hunt." Xev said staring out the window over the rebel base. The dark shroud of the Fae night lifted.

"We need new weapons Xev and I mean proper weapons. You don't even have one. I've somehow managed to hold onto mine from back home." Zanir said as he drew his sword that was in fairly poor condition.

Not long before they got back there was a knock at the door. Zyra cautiously answered. The same man who brought them there during the night walked into the room.

"I trust you enjoy the housing? Good. Are you three ready for today's proceedings?" he asked.

After a few nods he asked them to follow him towards the training grounds. They left the housing building and made their way to the South Eastern quadrant of the base. Once there Xev noticed it looked similar to the training area back in Draesfjord, about one hundred yards by one hundred yards.

He saw a shadowy figure stood at the far end firing off bright white arrows that left a light trail behind them at a humanoid target. The being kept releasing the arrows at inhuman speed. Xev's stomach sunk at the thought of having to face the Fae archer.

At the centre of the field was a small dueling circle, where Valon was. One of Lord Darwyn's recruitment advisers was stood next to him. Tahan was going through a stretching routine similar to what he saw Zyra doing earlier. She was dressed in black like everyone else there except Valon in his silvery cloak. A few others were there as well, a fairly tall black-armoured soldier carrying a massive broadsword across his back and a sword at his side. Xev was in the presence of some of the toughest, most skilled fighters the rebels had that were free to train them. As they approached the centre dueling area Valon stepped forward and shook all of their hands.

"It's good to see you all. I hope you're recovering well Zyra and as you know Tahan will be testing Xev's fighting skills. Zanir you will be tested by Commander Draus." He motioned his hand towards the commander and he bowed with a smile across his chiseled face. "Xev you'll also be trained by our most skilled archer assassin Auden. I will be teaching you both in the field of magic."

Auden appeared directly in front of Xev and bowed his head slightly without a smile. He had long black hair tied back into a pony tail. One dark leather shoulder pad on his left side, leather chest piece and gloves. He also had his beautifully crafted long bow on his back and two sheathed daggers on his belt. Who knows what other concealed weapons he carried.

"Now, before we begin these exercises, you two will need proper weapons considering the state of your sword Zanir and the lack of yours Xev. I've taken it upon myself to personally choose weapons I think will serve you well." Valon said and turned to a table that was outside of the dueling area which had a number of weapons laid out.

The brothers followed Valon over to the table which had a bow, a collection of daggers of varying lengths and two swords. All weapons were sheathed besides the bow and its quiver.

"I know that you boys are already well trained in many different weapons but we want to evaluate your fighting styles and where improvement is needed." Valon said. "The bow and daggers are yours Xev and the swords yours Zanir."

The brothers armed themselves. Xev grabbed the finely carved bow, which on closer inspection had glowing purple markings that spun around the dark brown polished wood. It wasn't a longbow like Auden's. Xev pulled the string back which was surprisingly easy to do.

"Ah yes, these weapons have been enchanted by yours truly." Valon said with a smile. "Your bow Xev, has the ability to fire magical arrows, a string that will never fail you and increased firing speed of your arrows and therefore more penetrating power."

Xev belted on the two larger daggers. He unsheathed one which was hands length, narrow bladed and extremely sharp. It had a black glowing mist emanating from the dark blade. Its hilt, quality black leather and fit his hand perfectly. He unsheathed the other dagger which was longer and glowed white. Its blade had a white engraving on the silver, a type of enchantment marking and its hilt, white leather.

"You're black dagger Xev is enchanted with an energy sap. When you draw blood with it, the enemy will suffer a constant energy drain until it is healed over. You're white dagger, indestructible, permanent sharpness and will pierce the strongest of armours. It also ignores most armour enchantments. The other three smaller throwing daggers are enchanted with the similar energy sap spells."

Zanir took both swords. One was a large two-handed broadsword which he strapped to his back and the other a one-handed sword. He drew the one hander which had the similar white enchantment as Xev's dagger. Then he drew the two handed sword and swung it around which he found to be much lighter than expected. It also had the white enchantment but it was made out of hardened silver similar to Xev's dagger whereas the other sword was cast from quality iron.

"I hope you find these to be fitting weapons for now. They were not cheap but since you both work with the rebels, they're on us." Valon joked. "Also, each weapon is fitted with a power source spell that will naturally regenerate from the environment and can also be refilled with your own energy. This will help in long fights and for spell casting."

"I thank you and everyone else who has crafted these extraordinary weapons." Xev said feeling very powerful. If only he had the armour and magical training to go with it he'd feel unstoppable.

"Aye, thank you." Zanir said.

"Now, let's not forget about armour." Valon said "Behind the table are two chests. Have a look."

They walked around the wooden table and opened both of the chests. In one Zanir found similar heavy plate gear as the commander. A cuirass, gauntlets that had a pointed edge near the elbow, boots, also with a pointed edge at the knee, a helmet that covered the entire head except for a space for the nose and eye slits. Shoulder pads that had three layers of narrowed plate. The gear set also included armoured leggings and a black cape folded at the bottom of the chest.

Xev's gear was of black heavy leather. It included a chest piece that was fitted with leather shoulder pads. The left pad had a raised piece of padding to protect the neck. A black cloak fitted with a large hood was also folded at the bottom. High leather boots, gauntlets and leggings which were all outfitted with countless sheaths for throwing knives.

"While you get suited up I'll explain some of the armour enchantments that you have. First, on your cloak Xev, an enchantment that hides your shadow which is ideal for when you learn the stealth spell. Both of your armour sets will increase your overall energy just as the weapons. That's what we can provide so far. In the future you may receive upgrades." Valon said.

With his armour now on, Xev felt like he could defeat Auden, Tahan, Commander Draus and anyone else that dare chose to challenge him. At least if they didn't use their magic. He laughed. Zanir looked very menacing in his gear and it sent shivers up his spine. He thanked the gods that they weren't enemies.

"Perfect. Let's move on to some actual testing." Valon said. "We will improve on your hand to hand combat, weapons handling and your respective combat fields. For example, Xev in the art of spying, staying invisible, reading body language, investigative strategies etc, and for you Zanir, commanding elite squads behind enemy lines, and larger forces. For certain missions we may need you both to work together or be in different places entirely. These exercises will happen every other day. The days in between will consist of mental exercises and also learning how to cast spells. This training process shouldn't take too long as you both have somewhat mastered the fighting aspect. It's the magic part that will take up most of your time here. Any questions?"

"How long do you expect us to stay here and train? Vraeza is out there and he's getting stronger. We need to act fast if we're to be able to stop him." Zanir said.

"My guess, one Fae month, which is roughly three Human months. It will go by faster than you think." Valon replied. "Our strategy will be to eliminate Vraeza's power ring that is full of high ranking dark and light Fae in order to weaken his overall influence and strength. Then once they have been removed, we can strike at him. Currently he has far too many lords and shades behind him which will take some time to devise assassination and or capture missions."

"Sounds good." Xev said. "I'm ready to try out this new gear."

"Perfect! I'll have you both work on fighting techniques here in the dueling circle first. Who would like to go first?" Valon asked.

Xev glanced over at Tahan, she smiled back. "I'll go." He said.

"Take your places. I'll ward your weapons so they cannot cut." Valon said. "Xev, I want you to fight as you normally would, nothing too fancy and only with your daggers. You will learn archery from Auden."

"Will do." Knowing he was being tested on everything he does, he decided to keep his bow and quiver equipped as it would be in most fights. He needed to get used to the wait and potential decrease in his maneuverability. He drew both of his new daggers waving them through the air hearing the blades slicing effortlessly through the air. Tahan only drew one of her daggers, a dark green blade that was longer than both of his.

"Remember no magic use during this evalutation." Valon reiterated.

Xev quickly sized her up and searched for any possible weaknesses he could use, nothing but her shorter reach which he knew did not matter much as she was lighting fast. Her stance and movements were solid and calculated. They moved closer towards each other. Xev wasn't going to make the first move.

She bent her knees and lunged towards him, dagger outstretched. Xev side stepped her and tried to sneak his right handed dark blade to make contact with her back but she swiftly ducked and rolled in the direction she had attacked. Xev released one of the throwing knives from his left gauntlet sheath before she could stand. As Tehan completed her roll she lept upwards and front flipped over the knife as it flew below her. She landed on both feet and turned to face him with a wink.

Tahan slowly walked towards him both of her daggers drawn this time. Her other dagger was white like his. Xev stood his ground unsure of her next move. She was staring directly into his eyes while walking closer. No smile just a straight face. He didn't want to look away. Any closer and they would bump noses. He wasn't sure if she was going to attack so he slashed his right dagger towards her left arm. Tahan still in his gaze, smoothly blocked it with her left dagger and with her right, jabbed the inside of his elbow which would have gone straight through had their weapons not been warded. Xev screamed out in pain and released his dagger which fell to the ground.

Tahan then threw a series of jabs at Xev, right, left, right. He caught a few of them on his left gauntlet and his blade. He was losing ground. After her onslaught, she finished her combo with a high kick to his chest which sent him flying on his back hitting the ground hard. His bow and quiver were not damaged. She pounced on him pinning him to the ground and stabbed down towards his neck with both daggers. He caught her right blade with his left and grabbed her left wrist with his right just before they made contact. He struggled to keep the sharp daggers from his neck. He felt his right arm start to give out from the earlier hit which would definitely leave a bruise.

Xev brought his right knee up forcefully to her back and pushed with his arms which successfully threw her off his chest. She rolled forwards, got to her knees, spun and sent two throwing knives at Xev before he could fully stand and recover. With his heightened senses, he chose to deflect the most lethal one headed straight for his head with his white dagger. It struck the blade and was sent off to his left where Valon caught it with his magic. The second one hit him above the right knee and nearly made him double over in pain but he fought against it.

Tehan was upon him again, unrelenting in her efforts to disable him. She slashed at his mid-section, he jumped back. She ran and jumped up knocking away his dagger landing on his shoulder, she wrapped one leg around the black of his neck and pushed down. Xev was forced to the ground head first, and was then jabbed in the sides by her daggers sending pain up his body. She leapt off his back and black flipped readying herself low to the ground knowing she had pretty much defeated him. She waited to see if he would continue.

Xev took a few painful breaths in his sides burning. He was outmatched which didn't really surprise him. He expected to have himself humiliated in front of everyone anyways. He let a painful laugh out and got to his feet. He could hear Zanir laughing.

"Xev, focus on disabling her legs where most of her strength and agility comes from like she has done to you." Valon said.

Xev had a move in mind but it required her to engage him first. He limped closer to her slowly. She jumped forward and slashed from above with both daggers, Xev rolled to the right and as she went by him he took his dagger and jabbed it backwards where it made contact with the back of her left knee. She screamed, spun to her left and kicked him with her right leg sending him along the ground. Before he came to a stop he took the remaining two of his throwing daggers and sent them hurtling towards her. She flipped sideways but didn't get high enough due to her leg. One went over her and the other that would have gone under, hit her in the side. Valon caught the one which missed using magic. Tahan landed awkwardly on her back and the breath was knocked from her lungs. She sat up struggling to breathe and bent over holding her right side where his knife had hit.

Xev felt bad and limped over to help her up. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"It's okay. I'm fine." She said and stood up.

"Great work both of you. We've taken into consideration your skill level Xev. We'll continue this over the next few days. Now it's Zanir's turn to face the Commander.

Zyra walked over to help Xev move to outside the dueling circle. "Not bad." She smiled.

Tahan joined them, "He's better than I thought." She said jokingly.

"Thanks. Soon I'll be able to take you both out." He pulled his hood over his head to hide his embarrassment.

Zanir put his helmet on and met Commander Draus in the circle who stood almost a foot taller than him. He decided to use his new two-hander first.

"Ready?" Draus asked as he drew his two-hander as well.

Zanir moved forward holding the sword low then quickly spun bringing the sword around and down on top of the Commander. Draus brought his sword up slightly and angled it so that Zanir's blade would slide down to his left. As planned it worked and Zanirs' sword reflected down where it got embedded deep into the dirt. The wards around the blade created an empty space between the dirt and the sword. Zanir looked up awkwardly as he couldn't pull the sword back out.

Commander Draus laughed and swung his sword horizontally along the ground. Zanir jumped back and quickly drew his other sword narrowly being caught in its path. Then he charged the commander and jabbed forward. His advance was sidestepped and he received a punch in the side which knocked him off balance. Then he ducked under another swipe of the commander's sword. While Draus was readying another slash Zanir jumped close and brought his sword down on top of the commander's forearms. He didn't release the sword as hoped so he quickly reached the hilt of Draus's short sword on his belt and drew it then rolled out of the way.

Zanir now was dual wielding two weapons. The commander's short sword was lighter and smaller than his. Now all he had to do was disarm Draus and he would win the duel. The commander charged at him, his broadsword low to the ground behind him then he spun and slashed at Zanir. With both swords he blocked the attack by holding them to his left and braced for impact. A massive clang sounded and the force pushed Zanir along the ground his feet digging into the snowy dirt. Draus had lost all momentum and struggled to recouperate giving Zanir the chance to counter attack which he did by spinning to his left after being pushed back. Using both swords he slashed that the commander's forearms again this time Draus lost grip of his broadsword and it went flying to his right and landed in a puff of snow and dirt.

"Ahh, good move on using your opponent's weakened momentum to your advantage." Commander Draus said.

"Do you wish to continue? I think you've lost." Zanir said with a smile.

"Hah! Never underestimate your opponent."

With that the commander charged him and ducked to the right to evade a slash from Zanir. He blocked another slash by grabbing Zanir's right arm with his right hand and used his left to rip the sword from his grasp. With the sword now in his possession, he spun back and gave Zanir a left elbow to the chest. He stumbled backwards and failed to successfully block a lighting fast slash which smashed his sword from his hand.

Zanir yelled and charged forwards unarmed and received a nasty welt on his right forearm from blocking an attack, in reality his arm would have been severed, then collided with the commander, his arms wrapped around his torso. It nearly knocked the commander down but he brought his right elbow down on top of Zanir's helmet which sent it flying of his head dazing him. Draus then grabbed Zanir by the neck lifting off the ground with one hand and tossed him through the air ten feet back to the edge of the circle. A cloud of snow exploded over Xev and Tahan.

"That was a reckless decision on your part." Draus said and walked over to help him up. "Never charge the enemy without a solid plan of attack." He picked up his helmet and handed it to him.

"Interesting, thank you Zanir for your display. Draus and I will work with you on combat discipline over the next while. For now let's take a break." Valon said as he went over to heal the welts and bruises everyone had received.

After a while of combat advice between the brothers and the agents, Valon had Xev go over with Auden to spend time practicing with his new bow.

"I hear you're good with a bow?" Auden said as they walked over to the targets.

"Aye, I'd like to think so." Xev replied.

"Have a go at the targets down range to get a feel for the design of the bow. Currently the arrows in your quiver are standard without any enchantments." Auden explained crossing his arms leaning against the stone wall that encircled the rebel base.

He chose to stand there for a better vantage point in case any unforeseen attack occurred. Xev sent all twelve of his arrows down range. All struck the humanoid target's head. He loved how easily the string could be pulled back and yet still provide so much force to the arrow. Xev grabbed some more arrows from a barrel to refill his quiver.

"I see you have the basics down well for stationary targets. Let's try some moving targets." He walked over to the side of the range where a rope was and began to pull which sent a similar humanoid target sideways along the ground.

He took aim and released the arrow it struck the head as did the rest of the arrows. It was too easy for him.

"Alright let's not waste any more time on the basics. It doesn't look like you need any improvements there." He reached into his quiver and pulled out an arrow that had a glowing white head. "This is enchanted and will fly very quickly and pierce almost any type of body armour."

Auden continued to give him more enchanted arrows. Some that exploded on impact others that froze a target in place. Some were poisonous, some drained energy, and some tranquilizers.

"Now these are just enchanted. You can also manipulate these arrows with magic for instance, guiding it to your target. We'll work on that later once you are more adept at controlling magic. For now just practice firing these at the targets." Auden said.

The boys continued for hours and hours with long breaks in between practicing. Valon had to disappear periodically to deal with other matters regarding security measures of the base and future mission planning with Lord Darwyn's advisers. Xev had gone to visit Svarturvog a few times during the long day where he spent a few hours walking around the base with him. Tahan and Zyra taught him new self defense and combat manoeuvers.

After a long and arduous day in the Fae world Xev had gone back to his room with Zyra. Tahan had gone for a briefing and Zanir was off doing his own business. Xev couldn't wait to rest his mind and let his body regenerate energy from the environment. Even though he was much stronger here, the training had taken a toll. He took his second bath of the day down the hall this time Zyra had joined him.

Xev stripped down to his shorts and got in the large waist deep bath. Zyra did the same on the opposite side across from him. The water was extremely warm and relaxing. He closed his eyes.

"How do you think the training day has gone?" Zyra asked once she was sitting down, the water up to her neck. She untied her hair from her high pony tail and let it fall. The ends just reaching below the surface.

"It was alright. Trivial here and there but I did learn some things. Mostly from you and Tahan." He said as the tension in his muscles dissipated into the steaming water.

"Good." She said and dunked her head under the water. Then she moved over closer to him. "How old are you? In Earth years that is." Zyra asked.

"Nineteen years. How much is that in Fae years? I'm bad with numbers." He said his eyes still closed.

"Nice. That's around three Fae years." She laughed. "I'm twenty in Fae years which is one hundred and twenty in Earth years. Each day here is equivalent to six Earth days. Three light, three night."

"Ouch my head. So in reality we're just a year apart?"

"It would seem so yes. It takes us very long to travel around our sun. We're too far from it hence the very little light our moons reflect down to us."

"Can we switch subject. This is too confusing for me. I just want to…" Zyra kissed him deeply. "…Relax." He said after the long kiss and opened his eyes.

Xev held her close and they continued kissing until the door open behind them and Zanir walked in. They moved away from each other.

"Oh. Apologies. Didn't mean to interrupt anything." With a big grin on his face. "Just came for a bath before we start again tomorrow."

"Please, join us." Zyra said.

"Looking forward to learning some skills from Valon." Xev said. "Hoping it's not too difficult."

"We'll see." Zanir replied. "It might be for what you'll learn considering Valon thinks you're better at it than I."

"I think you'll become stronger and be able to control it like me."

"Some just have a more natural ability to harness the power of our universe." Zyra added. "It doesn't mean that those who have trouble at the start do not acquire the same acuteness later on." She moved closer next to Xev and whispered in his right ear, "Tonight."