DragonDrune

Chapter 4

The training room was huge. There was a large running track all the way around, fighting rings and weapons racks in the middle, punching bags and workout equipment on the sidelines. When Thalya arrived, slightly early, only Chayne and two other people were present. The two others were older people, armor-clad with helmets obscuring their faces, and fighting each other like demons in the ring.

"They aren't going to hurt each other, are they?" Thalya asked as one of the people slapped the other with the flat of their sword blade.

Chayne laughed, a sound that echoed across the gray walls. "No, that armor is made to withstand a dragon attack and fit on anyone wearing a spacesuit. They are fine. They could stab each other in the gut and try to run each other through and the other would feel it as a tap.

"Wow," Thalya breathed.

Slowly more trainees began to file in, including Kaiden and his friends. I stood off to the side, scanning the trainees and looking for possible friends. Not looking for Focus, Thalya told herself.

Even so, she noticed when Focus came in. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and jeans, his white hair as prominent as ever. She noticed the other trainees shrink away from him until there was a large circle of space around him. Her heart sank. It was cruel.

Without thinking, she left her spot and pushed through the small crowd to get to Focus.

She stood next to him, not close enough to be uncomfortable, but close enough to show him that she was there. She could feel his gaze on her, but only let her eyes flick upward to meet his for a second, then turned her head back on Chayne. A couple of the trainees were also staring at her, but she pretended they weren't there.

A yell came from the ring in the center of the training room. One of the fighters had the other pinned with their sword at their neck.

The winner took their sword away from the others neck and stood. They offered the other their hand and pulled them to their feet, then stepped down from the ring and came to stand beside Chayne.

"What is this," Chayne asked, "The 95th time you've beat August?"

The fighter took off their helmet, revealing the familiar face of Rhion. Thalya felt her heart leap, seeing her friend at last.

"No," Rhion said to Chayne, breathing hard, "It's the 94th."

Chayne chuckled and grabbed her sword out of her hand, easily tossing in the air where it spun around once before he caught it by the hilt.

"Careful," Rhion said, snatching the sword back with a smirk and stomping away to take off her armor.

"We're going to start off with some sparring to go easy on the newcomers and get them into the swing of things" Chayne said and started pacing in front of us, "I assume you don't need me to teach you how to spar and not kill each other?"

We all shook our heads. We had all grown up wielding swords, we were experienced.

"Good. I'm going to split you up into groups of three. Two of the members are going to spar and then the loser will fight the third member who will sit out for the first fight. Got that?"

Nods were exchanged among the groups and friends started shuffling towards each other, wanting to be put in the same group.

"I'm going to allow you to choose your groups for today," Chayne said, obviously noticing that groups had pretty much already been made, "But don't expect it to happen again. Go."

The kids surged and began forming groups of three. Thalya stayed still. She didn't really have anyone she wanted to be in her group, so she did what she normally did and waited for people to come to her.

"Hey Thalya," came a voice from he side, "Can I join your group?"

Thalya glanced to the side and saw Kaiden standing there, an impish grin on his face.

"Don't you want to be in a group with your friends?" Thalya asked, glancing to where Kaiden's friends were laughing and shoving each other around.

"They have two groups made already, I offered to join a different one," Kaiden explained. "So can I join you guys?"

Thalya glanced to her other side and saw Focus who hadn't moved and was staring like an owl at Kaiden. She realized Kaiden had included Focus by saying "you guys."

"Sure, why not," Thalya said, "But I warn you, I'm fairly good with a blade, prepare to have your you-know-what kicked."

Kaiden laughed. "Challenge accepted."

She laughed. "I've only ever really fought Rhion though, getting my butt kicked every time, and a childhood friend, so who knows what will happen."

"Alright!" Chayne yelled when everyone had settled down and formed groups. "We will be using training swords, not real ones, it would be rather unfortunate if one of you were to lose your head, but these swords will still hurt! Be somewhat nice to your partners, soften your blows, and we won't have any problems! I've given you all a group number, when I call your number, your group will come up into ring one and decide which two will fight first. Then you will be handed your weapons and the fighting will begin. Be aware that I am...you could call it grading, everything you do. How well you do on these fights will get you closer to becoming a DragonMaster, and then a DragonDrune. Group 1!"

The fights passed in a blur for Thalya, she tried to study the fighting style of each trainee, but there were too many to keep track of.

Focus sat a ways from Thalya and Kaiden, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"Why do you not like Focus?" Thalya whispered to Kaiden.

His eyes drifted to Focus and then back to her. "He's just...creepy, you know? I was hesitant to ask to join your group, but what you said at dinner made me reconsider. You seem nice enough, and if you are willing to get close to him, I guess I can try."

Thalya felt her heart warm. "That's good. I have a feeling he needs some friends."

Finally: "Group 15!"

It was time to fight.

Another chapter done! I'm excited for the next one. I'm a little slow on updates because I'm on vacation, sorry about that. Anyways, vote and comment please!