The Hunters of Sian

In Training

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Chapter Nine

In Training

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Life at the stronghold was hard but oddly fulfilling.

It took nearly two weeks for Nell to be able to climb from bed without collapsing, three weeks for him not to get lost on the way to the greenhouses. It had been nearly a full month since they had begun their apprentice training.

Surprisingly, not a whole lot had changed. Florian still threw up after nearly every long-distance run. Sumaya could now reach the end of the pool without help but she was still the poorest swimmer in the class. Nell was still the worst student in his linguistics class and Denzil was still the largest and strongest of all of them. The group had at least settled into their new lives and routines. Nell now knew the names of everyone in his class.

Aside from Marshall, Jeremy, Florian, Sumaya and Denzil, there were also three other noble boys by the names of Arlen, Nigel, and Thomas. They stuck fairly close to Denzil and spent most of their spare time following him around, much to everyone else's annoyance. The entire class was now well acquainted with the hospice too.

Almost every other day one of them inevitably ended up there. Generally, the cause was their ill-tempered dracks. Cuts, burns, bruises and fractures were all common place for the apprentices. Thankfully, there was very little that the healers couldn't fix.

It wasn't that the apprentices had gotten used to their training or that the drills had become easier. It was more that they had become used to the pain they received during those drills. Both of their demon tutors trained them with a brutal fairness. Everyone did the laps of the pool, but Jeremy was always ordered to swim more. They all performed wards but those with more experience were always given more difficult sigils and were expected to keep them active for longer. Every day the apprentices got stronger, faster, and more resilient.

The botany classes had taken an odd turn as well. Every class they were given a plant to sketch and taste. They copied down notes and were expected to make a paste, tea or ointment depending on the ingredient. That was all very well and good until Arabella had come to class with a plant that Nell knew was poisonous. He had responded when she asked the class if they could identify them.

'Mistress, those are pokeweed berries, and they aren't edible,' Nell said meekly.

The demoness flashed him a knowing smirk. 'Of course they are. They just cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea,' she purred. The class went very still.

'You don't actually expect us to eat one of these?' Denzil spluttered.

She held up several plump purple berries. 'That's exactly what I expect you to do. You will eat whatever I give you. You need to be able to recognise plants by sight, by smell and by taste.' She placed a few berries on Denzel's desk.

'So eat.' She seemed utterly delighted by the prospect. The apprentices all looked apprehensively at their innocent looking berries. Nell in particular was not looking forward to the experience, having eaten a small handful of them once as a child (he had mistaken them for blueberries) and been violently ill as a result. A couple of berries wouldn't be as bad, but he knew the whole class was about to become thoroughly uncomfortable.

'Ma'am we have combat and riding class this afternoon,' Arlen dared to complain. Her eyes flashed and he quickly shrunk himself down into his seat.

'I'm sure you do. Eat and if anyone questions my teaching again you can all eat three handfuls instead,' she purred and this time, no one dared to argue. Nell put the little fruits in his mouth and swallowed them whole. Arabella watched them with hawk like precision until she was sure every one of them had eaten and swallowed their berries, then she flounced back to the front of the class and started writing down the plant's properties on the blackboard. With little choice, the students picked up their quills to copy them down.