The Twelfth Moon || ✔️

40. The Uncovering

Feytan had been loading me with lots of different exercises again this morning. Most of them, I knew already. I was quite skilled at them too, having trained them daily.

The progress I'd made since I first arrived here, was immense.

"You'll be ready soon to start one on one combat training," Feytan said. "Both with hand and with sword."

"Sword?"

Feytan pulled his hair back in a bun, wrapping a tie around it to keep it in place. Why he only did this after today's training, was a slight mystery to me. Then again, he'd mostly ordered me around and he hadn't trained much himself. "Yes. Not all the fighting is done by beating each other up, or in our wolven form."

I followed him to the edge of the clearing, indicating that today's training was finished. I reached for my flask of water as I spoke. "But aren't we strongest in our wolven form? Why would we fight as humans?"

"Some prefer it that way. Besides, weapons humans can wield, can be quite useful in combat. Humans can wear shields, while wolves are more open and vulnerable. It's usually only the most skilled that fight in their wolven form."

"So when the war comes, I'll be using a sword?" I asked.

"I'm not sure you'll be ready to fight yet when the war comes."

I had some mixed feelings about that. On one hand, I never wanted to set foot in Fire Moon territory ever again. Neither did I want to face any of my previous pack members. But on the other hand, I wanted to fight back. I wanted to help destroy the demons that lingered in my past. "Is it coming that soon?"

Feytan looked up at me, his brown eyes locking on mine. "It's not soon for us, Sari. We've been preparing for this for years. And even if it's still another few cycles, we won't get you war ready in that time. Not to be able to fight against wolves who've been training their entire lives."

"But what if I have Agni's powers? Won't I be useful then?" I asked as I took another sip of my water.

A point of light briefly flickered in Feytan's eyes before he answered, intensifying its brown color. "I'm sorry, Sari. But so far you've shown no signs of possessing Agni's gift. I don't think that that's the case."

Yet again, I had mixed feelings. I'd gotten my hopes up the last few days, imagining myself as a powerful wolf, a valuable asset to this pack. But then again, did I truly want Agni's gift and carry Fire Moon with me for the rest of my life? I felt the tiniest bit of relief at Feytan's revelation. But it didn't weigh up against the disappointment. "But then, why did Beckett starve me all those years? Why keep me on the brink of death? He had to have had an ulterior motive. He had to."

Even knowing his twisted, evil mind, I'd often thought about why he'd go to all these lengths to torture me. Would he really do all those things he did, just because I was born on the wrong night? Would that truly be sufficient reason for the sheer hate I'd received? In Spitta, I never let myself truly think about it. I couldn't, not when my survival was at stake. But in Rahas, I had more and more time and safety to start questioning my past. And a lot of questions were popping up.

"I don't know, Sari," Feytan shrugged. "I couldn't imagine doing what he did, for the reasons he did. But it's Beckett we're talking about. He's not known for being an empathetic and forgiving wolf."

"Oh, look at your faces. Looks like I arrived at just the right time!" I suddenly heard from behind us. I turned around, recognizing the warm, husky voice, to find green eyes already staring at me.

I rolled my eyes, the seriousness of the previous topic of conversation having disappeared. "Hello, Jerr."

"I hope your training went better than whatever it was you were talking about," he joked as he came to stand next to me.