TOWARDS THE LION'S DEN || ORIGINAL

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER 15
DUNGEONS AND LIONS

ALL night Katara had been having the same dream. It tormented her, over and over again. The memory of Rusty screaming her name to run. Yet their flesh had been twisted and torn into fur, fangs and gleaming claws.

Waking up from the dream once again for the ninth time in a row, she looked out to the sky. Still the blanket of stars coated the world. So quickly, she clasp the charm necklace Jasper gave to her, onto her bed side. Frustration then lead her to get out of bed. Aries was at least two or one hour away to retrieving her for her second day of training.

The dream was showing no mercy of stopping. Katara's lip was now swollen from the day before, dried with blood. Her muscles had eased, and her bruises across her body reminded that they were still tender and sore every so often. She wasn't going to sleep and face the dream again and again.

So she was going to begin working her muscles for the day. With haste she dressed and for a hour she used anything to exercise on. Even the furniture came handy with sit-ups and chin-ups.

The door groaned open from behind Katara. Hosting herself into one more trembling chin-up, she let go of the four posted bed. Landing her feet onto the cold floor, she turned to face who entered.

"Rise and shine my apprentice..." The fluent speaker trailed off. She knew it was Aries. Turning to face him, she smiled innocently. His face was zigzagged with with shock and confusion. "Awwww, are you hurt that I begun training without you?" She pouted.

Aries looked at her as his eyes rolled. "Lucky I didn't summon your hand to get you ready." Aries mused.

Following him out of the chambers and into the halls she asked, "what do you have installed for me today?" Sword sparring? Beating up a dummy? Archery? Her thoughts dumped many ideas. "You'll see." Aries smirked mischievously.

Through the halls, we entered into the lounging space that she had first met Phoebus and Aries. Nothing much had changed. Except for all the pile of books, sprawled across the couches and carpet. "You're going to study." Aries smiled. Out of all the things she hated studying.

Katara groaned as she rolled her head back. "No."

"Come along." Aries waved his hand as he plunked himself on the carpet. Dragging herself over to the books she slumped down on the carpet. "What do I have to study about?" She sighed as she looked down at how thick most the books were.
Aries already began gathering a selection of books as he laid them out in front of her. "You are to study the human anatomy." Bound in red leather, cracked and dry with age, the thick volume smelt faintly of dust. The pages within were brittle and what remained of the book's original stitching was barely holding it together. Aries overturned pages until he smacked down his hand on the page, full of etched paragraphs and diagrams of muscles, bone structures and organs.

It didn't seem that many people read in the arena and not once had she seen a single book in the entire place yet. "Who owns theses books?" Katara babbled as she traced her fingers across the ageing pages.

"Mine actually," Aries stated proudly. Like he was being crowned king. "In my chambers I have many books, in fact my chambers is a library."
"Why do you read so many books?" She pondered in her thoughts. She only saw books as helpful tools here and there in very irritating questioning situations.

"Do you see me as the type of man to physically swing a sword or axe?" Aries says with his eyes scanning over words. No. Katara snorted in response. Aries looked up from the pages as he met her stare. "I am incapable of physically defending myself, but my mind is my weapon. My mind needs knowledge, because knowledge is power, that's why I read."