The Keepers of Azera ( Book 1 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 23

James, Amacus, Poppa, and I all go down to the gym. On the way there, Poppa and James strike up a chummy conversation, leaving Amacus and I to walk in awkward silence.

"How old are you?" I ask him in an attempt to start a conversation.

"I am sixteen," he replies. Then he pauses. "But we mature much slower on Tura, by about a...year, maybe?" He looks at me. "How old are you, girl?"

"Fourteen," James answers. "And her name's Callie, not 'girl'."

"My apologies. It takes me a while to learn names. Do not take it personally...."

"James."

"Ah, yes, James. That is your name."

"We're here," I announce, pushing open the door to the empty gym. Amacus frowns. "But where is the training equipment?"

"In the back closet, so the little ones don't get to it," James explains, unlocking the door so we have access to it. When he opens it, Amacus is the first one in. He moves from weapon to fake weapon, familiarizing himself with the equipment. He picks up a wooden Kryiat and snorts. "What is this? A club?"

"A wooden version of a sword," James answers, pulling it from his grasp. He picks up the other Kryiat and crosses them in front of him in an X. "We've only trained with these so far."

"Everyday?"

"Well, we missed yesterday's practice, and we've only just started," I say. "We usually don't practice on the weekend."

"You should practice everyday of the week," Amacus says.

"Not everyday. We can't practice on Religion Day," I say. "We have to respect the Elder Gods."

Amacus nods, like this pleases him. "Respect your elders, and respect your religion," he growls. "No practices on Religion Day. When do you train?"

"Every night after dinner. That's the only time we have free, except for today."

"We should work on hand-to-hand combat today," Amacus says. "We should work on that every...what day is it?"

"Rest Day. But it's a free day. We don't have to rest if we don't want to," I add quickly, in case he takes it literally.

"Hand-to-hand combat on Rest Days. We shall figure out training schedule later." We leave the supply closet and Poppa and James go lean against the walls while Amacus leads me to the middle of the gym. He takes a defensive stance, and I try to imitate him. "Have I mentioned my power isn't for combat?"

"Is that important?" Amacus asks, raising one thin eyebrow-a trick that almost no Azerans have. 

"Just thought I'd throw it out there," I mutter.

"You have never trained like this before," he says.

"Is it obvious? I mean, I thought we just established that."

"Your stance is ridiculous and the way your fist is will break your wrist." He holds his up. "Your thumb should be on the outside of your fist, not the inside."

"Like this?"

"Make your knuckles straight," he says, taking my fist and molding it to the proper form. "Throw a punch at me. Right here." He holds his left hand up. I jab at it with my right fist. He frowns. "No, no, no. Do not bend your wrists so much. Punch with the opposite hand. Like this. Put your hand up. I will not hit you hard, girl, you need not tense up like that."

I put up my right hand, and he punches it with his right fist. "Did you catch that, girl?"

"Yes," I say. "And I am Callie, not girl."

"Very good. Aim here." He holds up his right hand. I hit it with my left, wincing as I make contact.

"No, no, no! Keep your wrists and knuckles straight! Like this." Once again, he takes my fist and molds it. "Again. Hit here."

I do, keeping my wrist as straight as possible. He nods at me. "Good. I see we have a long way to go. But we can make it, I believe."

It's my first training day, all over again. Go over the same technique over and over again until I do it right over and over again. Move to next technique. An hour later, I'm gross and sweaty, but feeling pretty good. I want to take a shower, but first, Amacus wants to make a training schedule. Then I'm finally able to escape to my dorm. Poppa stays behind to talk to Amacus, so James and I go alone.

The first thing James says once we're on the 3rd Level is, "I don't trust them."

"Who? Amacus and Alexa?"

He nods. "We don't know where they came from-I've never heard of Tura- and suddenly, we're in alliance with them, and two of their kind are here, helping us train. It makes no sense."

I'm not sure. One part of them seems trustworthy, the other part seems shady. "I guess we could wait and see before we make any real judgments of whether or not they're trustworthy," I say cautiously.

James nods, then stops. "What happens when that point is too late?"

"Then we don't trust them until then," I say. "Keep our guards up."

James sighs, then chuckles. "Spoken like a true child of Alex," he says.

"What? Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not really. Err on the side of caution, all that stuff," James flops down on the couch. Some hair falls onto his forehead and he pushes it back. "I mean, there are worse things to believe. Go take a shower. I smell you from here."