Born For Greatness

Chapter 2

I awake with a start, drenched in beads of sweat and almost on the brink of screaming. Wow, I haven't had one of those realistically frightful nightmares for a while now. They're always the same. I've been having them on and off since I turned 14. Though this one seemed to have a little bit more detail than I remember. I roll over to check the clock and by that I mean actual clock, not a phone; and see that it's a quarter after 5am. I don't believe in those mundane pieces of technology. No use in going back to sleep now since I have to go to that blasted training camp.
I get up and take a shower and then run down the stairs to see if everyone else is awake yet.

I find my brother sitting at our island counter on one of the stools and our mother is cooking bacon and pancakes.
"Smell's wonderful in here" I say.
"Are you ready to teach at the training camp?" mother asks.
"Not really no. I'm so not excited to be working with Professor Stern either, but might as well grit my teeth and get through it." Professor Stern was one of my instructors when I attended the academy. It's safe to say he was my least favorite person and vice versa.
Ray and I finish up breakfast, grab our bags and jump into our blacked out 69' Chevelle SS with red embellishments with Ray behind the wheel.

Once we're on the road, my brother looks at me and says "I heard that Marcel's son Ephraim will be at the training camp".
I give my brother a deadpanned look, "You're kidding right?"
He laughs and shakes his head no. "I'm not joshing you El, he's going to be helping with the training. I found out this morning."
"Well, my day just got a whole lot worse!" I huff out in anger. I can't stand Ephraim, granted I haven't seen him since grade school but the guy is a real jerk. He always had it out for me since day one. I can't even begin to explain the amount of hell he put me through. Not to mention, he is the enemy's son and wouldn't be surprised if he's actually spying for daddy dearest. I'm just going to have to keep my eye on him.
"Come on Elora" Raymond chuckles, "you guys aren't kids anymore. Just let the past be the past. Either way you're going to have to work with him, might as well get use to it."
"Yeah yeah, that's easy for you to say! You aren't the one that had to put up with his antics!!" I paused and take a deep breath before continuing. "However you are right. I'm going to look past it but I will be keeping my eye on him to make sure he's not up to anything shoddy."
Ray opens his mouth to speak-
"I know what you're going to say, and don't even go there. He is still Marcel's son. You know - "

Bang! bang! Our car is hit and it rocks some before meeting road again. "sccrreeccchhh" borkens are running along sides of the car.
I laugh so hard I'm crying.
"What's so funny!?" Ray exclaims.
"It's just that I knew something like this would happen, we never get a peaceful moment." I reply between chuckles. "I knew this trip would be eventful."
I roll my window down and lean out of it with my Beretta M9 in hand. I shoot a round off in the direction the borkens are running. They're actually super fast, way faster than this car can go and extremely strong. They're hanging back now, so I'm only assuming they're just sending a message and not trying to really inflict harm.
"What is that you want Marcel!? I'm right here come and get me!!"
I'm only met with more screeching in reply and then they head off in a different direction.

I roll my window back up and sit back down "That was definitely unusual for them, I wonder what it was all about?"
Ray shrugs his shoulders "Who knows? Maybe they were just trying to scare us."
"Somehow I don't think that's what they were trying to achieve Ray, felt like there was something more to it."
"Well whatever it was El, they're gone now and good timing too because we're about 40 minutes out from the training camp."
"That's just it though Raymond! Don't you think it's unusually odd that they are this close to the camp? Aren't you just the least bit unnerved by it?"
"Considering that the entire camp is suppose to be under multiple protection spells, no I'm not the worried." Ray chuckles.
"Just because there are protection spells doesn't mean there aren't loopholes. I don't really trust it one bit. I'll keep it to myself for now but if I see anything else fishy, I'm reporting it."
My brother just shakes his head.
We continue on to our destination in complete silence. I'm lost in my thoughts wondering about what's really going on. With the incident that just happened and then there's the matter of my parents with all the whispering and secret keeping they've been doing. I'm going to find out what's going on one way or another.

We finally make it to where the training camp is located, we turn onto a long dirt road that's partly hidden by trees and bushes. The road goes on for about 15 miles before we reach the fortress wall. It's not as large as I remember but I was just a child the last time I was here. Its probably got over 1,000 acres just to incorporate everything that we need. There's the academy, housing, the ports we use for multiple reasons and the land we use for the training camp.

Ray and I are greeted by Bruce the gate keeper. Bruce is in his mid 40's with greying long brown hair that he keeps tied in a braid. He's about 7ft tall and a brawny brute who just happens to have special Dryad powers. He is one of my favorite people, one of the greatest men I know who is loyal to a T.
"Ho kids, I hadn't seen you lot in a good minute. I hear yous going to be training the new recruits."
I jump out of the car and run up to Bruce. I give him the biggest squeeze I can muster causing a big hearty laugh to erupt from the brute.
"Hiya Bruce! It sure is good to see you. I've missed all of our sparring sessions" I reply with a grin.
Another giant laugh erupts from Bruce "If I recall correctly little one, you got your behind handed to you more often than not."
While chuckling I say "Yes, but I was learning and I still missed them. I bet I can take you now!"
"Oh you think so? Well in your free time we will just have to try that out little one."
"Sounds good to me B!"
"It was great seeing you Bruce. We ought to hangout real soon, but I reckon Elora and I better get on in here and meet with The Council" Raymond states.
"Right, I'll catch you kids later." Bruce lifts the giant steel gates and lets us on through.

I can already tell that it is going to be an extensively long day and it's not even noon yet. I'm honestly not looking forward to meeting with The Council members either. They all reek of bitter animosity and hold serious grudges. Well here goes nothing.