TRAG!C

Chapter-27

The next day we were wide awake, thrilled for the training occurring that night.

We all were dismissed after confirming we will be able to start training from the next day. Oliver drove us home after our little meeting. He informed us that Minnie had his number which we later found out was a lie and he just needed us not to worry about our parents get panicked. But he did informed them that he has dropped us home as we were feeling sleepy already. Which was half lie as we laid after an hour after of us reaching home. Well, I am not sure about Aria and Akshay...

Everything went incredibly slow that day due to the exciting night we had. It was like the time was in slow motion because everything was about to change for good.

We went to bed earlier than usual but couldn't sleep because of the thoughts that roamed in our minds. The way we will be trained and the people who we will fight off was mysterious but we still managed to imagine some kind of adventure. And thinking about it I realized that the main person from the government was never seen. The person gave orders through some people and they will be the one who usually will be on television, transmitting the message.

Also the government have been kind of dictatorship. No body really knew how these people came to rule. There were no elections either. And there was no one who talks against these people. We just listen to them and obey whatever they say. Without thinking twice. And if anybody has, I don't know what has happened to them.

I was soon dozed off from my thoughts when the clock struck 11 and the noise outside died down. We slowly and quietly took our outfits and changed into them. After eating the chocolates that were hid in the room, we snuck out of the house.

After some risky moves and constant checking of has-anyone-woke-up, we successfully managed to get to the ground safely. Fortunately nobody bothered us on our way to Dark Alley, where we were greeted by our other two friends and was shortly joined by Oliver. As soon as all our watches showed 12 Cody appeared from the dark and took us to the now-more-familiar room.

"All of you are here," Amrin said quietly. "So to our Mages and Warriors, the four of yours training will be starting soon enough. But for that I need you all to wear these armors above your outfit. And take off your jackets, because it really is warm here." Bleu informed us pointing towards the armors laid on the desk. We took our jackets off and placed them on the desk and replaced them with the armors. They were heavy and felt like were made from iron. All of ours kinda looked the same. The surprising part was that the armors were small enough for the three others present here but larger than us. I wonder who these belonged to and from the others face I felt like they were thinking the same.

Bleu lead the way along with the other two siblings. Oliver were at our tails, moving along with us. Soon we reached two wooden doors adorned in patterns. With deft hand movements done by the oldest two present there the doors opened in front of us. Amrin and Bleu moved to the left door asking Ruby and Aria to follow them while Oliver and Cody asked the Warriors to follow them. The doors shut as soon as we entered the room and my eyes caught glimpse of the materials present there.

Numerous types of weapons and shields of different sizes, that I have never seen in real life, were set on one side of the wall. The room looked ancient and was lit by a torch that stood in a corner which was surely not lit by electricity. The cracks in the walls contained mosses and small plants that bloomed flowers. The temperature was exceptionally low for a closed room. The tiles were in space grey color while the dark rock-like things made up the wall.

Oliver moved towards the wall that held weapons and turned towards us. We stood steady as we listened to him.

"This is were your trainings will be held. And without further ado let's get into the training." He turned around to look at the weapons as we thought which one will we use first. It's kind of sure that he won't give the dangerous weapon as the first time try because he should be knowing by now we are inexperienced with weapons.

Much to our surprise he was a few feet away from us after not more than a second later, his face emotionless. "The first step of training isn't about using weapons or how to kill others. It's about strengthening your muscles and reflexes. It's about having stamina to fight minimum a day long war with no rest in between. It's about being energetic with the littlest amount of food that can be taken in." His voice was dominant, "Understand?" He asked after a second of silence. We yelled yes in unison as we stared to nothing in particular. He murmured a good before turning away and walking a bit in human speed. Cody joined him by his side and looked at us. Suddenly too self conscious about myself, I stood a bit more straighter as I calmed my breath down.

"Both of you sit down," Cody said in a calm tone as we obeyed him. We sat down but before fully done Oliver commanded, "criss crossed." Yeah sure. I thought as both of us continued our pace. Cody glared at him before setting his backbone straight and his hands laid on his knees. We followed what he did as he gave us a nod. He began talking.

"First step is maintaining your calm. Most of the wars are lost because the army lost their cool. One person loosing the cool will affect the whole outcome. If the people you are fighting against succeeded in triggering you or even suspect a bit of fear in you, they use it for their own advantage. I can tell all of us make stupid decisions when we are angry, so never let the other people anger you. There are lots of ways to do this. But not listening to their rants isn't one. Because each of their words are important. They benefit in future."

"They may try reviving the painful memories from your past. They may try talking about hurting the people you care about. The people you love. But you know if you don't come alive you are never gonna see them again. And you know being angry there won't benefit you either. Adding to the point, the memories are in the past and you can't change them.

"You should come up with a plan while listening to their talk. And maybe keeps them talking so that the damage they do will be less. You may even get a plan from their tirades, or maybe they will reveal the truths unknowingly."

He took a deep breath as well as us. And after a small pause he talked again.

"Close your eyes and try concentrating on my voice now. Try grasping onto the meanings of my words. Digest everything I say. Try understanding how my breath changes by each word. Is it getting shallow? Or deep? Am I moving or not? Is my voice getting louder or not? Are my words getting slower or not? Am I talking faster or not? Everything just by listening."

We listened to his voice, word by word, letter by letter. And suddenly his voice felt so familiar. I dwelled to my past searching for that sound in my memory. Who did the voice belonged to? My mind puzzled at the thought of it. But soon my fists clenched from where it was as realization struck me like a lightning bolt. It sounded like Mathew's, without his thick French accent. And how I understood that was beyond my understanding as I have never heard him talk without his accent. It was like he was born with that accent. But more I thought about it, it felt more accurate.

I quickly pushed my thoughts aside as I understood the purpose of being there. It was to be trained for the big fight with the evil. To provide justice to the people of Askia. But a small part of me said it was also for myself to learn. Learn things I never knew. Learn things I didn't gave a thought about. Learn things I was unaware of. Learn things that were new to me. And I knew that these learnings will surely benefit me in future. I again slipped back to listening to Cody's sound that I didn't left all alone. As his voice filled my ears I felt like Mathew was near to me, watching us someway getting back at the Government.

Soon our little session of the night was over and we were out. Mine and Akshay's filled with calming our selves down practices and Cody suggesting us to start doing yoga and Oliver making us promise him we won't tell the Mages what we trained today. When I reached home, sneaking into our room along with Ruby, I understood she was also not allowed to tell about her training.

We were laying on the bed, me mainly exhausted from sneaking in, Ruby started talking, "I am sorry but I am not allowed to tell you what happened at the training." "Neither am I," I stated. She turned to face me with a huge smile on her face, "but they didn't said we weren't allowed to guess." I giggled at her comment and hugged her, sleep taking us in slowly.