Lord of the Night

Chapter 52: Training

Fraschkit clapped my shoulder. "Remgar has defeated more Demons than anyone else here, so I've asked him to give us some tips for beating the enemy."

Everyone stared at me, some expressions curious and others skeptical.

I swallowed and drew a breath. "The Demon team is very strong. To defeat them, we will need to train hard and summon all the courage of the First Guardian."

"Yes," said Fraschkit, voice tight with impatience. "But what exercises do you think could help us to kill more Demons? Or to kill the Queen's Scouts?"

As I had done several times over the last couple of hours, I racked my brain for some magic answer. How had I defeated so many Demons? But once again, my mind got stuck on the details Fraschkit had omitted...and on Isalio.

He should have been here. He knew more than I did. I had defeated the Demons mostly by luck, and I didn't even fully understand what the Queen's Scouts looked like. Slugs with wings? That sounded deceptively benign. Fast, poisonous spies? That would only reinforce the fear that we stood no chance.

Fraschkit cleared her throat. "Remgar?"

"The Queen's Scouts will likely arrive first, so that is our first priority."

"We can practice shooting down flying targets and rushing them," said Fraschkit. "And what else, Remgar?"

"If we don't kill every Scout, we need to evacuate Sitaklasa as soon as possible."

The Sitaklasa humans exchanged nervous glances. "You mean we'll have to abandon our home?" one woman called out.

Fraschkit grimaced. "Hopefully we can kill all of the Scouts before they can deliver the message to the palace, so that won't be necessary. But just as a precaution, we have a group of Guardians out searching for a safehaven right now, and they informed me that they already have a lead." She turned toward me once more. "Now, do you have any ideas for how we can train more effectively, Remgar? Any technique you used that you can show the rest of us?"

What did I know about the most effective ways to train? I wasn't even sure how I had killed as many Demons and beasts as I had. I suspected a good deal of my success was borne from luck, and my luck had to run out eventually.

"I agree with Fraschkit," I said. "We need to follow her lead."

Fraschkit folded her arms. "Fine, great. You can leave the stage now."

I felt both relieved and letdown to receive that permission. The pressure on me had relaxed, but Fraschkit was clearly disappointed.

For several hours, the humans and Guardians with crossbows practiced hitting projectiles while the rest of us hunted down any successful hits. The sun blazed high in the sky, and then dipped lower again, but the humidity only grew more oppressive; sweat trickled down my spine, and my clothing clung to my body. I tried to muster enthusiasm for the tasks, but I couldn't stop thinking that we were doing too little too late—and with too little knowledge. If Isalio were there, he could have pointed out what we were doing wrong.

Then something happened that eliminated the rest of my focus: Ranndu hacked a cough into the crook of arm as he passed me, and blood speckled his sleeve.

Discreetly, I touched Ranndu's elbow and nodded at a shady spot on the edge of the courtyard. A frown twisted his scar-creased face, but he followed me without question.

Once we were out of the training area, I pointed to the blood on his sleeve. "What happened here? Are you hurt?"

He fidgeted with his sleeve. "Don't worry, Brother Remgar—this is normal. It always happens when someone has lost too much lifeforce over too long a time."