A Fallen Star

Training is a Bitch

That morning I woke up to cold water on my fur. I jolted up and looked at a smiling guard. I glare at him and it was the same guard who was walking with me yesterday. He smiles and opens my door. I get up and he steps in with a folded pair of clothes in his hand.

"Here lad. I brought you clothes from the master. He wants you in the training room in five minutes so get dressed and call me when your ready to leave, but you better make it quick." He finished. I nod and grab the clothes. I take the soaked ones and throw on the cleaner and dryer clothes on. In less than a minute I come to the door and yell, "I'm ready!" At this moment the guard is back and smiles at me.

He opens the door and let's me out. He leads the way to the training room and I can't contain my curiosity any longer.

"What's your name, sir?" I ask him. He smiles and says, "Call me Key. Okay lad." He says glancing down at me. I smile at him and nod. Okay so I made a friend and his name is key. Weird.

When we get to the training room I see lizards everywhere fighting, training, running, jumping. Key takes me to the general and he scowls at me.

"Oh look the runt finally shows up. Come on let's start with some running." General Rad said. I glance at Key and he rolls his eyes at Rad. I smirk and follow Rad. When we get to the track he points to the quarter mile marks and says I have to run ten miles. Easy. My father made me run ten miles everyday with my brothers. My brothers who were killed by them.

I shake my head and step on to the track. I glace at Key and he nods his head telling me to get on with it. I run and it feels like I am on my way to the creek all over again. I pick up the pace until I hear Rad yell out, "Finished" I slide to a stop and head over to them and I feel warmed up. I haven't even broken a sweat.

Rad and key look at me with shock and amusement.

"Okay, next we are learning hand to hand combat. Come on then." Key says and waves his hand in the air for me to follow him. I start to follow him to  an arena in the corner of the training room. I wait for them to tell me what to do.

"Okay, so we are going to go through the basics." Rad says. He points at Key and says, "He will be your trainer of the next five cycles and then you will be put to a test. Okay I am done here. Carry on  Sargent Dilo."

Wait his name is Dilo? I raise and eyebrow at Key and cross my arms he looks at my posture and he changes. He isn't the laid back lizard I met before. Now he looks cold and mean. I uncross my arms and look at him the same way I did my father.

"Drop and give me fifty, recruit." He says and I drop to the ground and start to do push ups. When I am finished I stand up and smile at him.

"What is so funny? Down give me another fifty with twenty-five pounds on." I do so and when I am in push up position he adds the weights. I my muscles tense a little more and I start to feel uncomfortable. I go down and breath out. I go up and breath in. I do this until my fifty push ups are done.

I stand up and face him. He nods when I don't smile at him and points to a rock wall. I look back at him in a questioning way.

"You are going to run and climb the wall when you get to the top I will tell you what's next." I nod and take off. I feel my heart rate increase at the speed the I am running. I leap and grab onto the wall. I start to climb the wall. When I am about half way there is a ledge above me so I find a sturdy rock and start to climb horizontally. When I get to the edge I continued to climb up until I hit the top. When I get there Key is tapping his foot and watching his wrist cycle.

When he spots me he points in front of us. I look the way he is pointing and gape at what I saw. There are concrete pillars in different sections of the floor. Then there is a small pathway on the side of a wall. Then a wall with a door I have to move through quickly. Then I have to pull myself up with a crack down the wall. Then there is a tight rope I have to cross over a pit of darkness. I swallow hard. The four in front of me have a bottom but the last one most certainly doesn't.