The Water Howlers - Book II ✔

Chapter 4 - Ki

In the days that followed, Ki and the others spent their mornings and afternoons training; working on both their gifts, but also improving their sword and hand-to-hand combat skills. And no one took it as seriously as Ki did. She was always up before the morning bell and didn't stop training until long after the evening bell. She needed to be the strongest she possibly could, the best fighter she could be. There was no way she would let what happened up north happen again and so she trained and trained, pushing herself to the limit and then pushing the limit even further.

On one sunny afternoon that Ki was training with Thatch they heard shouting from across the lake. Ki stopped with her sword raised to strike, the other hand ready to hurl a gust of wind at Thatch who was holding a defensive stance, and both turned to glance across the still surface of the lake where a group of soldiers were gathered around something, no someone. The soldiers were clearly excited and Ki's stomach gave a surge of excitement. She felt Thatch's gaze on her and turned to him, her smile growing bigger as she shut off her gift, not wanting to thrown Thatch onto his back. His face was hard to read, but he seemed completely relaxed.

"Go on then, I'll wait here," he said, almost with a shrug, perhaps knowing she was on the brink of running off anyways. No joking or snide remarks, Ki noticed, and it struck her that since Princess Amberlee's birthday, he'd been a lot more at ease with her. It was definitely a nice change and Ki hoped it would continue.

She grasped her practice sword even harder and took off running, following the gravelled path around the lake towards the soldiers' barracks and training grounds. She had been to see him just recently, but hadn't known he was being released from his sick-bed this day. How relieved he must be, she thought to herself and tried to control the smile forcing its way onto her face.

She reached the crowd of soldiers and started shoving her way through to the centre. The men stood shoulder to shoulder, but after an elbow or two, they quickly took notice of her and parted to give her passage. And there he was, with a wooden crutch under one arm and a slightly pale complexion, but up and going nonetheless. Ki could see the bandages bulging through his shirt across his stomach and the gash on his forehead that had to have several stitches, but was healing nicely, yet would leave him an impressive battle scar.

"At ease, soldier," Ki said, grinning as he turned around to face her, a beaming smile on his face.

"Little Howler," Thoran said, reaching out with his free hand to grasp her arm as she grasped his.

"Good to see you finally up and about."

"Best feeling was to walk out of that tent and breathe in the fresh air, knowing I didn't have to return to that horrible bed."

"Yes, now you get to return to the comfort of those soft bunkbeds in the barracks," a soldier commented, followed by a chuckle from several of the surrounding men. Thoran shook his head and moved his hand from Ki's shoulder to run it through his hair, exasperated.

"I almost forgot about those. And Kent's snoring," Thoran chuckled and soldier Kent protested, but was quickly drowned out by calls of agreement from the others.

Watching Thoran smile was refreshing for Ki to see. He'd been miserable chained to his sick bed until his abdominal wound had healed enough for him to move around. There were dark circles surrounding his blue eyes, but there was a brightness in them that she hadn't seen in these past few weeks.

"So," Thoran started, focusing on Ki once more, glancing down at the wooden sword she still had in her grip. The men around them were slowly dispatching, several headed for the stables and others for the obstacle course. "I hope you're ready for us to train again."