House Of Fire

Chapter 20

"HARDER!"

Oh shut up!

"MOVE YOUR FEET!"

Ugh.

As if running circles before half of their training camp wasn't bad enough.

The bulldog was standing in the centre of their arena, a makeshift yard with wooden fencing.

Raven wondered when his voice would finally grow hoarse.

And the cherry on top? When he thought she needed to speed up the whip would crack towards her.

What the General didn't know though was that growing up on a cattle farm had it's advantages. The whip hadn't even grazed her yet.

She picked up her pace again. Her full out sprint left a dust trail in her wake.

Bulldog missed again. It was funny how he wanted to hit her. She wouldn't allow him the satisfaction.

By this stage the warriors were cheering her on. Glancing at the General she could swear steam was coming out of his ears.

Bloody masochist.

Her free flying hair was a fanfare. The long tendrils flaring and whipping around from the wind as much as her speed.

Sweat was running into her eyes and it kept getting warmer as the sun rose higher in the heavens.

She relished in the pain in her legs. She hadn't used them a lot lately and it felt good to keep going. So she kept going.

By now, the General's comments were only feeble attempts at saving his pride.

Raven's stomach growled and a smug smile couldn't be removed from her face even if someone tried to pry it off.

She stopped running and the audience began to whisper.

Ignoring the General, Raven walked to the exit until the whip flew her way again.

Without thinking Raven had sidestepped the Bulldog's aim, grabbed the end of the long whip and plugged it straight out of his hands.

The General's face grew red.

But Raven turned around. She was hungry and anyone was yet to show her where they kept their food.

Whip still in hand she made her way to the exit.

"RECRUIT GET YOUR FILTHY ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE NOT DONE YET!!!"

"I believe I am, Sir." Keep your voice calm Raven.

The other Angels stepped out of her way as she exited. The bulldog screamed some stupid things about respect behind her which she ignored.

The arena was on a separate level to the camp. It was a large meadow with tall pines barricading the entrance to the dense woods.

On the camp float though, she had seen the fruit tree orchards. And when she took to the air, the floats attached to the Hive were crisscrossed with agricultural field.

Flying was awkward when she could feel her leg muscles seizing up.

The orchard was quiet, no burly Angels being all macho and trying to intimidate her.

They thought she was some weakling from the north. Well, they should know one day that she was the strength from below.

Plucking a mango from a tree she began peeling it. The juicy flesh felt sweet on her tongue and mixed in a weird flavour with the salty sweat on her lips.