The stones

Chapter eight

The feeling I get going through this magic storm is nothing like I’ve ever experienced.  I expected to be drenched from the waters of the storm, but I’m not even damp in the slightest way- strange.  I do, however, feel dizzy and winded, like someone has punched me in the gut.

After about a minute I fall out of the spiraling storm and land on all fours.  I stand up and brush myself off fixing my book bag.  I survey my surroundings; I seem to be in an enclosed fortress on the top of a hill.  There are stonewalls lined with colorful fall trees circling a series of tents with one permanent building further away.  To my left is a cleared area in which I see a muscular boy appearing to be a few years older than I am sparing with a blonde haired girl.  They are both using swords; the girl’s slightly longer than the boy’s is.  To the right is a burning fire with sitting logs separated at even intervals around it.  Fila is in front of me.

Just as I finished taking in the setting, Nathan stumbles in behind me.  “Let’s get to work,” says an enthusiastic Nathan.  I just look at him.  Nathan shifts slighting under my gaze.  Fila laughs, “Um Nate, maybe give us a chance to sleep and eat?  You and I haven’t slept at all and Endelyn’s been up since roughly three.”  “ Right,” answers Nathan.  

I follow Fila into a large green tent further in the back of the walls.  “This is where some of the girls stay,” says Fila.  There are three sections to the tents, the largest central one contains  a series of sleeping bags on cots, each with a backpack next to them, to the left there is a stash of food, snacks, and water bottles; to the right there is a small collection of books and several old-fashioned lamps.  Fila motions towards the sleeping bad furthest left.  “This is where you can sleep; I stay in the one next to that.”  I walk towards the sleeping bag as Fila enters the “room” left of me.  I look in the backpack at the head of my cot and find a rope cord, two small daggers, bottled water, dried fruit, a can of soup, and peanut butter.  Fila reenters carrying a box of cheezits and some apples.  I look up, “What are these bags for?” I ask.  “Oh, those are the emergency bags just in case we have to leave on sudden notice,” she replies.  “I have some snacks if you’d like to eat a bit before you rest.”  I happily accept an apple from her hands and perch on the end of the cot.

“So, Endelyn, how are you taking this?  What do you think of camp?”  I shrug in reply.  “I haven’t seen much yet and nothing seems out of the ordinary.”  Fila smiles in response to my answer.  “Alright, if you need anything, left me know.  Now, get some rest, it won’t be long before Nathan starts working you like a dog in your training.”  She lies down on the cot just several feet away from me; I lie down on my own cot, think about everything that has happened this morning, and fall into an uncomfortable sleep.