Dragon Hunters

Chapter II: The Day Of The Test

The girls entered a hut with only two bales of hay inside.

"To be a Dragon Slayer you must live like one, those are your beds, enjoy them," Praxis commented.

"But they're bales of hay," the red-haired girl complained.

"You have to learn to sleep in uncomfortable places like rocks and trees, but if it is a problem, leave it and we will offer you normal beds."

"Never, we are capable." the blonde girl said.

Praxis left the girls there and went to supervise the boys' training.

"What do we have to do?" The blonde girl asked.

"Sleep? I don't know, it seems like he's taking us away from the real training.

"Yeah, I feel the same, but we can only hold on until he accepts us."

"What if that day never comes?" The red-haired girl asked without hope that something would change.

"Whether they accept me or not, I will go slaying dragons."

"Well, let's hope the test is easy."

"It will be easy, they underestimate us for being women," said the girl, lying down on her bed.

"It's true, I haven't introduced myself yet, I'm Farah, I come from Fidlekall." the red-haired girl introduced herself to the blonde one.

"I'm Kara."

For a week the boys were training with the Dragonslayers while Praxis avoided training the girls by any means possible, forcing them to remain in their hut as if they were prisoners.

At the beginning of the following week Praxis entered the girls' hut.

"Let's go lazy girls, today you will prove your worth," he said, throwing two shields and two swords to the ground. "Try not to die," he finished, leaving while laughing.

"Well, at least he has given us weapons," Farah said, picking up one of the swords.

Kara picked up her sword and examined it carefully, although it appeared to be in good condition, up close you could see notches in the blade and small almost indivisible cracks running through the edge from side to side.

"Of course, this sword will break as soon as I hit something, that old man wants our failure," she said, throwing the sword to the ground and picking up the shield.

The shield was in good condition, its forging seemed to have been made especially for that occasion.

Kara slung the shield on her back and left the hut.

"Kara wait! Aren't you going to use your sword?"

"Whether I use it or not, it won't make any difference in combat, I'll look for a weapon on the battlefield."

The five recruits gathered at the town gate, the three weak and effeminate boys who had come with them were now grown men.

Praxis and the Dragonslayers approached the recruits.

"Come on, before leaving I want you to say your name out loud," Praxis ordered.

The recruits shouted their names one by one, those were, Harold, Banner and Ulf, Kara looked at all three as if they were stupid and refused to shout their name.

"Is this the proof?" Farah asked to avoid making a fool of herself.

"No, it's a ritual we perform before we go out with the recruits, so that the townspeople begin to know their names," Olaf replied.

"Now we will tell you your recruits mission," Sigurd said grumpily. To the west it is said that there is a marble dragon, it doesn't matter if you don't kill it, you will only have to hurt it three times, that's all, now go, "he ordered, pointing to the door.

"Wait, where's the dragon?" Kara asked as the three boys sped off.

"What is a marble dragon?" Farah asked.

"You would have known if you hadn't skipped practice," Sigurd clarified rudely.

"This is ridiculous, come on Farah, I'll explain it to you on the way." Kara said, dragging the red-haired girl for the hand.

The girls walked away following in the footsteps of their companions.

"Chief, where's Sven?" Olaf asked Praxis.

"He's with the boys, we have to make sure everything goes the way we want."