1 Chapter 1: Training session

The funny thing, about bravery, is that it's quite a selective thing. It might be there for you when you're running from a pack of wolves... Ok. Bad example! Rephrase; Bravery might be there for you when you're stealing your very first sword. That's better! Sounds shady, but trust me, when you're twelve, and your father, the leader of the warriors, still won't even buy you a dagger, you tend to take things into your own hands. So yes, bravery might be there for you in certain situations... but not always.

That's what it is for me, anyway. I have jumped off cliffs into freezing water, hiked up a mountain with nothing but a grappling hook and a stick, walked around the forest when it's pitch black… but yet still I haven't grown the courage to speak up for myself and what I want. Don't get me wrong, if someone tries to put me or my friends down, I'd stand up to them and show them their place pretty swiftly.

But this situation is different.

"You have to watch your leg after this lunge; all your weight is on it!"

I lift my gaze up, being snapped from my thoughts. I look down at the training grounds below, seeing twenty or so men and women in light armour lined up in rows, all lunged forward with swords cocked at an angle. I can't help but smirk as I see a few of them wobble on their legs. It's clear they've stepped forward on the wrong foot.

One man paces in front of them sternly, standing tall and mighty with his sword on his hip. He has thick brown hair, tired back into a 'warrior bun', as he calls it. I watch the man stop in front of a soldier, and sigh loudly in frustration.

"Oh, for the grace of the gods, Bull! Can't you control your wrist?! You're acting as if the sword has a mind of its own!" he barks at the man, crossing his arms.

"Sorry, sir. I—"

"You will try harder!" The man interrupts the soldier, his lip curling up in disgust. "Drop and give me two hundred."

The soldier immediately drops down into a push-up. But, apparently, that's not all.

"Smolder!"

"Yes sir?" A soldier in the back row immediately responds, standing tall and staring straight ahead as a good soldier should.

"Sit on his back."

"Yes, sir."

The soldier walks up to Bull and does cross-legged on his back, sheathing his sword. Bull slowly continues the push us, and I see his arms shaking a little. I grin proudly. With his broad shoulders and height, it's obviously hard not be intimidated by the leader of the army. Even for me, and he's my father!

"As for the rest of you? Pair up and practise the move I just taught you!" My father adds, addressing the small portion of the army he's training today. Pairs of two spread out around the arena, one practising the move on the other… without actually cutting their stomach open, that is.

My father paces around the arena, stopping at each pair to give them sternly worded advice. Always at his side is Mora. With her watchful eyes, quick reflexes, and fierce demeanour, the leopard is equally as feared as my father. They have been together since my father took over the role of General. Which is about eight years now.

The way the story goes is that my father was leading his troop through a jungle they had never been in before when they came across the Leopard. Mora had been minding her own business, lazing on a tree branch, when the group had invaded her territory. She had been ready to maul them, but a male Leopard had shown up. So she decided he was a bigger threat to her, and fought him off, effectively protecting the group of five. Once the male leopard had turned tail and ran, she was left with the humans.

Instead of attacking the animal, my father ordered them all to drop their weapons and at ad down. He had stepped forward to protect his team, but instead of ending off the animal he simply dropped to his knees and didn't make eye contact. Mora didn't attack, he wasn't a threat. What she did do, was lead them out of the jungle. She had been by my father's side the entire time, and the bits of best he offered her tended to help her stick around as they left the jungle and journeyed back towards the village.

She comes and goes at times, but she spends most of her time in the village, especially by my father's side. She even sleeps in the house!

She was about three when she met my dad, so that would make her about eleven. She's still as agile as ever, and we all know not to underestimate her… well, ever since she killed a soldier last month, anyway. He was a rebel, about to kill my father when his back was turned, so she leapt on him and ripped out his throat. No one has ever tried to go against my dad again, and Mora has gained a lot of respect since.

I sink back into the shadows as my father and Mora walk along the closest wall. My father walks straight past without even glancing up, he hasn't seen me. However, Mora's ears twitch, and she glances up at me. She knows I'm here… but she doesn't do anything to alert my dad to my presence. Just keeps walking by his side.

I sigh, shaking my head anxiously. I feel like running down there and waving my arms in my father's face, screaming "I'm here, I'm here, give me a chance!" as loud as I can.

But I know I won't.

I back up and creep up to the small path that brought me down here, just as Smolder and Bull join the excise, pairing with one another and trying to take each other out.

I hurry up the path as it takes me behind houses, between structures, and under a bridge. I have taken this path every day for five years now for one reason but still haven't mustered up the courage to do it.

That reason?

I want to join the Army, my father's army, and fight for my people. For my family. For my island.

But my dad doesn't pay me a single glance, and never bothered to teach me anything. So I took it into my own hands to train myself, by coming down to secretly watch them practice every day, and sneaking out into the forest every night.

One day I will prove to him that I can do this. That I can fight alongside the men and women of the army, and bring down our enemies. Whether that be other tribes, kingdoms, or the fire breathing reptiles that plague this land like weeds. I will make sure my voice heard… Just, not today.

(Publish date: 10th Aug, 2020)

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