Part Eight

“Good morning, trainees! I trust you’ve all had sufficient rest and time to familiarize yourselves with this camp. As you will see behind us are tents with different coloured flags, please go to the tent that matches your bracelet.” The man standing in front of us was tall, muscular and had an air of authority.

“Move! Now!” His voice was loud and everybody started to scatter towards the different tents. I headed towards the Violet tent. I kept to the back of the line as men scanned their bracelets to be admitted and be accounted for.

Costin stood on the other side next to another man as they surveyed the group in front of them. My bracelet scanned and then flashed a blue light instead of green as with everyone else. Costin nodded his head and the second man took notice of me too.

“These will be your instructors. On the far right we have Emil, Timo and Pavel. Each group will have one instructor. First group will be future Sires with Emil, the second group will be second in command with Timo and lastly, younger siblings with Pavel.”

Everyone started moving to form a group in front of their instructors and I was left standing alone. Costin looked at me and said something to the man next to him who hadn’t been introduced yet. “Pick a group.”

“I don’t fall in any of those categories.” The look in his eyes said he didn’t believe me.

“You won’t be in this division if you don’t have a violet dragon,” the second man said.

I held up my arm and he looked at my bracelet. “He was sent here by Sorin.” Costin opened a tablet and I assumed was accessing my file. “Yeah, look, it says it right here. There is no division for gray dragons because they’re so rare. He wants daily updates on him.”

The second man looked at me again and back at the tablet. “Welcome to the group. I’m Dorin Albescu.”

“Wynter Grey.” We shook hands and I noted that he had the same surname as Sorin and made a mental note to make a friend of this man.

We were led through warm up exercises and I was on my own with Dorin and Costin and I got more than a few glances from the other guys. We were about a hundred in our group and you could feel the tension as future Sires tried to control their auras.

“Pick a partner for the day, this is what we’ll be doing every day for the rest of this week. You’ll spar and get points for every win. At the end of the week we’ll re-evaluate your positions.” Dorin’s voice was loud as people started pairing up.

Dorin hadn’t lied and for the rest of that week we sparred, ran ten miles every morning, chopped wood to build physical strength and fought our way to the top. The jogging was easy, I was used to twelve miles a day and the sparring wasn’t on my level.

I was used to fighting Milo and fighting my way out of real life and death situations. By Wednesday morning I was bored out of my mind and a few times I noticed Dorin looking at me intently. Every night I snuck out and checked on Abigail as she slept peacefully since she was moved to the camp next to ours.

The second week of training we advanced to different fighting styles, boxing, martial arts and anything else you could think of. In the morning we received training from an instructor that specialized in that particular style and in the afternoons we sparred with different partners.

The third week was interesting. We were dealt into teams of five people and by this time I’d been marked. Nobody wanted to spar with me or face me in any kind of match. So naturally when Dorin announced that we’d be working as teams, everybody wanted me on theirs.

“Nobody is allowed to team up with Wynter Grey, he will face this challenge on his own.” A small smile appeared on Dorin’s mouth and I wondered what he was up to.

We were led into a large tent with auditorium style seating. In the front of the tent were five beds with monitors and a large screen had been erected at the highest point in the back of the tent. It made it visible for the rest of us that took seats.

“This is a survival test, it’s a simulation that will place you in different scenarios. The only goal is to survive with your team intact.” This caught my attention and I felt the excitement deep down at being in a situation that I was familiar with.

“Any volunteers?” Dorin looked around and then to the side as a flap opened and Sorin stepped inside.

“I’ll go.” I stood up as everyone looked at me. They weren’t scared, just cautious, because we had no idea what kind of simulation waited for us.

“Wynter Grey, let’s see you put those hunter skills to good use.”

I stepped through the chairs and joined Dorin in the front. I sat down on the bed and took my shirt off as various wires were connected to the medical stickers they placed on my chest and head. They would monitor my breathing and heart rate and everyone would be able to see what was happening.

“Does your tattoos have any meaning?” Dorin looked at the display on my arms and I smiled.

“They’re my death tally from my Unit days.” His eyes widened slightly as his gaze roamed over my arms again and a soft murmuring came from the onlookers.

“In the beginning of the simulation you can outfit your avatar and once you press ‘Start’ the simulation will begin and only end once you die or you have killed every last enemy.”

“Let’s go.” My heartbeat was steady, my breathing normal and I was ready to get started.

“Good luck.” It was Sorin that had spoken up and I closed my eyes and felt myself being pulled through the darkness.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a normal room with a touch screen in front of me. I went through the wardrobe selections and chose black combat gear. I went to the arsenal and I picked four knives, six guns with extra magazines and a vest with chest holsters for four of the guns.

The other two guns were strapped to my thighs and I modified two knife holsters to go around my forearms. Lastly I chose a rifle and the extra clip went into the side pocket of the combat pants. I felt elation as I strapped the weapons to my body.

The only sound I could hear was my own breathing and I worked quickly with the spring release holsters. I closed the arsenal and looked at the map of the building I would enter. I spent a few minutes memorizing the lay-out and pressed start.

The simulation was good. I could smell wolves, vampires and other dragons. The rifle was in my hands, pointed to the front as I made my way down the hall. The first man peeped around the corner and I went down on one knee and when he looked at me again, I shot him in the head.

The smells, the sounds and even the light breeze that ran through my hair all felt so real. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought that this was a real life encounter and I was alone. I channeled my focus on the sounds around me.

I could smell his blood and I moved forward slowly. I encountered five wolves and four vampires as I cleared the first level. It seemed too easy, they weren’t really attacking me and I hoped that the next building would be more of a challenge.

The vampire on the stairs was a big guy, my height and weight and he zipped down the stairs and straight for me. He had me by the shoulders as he lifted me off my feet and kept running. I let go of my rifle and it hung down my side and the vampire stopped in the middle of the room as I pulled my morphed hand from his chest.

Three wolves circled me as the vampire’s body slumped to the ground. They were larger than Alpha wolves and I ran for the first one, the knives in my hands. I dove over the first wolf, stabbing the two knives down in his spine and ripped them out.

The other two wolves growled and attacked. I kicked the first wolf in the face as the second wolf snapped his mouth shut close to my neck. We grappled and he was on top of me as we rolled on the ground. I grabbed his jaws as he opened his mouth to attack and pulled with all my might.

He shook his head as whimpers escaped his chest and I heard the satisfying crack as his jaws snapped. I stood up and shot him once through the head with one of the pistols. The first wolf lowered his body to the floor, ready to pounce and we met in the middle of the room again.

He slipped slightly on the vampire’s blood and I shot him three times with the rifle, still standing in the exact same spot. There were drops of blood on my face and my one hand was stained with the vampire’s blood, but I made no effort to wipe it away.

The next two buildings had me work up a sweat as I killed ten more wolves and vampires. I suspected that I would fight against a dragon in the last building. I had cuts on my arms from the vampires attacks and two bite marks from wolves that had healed by the time I entered the last building.

The fifth building had dark shadows against the walls but I could smell the dragon lurking there. I heard the swish of his tail and I remained in the shadows as well. I discarded all my weapons in a pile and pulled the vest off.

Guns and knives didn’t help you against a dragon, their scales were too strong but a dragon claw could penetrate the scales and I moved quietly along the length of the wall. His scent got stronger and I stepped out into the dim light, exposing myself.

Echo felt disconnected from me and for this training exercise it was an excellent idea not to be able to separate and have your dragon fight for you. I would have done the exact same thing if I had been part of this operation.

“Stop hiding dragon, let’s end this.” My voice echoed around the room and I heard the dragon’s low chuckle.

He emerged from the shadows and suddenly we were outside, in the open with the dark night sky above us. His eyes had a murderous glint in them and I watched his spiked tail. The dragon was gray, like mine and I almost felt sorry for the illusion.

I ran straight toward him and he moved his body sideways as his tail swept across the ground and lifted at the last second to strike me full in the chest. I was on his tail and ran up towards his back as his tail swished around and he turned his head to get a look at me.

I punched him as hard as I could at the exact point where his spine connected with his skull. There was a small hollow hole right behind that point where it met with muscle and tendon. It was that exact spot that rendered a dragon off balance for a few seconds.

I grabbed the dragon’s horn and swung all my body weight to the side as he stumbled slightly and then went crashing down to the ground. I would have maybe five more seconds before he regained control of himself.

I slid down his massive chest and stuck my morphed hands in between the scales and through the ribs that protected its heart. I could feel it beating and I had to cut the arteries around it. The dragon roared out his pain as I ripped his heart from his chest.

Everything went black and I blinked a few times as I woke up and focused my eyes on the bright sunlight around me. People were applauding me and yelling out cheers and hoots. I sat up and looked at Sorin’s smiling face.

“That was quite impressive.” Dorin slapped me on the back as two men started pulling the wires from me.

“That was fun.” It was my honest reaction and I could see awe in most of the eyes that looked back at me.

“You’re heartrate didn’t increase once, you never once felt under pressure. It’s a great soldier that can remain calm in the face of death.”

“I’ve been trained well.” Sorin’s compliments were welcome but it felt like more than that when he had said it.

Five teams managed to reach the fifth building but none of them were able to slay the dragon. All in all Dorin seemed happy with their progress because honestly most of them had never fought a vampire or a wolf. Fighting a dragon seemed so far-fetched to most of them that they had no idea what to do with it.

Dorin and Costin gave us the last week off and about forty guys joined me in the mornings as I kept to our training schedule. The atmosphere in the camp was relaxed as we were given the option to sign up to join the Royal Guard, King’s Guard, warrior duty or return home.

“I’ve noticed that you haven’t signed up for any positions within the palace.” Dorin sat down on the small incline of the hill next to me.

“No offence, Dorin, but if we’re being honest with each other, my talents would be wasted as a guard.”

“That’s why I’m glad you didn’t sign up for anything.”

I didn’t say anything because what I really wanted was a way into the Palace; not as a guard working. Something that would get me close enough to the King so I could kill him. I didn’t care about the consequences for myself, but I’d kill them all to keep my family safe.

“The King has invited you and your sister to stay at the Country Palace for a few days. He’d like to meet you. You leave after lunch.”

“I’m guessing that it’s not a request.”

“Brains and brawn. You’ll go far if you use both, Wynter.”

“Can’t wait.” My voice was not as enthusiastic as it should be because once he took one look at Abigail, he’d know she had a dragoness and the plan wasn’t for him to meet her this soon.