ESKARINA

I didn't want to leave the warmth of my bed. It was nothing like the one I had back home. It was much different. So much more different. No hard wooden surface. Of course it did have that but it wasn't so uncomfortable.

When I lay down on the bed in the barracks,It feels as though I'm floating on a cloud.
It's exceptionally warm within the blankets as well.
I had been sleeping so soundly that morning and in such a state of comfort that I was physically unable to move a muscle.

My comfort was short lived as I was woken by a loud crash. I bolted upright to see Nova standing in the door way.

His eye's were locked onto mine in a certain focus,a gaze I couldn't shake.

"Wake up. Training starts now."

Training? At this time in the morning?
He must have been joking.

A long yawn escaped my mouth as I climbed out of bed. The cold wind hit me,with goosebumps instantly rippling through my body.

Letting out a small yelp,I lept back into bed shaking my head.

"Nope,too cold"

After feeling that cold gust of wind,there was no way in the abyss that I was getting out of bed.

The Imperial city was strangely colder than the country side.

"Hey Eskarina"

I looked up to see Amaani,fully dressed in leather armour. She yawned and as she wiped her eye's clean from sleep.

"Hi" I replied,my voice muffled underneath the blankets.

"We have to go"

"I don't want to."

"Elena dragged me out of bed. She'll do the same to you if you don't get out."

I groaned before I forced myself out of bed.
After I'd gotten dressed in my uniform,which was just a suprisingly light hard leather studded doublet and leather pants complete with boots,Amaani and I made our way to the auditorium. The recruits were all sitting inside,with a few down in the pits.

Five of them were on the ground,writhing in pain. Only one stood with a sword still raised to Nova.

Nova's stature had changed. He was almost an entirely different person. Even from where I stood,I could see he gripped his sword so tightly that the veins of his hand could easily be seen.

"Strange..." Amaani said as we sat down.

"What is it?"

"Nothing It's just..."

Amaani continued to look at the two who stared each other down.

"All of this time that we've been here,and I've never seen Nova use Nightmare...That sword he's using is not Nightmare,I assure you"

I thought about it for awhile. Amaani did know what Nightmare looked like because she grew up seeing it in posters,but she had never seen it in person. Nevertheless she had a general idea of what it should have looked like,so I was certain that what she said had to be true.

The weapon Nova wielded was not his legendary blade Nightmare.
The recruit who stood face to face with Nova tightened his grip round his swords handle.

"Gods protect me and guide my hand." He said.

The recruit charged at Nova,sword raised above his head as he yelled at the top of his lungs.

He brought the sword down,but Nova barely needed to move to avoid it. Nova took a fistful of the recruits hair and forced his entire body down onto the floor where he began to repeatedly bash the recruits skull against the hard ground.

Again and again the recruits head bounced off of the floor. When Nova had finally stopped,he stood up,then jammed his foot against the recruits throat,cutting off his air supply.

"Listen carefully,All of you! Do not pray on the battlefield. Whether you are religious or not,No god will save you when an enemy plunges his blade through your gut. No god will prevent an arrow from piercing your throat. No god will be able to help you when you are bleeding to death. "

Nova's boot dug deeper into the recruits throat as he struggled more violently to breathe. "No god will save your comrades when they die..."

Nova released the pressure off of the recruits neck. The recruit stayed on the floor,and it took me awhile before I realised he was out cold.

"Next! The Elf!" Nova yelled.

I looked to Amaani,who looked at me.

"That's you" I mouthed.

Amaani gave me a look that clearly said "No shit" before she stood up and left to enter the pit.

As she walked away,I could hear whispers around her.
"Damn elf."

"Look at her,walking around like she owns the place"

"Savage brutes they are. All of them"

Amaani soon entered the pit afterwards,armed with nothing more than two daggers.

She took a deep breath and stood ready,her daggers drawn as she held them close to her chest in a defensive stance.

Nova didn't move,instead standing still like a statue. Amaani rushed forward,much faster than I expected,than anyone had expected.

"She's fast!" One of the recruits said.

Fast she was. Within a few seconds Amaani was now right in front of Nova. She thrust her dagger forward,aiming directly for Nova's juggular.

Nova didn't dodge. He didn't move. At the last possible second he stopped Amaani's dagger right in it's tracks. He held a tight grip on her wrists,his grip tightening more and more until Amaani dropped her dagger.

He then twisted her arm and threw Amaani away. Amaani fell to the ground,landing face first in the dirt.

"Get up elf!" One of the recruits screamt.

"Fight tree lover!"

"Fucking savage!"

I could see Amaani begin to tremble from rage as all the racial slurs from the crowd echoed in her ears.

Amaani stood,glaring at Nova. She charged at him once more,stabbing and slicing,but never once landing a hit. Nova dodged in and out,matching Amaani's speed as if it were child's play.

Nova ducked beneath one of Amaani's strikes then grabbed her arm. He flipped her right over his hip,with her body slamming against the ground with a violent thud.

Amaani grimaced as Nova twisted her arm.

"You now have two options elf. You can surrender,or you can try to escape this grip. But if you do try and escape,it will cost you your arm. Your arm will snap...and that'll be all."

Amaani struggled beneath Nova,trying desperately to escape,but Nova held her down firmly beneath his weight.

"This is the battlefield elf. The enemy won't give you a chance to surrender,you would be long dead by now if this were a real fight."

Nova's voice was becoming more and more aggressive with each word he spoke,almost as if he himself was now drowning in a sea of rage.

"WELL?! WHICH IS IT ELF?!" He demanded,twisting Amaani's arm even further. She screamt out and she continued to struggle. "YOUR ARM?! OR YOUR LIFE?! CHOOSE!"

The crowd cheered Nova on,cheering and yelling his name.

"That's it Commander! Show the elven bitch!"

"SILENCE!" Nova yelled.

In an instant,the entire auditorium fell silent,with the only sound being Amaani's grunts as she tried to escape.

"You have three seconds to decide elf. Before I decide for you."

Amaani continued to struggle,with the horrifying sound of her bones twisting filling the silent auditorium.

"Three"

Everyone was silent.

"Two"

Amaani kept struggling.

"One"

I shut my eye's and tried to ignore what I was about to see. I covered my ears to ignore the sound of Amaani's bones shattering and snapping.

But strangely,all I heard was the sound of Booing from the crowd. Opening my eye's and removing my hands from my ears,I saw the crowd all on their feet,yelling.

"Damn elf!"

"Break her arm! She doesn't belong in the army!"

"Let her fight for Elysium instead of the empire! She does not belong here!"

Nova stood above Amaani,who lay on the floor curled up in a ball. He muttered something to Amaani,but what he said I could not hear.

She stood up and left the pit,returning to sit beside me. All the way back she was greeted by laughter and mockery as she sat down beside me.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah...I've been through worse"

I glanced down at Amaani's arm. Instead of being broken and mishapen,it seemed rather normal to me.

"He didn't break it." She said.

Amaani clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "Damn that Commander to the Underwood!"

I gave her a gentle tap on the back. "Hey,its not so ba-"

"Don't touch me!" She said as she moved her body away.

Amaani moved away from me to a corner in the far side of the room,leaving me alone.

Nova fought against another boy next,whom he beat to a bloody pulp. The boy had fur and a long tail,and had hands for feet like a monkey.

Nova's hands and face were covered in blood and he stared round the crowd once again.

"Next..." He said as he raised his sword up to the crowd.

A shiver found its way up my spine as the sword was pointed in my direction.

Please gods don't mean what I think that means. Please let it be someone else.

"The farm girl."

Fuck.