Chapter 10

Ben clapped his hands, and from behind a house walked Jasper and Trish. He said, "I'm the oldest here. I'm also the only one who knows how to handle a sword." The look on his face grew sad and desolate. I assumed that it was a touchy subject, probably had something to do with his backstory, as he didn't go into detail. "This trail is for all of The Four. I will be your teacher, and will also spar with Lia. Trish and Jasper can spar together."

I almost ran out of the ring there and then. "B-but, I can't even handle a knife correctly! And how am I going to spar with someone who knows what they're doing?"

Ben gave me a wink. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." I spluttered, and he laughed. "C'mon now Lia, are you afraid?"

I sighed, closing my eyes. Then I strode toward the rack and grabbed a random sword. What the heck. I thought. Let's just do this and get it over with.

Ben walked over to me, holding his hands out. "Woah, woah. We need to actually get you a sword that fits. That one is way too big for you."

I rolled my eyes. "Ugh fine. And how do we find one that fits?"

Ben explained the process of practicing with different swords, and we found one that fit. It had a shiny silver blade that looked like it had been freshly polished. The handle was a rich beech wood, with gold engravings. I tossed it in my hands, liking the feel. I was slowly softening to this "sword fighting" idea. "Alright." I sighed. "Let's do this."

I walked over to Ben. "What do I do?" I held the sword up, twisting my hand left and right, perfecting my stance. Ben rolled his eyes, "You're going to hurt your wrist doing that."

He put his hands on my arm and guided it forward a bit. Then he turned my wrist to the right, pushing the sword down more into my grip. It felt much better than the position I had just been in. Ben took a sword from the rack as well, it was in a leather sheath. Once he took it out of the sheath, I saw it looked used. Like it had been his fateful companion for many years. It probably had.

I wanted to ask him why he knew how to use a sword, but I knew it would bring up painful memories, so I avoided that. Instead, I stepped forward, still in the stance. "So what do I do?"

Ben rolled his eyes and pushed me back. "Nothing yet. You're going to practice your stances, while Trish and Jasper practice slashes."

I made a sputtering sound, enraged. "Why do they get to practice actual fighting? I have to do the boring stuff."

He chuckled. "Because they, unlike you, have done some of this before. Now copy me."

He put his sword up in the stance mine was right now. Then he took a step back, then forward again. He crouched down, twisting his sword closer to his body, then slowly moved it away from him in a wide arc.

I copied his movements, my arm already aching. Have I mentioned I have weak arm strength? We repeated these movements a few times until they were burnt into my brain. Then he began a new set of movements he called "Flurry". He jabbed his sword forward, took a step back and to the side, and jabbed it again. We repeated that a few times as well. He explained "Flurry" was for offense, and the one before that was for defense.

"Alright!" Ben called. "You can stop now. Time to take a break." Those words were music to my ears. After hours of repeating drills and stances, my arms and legs were aching and on fire.

I gave a sigh and plopped down on the dusty ground. Ben laughed and tossed me a Powerade. "Had enough Lia?" I groaned out a "yes". He grabbed my arm and pulled me up off the ground. "Rule 1: Never let the enemy know you're tired. It will give them an advantage and they will attack even harder."

I looked at him, confused. "But you're not my enemy." Ben grinned, reaching for his sword. "In this ring, I am."

I massaged my temples, practically about to fall down dead. "At least let me drink my Powerade? You're getting ahead of yourself Ben."

He set his sword down. "Hmm, you do look exhausted."

I gave him the strongest glare I could. "You don't say?' I snapped, every word laced with sarcasm.

He took my sword and placed it on the rack. "Alright, let's go back to the dorms. We can stop for today. We will be practicing this for a little bit every day though. You need to build up your strength."

I almost fainted from the thought of having to do this every day. I grabbed Ben's shoulder, needing something to hold onto. He gave me a surprised look but didn't question it, leading me to the door. As we left, the walls reverted back to their normal black and blue, the hologram disappearing.

I took a sip from my Powerade, letting go of Ben's shoulder. "Will you come with me to the dorms? There's something I need to ask you."

He gave a noncommittal shrug. "Sure, I guess. Depends on what you want to ask."

I sighed. "Well, you might not like it, but since we're friends I feel like I should know."

Ben's face clouded over, but he nodded curtly.

We walked over to the dorms and I kept thinking of how to phrase my questions. We sat down on the floor in the spot under the top bunk of my bed. "If you don't want to answer any of these questions, that's completely fine. I just want to know a little more about you. It seems like you've had a pretty bad life, and I want to know if there's anything I can do to help."

Ben grimaced, but he nodded reluctantly. "I- I can tell you how my life started. Just promise me not to give me any pity. I don't want pity."

I gave him a small smile. "Anything."

He sighed, and sat back against the wall. I could tell that this was hard for him. "I told you how I ran away from my parents. There were a lot of reasons for that. When I was younger, they wouldn't let me go to school. I would have to do all the chores, cutting wood, doing dishes and washing clothes, even hunting in the woods for food. We were a poor family, and my dad would spend most of the money we had on beer. He was always drunk, and my mom was always arguing with him. After a particularly bad day, they would take it out on me, hitting and punching me."

He paused there, sucking in a painful breath. He closed his eyes, probably reliving bad memories. I felt terrible for asking him to tell this to me. I badly wanted to hold him tight like he was a little kid, but he had said no pity, and I didn't want to make him feel worse.

"I always thought this was normal behavior for parents, as this was all I had grown up with. When I was 10, I was out back in the woods, when I heard someone walking. I hid in a bush, because my parents had told me to never talk to strangers. Ever. It was a man who looked to be in his fifties. He looked at the bush I was in and said, "Boy, come out of there. I don't bite." I didn't, staying there. He walked to the bush and pulled me out, laughing. "Stubborn." He told me. "I like it." He introduced himself as Stefan, and asked me what I was doing in the forest. I told him I was hunting animals for food, and he stared at me. "I'm guessing you have no experience doing that, kid. You were stomping around and scaring all the prey. How about I teach you?" I was hesitant, since my parents had told me never speak to strangers. But I decided to accept, because maybe I could bring back more food, and they could be impressed with me."

My heart broke for him. He had just been a little kid, wanting his parents approval like any other. I hesitantly put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He let out a breath I hadn't known he was holding, and continued.

"I never asked him what he was doing in the forest, and he never told me. But he taught me new tricks and how to read. He gave me the schooling that my parents never had. He taught me sword fighting. And then I went home every night, bringing food home. They even gave me compliments, commenting on how much I'd improved. I was happy for the first time, if that is what you can call it. But then one day my father came walking into the woods, drunk. He wanted to watch me hunt. He discovered me and Stefan together, and grew angry. He grabbed the gun from his belt and shot Stefan, then grabbed me and dragged me back to the house. He and my mother beat me until I was bloody, then locked me in the basement. I never saw Stefan again, so I assumed he was dead. When my parents trusted me, I ran away. And you've heard the rest."

My mouth was agape. "Oh.. Um, wow I-" What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I just say something? But deep down I knew the reason why. Anything that would come out of my mouth would be pity. Instead, I gave him a weak smile and a small hug.

He flinched back from me, as if expecting I would hit him. Then he realized what I was doing and gave me an apologetic smile. "Do you have any other questions?"

"If that's okay with you. Are you alright?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

I sighed, tucking my feet underneath me. "Well, I do still want to know if there's anything I can do to help you feel better. And I also want to know how you got here after you ran away."

"I'm not sure anything in this world could get me over the trauma. But you could help a bit by being there for me, and not telling anybody the things I've told you. And there's another thing. I've been... wondering. What really happened to Stefan? If we defeat The Cloak Keeper, and are still alive, maybe you could help me look for him. Like a side quest."

I grinned, ecstatic that there was something I could do to help him. "Of course! I would love to do that! Not only would it be fun, I really want to help you."

He smiled. "Thank you Lia. You really are a special person. As for how I got here, could I tell you later? I'm tired, and I feel like I've already bored you enough."

I was about to complain and say that he hadn't bored me at all, when I noticed the look of weariness in his eyes. It had taken a lot out of him, telling me all the terrible things that had happened to him. I would respect his wishes and back off. "Sure! Meet you tomorrow at the arena?" I asked, throwing my now-empty Powerade in the trash.

He flashed me a smirk. "Definitely.