The Training Hall.
"Again."
The word echoed in the massive stone chamber.
I lay face down on the cold floor, gasping for air.
My lungs burned. My muscles felt like jelly. Sweat dripped from my nose, mixing with the puddle of water beneath me.
"I... I can't..." I wheezed.
Riley stood over me. She looked pristine. Not a drop of sweat on her pale skin. She held a thin wooden cane in her hand.
"You can," she said calmly. "Stand up."
I tried to push myself up. My arms shook violently.
WHACK.
The cane struck my back.
It wasn't a hard hit, but it stung like a bee sting.
"Pain is a signal," Riley said. "It tells you your body is still alive. Use it."
I gritted my teeth.
I forced my trembling legs to straighten.
I stood up.
In front of me was a simple wooden dummy.
And in my hand was Zev.
The sword felt heavier than yesterday. Every day, it felt heavier.
"Swing," Riley commanded.
I lifted the blade.
It took everything I had just to raise it above my head.
I swung.
Swoosh.
It was slow. Sloppy.
The blade hit the dummy with a dull thud. It didn't even leave a dent.
"Pathetic," Riley said. "You are trying to lift it with your arms. You are small, Ren. Your arms are weak."
"It weighs a ton!" I yelled, frustration boiling over. "How am I supposed to swing this fast?"
Riley walked toward me.
"Drop the sword."
I let Zev fall. CLANG. The floor cracked.
Riley raised her hand.
The water in the decorative pool nearby rippled.
A sphere of water, the size of a bowling ball, floated into her palm.
She looked at me.
"Catch."
She threw it.
I raised my hands to catch it.
SPLAT.
The water hit me in the chest.
It didn't splash. It hit me like a cannonball.
I flew backward, sliding ten meters across the floor until I hit the wall. OOF.
"Water is heavy," Riley said, walking toward me. "But the ocean moves it effortlessly. Why?"
I coughed, wiping water from my face. "Because... it's big?"
"No," Riley knelt down. "Because it flows. It doesn't fight gravity. It uses it."
She pointed at Zev.
"That sword is not a club. It has a center of gravity. Find it. Don't lift the sword. Move around the sword."
She stood up.
"Try again. 100 swings. Or no dinner."
I glared at her.
"You're a tyrant."
"I am a Queen in exile," she corrected. "Now, swing."
Two Hours Later.
My hands were bleeding.
The skin on my palms had blistered and popped, then blistered again.
Zev was covered in my blood.
[Delicious,] the sword whispered. [More.]
"Shut up, leech," I muttered.
"Focus," Riley's voice cut through my thoughts. She was sitting on a floating throne of water, reading a holographic scroll. She hadn't looked up in an hour. "You're hesitating at the apex of the swing."
I didn't answer.
I focused on the blade.
Don't lift. Flow.
I planted my feet wide.
I didn't pull the hilt up with my biceps. I twisted my hips.
I let the rotation of my body throw the weight of the sword upward.
At the top of the arc, I let gravity take over, adding my own weight to the descent.
WHOOSH.
The blade moved faster.
CRACK.
It hit the wooden dummy.
This time, the wood splintered. A deep gash appeared in the shoulder.
"Better," Riley said, not looking up. "99 more."
I groaned.
My stomach rumbled.
I hadn't eaten since yesterday.
"Can I see Maya?" I asked, panting.
Riley finally looked up.
"She is awake. She asked for you."
She waved her hand. The water throne dissolved.
"Go. Clean yourself up first. You smell like a slaughterhouse."
The Recovery Room.
I washed the blood off my hands in the bathroom sink. The water turned pink.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
I looked terrible.
Bruises covered my torso. My eyes were sunken.
But my arms... they looked different.
Harder. The muscles were defined, like coiled wire.
A week of Riley's "Hell Training" was changing me.
I walked into the room.
Maya was sitting up in bed, eating a bowl of soup.
She looked... normal.
Her cheeks were rounder. Her eyes were bright.
When she saw me, she beamed.
"Ren!"
"Hey, squirt," I said, forcing a smile. I sat on the edge of her bed. "How's the soup?"
"It's amazing!" she said. "It tastes like real chicken! Not the synth-stuff we eat at home."
She looked at my bandages. Her smile faded.
"You're hurt again."
"Just training," I lied. "Princess Riley is a tough teacher. She makes me do pushups on my knuckles."
Maya touched my bandaged hand.
"Ren... when can we go home?"
I froze.
Home.
Sector 4. The leaky roof. The rats. The acid rain.
"Do you want to go home?" I asked softly.
Maya looked down at her soup.
"I miss Kael," she whispered. "And the old lady who sells noodles. And... I miss our house. It was small, but it was ours."
My heart broke.
She didn't know Kael was dead. She didn't know I killed him.
She didn't know our "house" was probably being raided by Shark-men right now.
"We can't go home yet, May," I said, stroking her hair. "Not until you're fully better. The Princess... she has the best medicine."
"Is she a good person?" Maya asked. "She looks scary. Like the Ice Queen in my storybook."
I looked toward the door.
"She's complicated," I said. "But she's helping us. That's what matters."
Suddenly, the room shook.
BOOM.
The soup bowl rattled on the tray.
Maya gasped. "What was that?"
I stood up instantly, Zev appearing in my hand.
"Stay here."
I ran out of the room.
Riley was already in the hallway. She was staring at the ceiling.
Her face was pale.
"We have a problem," she said.
"What is it?"
"A Depth Charge," she said. "Someone is bombing the ocean floor."
"Who?"
Riley turned to me. Her eyes were cold.
"Hunters. They found us."
She walked toward the main hall.
"Ren. Get your gear."
"What? I'm not ready!" I argued. "I can barely swing the sword 100 times!"
Riley stopped.
She looked at me.
"Training is over," she said. "This is the final exam."
She pointed at the massive airlock door.
"There are intruders in Sector 7 of the base. Shark-men scouts."
"Go kill them."
"Me?" I pointed at myself. "Alone?"
"You wanted to protect your sister," Riley said. "Well, they are coming for her. Are you going to let them in?"
I looked back at Maya's room.
I gripped Zev's hilt.
The fear vanished. Replaced by the cold familiarity of rage.
"No," I said.
[Finally,] Zev laughed in my mind. [Fresh meat.]
"Open the door," I told Riley.
Riley smiled.
"Try not to die. I hate cleaning up blood."
She pressed a panel.
The airlock hissed open.
The smell of ozone and damp metal hit me.
Darkness lay ahead.
I stepped into the shadows.
[Game Start,] Zev whispered.
I ran.
My footsteps echoed on the metal floor.
I wasn't the scavenger anymore.
I wasn't even the trainee.
I was the guard dog.
And someone was trying to break into my yard.