The Rise of Fortune and Fury (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 5)

The most obvious thing I notice is that the majority are in their teens.

“What’s the age range of those attending the Academy?” I ask Caiden as we walk straight through the large hall, which narrows to a corridor leading out of the back of the building. There are doors on both sides of the hallway, a few of which are open, and I’m not surprised to see they are classrooms. I would have expected part of the training here is learning, not just fighting.

“We take children as young as twelve,” he says. “The kids can’t run the gauntlet, though, unless they’re eighteen or they get special permission.”

“Twelve,” I exclaim, cutting an alarmed look to Carrick. “Isn’t that a bit young?

Caiden laughs as he stops, turning to face me. “We’re not sending them off to war at that age, Finley. Most of the younger kids are primarily doing book learning, not only of alternate realms, fae, daemons, and such, but the subjects they’d ordinarily take back home if they were in school.”

“Why would anyone let their child come here to study and eventually learn to fight evil creatures?” I ask curiously.

“It’s generational, mostly. Many families have long, distinguished lines of annihilators.”

Now that’s interesting. “But what about kids who don’t come from those types of families? And do you take adults into the program?”

“We do accept kids who aren’t from annihilator families. Often, orphans and such back in the Earth realm who might have a better life here. And yes, we do take older people.” He says that last part with a knowing grin.

I shake my head with a laugh. “I’m not joining your Alliance.”

“Damn right you’re not,” Carrick mutters his agreement.

Caiden leads us to another set of double doors that take us back outside. We step out onto a large veranda with a stone balustrade at the perimeter that has another set of steps down to a green field.

It’s rectangular like a football field but with no painted lines and no goalposts. There are bleachers on the long ends, though, so it seems to indicate it’s for some type of sport. I immediately see Priya, Titus, and Zora in the middle of the field. Priya seems to be giving Zora some instruction on how to hold a rapier sword.

Caiden, Carrick, and I trot down the steps toward the field, and I can’t help but ask, “When is the next quidditch game played?”

Caiden frowns over his shoulder. “Quidditch. What’s that?”

When I snicker, Carrick slaps me on the butt in warning to stop teasing someone who probably doesn’t understand Earth realm pop culture.

“Never mind,” I reply apologetically. “It’s a set of movies about a magical school with a game called quidditch.”

“It’s actually a set of books,” Carrick intones, having been relatively quiet since we left the gauntlet. “The books were then made into movies, but they weren’t nearly as good as the books.”

My jaw drops as I stare at him in shock. “You read the books?”

He shrugs casually with a smile, a look that is really quite good on an all-powerful demi-god who could crush bones with a snap of his fingers. “I’m multi-dimensional.”

“We actually use this field to do weapons and magical training. We have indoor facilities as well.”

Caiden halts us at the edge of the field as Priya has her own rapier in her hand and she’s showing Zora some striking maneuvers. He advises us, “We always start with rapiers since they’re lighter and more maneuverable, especially if someone doesn’t have the strength for heavier weapons.”

I watch as Zora takes the instruction and exhibits particularly good technique, but she gets winded pretty quickly. My circumstances were so different when I started training, as at least I was proficient in mixed martial arts and was in really good shape.

Priya takes it easy on Zora, and that’s got nothing to do with Priya being a woman. I know if it was Titus training her, as he did me, he’d recognize as I do… Zora’s capacity is going to be limited because she’s starting with no experience at all.

At least I think that’s the case.

She never told me she was in any secret fight club in the Underworld, but I can just tell by her red face, sweat-soaked clothes, and the slight droop to her shoulders that she’s exhausted already.

Zora manages to defend three successive strokes from Priya as she had been taught, and Priya stops, praising her. “Very good, Zora. You are a very quick learner.”

Looking our way, Priya gives a jerk of her head that says it’s okay for us to approach.

I smile teasingly at my sister, nodding down to the sword in her hand. “Not bad for a newbie.”

Zora frowns. “Newbie?”

Ducking my head apologetically, I explain, “Just a nickname for someone who is new to something.”

Zora glances down at the sword and grimaces. “I felt clumsy the entire time.”