A Song In The Wind

I entered the room where the others were listening to the commander explain the regulations and what was expected of us.

"Death is an honor. Cowards will be recognized as traitors to the kingdom. If you find yourself in a situation where death is the only option, pray to the phoenix you are reborn anew. However, should you run and leave the kingdom in an act of cowardliness? Pray that you are reborn as nothing but a roach, for your worth is nothing but less."

The commander continued to explain how honor comes from sacrifice and such. He also started to praise the phoenix and actually prayed to the phoenix itself.

Commander Felix was one of the many people who purposely kept their distance from me. He would send a messenger to deliver his report and made no effort to communicate with me, which was fine with me since the Falling Sky Kingdom didn't give me much trouble. It made some sense that the commander didn't know what I looked like as king.

When he finished his prayer, I raised my hand.

"Question?"

"Yes. Why are cowards worthless? Wouldn't it take a lot of courage to sacrifice everything just to save yourself?" I asked. "I would say it's brave of them."

The commander's mouth gaped like a fish gasping for a drop of water. He turned around.

"I will pretend I didn't hear what I clearly just heard. Because that is the number one stupidest thing I've ever heard!" His voice got louder as he finished his sentence.

One of the students turned towards me and whispered, "There was an incident where he had to leave his teammates behind in Soft Shore Kingdom. The last time he saw them was in a bloody box sent from a water soldier in the queen's hands."

"Oh…" I said. "So it's alright for him to leave his partners behind, but we aren't? That's kind of hypocritical if you ask me."

I didn't try to hide my words from the commander or anything, so he heard them loud and clear. He turned so fast that I was surprised he didn't get whiplash.

"Who the hell are you to say that?! You didn't see their faces as I left them! You don't know a damn thing! If I could go back in time-"

"What? You'd stay behind? Die along with them? What's the point? For what purpose would that help anyone? Or do you plan to find a way to prevent their capture beforehand?" I laughed. "Hell! The only reason you mourn their deaths is because guilt is wrapped around your thick neck so tightly! Get over it! You lived because you could! They died because they couldn't. You live, and you die!"

His face had gotten redder and redder the more I spoke. By the time I finished my sentence, I couldn't believe his face didn't pop.

He got close and stared into my eyes; he must have hated whatever look I had because he punched my face right after. No words were said. The only noise you could hear was the beatings he gave me. He kept punching me until I was a bloody, meaty mess on the ground.

"Shut the hell up! My childhood friend! My fiancé! Everyone I cared for! I abandoned them! I left them knowing they would die!" He yelled as he beat me up.

I continued to laugh. His punches were nothing compared to the torture I endured as king.

"Tell me. If they died from natural causes such as an illness or whatever…would you be as distraught over their deaths as you are now? Are their deaths what you mourn? Or your guilt?" I asked

He heaved a heavy breath before giving one final blow to my face. With that final punch, I was knocked out.

I didn't wake up until two days later. When I did open my eyes, I was given a small portion of food, half a cup of water, and training instructions.

My training consisted of extreme exercise and a regulated diet. I also had a new training commander. Thank god. But even if I did have a new group, it was obvious they knew about the reason behind my transfer. I understand that I went too far on a man who was so pathetic, but I had a good reason. But seriously…they couldn't have made it more obvious with their cold gazes and hard stares. Both curious yet afraid. Whatever. Let them stare. It won't hurt me.

As time went on, I managed to find comfort in routine. Wake up, piss, eat, exercise, take a dump, exercise, eat, shower, and sleep. Then, do it again the next day—same old, same old. Of course, we would have lectures that included repeating the rules and giving instructions.

"When you are sent out on missions, you will be given a deadline. It could be from a few hours to years. If you do not report back to your home base in the time that you have, your cabin will be cleared out and prepared for a new soldier. If, by some miracle, you make it back, you will be given a new cabin. A level three cabin will be given to you if possible. If there are no available cabins left, deal with a level five."

One of my classmates raised her hand, "What level of cabin will we start with?"

"You will be placed in a level two cabin. If you work hard enough, you can level up before we move and get a level one cabin that features the latest exercise equipment and fresh foods prepared by the castle chef herself. As well as other upgrades."

I raised my hand, "What's the cost of having a level one? Will our missions be even more dangerous than level five?"

"Yes," the instructor dragged the word out, "But every mission is dangerous in its own way. The only difference is that level one missions will be more extended."

They probably don't want us using the upgrades too much but also want to encourage us to become level-one soldiers. Sneaky.

Another student raised his hand, "Will we all be stuck in the same cabin, or do we get our own room?"

"Everyone will get their own room, but cabins will be scattered throughout Mount Ellie."

Mount Ellie is a famous mountain that looks like an elephant. There's nothing special about it, just that it morphed into the shape of an elephant on its own.

"Any more questions before we go on?" The instructor asked the class.

"A few more." I said, "What type of missions will we undergo? And when will we begin?"

"Good question! You will have three days to get settled into your rooms. In those three days, we will hand out missions. Some of you will get them, and others will not. Some will be in groups, and others will be solo. Everyone will have an instructor with them on their first mission. Anything else?"

We shook our heads.

"Moving on…memorizing the map of each kingdom…"

The instructor goes on to give us work to do until the next lecture and we head back to our training.

Our training consisted of us building up stamina by running laps around the facility and through the kingdom. I thought that I would have a chance to get a glimpse of the girls but I never saw any sight of them.

*They could have left the kingdom. Understandable. I hope they're safe."

When we finished our run, we would have stations where we would practice stealth and sneaking. Hide and seek—that's what we were playing.

In another station, after we finished playing- uhhh, training hide and seek, we would do climbing. In another, we would play chess.

So far, no one has beaten me.

Our training also consisted of body management with the commander as our personal trainer with private sessions regularly.

Not much went on otherwise. Before I knew it, five months went by in a flash. A few of us raised our rank. Those who were at the bottom worked hard to become well average or exceeded everyone's expectations and became part of the top few. My rank from medium went up of course and I was part of the top group. Not all of us made it though. In the first few weeks, with no warning, several people packed up their things and left.

A few of us were sent out to another facility so new trainees could be sent here. The soldiers and I rode in unmarked carriages sent through the kingdom. When I lived in the kingdom, I often saw carriages sent through the kingdom, usually carrying soldiers or weapons such as swords, bows, and arrows, with a few guns when the budget was high enough. Other, more common, carriages would carry food supplies and gallons of water. They were beautifully decorated with the colors of the kingdom. Now, with a rise of panic and/or anger, the people of the kingdom have mugged every single carriage. They stole the food, water, and supplies and even stole the gold that decorated the carriage. Even going as far as to steal the weapons inside. This has only happened twice before they used unmarked grey carriages. This didn't stop people from jumping them. Most times, they would be empty decoys.

So we sat in the dark with only the clomping of the horses hooves against the ground to fill the silence. There would be the occasional shoving and cursing but we were otherwise silent for the rest of the trip. We not only kept silent for fear we would be caught but also because we knew that many of us would most likely make a journey back home. Alive or dead.

If the training wasn't bad enough to want to send you back home to live a simpler life, then knowing that you would most likely end up being brought back home in a body bag might've. We knew the situation we would be in when we signed up to be trainees, but feeling the weight of war on your shoulders would scare any one of us shitless.

The carriage came to a stop after hours on the road. One of the commanders opened the door. We flinched as the sunlight hit our skin and burned our eyes.

"Everyone out." Is all he said then headed into a building hidden by the trees and wildlife.

It wasn't very big nor was it small enough to be considered cozy. It was very wide and had doors along the front building.

"These will be your sleeping corridors. Think of this as a home base. As your instructors have previously stated, you will have about three days to get used to your rooms, and in those few days, you will be given your first assignment." With that said, he walked off like he had better things to do than to babysit us.