Morning came with horns.
Three short bursts, sharp and bitter in the cold.
I jolted upright on the cot. The barracks were already alive with groans, boots slamming to the floor, and recruits scrambling into uniforms. Some moved with routine. Others, like me, moved from instinct and half-starved, half-asleep, but unwilling to fall behind.
My body ached.
Bruises bloomed beneath my scales.My tail, still sore from dragging during the run, flicked sluggishly as I sat up.But my eyes were clear now. Focused.
We assembled in Yard Forty-Two, where Halvren was already waiting.
"You're not dead," he barked. "Good. Today, you learn what it's like to fight beside someone instead of just survive alone."
A few chuckles from the back. One sounded familiar.
Tessa.
She was leaning on her sword again, looking as if she'd just strolled out of a noble's gymnasium instead of sleeping on a cot like the rest of us.
Our eyes met. No words exchanged.
Just something sharp. Not quite hate. Not quite respect.Something that would grow for better or worse.
"Pair off," Halvren commanded.
I expected to be left out. But a boy stepped toward me. Tall. Wiry. Tan skin, buzzed black hair, and a crooked smile like he'd just gotten away with something.
"Name's Riken," he said. "You looked like you wouldn't stab me by accident. Or on purpose."
I blinked.
"…Liora."
"Good. I was worried you didn't talk."
He tossed me a wooden sword. I caught it—barely.
"Don't worry. I suck too," he grinned.
We trained in pairs most of the morning. Basic footwork, blocking drills, breathing.I had no technique—just instinct and desperation.
But Riken was surprisingly patient and seemed like he knew the bare minimum of how to use a sword. He kept things light.
"Wider stance. No, wider than that. You're not balancing on seaweed."
"Breathe, fish-girl. Not gasp like that—normal breathe."
"I have a name you know Liora"
" Ok Liora you ever not stare like a lizard about to pounce?"
At one point, I hissed at him. Literally.
He just laughed.
By midday, I wasn't good, but I was better. I could block without flinching. Move without stumbling.And for a moment, I almost forgot how hungry I was.
Almost.
We broke for a short meal—rations and water.Stale bread. Salty broth. Some kind of tough meat.
Riken sat beside me on the edge of the yard. Across from us, Tessa sat with two others—one boy with wide shoulders and a girl who carried herself like she'd been in more fights than most guards.
Tessa watched me as she chewed, silent. Not taunting.
Just watching.
Still sizing me up.
"You and her got history already?" Riken asked, nodding toward her.
"She beat me yesterday," I said, dipping the bread in broth. "Hard."
"Ah. That'll do it." He shrugged. "She used to train militia before she came here. Got a rep. Thinks she's already an officer."
"She might be," I muttered.
He snorted. "She's not even that good. She's just stronger than the rest of us."
"She's better fed."
"That too."
We ate in silence for a bit.
Then Riken spoke again, quieter this time.
"You ever hear about the Beast Glades?"
I looked up.
"The forest to the east?"
"Yeah. One of the instructors was talking about it this morning. Said they lost a patrol last week. Whole squad. Gone."
I frowned. "To what?"
"Didn't say. Just that the Glades are... different now. Monsters are pushing out more often."
The words sat heavy between us.
Everyone in the Empire had heard the stories. The Beast Glades were older than the Empire itself—twisted, wild, and full of things that weren't meant to leave their trees. It was why the eastern watch was always manned. Why new recruits eventually found themselves posted there.
It wasn't just a forest.It was a border.Between civilization and the dark unknown.
We were called back to formation before I could ask more.
Halvren paced in front of us again.
"Tomorrow begins live drills. You'll wear steel. You'll use iron. If you freeze, you bleed. If you break, you fail."
His eyes swept across the line.
"But today, we sort the weak from the useless."
He pointed. "You three. Yard Thirty-Nine. You two. Mess cleanup. You—Tessa. Training pit."
Then…
"You. Aelarian girl. You're with her."
Of course.
The training pit was circular. Sand-covered. Bordered by stone and surrounded by low wooden stands where off-duty soldiers watched like crows on a wall.
Tessa rolled her shoulders. No words. Just quiet intent.
I didn't win. I didn't even come close.
But I lasted longer than yesterday.
A few swings. A block. A duck.
She got inside my guard, clipped my shoulder, swept my legs. I hit the sand hard, my tail twisting as I went down.
But this time I stood back up before Halvren called it.
"Better," Tessa muttered under her breath as she walked off.
Not praise.
But not scorn either.
That night, back in the barracks, I sat on my cot watching the moon through the cracked window.My shoulders ached. My stomach grumbled. My tail flicked slowly back and forth.
But I had made it through another day. And now, Riken sat on the bunk beside mine, already half asleep. Tessa hadn't tried to kill me. And someone had spoken to me like I mattered.
Small victories.
But victories still.
Liora. Still no family. Still no name.
But for the first time in six years...
I wasn't alone. I had made a friend.