Blood sprayed across the wooden deck as Cade rocked to his back foot. He cracked his jaw with a gruesome pop and wiped a streak of red liquid from his lip.

“Good, good. You are picking up this speed exercise faster than I thought you would,” he said to Elucard.

The vernal shroud rotated his shoulders and loosened his elbows. The fifteen pound wrist weights ached his joints. This new exercise felt like training underneath a waterfall from the immense weight his body now had to carry.

At first his limbs felt sluggish, as if he were a boy again training with Legion within the small lake outside the Blood Forest. Elucard could recall his reaction to the similar training; slow and exhausting movements. Like every action he took was like having a strong gale blow against him, but it made him faster than his peers. Had he kept up that training regiment, he wouldn’t need to entertain Cade with these weights. Perhaps Elucard would have already been speedy enough to stay with Cade’s pace.

Elucard leaned on his knees and sucked in enough air to fill his overtaxed lungs. The constant nagging thoughts gnawed on his mind to give up, but he persevered on. He wiped his brow of sweat and salt and slid his feet into another Rabbit-Sai stance, raising his hands and keeping them open to intercept any incoming attacks that Cade may throw at him.

Cade smirked, recognizing the martial art style. “A fine defensive choice, my friend.”

Elucard narrowed his eyes. His hundred pound vest restricted his speed and kept him from being the aggressor. No, if he were to win this sparring match, he would need to play a reactive role.

“Come at me,” Elucard whispered.

Cade gave the elf a light smile and lunged forward.

Elucard kept himself calm. This was his twenty-sixth round against Cade while traveling to Blight City and fiftieth match in total since meeting Cade. True, Cade was faster than Elucard, and seemingly more skilled, but Cade had a major flaw that Elucard found and began to exploit; Cade was predictable. If Cade did learn from a Black Rabbit, then he would have been taught that a predictable Rabbit was a dead Rabbit. Perhaps Cade grew sloppy over the years or perhaps new teaching overwrote his Black Rabbit teachings, nonetheless, Elucard now had an edge over his new teacher.

Elucard eyed Cade’s incoming fist and snatched the Hydro Shroud’s wrist. Within that moment, Elucard yanked Cade forward and fired a devastating straight punch to his chest.

Cade let out a heavy gasp, but Elucard gave him no reprieve, the former Red Rabbit tucked in close to Cade’s range and unleashed a hefty elbow, blowing him backwards into a set of barrels.

I finally shook off this rust. Elucard thought. I can feel my body growing accustomed to these weights, to my new strength.

Cade performed a kip up to his feet and brushed off splintered wood chips from his hands. “Excellent. Keep those weights on until we reach Blight City.”

Elucard gave him an annoyed huff, but nodded.

“I want you sleeping and eating with them on. When you take them off you’ll see that your speed has risen and your strength will have improved too.”

“You trained with these?” asked Elucard as he hefted his ten pound ankle weights.

“Double the weights that you are using after six months,” responded Cade. “Trust me that first month was torture, but you seem more naturally attuned with them.

“My master had my body conditioned with weight training at a young age,” explained Elucard. “However, not without its faults. I was injured several times by pushing myself too hard.”

“Same,” said Cade, “but I had access to excellent healing magic, making recovery time faster.”

Elucard felt the many intersecting scars across his body. “The Black Rabbits used the same methods. Train hard, heal fast, go back and train harder.”

“Yes, effective, wasn’t it?” Cade chuckled.

Elucard held silent. The sounds of punishing lashings and snapping of broken bones clouded his mind. He looked up. “Yes,” he finally whispered.

Cade patted Elucard’s shoulder. “Are you ready for me to take the sparring to the next level?”

Elucard flexed his hands, cracking his knuckles. “Only if you can keep up!”

Cade flashed a set of pearly teeth. “That’s the spirit, Elucard.

***

Koda yawned and stretched his back as he and his companions stepped on the barnacle covered docks. Their ship finally arrived at Blight City. Only second in size to Lorendeen in the nation of Seru, Blight City served as the entry point for all imports for Seru. It’s steller location on the cove served for excellent quantities of fishing year after year. It’s nearby forest produced a fantastic yielding of lumber and the nearby Seru Range mountains provided precious metals. For these qualities, Blight City attracted a wealth of commerce not seen any other part of Dragon Realm Blight. Had it been an older city, it could have also served as Seru’s capital city. However the sheer magnitude of Lorendeen’s size kept it the prime location as the capital.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“So there’s a purple mage school here,” Rained mentioned to Koda. She pointed to the main street that cut through the scholar district. “It isn’t as prestigious as my school in Lorendeen, but they may still provide a modest challenge for you.”

Koda turned to where Raine pointed and nodded. “I didn’t know you were from Seru. I figured you might have been from somewhere in Cypress, being a forest elf, like myself.”

Raine blushed and scratched her head. “I traveled a lot in my youth, but I am originally from Varis. I’ll have to tell you more about that when we have some more freetime.”

Koda passed her a small grin. “I’d like that.”

Stryneth placed his hands on the shoulders of the two younger mages. “Perhaps we can find some lunch and discuss a strategy for our king?”

Wildeye rubbed her belly. “Anything other than salted pork and potato stew would make me a happy wolf.”

As they made their way through the busy crowd of people. Koda grew more and more weary. Each citizen seemed to be dressed the same, Redcoats with bear-furred collars. Each person bore a decorative wooden dragon mask. Finally Koda could walk no further, layers and layers of the strange people encircled him and his escort.

Low whispers snapped through the misty air. “Erzathen demands justice, Koda.”

Koda’s guards poised their spears and pulled out their swords.

“Stand behind us, your majesty!”

“We should split up and meet at the northern exit,” Cade whispered.

“Agreed,” Elucard said. “Take Stryneth and Wildeye. I’ll lead Koda and Raine. He grabbed a hold of one the soldiers and relayed Cade’s plan to him. The soldier nodded in understanding.

Koda’s eyes widened with panic as the redcoats inched closer, pushed against the spear tips. Their whispers now grew to shouts “Erzathen demands justice, Koda!”

“Who-who, are these people!?” cried Koda

“The Spellbreakers,” growled Elucard. He pulled out a smoke pellet from a pouch and threw it to the ground.

With an explosion of blinding smoke, Elucard tugged Koda and Raine’s arms and shoved his way through the crowd to the west while Cade took a hold of Wildeye and his master, breaking their way to the east

“Elucard, what’s going on!? Where are we going?” Koda shouted frantically.

The former assassin said nothing, with only grunts and snarls to break his silence. He tightened his grip and yanked harder on their arms, bowling over hundreds of clawing hands.

Elucard smashed his way through the crowd and crashed into a nearby general shop, slamming the door behind him. He braced his back against the door keeping the angry crowd at bay.

Elucard scanned his surroundings, looking for a way out—hoping he wouldn’t trap his king in a corner. Elucard’s eyes fell on the bewildered shopkeeper. “Exit! Where is it!”

Rocks began to shatter through the windows as the Spellbreakers ravaged the building. Their mantra rumbled across the city now. “ERZATHEN DEMANDS JUSTICE, KODA!!!”

Elucard roared at the top of his lungs as his veins bulged from his hands. “Exit!!! Where is it?” He struggled with every ounce of his might to keep the door from bursting over and allowing the flood of Spellbreakers into the shop. “Show us the exit!!!”

However the shopkeeper only cowered behind his counter.

Koda and Raine exchanged a fearful look.

“I can’t hold this door forever. Find us a way out!” Elucard ordered the two mages.

Raine dashed around the small shop but only found storage closets. Her flesh fell pale. “Koda, can we do?”

Koda bit his lip and looked up. He inspected the wooden ceiling and smirked. “We make a way out.”

Clapping his hands together, he concentrated on the logs that made up the store, pinpointing his focus on the ceiling. He waved his arms away and in one fell swoop the ceiling cracked, buckled, and spread apart forming a large hole to escape from.

Raine grunted as she tilted a hefty, oak shelving over, barricading the shop’s entrance.

Elucard swooped his emerald hand up creating an elm tree that burst from the floor and raised through the hole that Koda created.

“Everyone up!” Elucard commanded. Elucard cupped his hands together to boost Koda and Raine assistance up the tree before scrambling up himself.

Now on top of the shop’s roof, Koda leaned over the side. He watched in horror as the Spellbreakers pounded like maniacs on the splintering door.

“What now?” he asked.

Elucard examined the tree and then looked at his hand. “I wonder if I could…” he whispered. With a snap of his fingers the elves watched as the tree wilted and fell into green sparks on the ground below. Elucard then looked off to the other end of the city. “Cade and the others would have made it that way.”

Koda scanned the roofs and steeples that dotted the cityscape.

Elucard pointed off into the distance, “We jump to the next building over, climb down to the alleyway and sneak to the northern exit. I’m almost positive Cade and the others will be waiting for us.”

“What of Koda’s escort?” asked Raine.

“Yes, they will meet us there too.”

Koda peered at the gap separating the two buildings. He crossed his hands over his chest and then flipped them and pushed his hands forward. With that he forged a small wooden bridge to connect the two buildings. “Come on!”

***

Just outside of the city’s northern entrance, Koda and the others met up with each other. The elven king collapsed to his knees, exhausted from the harrowing ordeal.

“We can’t rest now, my king.” Cade pulled Koda back to his feet. “We must seek shelter.”

Raine pulled out a map of Blight and sprawled it across the ground. She placed her finger on Blight City and dragged it north. “Wisp Haven,” she whispered.

“Wisp-what now?” asked Koda.

Raine looked up to her friends. “Wisp Haven,” she said again. “It’s a town north of here. Famous for its fairy lights. My family used to spend time there.”

Elucard folded his arms. “How far?”

“If we leave now and we don’t rest along the way, we can get there by nightfall,” Raine answered.

Elucard turned to the highest ranking guard. “Captain Blueleaf, give us half your men, the other half bring the ship to Wisp Haven’s shore.”

“As you command, Freewind!” Captain Blueleaf said with a smart salute.

Koda placed a gentle hand on Raine’s shoulder. “Take us to Wisp Haven.”