In the morning, I woke up and my first thought was that someone had replaced all my muscles with piano wire. I swear I could hear my arms and legs moving the muscles were so tight. I creaked and crackled like a breakfast cereal. Opening my eyes, I stared up at the unsmiling face of Drill Sergeant Bidlack.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. Would you like me to bring you breakfast in bed?” He purred.

I looked around in terror, seeing all three of the other bunks were empty. “No Drill Sergeant!” I yelled, trying to climb out of bed but barely able to move. I struggled to my feet, standing at the position of attention beside my bunk.

“Ah, so you’ve decided to train with the rest of the platoon today?” Bidlack asked. “Would you care to join them in the hallway?” I turned and ran out the door, getting an accelerating kick in the backside.

My three roommates were already standing out there. The two ladies on the left side of the door, the big human to the right. I scooted over beside the blonde man. “Thanks for waking me up.” I muttered under my breath as I took position against the wall.

“We tried dude.” He whispered. “You were dead out asleep.” And shrugged.

I could see other instructors getting a handful of trainees out into the hallway. All of them had the half asleep, eyes gummed shut look that I’m sure I sported. Bed head was rampant in the platoon.

“Good morning, trainees!” Drill Sergant Bidlack boomed, pacing the hallway. A sleepy chorus of good mornings answered him. “I couldn’t hear you. I say again, GOOD MORNING!”

A thunderous, “Good morning Drill Sergeant!” answered. He nodded his head. It was the first sign of approval we’d seen yet.

“Since so many of you appear to be sleep we’ll wake you up. The platoon will march smartly out to the parade ground. There we will warm up and then we’ll engage in my favorite activity. Do you know what that is?” He asked.

“Eating babies?” The big human said out of the corner of his mouth. I snickered, louder than I wished it was.

“Is something funny, recruit?” Bidlack looked at me.

“No Drill Sergeant.” I responded.

“Excellent, you’ve just volunteered to lead the run. Fall back into your squads and follow me.” Bidlack walked quickly down the hall. Everyone fell into their squads from yesterday’s training. At first, people were stumbling, wiping sleep from their eyes, but before too long we were walking in something approaching a gaggle more than a formation.

Going through the training room, we exited the doors on the far side into a hallway. Delicious aromas floated to us through the closed set of double doors on the left. Two halberd armed guards wearing conquistador style armor with flat open faced type helms opened the door at the end of the hallway.

It was snowing outside. That was quite a change from late spring back home. It’d already started getting summer hot and the spring flowers were falling from the trees. Not here. A dull red light illuminated the entire parade ground, looking like old blood.

There was crusty, gray-brown snow all over the courtyard. We could clearly see the paths the guards tromped as they were snow free. Curtain style walls surrounded the large building we occupied. Low outbuildings, things like stables and a smithy, dotted the bottom of the outer wall. Guards wielding halberds tromped on the wall between large square towers.

We were directed to form a square. Once we’d all gathered Bidlack walked to the front of the formation. “You are without a doubt the sorriest bunch of recruits it has ever been my displeasure to train. You don’t even know how to walk.” He stood, looking over the formation. Then nodded. “You’ll learn though, oh yes.”

“For now, you’ll learn to run. Instructors, please lead your squads on a run of the curtain.” Instructor Goldo motioned for third squad to follow him. We marched away from the stairs leading back into the keep. Passing the main gate, an old but well maintained half round tower with a portcullis and drawbridge, we went to the main tower on the corner.

“All right,” Gold said. “You’ll run the stairs of the tower and then turn right. Make your way across the top of the curtain wall to the tower on the corner.” He pointed.

The big blonde human raised his hand. Goldo pointed to him. “How are we supposed to see? It’s pitch black out here.” He said, motioning around the courtyard.

I stared at him uncomprehendingly. It wasn’t brightly lit, but I could see. Now that I noticed it, everything was in black and white. The torches on the wall were redder than they should be and the guards, who I now noticed were midniss sauroids, glowed a slight pink color. Holding my hand up in front of my face, it was a dull orange/red.

Goldo grinned. “Follow your dwarf. He can see.” He paused for a moment as everyone looked in my direction. “MOVE!” he yelled.

The volume was unexpected coming from him, making us all jump. I started off at a decent pace, one I thought I could maintain. In the other world I’d been old, but this felt like a new lease on life.

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Making it to the tower, the door to the stairs was open and a guard was standing at the bottom. I couldn’t tell if he was grinning or if his fangs naturally showed. I waved and his neck hood flared out.

The stairs were a shade too high for my short legs, but I managed. The well curled tightly to the left. I remember reading medieval castles had stairs that did that so right-handed people would be at a disadvantage.

Whew, getting out of breath and only halfway up the tower. I remember when I was a young man, I could run the better part of forever. The human behind me kept stepping on my heels, making me stumble up the stairs.

He did it for the third or fourth time. “Hey man, gimme some space. You’re walking all over me.”

“Sorry bro, you’re just going SO slow.” He said, gasping for air. I noticed he was stopping every step instead of running. That had to suck.

Rolling upward, twisting and twisting. Gasp. It was getting hard to breathe… running these stairs. Finally reached… the top floor. The door was closed. I leaned against it and the human piled into me. We both went down on the stone floor.

When he’d gotten up off me, I just lay there trying to breathe. The door remained shut. “Where’s… everyone else?” I asked.

The human’s blonde hair was soaked and dripping. He got up to leaning against the wall, chest pumping like bellows. “I don’t know.” He gasped out. “The gnome chick behind me fell back almost instantly.”

I nodded. Gnomes were even smaller than dwarves, and there wasn’t any room to pass on those damned twisting stairs. I heard the door open, but my eyes had drifted closed.

“ON YOUR FEET!” Drill Sergeant roared. He was standing right above me. I scrambled up, slipped on the top stair and crashed back to the ground. Eventually, I was standing at the position of attention beside the blonde human. “Just thought we’d take a little nappy poo, huh? Make sure you’re all rested before the rest of the training day?” Bidlack said, nodding.

He started pacing back and forth on the top of the wall, wind whistling through the crenels. “I see you trainees are unmotivated. I’ll fix that. Assume the pushup position, back forming a generally straight line from the back of your head to your heels. Arms shoulder width apart.”

We complied, bumping into each other. Finally, we both got the way he wanted us. “This is called the front leaning rest position.” He said quietly. “You two will do pushups while I got down and fetch the remainder of the squad. You will not stop pushing until I return. If you do…” he paused. “The consequences will be dire.”

Bidlack rapidly disappeared down the stairs, the clicking of his perfectly spit shined boots the only sound. We both mechanically pushed down and up, down and up.

“You know,” The blonde said, gasping for air. “I’m really starting to dislike him.”

“So it wasn’t the throat punch?” I said in an explosive burst of breath. “It was the pushups?”

“It’s all…” He took a deep breath, “Sort of blending… into one big pain filled day.”

“Hey man… what’s your name?” I asked. “I’ve been thinking of you… as the human.”

“Ha… To me…” He paused at the bottom, arms shaking. “You’re the dwarf.” He slowly pushed himself back up to arms fully extended.

“I’m Jackson.” His arms shook, trying to hold himself up. “Jackson Lee, from Georgia. South of Atlanta.”

“Ah…” I gasped. “That explains… the accent.” My left arm wouldn’t straighten, leaving me leaning to one side. “I’m Mike… Resnick… From Northern Virginia, just outside of DC.”

We could both hear Drill Sergeant haranguing the rest of the squad. It echoed up the stairs. After a few minutes, the gnome woman stumbled up, using her hands to quickly crawl up. It was obvious she’d been crying. Bidlack was walking right behind the cat lady, yelling at her.

The group formed back up at the top of the wall. I was in line waiting when a brilliant white star breached the horizon. A fat dull red star was already up in the sky. “Jackson, there are two suns.” I murmured.

“Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” He whispered. The bright sun washed out the red light of the higher one, bringing something like true dawn. I could hear a ripple of conversation as the trainees noticed. Drill Sergeant snapped, bringing our attention back to him. We started jogging along the wall. I couldn’t take my eyes off the multiple suns, even though looking at the white one made me blink and tear up.

We slowly made our way along the curtain wall. Several of the trainees fell out. Every time Bidlack would have the squad stop and do pushups while he went and “motivated” them into catching up. The sun was peaking up by the time we made it to the other tower.

It was really beautiful, seeing the reds, blues and purples of sunrise. We were apparently in the mountains and the sharp peaks coated in white snow were pink in the dawn’s light. We all stumbled down the stairs. One of the elf women broke her arm or something when she fell. Bidlack yelled at her until she got up and started running again, tears streaming down her face.

It was a sorry-looking group that gathered back in front of the door. Our breath steamed in the cold morning air. The dwarves in the group had so much steam coming off our heads it looked like our head was on fire.

The platoon stumbled back into the hallway and made our way left through the double doors. First squad lined up and went through. An overweight human with a bald head yelled out the race of the trainee and they got food put on a plate. Then second squad.

By the time it was my turn, it felt like my stomach had started devouring my spine. Jackson was ahead of me, and everything seemed normal. I went through and the guy yelled “Dwarf!”. A woman cracked a few eggs and put them on a flattop but broke up the shells and scrambled them up.

“Hey man, what’s with the shells?” I was too tired to be properly outraged, but wasn’t going to put up with any of this racist junk.

I sensed Bidlack looming up behind me. “Trainee, are you aware of the dietary requirements of dwarves?” Not know where he was going with this, I shook my head no. “You have to eat the shells, as well as snail shells, insect carapace and bones. You need the calcium carbonate. Eat your eggs and shut up.”

“Yes Drill Sergeant!” I took my eggs, bacon, and a biscuit. Wonder of wonders, I was given a big glass of water but also a flagon of beer. Best breakfast ever.

I sat down next to Jackson. The sea elf that was in our room sat down next to me. I reached over and shook her hand. She looked up in surprise, but then took my hand. After I introduced myself, she said, “Hi, I’m Izzy. From Baltimore.”

“It’s probably nothing, but my old gaming guild had people with your names.” I said, smiling.

As I crunched into my eggs, Izzy said, “Yeah, in mine had a guild leader named Mike. Common name though.”

“Really?” I said, taking a swig of the incredibly thick beer. “I was a guild leader of The Flaming Chamberpots.” I grinned at the memory.

“That’s my old guild.” Izzy said. Jackson nodded with a mouth full of bacon.