Training never got easier, with endurance, hand to hand, swordplay, and even archery. None of it ever got easier, but the closer they got to graduation the better it felt. There were only two more weeks of training before graduation day. However, for Wigyur it couldn’t have been any slower. He sat quietly at his desk enshrouded in thoughts of his own, completely ignoring the lessons of Seer Gwenneth.

Wigyur was too busy thinking about how badly he had fucked up in today’s training. He kept making mistakes like loosening his grip on the handle mid swing, or getting bested at every turn by his sparring partner. It was embarrassing. On top of that, the wounds on his back from the whipping got infected, making sleep virtually impossible. The Citadel’s healer said it was a common thing amongst initiates with open wounds. It had something to do with sweat and constantly being covered in grime.

Doubt swirled in his mind if all of this was even worth it? I mean, he could just go back to the prison yard in the isles. He was well known and respected there, at least enough to get by without making daily life such a chore. Quitting after eighteen weeks of the most grueling and soul crushing training he had ever endured sounded like a bad idea, but why was he even doing it all? For what? To get to fight those horrid monsters that live in the dark and eat people? In Wigyur’s mind it wasn’t even worth it anymore. The lack of sleep, the constant fucking up, and the long days of constant training.

‘Why does it even matter?’ Wigyur thought to himself.

The sudden sound of a snap warped Wigyur back to reality. It was Gwenneth with her hand held about a foot away from his face. “Are you listening Wigyur?” Wigyur blinked a single time and corrected his posture in the chair. Akaro, who sat next to him couldn’t help but hold in a laugh. The rest of the class however, watched silently.

“Uh..you were talking about the shortage of dust in Ikorum?” Wigyur quietly remarked, remembering bits and pieces of the lesson.

Gwenneth glared at him and folded her arms across her chest. Her eyes were like hot irons soldering Wigyur who, by this point, already knew he fucked up. Again. “That was yesterday's lesson, Wigyur. You must pay attention, you are two weeks away from graduation. Now more than ever, you must soak in as much information as you can,” she scolded.

“My apologies Seer Gwenneth, won’t happen again,” Wigyur said, lowering his head in embarrassment.

“Good,” Gwenneth took a quick glance over her shoulder and nodded at the rest of the students. “You are all dismissed, everyone except for Wigyur.” The sound of chairs scraping against the floor played in unison with every student leaving the classroom, a quiet hum of chatter followed them as they poured out to the hallway. Everyone was always excited to be dismissed from class, because that meant the rest of the day could be spent lounging around and doing whatever they wanted.

Akaro placed a hand on Wigyur’s shoulder while getting up from his seat. “I’ll get you something from the dining hall..” he muttered before being one of the last ones to leave the classroom, leaving only Gwenneth and Wigyur alone.

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“What's wrong? You’ve been a little absent lately,” Gwenneth asked, examining his face a little closer.

Wigyur sat quietly with his eyes veered at the wood of the table. “I’m thinking of quitting.”

Anyone would be shocked or even surprised to hear a person say they wanted to quit so far into training. However, Gwenneth wasn’t surprised, she had seen it before. Her young face was instead painted with the wrinkles of concern. A teacher who wished nothing but the best for her student. “Why do you think that?” she plainly asked.

“I can’t keep up with the talents of anyone, much less my own team. Arneth is strong, Akaro is quick and agile, and Iris is fantastic with a bow. It’s like, they never seem to fail.”

“You can’t compare yourself to others, Wigyur. If you compare yourself to the talents of others, you’ll never realize your own,” Gwenneth paused for a moment. “It’s an accomplishment in itself that someone would even make it this far into training.”

Wigyur hung his head down, and listened to the Seer’s wise words. There was meaning behind everything she spoke. He smiled and glanced back up at her. “Thank you Seer Gwenneth.” he said softly.

An echoing scream rang out from the halls outside. Wigyur jumped at the piercing call for help, it was so unexpected it practically caused his heart to jump with him. Yet, Gwenneth remained calm and never took her eyes off of Wigyur. A sort of eerie smile formed on her lips.

“What was that?” Wigyur asked with concern, he leaned his body over so he could see around Gwenneth. He stared at the front door of the classroom half expecting someone to break in.

Gwenneth pressed her thumb on Wigyur’s chin and guided his attention back to her. “Promise me you will not quit,” she said softly, her words were like honeydew.

Wigyur couldn’t even concentrate, the scream that didn’t even seem to phase Seer Gwenneth was still ringing in the back of his head. He stared at her, but her words didn’t register to him. A bubbling anxiety pushed him to yank his face away from the Seer and quickly stand up from his chair.

“You didn’t hear that scream?!” Wigyur yelled.

“I did,” Gwenneth replied.

“Then why aren’t you concerned?! What if the Veiled Ones broke into the Citadel and are attacking?”

“The Citadel will never fall to the Veiled Ones, Wigyur. We are safe,” Gwenneth assured. “In truth, once you walk through that door your final test will begin.”

“Final test? We still have two weeks left.”

“You were told that so you wouldn’t see this test coming, but I’m telling you so you know just how close you are to finishing, Wigyur. Promise me…” Gwenneth once again asked.

Wigyur’s eyes flickered from the door to the Seer, over and over again. He was admittedly worried, but if she was telling the truth then that means he was almost done with training. He took a deep breath and stared at the Seer, her final plea was for his promise. Hesitation took his lips, his mind still ran about what was even happening. What the hell was even ‘the final test’, it sounded terrifying, and why was someone screaming?

So many different questions ran through Wigyur’s mind, but he needed to get a grip on himself. Gwenneth’s words rang fresh in his mind, she was right. He did eighteen weeks of training for the Wardens, that's impressive for a petty smuggler from the Reaver Isles. Wigyur took one last deep breath, calming himself down. He stared at Gwenneth and nodded, “I promise, Seer Gwenneth.”

The Green Seer smiled and walked towards Wigyur. Her answer filled her with happiness, truly. She wrapped her arms around him and took him into a warm embrace. “Good luck on your final test, Wigyur. Once you walk through that door, it will begin.”

The Seer gave her final goodbyes in the form of a warm hug. She let the young man go and let him figure out the rest for himself.

Wigyur approached the door slowly, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but now was the chance to show he wasn’t just a fuck up. At least, that's what he told himself.

He grabbed the knob of the door and opened it. He took a step forward, and was rushed by two men at both sides. They each grabbed his arms, and a third man quickly put a black sack over his head.

In the matter of seconds, Wigyur was blinded and restrained