It was nearing late evening with the sun set at the very edge of the horizon. However, instead of the usual streaks of reddish orange glow, the sky was clouded with gray. Swollen rain clouds threatened to downpour the Blackwoods, but the air stood still…waiting…

Despite the rain soon to come, the mustering fields of the Citadel were alive with activity. All four members of Team Valdya stood several feet apart from one another. Each member was shirtless with the exception of Iris who had a long strip of linen cloth wrapped around her breasts. The four of them were instructed to stand in the field without moving from their spots, all while under the watch of a Warden.

Standing for this long was usually easy for Arneth but most of his pain didn’t come from his legs. It came from the stab wound he received earlier that day. Four layers of bandages were wrapped around his sore torso, keeping the wound tight so it wouldn’t bleed. Yet, Arneth couldn’t help but press his hand firmly over the wound to check if there was wet blood. Thankfully, it was dried.

The Warden standing watch, heard the sound of voices approaching from around the hedges of the Citadel’s second garden. He turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw Scar stepping onto the field holding a folded mat with various rusted swords inside. Behind him was Khalia with a dangled accessory hung on her hip. The two walked the field till they reached the Warden.

“Thank you Ser Gales, we will take it from here,” Scar said, dropping the mat on the grass.

“Just in time for dinner,” the Warden joked. “Let me know if you need anything else, Scar.”

“Of course,” Scar gave the man a single pat on the shoulder. The Warden nodded at Khalia as an acknowledgement but said nothing to her. He walked off the field and disappeared, leaving the six of them alone.

Scar crossed his arms and stared at the four, standing shirtless in the field. The wind was beginning to pick up and it was surely starting to get a little cold. Yet, Scar said nothing, he just stared at them. While it was difficult to know what Scar was thinking because of the helmet he always wore, it was clear he was disappointed. Khalia on the other hand looked more furious than ever, but she held her tongue, for Scar’s sake.

“Ser Scar, Lady Khalia, I apologize..it was my idea to go to Finchfur. You shouldn’t punish them for my stupid mistake,” Arneth pleaded.

“Be silent,” Scar commanded.

Arneth bit his lip. He didn’t feel it was fair that the others were dragged down with him. Especially Iris, who didn’t even go to Finchfur to begin with.

Scar bent down to reach for several rusted swords, holding two in each hand. He walked towards Iris and forced a rusted sword in each of her hands, “raise your arms.”

Iris took both swords firmly into her hands and did as instructed, raising her arms.

“Higher.”

Iris raised both of her arms forming a straight line along her shoulders. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for Iris to feel how heavy the swords were in her hands.

Scar moved on to the next person, which was Wigyur. Just like Iris, he forced a single sword into each hand and demanded for his arms to be raised. Wigyur raised his arms and held the swords to the height of his shoulders, similarly to Iris.

When Scar was done with Wigyur he went back to the mat and grabbed more swords. He repeated the process with Arneth and then with Akaro. Once they all had swords in hand, he returned to Khalia and stood there, watching them.

“If your arms go down, you will be killed,” Scar warned. He turned his head to Khalia and gave a single nod, which was an order.

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Khalia understood what the nod meant. She walked behind the four and unclipped the hanging piece of accessory from her waist. It was a whip. She grabbed the leathery handle and cracked it open with a single flick of her wrist. The whip was long and leathered, but adorned all along its body was rings of metal. Each metal piece was lifted ever so slightly so the edge was pointed outward similar to a blade. The metal edge was just short enough that it could rip flesh but not long enough for injuries to the organs.

The sound of the whip cracking startled every member of the team, shooting a shiver down each of their spines. Who was going to be first?

Khalia stood behind an initiate and raised the whip in her hand. In a single motion, she flicked her wrist downward and cracked the metal spines of the whip onto the bare back that was in front of her. It was Iris.

Iris was not prepared for the immense pain that ripped through her body. She clenched her teeth tightly and sucked in air. Iris tried everything she could to remain standing, she focused on her shaky arms and keeping them held up…yet the weight of the swords felt like they doubled within seconds.

‘CRACK’

Iris was hit again, this time her flesh tearing vertically across her back. She screamed as loud as her lungs let her, all while feeling the warm wet blood racing down her back and dripping onto her legs.

Khalia turned her head away and tightened her eyes shut, hearing Iris screaming. This was her first time punishing a student of hers. She hated it, but it had to be done. Khalia slowly raised the whip in her hand…it was heavy, but she dared not hesitate.

‘CRACK’ the whip snapped across Iris’ already bleeding wounds.

Iris clenched her jaw to the unbearable pain. Not a single howl escaped her lips, she resentfully bit her tongue to the point of drawing blood. Weakness left her body in the form of pain…she had nothing else to give but anger.

Wigyur, Arneth, and Akaro, flinched with each crack of the whip. Akaro especially couldn’t stand to hear Iris screaming in pain. He turned his head away and closed his eyes. Why was she being so severely punished for actions they did?

Then….came a silence. A dreaded silence. Iris took heavy breaths, her body was shaking and bleeding but no longer did she feel the intense stinging of the whip on her back. She wanted to just drop her arms right then and there. Her body stiffened as she heard the sound of the whip coming down once again. However, she wasn’t the one getting hit this time. It was Wigyur.

The whip made contact with Wigyurs pale bareback, audibly snapping on his flesh. Wigyur cried out in pain, his eyes swelled with water, and his body tensed. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. As he settled from the whip, taking a deep breath, he was struck again.

‘CRACK’

The flesh of his back was stripped by the whip, leaving bits and pieces of it hung on the barbed edge of the whip’s metal. Wigyur was treated just the same as Iris, with several more whippings torn into his bloody back. When Khalia was done with him, he was nothing but a crying mess desperately keeping his arms up high.

Akaro was next. Khalia stood behind him and stretched her whipping arm, rotating her shoulder. Once she was done stretching, she tightened her grip on the handle of the whip and viciously struck it down onto Akaro’s back.

Akaro clenched his jaw so tightly he could have broken his teeth. All that came out was a pained groan. He braced for another.

Khalia struck him again.

The crackle of the whip snapped on Akaro’s back, lashing downward. The bloody edges of the whip did their job well in breaking flesh. Akaro wanted to scream, hell, he wanted to cry. But he couldn’t. The pain was searing and unforgiving.

‘SNAP’

Again the whip tore into Akaro’s back, splattering blood on Khalia in the process. Yet, this did nothing to deter her, she raised the whip once more and struck him one last time. Akaro took deep and heavy breaths, he turned to look over his shoulder seeing Arneth staring at him. Hopelessness was all he carried in his eyes.

Akaro nodded at Arneth, assuring him everything would be fine. It will be over soon. A smile came over Arneth, he returned the gesture with a simple bow of his head.

If blood were heavy, the field would be the loudest place on earth. Yet, another dreaded silence took the field. The wait was what Arneth hated the most, he knew Khalia was standing right behind him but why was she taking so long to hit him?

“HIT ME” Arneth yelled. His wound stung with the strain that came from yelling.

Yet. It never came.

“Your decisions affect others. From here on out, you will think before you make a stupid decision,” Scar said, gesturing for Khalia to stop. “As for the rest of you, your team falls as one. One of you fucks up, you all fuck up.”

Scar slacked his shoulders to let his blue cloak drape over his arms. He was finished talking and simply turned and walked away. Khalia on the other hand rolled the bloody whip in her hands and balled it back to its original form, clipping it to her hip. She stared long and hard at the four.

“Put your arms down. Go to bed. We will continue our training early tomorrow morning.” Khalia spoke in a stern tone. Without nothing else to say she turned and followed Scar off the field, leaving the four alone.

Instantly the four of them dropped the swords from their hands. The pain in their arms and the pain on their backs left them all in a shaking mess of emotion. Arneth, who was the luckiest out of the four glanced at his team members. They were broken. “I’m so sorry..” he quietly uttered to the three of them. His eyes welled up at the thought of the pain he caused.

Iris felt a lump in her throat. She wanted to scream at all of them. Most of all she wanted to scream at Arneth, but she couldn’t…she took a deep breath and walked away.

Wigyur and Akaro did nothing to stop her. Her anger was justified.

“IRIS, I'M SORRY…” Arneth pleaded. Yet, his words fell on deaf ears. Without a word she disappeared behind the hedges, likely returning to her room.

The three stood in the field quietly. Bleeding and ashamed.