Alex turns his head slightly to be able to look at Candy and clenches his jaw in anger. It’s only been ten days and she is sporting an obvious black eye and large bruises on her arms and legs. He’s been concerned since she suffered a head injury a week ago and he suspects a concussion. He did not witness the injury and been unable to question her about the way the head injury occurred. Mistress Lyrei had been very annoyed and insistent that the injury be treated, but she has suffered more injuries since. His injuries had been similar but he had managed to assuage the damage by using the tasteless prana.

Alex watches as Master Ardreth walks towards the center of the lawn, he is not wearing his armor but dressed in blue pants and a jacket that fastened at the side all the way up to his neck. When he arrives he gazes around at the dozen elves who are kneeling all dressed in the same pants and jackets. They all bow and call out in unison. "Good morning, Master Ardreth."

Alex sits back and looks straight ahead when Master Ardreth announces. “You are going to show me how you can restrain your opponent. This is not a combat drill, so punches and kicks are not allowed, any use of these techniques will result in you failing this training.”

Master Ardreth begins to call the names of two of the elves and they spar trying to get their opponent into the wristlocks and chokeholds. One of the elven men is seized for an arm lock and he knees the opponent in the groin. The man collapses to the ground in pain. "Right in the balls." Master Ardreth chuckles.

It’s not long before Candy is called with one of the female elves called Briava. It's an obvious mismatch as Briava is a head taller and is much more muscular than Candy. Alex feels apprehension at what is about to happen.

"Slave, why don't you just crawl back under your rock and die?" Shrieks Briava.

Candy stands nervously looking at Master Ardreth ignoring the taunt. There is a sudden call of “Begin.”

Briava launches forward without hesitation and in the fraction of a second Candy takes to turn and look back at her assailant, she is hit to the ground with a loud groan. Briava drags Candy across the turf and onto her front using her orange tunic. She then straddles Candy and punches her in the back of the head, causing Candy’s face to bounce off the ground.

"Stop!" Candy screams as blood bursts from her nose.

"Get ready to die monkey." Growls Briava.

"Keep fighting!" Master Ardreth commands.

Briava wraps her arm around Candy’s neck and pulls, choking her. Candy gags, blood flowing from her nose. Her hand flails, smearing the blood from the gash on her cheek. Alex watches his fist clenched as Candy tries to pry the arm from around her neck. He can see she’s is losing consciousness.

Master Ardreth orders, "Do something! You never quit. You must always win. Nothing else matters!"

Candy lifts her head an inch, level with her assailant's hand. She opens her mouth and bites. Candy grinds her teeth into the meat of the woman’s arm. Briava grunts from the pain and tightens her arm and Alex can see the strain in her muscles, in less than a minute later Candy slumps unconscious

“Break. Release the hold.” Master Ardreth calls out.

Briava does not release her grip on Candy and Alex tenses to jump forward. After a second Master Ardreth pounces and lands a precise kick to the woman’s head, which knocks her sprawling across the ground, unconscious. He signals to four guards who approach and carry both Candy and Briava to an area where someone is standing with a medical bag.

Master Ardreth glances in Alex’s direction, then orders. “Mihlora, you're next with Eilaes.”

Mihlora is a woman, but also the tallest and largest of all the elves present. She stands and smiles viciously at Alex as she rolls her shoulders. “Well, monkey man I’m going crush you, just like Briava did the girl.”

As Alex stands he glances over to the healers, there is little activity, and he can’t see Candy. He keeps his face blank as he moves towards the area where the sparring is occurring and he begins to cycle prana around his body. Mihlora arrives first and glares at Alex as he approaches and stops five meters away, and then she again smiles viciously. Mihlora is slightly taller than Alex and about as muscular stood in a ready combat stance. Alex pushes his prana into his arms and legs and feels his strength build.

Master Ardreth looks towards Mihlora then commands. “Begin.”

Mihlora lowers her head and launches forward in a similar way as Briava did with Candy. Alex stands with his arms relaxed at his sides, watching as the woman rushes toward him as if in slow motion. When she is almost upon him she brings her arm up to the sides of her head rather than out to grab as Briava did.

Alex does a small jump and twists to bring his elbow down towards her head, she lowers it more for protection. Just as she is about to hit him, he wraps his other arm around her neck, knocking her guard arm out of position and he squeezes with his full strength. The elbow strike lands with a thud on her shoulder and he instantly extends and grips the back of her jacket as far down as he can. As her momentum pushes him back, he arc’s his back while pulling on her jacket and they both fall towards the ground.

Alex holds Mihlora in the headlock tightly and twists slightly as he collides with the floor. Her head hits with a loud thump while her body continues to tumble towards Alex before coming to rest limply at his side.

“Break. Release the hold.” Master Ardreth calls out as he rushes forward. Alex relaxes his grip and he discerns that she is still breathing, although shallowly and quickly rolls away.

Master Ardreth glares at Alex the commands. “Move away.” Alex moves back and turns to retake his position with the other candidates. He then hears Master Ardreth bellow. “Healer, elf down, head trauma.”

He looks up and sees two of the elves with the healer's bags hurry towards them, both wearing sleeves. After a second he witnesses Briava sprinting in the wake of the healers and she angrily stares at him as their eyes momentarily meet. After the trio passes, he notices Candy walking back towards him and he gives her a brief nod as her pace quickens.

As Alex kneels one of the healer's shouts. “Get a board; we need to get her to the lab quickly.”

Shortly after Candy kneels next to him and he glances at her. There is a new red mark around her neck where the collar had been pressed against her skin. The black eye and large bruises to her arms and legs have visibly reduced.

Alex whispers, “Are you okay?”

Candy watches healers and Master Ardreth crowd around Mihlora then speaks quietly. “She crushed my throat and I couldn’t breathe. They had to use a sleeve to heal me so I didn’t suffocate.”

“It’s reduced some of your other injuries. How’d you get them?”

She pauses before turning her head slightly. “Briava. She seems to have it in for me. Whenever I have to do any training exercises I get put with her and she usually ensures that I get injured.”

“Try not to let it get to you and keep going. This training can’t last forever.”

“Oh, I know. We’re the present for someone’s coming out ball. My dad has a saying he likes to use in these situations. Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.“

“It’s good advice.”

“The worst part about this isn’t the abuse; it’s missing my family and friends and being able to just be lazy.”

“I’m amazed you are doing this well after how long you’ve been held captive. You don’t dwell on the negative experiences and you do focus on the positive. You’ve also kept your mind sharp. Just keep believing that we will get out of this, but don’t let the elves see that your spirit hasn’t been broken. Just remember to continue acting as good merchandise should.”

“As you just did?”

“Well, maybe not.”

“I still haven’t given up hope. It’s just I’ve yet to find any way out of this situation.”

They both watch as four guards rushed past them with a board that has straps attached.

“Just keep watching our surroundings, as well as our captors. When our break does come we need to react and what you know, maybe what gives us that opportunity. You’ve found out where the food and clothes are stored. You’ve got an idea in which direction to run and if we can find a map that will be great. All this training is giving us skills in self-defense as well as building our stamina for long-distance travel. Just keep your hope and the will to escape and survive.”

“I did find out where the portal is located. I was taken there by Mistress Lyrei to greet the Baroness. It is in a large open area with a monorail and a station. It’s a medium portal to another House Quinala world. I found out some details on how it works and it appears the portal is point-to-point and linked by paired crystals, so it only goes to the one location, but no one really knows the details as they are relics. They’re also powered using liquid prana, quite a lot of it for the initial connection and then more while it’s open.”

“So, there must be other portals that go to Earth.”

“When Sir Folliun arrived one of his people was searching for a personal portal, which what they used to get us. It apparently creates a four-meter diameter portal and folds down when not in use, so is highly transportable. You use cores to charge the main crystal that’s built into it, which takes a while. But, it takes even more power than a medium portal to make the link, which is only open for a set time. It is also able to learn of five crystal pairs that it has been synchronized with and it can then detect these so you can set either end as the destination. It’s highly sought after as the crystals are prone to get damaged. Again as they are relics and no one knows how they really work.”

“Who told you this?”

“There’s another slave that’s been helping Mistress Lyrei train me. She’s also the one that told me about us being a present for someone’s coming out ball.”

“Do you – “

Master Ardreth abruptly announces “Now that the drama is over we will continue training.” While behind him the four guards were carrying Mihlora away strapped to a board. The two healers were returning to their station and Briava was walking back towards them.

He looks directly at Alex and says. “I will now show you how to get out of a hold for example when someone grasps your wrist. Eilaes, come and grab my wrist.”

Alex stands and approaches Master Ardreth who extends his arm and Alex grasps his wrist with his off-hand. Master Ardreth announces. “The rest of you, gather round.”

After a few minutes they are surrounded and they watch as Master Ardreth demonstrates releasing the hold on his wrist. He peels back Alex's thumb with so much force, it makes a popping sound and Alex grunts in pain.

Master Ardreth looks around at the trainees and then his gaze locks with Alex’s. "This technique is discrete and can be used in social situations where you can’t use an abrupt, powerful move to force the grip to release or punch the attacker in the face. Eilaes, go see the healer and get that fixed."

Alex bows and then turns and jogs over to the healers with his hand in front of him. When he arrives the younger-looking healer turns to look at him and sighs. “Not another injury. I wish Master Ardreth would try to stop these things from happening. What’s wrong with you?”

Alex holds out his hand clearly demonstrating the thumb was not aligned correctly. The healer reaches for the thumb and then sharply pulls it straight as a blue glow is emitted from his hand. Alex grits his teeth and inhales at the increased pain.

“There you go, all fixed.” The healer snaps.

When Alex returns to the group he can hear Master Ardreth. "The person that you’re protecting is known as the Principal. Let me be clear your life is not as important as the Principals. If there's an attack, you must shield the Principal and protect them. You will need to be as big a meat shield as you can and get between the Principal and the problem."

It takes a few seconds, then one of the elves calls out. "Master Ardreth what’s a meat shield?"

"It’s the person who's protecting the Principal. And who is that?" Master Ardreth says.

The elf blinks. "The protection team?"

"No," Master Ardreth says, pointing at him. "You are. You need to use everything and anything possible to ensure the safety of the Principal and that includes your body." Alex and Candy exchange glances. "Your job is to get in the way and be that meat shield."

“What about the merchandise? Isn’t that what they are there for?” The elf persists.

“They are, but they are unlikely to be wearing body armor and will offer poor protection. You will offer much better protection. You can block a bullet with your armor, your body, and then another layer of armor giving added defense to that Principal. You need to accept you are expendable if you die and the Principal lives then that’s a success. If you live and the Principal dies, then that’s an utter failure and the merchandise dies along with them. Your death is also likely to follow if you failed in your duty.”

"Does the Principal know what our responses are going to be?" asks Briava.

"Yes, they will expect you to do everything possible to protect them including from their own stupidity."

Master Ardreth split them into two teams and Alex is put in the team with Briava. He then announces. “Each team will walk the perimeter once protecting the assigned guard. There will be multiple situations, but not all of them will be attacks and you are to ensure that your responses are proportionate while the maximum possible protection is provided.”

Master Ardreth nods at one of the guards who move onto the path that goes around the lawn. He then turns to a female elf that is on the team with Candy and again nods. The woman orders the other four elves into positions in a box formation three meters away, then she has Candy walk just in front on the left and she takes a position a meter and a half behind the Principal.

They slowly commence their circuit of the perimeter. The guard who’s acting as the Principal begins to increase the speed they are walking. The two elves at the front of the box didn’t react for a second and the formation starts to collapse. Suddenly another guard steps onto the path in front of the group and the woman barks a command. The elf to the front right moves forward to block the new guard and the rest of the group move to go around.

The group just passes the new guard when two more guards pop up from behind a hedge on the right armed with pistols. Candy reacts hastening forward to get between them and the Principal. She just gets into position when they both fire at the Principal and the bolts hit her. Alex notices that the elves have stopped and then take a step back when the guard's fire. He then hears a thud and see’s Candy hit the floor and realizes that she’s been hit with electric stun bolts. Both guards fire a second bolt and they hit the Principal and harmlessly discharge into his armor.

“Enough. Return. Second team, get in position.” Master Ardreth roars and then turns and nods at Briava.

Briava walks to another of the elves and says something. That elf then starts to order the others into a diamond formation and Briava strides out and takes the position four meters in front of them where the Principal will be. Alex is placed just behind the principal on the right and the elf that was giving the orders a little further back on the left. The guard acting as the Principal moves into position and waits for a minute before he starts walking forward.

The elf in charge shouts to Briava who quickly glances over her shoulder and then walks forward. Shortly after, another guard appears far down the path and waves, then begins to purposely stride towards the Principal who waves back. The group continues forward and a new guard appears standing behind a hedge. As the first guard draws near Briava she rapidly launches forward and crashes into him driving both to the ground. The second guard throws a ball towards the Principal. Alex lunges forward, but the other elf next to him doesn’t react until Alex catches the ball and it erupts with an electrical charge and he crashes to the ground unconscious.

Alex comes round just as Master Ardreth turns to Briava and scowls, "The guard who walked towards your group did not have any weapons and posed no overt threat. You were on him like a hyped-up junkie looking for your next fix. You left your position and reacted with too much aggression. "

"I'll remember not to overreact, Master Ardreth," says Briava with a slight bow.

Master Ardreth then turns to the elf who had been next to Alex, “You saw a guard throw a ball at your principal. Apparently, attackers can throw a ball that could contain explosives and nothing happens. You need to ensure any potential threat is assessed and reacted to."

Master Ardreth looks around at all of the elves and glares. "I’m extremely disappointed that everyone stepped back when the shooting started. You will all need to resist that urge as you’re supposed to be providing protection. Only the merchandise gave a credible performance. You must be the shield. The whole reason of this protective training is to give you the skills you need to override your need for self-preservation."