“What do you mean we are not going in Waterslide?”

“I mean precisely that. The headquarters are not located inside the town”, Ashter replied nonchalantly.

“Yes, but the only manmade thing in the direction we are heading to is the watermills. Where are you hiding, under the river? On treetops, next to the squirrels?”

The answer came shortly afterward.

A mountain! When he heard that the revolution’s headquarters were in Waterslide, Vreil had pictured a secret basement, or maybe a shady mansion. But these revolutionaries had settled inside a damn mountain!

The town of Waterslide was small, but famous for its many watermills, located just east of the town. Just behind the watermills was a big mountain, from the top of which the water was flowing. And the revolutionaries had managed to dig through this mountain like ants to create paths, mines, storages, big halls, houses, training grounds, they had even found an underground lake in there! Or at least that's what Ashter told him.

“Actually, it was not us who built all that. We only polished it a little. The real origin of this mountain is unknown. Even the dwarves would take years to carve something like that, let alone us and in secret", Ashter explained. "A few years back, a wizard threw a wind spell and missed his target, hitting the mountain. A clump of rocks collapsed and he saw a corridor inside. Shortly afterward, he moved here, and the revolution came shortly afterward.”

“So someone went through all the trouble to build this and then hid it away with stones?” Vreil frowned in suspicion.

“We are reaching the entrance soon, so be ready”, Ashter ignored the question. “And remember, do not act before I do. Same goes for you too, Milos”.

“What?”

Suddenly, a tree branch that was lazily hanging above their path bent down and took the form of a man armed with a sword. If Ashter hadn’t warned them against being hasty, both Vreil and Milos would have already drawn their weapons and claws respectively.

“Password”, the man said bluntly.

“Black well”, replied Ashter.

Without a word, the man returned to being a branch.

“‘Black well’ is the password to enter the mountain. However, if you are being blackmailed or controlled by someone, say “black wall”. The guards will know what to do”, said Ashter.

“He can turn into a branch? That’s amazing!” Vreil was starry-eyed.

Milos was quietly pondering how many of the tree branches he had run into as a child had a hobby of turning human.

“That was not a real human”, Ashter laughed. “It was a humanlike figure created by very complicated earth magic. The branch was the real form, not the opposite. The real guardian is a formidable magician who has concealed his presence. And if he has to, he can take out dozens of enemies. Do not worry, we are safe.”

“Oh… But where is the gate?” asked Vreil as they approached the side of the mountain.

“What are you talking about? It is right here, look”, Ashter motioned to the mountain as he got off his horse and led it through what seemed like a solid mountainside. Instead of smashing into the rocks, he disappeared from the sight of his companions, followed by his resisting horse.

Milos opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again.

“You know what? I have seen so much these days that I don’t really mind”, commented Vreil and followed the wizard. Milos, who had long dismounted Ashter's horse, poked the wall curiously, and watched his fang vanish, before stepping through.

What he saw afterward left him speechless. A big hallway, twenty meters long and five meters tall, opened up before him. Several people had gathered around Ashter, who had walked in first, and a chubby woman was hugging him.

“Oh, Ashter, how long has it been since you last came here?” she said.

“You know how these things work, Dorothy. I do not come back until I have found good recruits. I was lucky this time. I found two very promising young men within a few days. There they are; the tall one is Vreil, an Arknas, and the short one is Milos, a transformational”.

“An Arknas and a transformational? Good job, dear!” the woman exclaimed.

"What's a transformational?" asked Milos, only to be ignored.

She walked up to them, who were trying to grasp the situation. “Nice to meet you, Vreil and Milos. I am Dorothy, the one responsible for looking over the entrance”. But not the guard, thought Vreil, as he remembered Ashter clearly referring to the guard as a ‘he’.

“Nice to meet you too”, they replied, still numbed by the sight.

The archers that were previously gathered around Ashter, greeting him, were now headed towards them too.

“We can save the introductions for later. First, we have to report to the leader. Come on, boys”, Ashter urged them, walking deeper inside the hallway.

Vreil and Milos left Boom to a man who was also holding Ashter's horse by the reins and followed the wizard through many smaller corridors, until they finally reached a big door. Vreil and Milos were gaping throughout the walk. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, everything seemed to be directly carved in stone. The sheer craftsmanship and inherent difficulty of doing this were mind-boggling!

The place was lit by frequently-placed torches throughout the walls, and Milos wondered how they had so many torches as to keep this entire place constantly bright. The walls were bare of decorations and so was the floor, while the ceiling seemed to have some strange flowing lines carved into it.

“The leader is behind this door”, Ashter stopped in front of an elaborate door, one of the few metal ones they had seen so far. “Be gentle, and try to make a good impression. Okay?”

“No”, Milos joked, only to receive a stern look from Ashter in return.

Then the wizard knocked on the door. Two heavily armed soldiers opened it from the inside, revealing a room so luxurious that would make even the most opulent of palaces pale in comparison. And in the middle of the room, behind a table with many maps arrayed on it, stood the leader of the revolution.

“It’s nice to have you back, Ashter. The Guardian informed me of your arrival”.

“It is nice to see you too, leader. These are Vreil, an Arknas, and Milos, a transformational. They are my newest recruits.”

Milos wanted to ask about this 'transformational' but, after remembering how he was ignored before, chose not to.

“It’s my honor to be your host, Vreil and Milos. I am Sayfire, the leader of the revolutionaries, and the Head of the White House.”

Vreil remembered to close his gaping mouth before replying. “It is nice to meet you too, madam Sayfire”.

The leader of the revolutionaries was a young woman, seeming no more than twenty-five years old, who was wearing a long, black dress. The dark garment made a striking contrast with her body since, apparently, she suffered from albinism. The entirety of her hair was white, and her body had the color of milk. She was beautiful, too; stunning, even.

“You can call me Ms. Sayfire, or just leader”, she smiled at them before turning to the old wizard. “Ashter, have them begin training right away. We need them as strong as possible. We will meet again soon, Vreil and Milos.”

“Yes, leader”, Ashter nodded obediently and left the room. Vreil and Milos followed suit, mumbling some form of respectful goodbye.

“Why didn’t you tell us the leader was a girl?” asked Vreil when they were far enough to not be heard.

“You did not ask me.”

“How did she get to be the leader?” Milos was curious. “She’s… a girl!”

“Oh boy. Give it a couple of years and you won’t even know what hit you. Hint; it’s called puberty”, laughed Vreil. While he wasn’t the village’s most handsome teenager, his wit, intelligence, and good looks had gotten him his fair share of young ladies.

Ladies which, in all probability, were dead now. Vreil closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let the darkness flow through him, through his feet, and into the ground below. In the past few weeks, this was the way he’d come up with to limit the outbreaks of negative emotions. Too bad it didn’t work at night.

“Women can be excellent commanders too, boy. Her father was our first leader. A couple of years ago he passed away, and his vice-commanders could not choose a successor among them. Their rivalry got to the point where it would divide all of us in half! So some of us stepped in, and they eventually settled for passing the mantle to his young daughter, hoping to control her. Well…” he chuckled, “they sure were disappointed. Sayfire is much stronger than she looks, a politician by birth. These will be your rooms.”

As they were talking, they had walked through many paths and had approached a corridor filled with doors.

“Yours are the third and fourth on the right. Go take a look.”

The two rooms were identical. They were both plain, with a bed, a deep hole leading to an underground current that they assumed was for their natural needs, a sink, and many torches waiting to be lit. There was also a table with two chairs in each room.

“Do you like them?” asked Ashter after they’d taken a look.

“It’s better than nothing. Living inside a mountain will be much more difficult to get used to, I suppose”, Vreil sighed.

“There is very good ventilation and it is spacey. You will be alright. Wolves live in caves anyway”, the wizard winked at Milos. “Now, let us get you to training.”

They started heading towards more paths, and soon they could hear the clashes of weapons.

“You have to remember that this is not a game. The skills you will learn here will save your life multiple times, or end it once. The same goes for everyone else you will be training with. Be kind, and try not to make anyone feel weak because of your natural gifts, including yourselves. And most of all, never, and I mean never, get cocky. Whether they treat you as gods or as fodder, you must always maintain your cool. Okay?”

“Don’t worry, Ashter”, Vreil assured him.

“Oh, and you will not be training together. Milos, I will show you the assassination instructor after we get Vreil to his training grounds”.

Vreil balked at Ashter. "There is an assassination teacher? What the hell, Ashter!"

Ashter looked back nonchalantly. "What? Capable scouts, saboteurs, and assassins are very useful in warfare, especially guerilla warfare. We call them rogues, usually, but the instructor insists on being called an assassin."

Vreil had to admit this made sense.

They were both sad about training separately, but they suspected it would happen eventually. Their skills were definitely orientated differently.

“What, no complaints? This is the first time!” laughed Ashter.

Vreil’s training grounds were in the biggest room they had seen so far. It was so big, it was like they were outdoors. About fifty young people like himself were fighting with wooden swords there, under the supervision of a huge, bald man. A boy, who shouldn’t be over sixteen years old, dropped his sword when his hand was struck by his opponent’s sword. Immediately, the instructor pounced over and started shouting at him.

“What are you doing??" the bald man shouted, his spit drenching the boy's face. "If this were a real battle you would be dead by now. Never let go of your weapon! Do you hear me? Never! Now pick it up and continue. Or wait, could it be that you are tired? How could you get tired from just that, you sissy? Let me see you do twenty push-ups, and don’t you dare say you can’t!”. The boy was obviously exhausted, there was no way he could do that.

First the Red House recruiter, then this guy… Are all bald people like that? Vreil had to wonder.

“Sain”, Ashter called the instructor over, saving the kid.

The man turned around, and Vreil thought he saw a shadow in his eyes when he spotted Ashter.

“Ashter? So the news about your return was true after all."

“Yes, they were. Sain, this is Vreil, an Arknas. He does not know how to properly hold a sword yet, so I would like to leave him in your care.”

“An Arknas, huh?" Sain looked Vreil over, pacing around him like a hungry lion. "We haven’t had an Arknas in our young forces for quite a while. I will teach him how to fight. What about the one next to him? The small one.”

“No, he is going to receive assassination training. I have to get him to his instructor too, so I'm leaving for now.”

“Hmph. Rogues”, Sain snorted in disdain.

Even though there was really nothing to prove it, Vreil sensed some tension between Ashter and Sain. If they really don’t get along, he thought as he watched Ashter and Milos enter a passage, then I'm in big trouble.

“STOP”, Sain yelled suddenly, a foreboding grin on his face, and everyone stopped fighting. “Gather here.”

All the trainees came and formed a line in front of Sain. Vreil took a better look. They all looked to be between sixteen and twenty-five years old. Some of them had already noticed Vreil’s eyes and were giving him a wary look. Among the trainees, a particularly big one, with broad shoulders and standing at least two meters tall, stood out.

“Listen up”, said Sain. “This is a new recruit, an Arknas, and his name is Vreil. He will be training with us from now on. Treat him carefully.”

That last sentence was said with a smirk. Holy crap I am so doomed, thought Vreil.

“Do you know how to use the sword, Vreil?” the instructor asked.

“Just a little”, Vreil eyed the wooden sword. They were similar to his in shape and size, though he’d left it in his room.

“Let me be the judge of that. I think I will have you fight one of the others to see for myself.”

“Step forward, Arthur”. Please don’t let it be the big one. The big one from before stepped forward. “Do you have a sword, Vreil?”

“Yes, but I left it in my room.”

“Oh, so you think you are so good that you don’t need your sword, I see. Always carry it with you, kid. And when you talk to me, you will call me Sir.” Sain himself didn’t seem to be carrying a weapon though.

“Yes, sir”, Vreil wisely decided to not argue with him.

“Neis, give him your sword”. A wooden sword came flying his way, and Vreil caught it with one hand.

“Now, show me what you are worth.”

Everyone formed a circle around him and Arthur. From the way they were looking at them, they couldn’t wait to see the big man beat up someone other than themselves. Vreil tried swinging the sword they had given him. It was much lighter than the iron one he’d been using so far but, as it was blunted, it faced more air resistance.

Arthur looked down at him from up there. He was at least two heads taller than Vreil, and his muscles were clearly visible under his shirt. In a sense, this man was a smaller version of the instructor.

Oh, damn it.

“Fight”, shouted Sain, signaling the beginning of the battle.