Their group was taken to the left building with the sun rising from the mountain depicted over the shield of the entrance. Raijen was still dragging the reeds, although some of the kids left theirs outside something told him not to let go of them.

What would be the point to take them all this way only to leave them on the sand?

“Welcome to Anatol, others call me adept Sarca and so will you from today. You will live here in this house of the sun with me until the vultures decide your fate.”

Sarca was a tall man, with a shaved head and intricate pattern of tattoos on his temples. Wearing tight fitted tunic shoved off his lean muscle, one could think he was emaciated if he wasn't so full of vitality and hard muscle. The skin on his arms looked like it had trouble keeping him in it, as he pointed to the doors on his left.

His words were heavy, carrying the years of experience and feel like he has done this before.

“You will all sleep in the same room. You will all eat, learn, train and even shit together. From today on, you are brothers, you are going to depend on each other to survive. No Vulture can survive alone, and believe me, you won't make it until the end of this training if you don’t look out for each other.”

A small smile spread on his lips, showing yellow teeth.

“Now, take your reeds and choose a place where you are going to sleep. When you are done come back here and we will start with the first lesson.”

When they entered the room there were twenty bundles on the ground arranged around the room. No beds, no other furniture, nothing. Getting the idea of what this is about Raijen went on the other side of the room and put his reeds over one of the bundles. Going outside to wait in the hall he saw Sarca sitting on his knees behind a small table watching as all the boys come back sitting down in rows facing the adept.

Sarcas eyes focused behind them on the doors.

“The reeds that were outside were put to kindling, those who took theirs inside will use them for bedding. Each morning with the rising sun, you will go to the river and collect more for an hour. You will build your own bed and sheets, If not, you will sleep on the stone. The winter is coming and with it, the stones will become colder, eventually too cold to sleep at.”

Raijen had no idea what this was all about, he wasn’t even sure if the men knew from where they were.

None of us should know what winter is, and none of us really knows anything about life or how to take care of ourselves. Were they really expecting us to figure it out just like that or just die? Are we all from different regions, or are we from the same city, how much information do the others have about this place? They are just kids.

Raijens mind was spinning, unable to grasp what was expected from them like five years old children he looked at the others. Most of them were visibly shaking, even though the room was warmed with the fire casting shadows over the walls.

“After that, you will go run, someone will show you the way. Then you will learn how to walk, how to sit, how to sleep.”

Pausing for a moment he let it soak in.

“My advice to you for now? Do everything your trainers tell you, as they tell you to do it. Don’t ask questions. Don’t think about it. Just do it.”

Running his eyes over them all he continued with a lower voice.

“There is a restricted amount of punishments for each one of you. Don’t use them up too soon.”

It was just ten days when Raijens body was at the edge of collapse. Most of the days light were used for pulling the reeds and running around the compound, soon he realized the place was much bigger then one would think at the first glance. Each day the road towards the exit of the mountain was little different, once it was the road to the left at the well, then to the right at the intersection, and then there was no well at all as they took a different path.

Didn’t they say to remember the path towards the river? Why are they changing the directions every single day?

Raijen wondered how many of the other boys were thinking the same, or if they even bothered to think of it. Glancing around he noted Grey walking beside him, he was a small kid almost as small as Raijen, yet still little higher. He was the last one to join them in the room after the slaughter in the arena and oddly enough, all of them remained in the same group ever since.

Do they even realize the situation, or are they just kids being formed to the desires of their masters? Is it possible one of them reincarnated as well, or am I the only one?

Switching his sight on the men leading them his body shuddered, not because of the cold winds that started to pick up over the last days, but on the thought of being discovered as something else than a normal child.

The rest of the sun was used for exercises that made little sense to him, followed with lectures on how to walk and sit, eluding Raijen time and time again as to their purpose. Eventually deciding to ignore it he submerged himself into learning and fitting in as well as he could.

They were beaten for every noise someone made, with no clear pattern for when it was individual punishment or when part of the group or the whole group suffered. The message was clear, nobody is safe or innocent and nobody is except for punishment if someone makes a mistake. And it is never clear who will get punished for your mistakes.

Adepts soon delivering on their promise, when one of the boys didn’t get up after another beating, his body was carried out of the gates, never to be seen again.

Staring at his green and brown mush of vegetables sprinkled with black and red pepper making it unreasonably spicy, Raijen looked at the main table of the room. The only time all of the Anatol, Mesimé, and Iliovasi come together was for dinner. All the adepts and masters they met so far were seated on the main table and their portions were incomparable to theirs. Meat, bread, vegetables, sometimes rice. Compared to them, Raijens group had only vegetables, potatoes and some kind of lentils. Never really feeling full he could only stare at the adults as his stomach growled.

Knowing there was no way his body could work under such stress for much longer. Raijen was getting thinner and felt his energy leave him with each exercise, with every march and run there was little less of him in the body and even in the mind.

He liked to think his strength somehow improved despite all of it. The only thing they had enough was sleep, they went to the bed with setting sun and woke with the moon leaving the sky.