A New Light (The Astral Wanderer Book 1) by D'Artagnan Rey (best romance ebooks txt) 📗

Devol still had leftovers, which he gave to the other Templars in the battlegrounds nearby. The commander guided the determined boy deeper into the training grounds for him to begin his “tests.”

As they walked, he asked questions about the test and the man simply responded with some variation of, “Wait and see.” A little frustrated after each gentle rebuff, he turned his attention instead to the arenas and other Templars nearby to keep himself occupied. When they seemed to draw closer to the end of the path, he saw a rather simple arena, at least when compared to the others—a smaller square platform made of white marble.

Three figures occupied the combat ground. Two were older Templars from what he could see and he studied them with interest.

The man had wolf-like features—long, pointed ears, a pronounced nose, clawed hands, and tanned skin, with a long shaggy mane of curled brown hair. The other was a woman—or at least had the figure of a human woman—but had long blue arms with rows of feathers, a black pointed beak, and deep-set black eyes and a crown of blue and green feathers for hair.

They were both wildkin but two different varieties, the man belonging to the more human-appearing homina species and the woman of the verte species. Both had the more pronounced features of their animal counterparts.

The third figure—which the two older Templars were observing—was a young girl about his age from what he could see and was also a wildkin. She was a little shorter than him with long black-and-orange hair with white spots and similar sharp, pointed ears to the man. Her ears, however, were on the top of her head and almost blended in with her hair. She had fair skin and one eye was green while the other was blue.

Dressed in a simple baggy white shirt and pants, she practiced punches and sweeping strikes with her claws. He stopped and watched her draw back and noticed a pair of bracers or gauntlets on her arm, although he couldn’t make the details out. A yellow light flashed briefly before she leapt forward and slashed the air. Devol’s eyes widened as three large claw marks gouged the ground of the arena despite the fact that he could not see her touch it. She wouldn’t have that kind of reach anyway, which left him confused.

When he looked at her, she had focused her gaze on him and he nodded sheepishly as he jogged to the commander’s side. “Hey, Mr. Wulfsun.”

“I told ya, boy, just Wulfsun,” the Templar stated in a pointed tone, but the boy was reassured by the easy smile still on his face. “What do ya need?”

“I wanted to ask…are you a wildkin too?” the boy questioned, he didn’t have the more noticeable traits of either species, but the sharpened teeth, great height, and well, he might be a little presumptuous, but the name could have pointed to that.

His large companion laughed and shook his head. “Ah nah, boyo. I’m as human as you. I was raised and trained by one, though,” he revealed. “I was left on the Templar Order doorstep as a lad and my master was a wolf wildkin similar to Freki there.” He nodded at the man Devol had observed. “Baioh was the name I was left with in the letter—no family name obviously. I decided to exercise a little humor and named myself in tribute to my master, although he didn’t find it as amusing as I did. Still, I think he appreciated it.”

“Is he here?” the boy asked. He wanted to meet the man who had trained such a confident warrior.

Wulfsun shook his head again. “Nah, he left on a mission over a year ago and won’t be back for quite some time.”

“You didn’t want to go with him?” he asked as the two passed under a large open gate into another room with dark-brown walls. Orange orbs hung from the walls to illuminate the area and Devol noted several weapons and pieces of armor beside them.

“Of course I did!” the captain admitted and frowned at the thought. “But that’s how I came to have this command. He said someone needed to watch over the training since he would be gone for so long. I didn’t like to think about it at the time, but he was right. There were others who could have taken the mantle, but if I wanted to consider myself his kin, I should also be prepared for the responsibility.”

The young Magi nodded. “That’s very admirable.”

The two stopped at a pair of metal doors and Wulfsun folded his arms and released a bellowed laugh. “I thought so too. I mostly got called sentimental and such at the time, but I eventually got the hang of it. I’m starting to see why he did this for so long—you get attached to the young buggers when you watch them grow and go after their ambitions, although we don’t have many youngsters to speak of right now. It’s heartwarming. I guess I am a little sentimental.” He scratched his beard, briefly lost in thought or memories before he nodded to his companion and flicked his thumb toward the doors. “Well then, if you are ready, we are here.”

Devol turned to examine the doors. They looked heavy—dark metal with a bronze Templar insignia spread across them both. “The test takes place in there?”

“This is the first test!” the commander corrected and smacked one with a large hand. It clanged noisily and the boy resisted the temptation to cover his ears. “This is a test of mettle. I’m not sure how much attention you’ve paid, but I should tell you right now that Templars are in a constant state of training, even during off-hours. Every door in this castle weighs anywhere between a couple of hundred pounds to seven hundred, although one or two are a little heavier.”

“All of them?” He gasped and recalled the loud thuds along the way every time the man had opened