"I-I can't do this Cal!" Mark says, "The poison was the st straw."

  "Mark you can't just give up now." I tell him.

  "I just... Wanna go home."

  Marks been in the doctors care for a while now. He wasn't able to speak for the first few days. I want to help him, but I don't know how. He had a good life and now? He tells me not to judge myself but I can't help feeling like it's my fault. The others had learned about what happened the day after we arrive. Reeds been in to check on him everyday since he found out.

  Everyone has had problems in the new space. People have been talking about the traitors. Vincent and the other leaders don't know what to do. With people inside the camp and our numbers being lowered the month long deadline seems impossible. Not to mention the training hasn't been going well. Wick seems uninspired recently. I think it started with him holding back against Ann. The morale over all seems low. At this pace we'll certainly lose.

  I decided to speak to Wick about what's wrong.

  "Yo, Wick. What's been going on recently?" I ask Wick.

  "What do you mean?" Wick chuckles.

  "Y'know, I've been seeing you hold back recently."

  "Oh, that." Wick says, "The dungeon really affected me in some way. I didn't wanna bother you with it."

  "You can tell me anything, really." I tell him.

  Wick looks towards the floor. He has his spear on the ground. He picks it up and looks back at me.

  "I feel too weak for this." He says.

  He looks up at the tip of his spear. The bde is dull. I forget he's actually younger than me. He is definitely handing this better than me. I remember when we first came here. He wasn't fazed about being here. He doesn't miss his parents. I tried not to think about that. My moms probably worried sick right now. She always did care for me. A lot more than my dad did. Wick bumps my shoulder.

  "You sure you're not the one that needs to talk?" Wick jokes.

  "No, I just zoned out." I tell him.

  "Hey, I've got something I wanna show you." Wick says.

  He stands and grabs my arm. He pulls me up and brings me over to the training grounds.

  "Ready?" He asks.

  He sets up a small target we use to train archers. He steps multiple feet back and holds his hand up. A blueish white light comes from his hand. The light grows quick and a rge bolt of lighting comes from his hand. It strikes the target and burns it to a crisp.

  "What the- hell!" I say.

  "Cool right! It kind of just happened one day." He says.

  "When was this?" I ask.

  His face is filled with a light that wasn't there before. His smile is rge.

  "The dungeon. Guards just kept coming in, and it just kept happening. I've been coming out at night and practicing every night."

  That reminds me of when we were captured! Every morning I'd see people taking away bodies. I had completely forgot about it.

  Our talk really lighted Wick's mood up. He started trying in practice again. During a practice with Ann he showed off his new lighting magic, it was definitely a surprise to the others. Reed is pretty disappointed about it though. He's proud for Wick but he was happy about learning magic. He trained for it, then me and Wick come and learn some spell that only we can use.

  Our training has become surprisingly easy recently. before we'd go on a jog everyday, I could barely get through it. Now I can do it just fine. Maybe soon I'll rechallenge Marty, maybe I could even win in the future. But not today, training did just end.

  I've been staying up te often. Then I'd take a walk, I like to call it my "me time." It's refreshing. I walk over to Vincent's tent. I look in and he's talking to the other leaders. I know I shouldn't eavesdrop but I really can't help it.

  "One month is perfect! We won't change it." One says.

  "We just lost half our soldiers! We need time to rebuild." Vincent rebukes.

  "That was because of your little hero. They're after him, not us." The other man says.

  I walk away from the tent. I guess I really did mess things up pretty bad... Kara wouldn't be so "bad" and Bud wouldn't be dead. Mark could stay on the farm... I really do suck as a hero. I walk back to the tent, thinking about it won't help. A month from now we'll kill the kings. Things will finally be over.

  Today is another sparing day. Mark is finally healed enough to get back into training. He has to go against Ann this time. Once Mark hears this, he tries to run away. Mark is nowhere near Ann's power. How could he ever do... Anything? Just because of this Marty makes him go first. They line up on the field. Marty gives them the start. Mark charges her. She shoots a rge amount of water balls at him. He dodges a few but gets hit. That should be the end of the battel, but Marty thinks otherwise.

  "Ten hits, you need ten hits." Marty says, while ughing. It's clear he's enjoying this more than anyone else.

  Mark looks at him and opens his mouth in shock. While he's distracted Ann hits him in the head with another ball of water. He falls back and looks towards Ann. He has an anger in his eyes. He stands up and runs towards Ann. She morphs the ground and makes it hilly. He starts to trip and fall, Ann uses this to send more low level spells at him. He avoids all the attacks and reaches Ann. He swings his sword at her head. She avoids it and hit Mark with a wind spell he flies back. Before he hits the ground Ann pushes him into the air again. As he falls she hits him with multiple water balls.

  "You didn't have to bully him like that y'know." I say to Marty.

  "Look Caleb, it may seem cruel. But Mark needs practice. The winner won't be decided in one hit. Tough love you could say." Marty tells me.

  It makes some sense, but it's still harsh. He shouldn't treat Mark like a joke!

  Now it's me versus Wick. He gives me a quick smirk. The match starts, and the first thing he does is try to hit me with lightning. It's fast but predictable. I try to get close but he spams it. after a good bit of aiming towards me he realizes it's not gonna work. So he started firing it where I was going to be. After a little bit he starts using both. I start getting tired. His magic is getting harder to dodge. How much mana does this guy have? In a desperate attempt to win I chuck my sword at him. It misses completely. One of his lighting bolts flies at me. I can't dodge it. Before it strikes me my barrier appears. I try me best to keep it there. His magic can't reach me anymore. This clearly upsets him and he rushes me. He goes around my barrier. He swings his spear at me, I dodge it. His spear is much slower than his lighting. He swings again. I dodge it again and grab the dull side of the bde. I reel my fist back and punch him in the face. Winning the fight.

  Next up is Mal versus Reed. It's not a very fair fight due to Mal being so much younger. Reed only has fire a few spells before she gets hit. It's a far quicker fight than the other. After all of our battles Marty talks to us about our progress.

  "You guy!" Marty says with tears in his eyes, "I am so proud of you all!"