Chapter 7: The Testing

After eating that night, he locked me in an upstairs room with a fine bed and other furnishings. An array of salves had been placed on a table next to a washbasin. Without directions, I had to do some experimentation on the cuts and bruises on my face, arms, back, and torso. The pain subsided and I slept well.

I awoke with the sun through the barred window. I rose and washed, dressed in the simple breeches and tunic laid out for me. Were there servants or anyone else in the house? Surely Galen hadn’t set all these out, but I never saw another soul.

The locks of the door rattled, and the door opened. Galen stood in a fine but simple tan robe sinched at the waist with a leather belt, sandals on his feet. His white hair lay straight down his back.

Galen measured me. “Good. You are ready.”

I faced him.

“The swelling has gone down.” He pointed at my face.

“Those salves helped.”

“Get used to them.” He stepped back out of the doorway. “Come. It is time to begin.”

I rolled my shoulders and walked toward him. He seemed to glide when he turned and moved down the hallway.

He led me up a back stair that wound to a door, which opened to the roof. The top of the house extended out flat in a rectangle, as large as a Sand-bol field, with a waist high parapet on the outside.

Large stones had been piled a few mitres away. Galen strode to stand next to them. He pointed over to another area on the roof where a circle had been drawn. He waved at the stones. “Move them.”

I nodded and began. The first stone was heavier than I expected, and my ribs roared at me. I thought about those salves down in the room. But I moved the first stone across the roof and set it in the circle.

I heaved a breath. Fifteen more stones. After two more, sweat began on my brown and body. By the time I had moved eleven total, my clothes were wet through with perspiration and my ribs sent sharp torment through my chest. I bent over with my hands on my knees, panting, exhausted. My arms and legs quivered.

“The training will take you beyond what you believe possible,” Galen said. “What you believe impossible will be proven false. That is the only way forward.” He inclined his head. “You have five more.”

It took all my strength and another hour to move four of them. I collapsed on my knees, heaving big, tortuous breaths.

Galen waited a minute or so before speaking. “You may quit if you like.”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “I can?”

“Of course. At any time.”

“And you will let me go home?” I said.

“No, the original options still remain. There is only forward in this life. No going back. To retreat is death. That is a truth as sure as a mountain.”

Continue or die. Got it.

I raised my head and narrowed my eyes at him. Gritting my teeth, I stood. And promptly fell again to one knee. Bile came up in my throat for a moment, and I swallowed down a mouthful of vomit, leaving an acidic taste on my tongue.

Blowing a breath, I forced myself to stand. I waddled over to the stone and crouched over it. I hovered there, hesitating, then reached down and lifted the stone with my hands, raw from the work already. The pain attempted to overwhelm me. At first, I ignored it. Then I let the pain make me angry.

Something in my right arm strained, but I continued one step at a time to the other pile. With a last effort, I threw the stone over. It made a smacking sound when it hit the edge but landed within the drawn circle.

I crumpled on the roof, resting in a sitting position, my head down.

“Well done.” Galen’s voice was off to my right. I couldn’t lift my head. “Go down to your room, change, clean up, eat, and rest. I will come for you early this afternoon.”