Free The Sons of Satrina: A Sons of Satrina Novel by Kristan Belle

Dylan pushed his way through the trainees who were still milling about and Jackson was pleased to see that he still had his friends by his side also.  It would really be a lonely place here without friends to rely on, as Denver was sure to find out, sooner or later.   Friendship had its own place.  Different to a warrior bond, of course, but just as important.
    “What you gonna do, Jax?  You gonna stand there blubbering all day?  Come on, let’s go.  Trey’s waiting for us downstairs.”  Dylan chuckled at him.  Jackson and the rest of them knew that there was no malice in him and the comment slid by as harmlessly it had been said and they turned to head out for a bite to eat before they hit the combat rooms.
     
    Jackson wasn’t too surprised to see a non-warrior Professor waiting for them as he entered the class and he took his seat at the back of the room with the rest of his crew.  They all waited in patient silence until Professor Fieldman cleared her throat and took centre stage of the class.
    “Well, boys, I’m sure you can all appreciate that this is a unique situation for all of us and that we will all have to work together to make our way through it.  All of the warriors are in strategy meetings at the moment, so I will be overseeing your class for the time being.”
    There was a small snigger from the front of the class and anyone would have bet money on it that it had come from Denver, but Professor Fieldman simply glared at him very briefly before continuing, “So, today, we have some trainees who are in their final year coming here to assist us.
    “They will be coming in to run through some of the finer points of your basic training with you.  Please, co-operate to your fullest ability as this is not only about you and the start of your training, but their graduation date had also been brought forward.  This exercise will count towards part of their practical training.  All classes have now been accelerated. 
    “We need our warriors.” she said, calmly but with emotion clouding her eyes. 
    And, on cue, in walked about a dozen trainees, all of them in their final year and built like stone walls, and all of them had been in the bathroom earlier this morning, standing solidly behind Jackson. 
    Each and every one of them made a point to either wave or nod at Jackson and to turn and glare menacingly at Denver.
    Well, this should be fun!
    Walking around the room to each of the new trainee’s, Professor Fieldman handed out a brand new information pamphlet, explaining in more detail the changes to the combat training routine for the time being as deemed appropriate by the council.  As she walked from student to student, she informed them all that their parents had been informed of the changes and that they should all read it in its entirety in their own time. Informing the families of the warrior’s plans was a mere formality.  They were adults and in control of their own lives.  And, they wouldn’t have a say in this, anyway.  Graduation times would be reduced, training would be increased, new exercises introduced by the council as they saw fit and schedules would be changed. That was that.  No arguments would be offered.
    “ Right, boys.  It’s time for you to pair up and show us what you’re made of.”  Professor Fieldman stepped back to let the older trainees get to work.
     
    Jackson collapsed into bed in total exhaustion.  That had been the most physically exhausting day that he had ever had in his entire life.  They had combat training for a full ten hours and every single muscle in his body screamed at the exertion.    He wasn’t even sure that he could make it down to dinner. He didn’t have any more get up and go in him.  It had long since gotten up and gone hours ago. 
    Every part of his body ached with an intensity that he had never felt before, but it was satisfying.  This was what he was here to do and the sooner he was trained up, the sooner he would be