After a fitful night of sleep, Roran woke up to the sound of Dorval barking at Toth and Sephyr. Running them through exercises and drills. Making them do squats, pushups, sit ups, and running laps around the little dungeon space available. Roran wasn't invited to participate and he was fine with that.
Once Toth and Sephyr had worked up a sweat, he tossed Roran's sword to Toth and the shield to Sephyr. Toth winced when he caught the sword but seemed able to heft it around just fine. He was still covered in bandages but the medicine appeared to have done wonders for his pain. Even his carefree attitude had started returning.
"Alright boys," said Dorval, leaning against a wall so he could stand, "We'll start with a back and forth, going slow. Toth, get comfortable swinging your sword. Sephyr, get comfortable blocking with the shield."
Toth started, swinging the blade in hard and fast with both hands. Sephyr yelped and jumped back.
"Dammit you fool! Not like that!"
"Don't you yell at him!" Kamil called out from across the dungeon. "He's going to be a hero, treat him better."
Dorval grumbled a few unkind words under his breath, then said, "Try again, this time slow and easy. You want to get the motions down right."
Toth tried again, moving a little slower but still swinging with enough force to kill someone. He winced when the sword bounced off the shield, leaving a scratch in the new buckler, and Sephyr stumbled back.
"Not so hard," Dorval barked again, "slower, and firm up your grip, and only use one hand."
"But I can swing harder with two hands," said Toth. He gripped the sword with both hands and swung it as hard as he could, swishing it through the air haphazardly.
"Careful you dolt! You're going to kill someone!"
"I said don't yell at him!" Kamil came stomping over so she could scold Dorval up close. Toth continued swinging the sword around wildly with a stupid grin on his face while Sephyr backed away. He looked at Roran, a worried expression on his face.
Roran shrugged. There was nothing he could do. They had already taken his weapons and he doubted that anyone would let him teach anything to Toth or Sephyr.
After a few minutes of Kamil yelling, Toth acting like a fool, and Sephyr scowling at everyone, they got back on track and Dorval ran them through some more combat drills. Roran noted that Dorval let Toth practice with the sword for significantly longer than Sephyr.
When the rations cart came through, Murrin purchased extra rations and a big show about giving Toth and Sephyr extra food. Roran was tempted to use the opportunity to leave. All he had to do was flash the medallion to the clerk and they would let him walk free.
As tempting as it was, it would also alert Murrin to Roran's newfound privileges and the existence of the marker medallion, two things Roran was keen to avoid. When the rations were passed out, Roran was once more ignored until Yora came with a loaf of stale bread.
"Do they feed you on the surface?" she asked.
"Sometimes. Not lately though."
She nodded and sat down, tearing the loaf in half and giving it to him.
"You haven't been as fussy lately," said Roran.
"And you're getting more talkative," said Yora, "things are changing."
Roran nodded and stuffed some of the bread into his mouth. It was bitter and hard but he was hungry and hadn't eaten in over a day.
"It's your doing," Yora went on, "You went out to fight that day, and now everyone is up in arms. Some of the little ones are asking if they can go fight when they're a little older. The mothers are right pissed at you for that."
Shrugging, Roran said, "It's not my fault. I told Sephyr and Toth not to come with me. It's not my fault they're stupid."
"Sephyr is not stupid," said Yora, "He's cunning and careful and you would do well to be careful around him."
Roran stopped eating. "What do you mean by that?"
"When do you go back into the arena?" asked Yora, ignoring the question.
"In five more days. They hold the Crucible once a week. There are other fights in between but those are for gladiators."
"Will your champion be there to protect you?"
"No," said Roran, "I'll be alone this time."
Yora nodded. She chewed on her bread, bobbing her head back and forth. When she stopped moving, she looked up at Roran, piercing through him with shimmering brown eyes. They were shrouded in wrinkles earned from years of living and laughing and suffering, from a lifetime of experience.
"Leave this place boy."
"What?"
"When you get the chance, leave this place. Go with your champion. Walk away and never turn back."
"I don't understand."
"These people want to eat you. They want to drink your blood and grow strong from it. They will take everything you have and leave nothing left. Every coin you earn, every sword you buy, every last ounce of joy you bring back with you, these people will wring out of you and take for themselves."
Yora kept staring at him, watching him. He swallowed.
"What if I could walk out of these doors today?"
"Then you should do it. Do it now."
She stared at him and he stared back. After a moment, Roran looked away. He went back to stuffing bits of dried and miserable bread into his mouth. Without another word, Yora stood up and walked away, leaving the remnants of her bread behind. Roran forced his food down, then finished hers.
The next few days were the same. Dorval trained Sephyr and Toth, showing clear preference towards Toth's training, and Murrin made a show of giving them extra food and talking them up to their kinsmen. Roran sat in his little spot against the wall, watching and waiting.
On the night before the next Crucible, Sephyr came over to talk with Roran.
"Hey," Sephyr said, standing over him.
"Hey," said Roran. "How are things going with Dorval and Toth?"
"Dorval is old and senile, Toth is an idiot."
Roran nodded.
"What did Kell teach you?"
"How to hit someone," said Roran, rubbing his ear at the painful memory.
"No shit, what else?"
Roran shrugged and thought back to his day of sparring with Kell. "She taught me how to manage my opponent, keeping them at a comfortable distance until I was ready to attack. She taught me how to defend against opponents stronger and more experienced than myself. She taught me how to keep from losing my sword in the middle of a fight."
Sephyr listened closely, his eyes burrowing into Roran. He was far more interested in what Kell had taught Roran than what Dorval had been teaching them.
"Has Dorval taught you any of that?" asked Roran. He'd only been paying half attention to their drills. They mostly consisted of Toth goofing off and being silly. As the week had gone on, Toth's injuries had continued to heal and he'd gone back to being a big, goofy, idiot.
"No," said Sephyr, "he hasn't taught us anything but how to hold and swing a sword. We're going to die out there."
"So don't go. I'll keep fighting and you two can stay down here, safe."
Sephyr shook his head, "No. I want to see the sun again, even if it kills me."
Roran nodded. "I feel the same way."