Eclipse bolted awake from a nightmare. What made this worse was that Astrid was standing by her bed, staring at her. Astrid held a finger to her lips, telling Eclipse to stay quiet. She motioned for Eclipse to follow her.

She hesitated before getting out of bed and following Astrid to the cabin porch. With a look to the sky, she noticed that the moon was starting to set but it would be a few more hours before the sun made an appearance. Astrid spoke barely above a whisper, "I should've told you sooner. You shouldn't leave by yourself. It's not safe."

Eclipse took a step away from the girl, "What are you talking about?"

Astrid looked around and then back to Eclipse, "There's very bad people after us. You can't trust anyone."

"What do you mean by us? What exactly is going on?"

"Me and you. These people want to steal us away."

"Why us? Why now?" Eclipse took another step back.

"Because of what we are. I'm not sure why it's happening now. I would assume it's because we're both together."

"What are we? What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure what we are. I don't even know if we're different at all from the rest of the kids here. But," Astrid paused to find the right words, "It's just what my mother told me before leaving. She said I was different and that I wasn't safe. She left me and our clan to get away. Anyone near us is in danger."

Eclipse took a step forward and reached a hand out. As soon as she put her hand on Astrid's shoulder, there was a shock. The feeling wasn't pleasant and she pulled her hand away immediately. She stuttered on her words, "W-what was that?"

Astrid shook her head confused. She held her hand up for Eclipse to try again. Eclipse hesitantly put her hand up as well, barely a centimeter away from the other hand. She slowly touched her hand to Astrid's and there was another shock. Astrid spoke barely loud enough to be heard, "I don't think that's normal."

Eclipse shook her head with a sigh. There was a sound of a twig breaking in the woods. Both of the girls looked in the direction of the sound. Eclipse narrowed her eyes and could make out a rabbit. She motioned for Astrid to follow her back inside. Once inside, they both sat on their beds facing each other. Neither of them even tried to go back to sleep. Not that Eclipse was necessarily tired.

Soon enough, the sun began to rise. One by one, more of the kids woke up. Eclipse looked back to Astrid before getting up and grabbing clothes from her dresser. She was able to find a comfortable t-shirt and some black jeggings. After changing, she made her way outside and to the fire pit. Roxy was there waiting with a smile, "Good morning, Eclipse. Breakfast should be ready by the time you get to the mess hall."

Eclipse nodded but decided to wait at the boy cabin for Ash. She sat on the porch step for what seemed like forever before Ash finally decided to get up for the day. He nearly tripped over Eclipse because he didn't see her. She sighed, "About time you got up. Ready for breakfast?"

Ash grumbled but then smiled a bit. He really isn't a morning person. But luckily, food brought out the best in him. They walked carefully on the path towards the mess hall. Inside, there were pans and bowls of food set on a table with a paper taped to the side that read: You may take a plate and eat. Afterwards, please return to the cabins and wait for instructions.

Eclipse grabbed a plate and looked at the different options. She got a few pancakes and put butter and syrup on them. She took her plate and sat down, no one else was there yet so all the tables were empty. Ash took a few minutes to get his plate and sit across from her. His plate was filled with food, everything from strawberries to sausage patties. Even the smell of sausage made Eclipse feel sick. But his turkey bacon looked good.

She waited until Ash was distracted from a few more kids entering, patience is important when trying to steal food. It's not like he would miss a few pieces of bacon, besides, he had plenty. He wouldn't starve. Not with how much other food he had, it would be a surprise if there was enough food left for everyone else. When Ash returned his attention to her and saw that she was eating bacon, he narrowed his eyes, "When did you get bacon?"

She shrugged, "I grabbed a few slices from the table. Why?"

He shook his head, "I guess I didn't see it on your plate earlier."

They talked while they ate. Even though Ash got more food than Eclipse, he finished his plate first. Eclipse grabbed their plates and took them to a bin near the front of the mess hall labeled 'dirty dishes'. Then they made their way slowly to the cabins. Ash was starting to regret eating so much food.

At the cabins, they waited on the girl cabin porch. Eclipse looked up towards the sky and was glad it was an overcast day. It looked like it might rain later. But for now, it was nice. They talked about what jobs they would want in the kingdom. Ash wanted to be a soldier like his dad. Eclipse knew she had no choice in her job, she was to be the queen alongside Star. Not that she minded much, although it was a lot of stress to have such high expectations from others all the time.

But if she had a choice, she would also want to be a soldier. What's better than getting to protect your people? Ash tapped her shoulder and nodded his head in the direction of the boy cabin. She had to squint to see what he was trying to point out. She couldn't see that far in the daylight, even on an overcast day. Ash sighed and whispered as if someone were trying to listen, "Cole is just watching us."

Eclipse shrugged, "So what? He's a bit weird, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. Just thought it was odd behavior."

He was being more paranoid than Eclipse, and that's really saying something. Soon Tyson blew a whistle and waved his arm to signal everyone to make their way to him. "Training officially starts right now. We're going to go to the training building and talk about the different occupations within a kingdom."

The kids followed the leaders on a narrow path between the girl and staff cabins. Eclipse thought that the mess hall path was bad. This one was even worse, you could barely even call it a deer trail.

They entered a massive clearing with a huge building in the middle. Inside, the building was empty. It was basically a large box. It was weird, on the outside the building seemed to be made completely out of wood while on the inside it was concrete. There were folding chairs set up along the back of the farthest wall.

Tyson told the kids to find a seat so that they could start. Ash chose the last seat and Eclipse sat to his right. Cole took the seat next to her. Ash looked over to the boy but then back to Tyson who now stood in front of the kids. His voice echoed through the building, "Okay we'll start with the more common occupations and work our way from there. This should simply be a review. The most common is merchants who tend various stalls, then we have teachers, followed by castle workers. Any questions so far?"

When no one spoke up, he continued, "Above the castle workers are soldiers who fight battles. Medics are above them, this includes those who work alongside soldiers or those who stay in the kingdom. We then have our explorers who search for new land, they're usually accompanied by a few soldiers as well. Anyone planning to be an explorer?"

Ray raised their hand and Tyson nodded in approval, "It's an important role, there's not many positions open either. Okay back on track. We then have guards who protect the royal family and the castle. Then we have military leaders, if you want to know more about them ask any of us leaders. Then we have the royal family which you either have to be born into or partnered in. I think that's about it. Am I missing anything, Roxy?"

Roxy walked forward and stood beside Tyson, "I don't think so. Now we're going to do an activity. I'll split you into different roles which you'll live with for the day. Astrid and Cain, you'll fill in the role of king and queen. Flame, you'll be the military leader. Hydra and Gust, you're guards. Eclipse, you're an explorer. Ash, Cliff, and Pebble are soldiers. Ray and Cole are castle workers. And finally Star and Amber are merchants."

Eclipse stopped paying attention after getting assigned her position. She was fine with being an explorer. Gust spoke up, "Why aren't any of us medics or teachers?"

Roxy gave a friendly smile, "I don't think any of you are qualified to teach and besides, no one's going to get hurt."

Tyson nodded in agreement, "If anyone does get hurt, that's what we're here for. Any more questions?"

"What are the castle workers supposed to do? There's no castle around here last time I checked," Ray asked with a bored look on their face.

"Just cleaning areas. Mostly the cabins and the mess hall," Roxy answered.

After a few more questions about tasks, they were released for the rest of the day. They were told that the assistants would keep an eye on them and how they do. Eclipse and Ash met back up at the fire pit. She asked him what they should do first. He shrugged, "You're the leader here. I guess explore?"

That's exactly what they did. They got special permission to explore outside of the campgrounds as well. Eclipse stopped as they got to a marker. She pondered whether or not they should go off the grounds just yet. Ash gave an impatient sigh which caused Eclipse to continue walking past the marker.

What they found was pretty cool. There were many small lakes and ponds scattered around. Pretty soon they stumbled upon an abandoned building. Eclipse walked up to the building and turned the handle to find it unlocked. She looked to Ash with a grin, "Should we go inside?"

He returned the smile, "Why wouldn't we? You're an explorer after all and I'm your noble soldier. It's our job to explore. I should check it out first, I'm the soldier here after all."

Eclipse reluctantly agreed to allow him to go in first. Once Ash called her inside, she looked around. The place looked recently abandoned, perhaps within the past week. Taking in everything, Eclipse spoke in a soft voice, "Whoever was here sure left in a hurry," She looked at a half eaten piece of toast.

Ash continued walking around and found a staircase leading to a basement. Eclipse didn't pay attention to him going down the stairs. She left the dining area and found a small library. While gliding her fingers over the books, she read the titles. Most of the books were about mythological creatures and various fantasy books. One book caught her attention and she grabbed it curiously. She whispered the name of the book to herself, "A dragon's way of life."

She turned the book to the back to read what it was about. Apparently, it was a fantasy about a dragon wreaking havoc on a nearby village. She sighed loudly after reading this. Then she noticed a note sticking out of a page. She opened to the marked page and there was a sentence highlighted reading, 'They are powerful beasts capable of destroying entire cities.'

She heard Ash yelling for her from downstairs. She quickly put the book back and ran to the stairs. She stopped at the top and yelled, "What's wrong?"

Ash told her that he found something and that she should see it. She walked slowly down the stairs and towards where Ash stood. She held her breath when she saw what he was talking about.