Meenu didn’t know where the meeting room was, so she had to ask for directions from the guards to get there. But when she and Knight got there, she was surprised to see Master Red standing outside, waiting for her.

     He wore no mask, but other than that, he looked the way he usually did.

     Just a little more tired than usual.

     “Master Red.” Meenu smiled, but then she froze in her spot and bowed quickly. She almost always forgot to bow.

     “I sensed your presence, Meenu.” Master Red said, “what brings you to me?”

     “I wanted to talk to you… for a while, actually.”

     “About what?”

     Meenu didn’t look at him for a moment, but then she took a deep breath and looked him straight in his red eyes. “I know I’m not that fast and I’m sometimes careless and I’m still pretty bad at fighting face to face and I still need holes in my mast to see but…” she took another breath, “but I want to ask if you would still make me into a full fledged warrior.”

     Master Red raised an eyebrow.

     “Wisdom, honor, faithfulness, righteousness, charity, diligence, patience, compassion, loyalty, bravery and truthfulness.” Meenu recited, “to be a warrior, you must be all of these. And I think I’ve gotten there.”

     He listened.

     “Avaryn… when I knew him as Blood… he told me that a warrior who destroys an entire army to protect a King’s treasures is in no way better than a warrior who almost dies from protecting a child from a wild boar.” She said, “I am most definitely not someone who could destroy an army… but I could definitely kill a boar to defend a child. I think I’m good enough.”

     Master Red just watched her.

     Wisdom, honor, faithfulness, righteousness, charity, diligence, patience, compassion, loyalty, bravery and truthfulness. He thought. The Code of the Warrior.

     Wisdom. He had heard Meenu’s words to Avaryn the day that he went to confront her about telling Seliaryn his secret. Those were wise words… he even wondered if he could have ever said something like that. She still had a long way to go but she was definitely getting there.

     Honor. She knew very well how to honor people. Her parents were the best example. Her respect for them was unbelievable. And Master Red knew of the respect she had for him.

     Faithfulness. She was definitely faithful. Trustworthy. Dependable. She was all of those. Avaryn knew it, Master Red knew it and everyone who interacted with her knew it.

     Righteousness. That incident with the Destynians, where Meenu attempted to save them. That was the best example he could think of that would prove her righteousness. Even her desire to become a warrior, that itself proved her desire to be a righteous young woman.

     Charity. There were too many examples of her charity. Master Red just skipped past it, knowing for sure that she definitely had a desire to help people.

     Diligence. Excellent, was all Master Red had to think. Within five months of him training her, she had proved to him that she was a very hard worker and extremely determined.

     Patience. Master Red just thought of how long she waited to see Avaryn. There were countless times were she had to be patient and wait for him. That was all the proof he needed for that trait.

     Compassion. Did he really need to even think about that? It was obvious that she was compassionate. Her love for her family. Her love for her friends. It was all excellent evidence of her large heart.

     Loyalty. He skipped thinking about that one as it was, again, extremely obvious that she had that trait just by regarding the countless times she had fought for those she loved, whether it was Avaryn, Seliaryn or her wolf.

     Bravery. He smiled. She was most definitely brave. To be here? Telling him what she thought he should do? That in itself was an act of bravery.

     And finally, Truthfulness. This trait was sometimes a tough trait to evaluate. However, Master Red knew she was truthful. She was truthful to others… and more importantly, she was truthful to herself.

     Meenu stared back at Master Red as he watched her for a long time.

     She knew very well that his silent stare was evaluating her.

     And after a long, long time… he smiled at her.

     Meenu hesitated.

     “Come.” He said, as he started to walk.

     She hesitated again before she started walking behind him

     He guided her to the Lumynos Family Hall and Meenu felt her heart ache a little.

     The last time she came here was with Seliaryn.

     “So you’re planning on going to find Seliaryn?” He asked as they entered the hall.

     Meenu’s head shot up. She could never figure out how he always knew everything. But she nodded.

     That was what she wanted to do.

     She understood Avaryn. She understood that he was busy… but she wasn’t going to let Seliaryn think for longer than he needed to that Avaryn did it.

     Besides, Seliaryn probably just needed a friend right now and she wanted to be there for him.

     “Does Avaryn know?”

     “Not yet… I’ll tell him before I go but I have a feeling he suspects that that’s what I’m going to do.”

     “I see.” Master Red said, but just as he said that, they stopped in front of the door that lead to the weapons room.

     Meenu remembered Seliaryn telling her that she wasn’t allowed in there.

     But when Master Red placed his hand on the door handle, it let out a red glow. Then he pushed the door open.

     Meenu stared in awe at the magic that had just unfolded right before her. “How…” She knew though that she didn’t need to be too surprised, Master Red could do a lot of strange things.

     “Come in.” He said when he noticed her in her frozen state.

     “Are you sure I’m allowed?”

     He just nodded.

     She stepped inside and the second she stepped in, she froze once again.

     The hall was huge.

     It could have been the size of the throne room itself.

     There were multiple weapons scattered across the room in glass casing, all of which looked sparkling clean… as if they were brand new.

     But that wasn’t what made her stand there frozen.

     What made her freeze was the gigantic painting of the famous Lumyryn that sat on the other side of the hall.

     The painting was stunning… lifelike. And Meenu’s mouth was wide open as she stared at the utterly handsome man who had been captured in time by this artist.

     He looked exactly like how he looked in that statue… except in colour.

     But what this painting confirmed was the gentle nature of his eyes.

     Meenu swallowed and took a breath.

     She watched as Master Red walked right up to the painting and bowed, getting down on one knee.

     After a moment, he stood up and turned to Meenu. “Come.” He called from the other side of the hall.

     His voice echoed and Meenu had to gulp back her amazement before she ran towards him.

     And just as she makes it to him, she finally noticed the huge axe. Like all the other weapons, it too sat in glass casing.

     But Meenu couldn’t believe how huge it was.

     How could a man carry such a heavy looking weapon?

     But then Meenu remembered that this man was not just any man.

     He was a Lumynos man.

     The Axe didn’t look too luxurious, except for its size.

     But the handle did have five small rubies in it.

     Other than that, it wasn’t as glorious looking as its Master.

     “Meenu.”

     She turned around and looked at her own Master.

     “Remove your blouse.”

     She hesitated. “What?”

     He didn’t say it again. Instead, he walked over to another glass case. He lifted the glass up and pulled what was hidden under it.

     And when he walked back to Meenu, her eyes widened.

     It was a branding iron.

     Master Red gave it a little shake and Meenu’s shoulders dropped when it immediately turned into a fiery orange colour, as if it had been sitting in flames for a long time.

     “Warriorhood is in fact a newer thing in Raffyre… but King Kyryn believed that many of the myths of Lumyryn showed him to have been a perfect warrior. That is why the late King hoped to conduct any initiations in here. In front of a man who legend believes to have been the most noble.”

     Meenu’s eyes flickered from her master, to the painting and then back to her master.

     “You want to become a true warrior?”

     Meenu nodded.

     “Then remove your blouse and kneel before Lumyryn.”

     Meenu took a breath before she loosened the strings from the front of her white blouse. She lifted it over her head and then started to unwrap the cloth she used to cover her breast.

     Of course, she felt uncomfortable but she knew this had to be done.

     Fury must have done it.

     And Life too.

     So when she had it all off, she knelt down before the painting and swallowed hard again.

     “Repeat after me,” Master Red started. He continued when Meenu nodded. “Before the Lord Lumyryn and all the others that watch over me,” He started.

     “Before the Lord Lumyryn and all the others that watch over me…”

     “I, Meenu Kyrus, promise with my entire heart, soul and every inch of my being…”

     “I, Meenu Kyrus, promise with my entire heart, soul and every inch of my being…” Meenu copied.

     “To do everything in my power to protect those in need.”

     “To do everything in my power to protect those in need.”

     “I promise to follow the Code of the Warrior and I accept that any unforgivable action will result in my death.”

     Meenu nodded as she said it: “I promise to follow the Code of the Warrior and I accept that any unforgivable action will result in my death.”

     “Are you ready, Meenu Kyrus?”

     Meenu nodded. “I am.”

     And just after she said it, she gasped at the excruciating pain of hot metal touching her flesh.

     She bit her lip as hard as she could and her fingers started to try and dig into the cement floor.

     Knight sat near her in panic, knowing she was in pain… but know that he wasn’t supposed to do anything. So instead, the wolf came closer to her.

     And when Master Red pulled the branding iron from her skin, Knight nuzzled her neck with his snout.

     Meenu sat there, still biting her lip, her eyes closed tightly as she tried not to shout in pain.

     “And there you have it, Meenu Kyrus.” Master Red said, “you are officially a warrior.”

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HELLO!!!!!! 

So as I mentioned a couple chapters earlier, the first book is coming to an end! There is one more chapter and then the epilogue!!

Of course, there's nothing to worry about, the story will continue one without a pause as if it's still one big book! HEHE! I just wanted to give you a heads up cause you'll see an Epilogue and then another Prologue and you might be like "Whaaaaaaa"

ALSO, I will be uploading the next chapter in a day or so just because it's the last chapter and thought that I might as well hurry up and end the first book! HEHE!

Thank you as always for your amazing support!!!! Talk to you all soon!!!

-Luckycharms <3