Pierre The hunters could not believe that females were part of their army. They were not going to accept this with grace. Complaints rolled into the trainers and the generals. Their words landed on deaf ears, our master's word was law. The practice ground had been expanded to adapt to the growing numbers of fighters needing to go through their drills. All of the instructors had been introduced to the Master's elites. Without a word, children from the ages of four to ten, boys and girls stood in rows eight with roughly thirty children each. When the Merna entered the field everyone bowed in respect. Following her, their elites worked with the instructors. In unison, the children practised each move. Merna and those who followed her went up and down the rows correcting the children's posture. After their lesson, the next group took to the field. Youths from the ages of eleven to their late teens positioned themselves like the children in ten rows with thirty children. Like the children, their training began the same. The younger ones were expected to try their best, the older teenagers were pushed harder. I could spot the ones who were training to join the army and those that were not. The last to join the group consisted of all of the adults. Like the youths, their drills were pushed to the limit. When they were done, those who were not part of the army were asked to leave and complete their tasks. The others were to remain! Their elites took to the field, and the remaining thirty five thousand fighters were divided among the elites. The fighters were told to attack the elite fighter, the group that was able to take down the individual in the centre would get out of the next drill. All eyes were on the female elites. There were eight in total, Merna being one of them. ‘’You see those elites?’’ Ashur came up behind me. ‘’What about them?’’ My eyes were narrowed on Merna. ‘’They are part of the constellation and a few zodiac members.’’ Ashur had a big smile on his face. ‘’They are the best of the best … trained to fight and kill in all situations. I would not challenge them if I were you!’’ Apus was taken down by the group that had sparred off with him. He shocked you each of their hands pleased with their skills to work as a group. Orion was quick to defeat his opponents, filled by Draco, Ara, Pegasus, Cancer, and Carina. The last group on the field was Merna. Those who were to spar with her were hesitant to attack.‘’Come on you little bitches attack!’’ Orion yelled. The group around him started to laugh. Merna smiled, motioning her head to look at Orion. The group took this distraction as a point to attack. One at a time Merna was able to send the fighters to the ground. The last one decided it was safer and tapped out. Everyone was laughing at the scene that had happened before our eyes. One of our elites stood up and said ‘’how can hunters like this go our ranks when they are scared of a female?’’ The smirk on Merna’s face told me they had expected this. I glanced over at the group of generals. One spotted me staring at them. Shaking my head I gave them a silent warning not to challenge her. I had known Merna for many years! She always had a cocky grin when she was about to humiliate someone in a manner that they would never forget. Hassun glared at me, ‘what do you know that we do not?’ He linked me. ‘You challenge her, you are going to regret it on an epic level. Those that were to attack her … Bugbear Tank was not lying, those fighters were scared of Merna. But not for the reasons we think! Did you not see how everyone of them bowed when Merna showed up!’ ‘Yeah what about it?’ ‘Merna is one of them … a bird! From what Sadragon told me their leaders are not by blood rank but by performance … a leader has to prove they are suited for leadership. When we were in the Great Hall, they called her by the title of Queen.’ I linked Hassun back. Just as the dots were adding up, Hassun stood up but it was too late. Tank was heading into the middle of the field squaring off with Merna. Merna glanced once at her group only for Tank to charge at her. The smile on Merna’s face never left. She had speed that none of us had seen. Tank swung his arms each time missing Merna. Tank would attack with his legs. Merna danced around him as if he were a child learning to fight. Making a mockery out of Tank. Cancer stood up, ‘’enough … finish him!’’ Tank attacked one more time! One punch was powerful enough to send Tank flying backwards. He landed on his backside not moving. All who did not know Merna well were up on their feet. They could not believe that one female could do this much damage. ‘’See Father, even without wings they can fly!’’ Cancer's son, Pisces, added salt to the wound I knew Tank was not going to heal from.Merna strolled over to Tank, kneeling, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, ‘’One… two … three … kill! Anything more than three moves, you are just playing with your food!’’ She stood up. ‘’You fight like a child that is learning to walk, it is very sloppy. Parpavar and Mannel’s army fights better than you!’’ Tank slowly was starting to stand up, ‘’and who taught you to fight?’’ He was hissing out venom. ‘’Queen Iravu … sister to Chaos … your master!’’ She matched the energy that was given to her. ‘’You might recognize the fighting style, Ime and Ihel, who are the grandchildren of Queen Iravu … they have the same training!’’ Merna strolled away while yelling, ‘’Everyone clear the field! This lot needs more training than we do!’’