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Kipp gave a sombre nod before facing their unit. ‘Weapons at the ready,’ he called, his voice suddenly loud and authoritative.

The force did as he commanded.

‘On my mark,’ he shouted. ‘Charge!’

Thea sprung into action with the rest, sprinting over the plains, brandishing her shield and wooden practice sword.

The two forces clashed messily together, a blur of coloured paints and flailing limbs, shouts filling the air.

And yet no one landed a single blow against her.

She whirled across the battlefield, light on her feet, darting away from attacks and delivering faux slices and thrusts to the opposition, streaking several shieldbearers with blue paint.

But there was something laughable about it all. Wasn’t battle supposed to be more sophisticated than this? To Thea, it felt like a bunch of idiotic children trying to mimic something they did not understand.

‘Enough!’ roared Vernich over the clamour. ‘Pathetic! I’d sooner die than fight alongside —’

‘You’ve made your point, Vernich,’ Torj snapped. ‘My unit, with me. We go again.’

Once they had trudged back to their side of the plains, Torj surveyed them. ‘This exercise develops tactical, strategic and disciplined habits… As loath as I am to agree with the Bloodletter – I saw nothing of the sort.’

Torj paced before them, swinging his war hammer and shaking his head furiously. ‘When you’re out on a real battlefield, it will not be so luxurious. Start taking this seriously. Their paint means death.Do you want to die today?’

‘No, Sir!’ came the unified reply.

‘I said,do you want to die today?’

‘No, Sir!’

‘Then get —’

‘Sir?’ Kipp called out.

Torj raised his brows. ‘You’re interrupting a Warsword in the middle of —’

‘Yes, Sir!’ Kipp replied. ‘Only because you told me to strategise…’

‘And?’

‘This is a full-scale field exercise, Sir… And no one is utilising that crest up there,’ Kipp pointed to a rise in the land to the north. ‘We could send a small unit of archers. Taking the high ground is the backbone of a million military strategies, Sir.’

A slow smile spread across Torj’s face. ‘And who taught you that, Kipp?’

‘You did, Sir.’

Pride swelled in Thea’s chest. Kipp might have been a poor swordsman, but true to his word, he was a killer strategist through and through.

‘You’re damn right I did.’ The Warsword addressed the shieldbearer on Kipp’s left. ‘Cal, take ten of our best archers and attack from that rise.’

Cal instantly turned to Thea.

‘Althea stays front and centre. She volunteered, that’s her position for the rest of the battle.’

Disappointment bloomed in Thea’s gut, but she obeyed, twirling her sword at the ready. She had a point to prove.

At Torj’s command, Thea led the next charge across the plain, while Cal rained arrows down upon the enemy and Kipp directed from the rear of the force. Shouts sounded from the other side, and Thea saw a flurry of blue somewhere ahead. It was going well.

Until the counter.