Page 37 of Zepharali: Lord of the East Winds (Lords of the Wind Book 3)

Zepharali

Four Weeks Later

Zepharali stayed concealed within the observation tower that gave him the best view of Dorema’s difficult training grounds.

He’d promised he would not intervene in Lazaar’s training, but it was the hardest promise he’d ever fulfilled.

Zepharali believed his daughters worked Lazaar too hard, but they treated him the same as the rest of the infantry.

Lazaar was bent over, gasping for breath after going through the full obstacle course for the hundredth time today, if not more.

For all the gods, Dorema. Let him at least get some water.

Zepharali was proud of Lazaar’s amazing progress, but it was always a battle of wills for him not to whisk his love away.

But if he’d done that, Lazaar’s fireballs wouldn’t be as sharp as they were now. He had faster reflexes and was hitting his targets every time.

His warlock magic was still a bit slow, unable to combat the many sunlocks training spells.

However, he could counteract and blink so fast that Zepharali and the other titanesses struggled to keep up with him. But it still wasn’t enough.

Lazaar struggled with mastering weapons and hand-to-hand combat. He wouldn’t be able to rely solely on his fire lord abilities as his primary weapon. He’d need to harness all of them…at the same time.

It was as if he were afraid to pull too hard from his dark power.

Lazaar

After another grueling week of training, Lazaar was beating the hell out of himself for demanding to be treated as an equal.

The Officials of Training were all prior infantry warriors who’d been relieved of duties due to injuries they’d sustained in prior battles, but just like Elephaa, it was not an excuse they could use to shirk other duties.

Sometimes, Lazaar felt they expected too much from him, but he’d caught bits and pieces of conversations—with his enhanced hearing—of the war bound for Scáthanna.

Zepharali’s war council meetings had his beloved worried.

A threat was coming, and he was the reason. So he would train as hard as his body allowed to help in the fight.

Lazaar was finally granted one day off to enjoy himself and spend much-needed time with his titan.

For the past several weeks, all he’d managed to do when he got in from training was to take a long, steaming bath, fall into bed, feed from his beloved, then fall into an exhausted sleep.

But today, he’d slept in until well after the suns rose. He’d eaten a hearty breakfast with Zepharali—after three weeks of only having time for a quick kiss goodbye—before he went to his council’s capital to hear and address the concerns of his people.

Zepharali had promised it wouldn’t take long and they’d have some alone time before they were to prepare for the celebration tonight, the premier of the theater’s dramatization: A Titan’s Battles–The Tragedies and Victories of Helios.

Almost all of Scáthanna would be there, and Lazaar was beyond excited for a night out on the arm of his beloved.