Poppy took us to a little more upscale inn. She offered to pay for it all, but I made sure they split the bill. I wasn't about to let the kid be indebted to her over lunch.

  A large roast, still on the bone, was placed in front of me. Keagan and Poppy both had hearty porridges with strips of bread covered in butter and cheese. Tickles had a bowl of spice-covered roasted peanuts. The nuts made my boss twinge from across the table.

  I made sure we sat at a round table where I could keep the two kalands apart. Poppy wouldn't just let us eat and leave. No, she wanted small talk.

  “So, where are you from?” She asked before blowing on the piping hot porridge.

  The kid tore a piece of the cheesy bread. “A little village to the west. Fiedvell, if you've heard of it. I've got a ranch where I'm training Lucia.”

  “How… rustic,” Tickles added in between peanuts.

  Poppy waved the squirrel's comment away. “Nonsense. Ranches are the traditional way to train monsters. I think it's great you have one.”

  I swallowed my mouthful. “Then how do you train?”

  “In a gym, of course.” Tickles bounced his tail as he struck a pose. His stuffed cheeks made him look ridiculous.

  “Gyms?” I asked.

  “Oh, right.” Keagan slapped his hand on the table. “I forgot; I wanted to see one before we left.” He turned to me. “It's a building where a bunch of trainers spend downtime training their monsters, sharing the equipment.”

  Poppy pulled her spoon out of her mouth and pointed it at the boy. “If you'd like, I can show you the one we have our membership with. Tickles needs to work on power today.”

  “We were going to leave once we finished eating,” I grumbled.

  What's this girl's problem? It's like she's trying to keep him here.

  “Come on, Lucia,” Keagan whined. “It’ll be cool to see the equipment. Maybe once we get enough money, we can get equipment like that on our own.”

  I gnawed the end of the bone and gave the boy a flat look. “You really think having equipment will make all the difference? I’m sure there are ways to do everything equipment does without spending any money.”

  Keagan laughed nervously. “That’s… not the same.”

  Poppy smirked, leaning on her elbows. “Oh, I don’t know. You were quite creative before. It’s an endearing trait. With all that open air, who needs a treadmill?”

  Tickles squeaked and flexed his tiny arms. “A wolf running in circles chasing their own tail? I’d pay to see that. Besides, a treadmill isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.”

  I set the bone down hard enough to rattle the bowls. “See? We don’t need those likely overpriced paperweights. I’m not inept.”

  Keagan waved his hands frantically. “No one’s saying you are!” Then lowered his head and muttered, “I just thought it would be efficient.”

  Poppy grinned, all too pleased with herself. “See? He’s got the right idea. Always looking for ways to improve. That’s what gyms are about—constant progression. You could meet other people climbing the ranks and get a feel for how they train.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “And what do you get out of dragging us there?”

  “Company,” she said simply, scooping up another spoonful of porridge. “It’s boring training alone. Besides, I kind of like having someone my age around who isn’t clueless and doesn’t think enforcers are terrifying.”

  Tickles raised a paw. “Correction: most enforcers are terrifying. They’re not wrong to worry. I’m just the cute version.”

  Poppy flicked his ear. “Shut it.” She nodded toward Keagan, who was still chewing his bread like he hadn’t caught half the subtext. “So how did you start so young anyway?”

  I leaned forward to try and block some of her vision of the boy. “You’re not exactly old yourself.”

  Keagan swallowed and grinned. “I don’t know, you seem normal to me. Just a little bossy.”

  “Normal,” she repeated, laughing. “Haven’t been called that before. And for your information, Lucia, I’ve been doing this for a little more than two years with Tickles. He was my eighteenth birthday present from my dad.”

  “Well, I found Lucia’s stone in the ground one day.” The boy waved to me. “It was like fate. But to be an enforcer after only two years, that’s got to be some kind of record, right?”

  Poppy waved her hand dismissively while smiling playfully. “Not quite. But who’s really counting? Wasn’t I supposed to be normal?”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  I licked marrow from the roast bone and muttered, “It’s pretty obvious you’re not.”

  Her smile didn’t dim. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  Keagan leaned toward me, his eyes pleading in that way that usually got him out of trouble. “Lucia, can we at least look? We don’t have to stay long. Just… five minutes?”

  I sighed, ears twitching. “Fine. Five minutes. And if this ‘gym’ is as boring as it sounds, we leave.”

  Poppy clapped once, triumphant. “Perfect. Tickles, finish up; leg day awaits.”

  The squirrel puffed out his chest. “I never miss leg day!”

  I rubbed a paw over my face. What had I just agreed to?

  The gym was bigger than I expected. Nor was it nearly as fancy as I’d pictured. It was a long, wide barn built of timber beams and brick. It smelled of oiled wood, leather, and sweat. Lanterns lined the rafters, bright enough to fill the space without shadows. Rows of contraptions stretched the length of the hall—iron frames, pulleys, weights, chains, and thick ropes knotted in strange patterns. Some of the weights were massive: solid iron obelisks taller than the roc I fought in the tournament.

  Dozens of monsters worked the stations. A minotaur with long white fur strained against a harness that dragged weighted sleds across the floor, his hooves gouging the planks. Two giant lions, one with green fur, the other with black, tugged against one another with a chain in their mouths. A pair of pixies, one with plants for hair and the other with wolf ears, a tail, and claws, hopped from perch to perch in a balancing act that looked more circus than combat training. Even a hulking dullahan with horns and larger-than-normal arms crept along a small track, dragging a platform stacked with boulders.

  It was loud and sweaty and the most offensive sensory experience I could remember.

  Keagan’s jaw dropped. “This is incredible.”

  I flicked my ears. “That’s not the word I would use.”

  Poppy ignored me. She led us toward the far end, where a row of thick ropes dangled from the ceiling with small weights on them. Tickles leapt off her shoulder, stretched, then bounded to the first rope.

  “Watch closely, fluffball,” he said, grinning as he wrapped his small paws around the cord.

  Poppy started to swing the rest of the ropes. Back and forth like pendulums they swung. They kept going back and forth. Then, like lightning, leaving sparks in his wake, he darted from one rope to the next. Each time he pushed off, the rope kicked further out. It was like he was waiting for them to be the furthest apart before moving.

  My hackles rose. He crossed fifty feet in…

  He caught the last rope halfway down, claws digging in to slow his fall. Sparks hissed across the fibers as his fur bristled and spun around while sliding down it. He landed in a crouch and flexed.

  “Pretty quick, huh?” He winked at Keagan while his tail flicked behind him. “Want to see me do it again?”

  I looked him up and down and snorted, “Big deal. So you can jump on some ropes.”

  Poppy laughed, patting his head. “Three and a half seconds. You were sandbagging just to show off.”

  That’s him not taking it seriously?

  Keagan’s eyes were bright. “Lucia, maybe you could try something? Just to see?”

  I bared a fang. “I don’t perform for crowds.”

  “Not a crowd,” the squirrel coaxed. “Just us. Unless you’re scared.”

  I wanted to say no, but Tickles's words made my blood itch. Fine. He’s not that special.

  I padded to a rack where chain links were attached to an iron bar straddling over a bench. Poppy grabbed two hooks and slid them through the bar in openings made for them. The hooks were attached to a pulley system above, and another bar was behind as a place for me to pull down to lift the other one up. I started wrapping more chains around the bar on each end.

  “Lucia,” Keagan whispered, “don’t hurt yourself.”

  I snorted. “Don’t insult me.”

  The iron was cold under my claws. I pushed down. The rod came up easy—lighter than I expected—and I set it down with a thud. Keagan looked amazed, while Tickles smirked and Poppy nodded.

  “More,” I stated flatly.

  Poppy calmly added more links, wrapping another six rotations on each side. She waved to me. My shoulders bunched as I put everything I could into it, but my foot slipped. I let out a growl as I slammed down on it again. The bar lifted. I held it up.

  Keagan took in a sharp breath. After holding it for fifteen seconds, I let it drop. The subtle heat in my muscles grew as I strode away from the bar.

  A tiny applause came from Tickles. “Not bad. Your strength is the real deal.”

  Keagan let out the breath he had held. “How… how much is that?”

  Poppy ran her fingers on the chains. “Six hundred pounds. Two and a half pounds per link. It’s a bit overkill for rank E.” She waved to her partner. “He can only lift five-fifty.”

  My lips tugged into a smirk. “Not so special now, are you?”

  Tickles crossed his arms and huffed. “Power is my weakest stat. At least I’m not a musclehead.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” I flicked my tail and stepped to the door, chest rising with steady breaths. My fur tingled from the effort, but it felt good. Pride. I hadn’t tested myself outside of battle.

  Tickles threw his head back, feigning disinterest. “Strength’s nice, but let’s see you run.”

  He darted to a track marked in chalk along the floor. He bolted, a streak of yellow fur and crackling sparks. It was reminiscent of the special attack Velleigh used in our fight, but more contained and faster. By the time I blinked, he’d circled back. Three more laps and he came to a stop, panting slightly.

  Keagan looked up at me, eyes shining. “What do you think? Want to try the track?”

  My claws scraped the floor. “Fine,” I growled. “But if I win, the squirrel shuts up.”

  Tickles’s grin widened. “Deal.”

  Even digging my claws and propelling myself as hard as I could, nothing could get me even close to as fast as he was. Though the world blurred around me, I came up short.

  Very short.

  Keagan scratched behind my ear. “It’s okay; it’s not that big of a deal that he ran that four times faster than you.”

  The annoying pipsqueak put a paw to his ear. “Is that jealousy I hear?”

  “You’re more than two years old,” I growled. “This proves nothing. I’m only a couple of months old. Enjoy your victory over someone you should beat.”

  I stormed out.

  Keagan kept up with me. “Hey, Lucia.” I turned to him. “No wonder you try so hard to win at everything. I didn’t realize you were such a sore loser.”

  “You had your five minutes,” I said flatly. “We were supposed to go home, remember? Let’s go.”

  Poppy ran up to us. “Hey, Keagan. I get it; Lucia wants to leave. Today was fun, as short as it was. Next time you’re in town, come find me. I’d love to do this again. Maybe we can leave the monsters someplace where they can entertain themselves.”

  I blinked at her. “Are… are you hitting on the kid?”

  Keagan turned bright red.

  Poppy shrugged. “So what if he’s a few years younger than me? I can wait a few years and keep my options open.”

  I shoved the kid down the street. “We are leaving. Now!”

  Keagan is definitely too young for that kind of talk. Now I’ve got to protect him from someone who wants to marry him already. I was not prepared to defend him from that kind of danger when I woke up this morning.

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0BVWLYCT3