"Come on, make it faster, Vien."
Ares's voice carried across the training ground, loud enough to echo off the stone walls.
I pushed my legs harder, my feet pounding against the packed dirt as I ran through yet another drill.
My chest burned, my arms pumped, sweat stung my eyes, but still, I pushed.
I wished I could give him the speed he demanded. Three weeks of training had made my body stronger, more durable than it had ever been, yet by Ares's standards, I knew it still wasn't enough. He was a warrior, after all.
But he never made me feel like a failure. Every time I improved, even a little, he acknowledged it with a grin or a word of encouragement.
And somehow, in those moments, I didn't feel like his student… I felt like I had a brother.
