Page 32 of Fighting the Darkness

“Great. Another smartass. Just what I need in my life.” Soren sighs as he drops into the chair beside me.

Griffin shakes his head. “She’s not wrong, Sor. You are being more of an ass than usual.”

Soren dismisses Griffin with a wave of his hand. “Do you want to start with the nutrition plan? Or should I go first?”

“Since you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you go first?” Something flashes in Griffin’s eyes, and I can’t help looking between the two of them as they have a stare-off.

I glance at Cook, who just shrugs.

Finally, Soren leans forward and snatches something off Griffin’s desk before shoving it into my hands.

“This is your schedule. You’ll find sessions with both me and Griffin. There are also some suggested classes I’d like you to take outside of our training. They’ll help limber you up and get you in the shape I need you in to really start training you.

“You’ll also notice that I have you walking or running every day. Right now, I doubt you could even run half a mile, so I want you to start off walking. You can try jogging for small distances if you feel comfortable, but it’s mostly about building you up. Eventually, you’ll be expected to run five miles a day.”

“Five miles? Every day?” Is he serious right now?

Soren smirks. “I told you this wouldn’t be easy. If you want this, you’re going to have to put in the work.”

I nod absently as my eyes run over the papers he’s given me. He has me scheduled with either him or Griffin every day for an hour or two each day. I notice there are other schedules, but there aren’t any dates listed on them.

“Why are there no dates on these?” I ask, looking up.

“I wanted you to see what we’re building up to. That last sheet is what your training plan will look like eventually. The others are how we build up to them based upon where you’re at now. You’ve got a long way to go, and we won’t set a date for you to reach the next level.” Griffin steeples his hands in front of him as my eyes turn to him. “Everyone is different—their bodies react differently. It could take you a month or even six months to get to the next schedule. We just won’t know until you get started.”

“That makes sense,” I murmur. “This says you want me to take yoga, Pilates, tai chi, and ballet? Why?”

“To help with balance, mobility, and flexibility,” Soren says lazily. “You don’t have to do all of them at once, but those are the classes that are likely to help you the most. You can do just one or two, or you can alternate between any number of them. It’s up to you. But you need them.”

“Because I have no balance, mobility, or flexibility?” I don’t know if I should be offended or not, but I’m definitely leaning toward yes. “I took ballet as a kid. I haven’t had a class in years, though.”

Griffin chuckles. “It’s not that you don’t have those things. It’s just that you don’t have enough. Doing these classes will help improve on those things. Right now, you’re out of shape and unhealthily thin. We can’t train you as hard as we would someone who was already in shape. These are all just things to help you progress faster, so you’re hopefully not stuck on this first workout plan for a long time.”

“That makes me feel a little better, I guess.”

“Awesome. Am I done here?” Soren is already pushing to his feet, and I roll my eyes.

“Are you always like this, or is it just for me?” I can’t help but ask.

Soren turns his head toward me slowly, cocking his brows. “You’re not special enough for this to have anything to do with you, princess.”

With that, he spins on his heel and heads for the door.

“Asshole,” I grouse as the door shuts behind him. Lifting my head to meet Griffin’s eyes. “Is he always this pleasant?”

Griffin snorts. “More often than not, sadly.”

“Great. So I get to train with a grumpy asshole. Good times.”

Griffin winces. “I’m sorry. It’s just he’s the best besides me.”

I wave off his concern. “Nah, it’s fine. He can be an ass, he just better be ready for me to be one right back.”

“Damn, I wish I could be here to see this.” Cook snickers.

“How about we get back to the topic at hand?” Griffin sighs, grabbing more papers from his desk and handing them to me. “This is actually easier with Cook being here. He knows this world so he knows the kind of foods that fighters need to eat. More than that, he knows how to help you put on weight healthily. If you want, I can go over it all with you or you can just let him handle all of it.”

I consider him for a moment. “If you don’t mind going over it, I’d like to know. Cook isn’t always around, and I need to know how to eat when I’m out.”

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