Breakfast

The dining hall had three rows with tables, each had two benches, which hinted again at how big the temple was.

But why is it this empty? Besides Renard and Qiin, i haven't seen any other monks …

“How many people live here?”

Qiin stayed quiet for a few seconds before answering: “A few dozen. We sadly don't have as many believers living here anymore. The conflict between the goddesses has caused many a loss on both sides.” He shook his head. “Aside from that, most of us are busy. There are vegetable patches outside that need tending to, others pray to our lady so she might gain strength, and others again are copying books. Which means that all of them rise and have breakfast even before the first rays of the sun reach the temple walls.”

“Isn’t it still before sunrise?” she asked. The whole thing with her nightvision-ability threw her sense of time off.

“It is still dark, but dawn has broken already. That is why we came to wake you.”

Nia shook her head. It’s dark, but dawn has broken? Somehow that didn’t make sense,

“Take a seat. I am sure your companions will join you soon, since Renard has gone to wake them.” Qiin walked away. “In the meantime, I will organize a late breakfast for you all.”

Breakfast at the break of dawn is late? Things seemed to become crazier by the minute. Whoever thought that the medieval times were romantic can go and … do things to themselves!

Nia sat down and stared at her hands. She knew that they were smaller than before, because she herself was smaller. She even felt the difference, but her eyes told her that everything was perfectly fine. She only hoped that the magic hadn’t rearranged something in her head.

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. That was nothing she could do anything about.

When she opened her eyes again, she barely noticed a shadow that hinted at both more of the sun coming up, and someone standing next to her. As she looked to them, she stared straight into Tommy's face.

“Just so you know: I hate you for ruining my relationship!” he hissed.

I'm pretty sure you managed that on your own.

“Maybe I'll have you take responsibility for all the sex I am missing out on!”

Wait a moment. Are you threatening to … Her eyes went wide. “You didn't just …”

“Someone has to teach you not to interfere with my relationships.”

She gulped. That was a real possibility now. A threat she hadn’t even thought about before. “I’d rather die before I let you do anything like that to me,” she hissed back.

“If that’s what it takes to teach you, then I don’t mind!” Tommy crossed his arms behind his back.

Anger boiled in her and she aimed for his face. He caught her fist like she was just a little girl. It frustrated her more than anything that she didn’t have any strength, any power to protect herself from someone like him.

At least he didn’t grin at her predicament, and just fixed her with a cold gaze. He also didn’t say anything anymore.

“Good morning Nia, good morning Tom!” Ralf's cheerful voice managed to ruin the dark mood. Tommy let go of her hand and turned away, waving to the newcomer. “Morning, Ralf. How are you?”

Ralf wasn’t wearing the ornate armor today, just a shirt. The muscles that were visible on his arms were impressive, and explained why he had no problems moving around in that armor while also swinging a sword. Maybe he really was the ideal choice for a warrior.

“I’m fine. Though it’s much too early for my taste.” The pseudo-dwarf then sat down next to her. “How did you sleep?”

“My night and my morning were both horrible,” she answered, glancing at Tom. “Just don’t ask!”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But I am sure you'll get used to it soon.”

To what? The nightmares? Tommy’s threats? Or the dangers of womanhood as a whole?

A shiver ran down her spine. If he forced himself on her … could she get pregnant from that?

“What’s up? You're suddenly very pale.” Ralf looked at her, concerned.

“I … I just realized something,” she whispered. She needed a way to protect herself. Badly!

“What happened to you, girl?” Tina asked. She had taken the seat opposite of her and reached out to her hair. “You need to take care of yourself!” The office lady looked out of place in the leather suit she was wearing. And yet she managed to pull a comb out of seemingly nowhere and handed it to Nia. “Here. Trust me, you want to do this every day. You don’t want knots to form.”

All your expectations and threats are worse than the change itself! She almost threw her hands up and ran out. Only her growling stomach held her back.

After the shock subsided, Nia deflated and rested her forehead on the table.

“I guess it’s still too much for you, is it?” Tina asked. She noticed that the woman got up and was next to her a moment later, pulling her upwards. Then she turned her slightly away and started to comb her hair.

Nia felt too weak to resist. Several minutes passed like that in silence. A group of several strangers that just met the other day didn’t have that much to talk about, after all. That changed when Sonja walked in, brother Renard in tow.

The girl made a bee-line to the table and put her hands on the hard wooden surface directly in front of Nia. “Just to make this clear: Don’t touch my boyfriend. Don’t even think about it!”

Nia’s thoughts locked up. Was she really made into the villain by both of them?

“You’re not angry at me anymore?” Tommy asked, a bit of hope clearly audible in his voice.

“I didn’t say that!” she snapped at him. “We’ll talk about you wanting to date other girls behind my back at another time!” Then the girl turned back to Nia. "Do you understand me?”

The nerve … Anger boiled deep inside her, and she shot up. Tina’s comb fell to the floor. “I don’t even want to be near him at all!” She spoke with barely controlled anger.

“Yesterday that sounded very different!”

“Look, just keep him away from me, and we have a deal.” Nia saw no need to explain herself, or to even mention anything he had told her this morning. No matter what she said, she’d probably be in the wrong anyways.

Sonja looked into her eyes for a while, then lifted a hand. “Deal,” she agreed. Nia took her hand and shook it. “Deal.”

“It seems that you’re bonding. Very good.” Qiin’s voice pulled their attention to him. He carried two stacked baskets and put them down on the table between them. The bread in the bottom one smelled as if it was freshly out of the oven. The other basket held some more of the strange fruit.

“Eat. You will need your strength, because your training will began right after you’ve eaten something.”

They all nodded. The seriousness of the situation had set in, and they all knew they had to do their best to survive this. To even have a chance to go home.

“Nia, since you are the priestess of your group, I’ll instruct you personally.”

Nia sighed and nodded, then she took one of the bread slices and something that looked like a cucumber. Surprisingly it also tasted like one.

While they ate in silence, Renard returned with a bunch of people in tow.

“Ah, your instructors have arrived.” Qiin smiled and pointed to the first monk. Or rather nun? She was wearing the usual robes the other monks wore, and not a typical nun shift.

Stop expecting things you know. This is another world! Nia chided herself.

“This is Lynn. She knows how to wield a bow and will be Tom’s instructor.”

Lynn had short black hair and exuded an aura of confidence.

“Gregor will be teaching Ralf how to properly wield a sword.” A big burly monk stepped forward. Several scars decorated his face and hinted at a life full of battle.

Are these really monks? Or are my experiences of my own world twisting my expectations for this one?

“Robb will teach Tina how to move quiet, how to strike quickly and with as much accuracy as possible.”

The thieving monk had immaculate skin, long black hair and a charismatic smile. He was quite pleasing to the eyes.

“And lastly, Mira will teach Sonja how she can access her inner strength to cast magic.”

The last monk—or nun?—had brown hair that hung down to the small of her back. Nothing pointed at the fact that she was—apparently—proficient with magic.

Why did they give us all these stereotypical clothes, while they’re all just wearing normal robes?

Why did it feel like some things didn’t quite fit together? As if they were more pandering to their expectations than working to a real solution to their problem?

If they were now really learning skills then having Sonja learn magic could be seen as some kind of blessing. She had seen Ralf wield a sword effortlessly. How was Tom with the bow? Or Tina slinking through the shadows?

She’d probably get to know the results after the first training session. She didn’t really want to do this, but she had to start somewhere. So she got up and walked to the head monk. “I am ready. We can start the training.”