Abendau's Heir (The Inheritance Trilogy Book 1) by Jo Zebedee

time locking his foot, and hoisted himself up until his arms could pull him up the last bit. He shook with exertion as he struggled to get over the lip of the wall.
    “Come on, your ass is hanging out, it’s not pretty!”
    It wasn’t funny; he was trying as hard as he could. Anger washed over him and he pulled himself onto the top of the wall. He paused, taking a deep breath, blowing it out so hard that it lifted his fringe from his eyes– he could see why the army guys all had crops– and jumped down. He landed, hard, the impact jarring the breath from him. Still, he’d got this far; now for the rest.
    He stopped. The row of bars in front of him was easily seven feet from the ground. Silom was nearly across, his hands moving in a rhythm, making it look easy. Kare’s breath burned his chest. He didn’t know how he would even manage the jump onto them.
    “Varnon, we want to get to the mess today. Move!” shouted Stitt. He glanced at her, and decided he didn’t respect her: he hated her. “Move, or I’ll keep you here all night!”
    He ran, jumped, and grabbed the first bar, already struggling. His left hand slipped off, making him gasp at the jolt and he had to grit his teeth to bring it back up. Below, he heard muted laughter. He couldn’t give up and face them. His hands started to slip, sweaty from the run, and he kicked his legs, desperate not to fall off.
    “Come on, you can do it!” shouted a different voice– le Payne, he guessed.
    He swung his legs, trying to get enough momentum to shift one hand onto the next bar. He let go with his right, missed, and knew he was going to fall. Instinctively, he snapped the air beneath into something more solid, so he could hold on. Hell, if he wanted to, he could have walked on it. He grasped the next bar and remembered Eevan le Payne’s order. He hesitated, his arms still burning. Fuck it, they have to catch me.
    He moved along, keeping the air beneath him a little denser than it should be. He dropped off the end and saw Silom climbing out of the waist deep water ahead. He jumped into the water, pushing it to the side, splashing through it, instead of wading. He got out, making sure he’d brought the level up, so that he sloshed as Silom had, and ran to the climbing wall. He scaled it easily, his psyche supporting him, and for a moment thought he might overtake Silom. He didn’t, quite, and had to wait at the top for Silom to go down the zip wire.
    Kare put his hands in the supporting loops. “Go!” said the soldier beside him, and he jumped into empty space, hurtling down, grinning as he did. He landed in a small pool of water at the bottom.
    He took his hands from the sling and straightened up, his muscles protesting. He’d done it. He looked back over the course, smiling. He’d sleep like the dead tonight, he reckoned. Captain Stitt walked across, slapped Silom on the shoulder and said something that made him smile and nod. She walked to Kare, and her eyes narrowed. Her smile fell away. She touched her head and then his temple, and he sensed just the tiniest bit of power, insignificant in comparison to his own. But enough to have sensed his. He closed his eyes as realisation clicked into place: a captain in charge of a basic training squad?
    “My office,” she said. “I’ll deal with your cheating there.”
    Her voice was loud, designed to carry. Kare opened his eyes, and fought not to wince at her disdainful stare. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Come on,” said Lichio. His face twisted into some sort of sympathy. “I’ll show you where to go.”
    As they walked away, the other recruits watched in silence. Kare’s face burned with shame and he limped from a cramp in his leg. They crossed the field, passed a group of recruits running circuits, and went into the barracks.
    “Cheating won’t have helped your popularity,” said Lichio. “Neither will ignoring the major’s orders.” He paused just slightly too long. “You might want to be more