Tanisin was in a mood that morning. He stalked through the training yard, glowering at everything in sight. He’d woken up sour and tired after a restless sleep plagued by disturbing dreams. Visions of dark things emerging from depths unseen, of fire and darkness. Overlaying all that a consistent and urgent sense that somewhere, someone needed his help. Though he couldn’t seem to find them. He attributed the dreams to his situation. Being in a new place and surrounded by new people, even weeks later. It was bound to weigh on one despite having the time to adjust. He planned on asking Dav if he’d been experiencing anything similar.

  His days were fuller now than they’d ever been. Mornings came too early. Especially after a nights guard shift and days filled with drill, lessons, more drill and other duties that kept him busy and tired. The ongoing wariness and distrust between him and Relf had abated due to Willhem’s influence. To top it off he had just taken a rather sound thumping in training at the hands of Knight Commander Anders.

  As a Knight of Sayoshti and the weapons master in The Citadel, Anders was responsible for training the class of recruits. His goal, to shape them into a viable fighting force. He was a towering thick man, all muscle and sinew who’d done his time in the ranks. Tanisin secretly believed he enjoyed beating on them more than imparting knowledge. So far Anders had given them all a few bruises and more than a few to some. It felt to Tanisin that he was one of the latter.

  He found in his first few days of training that he was more than capable with a sword and shield as well as with any of the weapons they’d worked with thus far. More than ready to live a soldier's life and more than willing to perform his duty. Some of that must have shown in bearing or attitude, and as such Anders almost relished calling Tanisin out and showing him up in front of the others.

  That morning was no exception. They’d started drill with the standard short-sword and shield, first in formation then as the morning progressed in pairs against one another. In skill Tanisin, having the benefit of his prior training with Brother Mchale, was more advanced than most of the others. With the exception of Dav and Willhem who both had prior experience, there were maybe one or two recruits who could at least stand a chance against him.

  After formation practice spent lined up with the others doing repetitive movements and swings he’d learned years ago Tanisin was paired against a young recruit from Bayamack named Deliah, a woman no less.

  She was somewhat capable with a blade he’d noticed during the past few weeks. She was strong, broad and tall with dark hair and eyes, pale and muscular. These northern people thought of themselves as warriors, they fought with abandon and counted on overwhelming attack over a fight based on skill and training. It was a method that was anthemic to everything Tanisin had been taught. She fought well but stood no chance against Tanisin’s swordsmanship.

  The two had squared off and as he expected she came at him quick and wild, throwing overhand strikes at him repeatedly that he blocked with his shield. Almost contemptuous he continued his effortless defense against her ineffective blows before turning the tide. As her last swift and powerful blow came down he raised his shield, knocked her sword to the side and delivered a sweeping slash at her exposed torso only pulling back at the last second but still connecting a solid thump to her ribs. The strike staggered her and she doubled over as the breath was forced from her. Tanisin grinned to himself, she’s no match for me. Anders was watching and caught the exchange, as well as Tanisin’s seeming contempt for his opponent.

  “HOLD!” Came Anders’ sharp command. The bellow of a true campaign leader, he had no issue demanding attention with his voice. Anders stepped up to check on Deliah. Upon finding her to be winded but alright he barked another command.

  “Recruits, form up. Everyone but Tanisin.” As the assembled recruits scrambled to obey, Anders looked at Tanisin. He was calm and collected with a hint of menace in his eyes. “You and I will cross blades boy, then we’ll see if this disdain for your classmates can be worked out of you.”

  Tanisin was more than willing to test his skills against an opponent better than him though this wasn’t the first time he’d faced Anders in sparring. The Knight took many chances to go one on one with his students and had beaten them all more than a time or two.

  Anders grabbed a practice sword from the rack as Tanisin set his shield and stance. The knight chose not to use a shield as he set himself in front of his student. Tanisin took an approach much like Deliah had facing him and attacked with quick ferocity, a need to overwhelm his teacher from the outset. He’d tried a more measured approach the last couple times Anders had given him a one on one, it hadn't worked. Resolved to get it over with, he tried this new means. Anders turned each blow easily, not countering, just deflecting Tanisin’s sword with effortless parries of his own.

  No matter how quick, overhand, sideswipe, low or high all of Tanisin’s strikes met Anders sword and were turned away. The weapons master was fluid in his movements with each one precise and exact, exercising the same contempt for Tansisin’s skills as the former had for Deliah’s. In short Tanisin was no match for Anders despite his already considerable skill. With each second or third strike turned away he’d toss a quip at Tanisin, taunting him. “What’s wrong boy, are you not as good as you act?” Parry. “Too slow kid!” Block. “My mother swings the blade better.”

  Tanisin was angered now to carelessness and took what he thought was an opening to swing a wicked overhand, intent on connecting at least one blow. Anders blocked that one just as easily as the last.

  “Enough messing around.” Anders took his own words to heart and leaped to the offensive. Despite his prior nonchalance he took this sparring between teacher and student seriously. Any opportunity to impart hard lessons on his students, more so as he knew that Tanisin was indeed an able and smart opponent yet was still no match for the Knight’s years of experience and practice.

  With a quick forward thrust that he turned into a feint as Tanisin raised his shield to block. Anders then grabbed the upper rim of the shield with his left hand and jerked it down with considerable force. Tanisin realized his whole upper body was exposed; his instinct brought him to force the shield back up. Just as he did so the Knight Commander let go of the shield so Tanisin found himself over correcting the maneuver. Anders then slammed his body into Tanisin, the rising shield caught the youngster directly on the chin and momentum did the rest. Next thing Tanisin knew he was on his back dazed and with a blade held to his throat.

  “There’s some lessons here to learn,” declared Anders. “First and foremost, beware your pride. As members of the Corps and a direct arm of the Church we are holy men and women, we conduct ourselves as such. The Book of Witness teaches us that to be prideful is to deviate from the whole and to focus on the self. It deters us from carrying out our mandate handed down by Sayoshti herself. Remember, no matter your skill at something there is always someone better than you.”

  Anders paused to let the thought sink in. “Second, WE STAND TOGETHER! I cannot stress this enough to you recruits. When your training is done you will be members of the Unified Guard Corps. Part of the whole but operating together in smaller squads. Your units will only be as strong as the weakest of you, only as skilled as the least. It’s incumbent on those of you who are at this point better than your peers to build them up. Doing so benefits not only the squad but the Corps as a whole and when you find yourself in combat, knowing full well that each of you is as skilled as can be you’ll thank me for training you all to the standard that I do. Help each other, improve together and you will be a unit to be reckoned with.”

  “Recruits. Dismissed.” Anders bent down to give Tanisin a hand up. Once firmly on his feet he added just for Tanisin’s ears. “You do have skill, more so than any recruit here except your brother. I know who trained you boy and I believe that Brother Mchale would be just as hard on you as I just was given what I saw. Keep your ego in check and use your time one on one to bolster your classmates up instead of treating them with contempt and you’ll find that all of you benefit. Plus the others will look up to you.”

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  “Yes Sir.” Tanisin brushed himself off. It was a hard lesson. He’d never thought of anyone other than Anthin and Dav in this light, with the aspect of camaraderie and trust in others involved. The Knight’s words gave him something to think on. Still as he stowed his gear on the racks and headed to the mess he did stalk across the yard, upset with how things had played out. Truly, I’m more upset with myself he thought.

  Dav, Willhem and Relf caught up with him. Dav’s training for the clergy required him to attend weapons training with the recruits, though he wasn’t a member of the Corps per se his path could lead to knighthood before priesthood or the other way around. It meant possible command in the ranks. So he was expected to learn all he could regarding the weaponry and tactics employed by the Corps.

  “Holy Tan, He sure did a number on you today!” Exclaimed Dav. “I thought he would drive you right through the ground with that shoulder move.” Dav tried to be tactful about it, but it was too much watching Anders thump Tanisin, given Dav’s own struggles over the years in besting his brother.

  “My own fault.” Tanisin reflected on it. “He’s right. I was overconfident and arrogant. When he grabbed my shield I thought I had him, a quick pull up to expose his underarm, a thrust to end it all. Didn’t think he was that quick though.”

  “Still.” Interjected Willhem. “He’s not wrong Tan, all in all.”

  “I know Will but that makes it sting even worse. He is right, none of the others compares to me or Dav in skill. You’re the closest after us, but there’s always someone better.”

  Relf interjected. “I’ve been around some pretty hard men but none of them could beat Anders. Most of those are braggarts, all strength. I was that way myself.” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “Anders is dangerous because he knows what he can do and doesn’t beat his chest about it.”

  “He’s harder on you because he knows how good you are.” Willhem laughed. “My bet is he already has you marked for sergeant but he’s gotta knock some sense into you first.”

  “I don’t know about sergeant Will. Too much responsibility and too many decisions. I want to follow orders, not give them.”

  “THAT is why you will make sergeant Tan, because you don’t want it. Someday you'll be a captain or knight I bet.” Dav knew the caliber of his brother and held no doubt about his prediction.

  “For now I’ll be happy to survive training. I’m not sure I can take another thumping.”

  They all had a laugh at that. Tanisin found his mood lightened by the presence of friends, even Relf who’s relationship with the others had improved once he got over his sense of injustice. Soldier life agreed with Relf and he’d wondered a few times since his sentence of conscription if it wasn’t a piece of his life that had been missing. Willhem’s friendship and guidance had helped too.

  Despite his brutish appearance Relf was an intelligent man. He had an unerring street smarts and could reason an issue out–get to the core of it. He, like Tanisin and Dav was raised an orphan. Unlike the others though he'd never had a caring benefactor such as Brother Anthin. Life had never been kind to Relf.

  He came up in the rough streets of Wayra City. With the olive complexion of his homeland but none of their renowned attractiveness. A square face and a brow that seemed to jut, mostly from his own sour expression rather than from shape. A shock of thick dark hair and a large knife of a nose. When he was seven and remained un-adopted he was sent to the work camps in the Basin Desert. Trudging through the sand and heat forced to gather riches for his superiors had shaped Relf’s angst and anger at the world. He’d worked the sands for almost ten years before fleeing and ending up in Dimabri City falling in with Stabber Rollins and his crew. He’d come a long way since his childhood but was only now feeling like he fit in anywhere. He, Dav, Tanisin and Willhem were on their way to forming a true friendship.

  The group arrived at the mess hall. A cacophony of activity with various shifts and guardsmen taking what respite they could from duty. Dav, citing lessons that afternoon, said his goodbyes after grabbing a lunch of bread and cheese. He opted to eat on the run to where he needed to be. The rest joined the serving line jostling each other as they waited their turn. Food provided, they sat down to eat before they had to go off to their afternoon duties.

  Tanisin was on night guard on the east wall that night and had no other duties or lessons for the remainder of the afternoon. Spying Deliah across the mess he excused himself from his companions and made his way to her table. She sat with a group of her countrymen. Even here there were still divisional lines amongst the various cultures present, though the commanders were keen to point out that while people could be proud of where they came from they were all Corps troopers now.

  Deliah looked up at Tanisin’s approach and he took the empty seat across from hers. “Hey.” He greeted her. “You fought well today.” Trying to break the ice.

  “I fought like an untrained child.” Her dark eyes flashed with anger.

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Tanisin disagreed. “More like…” He grinned.

  “Save it.” She interrupted. “I know how bad it was. I knew you were the more skilled of the two of us so I thought I’d just come in hard and overwhelm you from the start. Didn’t work.”

  “No, it didn’t. But if we pair up tomorrow I can offer you some tips. I shouldn’t have just beat you down the way I did, I uh… I want to apologize for that. '' He meant it, his dressing down from Anders as well as the talk he’d just had with his friends had brought him to see that.

  “Sure.” She looked hopeful at the offer. “I could use some help, that's certain. I accept, both your apology and your tip.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Deliah, from Ten Rocks in Bayamack.”

  Tanisin took the proffered hand. “Tanisin, from Dimabri City. You can just call me Tan though.”

  “I know who you are. Most of The Citadel does.” This surprised Tanisin, it must have shown on his face. “You came with The Dimabri Enlightened’s party. I was on gate duty the day you came. Word is you are also a student of Brother Anthin’s and he’s been the talk of The Citadel since you all arrived. I’m not sure why, but he is. Rumour has it there are high hopes for you and your brother.”

  “Ha. High hopes I’m sure but probably only from Anthin and Enlightened Servirus. My brother’s name is Dav. We aren't blood though, we’re adopted by Anthin when we were very young. I know Anthin has history here before we came along but he keeps it pretty close. He’s always just been Brother Anthin to Dav and me.”

  “History… You could say that. I’ve heard he was the youngest ever to reach Enlightened. That he was almost The Witness, and a reformer at that.”

  “The Witness?” Tanisin thought about it. I certainly fit with what he’d heard all those years ago. They knew so little about Anthin’s life before Dimabri City. “Sayoshti’s Wonder, I can’t really say.” He wondered what more there was that he didn’t know about his adoptive father.

  “There’s also talk that not everyone is happy with his return to The Citadel. Some think he should return to his parish or that he’s here to raise old issues.”

  “News to me.” Tanisin was a bit irate at hearing Anthin smeared like that. “As far as I know he’s here for just the reasons he gave us, to reconnect with some old friends, help Dav and I settle in and to get some news from the conclave. Enlightened Serivus was delighted when Anthin asked to join us. Who’s saying these things about him?”

  “Peace Tan.” She used his short name. Putting her hands up to forestall his ire. “I’m not saying I know anything, just what I’ve heard around since your arrival. The Brothers and Sisters talk, you know how they are, tongues wag and rumours flow. They’re like a bunch of old ladies around a night fire sometimes, especially when things aren’t normal.”

  “Still, I’d like to know who’s talking about us.” He held onto his irritation.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s just talk, typical crap with little foundation in truth.”

  Mollified he let it go, yet in the back of his mind these things turned around and around. He’d have to talk to Dav later to see what he’s heard about these matters, also to see if he’d been having any dreams of his own since their arrival. Then maybe the two of them could sit down with Anthin and get some clarity on them.

  For now lunch was done and Tanisin planned on some rest for the afternoon before his overnight guard shift. He was still tired from his troubled sleep the night before. Deliah it turned out had the same shift, same wall even so they’d see each other again later. All recruits took shifts on the walls and gates with a good mix of veterans to oversee them. Tanisin left her there with a “see you later then.” Stopped on his way past to say a quick goodbye to his friends at their table and made his way to his bunk for some much needed rest. Sleep came eventually, his mind still reeling from what he’d heard earlier. This time there were no dreams that he recalled. A small blessing from Sayoshti.