††† Siegfried †††

Siegfried walked through the hallway of the Guard's barracks with confident steps. The old but well-maintained stone building had been his home for the past few years, and everything had changed for the better since then. He was on his way to meet his squad and their newest member.

The corner of Siegfried's mouth turned upwards as he could hear the deep, croaky voice of his mentor Bolverk through the wooden door. He could easily deduce what was going on, judging from the fervour in Bolverk's voice and the dull thumps of heavy boots.

He opened the door, and the bulky frame of the older guardsman came to a stop in front of him. Bolverk's sword was raised high, poised to slay an invisible foe. Siegfried's Squadmates, Agnar and Eirik, sat at the table behind Bolverk, hiding their faces in vicarious embarrassment. Only the young man next to them stared with fascination.

Bolverk used every opportunity to recount Siegfried's fight against a changeling and had apparently found a willing audience again.

"Aren't you a bit old to play swords with the children?" Siegfried mocked with a grin at the frozen form of his mentor.

"There is my boy," Bolverk boomed, completely ignoring the playful jab. "Sieg, meet Hall, our newest recruit," he introduced, grabbing the boy by the shoulder.

Hall looked wiry enough for his age, but Siegfried didn't appreciate the reverence in the boy's eyes when they shook hands.

"Don't take everything the old man said at face value, Hall," Sieg said, crossing his arms. "He likes to embellish that tale while leaving out that I was still lucky to survive at all." He threw a meaningful glare at Bolverk.

Before the veteran guardsman could answer, Hall raised his hand in a forestalling gesture. "I won't get careless, Siegfried," Hall said. His tone had changed to a cold hollowness that reached his eyes. "I know how dangerous and different they can be."

Those were not the eyes of a child prone to delusions of grandeur, and Sieg had to admit he'd read Hall wrong.

The ensuing silence was pregnant with expectation. No one wanted to pry, but Hall picked it up when his gaze flitted between the guardsmen. His chest rose with a deep breath as he came to a decision.

"I've had my own encounter with a changeling. And it took everything from me," Hall confided. Emotionally driven stiffness seemed to creep into his posture as the words came flowing mechanically.

††††††

The smell of fresh-baked bread permanented the living room. Hall sat at the table, working on his wood carving skills while his mother prepared breakfast. His little brother, Ethan, laughed with glee as their father pretended to wrestle with him and snuck the occasional tickle into the game.

From one moment to the next, the child suddenly started to shake. A web of blue lightning snaked around its body, and Hall's father was stunned in the current. He cried out but couldn't let go of his youngest. Even as he was tortured by lightning, the man recognised what happened and the danger it posed for his wife and older son. He let himself fall forward together with the changeling into the burning hearth. His heart gave out before he touched the embers, his limbs still twitching on his burnt body.

The changeling never changed form or even the voice. The heart-wrenching cries of a human boy filled the room until it finally suffocated from the smoke.

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††† Siegfried †††

After Hall had shared his story, the silence in the living quarters was heavy. It felt like the very air itself was weighing down on them. There were no words of condolence that would not feel hollow or sound trite in the face of what Hall had experienced—at such a young age, nonetheless.

The quiet sound of light, feathery steps sounded through the open door before revealing a beautiful, girlish face framed by blonde, shoulder-length hair. The young woman had a smile on her lips, so sparkling it made an almost comical contrast to the dark mood around the table. "Hey everyone, are you already—" She stopped mid-sentence as she caught the scowls looking up to her. "What happened to you guys? Is Agnar on cooking duty again, or what's with the long faces?"

"Ha Ha, Svana, you're hilarious," Agnar retorted. But it did bring out a light chuckle from everyone but Hall, who seemed lost in his own world as he stared at Svana.

"Svana, that's Hall, the new guy," Bolverk introduced. He turned to a slack-faced Hall, chuckling. "Svana here's part of our regiment and two years yer superior. But don't let that cute face fool ya! The gal's a feisty one—a wolf in sheep's clothing, ya hear?"

"Oh, Bolverk, you wound my heart!" Svana declared, making a face of mock-injury. "Don't listen to him, Hall. I'm sure we will match up just fine," she added with a smiling wink, changing Hall's light red blush further into a deeper red as he closed his mouth.

Siegfried groaned at her antics while Eirik laughed openly. At the very least, she had lifted the gloomy fog from their minds.

"The goddess give me strength to put up with those kids," Bolverk muttered. "Let's move out already."

All-clad in the brown leathers of the Guard's uniform, the party set out onto the cobblestone walkways. Siegfried looked up to the outer wall of the vast city. Even though it would take a whole day to travel from the west to the east side, the enormous walls were visible from everywhere.

As so often, he marvelled again at how such a structure could be built. Some say it was conjured by the goddess Akali, protector of the city, herself. No one knew for sure—the priesthood of Akali and the Red Brigade, who governed the City of Nemeah in her name, were not keen on preserving or sharing history amongst the people.

A good third of the city, on the southern side, was embedded in the mountain range. However, the wall still surrounded it entirely in the shape of an ellipse. It was then divided into four sectors, separated by smaller walls that stretched from the west side across the city to the east side in a slight arc.

The residential district, which they were mainly assigned to, was on the western side and counted as one of the younger areas, made apparent by the relatively smooth stonework buildings. The tenements mostly were cubicle in form and came in all different sizes. However, there was more space between the houses, unlike the older districts, leaving broader alleys to traverse.

Siegfried observed his new teammate from the corner of his eyes as they walked. Hall's shy demeanour towards Svana was thrown into stark contrast by the smooth precision of his every movement. He had an awkwardness to his personality that didn't match the confidence of his strides, the certainty with which he walked the uneven cobblestones, never having to adjust a step. And although they were traversing a peaceful street, Hall moved in a way that never left an opening to unbalance him—slightly smaller steps in a broadened stance so he could react to any surprising threat in time. By now, Sieg understood why Bolverk chose to accept Hall into the squad, but he also hoped that the old man wasn't blinded by the boy's tragic past.

He would have to keep an eye on Hall.

††† Hall †††

Danger. The past 3 years under his master's tutelage had prepared Hall to look out for this kind of feeling. But he hadn't expected to feel it radiating from the person he had idolised all this time.

To meet Siegfried was both the most exciting and scary event he could imagine. Since slaying that changeling, Siegfried had become a legend amongst the common folk, and Hall thought most of the tales about him would be vastly exaggerated. He knew better now.

Siegfried was taller than most men he knew, having to duck his head to pass beneath a normal doorframe. His shoulders were broad, and the leather armour showed slight contours of the muscles that stretched it to capacity. His face was sculpted like a marble statue, except for one faded scar lining his left cheek.

But what really captivated Hall was that intense gaze of Siegfried's odd-coloured eyes. His left eye was a dark cyan, while the right was hazel. And that gaze seemed to penetrate everything he focused on, which was apparently everything at once. He had noticed the moment Sieg joined them in the barracks—his eyes had flitted through the room like a cat's and then shot towards Hall. It felt as if his very soul was laid bare beneath that glare.

And right now, all his senses told him to be on high alert. Siegfried was watching him covertly, and his attention alone was oppressive in a way that Hall hadn't thought possible.

He would have to be careful.