Mary took a swig from the pint of ale and slammed it down, spilling drops of mead all over the counter.

“Can you believe it!? I mean, it’s like he didn’t even care!”

“Men are stubborn as they come, Mary,” Ma shrugged as she wiped up the mess that Mary was making. “Better lay off the ale, girl. I don’t wanna get in trouble with your uncle over letting you get drunk.”

“Where is Telhari, anyways?” Mary looked around the Lonely Song but she didn’t see him. “Ma?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Ugh…” Mary slumped onto the counter. “It’s just not the same without him.”

“I wasn’t gone that long, Mary.”

Mary shot up as Telhari sat down next to her.

Ma Mileena raised an eyebrow.

“She wasn’t talking about you, Alfy.”

Ma had resigned to calling Telhari Alfy, a shorthand for alfkin.

“Ellis?”

Ma Mileena nodded.

Telhari watched as Mary assumed her slumped position once again.

“Are you ready, Mary?” Telhari asked her.

“Yeah, I ‘spose…”

“Shall we?”

Mary slid off her chair and headed towards the door. Telhari watched her from his chair and then eyed the cup of ale she had left sitting on the counter.

He looked at Ma Mileena.

“Please, no more for her.”

“Don’t worry, Alfy, I’ve been watering it down so much you couldn’t get drunk off it if you tried.”

Telhari looked around to the other patrons.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell them,” he whispered to her.

She shook her head at him playfully.

“Go catch up to her before you lose her.”

Outside the Lonely Song, Mary was leaning up against the signpost of the main road with her arms folded.

“We need to stop by the Inn to pick up the weapons first,” he told her.

She nodded absentmindedly and followed him down the main road.

After walking in silence for around thirty minutes, they reached the Inn where Telhari had been staying. He greeted the Inn keep with a nod as he went inside. As they reached the second floor, Mary stood in the doorway of Telhari’s room, watching him move about. Since completing their quest in Edge, Telhari had used the money to rent a larger room at the Inn. In the wardrobe he kept two bows and a quiver of arrows, a crossbow, a training sword and an extra longsword. He dumped the contents of the entire wardrobe onto the bed, securing everything in place and wrapped it up in a blanket, before tying it around the middle with a belt and buckle. While watching him do this, Mary caught a glimpse of some papers on Telhari’s desk. She walked over to them and started flipping through.

“What are these?” She asked him.

“They are records from Egurd’s laboratory.”

“Oh.”

“I took what I thought would be useful to me, and the rest was left with Lord Thistletwat so that he could conduct his own investigation.”

“Investigation? What for?”

Telhari squatted down to get a good grip on the cumbersome sack of weapons.

“Egurd was a part of a group known as the Luminarcans.”

“Luminarcans? I’ve never heard of it.”

“I am not surprised. They are a group of alchemists and magicians who are said to reside in the east, though they like to keep to themselves.”

“Are the Luminarcans dangerous?”

Telhari sighed as he lifted the sack.

“I would not have expected so…at least not nearly as dangerous as some of the sects which exist in the west. But, according to Lord Thistletwat, this is not the first instance of the Luminarcans stirring up trouble.” He carried the weapons over to the doorway and gestured downward with his chin. “Here, please lock the door behind us.”

Mary grabbed the key from Telhari’s belt and locked the door as they left. Together they descended the stairs and headed outside.

Their usual training took place a few yards behind the Inn in a patch of woods that covered nearly a single square mile in total. The wooded area spanned the distance between the Inn and the edge of the wall that partially enclosed South Viemen. Prior to the War of Blood and Iron, the southern land on which they now walked had consisted of forest and undeveloped fields. During the war, however, the land was stripped of its trees which were used to build Sir Perry’s keep, as well as the other defenses that were needed to keep the Boginsklad soldiers at bay. Eventually, the wooden palisades were taken down and a proper stone wall was built to maintain the southern border. Over time, the wall was modified to extend along the river in order to prevent an invasion by boat. Roads that were originally cleared to allow for caravans of soldiers and supplies had now been renovated into proper streets. Those who settled during that time and had survived the war chose to stay and form the new community of South Viemen.

Mary and Telhari wove their way through the trees along their beaten path until they came at last to their small training area— a natural clearing in the tree cover. There were marks in the adjacent tree trunks where Mary had been practicing her sword strikes, as well as targets that Telhari had placed at various heights to assist in Mary’s aim when using her crossbow.

“Alright,” Telhari said as he flopped the weapon’s bag onto the ground, “We can continue the drill from yesterday.” He reached into the bag and picked up a training sword. It was an old, weathered bit of metal that he had purchased from a smithy for next to nothing. It would be of no use in actual combat against another fighter, but it had dimensions necessary to get Mary familiar with the basics.

“Alright,” she said, unenthusiastically. “A hundred swings on each side?”

Telhari nodded as she took the sword from his hand.

She seemed preoccupied.

As if half asleep, she walked with the sword over to the tree, assumed her stance and made her first swing with the sword. The blunt end sank into the tree bark. Telhari watched her move her body through the motions. Technically she was correct, but he could tell that her heart was troubled.

“Mary?” Telhari called to her in between strikes. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah.”

Telhari rubbed his brow.

“…Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure you’re not still upset about Ellis?”

With that, she took the blade and stabbed it into the dirt.

“I just can’t believe Lord Mannigold would do that!”

Telhari folded his hands.

“Mary…”

“I know what you’re gonna say, but still. He’s telling Ellis not to do the exact same thing that he did!” She folded her arms in frustration and walked away from the tree toward Telhari. “And when I told him about Egurd, it was like he wasn’t even concerned. Like he didn’t care how much it hurt Ellis.”

“Mary, Perry Mannigold is a knight of Omnirius. War is in his nature. If he were to give such pause at the notion of death, he would be an ineffective warrior.”

Mary sat down on the grass.

“You two sound the same,” she pouted.

Telhari walked over and sat down next to her.

“Does that bother you?”

She thought a moment.

“How do you do it? How do you kill people…and then just go on living?”

Telhari held her gaze.

“I am not sure I have an answer that will help you.”

Mary flung herself onto the grass.

“Well, could you try?” she groaned.

“My people have a different understanding of death. We certainly don’t go looking for conflict, and we fight one another much less often than humans do, but I won’t say we haven’t done our share of killing.”

Mary rolled onto her side.

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“Lord Thistletwat said he knew your name from some battle, didn’t he?”

Telhari nodded.

“The Battle of Torsden’s Rift.”

“What happened there?”

“There was a man, from a city called Thargos. He had begun a campaign to conquer the southern nations which lay beyond Omnirius’ westernmost border. There was unrest for many years during the campaign and many thousands were killed or enslaved. It wasn’t until he marched on Torsden’s Rift, which marked the border of the great dwarven kingdom, that my people got involved.”

Mary sat up.

“What made your folks change their mind?”

“The consequence of letting that man go unchecked was that many more lives would be lost. The region was becoming unstable, the result of which would have been countless civil wars and endless battles over the remaining resources. Not unlike what happened in Omnirius.”

“So, you helped them stop him?”

Telhari nodded.

“We don’t go looking for conflict…but unfortunately, it would appear that sooner or later, conflict will find us.”

“Well…” She leaned forward, “Couldn’t you reason with him? Or threaten him or something, without resorting to killing?”

“There were attempts at diplomacy, certainly, but some people cannot be reasoned with. And even if they could, there may be those in their ranks who are beyond help. Those who simply want war and violence. Those who, even if their leader decided to take the route of diplomacy, would instead choose to continue on a war path under new leadership, or become warmongers themselves.”

Mary felt the warm grass beneath her fingertips.

“How do you know if you’re on the right side? How do you know that you didn’t kill the wrong guy?”

“We like to think we know. We like to think that for all our knowledge we have a more elegant understanding of the situation, and with it, a greater sense of justice. I used to think I knew. That I was so certain of right and wrong. Now, I don’t know if you can ever truly be sure you’ve done the right thing. In the end, you must be able to live with the decisions you make…no matter the outcome.” Telhari paused as he watched the breeze waft through the canopy. “I am certain of one thing, though.”

Mary sat up.

“What’s that?”

“I am certain that you must never stop asking yourself these questions. If you do, you will surely become lost.” Telhari then stood up and brushed the grass from his pants. “Now, shall we continue with training?”

Marybeth stayed sitting on the ground.

“Mary?”

“I…I don’t think I can do it, Telhari. I’m not like you or Sir Perry.” She looked at him with glassy eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever be alright with killing.”

“Do you think I am not bothered by death?” he asked, kneeling down next to her.

She shook her head.

“Truthfully, I abhor violence. For my people, the life of a warrior is about more than dealing in death.”

“I don’t have it in me,” she told him, “I’m not strong enough.”

Telhari placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Mary, a willingness to kill is not a sign of strength. Strength must be used to support and to protect. You have that strength, Mary. More than most. You are someone who knows the importance of when to use force and when not to. Winning a fight is not always about overpowering, or even killing your enemy. To win without ever swinging your blade…that should be your goal.”

“Couldn’t you just use magic to win?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“It’s still an option though?”

Telhari sighed as he stood up again.

“I suppose it is an option, yes.”

“Oh!” She jumped up with the first sign of excitement Telhari had seen in her all morning. “Teach me magic!”

“No.”

“Please!?”

“If you have this much energy, you should focus on your drills.”

Mary looked at Telhari with pleading eyes. He met her with a firm shake of his head, then pointed at the tree. She groaned loudly as she walked back over to the tree and resumed her stance, defeated. Mary gripped the sword tightly in her hands and drew it back into her ready position. Telhari’s words were still fresh in her mind.

Did she really have that kind of strength? Was it possible to win without ever swinging a sword?

She didn’t see how, but still, the idea gave her comfort.

For right now, until she had the answer, she would to continue to swing her sword. She turned her torso and drew back her arms, placing the weight into her stance as she had been taught. Then, she pushed up from the ground, sent the energy through her torso, into her arms and twisted as she swung the blade against the tree.

2

The air was beginning to cool as the midday warmth faded. Mary had ended up doing over two hundred swings per side and her arms were tingling from the impacts. A short while ago she had switched to practicing her crossbow aim, but her shoulder was growing sore from withstanding the recoil. She sank down into a squat and dropped the crossbow onto the grass. As she steadied her breath, she heard her stomach growl against her will. Mary looked up with embarrassment, but Telhari did not seem to have heard her. He was sitting in his usual spot; he was cross legged on the grass, with his blade placed across both his open palms, and his eyes were shut. He did this every day that they trained. Normally, she felt rude disturbing him, but her hunger was getting the better of her.

Slowly, she crept across the grass towards Telhari, stopping every dozen paces or so to see whether or not he was still asleep. Eventually, she came to within ten feet of him and was about to take a step forward when she stopped. Mary had never been so close to Telhari when he was in this position, so this was the first time she heard the sound that seemed to be coming from him. As she concentrated, though, she realized, the sound was coming from the sword— like the blade itself was singing. As Mary leaned closer, she felt a cool, tingling sensation cascade across her skin, making her hair stand on edge. Telhari was using magic.

Mary scrunched her face in confusion.

Didn’t Telhari himself need to sing in order to cast a spell? The sound coming from the blade seemed like a note that might be played by a string instrument, but there were no words to it. And if it was a spell, what was the effect? She looked around; studying the tree line, scanning the ground, looking carefully at Telhari, even studying the birds that hopped between branches.

Nothing seemed to be out of sorts.

So, what was he doing? Curiosity got the better of her and she continued to shuffle closer to him. Suddenly, she winced as she heard the snap of a twig beneath her boot. In a split second, Telhari’s eyes opened, the ringing stopped, and the feeling went away.

“Yes, Mary?” he asked her calmly, as if they had just been engaged in a normal conversation this whole time.

“Uh…I was wondering if we could break for lunch?”

Telhari exhaled slowly and she could see his shoulders relax.

“There is food in the green bag,” he told her as he closed his eyes again.

“I was hoping we could get something hot and fresh for once?”

He opened one eye at her but said nothing.

“I am just sick of cold bread and pickled meat,” she huffed.

Telhari considered this complaint.

He looked over at the spot where she had been training and saw how much of the tree bark had been chipped away. He then surveyed the sky above. Then, Telhari stood up and sheathed the sword on his back.

“It is later than I thought it was. I must have lost track of the time.”

“What were you doin’ anyway?”

“It is called meditation.”

“Looked like ‘sleeping’, if you ask me.”

“I assure you, the two are quite different,” Telhari said as he began gathering up the supplies. “You’ve done a lot today, Mary.”

Mary smiled to herself at the complement. She then ran over to the other side of the training ground and began collecting the rest of the weapons.

“Where would you like to go for dinner?” he asked her.

“Where else?”

3

Mary was walking so quickly that she was almost skipping. The two had dropped off the weapon’s bag at Telhari’s room in the Inn and were now making their way to the Lonely Song. Mary had given up on hiding her hunger and was now focused on trying to get there as quickly as possible. Excited, she called back to Telhari.

“What are you gonna order? I am thinking…a nice big piece of—”

“Mary!”

She stopped at the familiar voice. Whipping her head around, she saw Ellis running towards them from across the street. He was dressed in a clean set of clothes; his face was free from dirt and his hair looked washed and combed.

“Ellis!”

The two ran to each other, caught up in their own excitement.

Telhari watched them. Ellis ran faster than Telhari had ever seen him, and he crossed the street before Mary had even made it halfway. They threw their arms around each other and jumped up and down. Then, suddenly realizing the scene they’d made, let go of one another and took a step back. Telhari smiled to himself as he saw their faces grow red with embarrassment. He started to make his way over when he heard Mary cry out with excitement. The two then jogged over to Telhari.

“Telhari! Perry says Ellis can train now!”

Telhari raised an eyebrow.

“He reconsidered?” Telhari asked, looking at Ellis suspiciously.

Ellis shrugged his shoulders.

“It took a little convincing…but Uncle Perry said that as long as I continued my studies, he would let me train with you both.”

“This is perfect!” Mary squealed. “We were just about to get dinner, you must come!”

Ellis had no choice.

Mary grabbed his arm and dragged him down the street toward the Lonely Song. It had been almost two weeks since they last saw each other, which Telhari guessed was a great deal longer than either of them were used to. Telhari followed them both as they rounded the corner and made their way up the steps to the tavern. A lively commotion could be heard coming from inside. That excitement began to seep into them; and, as soon as they came to the landing, they bolted up the steps and into the tavern.

As Telhari was about to ascend the stairs, something caught his eye. Set across the street, in a space between two buildings, was a carriage. It was well constructed, with black paneling and a metal undercarriage. There was a driver seated in the front, with two well-manicured horses at the ready. This was the first time Telhari had seen such a carriage in South Viemen. Though strange, he didn’t think much of it, and continued up the steps.

Crossing the threshold to the tavern, Telhari saw over fifty people clustered around the tables. There was indeed a liveliness to the place. Men stood at the head of their tables, waving their arms as they reenacted their stories. Several barmaids darted between the patrons, gathering plates and bowls and cups while trying to remember who had ordered what. Telhari caught a glimpse of Mary and Ellis in the corner of the Tavern, seated at the only empty table, undoubtedly because it was furthest from the bar. They waved him over and he obliged.

“Alfy!”

Telhari turned to see Ma Mileena walking towards him— there was a stern look on her face.

“Is something the matter?” he asked.

She paused before responding, looking over her shoulder towards the back of the bar.

“There is someone in the back who wants to meet with you.”

“Who is it?”

“He says he’s from the Magistrate.”

Telhari wondered what the Royal Omnirian Magistrate could possibly want from him. He racked his brain, trying to find out where he could have stepped out of line to incur their wrath, but he could think of nothing. Still, more than anything, Telhari was curious.

Ellis and Mary watched as Telhari turned from them and followed Ma Mileena to the back of the pub.

Mary leaned to Ellis and asked, “Where is he going?”

“Dunno. Maybe he’s making a special order?”

Telhari followed Ma Mileena down the hallway, passed the kitchen and the storerooms, until they came to a closed door.

“They’re in there,” she told him.

“They?”

Ma Mileena nodded and then walked away.

Telhari braced himself and entered the room.

It was anyone's guess what this room might have been used for in the past. Currently, half of the room seemed to be storage for preserved goods and ale, while the other half was storage for old ledgers and receipts of payment. There were several stacked chairs in the corner of the room, riddled with dust and cobwebs. A candle was burning on an end table near the door, and another was burning in the hands of a man who stood in the cleared space at the center of the room.

The man holding the candle was bald and clean shaved. He wore a dark green set of robes underneath a gold and blue tunic that bore the symbol of the Royal Omnirian Magistrate. Next to him was a shorter man with a curled mustache, who wore a heavy brown cloak over his clothes. Telhari could easily make out the fine embroidery of the material.

“I am Telhari,” he offered, breaking the silence. “I am told you wish to speak with me?”

The man holding the candle stepped forward. He eyed Telhari carefully, from head to toe. Then, he spoke.

“My name is Zorren Zalphineas XI, Chairmen of the Omnirian Magistrate. And I have a proposition for you.”