The sounds of yelling, men in armor running. It was an annoyance Danica was slowly getting used to. She got out of bed and looked out her window to see Commander Jorin yelling at the troops under his command to do better. He was currently sitting on a chair, hidden in the shade. A brief idea of his own men throwing him off the wall flashed through her mind.

She splashed cool water on her face and stretched her muscles. The emptiness was there still, gnawing away at her like a ceaseless hunger, but it wasn’t really debilitating anymore. She’d discovered that by distracting herself with exercise, she could fill that lingering void within her. It was a pathway to her end goals.

She began practicing some calisthenics Landon taught her. A series of low impact exercises and stretches designed to strengthen muscles. It wasn’t much it seemed, but he assured her that every good fighter he’d ever known did them religiously. If he said to start there, then she trusted his word enough to do it with no hesitations.

She Began with the stretches first, her mind focusing on the moment. Her muscles, tight with tension, ached from the unusual forms. Slowly she would go through the movements, allowing her body to form the intricate moves so desired. Each time she did them, they would get easier.

She was used to cleaning pans and pushing mops through the hallways, so there was a necessary retraining required of her body. She was strong in many ways, and her stamina was admirable, but she lacked grace. Landon told her that he thought the potential was there, but it simply needed the right tools to unlock it.

“I know a man, perfectly suited for the task,” he told her.

She’d asked him to take on the role of teacher, but he told her that he simply couldn’t. He’d been a well regarded swordsman in his youth, but had let his skills become rusty over the years. He insisted that she need the tutelage of a real swordsman, not a grunt trained in the military. Whatever he saw in her, he believed it to be something special.

She switched to a different set of stretches, focusing on her leg muscles. They ached from her long run in the courtyard the night before, but she simply gritted her teeth and worked slowly through the pain. It helped her focus on what mattered and why she pushed herself now. Sweat began to bead upon her brow, and thoughts of rest began to permeate into her mind.

There was a quiet knock on the door. Danica slowly rose to her feet and answered it. One of the barracks cleaning women, Gerling, stood there staring at her while at a loss for words.

She had spent her whole life being stared at and was already used to it. “Is there something you need Gerling?”

The young woman stammered a moment and finally got it out. “Captain Landon requested you at the quartermaster’s office.”

Danica nodded to her and shut the door. She washed up and got dressed in a comfortable, yet sturdy outfit. Outside in the courtyard, Jorin was standing around laughing with his men, probably bragging about some perceived conquest. She didn’t like him, and when he saw her at the window, the look on his face showed that he didn’t seem to care for her either. She wondered if maybe she should be the one to throw him off the wall instead.

She turned from the window and quickly made her way down to the armory. There she found Landon and Dannig standing around a table, speaking with a stranger. A taller man, with long dark hair and a clean shaven face. He wasn’t so much muscular as he was well defined. Danica may have found him charmingly handsome at one point and time, but there were no feelings there anymore. He was just a man like any other now.

“Danica,” Landon said. “I’d like you to meet Lorik Hale. The man fights like a devil.”

Danica stood before the man and nodded to him. He studied her for a moment, walking around her, examining every inch it seemed of her body. It was horribly uncomfortable to be treated like that, but she trusted Landons judgment of character. If he said Lorik could fight so well, then maybe he could teach her to as well.

He held his hand up in front of her. “Slap my hand.”

She hesitated for only the briefest moment before complying. At the last moment he moved his hand down away from hers, and she missed the mark. He held it back up, inviting her to try again. She did so and missed the second time as well. He was just too quick it seemed. She wondered what sort of test this was.

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“Now, Danica. Hold your hand up as I did, and see if you can avoid me.” Lorik motioned to her to hold her hands up.

She did so and as soon as he moved his arm she moved her hand down, but it wasn’t quite enough. The tips of his fingers brushed gently across her own. She reset for a second time and again he moved to strike, but the blow connected solidly from his left hand this time.

She growled with a hint of frustration and rubbed her hand. “I didn’t expect that.”

“I know,” he said with a sly smile. He turned to Landon, “She’s as raw as fresh meat could be, but she’s also young. I think we can make something happen here.”

Landon walked to Danica and put his hand on her shoulder firmly. “She’s determined and capable. I fully believe in her.”

He walked out of the room, leaving the three of them now. Dannig busied himself with repairing a chainmail shirt, seemingly not paying attention to anything. He looked up at them and harrumphed before focusing back on his task at hand.

Lorik looked to Danica and said, “Good Sir Dannig, has been gracious enough to clear a large section of the back room for us.”

Dannig slapped the table and stared at Lorik. “I aint no good sir, and you people made me do it. Now I got a bigger mess to sort out later.”

Danica gave a slight smile towards him. “Thank you, Dannig.” She was glad to know some things never seem to change at least.

Lorik led her through the doorway into the back where most of the guard's unassigned equipment was kept. Large piles of gear were haphazardly stacked against the wall, threatening to topple over at any moment. She knew it was the best they could do for her since Rowan never rescinded his ban against her being trained to fight. They’d need to keep it a secret, lest rumors began to leak out to the wrong ears.

Lorik walked over to the corner of the room near a large pile of weapons. “You ever held a sword before?”

“No. I was forbidden from it, by Lord Rowan,” She said while looking out one of the windows. She was confident that no one would really be able to see in unless they had a reason to try. “I never knew why.”

Lorik pulled out a cloth wrapped bundle and brought it to Danica. “Try this, it was specially made for a woman I once knew.”

She looked at him curiously. “They make weapons specifically for women?”

He shook his head with frustration. “I sometimes forget just how backwards Andesty is. Believe it or not, in some places women and men treat each other equally.”

Danica unwrapped the cloth and saw a beautifully crafted sword inside of it. The handle was a black leather, trimmed with silvery wire. The guard extended out and wrapped back around to the pommel in a strange design she’d never seen before. It was lighter and thinner than the swords any of the guards used, but it had a longer length. The blade was covered wholly by a sheath matching the handle, its silver threading flickered in the light.

“It’s beautiful,” she said with awe and reverence. “What is it?”

He took the sword from her and wrapped it back in the cloth. “It’s a type of sword called a rapier. It’s designed to be light and fast, letting the wielder strike with unmatched precision and speed.”

He took the cloth covered bundle back to where he’d gotten it from and retrieved a wooden pole. He handed it to her and she noticed it was nearly the same length and weight. She knew it for what it was, a wooden training sword. She gave it a few practice swings, feeling the weight in her hands.

“It seems so flimsy compared to a regular sword,” She said, taking a stance she’d seen training guards use with their weapons.

“Don’t,” he said rather abruptly. “You’ve watched the guards obviously and you need to forget about doing what they do. Their swords are generic cleavers and they hack away at their targets without slightest thought usually.”

Danica relaxed her posture. “So how should I stand then?”

Lorik grabbed another pole and rejoined Danica. “Try to hit me, don’t hold back.”

He didn’t take any stance whatsoever it seemed. He just stood there, resting the tip of the pole against the ground. She shrugged and charged in, swinging her pole hard at his head in an overhand swing. He quickly moved to the left and spun in a complete circle, running his wooden stick across her back as he came around. It was over in an instant it seemed.

She turned around and faced him. “How’d you get so fast?”

He bowed to her. “Practice and a patient teacher.”

“Do you think I could do that?” she asked.

“Perhaps if you dedicate yourself,” he said, stretching languidly. “You may even beat me one day. To do that, you’ll need to focus on speed and skill to win your fight.”

She thought about his words for a moment. “And strength?”

He laughed at that. “You’ll need some of course, but you shouldn’t try to overpower a larger man in combat just as I shouldn’t try to out brute an ogre. We all have our limitations. We must accept them and play our best abilities to our advantage.”

She thought about it for a moment and then nodded in agreement. “So where do we start?”