Training proved to be much easier than Arte could have hoped. It all came to her so easily, it wasn’t long before the other cadets were coming to her for help with their form. Whether it was sword, lance, or bow, it didn’t matter; Arte excelled at them all. Even her instructors were impressed, and she often overheard the officers describe her as ‘just like her sister’, which to her was the highest compliment. By the time the first wave of evaluations was to take place, Arte had even secured herself a nickname among the trainees: Artega, combining her name with that of Ega, God of Air and Flight. When she pressed for an explanation, she was told:

“Because you’re so fast, it’s like you fly.” The cadet who told her seemed embarrassed, but Arte found it flattering.

“It’s clever, but don’t let it go to your head,” Kattrin said sagely when Arte told her about the nickname. “Plenty of cadets get cool nicknames during training only to turn out to be terrible soldiers.” Arte frowned, but she knew her sister was right. She had many years of experience, after all.

It was the evening before the placement evaluations, and Kattrin had come to the cadets’ barracks to talk with her sister about her progress. Arte was all too eager to share, showing off her newly calloused hands and the growing muscles in her arms.

“I’m starting to look like you, Kat!” Striking a pose to make her biceps look bigger, Arte waggled her eyebrows at Kattrin, earning a laugh. The two sisters stood on the barracks porch, evening shadows crawling across the ground as Mana shifted and Nocta took its place.

“You look like Mama with muscle tone.” Kattrin leaned against the porch railing and looked out at the sky. Arte joined her, practically vibrating with excitement for tomorrow. Standing here with her sister, the only person she idolized besides her father, she felt like she could accomplish anything.

“Do you miss Mama?” Arte asked, and Kattrin gave a rueful smile.

“Of course I do, all the time. I’m hoping to go visit her when I get my next leave.” She sighed and pulled her long ponytail over her shoulder, stroking it for a moment before looking at Arte. “Is she doing okay?”

“She’s been doing a lot better. Old Man Redwood brought her a bunch of starts from his garden and now Mama’s is almost as nice as his.” After Magnus’s death, no one suffered more than his beloved wife Kaela. It had been hellish for Arte to watch her mother sink so far into despair and be unable to do anything. Kattrin had been too far away and too busy to come. For a time, Arte feared she would have to give up her dreams of enlisting so Kaela wouldn’t be alone; Old Man Redwood saved them both that day when he showed up with his arms full of plants.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Pushing off the railing, Kattrin turned fully to face Arte, and Arte could see in her expression the struggle to put her feelings aside. It was something she had a tendency to do, to hide her true feelings behind the no-nonsense wall of an officer and quietly deal with them on her own. Arte had been trying all her life to convince her sister to open up, and they had made tremendous progress over the years, but losing their father had seriously set Kattrin back. Now, at times, her sister felt like a stranger.

Arte took a step forward, intending to embrace her sister, but she was stopped with a gentle hand.

“Before you say anything, I'm fine, really. Stop worrying about me so much and focus on your training. The placement eval is tomorrow, you know.” There had been times in the past when Kattrin’s officer voice made Arte so angry she could hit her sister, and this was one of those times. Scowling, she folded her arms across her chest and leaned her bottom on the railing, staring down at her feet. Anger made her skin prickle and her eyes burn, but she wouldn’t let it affect her. Much.

“I know the eval is tomorrow, Kat, and I’m more than ready for it. But I can’t help worrying about you, you’re my sister! I haven’t seen you in over a year and you…you haven’t been the same since Papa…” Her chest tightening, Arte dug her fingernails into her elbows as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. With her mother incapacitated and her sister far away from home, there had been no one for Arte to turn to in order to process her own feelings regarding her father’s death. She had done what she could on her own, but the veneer was thin; if she thought about it at all, she’d break down.

Kattrin gently touched her sister’s chin to make her look up, holding her gaze with her own eyes.

“You’re right, Arte. I haven’t been the same since Papa died. I’m not the same, you’re not the same, Mama’s not the same. We’ll never be the way we were again! We can only accept it and move on, which is what I'm trying to do.” Her expression softened and she pulled Arte into a tight hug. “It’s what you need to do. It’s been long enough, you shouldn’t still be crying like this just from talking about it.”

Despite her sister’s words, Arte continued to cry for a few moments, reflecting on what Kattrin had said as well as allowing herself to feel her sadness. She was right, but Arte wasn’t going to push how she felt away. No, she would feel it, truly feel it. She would never feel any better otherwise.

**********

Kaela’s garden was in full bloom, and Arte stood for a while in awe of the lush foliage. Beautiful crimson rose-hawks extended their wing-like petals, tiny pink and yellow beeberry vines twining around their stems. Mantis lilies as tall as Arte formed a natural border around the garden, the long green petals of their flowers hanging down to nearly touch the ground. A gentle breeze rustled through the picnut trees, ringing high and clear through the folded whistles and shaking the pale blue pollen off the love-and-wars. The air smelled like starmint and lemella, and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia came over Arte as she walked toward the garden.

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Her mother was there, seated on a blanket beneath the picnut trees, a basket of beeberries in her lap. She peeled them carefully, slitting the fuzzy husks with her thumbnail and coaxing it away to reveal the sweet yellow fruit, placing each one in the bowl beside her. As Arte drew closer Kaela looked up, the same golden eyes she shared with her daughters lighting up.

“Arte, my love, come sit with me! I have fresh beeberries for you.” She called out, and Arte ran over to plop down on the blanket beside her.

“Mama, you look happy.” She said, laying her head on Kaela’s shoulder. The breeze tickled her face. Kaela smiled serenely and stroked her daughter’s hair.

“I am happy, why wouldn’t I be? My girls are chasing their dreams. I couldn’t be more proud.” She picked up another beeberry, beginning to peel it. Arte watched her mother slice open the fruit, expertly separating the skin from the meat. As she watched, however, she began to notice something strange. Rather than the soft yellow flesh of a beeberry, something shiny and green lay inside the husk. With the skin peeled away, a round marble of emerald light rolled into Kaela’s hand.

“Oh, look. This one is for you, daughter.” Taking Arte’s hand, Kaela pressed the marble into her palm. Arte looked down and gasped in surprise; her hand was gloved and gauntleted. She realized with a start that she wore her cadet armor. This must be a dream. Trying to stand, Arte found herself stuck, unable to move.

Now that she was aware she was dreaming, she began to notice more and more things were out of place: the love-and-wars were the wrong color, and the mantis lilies were far too tall. Strange whorls spun in the dirt and the leaves seemed to shimmy and buzz. Arte’s vision shrank to a pinhole until the only thing she could see was the glowing marble in her hand. She tried to call out for her mother but couldn’t make a sound.

A shadow fell over Arte but when she looked up, no one was there. Even her mother had disappeared, the garden with her, leaving the girl alone in an empty field. Panic gripped her heart as she silently screamed for someone, anyone, but there was no one. Attempting again to stand, Arte was able to get to her feet but her boots seemed glued to the ground.

“What the hell is happening…?” She wondered aloud, startling herself with her own voice. She could talk now! Was she going to wake up soon? Could she wake up?

The ground beneath her feet began to shake, a distant rumbling that very quickly became a powerful tremor. Arte sprawled to the ground on her hands and knees, her whole body shaking just as hard as everything else. She could hear muffled roaring, screaming, and for a split second she could see a tall, skinny figure in the distance running toward her. The figure seemed to be saying something and an enormous shadow loomed behind them, then Arte blinked and it was gone.

A massive beam of wood crashed to the floor only inches away from Arte’s bed, jolting the girl out of sleep with a scream. Now wide-awake, Arte clung to her bunk with a white-knuckled grip while her heart raced. Someone was speaking but she was too disoriented to tell who it was. Lifting a shaky hand, she felt strong fingers encircle her wrist and then she was being yanked upright so hard her elbow popped.

“Wake up, Arte! We have to go! Now!” Kattrin pulled on Arte’s arm until she was sitting up and thrust her sheathed sword into her hands. Something heavy crashed outside the barracks and now Arte was fully awake, blinking in confusion at her sister. Clutching her sword, she scrambled out of bed and followed Kattrin out, letting out a little shriek of shock when she saw the wooden beam that had crashed through the ceiling. Closing her eyes, she told herself she hadn’t seen the cadet’s body crushed beneath it as they ran past.

Outside in the courtyard, soldiers were running to formation while officers barked orders amidst the chaos. Rubble lay in piles all over the ground, some smoking and burning. Giant chunks of stone, broken ceiling beams and furniture…it looked like one of the towers had collapsed. Arte looked behind her and saw she was right: the taller tower, where the King’s mage lived, no longer stood against the skyline.

“Oh, gods…” Kattrin’s mouth hung open in shock as she, too, saw the remains of the tower. It hadn’t toppled so much as it seemed to have exploded. The debris spread out all around, more than half of the tower destroyed.

“Wh-what happened, Kat? Are we under attack?!” Arte gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, ready to draw it in a second, trying to appear unafraid when the exact opposite was true. Kattrin knelt beside the crushed remains of a wall and examined it closely, her frown deepening.

“I don’t know what did this, but this was definitely an attack. Look, claw marks. Big ones. Something huge was up there…wait a minute.” Kattrin straightened up and looked around, eyebrows furrowed and tight. Gesturing at Arte to stay put, she sprinted over to a nearby soldier.

“Hey, Vallie! Have you seen the mage?” She asked, and Vallie shook their head.

“No, ma’am, we’re looking but no one can find him! His apprentice is missing, too!”

“Shit! Okay, keep looking! I’m going to find Commander Moonshadow!” Vallie saluted and went off, and Kattrin returned to Arte with a grave expression. That look only made Arte more nervous.

“Kat…?”

“Arte, I need you to listen to me, okay? Something…something isn’t right and I've got to find out what. This wasn’t some random attack.” Taking hold of her sister’s arm, Kattrin hauled Arte away from the mess. Away from the carnage, past the destroyed stables and the frantic soldiers and the crushed and bloodied bodies, right to the open courtyard gates. Confused, Arte tried to pull back but Kattrin’s grip only tightened. The elder sister held the younger sister’s shoulders, identical eyes staring into one another.

“Arte, you need to go, okay?”

“Kat, no, I…!”

“Arte, please don’t argue!”

“I’m not gonna leave you!”

“ARTEMIS MORRIARTY! Shut up and listen to me, please!” Kattrin’s voice cracked, she shouted so loud, startling Arte as well as the nearest soldiers. Tears immediately filled her eyes but she nodded, looking away from her sister.

“I know you’re a capable warrior but this situation is too dangerous for you to stay here, okay? Just go to Grandrest, it’s not far, you can get a room for free as a cadet and I’ll send word once I get this all sorted out, okay? Okay?!” Her tone was pleading, and even looking away Arte knew what her expression looked like. She had never seen Kattrin so afraid. Swallowing the argument that rose in her throat, Arte slowly nodded and allowed her sister to push her out the gate.

“Don’t worry! Just go to Grandrest and wait for me!” Kattrin called before the gate closed, and Arte was left alone in the dark, in her sleep-clothes, sword in hand. Her heart hurt, her mind reeled in confusion, but she was a good soldier and good soldiers followed orders. Turning in the direction of Grandrest, she began to walk.

~