Nevan held the dulled sword in his right hand in the same defensive stance he always preferred. A jerk of Elnor’s left shoulder, and he went to duck again. It was a feint this time, and her left boot greeted his stomach. He could have crushed the incoming kick, but the sword was not meant for smashing metal armor. “Aim for the back of my knee! Have you learned nothing?” Commander Elnor yelled.

Frustrated by his superior’s constant insults, Nevan shouted back. “Give me a pair of war hammers, and I’ll show you a fight!”

“Alright then,” she took a pair of war hammers from inside the pack she had brought, tossing them to the squire. “Show me.”

He caught the war hammers from the air. He was grateful for the comfortable weights that were now set in his hands. Elnor watched her squire swinging the war hammers in circles, eerily uncomfortable with his familiarity with the weapons.

“I would recommend you to transmute tenaga. I wouldn’t want to break any of your bones.” He said with absolute confidence.

“Big talk for someone who can’t even handle a sword.” She replied.

“So be it.”

Nevan rushed at her, avoiding the defensive style he had been using with the sword. She swiped horizontally at his waist, and he ducked reflexively. But, this time, she had to step back from the heavy iron head that was coming towards her knee. As she stepped back, she had to lean backward to avoid the other hammer rising towards her jaw. He was fast, faster than a squire had any right to be. But Elnor was a master, and she swung down on him in the tight opening. He leaned to the side, narrowly avoiding the slash. The two continued their silent bout in the courtyard. There was no clashing metal, no sound of steel hitting flesh. Only the sounds of footsteps and the wind tearing could be heard.

As they danced their perfect choreography, more and more knights came to watch the spectacle. Elnor increased her intensity, moving faster and faster, but her squire matched her increasing speed. Commander Nada and Ryuji watched along with the others on the balcony. They were enthralled by the show that the two masters were putting on. 'The squire was supposed to be the bottom,' Nada thought. 'So how was he keeping up with Elnor?' Something was not adding up.

“What was Elnor’s squire’s name?”Nada asked Ryuji.

“Ishan Ditadari,” he replied. “Much more than we would expect from someone who was at the bottom, don’t you think?” he asked.

“That is what’s suspicious. You don’t become a master of a weapon without us hearing about it. Let alone war hammers.”

“You think he is a master?”

“I haven’t seen any master of war hammers in my life. But how else would he be able to fight Elnor like that,” she pointed to the courtyard, where the two were still moving to their reticent rhythm.

“Should we report this to the General?”

“I think she may want to see this.”

Commander Ryuji went to fetch the General. General Ahri was not happy when disturbed but eventually followed to the balcony after Ryuji’s insistence.

Ahri watched her Commander fought with the squire. The ferocity and precision of Elnor’s squire’s strike were very meticulous. The way he dodged every swing, the way he aimed for joints and maiming attacks, showed the knowledge and reflexes of an experienced fighter. She gripped the railings of the balcony, “What’s his name?”

“Ishan Ditadari,” Commander Nada replied.

“Never heard of that family name,” Ahri said.

“That’s because he has none, General. He is listed as a Graduated Orphan.” Replied Nada.

“That’s convenient, isn’t it?” Ahri asked rhetorically. An orphan somehow managed to become a master of war hammers without gaining recognition, a weapon rarely found in Ronan. “Ryuji, bring them to my office once they finished. Nada, call Yenel to me.”

“Yes, General,” both the commanders said in unison.

Ahri left the balcony to return to her office. Once the General had left, Nada turned to Ryuji, giving him a questioning look. He said nothing, only shaking his head slightly. They turned back to the still fighting commander and squire. They had not stopped in a while, and any average person would have been drained by now. However, not those two, sweat was drizzling of their skin, but their speed had yet to falter. The crowd had only gotten more prominent as time went by. Plenty of knights now stood around the courtyard and balcony. Nada held her breath as the bout came to a sudden halt.

Both of the squire’s war hammers rested on Elnor’s chest plate while the tip of the commander's sword touched the top of the squire’s shaven head, who had ducked low. They both breathed heavily, vapor smoking out of their mouth to cool their burning lungs.

Elnor pulled her sword away and offered a hand to her squire. He accepted it.

“Nice work. I underestimated you.” Elnor said to her squire with a slight smirk.

“Thanks,” Nevan replied with a grin of his own while she pulled him up.

“Who taught you how to fight like that?” she asked. She was glad that she has a capable squire this time.

“I had a teacher who….”

Commander Ryuji’s voice cut them off. “Commander Elnor, the General has requested you and your squire to meet her in her office.”

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“Tell her we’re on our way,” Elnor said to Ryuji, about to return to her conversation with Ishan.

“Right now, Commander,” Ryuji said.

“Is it that urgent?” Elnor asked Ryuji.

“I don’t know. The General just said to meet her as soon as you’ve finished your bout.”

Elnor sighed, “Very well then. Ishan, let us go.”

Nevan followed the two commanders across the fort. He had never seen the General before. He wondered what they wanted from him. They climbed the stairs until they reached the fourth floor. They moved through the wide castle corridors until they reached a door guarded by two knights. It was unusual to have guards present, but Elnor did not overthink about it. The guards nodded at Ryuji then Elnor. Ryuji knocked on the door, before entering followed by Elnor and Nevan. The guards entered after them.

“General,” Elnor said, “You wanted to see me.” She looked around the General’s office. She saw Commander Yenel standing on one side, and nodded to her.

“Yes, Commander,” General Ahri said, sitting on her desk. “Please sit down. Your squire too.” The general pointed to the two seats in front of her.

Nevan looked to Elnor worriedly, who nodded to him. Something felt wrong. The atmosphere was too tense. He saw the other commander who stood on the other side of the desk, behind the general, looking at him. He instantly called out to Ishan inside his mind. He sat on one of the seats, and Elnor took the seat to his right.

“Guards!” the General ordered. The two guards immediately held their swords against Nevan, forming a cross on his chest. He felt the cold metal touched against his warm skin while Commander Ryuji took the war hammers from him. He sat on the seat, unmoving.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Elnor yelled.

“Not now, Commander.” General Ahri said to Elnor. “Yenel?”

“Ready,” Yenel replied.

“What is your name?” the General yelled at Nevan.

“Ishan Ditadari,” he answered hastily.

“Where did you come from?” The General continued to ask with her voice raised.

“City of Siang.”

“Are you an orphan?”

“Yes.” Nevan nervously glanced at Elnor, who met his eyes, and nodded again. He took another deep breath to calm himself.

“Who taught you how to wield a war hammer?”

“A local blacksmith.”

Ahri scoffed at the answer and turned to Yenel, who nodded. Surprised, Ahri followed up her question, “Was this blacksmith a master of war hammers?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head quickly.

“Then how did you became a master of the war hammers?”

“I’m a master?” Nevan asked back, portraying a bewildered expression. After a moment, he repeated it. “I’m a master.” He smiled and looked at Elnor, who smiled in return.

“I’m serious!” General Ahri slammed a fist on her desk, jolting Nevan in his seat. The guards placed a hand on each of his shoulders, keeping him seated. “Are you a spy from a foreign nation?” she asked him.

“No, ma’am.”

Ahri looked again to Yenel, who nodded to her. She turned back to the squire, “Why are you here? With your skills, you could open a combat school. Why join the Knights of Ronan? You’re not a sorcerer. You’re not mandated to serve.”

Nevan did not want to reveal his intentions yet, so he tried to sidestep the answer. “Ronan’s at war. I want to help.”

“General,” Yenel called out and shook her head to Ahri.

Ahri turned back to Nevan, “I’ll ask one more time. Why are you here?”

'So be it,' Nevan thought. “I want to follow the noble thief.” He said. Elnor stiffened unnoticeably at his side. “I heard stories about the thief, helping lowborn like me. I wanted to do my part.” He continued.

The General turned towards the visioner, who nodded. She stretched a hand towards Commander Ryuji, who placed a device on her palm. The device resembled a spider with four needle-like legs and a circular bulb in the center. Nevan struggled in his chair, the guards continuing to hold him down. He felt a hand on his right palm. It was Elnor. “Don’t be scared. It's just a new design of a device to check for the presence of a core,” she said. Nevan calmed. He squeezed Elnor’s hand a little tighter as the needles sunk into his left palm and loosened his grip when he realized it did not hurt. Nothing happened, and Ahri retracted the device, leaving four tiny bubbles of blood.

Ahri looked at Commander Yenel, who nodded again and said, “All truths.” Ahri immediately crumpled back into her chair, sighing deeply. She waved a hand at the guards, who then pulled their swords away from Nevan. He breathed heavily while accepting his war hammers back from Commander Ryuji.

“Sorry about that,” the General said tiredly from her seat.

“What was that about?” Elnor asked, relieved by how things had concluded.

“We thought Ishan might be a spy,” Ryuji answered her.

“Can’t be too careful during the brink of an invasion,” the General continued, reclining on her chair with her eyes closed. Elnor looked at the General’s current state of exhaustion, a state she no longer seemed to care to hide from the other knights.

“Is that all then?” Elnor asked Ahri.

“Your squire can wait outside. You stay, however.” Ahri replied to her.

Nevan was escorted outside of the office by the two guards. He leaned against the wall of the corridor near the staircase.

“I want you to keep a close eye on him, Elnor,” Ahri said, inside her office.

“I am planning to do that,” said Elnor.

“I’m serious.” Ahri leaned with both arms on her desk.

“What are you worried about? You just finished questioning him.” Elnor stiffened slightly again as she remembered the reason Ishan joined the knights.

“All we know he is that he isn’t against us. But one does not become that good at combat that young without reason.”

“You act like we are so much older than he is,” Elnor replied.

“He’s not a sorcerer; he doesn’t receive the training we did. That’s probably why he uses war hammers. That doesn’t matter anyway. I just want you to report anything suspicious you see.”

“What are you suspicious of, General?”

“I don’t know. Like I said, one can’t be too careful during times of war.”

“I understand.”

“You’re free to go, Commander,” Ahri said, dismissing her.

Nevan stood straight as he saw Elnor exiting the office. He waited for her to come to him and walked by her side down the stairs. “What happened?” he asked.

“Nothing much. Is it true that a blacksmith taught you?”

“They were mostly a blacksmith,” He smiled.

Elnor shook her head in amusement. They continued to walk without saying a word. Finally, she asked the question that she was too afraid to ask. “Why do you admire the noble thief?”

Nevan raised both of his eyebrows, trying to push down his disgust, “They helped me once. I want to repay a debt.”

Elnor left it at that, not wanting to dive further into the persona she had left behind. Later that night, once everyone else in her house was asleep, she lit a small fire in the garden. Having retrieved the costume and mask hidden in her room, she threw it into the flames. She watched as the cloth and leather became ashes, killing what was left of the noble thief.

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Nevan sat outside the barracks, underneath the night sky and glow of the torch. He had read every word on the document pertaining to the thief, including those of her victims, and found nothing valuable in determining her whereabouts. He hated himself every single moment he found himself enjoying his time as a knight. He thought of his morning sparring sessions with Elnor and the friends he made. He could not believe it, but he was happy for once for what had felt like a long time. A week had passed since the interrogation, and Elnor had received orders from General Ahri. He did not know what it was, only told to be prepared to leave the following morning. He was out of time. However, he was still determined. He had scavenged what information he could find here and had memorized the names of places where the thief had made her mark. Wherever they went tomorrow, he was going to find more information.