The ring of steel clashing against steel echoed in the training grounds below as Sora and Leahan watched Botaran and Lawthe fight, live steel flashing in deadly silver arcs. Botaran moved swift and sharp, almost like a leaf floating gently within the storm that was Lawthe's blade.

The shield matched the other Jah Annan blow for blow, moving more defensively than Sora had seen in months. Watching their bout, Sora idly wondered if Botaran was the most skillful blade-master of the three candidates for shield.

Two, she reminded herself, glancing sidelong at the jah annan beside her. The two candidates for shield. The previous night's revelation still made her mind spin. To her knowledge, there hadn't been a sword raised in Jiovar for nearly two centuries.

The last sword, a man whose name was burned from all records, nearly ruined the varin kingdom. The legends claimed he'd tamed his leash, the only person with the power to control him, leaving him free to act as he pleased. In his wrathful anger, he’d raised legions of the dead to sunder towns and cities and plunder the nation. He'd been a thing caught between life and death, lost to his anger and hate, a true monster set loose upon the world. Some claimed he'd been as dangerous as Lytash himself. Though, he’d never broken a star.

The thought of becoming something like that man, to be neither dead nor alive, full of so much anger and hatred, it sent a shiver down Sora's spine. She imagined standing above a horde of undead, sword-staff raised alongside the black fox banner of Jiovar as they charged into battle. She'd be powerful, perhaps unstoppable, save for her leash’s will. That thought was the only comfort she could find in the nightmare her life was becoming. At least she wouldn’t be in control.

Sora was used to being a tool. The Jah Annan were not among the freemen castes, they were barely seen as above the gerin who served the citadel lords. They were all raised to kill, to obey, given weapons as soon as they could hold them, and taught to dance with death as soon as they could walk. If it was by her masters’ wills that she became the sword, then perhaps it wouldn’t be all bad.

Sora suddenly heard the shuffling of cloth to her left as somebody approached. She looked to see Keros walking towards her, dressed in a thin blue silk shirt and brown trousers. He smiled at her, the expression overshadowed by the seven bands of silverglass in his ears.

Seeing those earrings, she nearly leaped from her seat, alarm rushing through her despite her Jah Annan training. She felt Leahan react to her right, the air between the two of them suddenly sharp with anticipation and danger, but if the northerner noticed their reactions, he said nothing. Keros sat on the bench beside Sora, and goosebumps flashed up her arms and down her back as his arm brushed hers. So, the silverglass had been real? Why hadn't she noticed sooner?

"That one seems to be quite the cold killer," Keros said, snapping Sora's mind back to reality. She took a slow, quiet breath, returning herself to calm as she turned back towards the training yard. Botaran swung his saber in a tight downward arch from the left as she watched. The strike would have taken Lawthe's head off if the shield hadn’t brought his own blade back up to counter, but still, a thin red line of blood appeared where Botaran’s saber had slightly sliced the shield's neck.

A thrill blossomed in Sora's chest at the display. Despite wanting to be the shield herself, she desperately hoped Botaran would eventually be the one to win the title. Though, frankly, anyone would be better than Leahan in her mind.

The thought of Leahan pulled her back to herself, and Sora shook her head before giving the northerner a reply. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Master Keros. Botaran is one of the best warriors among the Jah Annan, but it isn't because his blood is cold." Beside her, Leahan nodded a slight tilt to his lips from her slightly sarcastic tone.

Keros smiled at the slight jest, but the smile faded quickly, replaced by a furrowed brow and slightly squinting eyes as if he were trying to discover something hidden on her face. "Oh?” He said with a pensive air, tone matching the hint of playfulness Sora’s words had held. “What would you say he is then?”

Sora thought for a moment, glancing at the sparring match, then up at Leahan before the words came to her. "He is a kind killer, Botaran. His strikes are always clean and true.”

Leahan jumped in as she finished speaking, saying, “He gives his enemies as quick a death as one can with a blade. No one else in the jah annan ranks is as precise a fighter as he is, except the shield, of course."

The man nodded, stroking his chin. "Of course. Well, I suppose I can understand that logic. He must be a warrior of great honor then, this young Botaran, as you call him."

Sora nearly laughed at that. Honor? Please. "There is no honor in war, Master. The jah annan are weapons meant to be wielded in the defense of Jiovar. We are the greatest wall in the world, the strongest shield which all blades will eventually break upon. Jah annan require no honor, nor will we accept it, that right is for our masters."

Leahan was nodding along with her, his attention returned to the fight below, but at Sora’s words, Keros’ smile weakened, and his gaze grew solemn. "I see,” he said in a soft voice. “Still, I wouldn't mind testing my strength against his. You jah annan, do you take challenges?"

Sora shook her head, beginning to wonder why the man was talking to the two of them. She opened her mouth to reply, but Leahan spoke before she could, saying, “jah annan are forbidden from such things, Master Keros. The only times we duel are when the prince wields us or loans us out to be a proxy for another.”

Sora did her best to ignore Leahan’s interruption. The man was always looking for ways to annoy her. She sighed softly, then asked Keros, “do you know much of the art of combat?"

Keros chuckled at her question. "I wouldn't call it art, but the Katori are no strangers to war. That said, if all of you jah annan are even half as great as those men down there, then I am glad not to be facing you on the battlefield."

"Katori?" Sora asked, blinking at the word. "As in the Arden Katori? The defenders of the divide? I thought they were just legends for young boys to dream about."

This time, Keros' laugh was more like a rumble. "I assure you, we are plenty real." He chuckled for a few more seconds before his mirth faded away. "Say, would you mind if I asked you and your companion a few more questions?"

Sora eyed him suspiciously. The man could have claimed to be a moon man, and she still wouldn't trust him. He was too obviously liocinian. "You have already asked us several things, Master Keros. What else is there you'd like to know?" Behind her, she felt Leahan turning back towards the conversation, shifting as if suddenly defensive. Casually, she let her hand drift down to wear her saber rested in its scabbard beside her hip beneath her cloak. Keros' gaze flicked down as if seeing the motion beneath her cloak, but that was impossible. She'd probably imagined it.

"What do you know of mitokar?" the Katori man asked. Sora blinked. Why did he want to know that? He couldn't be aware of her becoming the sword of Jiovar, could he?

"I imagine you would know more than I, being katori," she said carefully. Keros just continued to smile at her, so she went on. "I believe I know as much as an average person might. The cursed star's power animates the dead. There isn't really much else to it."

Keros nodded. "That is one aspect of the power. I am curious, though, please tell me, when did you last use mitokar?"

Sora went very still at that question. "I've never touched the cursed light, Master Keros. It is against the tenets of the jah annan. I would never taint my soul in such a way."

"Ah, I see. Forgive me then. I must have been mistaken. I assure you, I meant no offense."

Sora nodded slowly. "No need for forgiveness, my lord. You are highborn, a foreign freeman. It would be impossible for you to insult me."

He chuckled again at that. "I don't think that's entirely true, but I will not argue with you."

Slowly, Sora returned her gaze to the fight below, trying to block out bitter memories from her first time using kar. To her surprise, Botaran had scored a fine cut to the side of Lawthe's face, drawing another thin line of blood.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Is there something else we can do for you, Master Keros?" Leahan asked idly from her right. Sora slightly raised one brow. She was just expecting the northern man to leave since he appeared to be out of questions.

"Ah, yes, that's right," the supposed katori said. "That astrologian, Stargazer Jotaranell, I believe? He's been looking for you two, even asked me of all people to send you to him if I saw you. Something about being starborn and practicing kar?”

Sora nearly sighed. She hadn't forgotten about the lesson, she just didn't care to go to it. Why had Jotaranell told Keros she was starborn? She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to think about it. Instead, she tried to focus on why it was important she learned to use kar properly.

To become the sword, she would need a certain degree of mastery over the five elemental forms of kar, not including mitokar, that was outlawed. In the sand below, Lawthe and Botaran's bout ended as the back of the shield's sword connected with the side of Botaran's head, causing the jah annan to slump to the ground in a limp pile of limbs. A few seconds later, he moved to rise, but it was finished. Lawthe held his sword against Botaran's neck with a steady grip.

Rising, Sora sighed internally. Jotaranell was not a man to be kept waiting, and there was nothing else to be seen. Leahan followed as she left the training hall while Keros sat silent where he was, continuing to watch the training grounds below. As Sora strode into the citadel halls, surrounded by the late-night bustle of gin and gerin going about their nightly duties, Leahan’s hands began moving in hand-talk.

“The shield spoke with me earlier. He wants me to challenge him by the end of the week,” he sent, hands steady, gaze forward.

Sora barely had to think before sending her reply. “You can’t defeat him, brother. He’s still too strong, and you’re not as skilled as you should be. None of us are.”

Leahan’s hand gestures became stiff as he signed, “it doesn’t matter, little sister. The shield is old, and getting older. He doesn’t want the jah annan to fall into chaos at a time when the kingdom needs us most.”

At his use of ‘little sister,’ Sora’s jaw reflexively hardened. For some reason when he used that nickname it seemed patronizing. “The kingdom needs him, not us. He’s not so old that he’ll die before the end of the coming battle,” she signed back.

“Are you afraid of losing him, little sister?”

“I am jah annan, just like you, brother. We fear nothing.” Sora’s hand movements were quick and sharp as a blade.

Leahan gave a little shrugging gesture with his hands. “That is true, but he did always treat you differently. Perhaps you are not as ‘jah annan’ as the rest of us?”

“Enough of this. The stargazer is waiting,” was all Sora gave in reply, picking up her pace and walking ahead of the other jah annan. As she moved away, she could have sworn there’d been a smirk struggling across Leahan’s lips.

Jotaranell's study was in a large tower near the center of the citadel, not too far from the training grounds. The largest telescope in the kingdom rested at its top, protected by day with large iron shutters. Sora and Leahan’s boots thudded and squeaked against the polished stone stairs as they climbed the spiraling steps, going around and around, her pace almost making Sora dizzy.

They reached the door and Sora promptly knocked on the old bloodwood boards, unable to hear anything on the other side. Sound from the room was sealed with a bulwark of kar, and as the moments began to stretch, she was beginning to worry that her knocking hadn't been heard.

A few moments later, Sora gave up hope and turned away. Her back was to the door and she was gesturing for Leahan to go back down the steps when the door swung open, and a sour-looking astrologian glared down at her.

"So, you're finally here, eh girl. Good," Jotaranell said, then eyed Leahan. “I didn’t ask for you as well, did I boy?” he asked but didn’t wait for a response. Spinning on his heels, Jotaranell marched back into his study as Leahan fumbled to reply. Sora followed the stargazer inside, a mix of apprehension and mirth twisting her guts.

The inside of Jotaranell's rooms were almost entirely black, broken only by thin, glowing blue dots and lines of alchemical paint. The round space was rimmed with an assortment of tables, bookshelves, and dioramas, most of which were overflowing with books, scrolls, and artifacts.

In the center of the room, standing like a glorious pillar amongst the chaos of the study, lay the largest telescope in Jiovar. At its widest, the thing was nearly as thick as five men bundled together and as tall as four stacked atop each other. The far end of the telescope jutted out through a wide slit in the domed roof and Sora knew from watching that the thing could rotate and slide on its rails to gaze from one horizon to the other.

Jotaranell pulled kar through one of his two silverglass earrings and used delicate whips of air to adjust the telescope's position, only a drop of blood budding from one ear. At the same time, he dug through a pile of papers stacked atop one of his desks. Sora moved to stand nearer the center of the large room, Leahan’s footsteps following behind her, while the stargazer looked for something in the mess.

“You did ask for me, master stargazer,” Leahan managed to say after a moment. “I was to be taught more of the healing arts.”

Jotaranell nodded briskly and said, “Yes, yes, very well. I suppose you can get as much practice as you want when your sister passes out.”

Indignation rose into Sora’s chest at the words, but she held it down with well-tempered control. The chance of her passing out was slim. Or, well, it should have been. Sora watched as the star map on the room's walls gently shifted, the patterns moving to match the night sky above. Occasionally, she could pick out a constellation or two, but for the most part. it was all just glowing blue lines to her. Like most people, she only really paid attention to the movements of the six great stars.

Jotaranel found what he was looking for among his papers and turned back to her and Leahan, long star-patterned robes rustling with the swift motion, twisting around his legs. He opened his hand towards Sora without a word, and she took the offered silverglass band, sighing internally.

"Begin where we left off last time. You do remember, yes?" He asked Sora as she slid the earring on. Leahan took several steps away from her moving to the other side of the room.

Sora gave him a subtle smile and her hands signed, “are you afraid, brother?” Leahan just ignored her.

Shifting her focus, but still slightly smiling, Sora focused on pulling kar into the silverglass from both inside herself and out. Most people could learn to manipulate a small portion of the power, but only starborn individuals had the kar in their blood to use silverglass. As she drew a thin line of kar from inside herself and connected it to the band of silverglass a sharp pain stung her ear like the prick of a needle.

As her blood touched the silverglass, her sense of the kar in and around her broadened, showing her what seemed to be the path to an infinite plane of power. The kar wasn’t endless, of course, meger actually, but compared to what she could control without the earring, it might as well have been a sea of starlight.

She summoned a thread of fergkar, igniting the air in front of herself in a sudden burst of yellow flame. The pathetic display made Jotaranell snort.

“I’ve seen five year old children do better than that. You should know how to blend the powers by now, girl," he said with a slight contemptuous frown. "I trust I don't need to tell you what you did wrong?"

Sora shook her head, maintaining that flat jah annan expression despite the way Leahan seemed to be smirking at her from behind the astrologian’s back. "No, Master Stargazer," she said, and focused again on pulling the power from her blood and through the silverglass. Sora pulled threads of aiankar and fergkar from the band in her ear, weaving them together into a tapestry of starlight. A small ball of fire, barely smaller than her palm, appeared before her.

When it was the size of her head, Jotaranell began pulling on lewskar and aiankar, snuffing out the flame in a quick burst of motion. Sora barely had enough time to pull back before it happened. She never even saw his silverglass begin to glow.

"Better than last time, I'll admit, but there is still room for improvement," Jotaranell said, still frowning, tone a bit begrudging. "It may have to do, unfortunately. Have you learned to control the other three yet?"

Sora nodded. She'd practiced with Lawthe a few times while they were away on the prince's errand. Sora pulled on the lewskar, elankar, and otakar in her blood, feeling a thin trickle of blood run from her piercing and down her cheek. She split the lines of power apart like the snaking limbs of a jungle vine, reaching around the room to find anything she could bend to her power

She found a potted plant, near dead from neglect, and pulled a handful of dirt from beneath it with elankar. She pulled water from a jug balanced on the edge of Jotaranell’s desk with lewskar and pried free a few slivers of silver from Jotaranell's desk with otakar. Spinning the bits of matter around herself in a ring, Sora had to suppress a self-satisfied grin. Blood was seeping into the fabric of her tunic and the strain of controlling so many strings of kar made her body ache, but she was still holding onto it.

"Not bad, I supposed," Jotaranell said, still a tad contemptuous. "But if you want to impress me, try and lift more than raindrops and dust next time."

The smug satisfaction fled Sora, and she returned the matter back where it'd come from, straining as each element drifted further away from her. Her ear grew hot, then cold, as the line of blood on her cheek grew wider, the bloodstain on her shirt spreading. As Sora felt the strength drain from her limbs, she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by her own lack of power.

Jotaranell turned away from her again to return to his telescope. "Go through the basic patterns again until your knees give way. Then do them ten more times," he said, gesturing her off towards an empty space. “Oh, and you boy, be prepared to practice healing. She’ll no doubt be needing it soon.”

The grin on Leahan’s face was unmistakable as Sora began practicing as he ordered, pulling on as much of the kar inside herself as she could. Jotaranell couldn’t see the other jah annan but it was still improper for Leahan to show so much emotion on his face. Lawthe would surely… Surely what? Blood ran down Sora’s face in a curtain as she pulled the five lines of kar together, then her vision darkened, and she collapsed to the floor with a resounding thud. She was only barely aware of Jotaranell’s deep sigh as Leahan pulled the silverglass from her ear and began healing her.