Clack!

  Clack!

  Clack!

  Faster! Harder!

  Clack!

  Clack!

  Clack!

  Downward southwest slash!

  Horizontal rightward cut!

  Step forward, pivot and upward northwest hack!

  He kept swinging his blade, possessed by the determination of one who was obsessed with excellence.

  This was his routine. Daily at best and each other day at worst. He never stopped looking for opportunities to keep himself active. To gain greater and greater prowess at arms.

  Weak!

  Yet, within the blinding maelstrom of destructive dedication that was his psyche, a hint of frustration was slowly building up.

  Weak!

  Unrefined!

  Before long, Axios started to gnaw his teeth.

  More!

  More!

  Faster!

  Sharper!

  Upwards southwest slash!

  Horizontal leftward cut!

  Step forward, pivot and upward northeast hack!

  He kept swinging and swinging, training and training, repeating the motions until swinging a sword was second nature to him.

  Yet it wasn’t enough.

  This is not the sword of a king! It isn’t even worthy of a commander!

  Years of practice hadn’t done jack! He was just as clumsy as when he first started!

  No grace.

  No tempo.

  No flexibility.

  No improvisation.

  Just raw strength that was wasted on mechanical repetition.

  Forget commander! Your indolent life is going to end at the end of the first arrow that is ever aimed at you!

  Rhhhhhaaaaaaarrrrghhhhhh!!!

  His frustration and boiling blood reaching their tipping point, Axios drove his sword down with a mighty nerve shattering roar of pure anger.

  It came down with such force that it actually slashed through the bark, crushed the sapwood and embedded itself in the centermost region of the tree.

  He let go, his hands now on his knees, the sweat clinging to his clothes, hungrily drawing in breath, his strength sapped by the blow and the preceding outburst of primal emotion.

  Axios looked around. The grove he was standing in was his own personal retreat. Not many even knew that it existed. He glanced at the stream that was off to the side. If he followed it in the opposite direction, he would get back to the training barracks where the rest of the guards trained at, but few if any would probably still be there at this hour.

  Once his breath had become less ragged, he raised himself to a standing position once more, using what little of his attire was still mildly dry to wipe the sweat that had started to trickle into his eyes.

  He could tell that the blade was stuck firmly in the growth. He made a few attempts at removing it, even putting his back into it, but soon realized that a mistake made in anger is not easily undone.

  He started doing some footwork training. Keeping himself light and mobile on his feet. It helped to keep his body warm despite the relatively warm night.

  He went to a different tree. Just as thick and ancient as the one before, but far more damaged and worn down. If the last one had been hacked at for days, this one felt that it had continuously been smashed against by a blunt instrument.

  He threw some punches at it while practicing his footwork. Some light jacks, nothing to write home about. The lightest of contact. It was not meant as a display of strength.

  Always defaulting to what you are decent at, don’t you? Coward! A fist can not best a sword, nor a shield. Do not find solace in mediocrity!

  Axios kept going. He ignore the nagging thoughts burning through his brain.

  He moved on from jabs, to incorporating hooks and knee strikes into his sequence. Soon after he realized that he was falling into a repetitive pattern again, so he started to throw some kicks and some strong straight rights as well.

  He was pleased that the impact with the wood didn’t cause his right arm to flare up with pain anymore. He was fortunate that he seemed to recover faster than most of the kids his age.

  He looked at the imprint at the center of the trunk. There were some knots and a strange shape encircling them.

  That was the imprint of his fist.

  “You keep trying too hard! All you do is keep getting hurt!”

  He could hear her voice clear as crystal in his head. Her admonishment was not something he could easily shrug off.

  That wench has nothing going on up there. There is no “too hard”. You could stand to train smarter instead though, I will give her that.

  Her good intentions aside, idleness was not something that he could permit himself.

  To not improve was to stand still.

  To stand still was to die.

  That was the one harsh yet true lesson that his one singular life had taught him.

  He winded up, closing his eyes, remembering like before the searing fury that the Vermillions had instilled into him by daring to touch his Cerulean Fleece scarf.

  Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!

  Like before, he used this thirst for violence as fuel and put it all into his fist as it crashed into the solid, multi-generational bark.

  He heard a solid cracking sound.

  He already weakened timber had been dented in and cracks had spread across its surface as if hit by a battering ram.

  As a second cracking sound could be heard, Axios looked up to see if the tree was about to fall on him, but that turned out to be an unfounded concern.

  He looked at his hand. It was slightly swollen, but he could tell no major damage had been done to it, same for his forearm, he noticed.

  Tearing, damage and soon after, reconstitution and fortification. He was pleased that the same pattern for human muscles and tissues was as reliable as ever.

  It was unfortunate that Limani didn’t allow for widespread usage of axes or maces in their military. It was definitely a bad fit that would hamper his ability to climb the ranks.

  Still, he could walk away from tonight’s training nourished by the satisfaction that the cracking sound this evening had resounded through the forest, rather than inside of his skull, as he felt his whole arm rip itself open from the impact of his last attempt.

  He grabbed his towel from one of the lower branches from one of the trees to wipe himself. He looked around for his helmet and leather armor and put them on, once he was dry enough.

  The problem that he really wanted to fix was getting that sword out of that tree. Having to requisition a new blade would attract all sorts of unwanted attention and probably would give him a poor review for competence on his record.

  He thought for a bit on how best to try and overcome a problem that had bested him just a few minutes ago.

  Ultimately, he decided on a course of action.

  He once again focused on his footwork, keeping himself agile and his posture flexible as he visualized the motion that he would need.

  No, not this one.

  That one isn’t right either.

  He played the scene out in his head eight times. Each reproduction giving him a better idea of the right angle, of the right torque, of the right amount of force.

  Here we go!

  Axios altered his position my taking a step diagonally to the left, then he planted his right foot hard, pivoted and exploded with his left leg, thrusting it outward as he spun and hitting the grip of the sword with his heel.

  Clank!

  The blade protested and vibrated audibly from the impact. It didn’t go flying off as he had imagined it. A bit disappointed that his imagination had overestimated things, but happy that it was at least dislodged enough so that he could take it out of the trunk without much effort.

  He washed the sword in the stream and dried it with his towel. In the glimmering moonlight, he confirmed that the edge needed sharpening and that he would need to take some time off of his own schedule to fix it, either tomorrow or the day after.

  He went to yet another low branch and untied a cloth that he had left there. Careful so as to not spill its contents, he took one of the loafs of bread and bit into it and again walked up to the stream and drank a fair amount of it. He had yet to feel sick from doing this in prior occasions, so he saw no problem with it. Besides, Limani was known for having strange waters with beneficial properties and it was almost unheard of to find any contaminated stream or even having to take any precautions to purify it. Axios admitted to himself that it was one of the better benefits of living in this country. It was a trait that was somehow unique to their region.

  He grabbed all of his belongings and started walking up the stream as usual. However, as he was already close enough to see the light of the torches from the inner wall, someone started to come into view.

  After a few more paces, he recognized that the person had long blonde hair. After he few more, he could make out their town guard leather armor and the cloth sack on their shoulder and after a couple of seconds, he could make it their face.

  It was Aporia’s friend, the one girl that had been a pain in the ass to listen to just a few days ago as he was pulling the cart all the way up the hill.

  What was her name again?

  “Hey Axios! What the heck are you doing here at this hour?”, Jeanne hollered.

  “What a pain in the ass”, he thought.

  Instead of answering, he just pointed at the stream, which was now large enough so that someone could fit in its bank.

  As she came closer still, Axios could see that like himself, she was also drenched in sweat.

  She is like looking at a mockery inside some twisted mirror, isn’t it?

  As crass and verbose as the sentiment rang, it was true. They looked like in another life, they could have been born as one another, or perhaps have been siblings with extreme similarities. In this place, at this time, no observer could see them and not think the same. Drenched in sweat, their hair the color of gold and straight like strings on a bow, one reaching to one’s shoulders and the other halfway across their back, of almost equivalent height, of almost identical builds and similarly fair features. To anyone that knew them, they would further remark that they each had a similar temper and a similar propensity for profanity.

  “Did you come to the outer wall just to bathe? Talk about suspicious behavior!”, she accused.

  True, it wasn’t normal for someone to be here, but the outer wall was as much a part of the city as anything within the inner wall. It was merely a high secondary palisade meant to enclose some of the surrounding forest area to keep it as part of the town’s territory, without the need to commission a full and expertly crafted stone wall.

  “Anyway, what do you want?”, said Axios, not wanting to get into a confrontation.

  “Training. I was just at the training grounds at the barracks down there”, she pointed at the wall in the distance behind her. “I am the only woman there. I don’t want to bathe alongside everyone else.”

  “You are drenched. Sweat I take it? Why weren’t you at the barracks then?”, she further questioned.

  Wishing to avoid unnecessary confrontation, Axios answered as much as he could without giving away too many details.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I don’t like to be around people if I can help it. I don’t want to have any noise or distractions while I am training either.”

  “Yeah, I can relate. Though the distractions I am used to are probably different from yours.”, she glanced up at the starry sky. “Still, the night is warm and the forest smell wonderful tonight. I can understand the desire to come train here. But with heat like this, you are going to get drenched in no time, hahahaha!”, Jeanne cackled.

  Not paying much attention to what she was saying, he walked off to the side and stuck his hand behind a chopped off tree stump. When he pulled his arm backwards, he produced a wooden bucket and a fresh towel.

  “I see that this trip wasn’t a one-off event for you.”, she commented.

  Axios made his way to the bank of the stream and filled the wodden bucket up with water. As he pulled the heavy bucket up to his chest, about to down it on himself, he glanced at Jeanne and saw that she was somehow frozen stiff.

  “Is there a problem?”, he asked.

  “I…I am going to need to bathe too.”, she replied.

  “So? You can just let me get done with it first and I will leave afterwards.”

  “You are just going to pour water over boiled leather? And not even take any of the clothes off? Doesn’t seem smart. Or hygienic for that matter.”

  “Do you want to see me naked or something?”, he asked, slightly irritated.

  “Ah! No! Trust me, I don’t and I don’t need to!”

  He was slightly confused by the meaning of her words.

  A colder wind was starting to blow then and even the warmer evening was starting to cool down a little. He saw her rub her arm, trying to fight off the chill, as he himself stood within the stream.

  “Look, we look alike enough that I can figure it out with a bit of imagination, ok? Anyway, would you be so kind as to turn around or walk into the forest or whatever? I am really starting to get a bit cold here. Getting a fever wouldn’t do in our line of work and not in this busy season.”

  “Fine”, he replied as he turned around and walked forward a bit to give her space.

  “Hey Axios!”, she called to him again.

  He turned around.

  “What?!”

  “Hey! One, don’t turn around again without permission just because I called you! I mean it, don’t do that again! Second, can you please lend me that spare towel of yours? I forgot to bring a spare and I already used mine during training to wipe the sweat!”

  “Oh for f…fine! Whatever! You can use it! Just stop bothering me!”

  “Thanks!”

  Blasted wench! She oversteps her bounds. Her head should be divorced for her shoulders for even asking that her betters turn their backs to her!

  He decided to leave it be, despite the ridiculous extent of her requests. Knowing both of their tempers, nothing good would come of it if the argument escalated. That and he didn’t want to cause problems with someone that hung around Aporia on the regular. That would be its whole new set of issues.

  “You are just going to pour water over boiled leather? And not even take any of the clothes off? Doesn’t seem smart. Or hygienic for that matter.”, he remembered her words. To be fair, she had a good point. The pleasantries of etiquette had already been dealt with. The space that he now had for himself was his alone.

  Without looking above his shoulder, he took off the parts of his apparel that were made of leather and tossed them in a wide arc until they hit the ground on the shore. With that, the inconvenience of soaked and heavy leather was removed. The rest of his undergarments and shirt he kept on him and washed himself by pouring his bucket over himself multiple time and by submerging himself into the stream.

  The colder wind from before hadn’t completely gone away, but the evening kept its pleasant temperature.

  How much longer is the wench going to keep playing around in the water and keep us stuck here for?

  He looked up at the sky.

  He wasn’t a fan of the stary night. It hadn’t brought him anything but loathing for a very, very long time. However, he could stomach it long enough to tell that it wasn’t that late. Around dinner time he wagered. He could find his meal in the mess hall for the guard and just sit in a more quiet corner or simply head to the temple and find some food there.

  Eventually he heard the water move more aggressively, with more active movement.

  His first instinct was to turn around and meet any potential assailant head on, but he stayed his reflex for a moment.

  “Hey! That noise in the water is you, right?!”, he asked, while still showing his back to her.

  “Yeah, it is me! I will be done shortly. Keep your eyes in front, soldier!”

  He chuckled.

  Who knew that in this time and place, this type of basic military humor could manage to get a reaction out of him.

  He waited a few minutes longer until she finally gave him the ok to turn.

  “Ok! I am done! Come ashore!”

  Does the bitch fancy herself a pirate now?

  He turned to look at where her voice had come from and saw that she was already fully dressed in her leather guard uniform.

  Once back on land, he reached up to the low hanging branches of one tree and from the foliage he extracted his own sack, which contained fresh clothes inside.

  He looked at her.

  “Are you going to turn around?”, he asked.

  “Ah come on! Don’t be shy!”

  After a pause, he retorted, oddly surprised by the newfound serenity present in the words that left his lips.

  “You are strange. You act like a man, yet ask for modesty like a woman, but don’t seem keen on returning the courtesy.”

  “Yep! That is me!”, she beamed.

  Axios sighed.

  He swapped his dripping wet clothes for the new set. He made sure that before he changed the garments covering his loins that he wrapped his waist up with the towel.

  “I see that my imagination was spot-on.”, she teased.

  “You seem to be acting oddly friendly and familiar with me. We haven’t been on these terms before. I don’t even recall your name.”, Axios stated.

  She placed her hands on her hips and looked up.

  “Yeah so…yes, you are right. This run-in having been complete coincidence aside, I have been meaning to talk to you.”

  “Yes…go on…”, he prodded.

  She closed her eyes and exhaled downwards.

  “I need to apologize for the other day.”

  “I don’t get it”, Axios replied.

  “Look, we both mean well and want what is best for Aporia. I shouldn’t have started a fight with you. You were just more direct and pragmatic. I should have seen it at the time, but I didn’t, so I took it out on you. I apologize.”

  “Is that all?”

  She looked at him, studying his face.

  “No. I should do this the right way.”

  She extended her hand towards him.

  “Let’s bury the hostilities and promise to do our best for Aporia’s sake from now on. I…will try not to lose my cool with you like before.”

  What an oblivious and self-important wench!

  “Alright”

  She firmly gripped his hand and shook it, all the while staring intently at him.

  That was strange, he thought.

  And then, when he assumed that she would let go, she stepped further into his personal space and switched her grip to his upper forearm and squeezed tight, as she nearly slammed her shoulder into his chest, her eyes still on his face.

  Sensing that it was some attack while his guard has been down, he was about to respond with aggression and anger, but she let go and stepped away right as the thought crossed his mind.

  “Seems to be all good now.”, she remarked.

  He paused, visibly puzzled by her words and actions.

  She pointed at the right side of his body.

  “Your arm I mean. You had been nurturing an injury recently, had you not?”

  The boy’s face became a mask of various complicated expressions, from surprise all the way to indignation.

  “Oh, don’t act all shocked. You were constantly grimacing whenever you had to do sharp movements and you didn’t volunteer to carry heavy objects like usual. Plus, your body language was always one of protecting your arm.”

  Take notes! Never let your allies and least of all, your enemies, smell even a whiff of weakness!

  “You know that she worries about you on the regular, right?”, she remarked. “Oh, he tries too hard!”, “He doesn’t know when to take a rest!”, “One of these days he is going to be in a fight that he can’t win!”. I have heard these lines more times than I wish to. “

  Axios shrugged.

  “And she would be right on all accounts. These are inevitable things however.”, he responded.

  “Inevitable how?”

  “Some people are just the way they are and nothing can make them change. I aim at the goals that I have set for myself and that is the end of it as far as I am concerned. The fights just come with the territory.”

  “You aren’t going to tell me something as ordinary as “I wish to be the greatest warrior in all of Limani!”, are you?”

  He paused. He breathed in deeply from the scent of the forest.

  “No…that is not it. It would be a welcome bonus however. That would probably net me an army and a title and keep of my own.”

  “Aaaaahhhh…my counterpart wishes to be a baron then!”, she said, as she walked towards the water and took out her flask.

  “Could you please stop comparing the two of us?”

  “Sorry, can’t help it sometimes!”, she hollered as she crouched down and filled the flask with water from the stream. “It is like having to look into a mirror of what could have been!”.

  He shrugged and went to hang his still wet clothes from the lowest branches of a nearby tree, beyond the first tree line, so that they wouldn’t be easily spotted by passersby.

  By the time he finished the task, she was there waiting for him, with her helmet already on.

  They again stood in front of each other. He found it difficult to make out the differences between what was in front of him and what he saw every morning as he checked the fitting of his armor in the guardhouse mirror.

  Suddenly, a colder wind blew and she sneezed.

  “Achoo!”

  “Go ahead and make your way back to the barracks. A girl like you will just catch a cold down here. And don’t compare yourself to me if you aren’t even able to handle this.”

  Then a second gust of wind blew and Axios sneezed.

  “Achoo!”

  “I agree. Please go warm yourself Ma’am.”

  “Haha!”, not being able to help himself, the boy let out a small chuckle under his breath.

  “Did the ever taciturn Axios just laugh?”

  “Don’t get used to it.”

  “Why not? I am sure Aporia would like it. Most people around you I think would like it.”

  “Anyway, that was just because I am still cold from the bath and my armor is still on the ground.”, he said, as he picked up his leather uniform.

  “Standing around, being inactive, not having my blood boiling like usual…this isn’t me. Don’t use this moment to think we are all that similar.”

  She shrugged. “If you say so. I guess we might have a few crucial differences. Anyway, I am a girl, like you said, so I should go warm up. But the same applies to you, Axios. Might as well walk to our common destination together anyway.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “Well, I actually do outrank you slightly as of the last set of promotions.”

  “A coincidence. Our units chased two different scoundrels and yours happened to run after the bigger fish out of them.”

  “Be that as it may, I get to order you around, bud.”, she remarked, as she started walking.

  He sighed, as he wrung his scarf dry as much as he could and threw it over his shoulder.

  If this isn’t pathetic, I don’t know what is! Either your unwillingness to punish her for her conceit, or the delusion that she is in any way comparable to you. The impudence of this wench to utter such words even as she stinks of unearned benediction!

  They kept walking in the direction of the flames, up the slope that led up to the inner wall. Time seemed to stretch as the silence became heavier with each passing second. Their breath becoming warmer, the heat of their blood rising as it flowed from their chests to their legs and back again.

  Eventually Jeanne broke the silence.

  “You worried about the draft?”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Hey man, your superior just asked you a question!”

  “No…I ain’t super worried about it.”, he responded.

  “Even though it will probably mean that someone with your rank would be used as fodder?”

  “The fact that yours isn’t much better aside, I am actively trying to get it up before they eventually come to pick us up.”

  “You better get it done quick Axios. Better rank in local militaries equals higher station in the main national army. I would prefer to have you as a fellow officer than know that you just got sent off to die somewhere. Aporia would never forgive me for it and I wouldn’t like to see you go this quick either.”

  “I know all of that. This is why I don’t take breaks, as much as she complains. If I just get stronger, if I just get more feats under my belt, I can just get put in a higher military rank. Even if my rank here isn’t that great, as long as I get a recommendation for my combat skills, I can still be place away from the fodder.”

  “Seems like you planned for this. Did you always have military aspirations?”, she asked.

  “It kind of just synched up with everything else and I figured that this was the straightest path forward.”, he breathed in, noticing that the climb had caused the talk to be more draining than he expected. “You?”

  “Not really. I would rather just be a sellsword or go my own way with a crew and make a name for myself. Maybe even earn fame as a champion of the arenas in Praelia.”

  “Didn’t pick you as an aspirant to soldier of fortune.”, he remarked.

  “And yet I am.”, she responded.

  “Heroes of that sort are more legend than fact.”

  “And yet what more can a warrior ask for if not to enflame the hearts of the children that will hear of them?”

  Enflame, eh?

  After a short pause, the boy continued.

  “If that is your dream, then I respect it. At least you have one.”

  “…thanks. Most people, most guys even, they don’t think I can do it.”, she started chuckling and her tone changed to one of self-derision. “I guess I was just born wrong, wasn’t I? I can’t fight as hard or as long as I would like, not like you can. I don’t get the same kind of respect in battle and I…I am not able to perform all the time like you can…Even forming a crew has been impossible. Everyone I talk to about it just…”, she trailed off, now with words she held so close to her chest that even Axios who was next to her couldn’t make them out.

  “Idiotic!”, he remarked.

  She abruptly turned to him, her emotions high and her temper an inch away from overflowing.

  “All those people are idiotic! As are your doubts and as are you for letting any of them get to you. You are strong. Simple as. A blind man could see it. If someone doubts what is self-evident, then just show them what reality is actually like!”

  He continued

  “A person with a dream does not need to speak of it. Nor do they need to doubt it. They cannot afford it. Dreams are made flesh through action. Let the rabble and the commoners be your tongue. Others already speak of you and your strength at this very moment. Your already noticeable skills have improved greatly these last few weeks. This is already spoken of by those that have seen your actions.”

  He looked at her, locking his eyes with hers.

  “You are strong. Know this. Stronger than almost anyone should have any right to be. Stop talking and act upon reality. Until then, you have no business drawing any parallels between you and me.”

  He kept walking up the slope, feeling the warm but slowly chilling wind on his mouth and neck.

  The boy looked only in front, not having noticed that he had left his double behind.

  “Axios!”

  Eventually he was caught off-guard by her jumping on top of him from behind, almost causing him lose his balance and fall face first into the dirt.

  The fuck is the madwoman doing?

  “What?!”, he yelled out.

  Then she started laughing.

  “Hahahaha! Thanks for that man! I needed it, I really did!”

  “Whatever! Get off me, woman!”

  They were close to the gate now.

  “Hey, as coincidental as it was, I really liked this encounter of ours. I feel that I am finally starting to get an idea of what you are about.”

  “Does this mean that you will stop bothering me and start focusing more on your own desires?”

  “Desires…yeah, I guess you can say that. Do you want to do this again?”

  He looked at her like there was something wrong with her.

  “You want bathe in the stream again while contemplating how hard the draft is going to uproot both of our lives?”

  “No!... well, some of that yes, but not all of it. No silly, I just want to hang out and talk to you more. Maybe that would get you to wind down for once, if only for an hour or so.”

  “I don’t know the reason for it, but you were lucky that I didn’t lose my temper with you tonight as I have in the past. You know that we would just end with a broken nose each under normal circumstances.”

  “Guess I will just have to shut you down. I am strong, remember? Stronger than almost anyone should have any right to be. Not to mention that I am still your superior officer.”

  He sighed, “So you want me to join you and Aporia and that other girl the next time we both happen to be on break?”

  “Yeah, we can do that, but lets try to be by ourselves more often than not.”

  Before they finally ended the conversation as they approached the gate, Axios made one final remark.

  “You say that you finally got an idea of what I am like tonight, but the feeling is not mutual. I don’t think I will ever understand why you would want me to spend time with you.”

  Later, Axios found himself within the temple, sitting in a corner by himself eating his meal that had been provided by the temple’s kitchen, looking at the various groups of children, some his age, some younger, having their conversations in the open area next to the sanctuary, lit by several lanterns that hung on the walls and the area kept warm by a mix of the trapped heat from the kitchen, the chimneys that snaked upwards behind the stone walls and the heat coming off the bodies of everyone present here.

  His plate was made up of small fishes and some boiled carrots. He thought that the fishes might be sardélla, but he wasn’t completely sure because of the seasoning. Regardless, they were a bit salty, but the blandness of the boiled carrots countered the shock of the initial flavour and made everything go down with greater ease.

  He took out his flask from the bag that was around his chest. He had had to change its position since putting his armour away from the night and changing to the normal attire that he was asked to wear at the temple. He poured the flask’s contents down his throat to make the food go down easier.

  This seems like a good spot, he thought.

  The truth was, he had picked this spot because he knew that the chimney ran on the other side of the wall. This made the wall give off a certain amount of heat. His scarf still hadn’t dried properly, so he decided to use this chance to deal with that loose end.

  He stayed there for a while and Jeanne eventually passed him by on her way to the kitchen. She gave him a smile, but he shook his head to indicate that he wished to be left alone.

  He hadn’t seen Aporia tonight yet. Then again, he hadn’t seen that other girl with the brown hair that hung out with her either, so he didn’t feel particularly worried that she might be in trouble. Still, he didn’t enjoy the fact that it was almost time for the mandatory curfew, and she hadn’t shown up.

  Eventually the Vermillion girl that had started the problems for him the other day came into the room. Soon after, another Vermillion, probably her boyfriend, had also came into the room. Axios and him took a few moments to eye each other.

  Come closer! Come closer so that I may rip the jaw from your skull and stab your in the neck with it!

  Taking a deep breath, Axios decided to raise up both of his hands as a declaration of temporary peace and walked into the corridor that led into the level below.

  Below the stone steps was yet another open area. This one was different because on either side, there were two large reinforced windows which separated the children from a column of flame. To be precise, this area stood one floor above where the ovens and the central fireplaces were burning. The fireplaces specifically were what could be seen beyond the walls of glass.

  He breathed in the warmth of the area and heard the chattering of the other groups present there, but didn’t really pay them any mind as she picked another corner for himself and leaned against the wall.

  He stood there for a while, taking the rare opportunity to think about what he was lacking. What could he be doing wrong? How would he manage to get out of this slump that he kept finding himself stuck in? He had strength, that much as undeniable, but strength alone would not get him the position that he wished for. He pondered the matter over and over while staring at the flame, almost as if he was asking it for guidance.

  Humpf! When flames can answer pleas, that will be the day when the logic of this world dies!

  Axios wasn’t the praying type. He had not done it even once since having come to this temple. He guessed that a lot of the other kids did the same. Just bow your head and mumble something in case anyone has sharp hears and wait until everything is over and done with.

  Still, he found some odd solace when close to the fire. He might loath the flames dotting the night sky, ever distant and uncaring, but these smaller blazes near his skin, rising from below the earth and the stone, from some hidden and unreachable place, those gave him, if not peace, then at least some reprieve from his darker moods.

  He kept seeing the sparks dance and the blaze shifting and entangling itself upon itself and his incessant pondering carried on.

  “…and this is how, my once most loyal of champions, you reward me? How you repay my kindness of years past, handed from my father to your father before me?!”

  Some racket disturbed his thoughts.

  Who is the raucous fool that did that?! Who dares to interrupt my deliberations without my sanction?!

  In the opposing corner of the room, there was a group of children that suddenly turned loud. After a few more moments of observation, he recognized the specific kid responsible for it. He was more on the small side and his hair was like golden fleece. He was acting out some scene from some play, or just being dramatic and making his own tale on the spot.

  He recognized the boy.

  As he could feel his mood starting to sour again, he suddenly noticed that someone he hadn’t been aware of had come within an arm’s distance of him.

  “Hey man, what is up?”, the tall chestnut-haired youth said.

  Axios relaxed his nerves. He hadn’t talked to the young man next to him for a while.

  “I get by”, Axios replied, with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “You still getting ready for the draft?”, the boy asked.

  “Are you still hanging around with thieves?”, Axios replied.

  “Yeah…”, said Georgios, in a low tone, almost as if it was meant to be an answer directed at himself.

  There was a long pause between the two long time friends.

  “That kid over there is part of your group, isn’t he? I don’t get why you all ended up flocking to a pickpocket.”

  “Kénos is an all-right guy, Axios. If you weren’t so uptight and so busy, maybe it would be easier to get why we did it.”

  “He isn’t with you? I didn’t see him upstairs either.”

  Georgios caught himself bringing his hands to his mouth out of habit and crossed his arms instead before answering.

  “Nah. I tend to give him his space. It is a small consideration to give in exchange for how reliable and talented the guy is. He has a dislike for being restricted or being kept track of.”

  There was yet another pause. Axios sighed as his eyes found themselves resting on the sparks and the flames.

  “I am not going to help you with that. You know my feelings on it.”

  Georgios chuckled. “Yeah…you never did want to give me a light. Ironic for someone who enjoyed lighting the temple’s candles as a hobby…For all that it is worth, I appreciate the effort and the sentiment.”

  “And yet you won’t change course.”, Axios replied.

  “Not at all. Life would be too boring and worthless without all these little thrills. Besides, I am in good company. Our side of the law aside, we are good people.”

  “The question is still for how long…I don’t have to tell you again how our actions shape us more than our words.”

  “No, you really don’t…Just ease up on Kénos, ok? He is odd by nature and his luck in life didn’t help his case. Being saddled with negative talents and impulses is something you are all too familiar with as well.”

  Axios turned his head to look at his friend in the eyes, with a no-nonsense expression that the other knew all too well.

  Georgios chuckled a bit in response. “Did the description hit too close to home?”

  “Dunce.”

  “I won’t deny it.”, Georgios agreed, giving his companion a full smile.

  “Ah! But he comes! He stalks our night under cloak of umbral shadow! The fiend without a name! Eight among my subjects have already been his victims! Their bodies left in manners that even our grave diggers and priests refuse to touch!”

  The two of them looked in the direction of the crowd of children being led by the nose by the golden-haired boy.

  “I guess Leo switched his story again. Either that or he just worked it into the story that came before. I don’t know with this kid. He surprises me sometimes.”, Georgios remarked, once more reflexively bringing his hands to his mouth and muttering a curse under his breath.

  “What is he doing now?” Axios asked.

  “I guess it is the story of the Nameless Fiend. You know, that story that they tell children to teach them to listen to their parents.”

  Axios shrugged. “Wouldn’t know it then. There are way too many of those around.”

  “Yeah, you aren’t from Limani. You were already too old for those kinds of tales by the time you came here.”

  After a few minutes in silence, Leo bowed to the applause of his peers.

  “Thank you! Thank you! That will be all for this evening.”, the boy hollered.

  One of the girls near him spoke.

  “Leo! Can you say the carol one more time? I want to hear it again because the adults here can’t make it sound scary when they tell us the stories!”

  “All right, but on the condition that you bring two more friends with you when we get together to play around again tomorrow.”

  “Deal!”, the girl agreed.

  “Very well.”

  Leo coughed a bit to clear his throat.

  “Love you family and tell no lies.

  Remember their kindness and their eyes,

  But in darkness guide yourself by the tones that you recall…”

  “…Beware of the Faceless One in the night.

  He shall wear your kin’s warmth and rob your star’s light”, Axios completed.

  “Thought that you didn’t know it.”, Georgios remarked.

  “I guess that it is just well known all around”, Axios shrugged.

  As the children disbanded, the two youths seemed to see fit to call it quits for the evening.

  They bumped their fists and each dragged himself to his room.