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Part I - Convergence
Sasha stepped out of the guardroom, and looked around the compound with her usual feelings of disgust.
"How did I ever get myself involved with this bunch?" she asked herself for the thousandth time, looking around at the five others scattered about the courtyard. She was quite glad that her five year contract would be up in just a few months; then she could sign up with a real guard force, and be well rid of this collection of misfits.
They were each going about their own habitual routines: Trinias was fletching arrows, and testing them out on the archery butts; the enigmatic Kwon Chen was over in one corner, working through some martial arts routines in slow motion; Wolmark was tinkering with some gadget or other; the giant Ulf was chopping wood and tending to other labour intensive chores; and Leandra was busily cooking up some kind of medicine - the smell was terrible.
"Heaven help us if we ever get into a serious fight," Sasha thought to herself bleakly, as she began her morning sword drills; "I don't know what Boralis was thinking when he hired those people as guards."
Her practice - and her dark mood - were interrupted by the approach of a young blonde man in his mid-twenties.
"Yes?" she queried, before he could speak.
"Pardon me for interrupting, my name is Flynn. Mr Boralis just hired me to join his guards; he told to come and see you, since I'm a swordsman. He said you'd show me the ropes."
"'Ropes', is it?" asked Sasha, rhetorically. "Very well, get yourself a sword from the armoury over there, and let's see how you handle yourself."
Flynn wandered into the indicated building, and carefully inspected several blades before selecting one.
"Not bad," Sasha thought grudgingly, "at least he knows weapons."
Flynn returned to the training area and saluted with his sword.
"At your convenience," he said.
The two began to spar, neither seemingly able to gain an advantage over the other. Sasha slowly increased the intensity of her attacks, trying to gauge the newcomer's level of skill; eventually, she scored a strike with the flat of her blade.
"Touché!" Flynn exclaimed. "Good hit!"
The sparring continued for several minutes, with Sasha striking Flynn several more times before calling a halt.
"Not bad, not bad at all," Sasha complimented Flynn. "I've not met many so young, with your abilities." Flynn quirked an eyebrow; Sasha didn't appear to be much older than himself.
"Thank you. I'm better with two swords, though," Flynn said as he walked back over to the armoury. After a moment, he emerged with a second sword in his left hand. "Care to try again?"
"Ah, if it's two swords I'm facing, I'll need a little extra!" Sasha laughed over her shoulder, as she stepped into the wing of the barracks she shared with Leandra. She emerged a short time later, with a shield buckled to her left forearm.
As the swordsman and swordswoman took their respective positions, preparing for another sparring match, most of the others stopped what they were doing to watch (all but Ulf, who seldom had anything to do with anyone else); this promised to be a more entertaining spectacle than anything they'd seen around here in some time.
The two began a swift dance of clash and parry, engage and disengage, until Sasha eventually scored again. Flynn nodded, smiling, and took position to resume the match. After several more brief flurries, in which neither scored a touch, Sasha suddenly saw an opening and lunged - only to feel the stinging slap of a flat sword on her back!
"Most excellent!" she exclaimed in delight. She sheathed her sword, and held out her hand to Flynn; "I would be pleased to fight alongside you, anytime!"
"I return the compliment," rejoined Flynn, grasping her hand with a grin, and bowing slightly. "I've seldom sparred with anyone as skilled as you; I hope you'll give me a few lessons."
"And I hope you'll give some lessons to me," Sasha replied. "I still can't fathom that feint you used against me!"
Like old battlefield comrades, they fell to discussing strategies and techniques, and the masters and legends of their common craft. Seeing the excitement was over, the others returned to their own respective tasks.
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That afternoon at mess, Sasha led Flynn to the long table at which Trinias, Wolmark, Kwon and Leandra were seated, and sat down to join them.
"Everybody, this is Flynn - newest member of the guard, and a very fine swordsman," she said, then introduced each of the others to Flynn.
"Who's the big guy over there?" Flynn asked, when the introductions were concluded; he indicated Ulf, who was sitting alone at a small table in the corner.
"That's Ulf," Trinias replied. "He does odd jobs around the place. No-one has much to do with him; he seems to prefer it that way."
Flynn looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged it off. As the meal progressed, he began to ask each of the others question after question, about themselves and their respective crafts.
"Trinias, how'd you come to take up archery?"
"My father is a woodsman, as was my grandfather; I learned to shoot almost as soon as I learned to walk. Before I was out of my teens I could out-shoot, out-track and out-hunt anyone for miles; but I realised that I didn't want to spend my life cutting down trees for the landowners, so I signed on here as a guard. To be honest, I thought I'd get more excitement - I couldn't have been more wrong!"
At that, a smile played briefly around the corners of Flynn's mouth. He turned to the next person.
"And you, Kwon, what brought you into this group?"
Kwon looked at Flynn for a moment, with his inscrutably expressionless face; Flynn had almost concluded he wasn't going to answer, when he finally began to speak. "I once studied to be a monk, some years ago. I found that I wanted more of life than was offered in the monastery; I left, seeking - something, I do not know what - but one has to eat; there is little fortune to be found in seeking. So, I took the five year contract with Boralis. I save what I can; when my contract is up next year, perhaps I will leave to continue my search; or perhaps I may find what I desire, sooner than I might have thought." He continued to gaze at Flynn with such intensity, that Flynn became edgy and looked to the next person.
"Wolmark, your skills seem a little unusual for this job; what's your story?"
"Well," Wolmark replied cheerfully, "I'm an inventor; I build gadgets. Unfortunately, one of my little 'toys' did some severe damage to a building owned by Boralis; I'm not very well off, but he seemed quite impressed and suggested working here to pay him back. It's not so bad; I still get to tinker with my inventions."
"It's a wonder he hasn't blown himself up by now, and us with him!" Leandra interjected.
Flynn turned to face her. "And what do you do?" he asked.
Leandra blushed, almost to the colour of her red hair, and replied: "I study medicine, and the healing arts. When I was a girl, my father grew ill with a strange sickness. No-one knew what to do for him, and we couldn't afford an expensive doctor; so eventually he died."
"I'm very sorry," Flynn sympathised in a soft voice; the others murmured in agreement. For some reason, this caused her to blush once again.
"I felt so helpless," Leandra continued. "I resolved that, somehow, I'd become the best healer around; so that the next time, I'd know what to do. But my family's so poor, I couldn't afford tuition for training; so I work here, using the skills I've managed to learn, while studying whatever books I can, to expand my knowledge."
After a few minutes, Wolmark broke the silence. "What about you Sasha? Where'd you learn your skills?" Flynn was somewhat surprised by the question; he'd assumed that the group would already be familiar with each other's stories.
Sasha looked around the table, then looked down at her plate and hesitantly began to speak. "Many years ago, when I was a girl, I lived on a small farm in western Russia. My parents were labourers; we were very poor. One day, while I was off playing, some brigands raided the farm; they killed everyone."
Sasha choked a little at the unexpected depth of her emotions. She looked up defiantly, ready to fight anyone who laughed - but no-one did; in fact, as she looked into their eyes and saw sympathy reflected on every face, she realised that for the first time in years she was accepted; she belonged. A feeling that she had thought long dead began to stir inside her. "It would be nice," she thought, "to have friends."
Flynn patted her on the shoulder. "Go on," he prompted gently.
"In those days," Sasha continued after a moment, "it was - difficult, for a young girl on her own; I disguised myself as a boy, for protection, and travelled a long way to a village where I wasn't known. There, I found an old guardsman who was prepared to train me to fight; he never suspected the truth, and he became a kind of substitute father to me. I was very sad when he died, but by that time I knew how to take care of myself. I travelled West into Europe; I was tired of hiding who I really was, so I abandoned my disguise. I won service in a mercenary group on my own merit, and fought in a few campaigns; after that, I had enough of a reputation that no-one would dare discriminate against me because of my gender. But I was sick of the constant fighting, so I took this post; and that is my story." She took a long, wavering breath, then looked curiously at Flynn. "Now that you've finished grilling us, tell us your tale."
Flynn stared into space, with a sad expression. "I was betrayed." After a moment he shook his head, looked around the table and continued.
"My father was a metalsmith, an armourer to a count in the far North; he was good enough at his trade, though not extraordinary. The count had only one child, a son; he was just a little bit older than me. One year, it was decided that the young Viscount needed a companion of about his own age. I was chosen; it made my father so proud. As the Viscount and I grew up together, we shared many of the same experiences. When he received tutoring, I received tutoring; when he was trained in horse-riding or swordplay, I was also trained. In many things I was better than he was; I suppose he was jealous, but I didn't know that then; I was an innocent."
Flynn paused, and took a sip of wine.
"When we'd grown to be young men, the Viscount became enamoured with a pretty local girl; but she was engaged to another, and they loved each other dearly. One morning, her fiancé was found murdered. The Viscount accused me of the crime. I was shocked; he was my closest friend, and I couldn't understand - then - why he would do that to me. I was arrested, and put on trial."
"Why didn't you run?" interrupted Trinias.
"Run? That would have been like admitting my guilt, and I would've been dishonoured," Flynn replied. From the looks on several of the faces around the table it was clear that they didn't all agree with him, but Flynn resumed his story. "I was ultimately found innocent, of course; evidence was brought to light that implicated the Viscount. I don't know what happened after that; my father would no longer work for a man who'd raised such a son, so we left. I hadn't been allowed time to train in my father's craft; so when the time came for me to earn my own way in the world, I turned to the skills I'd been given; and here I am."
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Later, Sasha realised guiltily that she'd learned more about the others over that single meal, than she had in all the years and months since each had entered the service of Boralis.
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Far away, in another plane of existence, an amorphous, multidimensional entity began gathering energies, readying for battle.
The Hunter will be here soon; I must prepare. I must survive!
(to be continued)
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[This message has been edited by Slayer (edited 11-05-2001).]
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