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Bryn slashed her short sword downward onto the imaginary blade of the invisible opponent in front of her. Unable to go into the city like she usually did because her uncle was watching her movements, Bryn opted to work off her frustration by training.

She had spent the last three hours in the training yard of the soldier’s barracks, feeling the need to move her body. Executing the various cuts and jabs she could deliver with her sword, she switched to her two-handed battle axe and went through the motions again. Eventually, her exercise was proving to be boring and unproductive, causing Bryn to slam her axe into the packed red dirt beneath her feet.

“Do you require a sparring partner, sir?” Revna’s light voice came from behind Bryn.

Keeping herself from smiling at her arrival, Bryn turned and gave a terse nod.

The two women faced each other, limbs loose and weapons in hand. While Bryn always felt the need to be moving, Revna had mastered the art of staying preternaturally still. Bryn moved first, as she always did, by jabbing her sword forward. Revna responded in kind by stepping aside and swiping her blade up to redirect Bryn’s blade away from her.

Revna brought down her blade on Bryn, moving faster than most mortals did, but Bryn parried with a flick of her sword. They moved back andforth a few times before Bryn managed to snare Revna into a headlock with her sword under Revna’s delicate chin.

“What have you found out about these rumors?” Bryn asked, voice low to keep others from overhearing.

“I have heard many things, but only one rumor stuck out from the rest,” Revna responded, stomping her foot onto Bryn’s as she slipped her arm between Bryn’s sword and her neck. Catching on the vambrace, Revna shoved Bryn’s blade away and turned to face her.

“Tell me,” Bryn ordered.

For a few moments, only the sound of swords clashing filled the space around them. Sweat was dripping down Bryn’s back, and she could feel the soreness setting into her limbs the longer they sparred, but the ache and exhaustion filled an empty hole inside her. For now, anyway.

“I heard rumors of something called thelaevatein,” Revna huffed, catching her breath for a moment.

Bryn sheathed her sword at her hip and motioned for Revna to do the same as she lifted her fists in front of her face. Revna mirrored her stance, and they quickly began to spar with their fists, allowing them to speak.

“The cunning knife,” Bryn deadpanned. “That just sounds like a trick.”

Revna snorted, then jabbed her fist out, catching Bryn’s jaw on her knuckles. Bryn’s head snapped to the side, and she worked her jaw a bit before she faced Revna again, who had humor sparkling in her dark eyes.

“It gets better,” Revna chuckled. “It’s rumored to be in The Knotted Caverns in the Kingdom of Light. A group went searching for it, and only one came back, raving about the dangers and monsters in the caverns.”

So, Maude truly is looking for the dalkr Hela, Bryn thought to herself.

Bryn called their fight to a stop, walking over to the carafe of water that had been placed on the bench and drinking straight from the spout. She handed it to Revna when she appeared at her side and sat down.

“The people of the city talk about this weapon like it doesn’t exist,” Revna continued. “They speak of it like the old Elven kingdoms are spoken of. And these aren’t the only ones either. There have been rumors of an animal that moves like the shadows prowling the borders of Logi that has now disappeared and that there have been Elven sightings in the northern town Finniskali.”

“If the King truly heard of all of these rumors, they would’ve been shut down already, so either he does not care, or he is so preoccupied with finding this weapon that everything else has fallen to the wayside,” Bryn commented, running her hands over her sweaty face.

Revna did not comment, only nodded her head.

At the sound of footsteps, Bryn looked up to see her uncle making his way toward her and Revna. She shot Revna a sharp look and stood, the mask of the Lieutenant General slipping into place.

“Your report has been noted, soldier,” Bryn said, keeping her eyes on the General. “You are dismissed.”

Revna bowed low, fist over her chest.

“Yes, sir.”

Bryn’s eyes never faltered from her stare, but she noticed how her uncle’s gaze shifted to Revna as she walked back toward the soldier’s barracks, back straight and eyes forward. Rage boiled up inside her at the sight, but she kept her face neutral while she burned from within.

“General,” Bryn said, inclining her head quickly.

“Lieutenant,” he said, turning his attention back to her. “Feeling restless?”

Ulf nodded to the training yard where she had spent the last few hours training.

“There is always room to improve,” she bit out.

“Indeed,” the General replied, circling her. “No more outings into Logi, I see.”