The Callindra Chronicles Book One - First Quest (19 page)

“
Look, if you want to spout
some lecture save it for your initiates or whatever you call them.”
Callindra said, tossing her head irritably, “I just came here to
practice. Without practice I get a little too
unpredictable.”

A stray wind whipped across the practice
grounds, strong enough to set the dummies dancing on their ropes.
“I’d rather not waste the morning away with idle chatter.” She
said.

He moved to a nearby bench, carrying his
shield as though it wasn’t a six foot wall of steel. Instead of
sitting, he set the shield down and leaned on it. Callindra gave
him a level look, then rolled her eyes and resumed her Stances. The
Korumn flowed easily and at the end she felt refreshed, ready for
the day and more importantly as though she had managed to put
somewhat of a leash on her fractious connection to the Weave.

“
Now that dance class is
over, let’s spar.” She had forgotten the shield-toting instructor
was there, he hadn’t even moved while she was practicing. He had a
heavy wooden mallet in one hand and was lifting that monstrous
shield with the other.

“
Dance class? Big talk for a
man hiding behind a castle portcullis!” She stood lightly on the
balls of her feet, Brightfang’s edge glittering like a gemstone. “I
am Callindra Sol’Estin of Glarian Sol’Estin. I am two years old.
The wind hones my edge and guides my steps. My enemies bend before
me like reeds before a gale.”

Now she was certain she saw his eyebrows
raise, but she was too busy launching an all-out attack to give it
any thought. Just as she had predicted, the sheer mass of his tower
shield made it nearly impossible for her to reach him. She did
manage to put a few notches around the edges and make it ring like
a bell though.

The blur of the mallet’s motion was too fast
for her to even think about dodging. Her opponent used the bulk of
his shield to mask his attack until the last second, the steel
bound end of the mallet hit her shoulder like a charging bull,
sending her sprawling on the ground. She rolled and came up
smoothly to her feet, only to find she had to leap backward to
avoid another blow.

How had he closed on her so fast? That shield
must weigh as much as a horse but it had been foolish of her to
believe carrying it would make him slow. Just as her feet touched
the ground, he seemed to appear before her, still running full
tilt. His shield connected with a solid head to toe blow, knocking
her flat on her back with the wind rushing from her lungs.

Callindra tried to shake off the shock and
pain that dazed her, it was all she could do to roll to one side as
she felt more than heard the mallet slam into the turf where her
head had just been. Was he truly trying to kill her? The thought
made her break out into a cold sweat.

She had to be faster. Rolling to her feet,
she was grimly satisfied that all her training had paid off; she
still held fast to Brightfang’s hilt. Her opponent was a few feet
away, giving her just enough time to act. She ran to her right,
circling him as fast as she could, but moving ever closer. Instead
of trying to attack, she was waiting for him to make a move.

The instant his right arm was visible, she
jumped to the left, completely changing her direction, leaping over
his attack and slashing Brightfang in a flashing arc. The head of
the mallet was neatly separated from the shaft, Callindra grimaced,
she had been aiming for his wrist. She landed lightly and
immediately sprinted in the other direction again, dodging the edge
of the shield as it slammed into the ground.

She had removed one weapon, but he treated
that shield like a much more deadly one. She needed to be more
unpredictable. With a madcap grin, she ran toward him, calling up
arcane energies from the flat of her blade. Just before she was
within range of a shield bash she released a blast of wind that
should have knocked him over. Dust exploded in a cloud in the
courtyard, making it difficult to see.

Callindra attempted to jump over her
opponent, but ended up coming up short and landing on the top edge
of his shield. Trying to take advantage of her mistake she brought
her sword down, attempting to force him to surrender. To her
surprise, a burly hand grabbed her forearm and flung her flat on
her back, twisting her wrist as it did so and sending Brightfang
tumbling from her grip.

When she had recovered from the brutal full
body impact with the ground, she could see the cloud of dust had
settled and the man who had so completely defeated her was nowhere
to be seen. A group of novices had arrived and were righting racks
of weapons and shields, sweeping dirt and dust from a cobbled
square and raking the earthen practice grounds smooth.

“
What’s your name?” A burly
youth in a simple grey smock asked, offering her a hand
up.

She back flipped to her feet, landing next to
her sword, “Where I come from, it is customary to introduce
yourself before asking another’s name.” Picking up Brightfang, she
carefully inspected him. The wrapping on his hilt appeared to be a
little loose.

“
Sorry, I wasn’t trying to
be rude. I’m Tam.” He said, “That was quite the show you put on. I
don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone disarm the Sargent
before.”

“
You all use blunt weapons,
it would be difficult for you. Besides, I missed. I was aiming for
his arm.” She saw the shock register on his face, “I’m
Callindra.”

“
Ca lin drah?” He seemed to
be rolling her name around in his mouth, “Callindra, why were you
trying to cut the Sargent’s arm off?”

“
He was trying to kill me
Tam. If I hadn’t rolled away… I swear, that mallet came within
inches of my head.”

Tam chuckled, “You aren’t the first to
mistake his actions for killing intent. He just wanted you to stop
holding back. How did you do that anyway?”

He gestured to the general disarray of the
courtyard, overturned benches, spilled weapon racks and now she saw
trenches on either side of a section of untouched ground. Her blast
of wind hadn’t managed to dislodge her opponent and instead had
been deflected around his shield, carving twin trenches in the
packed earth of the practice ground and destroying the neat order
of the equipment along the walls.

“
Northwind style.” She said
shortly, it had been reckless for her to use magic in a city as
large as this one. Tam looked at her a little askance, but before
he could comment further she asked, “Is there a bath somewhere
around here? I need to clean up, we’re leaving today and Gods know
when I’ll be able to bathe again.”

“
Yeah, if you help me rake
I’ll show you where it is.” He said with a grin.

“
Fine. I guess it’s my mess
anyway.” She sheathed Brightfang stiffly, her left shoulder was
going to be one big bruise from that mallet strike. At least the
bone hadn’t broken, though from the way it felt it had been a near
miss.

Taking a loose toothed rake from the wall,
she helped Tam level the grounds. In about a half hour they had
smoothed out the worst of it and left two other apprentices to
sprinkle water and pack it with large stone rollers.

“
Bath is through here.” Tam
said, walking in to a large changing area. There was no door on the
entrance and Callindra could see a few men and women with damp hair
getting dressed. Huh, a mixed bath.

She wasn’t wearing much, just her chest wrap,
over shirt and under breeches and it only took her a few moments to
disrobe. There were cubbies for personal effects, and she folded
her clothes and laid her sheathed sword on top, wrapped in his
baldric.

“
I wish I had brought a
change of clothes.” She muttered, then turned toward the bath. Tam
was staring at her wide eyed.

“
What?” She asked, looking
at the mixed company in the changing room. “Never seen a naked girl
before?”

“
I – uh” he blushed, “I
thought you were a boy. Sorry.”

Callindra shrugged, “I’ll take that as a
compliment.”

She sat on a wooden stool and scrubbed the
dirt and sweat away, trying to ignore Tam’s scrutiny, before
rinsing and padding to the wide pool of steaming water for a good
hot soak. Now that she was covered in water up to her neck Tam
seemed a little less awkward.

“
So you’re a sword fighter
eh? That’s pretty cool.”

“
Mmm.” The water must have
soothing herbs or minerals or something in it, Callindra could feel
the pain of her shoulder and her other scrapes and bruises
easing.

“
You must have seen quite a
bit of action. Because of all your scars I mean.”

“
Most of those are from
training, the ones that aren’t from whippings when I was a kid
anyway. But the biggest ones are from the road. Kobolds.” She
raised her leg out of the water to point to the newly healed
shallow cut that ran across her thigh.

“
Whoa, that looks nasty.” He
said, then his brow furrowed, “Your master gave you scars? What the
hell kind of training is that?”

Callindra smirked and sunk back into the
water. “My training wounds were all self-inflicted. Learning to
wield a sword is a lot different that learning to use a hammer, and
learning this fighting style is even more dangerous than normal
swordplay. It suits my reckless nature, or at least that’s what
I’ve always thought.” Well that’s what Glarian had always jokingly
said. Thinking of him gave her a pang of loneliness.

She sat and soaked, mumbling answers to Tam’s
curious questions and breathing in the thick steam that rose from
the water. At the edge of hearing she could discern a voice,
layered with disdain.

“
-believe he is sending
these children on a mission of this import!” This voice was high to
the point of being shrill.

“
Who else is there? We need
the experienced hands we have here to train the initiates and the
rest of our able bodied fighters who could be trusted with this
task are currently committed to the field.” This voice was low,
almost too quiet for her to hear.

“
It’s better not to send
anyone than to send these untried kids. The risk that they will
ruin any further communication with the ancients is more than we
can afford.”

“
I disagree. They have
definite potential. I tested one of them today as a matter of fact;
she’s reckless, disrespectful and dangerous.” The voice paused,
“But she has more strength in her than she knows.”

“
Master Sergeant, I cannot
condone-“

“
Nobody is asking for your
permission Deacon. It has been decided. The Biscop has
spoken.”

The voices drifted off and Callindra felt a
warmth that had nothing to do with the water. He thought she had
potential did he? She grinned, “Well I had better get back to my
companions. I’m sure if I don’t return soon they won’t let me eat
before we leave for the ruins of Lin Lamorak.”

“
Lin Lamorak?” Tam goggled
at her, “Wait, you’re with … you are traveling with The
Te’Chern?”

“
Yeah, Tryst recruited us in
Thornehold. I gather we just had to come here to get the
instructions from the biscuit or whatever himself.” She stretched
languidly. “Damn they put something in this water don’t they? It’s
so relaxing.”

“
You’re traveling with The
Te’Chern?” His voice rose an octave, “I don’t believe it! I – uh no
disrespect for making you help out there. I didn’t know who you
were and…”

“
What? That? It was nothing,
this bath was totally worth the effort.”

“
Do you have spare clothing?
I will get your spare clothing, and make sure your soiled clothes
are washed before you leave.” He scrambled out of the bath, “Just
stay here and I’ll be right back. I’ll be right back.”

Callindra watched him rush out of the room,
barely stopping to grab a towel on the way. Priests were weird she
decided, even warrior priests. She soaked for a while, letting the
water work its magic on her sore muscles and then reluctantly
exited the pool, drying herself with a rough towel and padding back
to the locker area.

Tam had taken her clothes but left a clean
robe underneath Brightfang. She shrugged into it with an
indifferent sigh and wondered how the hells she was going to get
back to her room. She sighed again, deciding there was nothing to
do but wait for Tam to return.

In a few minutes he came back into the room
at a run, carrying a bundle of things in his hands. “Sorry it took
so long, when I went to your room your … brother? gave me the
supplies you asked for and your armor too.”

He set down a tall pair of boots, a set of
thick leather greaves for her thighs along with her breastplate and
a pile of clothes.

“
Thanks Tam. He’s not my
brother, unless brother in arms counts though.” She took off the
robe and began dressing. The boots were a surprisingly good fit,
they had a half dozen buckles that kept them tight to her calves
all the way up to the knee the greaves felt strange on her thighs
but didn’t seem to impede her movement as she had feared they
might.

“
Can you get this buckle?”
Callindra asked, motioning to one of the sides of her breastplate,
“It’s a pain in the ass to get completely tight.”

Tam hesitated but cinched her armor tight,
his eyes going slightly wide. “Do you need anything else?”

“
Just directions to my room.
I sorta jumped out the window instead of using the stairs this
morning.” She said, fastening her baldric over her shoulder and
smiling at the shocked look on his face.