"Keep your feet loose," she went on. "Bounce on the spot, keeping in mind that you'll always be moving." She bounced lightly, shifting her weight to each foot. James attempted the same.

She showed him a jab with her left fist, and a cross with her right. "Keep the wrist loose but firm on impact. Twist and pivot your front foot as you jab with your left hand. Pivot on your back foot as you cross with your right."

James followed her in a succession of left and right punches.

"Duck and dodge to the left," she said. She ducked low and side stepped, then came up threw out two quick punches.

James attempted the same, feeling his muscles start to loosen up and slowly getting into the rhythm. Four punches, duck and side step, come up and repeat.

James was soon breathing harder, and he was thankful for the loose shirt he wore.

"Forward," she added sharply, and after every side step they ducked and shifted forward, throwing more punches.

"Good, Liana eventually said again, lowering her arms. "How was that?"

"Not bad," James breathed. He wasn't fully out of breath; in fact he found himself more awake than when they had started. Although the wound on his side was throbbing. He considered asking Tabetha if she could take a look at it, assuming she also knew healing magic, but something felt odd about that. Like it would be too much of a personal request. He wasn't sure why he felt strange asking her to mend one of his injuries.

Liana went on to show him a front kick with her left foot, followed by a side kick to the right, and finished with a spin kick, noting where to plant his feet and how to shift his balance. James moved with her.

"Faster, keep going," Liana said, throwing out each kick beside him.

They kept on with the three-kick combination, moving to one end of the grid and then turning and moving towards the other end. Liana picked up the pace after each length, switching stances every so often so that they would kick with their opposite legs. James stumbled when they first switched feet, having gotten used to one combination, but soon fell into the rythm.

Liana led him into a long series of punches and kicks, calling out combinations and quickly executing them, occasionally adding ducks and side steps or switching direction.

"Great," Liana finally said, coming to a stop.

James was now panting, the sweat dripping from his forehead.

Liana gestured to the side. She didn't seem nearly as fatigued at James was. In fact she didn't seem to be sweating at all. "Have some water, over there on the shelf, and we'll take a little breather."

James nodded and walked over to a shelf unit, and retrieved a bottle from within the glass casing. Liana followed him and took a bottle.

"How long has it been since you first tried a training room like this?" he asked.

Liana hummed. "Over thirty five years, I'd say. Back home on Belurame."

James paused. "That's right," he said. "Oneron live longer than humans." His face grew hot, realising how stupid it was to have to recall such a simple thing as lifespans.

Liana didn't seem to be shocked or embarrassed for him. She went on to speak casually. "I turned fifty-six recently, so you can say that's roughly around thirty or so years old for a human. If you wanted the equivalent. Maybe a third of our average lifespan."

"And I'm fifty-four," James said. He felt a little more comfortable with his words now. Liana was easy to talk to. "Sam said he was a year older. And I always thought I was in my late twenties, before I found out I was an Oneron."

"We look the same, to be fair," Liana said, taking a sip of water. "Most people can't tell the difference between a human and an Oneron. Or any species who is an Oneron. But once you know what to look for, you get a vibe from someone, and it can be quite obvious. It's a hard thing to explain, but once you can feel it and know what to look out for, you'll wonder how you didn't see it before."

James nodded, but wasn't sure if he fully understood.

Liana's brows crinkled as she stared at him thoughtfully. "I can only imagine how hard this is for you. But it's impressive how well you're doing, you know."

James met her eyes.

"I don't even know how I would be if I lost all my memories and training," she said. Her cheeks flushed and she looked away, perhaps uncomfortable with the subject. "But, speaking of which, it doesn't seem like you've fully lost your fighting instinct. You're doing well so far. Much better than the children I've taught." She added this last part with a teasing smile.

James chuckled, enjoying the brief look at a softer side from Liana.

"Now on to the timer," she said. She strode into the glass booth and stood over the console, facing the floor grid.

James situated himself in the middle of the grid. He flexed his fingers and bounced a little on the spot, mentally preparing himself.

"The timer is set for five seconds," Liana called out to him. "Two minutes total. Just go through the combinations we did, and feel free to mix things us. The key is to keep moving."

James nodded to her. A series of beeps sounded, echoing softly through the large hanger, and a final long beep signalled the start. The squares that James stood on immediately lit up yellow.

He moved, throwing punches and the odd kick, turning his body a little away from Liana so he wouldn't be distracted by her watching him. There was a faint hum as each square was stepped on, so low that it was easy to miss. James attempted the three kick combination, conscious of shifting his weight and very aware of the squares lighting up beneath him, showing his footing.

After some time the square lights turned off and a beeping signalled the timer had stopped.

"Great work, James," Liana said from the booth. "That was too easy. Now let's go for a four-second limit."

James nodded to her, huffing a little. He started moving again even before the final long beep sounded.

He kept to the same moves to start with, pushing himself harder, and then swung a backhand out, turning on the spot and throwing a succession of punches in front of him. He spun again, throwing his leg out, and then thrust out a side kick.

The square beneath him turned red and a buzzer rang.

James paused in mid attack. He had kept his foot on the ground for too long between the spin kick and the side kick. He looked up at Liana with a frown. She had a pleasant look on her face.

"Not bad, James," she said. "Not bad at all, for your first time. The four second one usually gets beginners, but I bet if you tried again you'd be fine with it."

She typed a few commands into the console and said, "But that's all the time we have right now. You can have a quick shower in the room down the hall, and then we need to talk about Higero Jaxx."

James nodded, standing with his hands on his hips. "How fast can you move on this thing?" he asked.

Now he was in the moment, he wanted to learn more about the room, about training. He wanted to keep going. He much preferred unarmed combat to sword fighting, so far. Even though all he had been doing was hitting the air. And, he knew, he wasn't quite ready to stop spending time alone with Liana.

"Oh, I'm out of practice," she said, waving a dismissive hand.

"You know," James said, "a good way of teaching is to show."

Liana titled her head and smiled, and then chuckled. "Okay then, fine. A quick demonstration." She typed into the console and then left the booth.

"This is a one second timer," Liana said. She tied her hair back into a long tail and stepped into the centre of the grid. "You might want to stand back."

As James moved back, the beeping began, finishing with that long beep that lit up the squares.

Liana instantly became a blur.

She flipped and spun, darting back and forth. The squares flashed yellow in rapid succession, so fast that it was hard to keep up with them. James marvelled at her fluid agility. It seemed as though she barely touched the floor as she moved, spending more time in the air, as though she were hovering, almost.

Not only did she throw out kicks and punches, but she twirled in the air like an acrobat, her long hair trailing behind her.

James thought he'd done well enough on the grid, but realised how far away he was to a fully trained Oneron.

A loud beep signalled the end of the session, and Liana finished her flip and came to a stop with a knee on the ground. She rose and turned to James. He was pleased at least that she finally showed signs of exertion, seeing her huffing as she came over.

"That was... incredible," he said.

She held her hands on her hips, catching her breath. "I may have been showing off a little," she said, scrunching her face, appearing embarrassed.

James chuckled. She was trying to impress him?

"Wow, I'm out of shape," she said, walking over to her water bottle.

James shook his head, marvelling at what she called 'out of shape' compared to how he was.

"You haven't had much fighting to do, lately?" James asked, unsure of the correct terms to use. "Not many wars in recent years?"

"Wars?" Liana asked. "The last big one was the Zell Wars, of course. But other than that there's been a few smaller battles here and there, and less so since I was dispatched to this outpost, over five years now. But whatever there is, I'm mostly kept in a tactical position, or controlling things from here. The life of an Oneron Captain on a far-off desert planet."

"You know," James said after swallowing a mouthful of water. "I've known that Sam was an Oneron for about three days now, and in all the fights and chases we've been in, I've never once seen him move like that."

Liana nodded and drank her water.

When she didn't respond, James added, "Why do you think that is?"

Liana finally shrugged. "I don't know the situations you've been in, so I can't say."

"Is that how we all move, then?" James asked. "What can you tell me about us? I mean, I'm still learning exactly what an Oneron is." James had heard some information from Sam already, but felt he might get a different interpretation from Liana. If Sam had been holding some things back, or lied to him about anything, maybe James could put the pieces together himself from what Liana said.

"Well, we're a warrior race, as you know. An old race, although fairly young compared to many aliens. The closest to a homeworld we have is Dellaquin, in the Cellas system. We have a ranking system of our skill levels, ranging from Soldier, to Warrior, and Master, up to Grand Oneron."

"And what are you?" James asked. It seemed like a strange thing to say, like asking someone their intelligence level.

"Warrior level. Only a few get to Master status, and there aren't many Grand Oneron left these days. It's more of an older and rarer title."

James wondered what criteria needed to be met to qualify between each stage, but another question came to him. "And we're strong magic users?"

Liana nodded. "Light Magic is our strongest power, and most frequently used. Many others are also included, but they're mostly down to a user's preference."

"Light," James said thoughtfully. "I've seen Sam use Fire Magic before, and some healing - I mean Restoration - but I don't think I've seen him use any Light magic before. Isn't that strange? If it's our most widely used magic?

"Never used it?" Liana asked. James sensed the troubled look she was trying to hide. She fell into thought.

"What is it?" James asked.

She hesitated before asking, "Sam has never used any Light Magic at all? Even in the form of a shield?"

"A shield?" James asked. "What do you mean?"

Liana frowned, the hard lines of her face tensing. "That means that Sam hasn't been protecting himself as best as he could be," she said quietly. She met his eyes. "Oneron can produce a Light Shield, a hexagonal disc that can stop firearms, swords, and some magic's. It's normally conjured over our forearms or hands." Her voice lightened as she tried to smile, shaking her head. "Well, it's only been three days, as you said. And maybe you just haven't noticed him using it."

"I think I would've noticed," James said. "Why wouldn't he use a shield, if he could have?"

Liana stood quietly for a moment. "I couldn't say. You should ask Sam why."

She turned and replaced the cap on her water bottle.

"What is it?" James asked. "There's something to it, isn't there?"

Liana finally looked up at him, her eyes sad. "Sam hasn't spoken about the First Fire Wars?"

James shook his head.

Her face twisted with sorrow. It was the strongest expression he had seen her make yet. "Dark take me," she hissed, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have said anything."

"Liana, what is it? Please. Tell me."

She sighed. "You have to promise you won't say anything to him. And you didn't hear it from me."

James nodded.

Liana sighed again. She gestured to the bench, and he sat down next to her.