20th day of the 11th month 579th year of the 8th era

The next month went by in a blur after the funeral. Mayu declared Akuchi’s training complete and promptly finished training with him. Akuchi was too torn by shock over the loss of Salvadore to make much protest. Salvadore’s death had placed his own mortality into a deep question, and he spent his time trying to work out if he was really any good. He had fought the trolls and had successfully killed them, but would he have fared any better against two trolls? All his experience had been against trolls when they were fighting one on one. He had never fought two opponents at the same time. He couldn’t ask Mayu since she had been promoted to sergeant and was very busy. Akuchi kept himself busy by practicing with Kono and Yokoyama. Their dual-timed attacks were brutal enough to be a challenge, though his unconventional weapon and fighting style gave him an edge against even them. He always wondered if practicing with these two truly prepared him for staying alive against a real fight with the trolls. He went to bed every night exhausted from the dueling, crashing into his bed and falling asleep in seconds.

A ship sailing into the harbor broke the routine of the days. The news was always met with joy from the soldiers because it provided a welcome distraction from the routine of training. Akuchi looked at the ship sailing into the harbor. His bare torso was coated in sweat, soaking into his trousers. The crowd at the dock swelled with anticipation. Mayu appeared beside him.

“Great, a troop transport,” she said, startling him.

“Mayu,” he exclaimed. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I have been preparing,” she commented, folding her arms.

“For these raw recruits?” Akuchi indicated with his head at the approaching troopship.

“Yeah for them. Oggy doesn’t know how many to expect.”

“How many does he usually get?”

“That’s the thing,” informed Mayu. “Sometimes he gets one, other times he gets one hundred. The countries that participate don’t send a message ahead of time; they just send them.”

“Does the size of the boat help determine how many he gets?”

“Not really.” Mayu walked to the front of the crowd. She turned to have them and raised her arms to the crowd, “Okay, folks you have seen the ship come in. Time to get back to training.”

A gentle murmur of displeasure went through the assembled crowd and they dispersed. Mayu locked eyes with Akuchi and watched him as he turned and walked back into the fort with the other soldiers.

Akuchi was stung by Mayu being so official. She obviously has moved on from us. I wonder what I did to drive her away. He turned, and a tear slipped out of his eye and ran down his cheek. He would throw himself into work so hard that he would drown out his sorrow. An ache in his heart grew as he walked away from Mayu.

“Akuchi, please stay with me,” Mayu called out.

Akuchi smiled to himself and turned back to the dock. He stood next to her as they watched the boat glide into the harbor.

As the ship cruised in, a short, stocky man jumped off and landed expertly on the pier, trailing a large thick rope in one hand. He tied the rope to the kevel with lightning speed. The ship then glided into place and came to a creaking stop. A rope ladder descended from the ship as a dwarf, an elf, and a woman alighted from the ship.

The dwarf was a meter tall with red flowing hair that cascaded down his shoulders. His face was defined by a large squat nose common for dwarfs. He wore a blue robe that was belted with a green cord. He sported a thick, heavy beard, braided to a point. He smiled up at Akuchi and Mayu and then looked up at the elf and leered.

The elf was two meters tall with brown hair cut short around long pointed ears. She wore a brown skirt that waved gently in the breeze; her skin was painted a faint green in color. Her build was lean but not muscular.

A woman alighted after them. She was dressed in baggy white trousers that came in at the ankles, her blouse a blue silk, conformed to her body.

“Captain, I presume.” Mayu stated as she watched them alight from the boat, “Sergeant Mayu. How many recruits do you have for me?”

“Just these two,” the captain indicated with a wave of her hand. “Akuchi? It’s great to see you.”

Akuchi smiled and collected Hiwot into an embrace. He then let go, after a soft cough from Mayu.

“Thank you, Captain Hiwot.” Mayu smiled. “I will have some men help unload the food. The commander will ensure you get the payment.”

The captain backed away and the elf stepped forward. “Aquillia Fidelis.”

“Nice to meet you,” replied Mayu.

“Nurarfed Fierybow.” The dwarf stepped forward and shook Mayu’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” replied Mayu. “Follow me; I will get you settled in.”

Mayu turned and walked through the harbour buildings. Aquillia, Akuchi, and Nurarfed followed her.

“Come see me soon, Akuchi,” Hiwot called as they departed.

Mayu led them through past the muster yard where the fort was out training. They walked around and entered the command tent where Oghenekaro sat working.

“The new recruits, sir,” Mayu introduced, stepping aside as Aquillia, and Nurarfed entered the tent.

Oghenekaro looked up from the desk. “Two recruits, that’s better.”

“We have Nurarfed Fierybow, a dwarf, and Aquillia Fidelis, an elf,” informed Mayu.

“You take over the training for Nurarfed, and Akuchi can take over the training of Aquillia.”

“Yes, sir,” Mayu said before leaving the tent.

“Akuchi, you are required to train Aquillia,” Mayu commanded

“But, I only just finished my own training,” Akuchi protested.

“A good way for you to see if you have truly learned anything is to teach it to someone else,” said Nurarfed.

“I gave you the full training. You also don’t have much choice in the matter,” Mayu stated. “It’s an order from Oggy.”

“I am only aware of the one training room,” Akuchi said.

“You take that room; I know of a few others. We will need to see Taya about getting some weapons for them.”

Once inside the training room, Akuchi and Aquillia began training. Aquillia held a double-bladed sword in both hands by the middle handle. The blades were a dull grey and of equal length.

“Why did you pick that weapon?” Akuchi asked as he drew his own weapon.

“It is the weapon that my mentor used when she trained me to fight.”

“You already know how to fight?”

“Yes, I do, but let’s see what you can teach me.”

“Very well.” Akuchi grinned and took a defensive stance.

Aquillia crouched at the legs and then leaped into the air, spinning her sword. She brought it down in a devastating downward thrust. Akuchi nimbly sidestepped and swept with his blade at Aquillia’s back. She twirled her blade around her back and blocked his swipe. Aquillia took stepped forward and turned to face Akuchi.

“A fire stance attack, followed by a water defence,” commented Akuchi. “Nice combo.”

“Thanks,” replied Aquillia. “Not so bad yourself, with that water stance move.”

Akuchi grinned and attacked with an underhand cut coming straight at Aquillia. Aquillia blocked with a cross-body swipe and then twirled the blade around her before swiping at Akuchi’s head. Akuchi leaned back and withdrew his blade.

“I have never seen anyone move like that,” remarked Aquillia, “and I have seen many duels.”

Landing on his feet, Akuchi brought his falchion to level in water defense style. “Thank you,” he commented. “Just how long have you been fighting for?”

“I thought you knew,” remarked Aquillia.

“Know what?”

“Most elves, don’t leave the forests of Garmore until they are at least three hundred years old.”

Aquillia followed up this pronouncement with a straight stab, which Akuchi knocked to the left and stepped inside the sword. Aquillia couldn’t stop in time and collided with him. She unbalanced him, and they collapsed into a heap on the training mats. Their weapons fell from their hands and skittered away. Akuchi looked down at the woman beneath him and smiled at her. She laughed and they both broke into laughter.

He rolled off her and helped her up. She pulled him into an embrace and hugged him. She was strong. Her arms tensed as she held him.

She released him, and he took a step back. They gathered their weapons, took their stances, and resumed fighting.