By The Sword - Homepage

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It may have been small, but Sarin was livelier than most other towns I’d seen in my life.

As Kye sped through the streets and I tried to keep up with her, it almost felt like sensory overload. People rushed all around us, talking, laughing, or shopping to their heart’s content. They all moved in a slow, relaxed hurry as if some force of nature was making sure every interaction happened at exactly the correct pace.

On the sides of the rough road, dozens of stalls were selling dozens of different goods. From produce and bread to pastries and jewelry, there didn’t seem to be a shortage of things to pick from. My nose twitched at the heavenly smells and, despite the knots still tied in my stomach, I couldn’t help it when my mouth started to water.

Although, as I weaved through the crowds of people on my tear to keep up with Kye, I didn’t feel in pristine shape. On the unpaved street, the pain in my feet only sharpened, and half of my expressions turned into some variation of a wince. The cobblestone road wasn’t as nice as any I’d seen in Credon, and as I looked around, the houses weren’t as nice either. Yet still, as I passed an older woman breaking a pastry in half to give to two children, I couldn’t help but cheer up. The thriving community made me feel warm. It made me feel at home. And for a moment, I almost forgot where I really was.

Kye, on the other hand, didn’t pay much attention to the town at all. She maneuvered through the streets with ease and didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow at anything we came across. I knew that she must’ve known the town already, but she was moving even faster than that. There was pointed intent in each of her steps, as though she was making her way through a maze and she already knew the correct route.

“Where are we going?” I asked when the commotion from the crowds had died down enough. Kye slowed her pace as if remembering I was even there.

“We’re going…” She hesitated for only a second. “We’re going to where I live.”

I twisted, avoiding a grumbling man pushing past me on the street. Rolling my neck, I tried to let go of a comment I’d been about to send his way. “And where exactly is that?”

She glanced back at me with an eyebrow cocked up. “The Ranger’s Lodge. I have to report back.”

I furrowed my brow. “A lodge? You don’t live in a house?”

Kye bit back a chuckle. “All rangers live in the lodge. It gives us the best access to the forest while providing a place for all of us to eat, sleep, and train.” I nodded slowly. It was their equivalent of a Knight’s Quarters, then. “It’s not that hard of a concept to grasp.”

My lips contorted into a sneer. “I understand the concept of it.”

“Good,” she shot back in an instant. Her tone sharpened. “Don’t mess anything up while we’re there.”

I swallowed my protests and nodded. At least I knew how to follow orders still. And with my new, frail body looking over a town I’d never even been in before, I decided against testing her any further.

As we ambled on, the buildings around us began to change. The cobblestone road expanded into a larger town square, and the stalls became larger in turn. The quaint buildings went along the same way. Basic wooden houses turned into larger shops and structures with sweeping roofs and intricate designs. And at the end of the square, a large, raised wooden building loomed over the rest of the town with such intense importance that it reminded me of a palace I would’ve found in my home.

“We’re not going in there,” Kye said, seemingly reading my thoughts. My parted lips pressed shut and my eyebrows dropped as she turned and dragged me in her wake.

The street we turned onto was narrower than the main one, and it was much less lively. At its onset, it cut between two of the larger buildings in the square and led along a downward slope.

Despite myself, my lips curled into a smile as I watched the town fly past. Even with the basic architecture, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the cozy road and the houses that lined its sides. At the bottom of the hill, the uneven cobblestone petered off, leading into a clearing right next to a forest. A forest that, as I noted with widening eyes, housed a decorated wooden building that seemed separated from the rest of town.

“This is where I live,” Kye said, her words ripping me back to the present. She gestured forward as we made our way into the clearing.

“This is the lodge?” I asked, making no effort to hide how impressed I was. Compared to everything else I’d seen, the smooth stone foundation and polished wooden frame looked positively regal to my eyes. In fact, to say that the lodge was huge would’ve been… exactly correct. The structure wasn’t tall, but it was wide and made use of all the space it could get as it extended a good ways out into the trees.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Kye’s lips curl into a smirk. “Don’t act so surprised.” She pushed past me and made her way up to the lodge’s front entrance. A dark wooden door inlaid with a golden crescent-shaped arrow swung open to let the chestnut-haired woman inside.

I blinked, remembering myself, and rushed forward as well. Then, after the heavy door slammed shut behind me too, my eyes widened yet again. If the outside of the building had been ornate and regal, the inside didn’t fit very well. Instead of a setting for legends, the interior felt cozy. Homey. Oddly comfortable.

Soft footsteps rang out on the sturdy wooden floor as I made my way out of the entrance hallway and into the large room that expanded out. On one wall of the room, the same golden symbol of a curved arrow stared down at me. And on the other wall, multiple shelves of gear beckoned me forward with their variety. Bows and arrows, swords and daggers, cloaks and gloves—there was anything I could’ve wanted. My hand twitched in the air, suddenly desperate at the absence of my sword.

From the look of it, the space was a training room. And it was one the swordsman in me desperately wanted to try out.

“You live here?” I asked, turning toward where Kye stood at the edge of the black mat in the center of the room.

She stopped, turning on her heel. “Yeah. Not here exactly, but our quarters are just back there.” She gestured behind her to where the training room ended, meeting up with a long horizontal hall that had doors littering its far side.

I nodded. “All of the rangers live here?”

Kye folded her arms. “This place is bigger than you’d expect.”

My head bobbed up and down, eyes drifting across the room. After a few moments, they settled on the golden sigil emblazoned on the wall.

“What is your purpose here?” I asked. “The Rangers, I mean.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Kye squint at me. She straightened up, doubt showing in her eyes the same way it had on our way into town. I turned, squaring her gaze with mine.

My home kingdom had employed its own version of the Rangers, who were really just a special force of scouters that provided information and backup to the royal guard. But, as I had to keep reminding myself over and over, I wasn’t in Credon anymore. Things were different, and I wanted to know in exactly what ways.

“We have a contract with Sarin,” she said carefully. I could tell she was cherry-picking her words. “We agree to provide them with information and protection, as well as keeping the… dangers of the forest at bay in exchange for hospitality and the gear we need to hunt.”

I furrowed my brow, part of her explanation jutting out like a rock. “Dangers of the forest? What do you mean by that?”

The ranger in front of me stiffened. “I mean exactly that. The forest is full dangerous creatures. We deal with them.”

My eyes widened, but I fought to keep the shock contained. Dangerous creatures. Her words repeated in my head. The same mythical stories from my youth—ones that my father had told me about Ruia—rose up like steam.

“Dangerous creatures as in… magical ones?” I asked, keeping myself composed. I tried to play it off like I’d already known what she meant.

“Yes,” she muttered through her teeth. It didn’t seem like she wanted to give the answer she did. “We deal with whatever hybrids or magical concoctions the world decides to throw at us. We hunt them. That’s our job.”

I nodded, connecting everything she was saying with the ideas of rangers from my home. They were similar, I realized. Very similar. But in Credon, we didn’t have magical beasts to put down. A shiver raced down my spine as I remembered all of the things I’d learned about as a child.

“Hybrids?” I asked. “Like hulking wolves or flying rats?” My fingers curled as I remembered the ghost stories that had been tossed around in Credon’s town square during the night. “Or, say, vampires?”

Kye’s face contorted and she held up her hand. “Kanir, first of all. And yes… things like that.”

“Kanir?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if I even really wanted to know.

Kye scowled. “You’re already familiar with the concept of vampirism. You have to be. Kanir are what humans infected with vampirism are called.”

I rubbed my neck, scowling myself. But under Kye’s scruntinous gaze, I nodded. I was familiar with the concept of vampirism, after all. A human who experimented with their magic—someone who’d been cursed by the world with the urge to consume the energy of other living beings—was a popular figure in horror stories. I just didn’t want to believe they were real.

“You hunt those things?” I asked, trying not to sound like an ignorant child.

“In some cases,” Kye started. “We usually only deal with cases that aren’t serious, but with kanir… their minds deteriorate quickly. We hunt them because we have to, and even then, they’re about as powerful as we go.” She shifted her weight, her eyes narrowing. “We stop short of creatures like wisps and definitely dragons.” After the explanation, Kye shot me a resolute glance and turned away, signaling the end of our conversation.

Shaking away the mention of wisps and dragons, I stepped forward. After all, I still had more that I wanted to know. “Are there not rules in place about using magic that way?”

Kye stopped and let out an annoyed chuckle. “What do you expect? The only rules for magic are those set by the world. We can’t change that.”

“I know,” I said, pushing off her condescension again. “But stopping someone from experimenting stops them from becoming a vamp—kanir in the first place.”

“Look,” Kye started as she whipped around to meet my gaze. “I don’t know how you were taught where you’re from, but it doesn’t work like that. People experiment with their magic because they want power. Everyone wants power.”

I stopped, leaning back on my heel. Her words echoed in my ears, striking a familiar chord among my memories. And before I knew it, my father’s words were playing back in my head.

Everyone wants power. Don’t ever forget that.

Another one of his warnings. Another one of his pieces of advice that had made me the man I’d become. I’d vowed never to forget any of them, and even now I still wouldn’t. His words stuck out like lightning among the fog; I knew they were true. Even in Credon, people craved power. Crazed nobles, obsessed scholars, cruel merchants. There was no reason for it to be different here.

“Right,” came a voice that barely even sounded like my own. “I guess you’re right.”

Kye huffed. Then, seeing the dark expression on my face, her eyes narrowed as if trying to pull a reason out without having to ask. After a few moments though, she opened her mouth.

“Oh, look who’s back,” came a sarcastic voice that kicked me from my thoughts. Kye’s lips snapped shut. Looking up, I saw a young, sandy-haired man in the same dark blue clothing as Kye standing on the far side of the room.

Kye pursed her lips and ground her teeth as she turned around. “What do you want, Jason?”

The smirking man threw his hands up. “Hey. I wasn’t trying to intrude. I’m just glad you came back alive.”

The previously confident woman grumbled as if the presence of the man apparently named Jason had sapped her of all will to be arrogant. “None of the people rumored to be captured were there.”

Jason’s eyebrows dropped a sliver, but his smirk stayed strong. “So you failed?”

“No,” Kye shot back. “I didn’t come back with any because there weren’t any to come back with.”

Finally, the blonde man’s smirk wavered. He gestured to me. “Then who’s this?”

Kye turned to me slowly. “He’s… the one who got me out of my cell. He was on his way to Sarin as well, and it didn’t feel right to just drop him in the first street.”

“Sure, sure,” Jason said as his eyes narrowed.

My fingers curled. I had to fight myself not to scoff. “I’m Agil.”

“Well, Agil,” he said. I scrunched my nose at his emphasis. “Thanks for getting Kye out of her jam.” His smug grin rushed right back and I nearly rolled my eyes.

“Shut up, Jason,” Kye said, glaring daggers in his direction.

“Just glad that you’re back,” he said as he pushed off the doorway and started walking across the room. “Oh, and Lorah wanted to see you whenever you got back.”

Kye straightened and her eyes widened. Sharing a glance with Jason, she nodded gratefully. I tilted my head and opened my mouth, about to ask who Lorah was, but words died on my lips when the man slapped me on the shoulder. His eyes bored into me for a moment, glinting dangerously before he nodded and walked all the way out the door.

I swallowed the distaste growing in my mouth. “Who was that?”

Kye chuckled. “That, was Jason. Our resident, self-proclaimed swords-master.” My ears perked up at that. “And as you can probably tell, our resident asshole as well.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to see,” I said, rolling my shoulder.

Kye nodded shortly, eyeing me. “Anyway, Lorah must be able to sense me already so I should go see her.”

I blinked. “Sense you?”

Kye raised an eyebrow. “She’s sensitive to magical energy. I’m sure she knows that I’m here already.”

I stopped, realizing something. “You’re a mage?”

“Of course I am,” came her off-handed response as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Remembering where I was—which continent I was on, I shook my head. Right. Things were different.

“What kind of magic do you specialize in?” I asked, continuing to push my luck.

She didn’t even look back at me. “I enhance my own abilities.” A cold note of finality entered her voice and I snapped my lips shut, swallowing my pride and taking the hint. I didn’t want to pry too much. She’d been nice enough not to pry into my life, after all.

Yet, as soon as I decided not to ask any more questions, my body rebelled. It took the moment of silence as an opportunity to remind me of my condition. The pain in my bones, the exhaustion and fatigue—it all rushed back at once.

Then, hesitantly, I opened my mouth again. “Do you have any empty rooms?”

Nearly out of my vision, I saw Kye stop. A soft, gritted sigh lilted to my ears. I could already feel her irritation.

“Yeah,” she eventually said. “Down the hall. The… very last room is vacant. It should already be unlocked.”

Tension slipped off my shoulders. “Got it.”

“Don’t mess anything up.”

I held my head up and nodded, seeing no need for a response. Even if she was a little arrogant, even if she had been condescending, and even if she’d been full of disrespect despite me breaking her out of a cell, I didn’t have to be the same way. Plus, as the idea of sleep floated in my head—the idea of a bed—all of a sudden I didn’t care. My limbs felt like anchors dragging me to the ground, and I wanted nothing more than for them to pull me down into the abyss.

So, sparing a silent and grateful glance to the woman still swiftly walking away, I turned around and made my way down the hall.

---

“Agil?” came a familiar voice, breaking through the dull commotion of the crowd. All around me, rangers were eating and preparing for something I knew nothing about.

I turned in an instant, my mind craving an explanation. I’d already been up since the crack of dawn, but no matter where I tried to go or who I tried to ask, I hadn’t gotten even a hair of information. I was a ghost, floating in a sea of pre-established connections and dynamics. The sight of Kye then, naturally, was more than a relief.

“Kye,” I said, weaving my way around a tall, black-haired ranger and a group that seemed to follow him around. “What’s going—“

“I didn’t think you’d still be here,” she said without even looking at me. A grey-haired ranger beside her handed over a bundle of arrows. Then he glared at me. The older man tilted his head and raised his eyebrow almost imperceptibly as if to tell me that he’d keep an eye out.

“Where else am I supposed to go?” I asked.

“Thanks Myris,” Kye responded but not to me. Then, as the grey-haired ranger stopped watching me like he thought he was a hawk, Kye turned her attention back. “Sorry, what?”

I took a deep breath, flexing my feeble fingers in the air. “Where else am I supposed to go? It’s not like I’m very familiar with this town.” A dull jolt of pain hit my sore shoulder as yet another ranger who was at least a head taller than me rushed toward the weapon rack. “What’s going on here anyway?”

“Everyone got new assignments yesterday,” she said. Her lips curled up into a grin. “Most of us are preparing for a hunt.”

Glancing around, I did see almost all of the rangers preparing supplies or changing out weapons for whatever worked best for them. “I didn’t realize there were so many of you,” I said off-handedly. There couldn’t have been much more than a dozen in the room, but it easily felt like hundreds.

“You’ve got a lot to learn if you’re gonna stay in Sarin then,” Kye said as she organized arrows in a quiver strapped to her waist. “Look, I’d assumed you would’ve slept here for the night and been on your way. I mean, I’m thankful that you broke me out of that cell, but it’s not like I have a plan for the rest of your life.”

I gritted my teeth, frustration bubbling just under the surface of my mind. I knew she was right. And I shouldn’t have expected her to accommodate me for very long. But I was on a whole new continent, dammit. I’d been tricked my the reaper itself and cursed to a life in what amounted to little more than a lawless wasteland. I was a knight. The least I could get was a place to stay while I figured things out.

Shaking my head, I tried to block out the racket bouncing in my ears. “Is there at least something I can do?”

Kye’s grin faltered, turning more awkward by the second. Around us, the rest of the rangers started to finish up their preparations. Most of them were already making their way to the door. The brown-haired woman scrunched her face, warring with something in her head before she sighed. Her hands fell to her belt and she unfastened a small brown pouch of something I could only assume to be coin.

“You can make a grocery run, I guess.” She held out the pouch and tilted her head at me. Her foot tapped on the wood as she waited for me to accept.

Blinking, I took the pouch in my own hands. “That I can do.”

“Go into town and buy food. Nothing fancy. And buy blue cloth for uniforms. That coin should be enough for whatever you need.”

Feeling the weight of the money now in my hands, I smiled. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mess anything up,” Kye said, a cold edge entering her tone. I straightened up, feeling the burn of her gaze on my skin. “If you don’t come back with all the coin you have left, you won’t be smiling again for a very long time.”

For the first time in a long while, I felt intimidated. With my weak, sore muscles reminding me of their useless existence, I knew that her threat wasn’t in vain. And so I swallowed my own frustration and nodded.

“Kye, are you coming?” came another familiar voice from the door. The smirk on Jason’s face told me everything I needed to know.

Kye whipped around, stringing her bow across her back. “Yeah. We all ready to go?”

Jason nodded, his fingers drumming on the hilt of the blade by his side. “Just waiting on you.”

“I get it. I get it,” was all Kye gave in response as she tore across the now-empty room to the door. Jason disappeared from sight, and with one last frozen glare my way, my former cellmate was gone as well.

The door slammed shut and I was the only one left. Instead of the swirling commotion I’d been dealing with all morning and the confusing knots that had tied in my mind, I was left with only one thing.

Silence.

Suddenly, the weight of the little pouch of silvery coins in my hand felt more real. It made me remember something. The task I’d been given. For the first time since my cursed rebirth, I wasn’t fighting for my life. I was standing in a comfortable room, in an actual town, and I had something to do. Mundane and boring, but something to do nonetheless.

Inside me, burning deep within my soul, I still wanted to be the best. I still wanted to make the beast pay for what it had done. But feeling the stiff soreness in my legs and the lack of a weight on my waist, I knew that wasn’t happening anytime soon. So I just held the pouch tight and made my way to the door. Purpose lined each of my steps.

And with everything that had happened, I decided that would have to be enough.