By The Sword - Homepage

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We walked up the path toward the gate in silence.

Masterful stone brick stood above us. It implored us, looked down on us by sheer force of its stature. From what I’d learned of Norn, I knew it had been build for the mountains. And I knew it had been built out of the mountains themselves It was seen as the gateway to an almost separate world composed entirely of stone. But as I looked at its walls, I realized none of that had done it justice. Truly, the massive and intricately inlaid entrance reminded me of something greater—something I would’ve seen back home.

Something that demanded my respect.

I held my tongue as we approached, unconsciously softening my steps. Dirt crunched under my metal boots so quietly that the air devoured the sound. It never got far enough out as to disturb the spell of silence that the magnificent wall imposed on the valley. As I got closer, my breaths became shallower. The hairs on my back stood on end. And even the dull pounding behind my eyes dampened.

Behind me, my companion made no such effort. “Are you doing alright?” Kye asked, her voice echoing off the stone walls, and shattering the silence into pieces.

I turned, my sore fingers wrapping around the hilt of my sword. “I’m fine.” And I regretted every word as we made our way up the steps. A pulse of pain radiated throughout my head. It forced me to wince and reminded me of the fatigue that still hadn’t left. After using the sano leaves that Kye had brought and getting a night’s rest, the pain was manageable. But that didn’t mean it was enjoyable by any sense of the word.

I grunted, rubbing my forehead with my hand. Behind me, Kye chuckled. With the burnt soreness in my bones, my frustration rose like hot air. I glared straight at her. She didn’t falter. I swallowed a curse as the pain passed, casting my eyes back down at the smooth stone steps. Truthfully, I wasn’t angry at her. With how she’d saved my life the previous night, I really couldn’t be. Still though, I wasn’t in the greatest mood.

My eyelids flitted. I let them slide shut, shaking my head as memories of the previous night resurfaced. I saw the thing again—the pale Kanir lunging at me. I felt the resistance its flesh had given my blade. I smelled its blood boiling among the cold air. Only the small size of my breakfast kept me from throwing up at my feet.

“Excuse me,” came a steady, powerful voice that ripped me back to the present. I opened my eyes and lifted my head, meeting the armored form of a gate guard. I stopped, my fingers twitching and my mind suddenly racing to figure out what to say.

“We’re Rangers,” Kye said before I could process what was happening. “We’ve come on business from Arathorn, the Lord of Sarin.” The guard’s stance didn’t falter. “And we have business with Lady Amelia.” That made him shift. His posture stiffened at the mere mention of the name.

The guard offered a weak smile before looking over to his partner. Across the way of the gate, another guard nodded at the silent question that had passed between their looks. A moment later, the guard in front of us turned back and nodded readily. Finding no sign of a lie in Kye’s words, he stepped out of the way.

The interaction happened so quickly that words were still registering in my sore, addled mind even after I followed Kye through the gate. Passing the two guards on our way in, I saw them eying both of us. But I also saw a smirk growing on Kye’s lips.

“What was that?” I asked as I walked up next to my companion.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “What are you asking about? The guards, or my suave entrance?” My eyebrows dropped and I nearly rolled my eyes on quick temper. I stalled my emotions long enough to clarify.

“Both,” I said. “Why did they let us through with such little hassle?”

Kye’s grin danced across her lips. From the corners of my eyes, I saw the shapes of houses and shops passing by in a blur, and I only swallowed my grumbles. Wrangling Kye into a simple conversation was costing me valuable scenery.

“Because of our contacts. I’m sure the guards know about the Rangers, and Arathorn for that matter.” Kye rolled her wrist. “But even if they didn’t, mentioning Norn’s head knight was a simple enough way to get by. I don’t think either of them were willing to risk their post by denying us entry.”

“It was so… quick, though,” I said. My brows came together as memories of long past streamed by. In my past life, I’d had to work for my name to hold meaning. For it to hold weight. And it had only truly been that way after the formative years of my life.

“Yeah,” Kye said. The longer she went on, the more amusement bled out of her tone. “Her name holds weight.” Then my companion turned away and picked up her pace, forcing me once again to follow in her wake.

The town—which I was quickly realizing was more of a city—rushed around us. A flurry of houses, shops, and buildings scattered the sides of the paved street. After the rough path we’d been walking on all day, the even, updated road was a welcome change of pace to my feet. The stone beneath us was reminiscent of the town’s walls, and so was everything else. As my eyes flicked from building to building, the same expert stonework held all of them up, too.

For a brief time, the pounding in my head receded. It got muffled by my inquisitive and wondrous thoughts. The city around me sprawled both with intense organization and clarity as well as nearly the same clamor as was in Sarin. My time to watch, however, was all too brief, and the pain came rushing back as soon as we stopped.

Kye stopped, dragging me to a halt alongside her. The buildings, stalls, and public works stopped moving in an instant. Blinking, I snapped away from a stone statue in the center of the street and looked toward Kye.

“Why did we—“

“That,” Kye started, interrupting me, “is the Knight’s Barracks.” My companion narrowed her eyes and raised her finger toward the large building in front of us. My scouring eyes shifted to the columned stone building in front of us. Without thinking, I was already picking apart the implications of the name, but when I saw it, my mind screeched to a halt. My eyes bloomed, and I became preoccupied with something completely different about it.

It looked absolutely impeccable.

Tucked away from the rest of the buildings and built straight into a part of the mountain that jutted out, the stone masterpiece stared at me in innocent beauty. Back in Credon, we’d had stoneworkers. Expert ones, even. We’d held them to high standards and enlisted dozens of them in works to construct monuments or palaces.

Yet still… I’d never seen anything like this.

At the building’s front, a set of perfect columns held up the start of the level ceiling. Each column carried simple yet elegant carvings that looked intricate even to an untrained eye. And on the front of each of them, different emblems were inlaid directly into the stone. As I scanned them, I could only figure that they were emblems of different knights. They were all lined with thin silver linings that glittered perfectly in the limited sunlight.

My hand relaxed by my side, slipping off the grip of my sword. I gawked. The world faded around me as the columned barracks froze me in awe and reminded me of memories I’d long since forgotten. Blurry images of my youth cleared as though dust was being brushed away. And the pain that had hit me when we’d stopped retreated as if shying away from the reminiscent beauty.

More and more details of the building revealed themselves to me. I implored it with my eyes, some deep part of me wishing it would return to me the life that I’d forsaken. But it wouldn’t; I knew it wouldn’t. So I shook my head and remembered the mission. I wasn’t here to get distracted. I was here to retrieve a package, and that was it. As I tore my eyes away, another pulse of pain reared from behind my eyes.

“That’s probably where she’ll be,” I said as I turned to Kye. She gritted her teeth. “We should go in.” My companion folded her arms and didn’t move. She kept her eyes narrowed in a hard gaze as though she was trying to win a staring contest with the stone.

I furrowed my brows and straightened up. I pushed away pain once again. “We have a job to do, you know,” I said. The discipline and loyalty and training from my past life rushed back, brought out by the city around us. But Kye’s scowl only deepened. I could see gears turning in her head, though, even if she stayed resolute and unmoving.

A sigh slipped out of my mouth. Half of it came out as a groan. I didn’t want to be here. Not in Norn, anyway. No matter how much the magnificent stonework wanted me to think otherwise. My body ached, my head pounded, and I wanted to get back to a restful bed as fast as I could. But we had a job to do—one that Kye’s stubborn attitude was not gonna stop me from doing. So I opened my mouth.

“I’m being careful,” she said before I could get a word out.

I blinked. “What?”

Kye shifted her weight, tilting from foot to foot. “I’m being careful. I don’t want to go in there unprepared, or have them dismiss us. We’re here on actual business, and I won’t have the fact that they don’t care about us interrupt that. A simple task, that’s what this is supposed to be.”

My gaze dropped at that and I leaned back on my heel. That was what it was about, then. She was nervous. Hesitant to confront the knights after what had happened the previous time. My fingers twitched. Honestly, I could blame her. She had a good reason for it all. But glaring at the barracks would do nothing but waste time. “Sure. We still have to do it, though.”

Kye wheeled around to glare at me. She didn’t hide at all how unamused she was. “I know. It’s just… bad memories. Past experiences with a relationship that has been rocky from the start.” I nodded, throwing up a hand, but she wasn’t finished. “It’s been more than just me. More than Tahir, too. I just… can’t afford not to be careful.”

I sighed, shaking my head slightly and ignoring the onlookers staring at us from the street. In the middle of the day, two people simply standing before the Knight’s Barracks would’ve seemed weird, I supposed. And that didn’t even take into account our clothes. I shrugged it off. “I get it, but you knew we were coming here. We both knew. This isn’t a difficult—“

Kye shook her head. “It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Her words cut through mine like a hot knife through butter. I stopped, taking a step back as a familiar expression started on her face. She took a breath. “We should go in. We have a job to do, after all.” Sparing me an exaggerated smile, she started off toward the building.

“Right,” I said as my eyebrows dropped. I followed directly in her wake.

The barracks greeted us with a blast of warm air. Cozy, comfortable air that was such a stark contrast to the brisk autumn wind outside that it felt like being transported into another world. Shaking my head, I scrunched my face and narrowed my eyes to adjust to the orange light. When I did, the only thing that awaited me was more grandeur.

In all, the Knight’s Barracks appeared to be nothing more than a repurposed cavern. It was lit sparsely enough with torches that it held a fiery glow yet also warmed the space. Stray beams of light glinted off dozens of pieces of metal in my vision, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of knights at work. Unfortunately, my head took the influx of new information as an opportunity to start pounding again.

I cringed, tearing my eyes away from the crackling fireplace on the right side of the room. It bathed the surrounding seating area in a dim warmth, kissing each individual table and gleaming off each individual weapon. As I scanned over the rest of the room, I couldn’t help but be impressed at the tall, carved stone pillars. They held up the ceiling like titans of stone and cut the main room into coordinated sections. Between the pillars and the walkways, though, was where my eye was drawn.

Throughout the dave, what looked to be dozens of black mats were set up in miniature sparring areas that reminded me of the training room in the lodge. However, these training areas were more open and of a much higher quality. Quality that the knights dancing over them took full advantage of.

Even as Kye walked on, apparently disinterested with the activity of the barracks, I grinned. My fingers tightened around the grip of my sword and just the sight of other knights ignited a fire within me that I hadn’t felt in years.

One of the knights, draped in half-plated armor trimmed in blue, was wielding a hammer instead of a sword. Despite his powerful build, he danced around the mat as quickly as an assassin would. He dodged and dashed around his opponent, waiting for particular moments to strike. As we walked by, he grinned and ducked low, swinging his body around and tearing the hammer with it.

A muffled clash rang out against the stone walls.

The defending knight recoiled from the blow. He staggered backward, pushing off from where he’d successfully blocked the strike with his shield. Regardless of that, though, he did not look satisfied. Seemingly out of his control, his shield-bearing arm trembled, shaking uselessly. Still, he was far from done. A bead of sweat dripped down the man’s temple as he brought his sword around and sliced his opponent straight in the arm. Silver metal bore into the blue-trimmed half-plate, denting it and causing the hammer-wielding knight to reel in pain.

No sound emanated from the battle this time.

The sword-bearer stopped, shaking off the last of the tremors from his other arm. He flicked his eyes back toward his enemy and charged into him shield-first. The hammer-wielding knight staggered, nearly falling over on the mat as the silent barge forced him backward. Then the sword-bearer brought his sword down and hit—

“There,” Kye said beside me. I blinked as it ripped me out of my stupor and reminded me of reality. Turning, I furrowed my brow and followed her finger across the room. In a secluded personal sitting area, another knight in plated armor watched the room.

Right, I reminded myself. Lady Amelia. We were on a job, after all. We’d come to see her. There was no sense in getting caught up in the training around us. No matter how interesting it was. No matter how much it let me recall my own days as a knight. Training in a barracks and learning technique after technique until I could wipe the floor with them all.

I shook my head. “Lady Amelia.”

Kye nodded, pushing forward again without a word. I followed in toe, forcing away the muffled sounds around me and focusing on our target instead. The knight we’d been tasked with meeting stared out at the room as if studying it intimately. She wore what looked to be reinforced plate, yet seemed unburdened by its weight. Almost carefree about it, ticking her foot back and forth while still holding a cold and calculated look like she was solving a problem and didn’t want anybody to know. She was looking out at the room all right, but as soon as I met with her eyes, she was staring right at me.

A shiver crept down my spine as her dark brown rises met with mine. After a moment, I straightened up and nodded to her, offering a respectful smile. All she did was turn away.

“We have a job to do,” Kye grumbled.

I snapped away from the intimidating knight and picked up my pace. “I know we do.”

“I’m reminding myself,” she said, relaxing her arms. “We don’t need to speak with her long.” I nodded as Kye squared her shoulders, as if reassuring herself with her posture. “And don’t get distracted.”

My lips tweaked upward. I stifled a chuckle and moved on with her, walking down the designated pathway toward our target. The muffled sounds of battle still rung out around us. The knights still dueled with as much fury and determination as they had when we’d entered. But I ignored it all. That was, until a question came up.

The distinct, shrieking clash of blades didn’t echo at all from beside me. “What’s with the sound in here? None of the fighting is nearly as loud as it should be.”

Kye spared a glance back at me, one eyebrow raised. “The black sparring mats. They’re enchanted by soundweavers to dampen the sound produced above them.” Then she smirked, turning back around. “We have one at the lodge, you know.”

I rolled my eyes. “I know that. But nobody ever mentioned it was magical. It looks like any other training mat.”

Kye bobbed her head. “Truthfully, it isn’t that complex of a spell. Or, not for a competent soundweaver at least. Someone who has done it enough that it’s almost as simple as manipulating heat.” I nodded slowly, accepting her words as truth. I’d heard the term of soundweaver before—one of my king’s scholars had studied the field—but enchanting an item was new to me. As far as I’d known, that was something delegated to myths alone.

“Interesting,” I said as my eyes flicked around. “These knights have almost a dozen, though. How come we only have one?”

Kye slowed her pace to glance back at me. She scrunched her face. “If you’d be willing to have one enchanted yourself, go ahead and get us another one.” Her voice trailed off into a baffled chuckle.

A crack of sound. As though the air itself were ripping.

I turned, wincing as the fleeting sound tore through the dull commotion of the barracks. It broke through its own muffled sound and echoed off the cavern walls, ringing in my ears. My lips pressed into a thin line and I dropped my hand around the handle of my sword. There, only about a dozen paces away from us on the sparring mat that was the source of the sound, a knight stumbled backward. He shook his head furiously as if trying to rip the sound from his mind. And his opponent was taking advantage, swinging at the man with immense force and whipping the tip of her blade up near the neck of her opponent.

The man almost whimpered as another crack split the air. He grimaced and fell to his knees.

“Offensive soundweavers,” Kye grumbled under her breath. “Such little respect for our world’s damned ears.

I turned to her, my eyes blooming. “I thought you said sound created on the mats was muffled.”

She chuckled. “It is. And believe it or not, that was muffled. We were lucky our ears only felt as much of it as we did.”

Lines appeared on my forehead. I raised my eyebrows and glanced back to where the agile knight was lying on the ground. His face was contorted in what looked to be a permanent grimace. And even though the soundweaver standing above him was wincing herself as if suffering from a headache beyond proportion, it was still clear that she’d won.

I didn’t stare at the scene for long. My fingers relaxed and—at the repeated realization that even among knights, I was little more than a fish out of water—I walked on in silence. And Kye happily obliged, keeping her comments to simple grumbling under her breath as we made our way across the room. As soon as we did, her demeanor changed.

“Lady Amelia,” Kye said in a calm, controlled voice. Cheerful at the edges but firm enough to command attention. I nearly took a step back as she smiled at the sitting knight, surprised by her diplomacy. “We are Rangers from Sarin, and we have business on behalf of Arathorn.”

Lady Amelia chuckled. “I know.” She didn’t even need to get up to grab my attention. “I’m quite familiar with you Rangers. As well as Arathorn’s important package. Do you have his seal?”

Kye stiffened, keeping her smile carefully wide as she turned to me. Her eyes widened, restrained fury dancing within them. I nodded and held up my hand before sliding the gold ring off my finger and holding it out.

“Of course,” I said. “We wouldn’t come requesting on his behalf without verification. I have it here.”

The stoic knight smiled. It was a thin, practiced smile, but a smile nonetheless. She leaned forward without even moving from her seat and grabbed the ring out of my hand. Her eyes studied it for a moment, lazily glossing over the engraved golden surface before throwing it back to me.

“Good,” she said. “Not that I doubted you, but I can never be too careful.”

The way Kye clenched her fist made it clear that she agreed. “So, the package?” The last hints of cheerfulness she’d started with drained away in short time.

“We’ll get to it.” Lady Amelia side-eyed us. “It’s of sensitive material, as you may know.”

Kye sneered. “I know. I just want to make sure that we know what to expect this time. I’d rather not get blindsided with a package this significant to our lord.” The professional, almost reverential tone felt wrong coming out of Kye’s mouth.

Lady Amelia squinted. Her head tilted, and I didn’t miss the way her fingers curled as if grabbing the air by its neck. “This time? I don’t think I’ve ever dealt with you before.”

Kye didn’t falter. “No. Not you specifically. But your knights have, and I simply want assurance that nothing will go sideways.”

The commanding knight shifted, glaring at Kye. Still, she didn’t waver. Not even when Lady Amelia pushed out of her chair and onto the ground. Instinctively, I took a step back as if the ground itself tilted away from me. “You assume something will go sideways?”

Behind us, the muffled sounds of battle slowed. They lessened as if each battle was coming to some kind of abrupt end. Kye, however, didn’t even seem to notice. “I don’t assume anything. But we can never be too careful.”

I stumbled backward, my stomach lurching as the ground rushed up under me. After a moment, I caught myself and staggered to a stand. Unmuffled and unbidden sounds of creaking wood drifted throughout the cavernous space.

Lady Amelia took a step forward without notice. “I will not stand here and take implied accusations.” The ground tilted again as she spoke, sending light tremors through my feet. I widened my eyes, grasped the sword on my waist, and tried to stabilize. As the ground shook again, I was only half successful.

Momentarily, Kye teetered. She glanced around as if to check where she was standing before taking a step forward toward the knight she was confronting. When she did, the ground calmed. The groaning of wood stopped. And for the moment, everything was fine.

“Look,” Kye said through locked teeth. “I’m not trying to be rude, but this package should be handled with care. If we could just—“

She never got to finish her sentence. Wood creaked anew in the background. All sounds of fighting turned into drowned-out, inaudible conversation. And the ground tilted again, nearly throwing me from my balance. I unsheathed my sword, ears twitching at the scrape of metal against its scabbard.

But when the ground truly started to shake, I glanced at my companions. Kye’s eyes shot wide with shock, and even the stoic knight’s lips quivered in unmistakable surprise. Behind us, creaking wood turned to breaking wood, and one thing became blatantly clear.

Everything was not fine.