“I don’t like this.”  Cronos muttered.

At the same time Callindra said, “This can’t be right.”

“See, it seems to be untouched.”  Vilhylm said just as Tryst smiled.

“Nothing to fear here.  Normal trade wouldn’t happen like this in a place where the Abyss held sway.”  Tryst said.

They all stopped and looked at each other.  The look on her brother’s faces was so comical, Callindra started to laugh.  The laughter felt good and the rest joined in, even Vilhylm gave a rare wry chuckle.

“I think I’ve just been on edge since I was kidnapped.”  She said, feeling a knot in her chest loosen.  She hadn’t talked about it with them, had avoided even thinking about it and it took a huge weight off her shoulders.  “I need to learn to let go every now and then.”

“No, I think you’re right to be worried.”  Cronos said, glaring thunderstorms at her for making him laugh.  “There’s something off about this place.  Only servants of the Abyss would thrive in a world where it was gaining a foothold.”

“The same could be said for a place that is a stronghold against that same enemy.”  Tryst said, “If the people here have been sheltered from its influence they’d be equally at ease.”

“We need to all forget our prejudices and walk into this place open to outcomes.”  Vilhylm said, “Our reactions from even this distance prove that.  At least we won’t need to worry about having to sneak in, it’s obvious that plenty of common folk are coming and going at will.”

With the wisdom of his words settled, they all made their way down to the trade road and toward the gate.  As they joined the stream of waggoneers, famers and assorted others they listened to the happy chatter and felt their suspicion fade.

“Are you here for the contests?”  One of the traveling peddlers asked, struggling under a pack twice his size.

“Contests?”  Callindra asked, “What contests?”

“Uh, Lord Adbar’s contests of course.”  The peddler said, glancing at their weapons and travel stained clothes.  “Why else would you have come all the way out here?  You obviously aren’t locals.”

“Oh, the fighting contests?”  Callindra shrugged, “Yeah, I guess I didn’t think about it as a contest since we’re obviously going to dominate whatever competition there might be.”

“That’s the spirit!”  The man said with a smile, “I love to see this kind of newcomers, it always brings out the best spectators and that means I’ll sell everything!  Makes the trip worth it ya know?”  He moved on ahead with renewed vigor, whistling a happy tune.

“What do you suppose that was all about?”  Callindra asked her brothers, watching as the peddler strode toward the gate.

“Sounds like some kind of festival.”  Vilhylm said, brow furrowing.  “I’m not sure but maybe Count Adbar is trying to raise some sort of a resistance against the Abyss?”

All the people streaming toward the fortress city of Adbar seemed to be perfectly happy, and the atmosphere did indeed seem to be a festive one, but Callindra felt her brothers moving together as they walked.  They were unconsciously keeping close just in case things weren’t as innocent as they seemed.

The gates were wide open and the guards weren’t stopping anyone from moving inside them.  As they passed beneath the walls, Callindra felt her breath catch in her throat.  The Citadel Adbar was a towering series of structures built into a massive mountain that thrust up from the base of a lush valley.  With space being limited due to the constraints of the peaks that rose on all sides, the people of the Citadel had built up instead.  Even smaller houses had at least three floors and some of the larger ones had dozens.

“Rumor has it Dwarves built this place, or helped at any rate.”  Tryst said, “We used to have a Chapter House here, but haven’t for several score years.  I read about it in the Temple Archives though, when studying the effects and outcomes of city warfare.  This place was designed to be a fortress that could stand against any invading force and has repelled throngs of Goblins more than once.”

Callindra could see how the streets were organized in a series of long corridors that ended in blind corners and how the buildings on the ends of those blind corners had balconies or flat roofs that looked out and down those straight sections.  A few archers on each could do considerable damage to anyone who was trying to make their way down those streets without putting themselves in danger of reprisal.

The keep itself was high up above the city proper, and was built into a sheer cliff face of basalt.  It didn’t escape their notice that the wide stone gates of the keep were shut, showing polished bronze bands that gleamed in the early morning sunlight.  Tryst began asking about inn rooms, but Callindra smelled a scent that made her head turn.  Someone was smoking Karalan Imperialis.

“I’m glad I didn’t get any closer.”  Karas said, standing just outside of the edge of the compass.  Callindra saw with surprise that the familiar pattern was actually cut into the floor instead of just blowing the dirt around.  “It looks like you could still use a little practice with that Stance though.”

Callindra glanced at a myriad of cuts on her arms and legs that were slowly starting to sprout flower buds and green shoots and shrugged.  “It’s how I know I’m pushing the limits.  That’s why I practice without my armor on; I don’t want to damage it.”  The woman gave her a steady look.

“OK and I’m still getting used to him too.”

Karas shrugged, “I’d offer to spar but I’ve got a couple feet of reach on you.”

“Actually I think the advantage would be mine.”  Callindra said with a feral grin, “I’m Callindra.”

“Yes, I remember from yesterday, well met Callindra.”  She readied her weapon, “Let’s see what you can do with that thing then.”

Callindra assumed the Heaven and Earth Stance, crouching with one hand nearly touching the ground, sword in the other fully extended towards the sky.  “I apologize if I cut you; my control is still slightly off.  This blade is a full hand longer than it was before.”  She held the Stance for a few moments and then leaped to attack.

Karas was an expert with her Halberd, deflecting and counter-attacking to keep Callindra at the end of the blade’s considerable reach.  Callindra used every conventional trick she had learned, but was still unable to get inside her opponent’s guard.  She took a half step forward and then flung her body into a backflip, swinging Shadowsliver in a tight arc and releasing him at the precise moment he was parallel to the ground.

The Mithril chain flew through her fingers and she tightened her grip just as the tip touched Karas’s flesh.  When the blade paused, she whirled the chain around the haft of the polearm and pulled.  As she did so, Karas shifted her grip and grounded the butt of her weapon.  Callindra nearly pulled herself off her own feet.

“Nice trick, but I can tell you haven’t used it against a stronger opponent.  Now you’re weaponless and I have you at the end of a string.”

“No, it’s just starting to get interesting!”  Callindra replied and ran forward.  When the blade of the Halberd came to meet her, she gathered her chain and pulled it off course, ducking and sliding under the strike.  She regained her feet and her hand found Shadowsliver’s hilt at the same moment.  As she brought the blade to bear she realized Karas had released the polearm entirely.  Her blade was touching Karas’s ribs but her opponent had a pair of daggers leveled at her throat.

“Well played, you managed to at least take me with you.” Karas said, “Something you Bonded types always forget is that most of us can use more than one weapon.  I prefer the Halberd because it keeps the fighting at a comfortable distance most of the time but I can easily defend myself in any number of other ways.”

“I can use more than one weapon.”  Callindra said, untangling her chain from the thick wooden shaft of the Halberd, “I just choose not to.  Shadowsliver is all I need.  All I want.”  The blade was still singing like a tuning fork.  “One more thing to keep in mind, had I not grabbed the chain when I did you would likely have died.  Your defense is good, but you can’t afford to rely on your weapon’s reach to keep you safe.”

Karas snorted, “Your defense is nonexistent.  I’d work on that if I were you.”

“It’s too late for me to change my style now.  My defense is a fast and effective offense.  Besides, if the muscle, leather, steel and weave fail me, the Goddess will always be there.”  A breeze rustled across the practice grounds and a small flock of butterflies settled on the Brightstar flowers blooming in her hair.

“Who are you?”  Karas asked, her eyes widening slightly.  “I thought you were just a runaway at first, but then I realized you were a girl, not a slight boy.  Your skills with that blade make me certain it belongs to you and is not stolen; it moves like a part of your body.  Those flowers… I thought you were silly, wearing them in your hair but Brightstar flowers aren’t in season for another three months.  The wind seems to obey your whim, to play at your feet like a puppy, I don’t know what to make of you girl.”

Callindra faced her, assuming the ready Stance, “I am Callindra Sol’Estin by Glarian Sol’Estin.  I am two and a half years old.”  The wind gusted sharply and the butterflies startled from her hair in an erratic cloud.  “The winds do not bow to my will just yet, but one day I shall be Master of the North Wind.”

“I have heard of ones like you; the Disciples of Weave and Steel.”  She hesitated, as though unsure if she should say any more.  “You don’t seem to be traveling with a sanctioned Master but you aren’t a Master yourself.  Be careful, they know you’re still alive and they won’t stop until they wring whatever information it is they want out of you.”

Karas grounded the tip of her polearm in salute then turned and walked off the rooftop practice floor.