A Warden's Purpose (Wardens of Issalia Book 1)

by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

  Once it was filled with dry dirt, rolled and packed hard, there was no evidence of the mud pits existing. In addition, the wooden platforms and beams had been removed, leaving only the new climbing wall as a reminder of the agility challenge.

  As the healed boy passed her, Quinn stared at the hole torn in his breeches, the opening surrounded by fresh blood. Her gaze shifted to Iko, who approached with a relaxed smile. When he sat beside her, she turned toward him with narrowed eyes.

  “I am quite impressed. I watched you spar once before but didn’t grasp your skill. You never mentioned how good you are with a sword.”

  He shrugged. “You never really asked. I’d rather not boast unless forced into it.”

  Sitting back, Quinn turned the thought over in her mind. A piece of her struggled with the thought that he kept it a secret, as if he were hiding the truth from her intentionally. That piece of her also noted how easily it came to him. She didn’t know which bothered her more. Still, he had a point about boasting. Nobody loves a braggart.

  Iko put his hand on her knee, the warmth coming through her thin sparring breeches immediately. “It appears that I’m not the only one. You have handled your opponents with ease as well.”

  Flashes of her match against Jinny danced in Quinn’s mind. Knowing that her opponent tended toward a conservative approach, Quinn’s brazen attack was intended to cause discomfort. The result left Jinny on her knees with broken ribs and a quick win for Quinn. Her subsequent round against Hirna was quite different. The larger girl held an advantage in strength, Quinn in quickness. Skilled with her shield, Hirna repeatedly blocked Quinn’s attacks and often returned the favor with a strike of her longsword. After a few volleys, Quinn feinted a high strike with one sword and was able to get beneath Hirna’s shield with the other. A solid strike to the midriff caused Hirna to clutch at her stomach and allowed Quinn a solid strike upside her opponent’s head. With eyes rolled back, Hirna fell to the floor in a heap. Quinn stepped back and rubbed her wrist, sore from striking her wooden sword on the metal helmet. However, she had again won.

  The images faded, and Quinn turned toward Iko with a shrug. “Only the best duelists remain as we enter the finals. I’m sure the next match will offer a greater challenge.”

  “What if we are forced to face each other?” Iko asked with a half grin.

  “I suspect you will do your best to win, and I will do the same.” She pressed her lips together as she considered the idea. “If you cannot tell, I am not fond of losing.”

  His grin widened. “Neither am I.”

  Sergeant Khallum waved from the center of the Coliseum and the crowd quieted.

  “The field is now down to eight. We will have one more round and then break for lunch. The final battles commence this afternoon.”

  “Round three will begin with Jacquinn Gulagas facing Chuli Ultermane.”

  Quinn turned toward the girl sitting beside her. Their gazes locked. While they had always known it was possible, they had both dreaded this eventuality. Only one of them could advance to the final four. Only one could earn points from this event.

  Chuli gave Quinn a nod, and they both stood and strode across the floor. Quinn slipped her sparring helmet on, as did Chuli. Upon reaching the circle at the center, each girl took position opposite from the other.

  “You two know the rules. Prepare to fight.” Khallum stepped backward until he stood beyond the ring. “Go!”

  Quinn gave her friend a nod and edged forward. After a nod in response, Chuli raised both the small shield strapped to her forearm and the wooden sword held in her opposite hand.

  The first attack came from Quinn, lunging forward with both swords coming in an arc from one side – one sword high, the other low. Chuli ducked the high sword, blocked the other with her shield, and spun about with her sword coming at Quinn’s midsection. Quinn spun away and thrust her leg backward with a kick to Chuli’s thigh. The Tantarri girl grunted and jumped back.

  As they again faced each other, Quinn thought of the many times she and Chuli had sparred in private. While Quinn usually got the better of Chuli, many of those victories came when Quinn invented a trick or a risky move that caught the other girl by surprise. However, she discovered that new ideas grew more difficult to capture for each one spent.

  Chuli slid forward and stabbed with a thrust. Quinn twisted sideways and returned the thrust with her forward arm, which struck Chuli’s shield. Rather than drawing her sword back, Chuli swiped upward, Quinn reacted, but a hair too late when Chuli’s sword clipped the tip of Quinn’s nose.

  With her eyes watering from the pain, Quinn staggered backward. A wipe of her wrist across her nose revealed bright red streaks. She stared at the blood and her expression became a grimace – an anger filled her and hardened her resolve.

  Darting forward, Quinn leapt high. As expected, Chuli raised her sword to block Quinn’s leading sword and her shield to block Quinn’s other strike. Both connected and deflected Quinn’s blows, but neither stopped her momentum. A hard kick struck Chuli in the chest, driving her backward. A momentary stumble joined Quinn’s landing before she drove forward with a flurry of slashes that Chuli urgently deflected, the action driving her backward yet again. With a feint, Quinn spun below a high swing and thrust her foot backward into Chuli’s thigh. The Tantarri girl stumbled backward, her foot stepping outside of the circle. The crowd cheered, the match was called, and Quinn was declared the winner.

  Breathing rapidly from the exertion, Quinn pulled her sparring helmet from her head and shook her damp hair loose. “Good match.”

  Chuli removed her helmet and wiped her forehead dry. “I did not realize how close I was to the ring edge. That is not something you have tried in our sparring matches.”

  Quinn wiped her sore nose, again leaving streaks of blood on her hand. Touching it hurt. A lot.

  “It may be broken,” Chuli noted.

  The two girls walked toward the benches at the side of the floor as Rena descended from the stands and met them.

  “Do you need any healing, Chuli?”

  The Tantarri girl shook her head. “My wounds are bruises at best, the worst of which is to my pride.”

  Rena chuckled at the response. “Well, someone has to lose.”

  “True.” Chuli gave Quinn a sidelong glance. “However, there is little honor lost when you lose to someone of exceedingly strong character.”

  Quinn rolled her eyes and turned toward Rena. “My nose may be broken.”

  Rena shared a sideways smile. “If you saw your nose, you would say there is little doubt. You look terrible. Unfortunately, that means I must set it before I heal you.”

  “Just do it.” Quinn moved close to the girl and waited.

  With her fingers pressed to either side of Quinn’s nose, Rena pressed them firmly together. Quinn felt a pop and winced at the pain that caused her eyes to water again. Rena then placed her palm on Quinn’s forehead and closed her eyes. The deep chill that Quinn was expecting struck and drove the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping for air. Thankfully, her face no longer hurt.

  “Thanks, Rena.” Quinn said as the girl removed her palm.

  As she handed Quinn a hard roll drawn from her pocket, Rena smiled. “Anytime. Congratulations on making the final four. Good luck in the next round.”

  Rena returned to the stands, Chuli headed toward the changing room, and Quinn found a seat on the bench while Khallum announced the next pairing.

  Iko sat beside Quinn, the two of them the only cadets remaining on the bench. He took a deep drink from the waterskin and wiped his mouth dry.

  “Good match,” Quinn said.

  “Thanks. He was tough.”

  Quinn snorted. “It didn’t seem like it. You beat him in less than a minute, just like the others you faced today.”

  “Bilchard is strong. Blocking his swings hurt – shook my bones.”

  “You blocked, what? Perhaps four strikes?”

  He shrugged. “Four hard s
trikes.”

  She rolled her eyes and looked across the Coliseum floor. Khallum stood to the side, in discussion with Jasmine. In a few minutes, he would return to the center ring and announce the final duel.

  “I don’t know why you’re giving me a hard time,” Iko said. “You handled your last match with ease as well. Perhaps more so than mine. I think you embarrassed Percy with the quick win.”

  Fighting against Percy and his quarterstaff had required Quinn to adjust her strategy and offered the opportunity to unveil a new move she had been perfecting. After attacking with a quick flurry of sword strikes that Percy had blocked, Quinn made a wide swipe with her swords that left her back exposed. He took the bait and swung his staff in a hard sweep. When Quinn back flipped over Percy’s strike, it left him overextended, his backside unprotected. A quick thrust under his arm connected with his ribs, cracking them and giving her the win.

  With the memory passed, Quinn glanced at Iko beside her and shrugged, “I got lucky.”

  Iko chuckled. “That flip you executed shocked everyone. It takes more than luck to pull that off. While it won’t work on me now that I’ve seen it, you certainly caught Percy by surprise.”

  Khallum strolled to the circle at the heart of the floor and the crowd quieted. In opposition to the lessening noise, the anxiety within Quinn grew stronger.

  “We have reached the final match,” Khallum announced. “The winner of this duel will decide the day and claim the title of sparring champion.

  “I now call to the floor Ikonis Eldarr and Jacquinn Gulagas.”

  With a final glance toward each other, Iko and Quinn slipped their helmets on, rose to their feet, and strode toward the ring. Reaching the center, they squared off five paces apart and waited.

  “This is it,” Khallum said. “Win and you are champion.”

  He moved outside the circle and shouted. “Fight!”

  Quinn stared into Iko’s amber eyes – eyes that normally held her captive, eyes that had hooks in her heart. Those eyes sparked with intensity. In this moment, he was the enemy.

  Easing forward, Quinn held her swords ready. Unlike other fighters, Iko held his longsword in his left hand, his shield strapped to the right. When they drew within three paces, he struck. Blinding fast swings slashed at Quinn, strikes that she slapped aside, ducked, and dodged.

  Quinn was used to having an edge on quickness, but with Iko, she found herself at a disadvantage. Protecting herself became her sole focus, leaving her unable to counter attack. His sword snapped, swung, stabbed, and struck again and again, pressing Quinn in a way she had never been pressed before.

  She focused on his sword, watching every motion, twisting, dodging, blocking, strike after furious strike.

  Iko suddenly darted forward and thrust his shield into her as she slapped his sword aside. The impact was thunderous – his size, weight, and strength lifting her off her feet and launching her into the air. Her head and shoulders hit the ground hard. Blackness hollowed her vision into a narrow tunnel. Dark spots appeared, shifted, and faded, only to return.

  Shock, confusion, and pain flooded in. With her thoughts slow to form, as if wading through muck, Quinn tried to regain her senses. She blinked and gasped for air and found herself on her side, her helmet off, her face in the dirt. A shadow loomed over her, joined by a distant voice that was lost to the ringing in her ears. She felt someone grab her arm.

  The intense chill of healing shocked her senses and drove the wind from her lungs as the sound of the cheering crowd replaced the ringing. Her vision cleared, and she found Rena kneeling beside her. Quinn sat up and realized she was lying outside the ring. Within, Khallum held Iko’s hand high, the duo turning slowly to the cheering crowd. Quinn frowned, knowing that she had lost. Rena held a hand out and helped her stand.

  “Thanks again,” Quinn said.

  “I’m glad you’re all right. That hit appeared…very bad.”

  Quinn looked toward Iko and found his attention toward the crowd as he drank in the applause. With the sour taste of defeat on her tongue, she retreated toward the girls’ baths. Rena may have healed her physical wounds, but deeper wounds bled with fury.

  39

  A Tear of Betrayal

  With heavy breaths, Quinn followed the two shadowy forms before her as they jogged up the slope. The glow of the brightening sky offered a hazy view of the trail – a trail she knew well. They emerged from the brush and crossed the meadow that led to the saddle.

  They crested a ridge and the eastern horizon came into view – a jagged divide defined by shadowy peaks below a bright blue aura that threatened to consume the stars above. Iko slowed to a stop, as did Percy, Quinn, and Chuli. They each withdrew a waterskin, taking eager drinks in between their gasps for air.

  “We did it. The sun’s not up yet.” Percy noted.

  Quinn gazed over the valley behind them. “I can’t believe we let you talk us into going this far.” She looked at Percy as he was taking another drink. “You know we’ll have to carry whatever we kill back over this saddle.”

  Iko moved closer to her. “Let the others try to hunt squirrels or whatever other pathetic game they can find in that valley. If we want to win, we need larger game.” He pointed east. “We’ll find it down there.”

  Quinn frowned. Hearing his reasoning again didn’t change the fact that it seemed insane. She wondered if any other teams would try to hunt beyond the valley where the schools resided. She capped her skin and shifted her pack.

  “We had better get going, then,” Quinn said. “The bigger the game, the longer it will take us to haul it back. If we arrive after nightfall, it’s all for nothing.”

  She glanced at Chuli, who gave a firm nod.

  “Right,” Iko agreed. “We’ll rest again at the bottom, and then we can hunt.”

  Without another word, Iko broke into a jog, following the trail that led to the valley east of them. Quinn sighed as the sun edged over the horizon and a bright ray of light shone upon her face. She broke into a run, following the boys as the three of them descended into the shadow-covered valley.

  Percy knelt among the underbrush, examining the forest floor. To Quinn, there was nothing to see but leaves and strands of yellowed grass. After a moment, he stood and nodded.

  “It’s a deer, big enough to be a stag. The tracks are fresh, too.”

  As Percy gazed through the surrounding forest, Quinn and the others did the same. Bright green buds of new leaves obscured the view, making it more difficult to see than recent visits to the valley.

  When Percy slid his bow off his shoulder, Quinn and the others did the same.

  “If I remember right, there are clusters of pines ahead. There’s a good chance that the deer is among them.” Percy spoke softly, staring into the woods the entire time. “We should split up, come from opposite directions in case he bolts.”

  Iko replied, “Good idea. One group might flush the deer toward the other.”

  “Chuli and Percy are the best with the bow. We should split them up,” Quinn suggested.

  Percy waved to the side. “Iko and Chuli, you two circle around to the east. Quinn and I will circle to the west. If you shoot, make sure it’s not at one of us.”

  Iko patted Percy on the shoulder as he passed by. “We’ll try, but we can’t make any promises.”

  Chuli glanced at Quinn with a shrug, drew an arrow, and followed Iko through the brush. As their footsteps faded, Percy turned toward Quinn. “Are you ready?”

  She drew an arrow from her quiver and gave him a nod. “Let’s go find a deer.”

  Flashing a grin, Percy turned and slipped through the trees. As Quinn trailed behind, she tried to emulate the boy’s movements – the way he eased past branches without touching them and how his footsteps slid beneath the leaves rather than crunching through them. After walking a couple hundred yards, Quinn spotted a copse of pines to her right and another ahead. She suddenly recognized the location they were approaching. Her thoughts darkened…the
shadows of those dark trees becoming ominous. Despite their need for stealth, the words refused to remain unsaid.

  She whispered to Percy. “This is where it happened…where Simone and Darnya were killed.”

  He glanced back at her with a furrowed brow. “I know. Now, be quiet.”

  As he raised his bow and eased forward, she stopped. A frown crossed her face as she stared at his back. Gaps began to fill…an incomplete picture assembling into something recognizable. Her eyes widened, but she held the gasp back – instead raising her nocked bow and pointing it at Percy.

  “It was you.” She didn’t whisper this time.

  Percy turned toward her with his bow held low with one hand, arrow in the other. “What are you talking about?”

  “You killed them. You know this is where it happened because you killed them.”

  He stared at her for a long moment with his brow furrowed, lips pressed together.

  The events and details sped through Quinn’s head. “You and Iko didn’t duel that day, claiming to be sick. And when they questioned the other boys, you two were away from the school.” She frowned. “Iko’s mother isn’t truly sick, is she?”

  Finally, he spoke. “You don’t understand, Quinn.”

  She held her bow ready, watching him closely. He was fast and an amazing shot, so she planned to shoot at any movement.

  “I understand well enough. You murdered our fellow cadets and then tried to kill me.”

  Percy smiled and shook his head. “You’ve seen me shoot, Quinn. You’d be dead if that was what I wanted.”