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51st of Frost, Year 384 of the Age of Sundering
It was early in the morning and the training yard was filled with newly appointed warforgeds sparring with each other. Most of them probably had the same thought, that they should prove their dedication early in their knighthood - including her. All she could hear were the sounds of wooden swords knocking against each other another, including her own. She was currently practicing with Dale, who got knighted just a season earlier than her. He was a quiet guy, probably no older than her.
As thrilled as she was for achieving what she strived for, Veriel still couldn’t shake the thought of Chaya who died that initiation day. Every day she had to walk past her empty bedroom that was left untouched, her bed was still not made and the half-finished painting she was working on was still on the desk. The siltori could not make herself clean them up.
Perhaps the thought was too distracting or perhaps she was still weaker than most of her comrades in general, but Veriel didn’t notice the next blow coming. Dale kicked her legs out from underneath her and there was nothing she could do but fall facefirst onto the soil.
Veriel spat the dirt that got into her mouth and cursed in her mother tongue.
Dale immediately scrambled back, looking apologetic. “Gods, Veriel, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to knock you down that hard.”
She could see some people pausing and snickering at her rather embarrassing fall. Despite the heat she felt creeping up her cheeks, Veriel stubbornly kept her faze unfazed and waved off the apology. “It’s fine. I’m due for a break anyway.”
Just as she pulled herself up to her feet, a voice ran out from across the field. “Knight d’Revrinti!”
Veriel knew that voice. It belonged to the first person she had decided that she loathed in this order. Knight-Sergeant Kellen Arferd, a human male in his late twenties who had a particular hobby for berating her and telling her to give up during her time as an aspirant. She didn’t know what made him despise her so much, but now that she reciprocated the sentiment, she didn’t care much for his reasoning.
Judging by the look on his face, he had seen her little tumble. Even as she approached him, the sergeant was shaking his head and clicking his tongue in disappointment. “You’ll get killed in minutes if you fight like that in a real battle.”
“I’ll do better, sergeant,” the young elf responded stiffly. “Is there anything you need from me, sergeant?”
“Just come with me.” With that, he just started walking off, not even bothering to check if she was following. He didn’t even give her the chance to ask another question. After placing her wooden sword down, Veriel had to jog to catch up with him. Their walk was mostly silent. She could tell that they were heading for the warforged’s headquarters.
They were halfway there when Arferd finally made a sound.“If anyone else was doing this, I would have been sure that you must be sleeping with him,” he grumbled under his breath. Maybe he thought she wouldn’t hear or maybe he did want her to hear. No matter which it was, the young woman certainly didn’t miss it.
Veriel balked at the comment. “Excuse me?” she snapped, not even bothering to be polite. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Instead of answering, he just gestured at her to move along. Gods, she hated this man. Unfortunately, he was still her superior officer and all she could do was grit her teeth and continue trailing him while her mind ran wild. What kind of disgusting comment was that? And what on earth could he be on about?
Clearly, she would get no answer from him. She managed to keep her mouth shut at least until he led her inside an empty room. It seemed like a simple meeting room, but no one else was inside.
“Wait here. He’s still talking to the commanders.”
The siltori whirled to face him. “Who-” She only managed to get one word out before Sergeant Arferd slammed the door behind him.
He was truly the worst.
Unable to contain her nervous energy, Veriel began pacing around the room. She tried to replay every single thing that happened these past few days. All she did was go on patrols with other warforgeds. Most of them were uneventful. The only thing she could think of that might stir up trouble was the fact that she had refused when an older member asked her cover to his shift. Everyone had told her she should have just agreed, but five night shifts in a row were too much for her - she would pass out if she had to add another.
Even though it felt like hours, probably only minutes had passed. By the time she heard the knob turning, Veriel jumped to attention and went for the door, ready to demand an explanation from the knight-sergeant. But it wasn’t Arferd’s punchable face that greeted her in the doorway.
Instead, Knight Endrik Shiryo was standing there. It was the first time she had ever seen him in uniform instead of armor. His short blonde hair was sleeked back neatly, always pleasantly contrasting with his tanned skin. The white coat hugged his figure perfectly, accentuating his broad shoulders. His gray wings were folded close to his body, but even then it nearly spanned the entire length of the room. He was a frustratingly striking sight.
Veriel blinked in surprise and stepped back, letting him. “Knight Shiryo.” She hadn’t seen him since the day she passed her initiation. She had been disappointed when he didn’t even congratulate her after the whole thing. He was probably the reason she succeeded, after all. But she thought perhaps he had other pressing matters to tend to. Besides, the deal was for him to train her until she could be knighted and that was done. There was no real reason for them to see each other on the daily.
He grinned at her. “Actually, it’s knight-sergeant now. I got a promotion last week.”
“Oh wow, congratulations,” she replied, unable to sound more enthusiastic considering that she was still hung up on a different matter. “I’m really sorry, but can I ask why are you here? Why am I here? Sergeant Arferd refused to tell me anything.”
“I should have known,” he said with a sigh. “Well, I suppose at least I can be the one to give you the good news. From now on, you will be a part of my team.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry what?”
“You’ll be part of my main team,” he explained swiftly. “Sometimes if the the superiors request it, we can be split up, but mostly, we’ll do our missions together with two others.”
Veriel shifted her weight from foot to foot. Her heart was starting to race as she realized what it meant. “I get that, but I thought new knights aren’t supposed to get into teams a few seasons in.” Even back at the training yard just now, she had heard her comrades worrying over this. Another reason for everyone to keep showing up in the training yard was in the hopes of getting into a team as soon as possible.
Endrik shook his head. “Not necessarily. Any knight can be chosen and picked to join one at any time. They just need to get someone interested. It usually takes a while for us to get familiar enough with the new recruits before choosing them. Luckily for you, I have been training you for the past season so I don’t need more time to figure it out.”
It took her more than a few moments to let it sink in. “But… why? You know better than anyone that I’m not exactly the most talented fighter.”
“You’re far more hardworking than most of the knights I’ve seen. I think that’s more valuable than inherent ability. I wouldn’t have bothered training you if I thought you were terrible at what you’re doing.” He sounded almost confused like this should have been obvious to her. “Frankly, I also think you’ll get along famously with Thaddeus and Nasyra.” The names were unfamiliar but clearly, he was talking about his companions.
Honestly, to her, it didn’t sound like a big enough reason to pick an absolute novice for his team. She was sure there were a lot more other knights that were far more driven than her. “You’re not joking, right?” she asked, not realizing that she had said the exact same thing when he first agreed to start training her.
But the avialae did and he smiled even brighter. “I don’t say things I don’t mean, Veriel. You should know that by now.”