Of Love and Valor

2: Fledglings

"Right, then. A whole squadron from Andelxiao," Kazmiohn Ruokharismet says as he surveys us. "And one civilian. What in the—"

"Begging your pardon, Kazmiohn. She is mother to me and two others in the squadron," Alderon explains. "In no way is she your responsibility. She is simply...along for the ride until our housing has been procured."

The Kazmiohn is less than pleased. "Lovely. Ansohnya, you will refrain from speaking while I am orienting this squadron to their new place of employment." Ansohnya Umathyar huffs indignantly, which surprises me, given how patriarchal her culture is, but the Kazmiohn doesn't pause for a reply before beginning the orientation, leading us through an Orenzhanim training area as he speaks. "We do things a bit differently here than they do in Andelxiao. Members of the Orenzhanim are responsible for foot patrols around the perimeter of the city, and those patrols determine shifts at other stations. It's a big city; three circuits around Orenxiao at standard pace is one shift. In addition to that, you'll have watch duty in the towers, and we have training shifts to keep you all fresh in your skills and learning from each other. We have foot patrols within the city, as well, particularly at night. We're also responsible for maintaining the wall, and we occasionally have projects to improve the city. As you may have guessed, based on those you traveled with, we provide protection for high-ranking travelers, trade caravans, and the like, as well.

"The city is an enormous circle, divided in to four quarters. The Yrivvior lives in that giant eyesore at the center." Kazmiohn Ruokharismet gestures over his shoulder towards a massive building at the center of the city, which is at the end of the avenue we walked in on, sprawling with a variety of spires and a red tile roof. "Each quarter has an Orenzhanim barracks, a training area, and a market, in addition to civilian residential areas. On an avenue facing towards city center, barracks are to the right and training areas to the left. The Orenfior lives in a smaller eyesore in the southeast quarter. The four main avenues run on the four cardinal directions. Hard to get lost here. Each quarter also has eight watch towers. They're all named for constellations. You'll sort that out eventually. What shift are you all used to?"

"Dawn to dusk work, Kazmiohn," Santhrobar replies for all of us. "We've been doing rotations of tower watch, training, and tree scouting outside the city during that time span."

"Tree scouting? This one of the new strategies for thwarting the Erivim you've brought with you?"

"Yes, Kazmiohn."

"Well, I expect Kazmiohn Meskaiavin will be adding that to our rotations sometime soon," Kazmiohn Ruokharismet grumbles. "Fortunately for you, I have a couple daylight squadrons out providing security for trading caravans right now, and I can give you their spot in the rotation until we work out the new schedules with the new anti-Erivim measures in them."

"You are most gracious, Kazmiohn."

"Polite to a fault, aren't you?" the Kazmiohn remarks, somewhat testily. None of us respond to that; what can we say that would not irritate him further? He looks us over critically. "Some of you look awfully young for this line of work. How many of you fresh from the Academy?"

The Umathyari, Jorabij, Thariyae, and I raise our hands. The Kazmiohn curses roundly. "Zuluthruyen's gone and lost his mind. Squadron's more than half fresh from the Academy, and some of you graduated early, by my guess."

"All, Kazmiohn, and a better group of graduates has never been seen before in all of Yrivvenna, if I may be so bold," Santhrobar vouches for us. "I'd wager either Zelphinon or Azerai can beat your best fighter in one-on-one combat, and the six of them have trained together enough that there's not a better group for teamwork. They beat our veteran squad in the combat simulation part of their graduation exam."