The training fields are huge, a complete one hundred yards of blank grassy space with circles of dirt for sparring. The wall closest to where we walk in has just about every weapon I can imagine. My eyes are drawn to the ceiling, where I can see faint morning sunlight filtering in. I look up, marveling at the ceiling design, we're still underground, but the fields have been built into an area of extremely old and thick trees, the roots holding the dirt in place while holes in the structure allow sunlight to filter down below, diminishing the need for torches and letting some fresh air into the stuffy compound.
"Amazing isn't it?" Says Kendi, watching me with a smile. "We came here to it like this, and with a little magic to strengthen the roots, it makes one of the most violent places in the compound," She grins, "Into one of the most beautiful."
"Wow." I breathe, inhaling the much needed fresh air after the night in the stuffy room with three other bodies. Even inside the lamp, the air wasn't filtered completely, and I could feel the heat from the other three even there. Not to mention when Kendi woke up to find me in the lamp, and not sleeping like a normal person to protect my identity, she shook it until I left.
As a result, we got up much earlier than everyone else, and ate more of the tough travel rations I was becoming so used to for breakfast on out way here. Of course, Len wasn't too happy getting up so early, but Kendi insisted it was a great opportunity, saying that now we could train without holding back, the area would be almost completely deserted at this hour.
She was right, of course. I look around, there are maybe two or three early risers working on the other side of the field, but other than them, we're alone.
"Let's get started then." Says Kendi, walking over the the wall, where shining blades are held up by pikes and hooks driven into the hard dirt. There's an array of swords, from short swords to broadswords, they seem to have any blade I can think of, shining in the dim morning light. Kendi waves at the wall, "Take your pick."
Len steps up, picking a moderately sized sword from the wall, holding it and staring at it a bit before frowning, and putting it back, and continuing along the wall. Kendi watches him for a few seconds, before turning to me. "Aren't you going to pick one?" She asks.
I bite my lip, "I don't know much about swords, how am I supposed to know? I've never used one, let alone fought with one, which I assume we will be training to fight with whatever we choose." I shrug.
"For now, just pick one. You can get a feel for it, and if you don't like it, you can always pick a different one."
"Alright." I step forwards, before walking down along the wall. Len's stopped multiple times, examining blades, before putting them down again. "What're you looking for?" I ask, looking for something to look for in a blade, anything.
"Whatever feels right, I guess." Len says, throwing a smile my way, putting another blade back in it's respective spot on the wall. I frown, walking by. The farther down the wall I go, the more strange the blades get. I go from regular swords to a few that look more like torture devices, and then get to the throw-able ones.
"Knives?" Says Kendi, I frown, going back.
"No, I don't think so. I've never had very good aim with rage weapons." I say, headed away from the throwing knives and disk. I stop a little ways down, a different color catching my eye. Unlike the swords all around it, the staff was a dull brown, completely dismissable. I must have walked past it earlier. I lift it off the wall, liking the lightness of the wood, rather than the heavy weight of a iron or steel sword. I do an experimental swing, liking the way it feels in my grip.
"Interesting choice." Says a voice from behind me, and I jump, whirling around. Behind me is an older man, his eyes crinkled in laughter at my surprise. His beard is long and gray, trailing on the floor around and behind him, and he leans on his staff slightly, but not enough to really need it.
"Personally, I would have chosen a sword," He says, reaching out and taking the wooden staff from my hand, I let him pull it from my grasp uncertainly, still shocked at his sudden appearance. He taps it on the ground, listening to the heavy thunks. "Strong. Sturdy." He looks back at me. "A good choice to incapacitate, not so much to kill." He strokes his beard, his eyes narrowing slightly, before nodding. "It fits you."
"Who are you?" I ask, the words out before I can stop them. I wince, "I'm sorry. That was rude of me." The man however, laughs, and I raise an eyebrow.
"I like your spirit. You've lasted long on your own." He relaxes, and I shift my weight uncomfortably. "You have endured much," He says, reaching out and placing the staff in my hand. "It gets better," He says, patting my hand. He begins to fade away, and I stand, shocked. Before looking around rapidly. To my surprise, Len has frozen in the process of taking a sword off the wall, his eyes alight excitedly.
Kendi has frozen in a similar state, running a cloth over a favored sword in her lap while she waits for us. "You froze time?" I say, looking back. He's almost gone now, that grin still on his face. I've never heard of anyone who had the magic to freeze time, the closest I've ever heard of is the time bubble I created for me and Amita, and even then, it only puts us in a hidden limbo, so we're out of sight...
"What are you?" I ask, and he chuckles, still fading from my sight.
"My name is Baldur, my dear." He says, holding his staff in front of him. "And, when times speeds up again, tell Len that he's never fooled me. I always knew." With those final words, he give a little wave, then completely disappears, and as I watch, time speeds up again, and Len finishes taking the sword off the wall, looking over at me with a smile when he sees me watching.
"You look like you've chosen one." He says, gesturing at the staff. "You also look like you've seen a ghost." The smile fades, replaced by a more concerned frown. "What happened?"
"I-" I start, freezing for a second, before shaking out of it. He stopped time... "I saw Baldur." I say, leaning on the staff slightly. "And he... Stopped time."
"You saw Baldur?" Says Kendi, coming up and looking at my staff. "Good choice, it suits you." She comments, "He only shows himself if he wants to be seen, and yeah, it can be a bit surprising at first."
"You've seen him?" I ask her, "Does he always do that?"
She nods. "It's pretty shocking, for someone to have that sort of power. It's why we're so glad he's on our side, that kind of power is dangerous."
"I can tell." I say, remembering the sheer amount of power it must have taken to make those few seconds of frozen time. I look at Len, "He says he knows," I grin slightly, "He's always known."
Len sighs. "And I thought I did so well at hiding it. He probably told Leila and Fira and they were all laughing at me the entire time I thought I was undercover. It explains why I was tasked with you though, they wouldn't trust just anyone to retrieve somebody with as much magical power as you. I was surprised they didn't just go after you themselves though."
Kendi nods, "That's right, you were a field agent." She grins, pulling dual daggers from her belt and tapping Len's new sword. "Let's test your skill why don't we? You haven't gotten rusty during your little vacation have you?"
Len laughs, lifting his sword, "I'd like to see you try to beat me."
Kendi leads him into one of the round white circles, "Oh believe me, I'll try, and I'm going to win." I follow, sitting outside the circle and watching with interest. "Watch closely," Calls Kendi, "This should show you some basic stances that we can go over later, and you can see how you can use a smaller weapon, like my knives, against a larger blade. Even if you don't have one of our weapons you should know how they're used, for reference in your own fights."
I stand, watching their defensive stances, and try it on my own, placing my feet like theirs, which is easy enough. Except I can't hold the staff like Len holds his sword, straight up and down with his hands on the bottom. And I can't hold it like Kendi's dual knives either. I frown frustratedly at the staff, straightening up.
They have both sunk into defensive stances, Len raising his sword and Kendi her knives, one in each hand. With little warning, Kendi shoots forwards, using her speed and smaller blades to her advantage, darting in and out of Len's defense to poke him here and there, before dancing back to avoid the swing of his sword.
"Is that all you've got? You aren't nearly as good as the others say you are," Kendi grins, "Or should I say, were."
Len frowns, holding his sword tighter, "We'll see about that." He twists the handle tightly, and there's a click, before the blade splits in half to reveal another inside, becoming three blades instead of one. "Lets see how your speed can hold up dodging three blades, instead of one." Kendi's eyes widen, her mouth becoming a thin line as Len charges forwards, and she leaps to the side, narrowly missing the shining metal.
"What is that?" I mutter, watching in awe as Len chases Kendi around the ring, both absorbed in landing blows and dodging each other. Len holds the sword with both hands, twisting the handle back and forth repeatedly, moving the blades in and out of their single and triple form to suit whatever maneuver he's doing.
"Impressive, yes?" Says a quiet voice beside me, and I turn to see Baldur again. He smiles at my shock. "It's a special weapon, based off a much more ancient one like it. In older times, there was a pair of handheld blades that were worn like gloves, with split blades to impale their enemies called a katar. This, is a modification of that. Made it myself, I'm surprised he chose it, not many people can see the special value in the blade."
I look back at the ring, watching the two clash with each other in a flurry of flashing blades. "You didn't stop time?"
Baldur chuckles, the sound quiet and husky. "I don't always do that. But yes, I can. I like to do it the first time I meet someone, it usually scares them enough for me to know if they've had experience with their own magic before. Leila was quite shocked, I remember. Wanted to know all about how I did it."
He looks at me. "You're the one she claims is her sister, yes?" I nod, twirling the bracelet on my wrist. "She's alright, for now." He says. "But she doesn't have forever, they've figured out their plan, and it's going to ruin her if you don't get there fast enough."
I look up, "You know what's happening to her?" Hope taking hold in my stomach.
Baldur looks at me sadly. "I can see what's happening, but I cannot intervene. That, is up to you." I open my mouth, but he holds up a hand, halting any more questions that I might have. "I can't say anymore, but, I can show you how to use that staff." He says, tapping his own on the ground lightly.
I push down the rising questions, already knowing he won't answer them. He's obviously a man on a mission. Maybe he's a time traveler... I muse, watching him, and he grins. "One will never know, my friend." I force a grin as well, let's add mind reading onto the possible list of powers he could have.
I shake my head, lifting my staff and rising to my feet. "Alright. I guess." Baldur raises his staff, then brings it down, tapping it on the ground, once, twice, three times.
"Begin." He yells, and I jump slightly. Around us, the air shimmers, the people outside slowing, their movements looking like they were trying to move through a clear sludge in the air. They keep moving for a few more seconds, until they stop completely, frozen in place.
"That's amazing." I breathe, wanting to reach out and touch them, see if they would react to it at all in their limbo in time.
"Don't leave the bubble," Baldur says, reaching out and pushing my hand down.
"Bubble?"
"The air around us is a bubble of time, kept in place by the caster themselves. But, if I was to move over there, time would speed up for them again. This only works for me however, if anyone other than the caster tries to leave the bubble, they will be caught back into the flow of time, and you will freeze the way you are."
"Wow." I stare a moment more, before turning back to Baldur. "So you're going to train me with the staff?"
Baldur nods. "It can be more lethal than it seems, in the right hands. While some might see it as a decorative staff, or merely a stick, others can use it as a weapon." He lifts his own staff, bringing it forwards in a surprisingly steady arc through the air, leveling it to point at me. "I created the bubble to keep what I'm about the show you secret, so that not just anybody walking into the training room can see these techniques."
"What's so special about it?" I look down at my staff, "It's just a staff."
Baldur grins, "I'm not just showing you how to fight with the staff. I am showing you how to harness the magic you seem to be ignorant to, inside."