We stepped outside. It was now nighttime, and the mountains in the distance had disappeared. Above us, the arc still hung suspended in space, glittering in the light of unseen suns.

  “What is that thing?”, asked Kate. “It’s gorgeous.”

  I said, "It's a planetary ring."

  “Like Saturn?”

  "Exactly so. Rocks, dust and ice.” I hesitated for a minute watching the sky. "And I think there's probably small moons embedded in it. If you look carefully, you can see gaps between some of the subrings.”

  "I never asked. Are you an astronomer, or something?” she said.

  "I’m a mathematical physicist.”

  "Oh god.” she shuddered. “Both of my high school nightmares, combined.” She was silent for a minute. “The longer I look at the ring, the more complicated it seems. It’s almost braided, like a woven rug.”

  “Good eyes. That’s exactly what you’re seeing. The moons herd the rings like dogs steering sheep.”

  “Oh.” She watched the arc for a little longer. “I suppose everything is more complicated that it seems at first. So, what are we gonna do?"

  I shrugged. “I can't tell you what to decide, Kate.”

  She snorted. “You know, if we had the sense to run away from a burning building instead of into one…”

  “Yeah. Then we wouldn’t have to choose.”

  She grinned. “You’ve already chosen”

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “Charlie,” she said, “please.”

  “As have you.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “let’s head back in.”

  Kate stood with her back to the wall, arms crossed. "We're in," she said. "What's the mission?"

  Elandra visibly relaxed and smiled at us. "You need to unite the polities,” she said. "The demons plan to conquer one country after the other. Only a united front has any chance of defeating them."

  “That seems practically impossible," I said. "We're two unknowns, appearing from nowhere, with no allies."

  Elandra nodded. "Obviously this is not something you can do without much preparation. You will need to be trained first by us, and then in one of the Academies. In short, you're going to have to make a name for yourselves." She looked at Kate, "I will teach you the basics of spellcasting." Her gaze shifted to me, "And Rory will teach you how to fight."

  I shifted uneasily. "I've never fought anyone in my life," I said.

  "That's all I've done," said Kate. "I don't see why I need a Blade.”

  Rory shook his head dismissively. "Let me show you something, little girl." He stood up and strode over to her, grasping her by the throat. "How will you cast a spell now?"

  Kate smiled at him. "Look down," he glanced at her chest. "Further down," his eyes dropped and then widened. Her right hand grasped a dagger with its tip touching his groin. "One twitch," she said, "and I open your femoral artery. Let. Me. Go."

  He stepped back, releasing his hand from her neck. He looked down to his left side, and I saw an empty sheath. For the first time I saw him smile. “May I have my dagger back?”, he asked.

  She flipped it in the air, and I watched it revolve two or three times before it smacked down into her hand. "Actually," she said, "I like it so much I think I might keep it."

  He nodded his head. “I’d say you earned it.” He unclipped the sheath from his waist and tossed it to her. He looked at me with a predatory grin. “If that’s what your companion can do, I expect great things from you.”

  “Well, shit.” I said.

  The practice area was an irregular oval scratched out in a grassy area about 20 paces away from the main building. It was pockmarked with indentations, stones, the occasional boulder, and exposed tree roots, most of which I had stubbed my toe on. Rory and I held practice swords: simple instruments with a hilt that was wrapped with twine, round ends, and blunted edges. Being hit with one of them hurt. And I was being hit a lot.

  "No," said Rory. He was not quite shouting. “Keep your tip pointed at my throat.”

  I did my best to angle the not-blade towards him. I shuffled forward cautiously. His sword came up and suddenly slashed down, knocking my sword to the side. I lost my grip on my weapon, and it was hammered into the dirt. The edge of his thumped into the side of my neck.

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  “You’re dead.” he said. “Again.”

  I bent and retrieved my wooden sword from the ground. I picked it up and pointed it towards him, raised my arms and brought the blade down again in a clumsy swing. He stepped back, let the tip sail past him and placed the edge of his sword against my throat once more.

  "Never let your blade go out of line," he said. "When it comes down, stop it and point it at my throat.”

  “I can't seem to control it," I said.

  Kate stepped into my field of view. I realized she must have been watching us. "Your hand position is wrong," she said. She reached out and I passed her the sword. "Look," she said. "You must place your hands on top of the hilt, not on either side." She raised the sword over her head and brought it down sharply and said, "When it comes into line, squeeze your hands and rotate your thumbs inward. That will stop its motion.” She demonstrated again. There was a smooth flash as the blade descended and then came to an abrupt stop. The tip was motionless, pointing at Rory.

  “How do you know all this?” I asked.

  “I studied kendo for decades,” she said.

  "Were you a black belt?"

  “My sensei didn't believe in belts,” she said. "He was old school; only cared about your attitude and your technique."

  “So, you’re a fencer?”

  She shook her head. "Kendo is not about the sword," she said. "It's about swordsmanship. You do not need a sword to practice kendo." She tapped her head with a finger. “The sword is the mind.” She tossed me my weapon and walked off.

  Rory stared after her and rubbed his chin. “She thinks like a warrior,” he said, “not a Mage.” He turned back to me. “Again.”

  I limped into the kitchen and lowered myself into a chair with a groan. Kate sat on the other side of the table, scowling at her plate. The door to the kitchen opened and a burly man with his hair pulled back and a short ponytail walked in carrying a tray. He smiled at me and began placing dishes on the table. "You must be Charlie," he said. “I’m Ranish.”

  “Pleased,” I said. “Are you another Blade?”

  “Hah!” He shook his head. “I’m the caretaker here,” He jerked his head towards the kitchen. “And Summer’s husband.”

  Summer poked her head out of the door. “Stop gossiping and help me with the rest of the meal, Ran.”

  He winked at me and retreated. Kate looked up and winced. “You look…” she searched for a word. “…battered.”

  “It feels worse than it looks. I have absolutely no aptitude for the sword.”

  “Have you ever done any martial arts?”

  “Is that some sort of painting style?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Any sports at all?”

  “Competitive soaring.”

  “What on earth is that?”

  “Sailplanes,” I said, “you know, the gliders with the long skinny wings. I race them cross country.”

  “Unreal. How long is a race?”

  “A few hundred kilometres, generally. You read the weather to find rising air so you can stay aloft.”

  “And—” Kate stopped herself, “—this is not physical effort we’re talking about, correct?”

  “Purely mental. And in that vein, how’s the magic going?”

  “It. Is. Not.” She grabbed a loaf of bread from the centre of the table and tore a piece off. “I can’t seem to cast the most basic spell.”

  “Which is?”

  “That fireball thingy she showed us the first evening.” Kate raised her hand and stared at it. For a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of blue over her palm. Nothing else appeared. She dropped her arm in frustration.

  “Huh.” I regarded her hand, and then mentally shrugged. “Let me have a go.” I raised my own hand and concentrated, trying to remember the arrangement of strands that I’d seen when Elandra first demonstrated her magic to us. I felt a tickle in the back of my head, and then the pattern snapped into focus over my palm. I pushed a little further, and a blue sphere bloomed into existence above the table.

  Kate was staring at me in horror.

  “Well,” I smiled. “Look at…”

  My vision suddenly narrowed down to a dark tunnel, and I felt myself fall forward. I heard the door open behind me and voices raised in distress.

  I awoke to the feeling of a wet cloth running over my face. I opened my eyes with difficulty. I was propped up on a low sofa with my head and shoulders resting on a stack of pillows. Summer pulled the cloth away from my face and rinsed it in a bowl. The water was red.

  Behind her stood Elandra with her arms crossed and a glare on her face that would have given a wolverine credit.

  "What on Nah’Nua were you thinking? " She asked.

  “Thanks. I'm feeling better,” I said, “and you?"

  Rory stepped in and looked at my face carefully. "Your nose is broken," he said. "This is going to hurt." He hooked two fingers into my nostrils and yanked without warning. There was a crunching noise and I gave a yelp. He stared at me again and then nodded his head. "Better," he said.

  Summer reached out with the cloth, and I grabbed it from her before she could wipe my face. I cautiously patted it over my cheeks and nose and winced. “So, tell me what happened,” I said.

  “You cast a spell,” said Elandra, "which of course is impossible."

  "What's with the 'nose on the table' thing?" I asked.

  "Well," said Kate, "as Elandra was explaining to me earlier today, in order to cast a spell, you have to draw from your mana pool, which only women possess. So, when you tried to cast a spell, you essentially drew from an empty tank. And…”.

  "The spell drew from your life force," said Elandra. "Fortunately, I was right next door, and Kate called me in. I treated you. Otherwise, it is likely that you would have died.”

  I met her gaze. "Thank you," I said.

  She nodded. "Notwithstanding, I cannot see how you were able to cast a spell in the first place. You are a Blade, not a Mage. Only women can be Mages.”

  I swung my legs over the side of the sofa and pushed myself upright. I swayed a little and then steadied. "I think,” I said, “that we should step outside for a moment.”

  I led the group over to the practice area and picked up the wooden swords. I tossed one to Rory.

  "I think you've had enough for today," he said.

  "You're absolutely right," I said. I tossed the other sword to Kate.

  She nodded at me and stepped towards Rory. He shook his head at her. She raised her left arm and made a beckoning motion to him, replaced her hand on the hilt of her sword, and raised it over her right shoulder with the tip pointed up in an awkward manner, as though she was a batter taking her place at the plate.

  Rory shrugged, stepped forward, and brought a sword down in a cut from his upper left to the lower right. It was difficult to see what happened next, but suddenly her body was away from the arc of his sword, and her blade dropped off her shoulder and sliced across his abdomen. He gave a grunt and looked down with surprise. When he looked up, the tip of her sword was at his throat.

  "Again," she said.

  Rory narrowed his eyes and moved in more cautiously. His sword was in line and pointed at her left eye. Her blade came up with a whirling motion and sliced down towards his head. He moved his sword up to block, but her blade was below his, striking him in the abdomen once more. She stepped back and took distance.

  He blew out his cheeks in frustration, and stepped in quickly with a blow to her head. This time she stepped back a single pace and raised her sword. The two blades met with a slight click, and his slid off to his right. She stepped back in and her sword sliced down and stopped abruptly, barely touching his left temple. She held her position and then dropped the sword to his throat once more.

  "Oh, my Goddess," said Elandra, "now I understand."