Excerpt: Swift

Though on the face of it, Lim was hopelessly over-matched, he had one advantage over his opponent. Seregei was tall and strong, but Lim was fast.
He ducked a sweep aimed at his neck and darted a stab towards Seregei’s midriff. The other elf jumped back with a curse and Lim followed up, feet moving fast. Seregei sidestepped and Lim had to shift quickly to avoid the stab aimed at his side. This time it was Seregei’s turn to press the offensive, but Lim kept moving, dropping to the floor and rolling almost to Seregei’s feet.
“Don’t do that!” cried Seregei.
“Why, because it’s a good way for me to beat you?” grinned Lim, starting to scramble up again as Seregei stepped back.
“No.” Seregei put a foot on Lim’s chest and pushed him back to the floor, putting the edge of one knife against his throat. “Because it’s a good way for me to beat you.”
Lim grimaced.
“Yield?”
“Yield,” he said grudgingly. Seregei grinned, tossed the wooden practice knife aside and reached out a hand to help Lim up. Lim took it, briefly considered using it to pull Seregei over, and decided against it. Besides, he’d probably be expecting it.
Seregei pulled him up, laughing. “You were doing well up until that last bit,” he said, bending to pick up his dropped knife. “I think I’m pretty much done with you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Lim, though he was pretty sure he could guess.
Seregei’s smile widened. “I think it might be time to find you a Task, brother mine.”
Lim grinned back. He had been pretty sure that was what Seregei had been leading up to, but his smile slowly faded as he thought about what this meant. He’d be a Swordmaster. It was what he’d been working towards for years, but the reality was a little frightening. Up until his initiation, he could still pull out.
“What is it?” asked Seregei.
“Are you sure I’m ready?” Lim asked, as they headed back into the guardhouse. “That I’d make a good Swordmaster?”
Seregei rolled his eyes. “Not this again. Honestly, Lim, you have to believe in yourself at some stage. Trust me, I’d not tell you you were ready if you weren’t, and I’d not have wasted my time training you if I didn’t think you’d make a good Swordmaster.” He smiled a little and clapped Lim on the shoulder. “You might not trust yourself and your own judgement, Lim, but grant me some credit – you can trust mine.”
Lim smiled, feeling better, but as he sat down and stretched he couldn’t resist saying, “Says the elf that was so convinced those caves were safe.”
Seregei winced at the memory. “Well, I think I paid for that. I’m still impressed that I don’t limp – that rock almost cut my leg off.”
Lim grinned. “Well, I suppose we did get out, though it had more to do with my digging than your judgement.”
Seregei stuck his tongue out, but also sat down, kicking off his boots. “Your muscles will stiffen if you don’t stretch.”
“Hypocrite.”
“Don’t change the subject.” Seregei grinned. “We were discussing the fact that you’re ready to be a Swordmaster. I mean, it’s been ten years. I’ve taught you everything I know and you’re the best archer I’ve ever seen – I’ll admit that you didn’t learn that from me.”
“No, I didn’t.” Lim smiled a little. “You’re no archer.”
Seregei waved a hand in acknowledgement of the truth of this. His bow was extra long and reinforced to take advantage of his great height and strength, but he wasn’t very good with it.
“But you’ve even mastered lockpicking,” he said. “I never thought you’d get that.”
Lim blushed, rubbing absently at his damaged left hand. Unfortunately he was left-hand-dominant, as much as any elf was dominant with one hand, and the old injury meant that it was difficult for him to do anything that required delicacy or strength. It had taken him months just to learn how to write again after his hand had been broken, and his handwriting was still barely legible.
Seregei was looking sympathetically at him. “You all right?” he asked.
Lim chuckled, trying to sound normal. “Of course,” he said. “I’m fine.”
Seregei looked skeptical, but nodded, stretching again and getting up. “Come on,” he said. “We should either stretch and change our clothes, or spar again.”
Lim thought about it. He was starting to feel a bruise on his shoulder now that the adrenaline was wearing off, and he didn’t really feel like another match, but he knew it would be good for him.
“You pick,” he said.
Seregei grinned, leaning over to one side to stretch. “Whenever you say that, my friend, I know that you don’t want to carry on, but are worried that I’ll think less of you if you tell me as much.”
Lim grimaced. Seregei knew him far too well. Either that or... “Are you using empathy, or do you actually know me that well?” he asked.
Seregei laughed. “A little of both,” he replied, leaning to the other side. Lim rolled his eyes and hitched his shoulders. A yawn surprised him and Seregei laughed.
“When did you get to sleep last night?” he asked.
“Too late. It’s your fault, keeping me out tracking until even the moon was abed.”
“She was not. It was cloudy, that’s all.”
“Ha! You admit it – that’s why I could not find those damn tracks that you seemed to think were there!”
Seregei rolled his eyes. “They were clear as day,” he said.
“Perhaps, but the night was not.”
Seregei looked about to retort when there was a knock on the door and an elf came in.
“Captain Seregei?” he said. “Lord Caleb would like to speak to you.”
Seregei sighed a little. He didn’t like it when the king of Duamelti sent for him – he felt that it showed that the other elf was getting ideas above his station.
“Is it important?” he asked after a moment.
The messenger looked uncomfortable. “He... he didn’t say, sir.”
“Do you know anything about what he wants to talk to me about? I’d like to rest a while and change my clothes – is that possible?”
“He looked worried.”
Seregei sighed again. “Very well, I’ll come straight away.” He glanced over at Lim and said, “Remember to stretch and take a nap – you do look tired.”
Lim nodded and began unlacing his own boots as Seregei followed the messenger across the grassy courtyard and into the forest.

Seregei strode down the path, ducking around stray branches that would have easily been over the head of an ordinary elf. Seregei himself was built to about one tenth over normal scale, and as such was extremely tall. He had no idea how this had come to pass, but it was mostly useful and sometimes annoying – especially when he needed new clothes.
The hallways of the palace were easily tall enough for him, though. He parted from his guide at the gate, after an enquiry about Caleb’s whereabouts, and went straight to the king’s study, ignoring the startled stare of a small group of humans – from the forest around Duamelti, by the look of them – who clearly had not expected to see an elf who was seven feet tall.
He entered without knocking and leant on Caleb’s desk, looking down at him. Caleb did not get up to greet him, but simply raised an eyebrow.
“You sent for me,” said Seregei. “You know how I feel about that.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “Just sit down, Seregei, I’ve not got time for power plays.”
Apparently this was serious, but Seregei remained standing. “What’s the matter?”
“Sit down and I’ll tell you – you don’t like being sent for and I don’t like craning my neck to talk to someone.”
Seregei smiled despite himself and sat down. “Right. I’m sitting, so what’s the matter?”
Caleb sighed. “Have you heard of Esgal?”
Seregei hadn’t, and he shook his head.
“He’s our spy in Arket.” Caleb apparently noticed Seregei’s ignorance, despite his best effort to hide it, and he added, “A few days’ ride south-east of here – a kingdom of humans. They don’t like elves.”
Seregei nodded. “But how does an elf remain hidden there?”
Caleb looked pained. “At the moment, he doesn’t. Esgal has been captured.”
Seregei bit his lip, feeling a small stab of pity for Esgal, even though he’d never met him. He didn’t doubt that the simple phrase ‘they don’t like elves’ meant that there was a great deal of suffering in store for him.
“I see that you appreciate the problem,” said Caleb.
“I do indeed, but why did you summon me to tell me this?”
“Esgal is a mixed-blood, and therefore one of your people. He also has access to a great deal of sensitive information – it would be very dangerous for the men of Arket to learn some of the things he knows, and...”
“They’ll torture him,” Seregei finished bluntly. Seeing Caleb’s expression, he added, “Yes, I said ‘torture’ and I’ll say if again if I want, so calm down.”
Caleb glared at him. “Yes,” he said calmly, “They’ll torture him, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that given time they’ll break him and he’ll tell them all they want to know of him.”
Seregei winced. “But what can I do about it?” he asked again.
“I was hoping you could rescue him,” said Caleb.
Seregei nodded slowly. This was potentially a Task – it had to be something that could be done by one person working entirely alone, though, and he’d need more details before he could commit Lim to it, as well as speaking to Lim himself. Still, even if it wasn’t a suitable Task, he and Lim might do it together.
“Can you tell me anything else?” he asked.
Caleb smiled a little, probably guessing that Seregei had all but decided.
“His last letter came from a small town on the nearest border, so we assume that that was where he was captured. He was supposed to meet someone – another elf – there a week after that letter and it was from him that we learned that he was missing – that he’d not come to the meeting, and that later rumours had been circulating that he’d been arrested. We know that they tend to keep captured elves when they have them in the king’s city, several days’ journey through the mountains. There’s no reason to suspect that they’d not take Esgal back there, but we don’t know how they’ll transport him.”
“What’s the chance that they’d kill him out of hand?”
“Not very high – if their previous behaviour is any indication, they’ll want to interrogate him before they kill him.”
Seregei nodded. “So we don’t know how he’s being held or what state he’ll be in, but they’ll probably be taking him from this town back through the mountains and he’ll probably still be alive?”
“Indeed.”
Seregei nodded again. “Very well, I’ll consider it.”
“Thank you,” said Caleb sincerely. “I owe you a favour.”
Seregei laughed. “You owe me many favours, Caleb, but I’ve not yet said I’ll do it. I’ll let you know before this evening.”
Caleb nodded and Seregei got up to leave.
“See you this evening,” said Caleb. Seregei nodded absently and left.