"Who are you?" Embris asked, lifting her sword at the man, unsure what she should expect from him.
He didn't respond, nor did he show any signs he'd even heard Embris. She couldn't say if that was a good thin or not, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed about it.
"If you don't answer my questions, I'm going to have to alert the others to you being here," she warned.
Still he acted like he didn't hear her. She couldn't say that it was because he didn't understand her, because she was taking the time to speak clearly. Something her mother had told her was important when dealing with others in general, even though most of the time she didn't follow that piece of advice.
The man tried to move around her, but Embris quickly stopped him. He looked at her like he was trying to figure something out. Like she was a puzzle he didn't understand.
The intelligence in his gaze made Embris very uncomfortable and she called out, "Intruder!"
The man's head snapped to the noise that Embris' cry had elicited. His eyes took on a look of panic and Embris was confident that she had him now.
However, when he turned back to look at her, he felt a sense of dread fall over her, making it harder to breathe. She didn't know what the feeling was about, but she knew that something was different about this person. Something that was more dangerous than she had initially thought.
He said something she didn't understand and she suddenly found it hard to hold her sword up. In fact, she found it hard to remain standing. When she blinked her eyes, she suddenly found herself laying on the ground, watching as the man melted into the darkness, leaving almost no trace that he'd been there. Then Embris felt like the darkness was swallowing her whole, leaving nothing of her remaining.
When the darkness finally faded, she was surprised to find herself drenched, sore cheeks, and everyone standing over her. Not only that, but her sword wasn't in her hand anymore. Then there was the fact that she was laying on her back when she remembered laying face down.
"What happened?" she croaked, surprised at how dry her throat felt.
"When you called out about an intruder, we found you asleep," one of the other mercenaries answered. Jueniaes. She was a woman in her late twenties with blue hair and purple eyes. Embris remembered that she'd never been able to find a man who suited her, so she hadn't had any children yet. A rarity. "At first we thought you were just tired, but then we couldn't wake you up. At all."
"You're just lucky that I can use a little bit of magic," another mercenary said. She was a short young woman, just a little older than Embris herself, who had emerald green hair and bright gold eyes. She tended to keep to herself the most of the other mercenaries, though Embris recalled she'd given her name once. Taesin. "Whoever the intruder was, they put you to sleep with magic."
Embris sighed. At least that explained a few things. Such as why she was drenched and her face hurt. They'd likely doused her with water and slapped her face in order to try to wake her up. Though, it also helped her relax a little knowing that they wouldn't hold this incident against her. None of them had any real defenses against magical attacks, so it wasn't like she fell asleep because she wasn't doing her job properly.
"So, what'd the intruder look like?" the merchant asked, her eyes boring a hole through Embris.
Embris shook her head. "I couldn't see much about him," she answered.
"'Him?'" the older mercenary asked. "It was a twig?"
Embris nodded. "His skin was black, so it looked like he could melt into the darkness and he had a very feminine appearance."
While she spoke, she couldn't help but feel like there was something else about him that was different that she couldn't quite explain. Something that was also a little familiar at the same time. Something that felt like it was just outside her reach of understanding.
"Well, it would explain why we only had some of our food stolen," Nuem mused. "Still, we should leave as early as we can in the morning. No telling if he's alone out there."
Embris couldn't help but feel like she wanted to go back to sleep, even though she had a feeling it was still her watch. She'd heard that a person who was put to sleep with magic would be tired when they woke up, but she never heard about how that would be a reason for a mercenary to not have to take their watch.
"If that's the case, then we'll just have to deal with anyone who shows up here," the last mercenary of their group, Laurise, said. She was the only one of the mercenaries who had a child, though from what Embris understood, she never visited her son unless she was meeting with her child's father to try and make another one. She had dark purple hair and light blue eyes. In many ways, her personality seemed almost a contradiction in itself. She had excellent judgment, but tended to be short tempered. She was very sensitive about many things, but was quick to make jokes about those same topics. She looked like she was in her early twenties, but acted like she was around Embris' age most of the time.
"Since Embris was hit with magic, I'll take over for her watch for tonight, but after Taesin's watch, we'll start moving on." Laurise turned to Nuem and asked, "Is that acceptable?"
The merchant nodded, looking satisfied with the plan.
Laurise then looked at Embris. "Get some sleep. I've been put to sleep with magic before. It's a nightmare to be on watch after that."
Embris felt like she should give an answer, if only to thank Laurise, but the mercenary merely walked away, like she was busy. Not that it was out of character for the woman. She often tended to be very business-like when it came to their duties.
Embris could only hope that nothing else would happen that night. She was already feeling rather uneasy about the person she had seen. Almost like it was merely the start of something terrible that was about to occur.
_
The days passed by and Jenn felt surprised at how different she was already. She had grown accustomed to talking with Polelin using her slate. While she still wished she could unseal her voice, she felt like using this method was almost as good.
The training Polelin had given her felt like it had helped build up her physical stamina, though Polelin had indicated that she needed to focus on her agility and not rely so much on her strength. Which apparently wasn't what most of the women in this world did. From what Polelin had told her, she got the picture that most women in this world relied on physical strength, which made her wonder if she'd entered an alternate reality when she'd entered this world. It was just something so far out of the ordinary from what she was used to that it felt like it. Not that Jenn understood what exactly was 'common' in this world.
She also hadn't been able to get Polelin to open up about himself, though he seemed to have a history that she would like to hear. However, she refrained from peeking into his head about it. It wasn't necessary for her survival here and she would have felt like she was violating the trust that seemed to be forming between them.
She had been quickly moving from one weapon to another. What she was able to tell about Polelin's training was that he hadn't expected for Jenn to be moving through the weapons this quickly. The melee weapons were easy enough for Jenn. All she needed to do was get used to wielding them. Although the one that felt the most comfortable in her hands was still the prism knife. She couldn't explain why it felt so right for her. Like it was already part of her.
The weapon that took her the longest was the sling. Putting the rock in the leather fold wasn't a problem. The problem lay in when she would spin it around, she wasn't quite able to know precisely when to let go of the single end of the sling to have the rock go flying. Even now, she couldn't say how well she'd be able to do, but she at least knew she had improved. Especially since she'd spent nearly an entire week with it. Although, at least she'd been able to start consistently getting the rock to go flying in the direction she wanted, even if her aim left a lot to be desired.
However, despite all the problems she was having with it, it was also the last of the weapons for her to deal with, so if she didn't master this, she wasn't that worried. Something told her that she wouldn't have to deal with the sling after this anyway. Not that she knew why that would be.
As it is, it was the end of another day and her arms were starting to feel like rubber again. She felt good at how much she'd been able to improve her endurance, though she still wished she could get something to wear and not be naked all the time.
When she had once posed the question about her getting some clothing, Polelin gave her a look like she thought she was making a bad joke or something.
He never replied to that request, but she felt like he hadn't forgotten it either. She couldn't say what it was about, only that she still wasn't happy about whatever the delay or problem was.
"You're doing well," he told her as she put the sling back on the table where she'd first seen it a few weeks ago. "I think it's your timing that's the problem. While you're good with all the other weapons, you still need to figure out how to get your timing down with this weapon."
Jenn still couldn't understand why she needed to work with all of these weapons. She had asked why, but was never given a straight answer. She didn't expect it would be any different now, so she couldn't say what the point of having so much focus directed at her ability to master the sling was.
"However," Polelin continued, his tone snapping Jenn's full attention back to him, "whether you're able to master the sling or not, our time is nearly at an end. You will be entering in the test and put up for the auction at the end of next week."
Jenn felt like she'd been hit with a sledgehammer. While she didn't understand some of the finer points of this world, she still hadn't figured out what ways she had to get out of being a slave. If she couldn't figure out a way to escape, she still didn't plan on remaining here forever.
However, with her being told that she was going to be auctioned off made it feel like she was going to be sunk deeper into this world. Part of her suddenly felt like she was being suffocated and crushed by events that were completely out of her control. She recognized that there wasn't going to be anything she could do about it, but she still wished she had found a way to escape with Cithis and Haln.
Thinking of the two children who had apparently adopted her as their mother, she quickly wrote a question on her slate: What about Cithis and Haln?
Polelin cracked a rare smile and nodded. "Apparently they'd been having trouble selling those two, so they'll be auctioned with you. Which means, their fate will be tied to yours. If you don't do well on the test, their future won't be very bright because that'll make you less desirable to purchase."
Jenn wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She still didn't understand what was going on, nor was she really sure she wanted to. If she understood it, then she was afraid that she would be too deep into the parts of this world she didn't like. Which would mean that she'd have become part of this system that made her feel tainted just by being in the position she was right now. Even though she knew it wasn't her fault to begin with.
Jenn did her best to erase her question in order to write another one. She wished they had something better for her to work with, but as the saying goes: beggars can't be choosers. She knew that she had other options she could go with, but refused to go with them, since it would certainly reduce her chances of being able to escape when she saw her opportunity.
Even as she wrote her question, she was hesitant to show it to Polelin. She doubted she'd get in trouble for merely asking this question, but she still couldn't be sure. There were too many things in this world that were so different that she was still trying to make heads or tails of them. As such, she couldn't say for certain if this would be one of them. However, she knew that if she didn't ask, it would bother her to no end. So, she displayed her question to Polelin: What's the test going to be?
Polelin chuckled as he read Jenn's question. While she didn't like him finding her question amusing, she at least felt a little relaxed about what his reaction was going to be.
"Did you really think I'd be allowed to tell you?" he asked after a minute of him chuckling. "You'll find out what it is on the day it happens."
Jenn nodded, not really surprised, but feeling a little disappointed. She would like to know what to expect, but she gathered that she shouldn't expect anything else about it. Although, she figured she could use her magic to learn what she wanted to know, from the others who seemed to have some degree of authority around here, but she worried that if she did that, she'd potentially get Polelin in trouble. As she wouldn't be able to explain how she knew what it was if anyone thought she had foreknowledge about it.
While she didn't really feel any sense of loyalty or anything for him, she still didn't want to create problems for him. If anything, she felt like he was a friend who she expected to part with soon anyway.
As Jenn thought about what else she could ask, Polelin put his hand on her shoulder, surprising her. As she looked into his eyes, she couldn't help but wonder what he thought of her when he looked at her. For some reason, it felt like he thought more of her than she did of him.
"While I can't tell you what it is, I can tell you that as long as you remember what you learned here, you'll do fine. You won't be killed in the test, so long as you don't deliberately kill anyone yourself. Even if you think you failed the test, you might be surprised at the results. Don't think you'll know how they'll score the test when you see what it is. Much of what the test is relied on things outside of what we've been training."
Jenn felt like she had just had a conversation with her father, even though she knew he wasn't here at all. Why she felt that way she couldn't say. Only that, somehow, he was more of a friend now than he had been a few minutes ago.
"Anyway, it's early, but go back to your kids. Play with them if you can. You never know how many of these moments you'll be able to get," he added a moment later. "We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow." Polelin started to walk away before he turned back to her. "Maybe taking this time with your kids will help you figure out what you're missing with the sling."
Jenn wasn't sure how to respond to that. She knew she should head back to the door that the women she'd started to think of as 'guards' would be at to take her back to her pen, but she felt like she was rooted in place for the moment.
Like there was something important she needed to ask Polelin, but nothing came to mind. Even as he disappeared out of her view through another of the doors in the rooms where her training was being conducted, she couldn't think of what to ask that would satisfy whatever it was inside of her that felt the change. It was frustrating, but she was surprised to find that she didn't mind.
When Polelin was out of sight, she found that she could move again. She calmly walked to the door that she would enter and leave these rooms through every day. Whatever the test was, she couldn't help but wonder if it would be a mistake to get the highest score possible on it. While she didn't want to do abysmal, she couldn't help but wonder if it would put her in an even worse position if she did, essentially, ace this test.
She would like to do something with Cithis and Haln, but since she couldn't talk with them and they couldn't read, it wasn't like they'd be able to interact and understand each other. Aside from the fact that the two children really did like Jenn, though she couldn't help but wonder how much of that was because they really liked her or because she had come to their rescue when she'd first arrived in the same pen as them.
Too much of this world felt so foreign to her that she couldn't help but wonder if she shouldn't just stop trying to resist these changes and instead try to find a way to embrace and roll with them as they came up. She didn't know what was going to come down the road later on, but she was confident that it wasn't going to be anything that she could really prepare for.