Where Lies Adventure!

           The pair passed by another dyad, Patrick and Tom, going into the arena for their final sparring session.   Van and Finnian found seats on the first level of the coliseum with a clear view of the combatants.     The pair in the arena were walking in opposite directions, taking their place for combat.   This was the battalion’s final stage of their training before becoming an official unit of the king’s army.   After today, they would be placed on duty to serve their city.   No one in the battalion knew much about Patrick and Tom.   But what everyone knew for certain, was that the intense training over the last year had clearly taken its toll on them both. That was not how things began.   Each dyad began the training process with zeal and vigor; excited at the prospects of the dyad system and the potential unity it could bring to the battalion.   The original members of Thrace’s older unit; men who had served with him from the beginning and volunteered to

        The rain was falling hard in the coliseum; a small circular arena with no ceiling located down the road from the main barracks.   This is where Thrace’s battalion had spent most of the last year training.   It was just large enough to sit one hundred men.   In the arena, two soldiers were facing one another, the fog of their breath visible in the cold, grey drizzle.   On the dais, overlooking them all, sat the captain.   Thrace was watching.   Thrace was judging. Van held his sword as still as he could, but his arms were on fire.   Over the last year, he had made several strides toward a more controlled method of swordsmanship.   He had grown tremendously, impressing others and himself along the way.   But now he was finally facing off against his brother in arms, Finnian Pell, in mortal combat.   The training was over.   Van had to prove he could hold his own against the recklessness and cruelty of real war, and that meant sparring without holding back.   Finni