Risks

Tarbin stood on the high platform of the shallow valley as he looked down into the mock battle field. He had recently earned himself the title of captaincy, the youngest amongst the other officers of his level. Because of this, he had been given the task of training and acting as proctor in the recruitment testing. Some would consider it a belittling and insulting assignment given his skills and office but he had taken it in good stride. It had been a request from the King himself and he was not about to disappoint him. But that was not the only reason.

A particular head of blonde flashed and his eyes darted to watch the owner said head of hair dash across the field with stealthy strides. Sylvi. Being able to work with her, to oversee her training, had been the reason why he had been so content with this position over the past year. It was her final year of training. She was skilled, certainly above any other shield maiden in her class. He had been hard on her, harder than anyone and it had paid off. She was still not the best of her class, her small stature and weaker levels of strength gave her a disadvantage, but she was still much more proficient than most of her male counterparts in training.

While he was supposed to be surveying everyone, he found himself only able to keep a close eye on her at the moment. She darted around, weaving in and out of over hangings and the remaining ruins of the old fort, until she dropped down into a ditch where the rest of her comrades of training were waiting for her. He watched as she related her gathered reconnaissance before they all began to talk, some of their faces looking distressed while others looked deep in thought. Soon they all broke out into an argument, some pointing in various directions while others drew layouts in the ground while they spoke, obviously all debating as to what to do and unable to agree on a plan of action.

He didn't blame them. This trial was not meant to be easy as their mission was a difficult task and they had been ill prepared for it. As proctors, they had done this on purpose to see how they handled the situation of being outnumbered, ill equipped, and forced to change objectives halfway through their mission. While the group continued to huddle and debate, he watched Sylvi as she looked out across the field. While far away, he could still imagine the expression on her face. It was her thinking face, the one she always wore when in deep thought and survey. One brow would be lowered in concentration while her teeth nipped and chewed on her lower lip.

She was turned away from the group she scanned the area, then suddenly, she turned to her group. He could not hear them but given the attention they gave her, she was giving her own input on the situation. As she finished, he could tell that not all were on board with her plan, as a few shook their heads and countered her. But she only shook her head and spoke more. After several minutes of this, it seems she had finally convinced her team into her plans as they all suddenly went into movement. The group moved as one unit for a while before Sylvi broke apart.

He stiffened as he watched her. What was she doing? He questioned himself.

She wove in and out of the ruins, making her way towards a large group that was blocking her team's escape. The question of why was she by herself crossed his mind but it was made all too clear when she was spotted, and the mock enemy began to pursue her. Abandoning their post, the group moved in Sylvi's direction, giving an opening for the rest of her group to slip by.

Sylvi was an agile creature. Her small body and light foot gave her an advantage while her training of strength gave her the capabilities to further what she could do. It was impressive to watch. She moved about the ruins in a parkour fashion, separating her opponents from each other as they all resorted to their own methods to follow depending on their capabilities. Once they had broken apart, Sylvi made her first attack. With each tap of her sword that would be a kill blow if she followed through with her motions, she took them out one by one.

Some would be impressed. And while Tarbin was proud of the form she used and skill she displayed, he found it difficult to praise her actions. They were reckless and dangerous.

She dropped down into another group blocking her team's escape as she shouted for them to run. He watched as her teammates dashed towards the safe zone as she held off the enemy. One by one they were tapped out of the fight and moved to leave the course. It seemed her plan had been executed precisely and successfully as she hoped, that is until Tarbin spotted the archer.

He wanted to shout, wanted to run to her and push her out of the way while at the same time, attack and strike down the archer himself. As Sylvi barreled her way, blocking and defending, the archer took aim while she remained ignorant of the danger she was in. The archer let the arrow loose. It flew through the air where it stuck against her chest, right above her heart.

There was a dull thud as the padded arrow struck its mark and she stumbled back. The padding prevented any major injuries, but it did little protect from any bruising. It would be nothing less than she was used to, given the abuse trainees were put under. However, despite the smallness of it all, it only meant one thing to Tarbin. If this was real, she would be dead.

Fists clenched tightly and his back ram rod straight, Tarbin whirled around from the scene and descended the ladder of the observation tower. From there he made a direct line to where Sylvi was regrouping with the rest of their team at the finish point. With each step that brought him closer, it became more and more of a stomping than a walking towards her. His mood grew dimmer when he took in the celebrations of her team.

Sylvi ran towards her cheering teammates, happy to see that all of them had been clean if any color that would mark them as injured had this been a real mission. Even as her own chest throbbed from the hard hit she had taken, and the bright red powder that had marked the blow marred her leather armor, she could not help but feel that the mission was a success. Surely they had all passed with flying colors. Over the week they had heard of the numerous teams that had failed or just barely passed with the difficulty of their tested missions. Most failures had been due to failing to carry out the mission while others were marked down for time and casualties. While she herself had been a casualty, it was her sacrifice that had made this successful. It would have been near impossible and their time would certainly not have been as short as it had been.

As she managed to keep on her feet from a heavy slap on the back from Bjorn, who was closer to the size of a human than a dwarf, she turned to Estrid, a fellow shield maiden who had become a good friend over the past years of training. They embraced tightly in celebration until Sylvi caught sight of Tarbin walking swiftly towards them. She broke away from the other girl and hurried to meet him. High on the excitement of the success, she failed to take note of the tenseness of his body nor the pinched expression that made him look more like his father than he had ever before.

Nearly skipping up to him, she failed to look more like a soldier than a child eagerly awaiting a treat. "Did you see that! Did you hear! We just beat the record!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Too bad it does not count since you failed." His words sobered her instantly and all excitement and pride was sucked dry when his mood was registered.

She gave him a look of confusion. "What do you mean failed?" She questioned. "We made it to the safety zone, we checked off the objectives," she argued, her protest bringing the attention of her other teammates and the proctor, who had been waiting at the finish line and proclaimed them successful.

"You mean your team made it," he corrected. "You didn't." With a sharp jab he pointed to the red dot on her armor. "Therefore you failed."

She looked down at the red powder with a frown. She brushed at the marking making it fade slight before looking back up at him. "But it's a team trial. My sacrifice was made for the benefit of the mission. Not only did we accomplish our task but we did it in minimal time."

"That's not the point of the mission though, is it?" He pressed. "The point of the exercise is to problem solve and find solutions. Sacrificing yourself may have been for the good of the mission but it was lazy and sloppy."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's bullshit!" She cursed. "The other teams with casualties didn't fail. We carried out all the objectives with only one causality."

"Watch your language when speaking to a superior officer," he admonished, causing her brow to twitch with annoyance. He hardly ever abused his rank in an argument, but at this moment he did not care. "Not all casualties can be prevented but yours could have. You were reckless and irresponsible. Therefore you failed."

"You can't do that!" She shouted back, causing those surrounding them to watch with wide eyes as a recruit yelled at an officer. "Had it been anyone else who had taken my place you would not have failed them. You're just singling me out because you can't separate a worthy sacrifice and your own personal feelings from one another!"

The moment the words left her lips his eyes widened and darted around at the onlookers. While he steeled his face and hid an emotional expression, his cheeks still held a redness, exposing the lack of full composure he had. He took a step forward.

"Thank you for pointing that out to me," he hissed. "As I do not wish to grade you unfairly..." he paused as he looked behind her to where her teammates were standing and watching the argument. "Congratulations, you all failed for abandoning a comrade," he announced then looked back down to her. "Happy?" he questioned with a raised brow. "Now everyone is equally graded."

Sylvi gave him a hardened stare but did not dare open her mouth again. She had already overstepped by bringing up his personal feelings. She had successfully embarrassed him and while it felt good, now it was her teammates who were being punished because of her careless words. She would not make things worse for them. Especially as she heard the groans and mumbles behind her.

When he was convinced she had no retort, he turned away and stomped off. Sylvi watched his retreating back, her green eyes burning holes through his captain's cloak. When he had gone far enough, she turned back to her team, a tinge of guilt coming to her when she saw the combinations of down cast looks, resentment, and disappointment in their eyes.

"I will talk to him, I will make it right," she promised.

Tarbin slouched over the makeshift table in his tent. He fully committed to his self pity when he let his head fall forward as he let out a tired and frustrated groan. He had taken things too far. Sylvi had been right, he had run the scenario several times in his head and yes, the method they chose was certainly one of the better outcomes given the circumstances. And again, much to his shame, had someone else been in her place, he would not have batted an eye.

He let out another groan and lifted his head to massage his temples. It was just a lot more difficult to ignore such biased feelings. And it had only gotten worse when she had brought up his personal feelings. It had not been a private conversation between just them, but it had been in front of others as well.

Over the years they had seemed to have come to a mutual agreement to never acknowledge their feelings for one another. At least that is what he thought. He had brought up a few references that hinted towards him being awake during her confession back at the beginning of his service in the army. His attempts had never been meant as a perusal, but more to make it clear enough to her, that he knew of her feelings. Since she had never spoken of his own, half confession before he had left for his final, he had assumed things were mutual. But the more he thought about it, the more he questioned why. Why were they not talking about it? What exactly were they waiting for?

He heard the rustle of his tent as someone entered and he opened his eyes to see who had come in. He was both, surprised and not, to find Sylvi standing at the door. Her hands were gripped together as she fidgeted. There was a long, drawn out silence as they each just stared at each other.

"Sorry," she finally said quietly. "I spoke out of anger earlier. While I let things get...personal, I ask that you do not penalize the rest of my team for my insubordination."

With such softness in her voice, he could not summon the anger he had felt earlier. He let his shoulders sag even lower.

"I think we both have things to apologize for," he said, letting his hands drop to the table as he leaned back into his chair. He gave her a tired look. "Perhaps I was a bit hasty with my grading. I will revoke my initial failure, you can tell your teammates there will be no penalty."

She nodded then took a step forward. "And myself? Will I still be failing?" She asked timidly, looking at him warily.

He looked at her for a long while, drumming his fingers across the grainy wood. "You will pass as well," he said, finally causing her to release the breath that she had been holding, in a sigh of relief. "However I do not redact what I said before. You were careless and did not put thought into your actions. You treated it as a game and not a real scenario. While your teammates may have gotten through, you did not. Today you may suffer a bruise that will linger for a week or so, but in the future, that will not be the result." He leaned forward. "You would be dead, Sylvi. If this was the real world, a real enemy, you would not wake up with bruises. You would not wake up at all."

"I was saving my comrades," she defended.

"And you would have died," he emphasized, trying to not let his frustration show. He needed to remain rational, otherwise they would just have a repeat of their earlier conversation.

"We all could have died," she countered sagely. "One life is certainly worth trading for ten."

"THAT'S NOT THEー" he cut himself off as his raised tone caught him off guard. Taking in a deep breath he calmed himself. "And what about the lives you leave behind?" he asked more calmly. "Are they not of any worth? Your family? Your friends?..."

"You?" Sylvi finished his unspoken listing as if she had read his mind. He swallowed thickly, but nodded his head, unable to deny that he wanted to be a part of that list more than anything. Sylvi moved around the table and leaned against it when she was at his side, facing him. Gently, she lifted a slightly shaking hand and put it against his cheek. "They will accept my sacrifice and move on. And I will watch over them until their dying days, when they join me in the halls of Mahal."

Tarbin's heart beat wildly within his chest, unsure if the cause was from her touch or the thought of her traveling to the halls beyond this life. It twisted his gut and his mouth went dry.

"Promise me," he requested, when he managed to speak. "Promise me that you will just stay put and out of danger."

She gave him a soft smile and started to withdraw her hand, but he caught it. "I'm sorry Tarbin, but you know I can't do that."

Holding onto her hand, Tarbin bowed his head as he looked down at her hand. He turned it so that her palm was face up and he traced the creased lines of her hand with his thumb. Then he surprised them both by lifting it, and placing a gentle press of his lips in the center of her palm.

He looked up at her after the linger kiss to find her mouth parted as a rosy color was spread across her face. "Then promise me that you will do all that you can, to stay alive." To that, she mutely nodded as her green eyes were unable to look away from the intensity of the dark abyss of his own.

Had this sitting in my docs for awhile hope you like it and thanks for reading! Stay safe and take care!