\t\u201cIt’s bloody boring here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe get to spar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe’ve been sparring for four hundred years! Aren’t they going to get themselves sorted out any time soon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tA cough sounded in the grey, and Locsyn and Gwyth looked up as Rhyfelwyr stood over them. He gestured, and the two soldiers went to spar once more.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe time is close. I’ve been watching and talking. It will happen in less than a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI know, Taflen. That’s why I want them to spar more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou could let them rest. They won’t fail you on the battlefield. You know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThey never have.\u201d Rhy shook himself for a moment. \u201cAnd I’ve never let them rest, either. Where’s Rhocas, by the way?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPractising with his group. He hasn’t changed his schedule in the fifty years since he knew this day was coming. So why are you suddenly worried?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe sergeant gestured about. \u201cBecause of this. Because of everything that’s happening. Those idiots are trying to resurrect Hymerodraeth Heula by pissing on everything it stood for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhy do you think the best of Glanhaol Fflamboethi chose the side they did? The rest of us know it just as much as you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAnd the others?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThere’s only so many of us as can go. But our whole squad was picked. Even Rhocas and myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI’d be a damn poor sergeant if I couldn’t get my whole squad into this lottery.\u201d Rhy spat on the ground. \u201cFighting’s easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tTaflen muttered. \u201cI don’t think you understand, Rhy. We’re the only squad that was selected. Out of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tRhy reddened for a moment, then looked at his old friend. \u201cThen we need to make sure we’re worthy of the award, don’t we?\u201d He paused. \u201cLlof?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe historian chuckled. \u201cDisappeared. Which means he’s killing someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAgain? How many is that now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cEven I lost count, Rhy. But he’ll be sharp when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI never doubted him, Taflen, just the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe old soldier stopped in front of his sergeant. \u201cDoubted yourself, you mean. Rhy, you’ve been leading this squad for four hundred and fifty years, give or take a few. I’d think you know us fairly well by now. We’re never going to let you down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI know. But this campaign feels different. Like we’re rolling all the dice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe are. And we’ll be getting snake-eyes. And we’re still going to win. We could probably stand back and let Llof do all the work, even.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tRhyfelwyr chuckled. \u201cLlofruddiwr against an army. Even he’d have trouble with that many.\u201d He paused. \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe two friends walked into the grey mists, listening to the distant clash of sword on shield, as Locsyn and Gwyth sparred yet again. <\/p>\n
\tThe boys were back in town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt’s bloody boring here.\u201d \u201cWe get to spar.\u201d \u201cWe’ve been sparring for four hundred years! Aren’t they going to get themselves sorted out any time soon?\u201d A cough sounded in the grey, and Locsyn and Gwyth looked up as Rhyfelwyr stood over them. He gestured, and the two soldiers went to spar once more. \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[34,7],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-8a","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":305,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=305","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":0},"title":"Breaking an Empire #2","date":"October 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The second installment of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. A month had passed in training when Locsyn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=300","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":1},"title":"Breaking an Empire #1","date":"October 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This marks the beginning of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. The crowd roared, a rolling thunder that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=30","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":2},"title":"Breaking an Empire","date":"January 21, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In order to give others a look at what goes on in the background, I'll start posting in-progress writing here. All of the work will be unedited, and presented so that a comparison may be made between beginning and final versions of a work. I won't be posting any of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":443,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=443","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":3},"title":"Breaking an Empire #19","date":"February 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The nineteenth installment of a 30k word short story set in The Four Part Land. It takes place 400 years in the past from the time of Tarranau and Chloddio, and details the collapse of Hymerodraeth Heula, the Empire of the Sun. Leaving the others to their mirth and unwinding,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=21","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":4},"title":"A Repentance Post","date":"October 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been rather remiss in updating this page with the communication of what is going on behind the scenes with getting this book published, and the various processes that that entails. I recognize this, and there are, as usual, a multiple of reasons behind that, the primary of which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Four Part Land"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":634,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=634","url_meta":{"origin":506,"position":5},"title":"NaNo Comes Again","date":"October 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time of year again - November, when National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo) becomes the focus of a great many writers. Including me. And I'll be working on Laeccan Waters, a name that might be a little bit familiar to people around these parts. 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