A majority of combative arcana required both verbal and somatic casting, particularly if it was complex spellwork—and Hans was one fast motherfucker. I’d watched him dodge anddisarm multiple Conduit guardsmen within mere moments by finding ways to bind their hands during training exercises. He’d often take advantage of the aether-resistant materials in his arsenal, too.
His Novosi bolas in particular were a pain in the ass to avoid. Deering knew that even the well-trained Conduits of the Elder Guard were overly reliant on their arcana, and he exploited every last ounce of comfort to make them regret it.
Within weeks of working with the man, I’d known that I wanted him at my side. I caught some shit for it, even from some of my fellow officers—which irritated me to no end. There were other non-Resonant men within the guard, and they had to work two or three times as hard as others for a scrap of recognition. I took pride in elevating Hans, not just to set an example but because he fucking earned it.
Jeremiah was different—the polar opposite to Hans’ raucous energy. He was an exceptionally talented Fire Conduit, but in the beginning, I honestly couldn’t stand the man. I was naturally skeptical about training Fire Conduits for stealth roles in the guard in the first place, because their combat styles were often too flamboyant, too easy to trace. Beyond that, Fairchilde himself was very stoic and standoffish, quiet—and wouldn’t often engage even when I tried to bait him into conversations. There may have been some personal biases at play, but the work that we do requires trust, and I wasn’t sure that I trusted him.
Funnily enough, what changed my mind was seeing him train with Hans.
The average Fire Conduit took advantage of their blazing fists, shields and aetherblades to force their opponents to give them a wide berth. I’d been intrigued to find that Jeremiah kept his flames to a low, flickering ember—preferring to fight in close quarters. I thought Hans was fast? My third in command waseven faster.
In studying the two together, I quickly learned that Jeremiah was a master at counter-calculations, and had developed his own combat style to counter Hans on the fly. Jer wouldintentionallyexpose himself with what Hans might parse as a weakness—an opening. Within moments of an attempted strike, Hans found himself disarmed. Every time. Anyone who could knock Deering on his ass without even using their arcana was an absolute force to be reckoned with.
“Lost in thought over there, Captain?” Arken teased.
“Guilty as charged,” I replied. “I was just thinking about what made me select these two as my second and third in the first place.”
“And that is…?” she asked.
“You’re about to find out,” I said, pride creeping into my voice.
“Oi!” I called out. “You two ready, or what?”
“Been ready, Cap. We were just waiting on you two to wrap up the chit-chat,” Hans snarked back, swinging his bolas around casually.
“Royal pain in my ass,” I murmured under my breath, and Arken giggled.
“Alright smartass, show me what you’ve got, then!” I called out.
With a curt nod, Hans and Jeremiah began their presentation. Jeremiah did most of the talking and I was grateful for that, all things considered. Jer was the more tight-lipped of the two, and wouldn’t inadvertently reveal some detail that left Arken with more questions.
Even though Arken was now aware of Amir’s kidnapping, she had no idea how many others had been stolen. Nor did she have any idea about the potential anti-Conduit rebellions that were forming, and I very much preferred to keep it that way. If it became more of a prevalent issue, maybe I could explain…but that would be treading some dangerous ground. In the present moment, though, she didn’t even seem suspicious—only fascinated as Jeremiah put on an intentionally more flamboyant display of arcane combat, emulating what the average Fire Conduit might look like in a hand-to-hand scenario.
It was an effort to keep my eyes fixed to the training grounds, as opposed to watching her watch them, but I had to settle for stealing glances every time she sucked in a small breath of excitement. Was she really not bored by this? Sometimes, the woman still managed to surprise me.
Focus, Kieran.
I dug my nails into my palm a bit, letting the sharp bite draw my attention back to my lieutenants. I needed to approve this training exercise before they presented it to my commander, and it was important. It may have been a smidge short-sighted of me to bring along such a distracting creature, but I wasn’t about to kick her out now. Instead, I pointedly kept my eyes on Hans, watching him move through the exercise.
This was obviously his area of expertise, and it showed. I nodded in approval as he went over the drills intended to help Conduits identify their blind spots. He had done additional research into patterns of the Elder Guard—as well as some of the regional forces—and had even broken it down by the behavior of each type of Conduit.
Air and Water Conduits, for example, had a tendency to be more ranged attackers, so he had developed some exercises to identify common casts from across the field and how to disable them with ranged weapons or stealth units depending on the scenario. Fire and Earth Conduits were often more close-range fighters, so the drills were focused more on direct disarmament.
I made a mental note to place an order with the armory for more Novosi bolas, should these methods be approved. They were really quite handy in both circumstances.
“No specific training against Shadow or Light?” Arken murmured with a hushed tone, obviously not wanting to interrupt.
I shook my head. “No. We’re rather rare, remember? It would be a waste of resources to train for such a niche situation.”
“Ah,” she replied, her brow furrowing. “Right.”
“Besides, if any of the lower ranking guardsmen were up against a soldier trained in Light or Shadow, they’d be kinda fucked regardless.”
“Why’s that?” Arken asked.
“We can blind people pretty damn easily, Little Conduit,” I explained, briefly casting Shadow across her eyes. Though I quickly released the arcana, she still shivered gently.
“Oh, gods. I never even thought of that.”