The Vanguard

The following day, Lirena woke with the sunrise and slowly made her way out of bed. On her nightstand was a silver bracelet with yellow topaz embedded in it, a memento of yesterday’s date with Yvonne. She smiled at the memory and slipped it onto her wrist.

Thankfully, the encounter with Jason was the only ugly mark on the day, as they had taken care of some shopping and sightseeing without further incident. They had capped the day with matching jewelry - fairly inexpensive ones, per Yvonne’s request.

She dressed in her most modest clothing, plain slacks and a tunic, which still were likely to stand out by the clear wealth of the materials that had gone into them. She wrapped her sword belt around her waist and headed out. She was afforded time for a peaceful breakfast before arranging a ride with Samuel in the family carriage.

The vanguard left from the barracks near the city walls, but her carriage could only get as far as the gates to the area. With her letter of approval in-hand, Lirena alone was permitted beyond. She waved farewell to Samuel, and headed inside.

There was bustling activity inside as orders were barked and soldiers - all clearly Touched - were packing caravans with rations and equipment, while horses were being harnessed to wagons. A small group was gathering inside of a separate series of carriages, all wearing decorative robes and clearly Untouched - the mages that would be sealing off the Zone and reversing the elemental affinity within.

Lirena made her way to the office of Commander Walhel, where she had originally filed her petition to join, and saw him making last minute preparations. As with the mages outside, he was Untouched.

“Ah, Miss Barton, you did decide to join us after all,” he said. Lirena couldn’t tell if his tone was disappointment or just his visible exhaustion.

“I would never intend to make light of your mission by frivolously requesting to join you and then not show up. Tell me where I may be of assistance,” she said.

He looked over his notes briefly. “Carriage Fourteen should have room. We’ll be heading out soon, and meeting up with the Zoner Commission along the way. It will be about two days journey each way. We don’t have a good idea on how long pacifying the Zone will take until we get there. Supplies are lined up outside already.”

“Understood,” Lirena said. She bowed and made her way out and found the piles of bags along one of the buildings. She peeked inside of it, seeing rations and other basic necessities for travel. She closed the bag and slung it over her shoulder and made her way through the throng of large wagons, ignoring the stares in her direction along the way.

Each of the wagons had a sign near it with the number, and a group of Touched was waiting near the one with her number.

A tall, gruff woman with light green hair and bright blue eyes by the wagon sized her up, confusion evident. “Are you Commission? Wrong side of the city to be catching their wagons.” Lirena guessed from her features that she was a Windtouched.

“No, I am the special assignment that Commander Walhel authorized to assist,” Lirena said with a standard but polite bow.

“Ah. The ‘Untouchable,’” the Windtouched woman said dismissively. “Well, you know the risks. Not my responsibility if mommy and daddy have a Windtouched for a daughter when you get home.” The rest of the gathered crew chuckled.

Lirena smiled. I’m going to savor the looks on their faces when nothing happens.

The commander came out and orders were shouted, everyone filed into their wagons, with Lirena taking the last spot in hers. The wagons slowly rolled out of the gates, and the rumbling of cobblestone soon gave way to the softer rolling of the compacted dirt on the trail before them.

The soldiers all made chatter amongst themselves, leaving Lirena out of it. She wasn’t terribly surprised by it, as she had no way yet of proving to them she wasn’t a noble out for a laugh or stolen valor.

About half a day out, their caravan intersected with the Zoner Commission, easily told apart because of the shabbier state of their wagons and condition of the horses drawing them, but the day on the trail passed otherwise without incident.

It was only after sunset, when they had stopped and camp was set, that the wider differences became apparent.

The Zoners for the kingdom kept mostly to a certain level of decorum, with their encampment having some quiet games and chatter. The Commission on the other hand was raucous and full of laughter.

It didn’t take Lirena long to decide where to spend her evening, and after dinner, she took a mug of wine and made her way over to the Commission’s camp.

The camp quieted as she approached, though she heard whispers of “sword princess.”

Well that’s a new nickname, I guess, she thought.

“Do you mind if I join you all?” Lirena asked to crowd around one of the bonfires.An older man with hair more red than her own laughed and patted the ground. “If our company is good enough for the sword princess herself, then who are we to complain? But I’ll not hear any complaining if it’s not to a noble’s fancy.”

Lirena lowered herself to the ground, resting her sword by her side. “Well for starters, my name is Lirena Barton. I’m not sure where you got this ‘sword princess’ name you mentioned.”The Flametouched man let out a hearty laugh before offering his hand. “Gareth Alder. Call me Gaz. Everyone does.”

Lirena shook his hand. “The same Gaz that helped out Miss Darlain so much?”

“Did neither of you have more interesting matters to talk about?” He mused. “But yes, the same. As for your nickname, well… the nobles gossip. Gossip makes its way to the soldiers, then to us. Travel is boring, so talk comes easily. And when a lady is denying suitor after suitor with a blade, a name sprang to mind, I suppose.”

“I see this gossip includes the reason for my duels,” Lirena sighed.

“Hard to avoid that part, most think it makes the tales that much more dashing,” Gaz said, taking a sip from his flask. “You’re not fond of it?”

“I have a distaste for the reason why my sword skills are so renowned. It’s why I’m attempting to change the reason people talk about them with this trip,” Lirena said. “Though it seems the reason is not known by all.”

“Well, Yvonne is never one to give much heed to rumors. Or be out and about much to hear them at all, really. She only learned of that nickname the other day when she delivered our order,” Gaz said with a smirk.

“I did not imply that she- Yvonne is-” she stammered before taking a moment to collect herself. “Miss Darlain did not seem to know or inquire about the nature of them, no,” Lirena averted her gaze. “And I’d rather she not. I would at least like to tell her on my own terms. Rumors tend to invite… unsupported conclusions.”

Gaz nodded. “Fair, though you won’t have to worry about it coming from us. Ain’t that right?” He called to the Commission troops, resulting in a round of “ayes” from the group.

“You seem rather amenable to grant a favor to someone you barely know,” Lirena said with a curious tone.

“Don’t need to have a noble’s fancy education to put things together with you two, and Yvonne is a good friend of the Commission. Hell, already did something like this with a couple of people within our own company,” Gaz said, pointing to a pair of women talking to each other around a different campfire and smiling. “You have our support.”

Lirena beamed. “I think I made the right call spending the evening in these camps instead.”Gaz lifted his flask toward her. “To new friendships then, Miss Barton.”

Lirena lifted her mug to him. “I’ll drink to that.”

**********

The following morning at dawn, the wagons packed up and set out again, and by late afternoon, the drivers called out that the Zone was in sight. The wagons all had their orders, and split apart to surround the Zone and enter from different points.

Once they disembarked, Lirena got her first proper look at a Zone. There seemed to be a line in the ground, and beyond it, the trees were blowing around as if by a strong gale, which did not match the gentle breeze that she currently felt. The skies above past that line were also stormy and crackled with lightning, where the sky leading up to it was clear and sunny.

Beyond the visible oddities, the changes seemed to extend far into the horizon, displaying the enormity of the Zone. The mages similarly split, one with each of the Zoner groups, and the one that had joined Lirena’s wagon began drawing diagrams around himself, preparing the spell that would restore elemental balance in the land and undo the Zone.

The Windtouched woman who led Lirena’s wagon gathered her soldiers and stood before the entrance. “Alright, simple operation. Fan out while keeping eyesight, look for any people or anomalies. No reports of Elementals within so far, but they’re always a possibility even days after Zone creation.” The Zoners saluted and they made their way into the boundary one by one. With each of them already Touched by an element previously, the Zone had no effect on them, but they each waited for Lirena to step through on the other side.

The noblewoman shifted her pack and strode forward. As her foot crossed from the normal landscape to that of the Zone, she felt a strange twinge along her skin that continued until her full body was within, but it subsided after a moment, and she remained exactly as she was previously.

She was immediately whipped by the high winds that plagued the Zone. Thunder roared overhead without rain, making a look back at the more idyllic scenery she had just come from seem like a dream.

But most importantly for Lirena, the shocked reactions on the Zoners’ faces were everything she had hoped for.

“Untouchable indeed…” the leader muttered. “Enough gawking, everyone, move out!”