Sir Erwin and I left the jeweler's establishment, and his eyes stayed glued on me, as he doubted his knowledge about the unholy beasts. His suspicions about me stayed, yet here I was standing in the direct sunlight.

  "Are you here by horse, sir knight?" I looked up at him, keeping my mannerisms informal. He seemed a bit dumbfounded for a moment, before he replied.

  "Huh, oh! Yes, I am by a horse. Do you have a steed, my lady?" I shook my head at his question, and he seemed a bit troubled. "If you wish, I could let you ride with me."

  I simply chuckled, finding his attitude quite adorable. I often was treated surprisingly well by anyone of higher status, due to me being a woman, and I was not scared to use it to my advantage. Thought sadly it made acquiring jobs far more difficult.

  "Oh, I can walk or jog alongside you. But thank you for your offer."

  "Hmm, as you wish. It's not often that I see maiden mercenary, so it's hard to judge how... conditioned you are?"

  I simply shrugged. "Understandable. Rarely do women risk their lives for money, when it's so much easier seducing a rich merchant and living off his profits."

  To my surprise, at my words, Erwin laughed, rubbing his well-groomed beard. Before he had a chance to reply though, we reached the stable, and he left me outside of the building, as he went to look for the stable hand. In the meantime, I did wonder a bit about myself. The blood sausages I had earlier for a snack were filling enough, but I cannot run forever on stuff like that. I needed a batch of fresh blood soon and preferably from something bigger than a mouse or a rabbit. But if I get employed by the nobles, my potential supply will dry out. The only real possibility would be to join a hunting party and get 'lost', where I could quickly hunt something, and return to the group.

  But before I could fully doze off into my own world, Erwin and the teen exited the building, moving swiftly towards the horses.

  "That was fast. Seems they were waiting for you." I commented, looking over to the side, where a sizable building with open doors was standing, and inside what seemed to be a terrible mess of hay, tools, leather belts, and an older man resting. Weird place.

  As I watched Sir Erwin get on horse, and struggle to back him out, as the animal constantly tried to turn around, and refused to go in a straight line. Took few minutes, but he was finally free, and we went in the direction of the north gate, with me fast-walking on the side of the horse.

  "So, I always wondered. Amandor and lord Otto share a name, but what came first? Was the settlement called after the noble, or noble after the settlement?" I spoke with a genuine curiosity, but it seemed that the knight was slightly insulted by it.

  "The village of Amandor was given town rights, after Lord Otto's grandfather built the fort, he now resides in. Before it was called by many names, but the most used one, was not fitting for a noble." He spoke with the same proper pronunciation of the name and the title.

  "Huh, good to know." I was about to drop the subject, but when I looked at him, he seemed saddened or disappointed that I didn't know that. I then continued. "Sorry if I am uninformed. I arrived in town today, and never before have I ventured so far north. So far, most of the region has been a mystery to me."

  My explanation seemed to lighten the mood, as he relaxed. "Oh, apology accepted, and very much unneeded. I thought you were one of the local mercenaries. Can I ask where you come from then?"

  "I come from Soutern. Biggest town in the southern mountains."

  "Soutern? I heard of that place, but I always thought the name was a bit on the nose, it being in the south, and all." As Erwin slowly relaxed in my company, he allowed himself to speak less formally.

  "Actually, when it was first settled, it was northmost outpost. The first occupants were dwarves digging a fort on one of the only passable valleys in the whole of the southern mountains, and wanted to make sure that there was some way of keeping the construction site well informed, in case someone wanted to interrupt them."

  As I spoke, he listened carefully, seemingly not knowing the history of a town on the opposite side of the kingdom.

  "And how do you know something so ancient? If I'm not mistaken, southern border is the only one, that hasn't changed since the kingdom's birth."

  "Because my adoptive father is a dwarf. He comes from the line of the rangers that first helped set up the outpost that became what Soutern is now." I spoke with pride about my adoptive father's heritage, as if I was supposed to keep it going, even though there was no blood connection, or even a racial one.

  But he didn't speak for a moment, thinking about the situation. For the nobility, direct blood line was very important, and yet he just witnessed me speak with pride, about the ancestors that I didn't share by blood. But before he had a chance to get the wrong idea, I spoke first.

  "I know what you're thinking, oh dear Sir Erwin of Pardenberg -"

  "Plattenberg." He interrupted me to fix my mistake.

  "Sir Erwin of PLATTEN-berg." I nodded and made sure to pronounce it properly this time. "It is a dwarven thing to be proud of one's ancestry. And since I was raised with a full knowledge of my father's ancestors, I do myself try to keep up to their past deeds."

  This time, the conversation ended for good. He acknowledged my explanation and went silent, possibly deep in thought. Or at least I hoped that he was, and not angry at me for something I said.

  The road from town to fort was about a 40 minute of slow ride - or in my case, a fast walk. The lands of the north were wild, with a thick, old-growth forest. Even though, about a mile of it was cut down around the town, past the mile point, it was so thick, that one would struggle to go off the road. I heard a lot of rumors about the north, but I didn't dare risk asking about them, until I was sure I'd get the job.

  We finally passed the wilderness, and entered the deforested surroundings of a fort. It was set up in a clearing in the woods, with a nice meadow. Now, as the afternoon sun was shining over the grass, I could see how colorful it looked with all the wild flowers. And even if there were multiple dirt paths cutting through the nature's beauty, it didn't take away much from the looks of this place. A truly tranquil surroundings, with a fort in the middle.

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  "Sir Erwin, I see that the place has been renovated recently. Can't see a spot of dirt on the fresh white wash." I spoke in an attempt to reignite the conversation, and to my surprise, it worked.

  "Yes, it's a job well done. A lot of wooden fortifications have been reinforced with stone, so the whole place needed a new look. I personally enjoy the rough look of bare stone, but I cannot hide that freshly painted walls do look proper for a noble." He said with a small gesture towards the walls, as if to present them to me, before he looked over me to see my condition.

  "Are you tired, my lady? You didn't slow down your pace for the entire way here, or even stop. Aren't you tired?"

  "No worries, I'm fine." The droplets of sweat on my forehead were visible, but my breath was steady and comfortable. "My main mode of transportation is walking. Sheer diversity of contracts makes it difficult to get a horse. And even if I did, it would be easy to lose it, or get the poor animal killed."

  We both looked at Erwin's horse, and the animal looked back, as if it was surprised at suddenly being in the center of attention. But he then returned to facing ahead of himself. Erwin patted it on the neck, and then he faced me again, with further questions.

  "And what exactly do you do? I suspect that guarding party-goers is not your main source of income?" He said with a cheeky smirk.

  "Depends on what is around. Mostly it's bounty hunting. With adventurers around, monsters are usually contracted via the guilds. I usually take contracts from the guards or burghermeissters. Catching a smuggler or a poacher, hunting bandits. Once, I was even sent after a noble, who was accused of fratricide. Sadly, he was innocent, and I barely got paid." I shrugged, with a slightly saddened expression.

  "So it's an eventful line of work. Maybe if you stay around Amandor, I might join you in a hunt for some criminals."

  The conversation had to end, as we arrived at the fort's gate. We entered, and the courtyard looked quite busy, with servants constantly going places, preparing for the party. Erwin excused himself, as he went to leave a horse at the fort's stables, and returned to me, only to lead me back outside of the fort, alongside it's wall. There was a small area fenced off. It looked like an arena, and as we approached, we noticed two men sitting on a bench to the side, resting in just their undershirts. Their outer garments were left on the fence.

  "Who won?" Erwin asked them, as they suddenly turned around towards us. The younger guy stood up and bowed towards us immediately, with the older taking a bit longer, but also bowing.

  "This is Sir Henry of Preiwitz, and his squire James." As he introduced the knight and his squire, I tried to introduce myself, but he simply continued. "And here is Karya, the mercenary."

  Both of them were surprised to see a woman in this line of work, especially since I had a sword at my hip. But while the squire was visibly confused, Henry approached me and extended a hand to shake it, like a warrior to a warrior. Of course, I shook it.

  "Nice to meet you, gentlemen. So, which one has won?" The two knights laughed at my question, with the squire remaining in an awkward silence, before Henry spoke.

  "That will probably surprise you, but James. Finally, he managed to defeat me for the first time. And what about you two?" He asked in a vague direction to me and Erwin.

  Erwin took off his coat, patting down his tabard. "Karya approached me while I was doing business in town. Wanted to get hired for the party, so I'll be testing her fighting capabilities. Want to judge over?" He walked over to the fence and slowly stepped over it, as he pulled out an arming sword. I did wonder what that weapon under his coat was, and now I knew that our reach was about the same.

  Henry quickly nodded along and approached me to help me with the fence, but I simply took off my shoulder bag, put it next to the knight's coat, jumped over the fence, and took a space in front of Erwin, pulling out my longsword. Henry stood in between us, with hands outstretched to separate us, and waited for us to get into positions. I took this time to quickly judge Erwin's stance to try and get an idea, how to approach him.

  He was taller and had longer arms, but my sword was longer, equalizing the reach we had. On the other hand, I was wearing my armor, which was a leather jacket over a gambeson. My arms were protected down to my elbows, but forearms and hands were uncovered, and the same with legs, with the gambeson going down to my knees, and below were only boots. Sir Erwin also had a gambeson under his tabard, with no metal armor between us, yet we held sharp blades. While Henry honored our mutual risk, me and Erwin looked at each other's weapons, and almost simultaneously walked over to the fence, where we sheathed our own blades, and grabbed the blunt training blades, that were well used for exactly this purpose.

  "That's a bit awkward." I commented, before I got into my position. I was far more used to two-handing my weapon, so having an arming sword was uncomfortable. I felt that I was doing something wrong, by keeping my off hand to the side, instead of the handle. I nodded to Henry, and so did Erwin, and the judge dropped his hands and jumped backwards, as to not stand in between us. I stood in my high guard, with the sword above my head, pointing down, like a scorpion's stinger, while my opponent was in a low stance, with his weapon hand outstretched, trying to reach as far with the point of his sword as he comfortably could, trying to bait me into moving forward and embedding myself on his weapon.

  I tried to visualize myself somehow reaching him safely, but it was a tricky position. Instead, I decided to fake a guard change, from high to low, and in the middle perform a lunge, expecting him to be caught in between guarding positions, unable to properly defend. And so I did, quickly, but swiftly moving my hands down, and as my off hand was close to my main, I used it to push on the sword's pommel, took a step forward, and performed a fast lunge. Erwin reacted immediately to my guard change, and indeed was caught in my trap, but he was skilled enough, that even with the sword's tip rushing towards his face, he managed to slap the blade to the side with the flat of his weapon, but he awkwardly stepped back.

  This awkward recovery was my moment to press the advantage, and so I took a long step with my main leg, and slashed at his knees, with as much reach as I could muster. Sadly, my attack was blocked early on, and I had to retreat, and even take a step back, to not be hit while I recovered my guard position. But this fumble has cost me the initiative, and now I had to block a cut from my third hour.

  The iron-on-iron contact sent vibrations up my arm, as the blades bit into each other, and I could feel the real strength of sir Erwin. His height advantage allowed him to press a huge amount of force towards my smaller frame. But sadly for him, I was not a human, and I easily slid the blade to the side, despite his unusual power. Now we were in wrestling distance, and I was first to react. I turned my back towards him, and pressed it to his chest, with my body fitting comfortably in between his arms, as he tried to grab me, only to fail. I dropped the sword, which fell flat to the ground, as I grabbed onto the collar of his gambeson, which was sticking from below the tabard, and pushed him forward as much as I could, throwing him over me.

  The jaws of sir Henry and James hung open, as they just watched me throw this hulking man over myself, and onto the ground like he was a sack of vegetables. He fell to the ground with a thud, and he exhaled loudly. This took him so much by surprise, that I managed to grab back my sword and point it at his face with a few inches of distance, signaling that I won. He didn't even try to challenge my proclamation and slowly sat up, but remained on the ground, still in shock, taking a deep breath.

  "So? How was it?" I asked, as I stowed away the sword, and extended my arm to help him get up, in an act of friendliness. He grabbed my hand, and I easily helped him get up.

  "You're fast like a bee, and strong as an ox, what more can I say. You took me completely by surprise and overpowered me. There's no shame in losing to you, Lady Karya."

  A smile formed on my face, as I looked over at Henry, who nodded along to his companion's words. "Does that mean, you'll vouch for me with lord Otto?"

  "Aye, I will. You completely deserve that one." He spoke calmly.

  As the duel concluded, we took back our things, leaving the training swords with sir Henry and his squire, who both went back to training. As we walked away, they had already begun, and both me and Erwin could see how the squire tried to use my tactic and throw his master over himself, but only ended with the knight lying on top of him, squishing him, as both of them fell awkwardly. Me and Erwin laughed at this sight, as we turned the corner, and walked through the gatehouse.