She sat up with a start as a blanket (or cloak or… something made of cloth) draped across her body. Almost immediately, she swooned and had to lie back down as a hand added an external force, pushing her back.

“Rest. You’re safe.”

Still unable to focus her eyes beyond recognizing a vaguely human-shaped silhouette, Callida accepted this statement as fact until she realized that she didn’t recognize the voice-- an unfamiliar male voice. “Who are you?”

“Just a passerby. Who are you?” A wave of nausea suddenly overwhelmed her, and Callida rolled to the side, struggling against the impulse to wretch. “I think you probably have a concussion. You were hit pretty hard.”

“I need to get back to the tournament grounds.”

“Alright.” A hand that she couldn’t see grabbed her wrist to help her arm around someone’s neck as another hand caught her waist, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s wrap the cloak around you a little better.” Her arms were guided through a pair of sleeves, and whoever it was helped her down the boulder, through the river, and into the woods on the other side.

Her eyes heavy and consciousness questionable, putting one foot in front of the other was about the limit of her capacity, but that seemed sufficient. Every now and then, Callida caught the scent of spices, which seemed odd, but she didn’t have the brain power to think about it.

“In here,” the mystery voice directed.

“By the Primordials! What happened?!” a female voice exclaimed.

“I fished her out of the river. She hit her head pretty hard and likely has a concussion.”

Callida found herself in a horizontal position without any idea as to how she got there. The female voice and male voice were talking back and forth. Were they talking about her? She wasn’t sure. She was so, so very… sleepy….

***

“Has anyone seen Callida?” It had been over an hour and a half since they’d arrived at the tournament grounds, and Germanus had already found, talked to, and had to excuse himself from Keit. “Li, you haven’t seen her, have you? She promised to meet me by the cabins, and she never showed up.”

Li shook his head. “Last I saw her, she was walking upstream to wash up. She was pretty determined to keep her head down,” Li chuckled, but Germanus frowned.

“You said she went upstream?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m going to go look for her.”

“I’ll come with you,” Li offered.

“If we both leave, who will be left in charge? You’d better stay.”

“Fine. Let me know when you find her though.”

“I will.”

Germanus walked directly to the river. There was some kind of commotion going on as he approached the riverbank.

“Does anybody recognize them?” someone was shouting.

“Oh, no! Not another one!”

Someone pointed upstream as a body tumbled down a small collection of rapids. Germanus felt his stomach twist horribly. He broke into a run, drawing his sword as three more bodies floated past him to be discovered by the masses below.

“Callida?!”

The riverbed flattened out again and the water assumed a peaceful, almost glasslike quality, except for the bodies floating on the surface like mice drowned in a bucket.

“Callida?!”

His eyes frantically scanning the bodies in the water, Germanus tripped over the boots in the grass. Standard Wolf Tribe military boots next to… Callida’s empty sword belt.

“CALLIDA?!”

Germanus stood up fighting panic. Callida would pick a place like this to bathe, and she’d probably swim out to the boulders. Without further thought, Germanus dove into the water, arriving at the sandbank with water squelching in his boots. The first thing he noticed was the blood. So much blood. And it was dripping down from the tops of the rocks. Following the trail, Germanus climbed the boulders. Oh, Primordials, no! Please, no!

Callida’s sword lay abandoned, absolutely dripping with blood near the edge of the rock.

From the boulder, Germanus scanned the bodies in the water again. Callida wasn’t in the water at least… unless she’d already floated downstream.

Germanus collected her sword to return to the riverbank. He was going to need help.

***

“She’s not in the river,” Duoqing stated hopefully. “They dragged thirty-four bodies out of the river, and none of them are female. No body, she’s still alive at least.”

“You don’t know that, and that’s not necessarily a good thing anyway,” Germanus said bitterly, tears threatening to fall again. “The bodies they found were all of bandits. What if she was captured?! What do you think a bunch of bandits would do to a young female soldier that had just killed over thirty of their comrades?!”

Duoqing’s face went pale. “We’ll keep looking, Captain. I promise, we’ll find her.”

“Who are you looking for?”

Germanus turned to see Keit approaching with a couple of young Bear Tribe soldiers in tow. “Keit, I’m sorry, but now isn’t a good time.”

“You said you’re looking for someone. A while ago, someone, we don’t know who, was found.”

Feeling hopeful for the first time in hours, Germanus couldn’t keep his voice level. “What do you know, Keit?”

“There’s a young woman in the medical tent. No one has been able to identify her, but rumor has it that she was pulled out of the river earlier this afternoon.”

“And she’s alive?!”

“Just unconscious last I heard.”

“Thank you, Keit. Thank you!” Germanus said, breaking into a run.

***

“Callida!” Germanus all but shouted, wiping tears of relief out of his eyes before they could fall.

“Do you know this young woman?”

“She’s my sister!”

“You’re sister?” The medic queried, looking at Germanus skeptically. “You don’t look like siblings.”

“I assure you, we are. She takes after our dad. I take after our mom. Her name is Callida Animo, and she’s a soldier in the Wolf Tribe military.”

“And who are you?”

“Captain Germanus Animo of the Wolf Tribe military. Is she alright?”

“The gentleman who brought her here said she took a blow to the head and she has a few lacerations that we stitched up. She’s been drifting in and out of consciousness, but she’s been steadily improving. She’ll need rest and monitoring for the next twenty-four hours, but we expect that she’ll make a full recovery.”

“Thank you," Germanus muttered, struggling against his tears.

“As you are her brother, maybe you’d like to find her some clothes? She wasn’t wearing much when they found her.”

“I’ll be right back.”

***

“You’re finally awake! Tell me what happened.”

Callida looked up from the medical cot to find half a dozen people watching her including Germanus, Li, and, (crap!) Duoqing and his bodyguard. It was embarrassing. In a brief moment of panic, Callida realized that she was wearing little more than underwear the last time she was awake enough to note such things. Fortunately, that anxiety was quickly relieved.

“Callida, what happened?” Germanus demanded again.

Clearing her throat and avoiding eye contact, Callida carefully sat up before launching into a brief explanation. “I went to wash up and got ambushed. One of them got the jump on me, and some guy, who identified himself as just a passerby, helped me and brought me here.”

“Some guy?” Li asked with a slight smirk and raised eyebrows.

Callida suppressed a grin. “I didn’t catch his name... or see him, really. I might be able to recognize his voice, though. But I think he must have saved my life. If I find him again, I’ll need to thank him.”

Germanus collected a bloodied cloak from off the back of a chair. “Does this ring any bells?”

Callida took the cloak and studied it. It was made from a rich material and bore the scent of... “spices!”

“What?”

“While we were walking to the medical tent, I kept smelling spices. Like this,” Callida said, extending the cloak back to her brother.

Germanus accepted the cloak and sniffed hesitantly. “I just smell blood,” he said, his nose wrinkling with distaste.

Callida rolled her eyes. “Underneath the blood.”

“You’re free to go, miss Animo,” a medic said, coming around the corner. “Take it easy for a few days. Another hit to the head, even a small one, will likely bring you back here otherwise. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Callida said with a small nod before swinging her legs to the side to stand up.

“I collected your stuff from the riverbank,” Germanus said while offering her an arm to lean on. “It’s all back in your cabin.”

“Thanks.”

“Callida?”

Callida grit her teeth and turned around. “What can I do for you, Alpha?”

Duoqing looked hurt. “I just wanted to say that I’m glad you’re ok.”

Nodding a curt acknowledgement, Callida turned and walked out. “That was rude, kid,” Germanus said in a whisper as they moved out of earshot of the others.

“I have nothing to say to him.”

“Still. He was worried about you.”

Callida sighed. “I know. But it does him no favors for me to lead him on, and I still haven’t figured out how to forgive him.”

Germanus released a deep breath. “I can’t say that I blame you, but you don’t need to be rude either. Making an enemy of the future Alpha isn’t wise.”

“I wasn’t trying to be rude, Germanus. I just don’t know what to say. Things ended in the worst possible way, and I don’t know where to go from there.”

“I know, kid,” Germanus resigned himself. “Just, keep your head down.”

Callida quickly changed the subject. “I’m excited to compete tomorrow.”

Germanus stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh, no, kid! You are not competing tomorrow! Didn’t you hear what the medic said? I’m ordering you to stay out of the tournament.”

“Germanus,” Callida pleaded, “don’t be like this.”

“No, Callida. You were nearly killed. You had an acute concussion. You only just recovered enough to get out of bed. There is no way you are competing this year!”

“What if I wear a helmet?”

“You hate helmets!” Germanus said, the surprise of her statement momentarily distracting him.

“If it means that you’ll let me compete, I’ll wear one.”

Germanus paused to give this some thought, eventually shaking his head, appalled that he’d even consider this proposal. “No. You really need to sit this one out.”

“Please, Germanus?! Please?! I was really looking forward to doing an apprenticeship, and getting out of the Wolf Tribe for a while couldn’t come at a better time for me. I’ll be careful, and I’ll wear the stupid helmet. Please?!”

Germanus stopped to study his sister’s face, eventually sighing. “Callida, it’s stupidity for you to compete right now.”

“Please?!”

Huffing slightly, Germanus relented. He knew how much this tournament meant to Callida and he was hardly less excited to watch her compete. “You promise that you’ll be careful?”

“Absolutely.”

“And you will wear your helmet?”

“The entire time.”

“And if you feel even the slightest bit dizzy or disoriented, you swear that you will sit out?”

“I…” Callida started to protest and then bit her tongue. “Fine.”

“Which of us hit our head again?”

“Does that mean you’ll let me?!”

“You win, Callida.”

“Thank you!” Callida exclaimed, throwing her arms around her brother’s waist.

Despite his anxieties, Germanus chuckled. “Do our family proud, and don’t make me regret this.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

“Next we have Temtsehk from the Phoenix Tribe and Animo from the Wolf Tribe,” the announcer shouted.

“Are you ready, kid?” Germanus asked, affectionately tapping on Callida’s helmet, making the metal clang.

“Agh! Cut that out,” Callida replied, though it sounded a little muffled through her helmet. Germanus had insisted on a full helmet complete with a face mask despite Callida’s protests that a mask makes it challenging to see. But fighting with a mask was better than not being allowed to fight at all, so….

“‘Should be easy pickings for you today going up against the other eighteen through twenty year olds.”

“Just because they’re young doesn’t mean they’re not good.”

“As you will shortly prove. Now get out there!” Germanus said with a shove.

Callida walked to the middle of the sparring field, fighting the impulse to raise her mask. It really was super annoying trying to fight when your field of vision was restricted to a small slit. Temtsehk met her on the field. What he lacked in height, he made up for in breadth, and the bulkiness of his armor added to this impression. Low center of gravity. He won’t expect me to attack low. Likely a good mix of maneuverability and strength which usually means good endurance. My best bet is to be quick, Callida analyzed, sparing a thought for what Temtsehk was likely thinking about her, lurpy and scrawny as Li so eloquently described her, and wearing no other armor besides a mail shirt plus this stupid-looking, vision-reducing helmet. Get over the helmet thing, Callida! she chided herself.

Temtsehk extended a sportsmanly hand. “Good luck.” Callida accepted his hand with a small nod.

“Get set!”

The flag dropped and the fight was on. Callida was over-skilled for this fight as Germanus had predicted. Temtsehk landed on his back after a single strike to the back of his right ankle, and Callida’s sword rested against his throat forcing him to yield.

“Wow. I can’t even be mad about that,” Temtsehk said with a grin, and Callida offered a hand to pull him to his feet. “Sorry that wasn’t much of a match.”

Without much of a reply to give him, Callida merely bowed her respects and walked back to where Li and Germanus were waiting on the sidelines.

“You could have at least let him get an attack in,” Li teased.

Callida snorted and walked into the Wolf Tribe tent, immediately removing her helmet.

“Seriously though! The poor guy is probably here looking for an apprenticeship too. You eliminated him before he could do, well, anything really.”

“You’re right,” Callida conceded with a small frown. “I’ll have to be more considerate.”

Germanus chuckled. “Or you just eliminate everyone like that and make the headhunters play a guessing game.”

“True,” Callida said with a smirk.

***

A swift kick to his chest brought him down. Asper from the Lion Tribe stood up spewing obscenities. Without a word, Callida made a short bow and walked away.

“And the champion of the third division who will be moving up to the second division is Animo of the Wolf Tribe,” she could hear the announcer shouting behind her.

“Whoa, kid, you’re supposed to wave to the crowd and soak in the glory!”

“‘Not my thing,” Callida snapped at her brother, taking off her helmet as soon as she was safely back in the tent.

“I want to see his face!” someone started shouting at the entrance to the tent, and Callida heard the two wolf soldiers guarding the entrance halt someone.

Callida sighed, and looked pleadingly at Lieutenant Li. “Asper’s being a sore loser.”

Li grinned. “I’ll take care of it.” He walked out. “Asper! That was an impressive fight! You made it a whole thirty seconds against Animo!” Callida stifled a laugh so she could hear the rest of the conversation.

“I want to see his face!” Asper insisted.

“Between you and me,” Li continued, and Callida imagined him slinging an arm over Asper’s shoulders, “you don’t want to get on Animo’s bad side.” Li’s voice suddenly sounded like he was choking back tears. “You have no idea what he’s capable of.”

“What are you talking about?” Asper’s voice sounded at once annoyed and concerned.

Li sniffed dramatically and lowered his voice so Callida had to strain to hear what he said next. “He was holding back. He’s the reason for my nightmares. He’s the reason half my squad was traumatized. The things Animo does in a fight….” Li shuddered. “I’ve never seen so much blood before.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m doing you a favor by not telling you. Now do yourself a favor and get out of here.”

“Fine,” Asper huffed after a moment’s reflection, trying to sound angry rather than anxious before walking away.

Li poked his head back into the tent with a cheeky grin. “So I’m a he now?” Callida asked, playfully.

“He said it first, I merely played into his expectations.”

“And I give you nightmares?”

“Maybe when I was fourteen.”

“And traumatized your squad?”

“Maybe by constantly showing them up.”

“So you lied.”

“Eh. Stretched the truth.”

“That really shouldn’t have worked,” Callida laughed, and Li took a dramatic bow.

“Thank you, thank you! I’ll be here all week. Congrats on the win, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Callida,” Gemanus inserted himself, “I want you to go straight back to your cabin to sleep.”

“I barely broke a sweat!” Callida protested. “Well, not from exertion anyway. This heat is killer.”

“Exactly. I want you to hydrate like crazy and take a nap before dinner. You’re still recovering. That’s an order, soldier,” Germanus added at the first sign that she intended to protest further.

“I hate that you can pull rank on me,” Callida grumped.

“What was that?”

“Yes, sir,” she sighed and stood up to remove her mail before leaving out the back of the tent. And just in time too. A handful of spectators swarmed the tent looking to congratulate the day’s champion. Fortunately, without her armor on, no one recognized her, and Callida merely continued on her merry way without harassment. Maybe wearing that helmet wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

***

“An-i-mo! An-i-mo! An-i-mo!” The next day, Callida found herself the awkward subject of a fan club– people cheering for the young underdog of the second division competition.

“I never thought I’d be grateful to wear a helmet,” she griped to Li after winning another match.

“And the mail squashes all of your curves, so no one suspects you even after you take the helmet off,” Li teased.

“Why do you always have to poke fun at that? Yes, chain mail is heavy and flattens my… curves. You don’t have to be a jerk about it.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Calli. It’s a cheap shot. But it does add to your anonymity. It makes me wonder how many people are cheering for you just because they enjoy the mystery.”

“Well, I’m happy to remain a mystery.... Hey, Germanus, I still haven’t met Keit.”

“Yeah. He’s been busy working on something,” Germanus shrugged.

“What’s he working on?”

“I’m not sure,” Germanus admitted with a frown. “He’s been keeping that a secret.”

“What about your secret?”

“My secret?”

“‘About me being your sister. Has he figured it out yet? Animo isn’t a common name, especially in the Wolf Tribe.”

Germanus grinned. “Like everyone else, he’s assumed you’re a guy. He knows that I don’t have a brother, but he did ask if you were my cousin.”

“And what did you say?”

“I told him the truth…. You are not my cousin.”

Callida snorted. “He really hasn’t figured out that I’m your sister?”

“I don’t think he realizes that you’re old enough to compete. ‘Last time he saw you, you were only ten years old, and you didn’t exactly interact much.”

“Yeah. I honestly don’t even remember meeting him.”

“Well, that’s why I want you to meet him again! But let’s maybe wait until after tomorrow.”

“... So he doesn’t have a chance to piece things together before then?” Callida rolled her eyes.

“It’ll be more fun when you beat him that way.”

“Hey! There’s no guarantee that I will beat him.”

“Ah, you can take him,” Germanus said, oozing confidence.

“Hey, Animo, you’re on deck,” one of the guards informed through the tent door.

“Right,” Callida said before taking a quick swig from her water bag. “I’ll be out in a moment. Germanus, can you help me get this helmet back on?”

“Sure.”

Callida took a deep breath. “Wish me luck!”

“You don’t need it,” Li laughed, nudging her shoulder.

***

His swordsmanship was strangely erratic. It felt desperate, and yet, it was controlled. Jangalee from the Dragon Tribe played by an interesting rulebook, that’s probably why he’d made it to the finals of the second division. Callida found herself having to disengage periodically to reevaluate. Jangalee kept changing his style, cycling through various familiar and possibly invented fighting disciplines. He was good, and Callida found the challenge exciting. How do you counter something so unpredictable?

What was it that mom said? “Being the smartest fighter doesn’t mean being the fanciest. When fighting someone who is highly skilled or unpredictable, stick to the basics until your opponent outsmarts himself.” That seems like sound advice.

Callida took a step back and grounded her feet in a basic fighting stance, deflecting and countering attacks as they came, waiting for Jangalee to outsmart himself. His mistake came in the form of an aerial that he landed poorly. With his footwork a mess, and his base compromised, a quick shove was all that was needed to knock him backwards, flailing wildly in an effort to regain his balance. Callida accepted his surrender with her sword jabbing into his chest.

“And the winner of the second division tournament is Animo of the Wolf Tribe!” The announcer could hardly be heard over the cheers and shrieks of excitement from the stands. “Animo progresses to the first division tournament tomorrow!”

“Good match,” Callida said, her voice muffled through her mask.

“You too,” Jangalee returned.

Callida made the appropriate bow and took her leave, raising her hand in a short wave of acknowledgement to the crowd. As soon as she was back in the tent, Callida stripped her armor and left before the tent could be sieged by her fans.

***

“Well that was exciting,” Li said, finding Callida hiding out in her cabin. “That last guy, Jan-what’s-his-face was pretty good.”

Callida nodded. “Jangalee. Yeah. He was interesting to fight against. He’s obviously well trained. I think he was showing off his versatility to the headhunters. He’ll probably land a pretty good apprenticeship.”

“So, what was your strategy going up against that?”

“I just waited until he made a mistake,” Callida said with a shrug.

“How did you know that he’d even make one?”

“Well, for one, he’s human. For two, complex fighting styles require a lot of brain power; mistakes are almost inevitable.”

“So, you’re saying that he defeated himself.”

“Essentially, yeah.”

Li snorted. “You have such a cool head.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if I’d been up against him, I might have panicked, tried to figure out how to counter him, played his game, and gotten my butt handed to me in the process. But you, Calli, you stepped back and let him hang himself.”

“Your way sounds much more stressful,” Callida said with a chuckle.

“That’s my point…. Hey, Calli, ‘wanna go swimming?”

“That sounds amazing, actually. But I’m on duty in about an hour.”

“Oh. I forgot. I’m sorry,” Li grimaced. “I made sure to assign you to Naixin at least, and I’m pretty sure that Germanus had a word with him too.”

“I know, and I appreciate that.”

“Well, um,” Li searched for a change of subject, “have you found someone to have that fling with yet?”

“Li!”

“What about that guy that rescued you? The spicy one.” Li chortled as Callida blushed. “Did you ever figure out who he is?”

“No,” Callida answered flatly.

“That’s a shame. He’d have made a good choice. You’ve already managed to show off and play the damsel in distress… which means you owe him a favor, if you know what I- ACK! Geez, Calli! You don’t have to hit so hard!”

“Get out, Li!”

“Alright, alright!” Li surrendered, standing up from her bed to open the door, but he paused before closing it behind him. “If you do find him again, give him a kiss from me!”

“OUT!” Li shut the door hastily before Callida could retaliate further.