Two hours later, Sergeant Adleigh dismissed his weapons training class and Shaun and Matthew collapsed onto the snow covered grass to recover their breath. “Oh my poor arm!” groaned Shaun, rubbing his shoulder wearily. “I think it’s about to drop off!”

     He was wearing an ordinary, non-magical ironwood sword, identical to the ones carried by the rest of the class. A twenty two inch Sureblade, the standard sword used by the majority of the Beltharan army. The Sword of Zebulon had been temporarily taken from him, although they’d promised to return it when he left with his Wolfpack to begin their mission.

     “That magic sword’s done you no good at all,” the Sergeant had told him when he’d complained about it. “It’s made you lazy. It does all the hard work and your skills have atrophied as a result. While you’re here you’ll be using a proper sword and you’ll learn how to use it. I’ll make a proper swordsman out of you if it’s the last thing I do.”

     He was right, Shaun had been forced to admit when the training had started. When they’d left their home in the Overgreen Forest Shaun had been pretty good with the sword, having had a lot of practice fighting the monsters and outlaws who constantly beset them, while Matthew had been barely more than a novice. Now, though, to his horror and embarrassment, it was the younger brother who was the better swordsman. The magic sword had indeed made him lazy, and somewhere along the line Matthew, who’d had to struggle along with a mundane blade, had surpassed him. It was a lesson he swore never to forget.

     He’d spent the past six weeks training furiously, therefore, determined to make up for the skills and experience the magic sword had cost him, and even the impatient, bad tempered Sergeant had been impressed by his efforts. He’d come back to the practice floor alone after the others had left, continuing to practice the moves and thrusts until the small hours of the morning, and his body had grown lean and muscular while his eyes developed sacks of exhaustion. Eventually, Sergeant Adleigh had had to take the almost unprecedented step of ordering him to miss classes and take time out to relax, and he’d shaken his head in wonder as the young man had grumbled his way back to his room. If every man had a younger brother, he’d thought in amusement, we’d have an army that could beat anything in the world.

     The cold air was sharp in their lungs as they made their way back to their rooms, but the air was almost perfectly still so that they felt comfortably warm after their exertions and they took off their hot and heavy breastplates and their scratchy leather undershirts to walk bare chested in the sunshine. Their skins immediately broke out in goosebumps, but it felt good, refreshing, so long as they kept active enough that the cold had no chance to soak in.

     About half way back they saw a commotion taking place in one of the gardens; a square grass area a hundred yards wide enclosed on three sides by beds of winter flowering shrubs that had been planted against the walls of the barracks. A small crowd had gathered there. A couple of dozen fighters and rangers with the occasional cleric and wizard, gathered around a small group of people in the centre. They were listening avidly to something one of the people in the centre was saying.

     Exchanging glances of curiosity, Shaun and Matthew went over to see what was going on. “What’s up?” Matthew asked a young man standing at the edge of the crowd.

     “It’s Lorgill’s team,” replied the young man excitedly. “They just got in.”

     “Lorgill’s team?” asked Shaun. He turned his attention back to the people in the centre of the crowd. The speaker, presumably Lorgill himself, was a tall man whose red bearded head was visible above the crowd surrounding him, and he seemed to be recounting the adventures his team had had during their last mission.

     “There were at least twenty of them,” he was saying, holding his audience captive with his staring, black eyes, “and they were holding the bridge ahead of us, blocking our only escape from the island. We knew we only had a couple of minutes before the fire reached the storerooms, and they knew it as well. They didn’t need to fight us. All they had to do was hold the bridge for a few moments and we were dead. It seemed hopeless, but then Naomi had an idea.”

     He indicated a smaller figure standing beside him. A girl an inch or two shorter than Shaun. She had glossy black skin, a long mane of midnight black hair and the most vividly brilliant green eyes either of them had ever seen. The other members of the team were a pair of human fighters, both shorter than Lorgill, a nome and a sandy haired shae man, standing with a look of aloof superiority on his handsome, noble face.

     "Gods!" said somebody in the crowd as the girl took up the tale. "She must be freezing!"

     Shaun was inclined to agree, but the girl was showing no sign of discomfort despite the fact that she was wearing nothing but a yellow and black striped tiger’s skin that came halfway down to her knees, leaving her arms bare and seemingly held up only by a strap over her left shoulder. What was more, from the curves of her body it didn't look as though she was wearing anything underneath it, and she wasn't surrounded by warm bodies, as Shaun was. His wonder at her hardiness was soon forgotten, though, as he found himself staring in fascination at the shoulder strap. If it slips off, he thought, that tiger skin’ll fall down to her ankles and she’ll be left standing there completely naked!

     Part of him was shocked and ashamed at himself for thinking such juvenile thoughts, but the rest of him continued to stare in hopeful anticipation as the strap slipped closer and closer to the edge of her shoulder with every gesticulating hand movement. So obsessed was he by the sight that he completely failed to notice as another pretty girl, a cleric of Ramthara, came up close beside him, attracted by the sight of his lean, athletic body. She gently pressed her bare upper arm against his, trying to make it seem casual and unintentional while at the same time looking hopefully up into his face.

     Ordinarily, such an open invitation would have brought an instant response from him, as he had responded to several other such advances from beautiful women since his arrival at Redhill. This time, though, his attention was fixed so totally on the black girl’s shoulder strap that the cleric’s advances went totally unnoticed and after a few moments she tossed her head in annoyance and swept away.

     Just as Naomi’s shoulder strap was about to slip off, though, she pulled it back without pausing in her narration and Shaun was amused to hear at least half a dozen men in the audience groaning in disappointment.

     “Phew!” whispered Matthew in admiration. “Not bad looking at all! What do you think?”

     “I’ve seen better,” replied Shaun, also keeping his voice down in case the girl heard him.

     Matthew glanced at him and they grinned at each other before returning their attention to Naomi. Strictly speaking, Shaun was right. As far as beauty alone went, she was about the equal of their sister Diana, and couldn’t hold a candle to Lirenna, but Naomi had something that both the other two women lacked. She was oozing sex appeal from every pore, and she had every single man in the crowd drooling over her in helpless, lovesick adoration.

     They watched her for a couple of minutes longer before shrugging in resignation and making their way carefully out. Such a beautiful, desirable woman was bound to be attached to someone, possibly Lorgill himself, and they didn’t want to get involved in any trouble. They pushed their way back out through the crowd, therefore, the two men sizing up the women around them, searching for possibilities. Shaun had missed his chance, though, and so they ended up returning to the room they shared together where they had a shower and went off to the common room to relax until lunch.

     The next day was a holy day in the calendar of the church of Samnos. It was the birthday of Bradavos, founder of the city of Samnia, and so the soldiers were given the day off to rest and contemplate upon their lives. Or at least that was what they were supposed to do, but most of them simply treated it as an opportunity to lark about and have fun and Matthew was no exception. He talked Shaun out of spending the day on the practice floor, therefore, and they made their way over to dormitory two. The wizards’ quarters.

     They hadn’t seen the wizards for over a week, since wizards and soldiers followed different schedules and they were all having far too much fun meeting and chatting with members of other teams, relating their adventures and comparing battle scars, to take the time to look up their old friends. When they eventually found the three wizards, however, drinking Lydian tea and munching fruitcakes in one of the little alcoves that dotted the central corridor at intervals, they saw that Diana was with them, having, apparently, had the same idea as her brothers.

     “Ah, here they are,” said Jerry as they sat down in the two vacant chairs. “Now we’re all together again. For the first time since we got here, isn’t it?”

     “Yes,” agreed the cleric. “Since we arrived here, we’ve been coming together in twos and threes, but this is the first time all six of us have been together. And perhaps the last time as well. Who can say whether we’ll have another chance to meet like this before we’re reassigned to our new teams?”

     “I still don’t believe they’re splitting us up,” said Thomas angrily. “We’re a good team, the Gods know. Look at what we’ve accomplished together! The Sceptre of Samnos, the Orb of Proofing, Kronosia...”

     “Shush!” said Shaun, waving a hand at him. “We’re not supposed to talk about that, remember!” He looked up and down the corridor, but there was no-one close enough to have heard and he relaxed.

     “Sorry,” said Thomas, his voice lowered, “but it just makes me so angry, that’s all.”

     “You can see the logic behind it, though,” replied Lirenna. “We’ve come a long way since we left the University. It no longer takes the three of us to make one good wizard. Remember the sholog wizard on the island fish? How powerful he seemed to us then? How terrified we were of him?” She took one of his hands and patted it gently. “You’re his equal now, my love. You’re as powerful now as he was then. You probably haven’t noticed, but I’ve seen the way the younger men look at you. Your power makes them as nervous as that sholog wizard did us.”

     “Really?” said Thomas, looking a little brighter, and Diana frowned slightly.

     “Really,” repeated the demi shae. “And it’s not just you. We’ve all come a long way. You know what I’m capable of, and Jerry’s experimenting with illusions that can fool two or even three senses at once. Illusions so realistic that only the wisest can tell them from the real thing. Any one of us is now capable of serving all the magical needs of a Wolfpack, so with wizards as scarce as they are it would be madness to keep us in the same team.”

     “I know that,” replied Thomas, looking glum again. “I know that up here,” he tapped his head, “but here...” He put a hand over his heart.

     “I know,” agreed Lirenna. “I feel the same way. But we won’t really be apart. We shae folk believe that, so long as you're thinking of someone, you’re always with them. I’ll always be thinking of you my love, my oathkin.”

     “And I’ll always be thinking of you,” replied Thomas softly.

     Their arms went around each other and they leaned against each other in their chairs, their heads gently coming together until they touched.

     The moment was broken by a strangled, gagging noise and they looked around in alarm to see Jerry leaning over the side of his chair, his finger down his throat. “A bucket!” he cried anxiously. “Someone get me a bucket, quick!”

     Matthew exploded with laughter, and Diana glared at the two of them in fury as they flopped helplessly in their seats, tears running down their cheeks. Even Shaun was forced to smile, and Thomas and Lirenna, flushing with embarrassment, sat upright in their seats again.

     “You had to do it, didn’t you?” snapped Diana at Jerry. “You had to spoil a beautiful moment.”

     “Well,” said the tiny nome dismissively. “We nomes don’t believe in getting all lovey dovey in public. It puts people off their food.”

     “That’s all right,” said Lirenna, smiling sweetly. Thomas winced. He knew that smile. “We quite understand.”

     “You do?” said Jerry in relief.

     “Of course we do,” continued the demi shae. “And just to show you there’s no hard feelings...”

     Jerry saw too late what she was doing and raised his hands, as if that alone would ward off the magic, but the demi shae’s spell was unaffected. It was only a nocume, the very simplest magic there was, but a second later the foul smell of rancid sweat and stale urine began to rise from Jerry’s clothes and the others drew back in revulsion, holding their noses.

     “Phew, Jerry!” gasped Shaun in disgust. “When did you last have a bath?”

     The tiny nome gasped in shock and horror, but then he smiled. “Fool you, shae!” he laughed. “I’m not going anywhere. Unless you cancel the spell, you’re just going to have to put up with me.”

     “Fool yourself, nome!” replied Lirenna. “That spell’ll last at least four hours, maybe longer. You were planning to eat, weren’t you?”

     Jerry stared, and then a look of new horror came over the tiny nome’s face. Lunch was only a couple of hours away, but he couldn’t go into the canteen smelling like this! But if he missed it, the next meal wasn’t until sunset, and if there was one thing nomes hated more than anything else, it was the idea of missing a meal. “You wouldn’t!” he gasped in shock. “You wouldn’t do that to me! Would you?”

     Lirenna just smiled at him, however, and turned to Thomas. “Shall we go find some fresh air?” she asked.

     “No!” exclaimed Jerry desperately. “All right, I apologise! I apologise! Now take this spell off me! Please!”

     The demi shae looked thoughtful. “What do you think, Tom?”

     “I don’t know,” replied the human wizard, giving it earnest consideration. “Maybe we should think about it for a while.”

     “Please!” begged Jerry, wringing his hands. “You can hug and kiss each other as much as you like and I won’t say a thing. I promise.”

     Lirenna laughed in delight, looking even more beautiful than usual. “All right, don’t burst a blood vessel.” She snapped her fingers and the spell was broken. The awful smell vanished and they all breathed deeply in relief. “Now let that be a lesson to you.”

     They all chuckled together, enjoying the brief moment of camaraderie. Jerry and Lirenna shared a glance and grinned, each of them enjoying the joke as much as the other. Then an awkward silence fell as they all remembered the elephant in the room. The thing that, no matter how much you might try to pretend it didn’t exist, was just too big to ignore.

     “I wonder how long it’ll be before we know,” said Matthew. No-one else spoke. They all knew what he was talking about.

     “I mean,” the woodsman continued. “I’ve gotten so used to having the rest of you around. The kind of mucking around you were doing just then. I just can’t imagine being without you. Any of you.”

     “It’s the same for all of us,” replied Thomas. “It’s like, I mean...” He paused, searching for the right metaphor. “It’s like when a group of trees grow closely together. The shape of each tree is determined by the presence of the others. Take one of the trees away, and you can see from the shape of the others where the missing one used to be.”

     The others nodded, particularly Lirenna. “We’ve grown strong,” she agreed, “but we’ve all been shaped by the others. It means we’ll always remember each other, no matter how far apart we are.”

     She and Thomas held hands again, and Thomas reached out with his other hand for Diana. Acting on a sudden impulse they all held hands, forming a linked ring around the small coffee table. Jerry took Lirenna’s other hand as if the horseplay between them had only strengthened the bond between them, and Shaun and Matthew clasped hands without a thought, not caring what a passer-by might think. Thomas felt something flowing through them. Some power coming from their unity. Something that might be lost forever when they were parted and separated.

     “We ought to have a name,” he blurted out suddenly.

     “What?” asked Shaun.

     “A name,” repeated the wizard. “A name for our team.”

     “Bit late now, I’d have thought,” said Matthew.

     “All the more reason,” insisted Thomas, though. “So that later we can say, ‘I used to be a member of the such and such team.’”

     “He’s right,” agreed Lirenna. “We should have thought of a name for ourselves long ago. This is our last chance. We definitely need a name.”

     “All right,” said Shaun, “but what?”

     “You three are all Winterwells,” suggested Jerry, “and it was your holy mission that brought us all together, so what about the Winterwell team?”

     “No,” said Diana, shaking her head. “It ought to be something that includes all of us equally. What about the Sceptre Seekers, since that was our first mission?”

     “Hmm,” said Thomas doubtfully, not really liking the sound of it.

     “I know!” said Matthew eagerly. “We met for the very first time in the town of Clarrin’s Claim, so what about the Clarrinians?”

     “The Clarrinites, surely,” replied Shaun.

     “Clarrin’s team,” said Lirenna. “It’s got a nice ring to it.”

     “The Claim Jumpers!” said Jerry, laughing. “Clarrin’s Claim was our jumping off point, so to speak, so we’re the Claim Jumpers.”

     “We can’t call ourselves that!” protested Diana, however. “Everyone hates claim jumpers!”

     “I like it!” said Matthew, however. “We’re the Claim Jumpers! What do you say?”

     “It’s not quite what I had in mind,” replied Thomas, but he couldn’t help grinning at the idea of such an outrageous name. He knew there and then that it would catch on. Either that or a variant of it, despite what Diana thought. They were the Claim Jumpers now whether they liked it or not.

     Which brought them back to the idea of their imminent separation. A gloomy silence fell again, each of them thinking of the good times and the adventures they’d had together. The places they’d been and the things they’d seen.

     Shaun shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “I ought to be going,” he said. “I ought to be getting in some more weapons practice while I can.”

     He began to rise, but Lirenna reached across the table and grabbed his hand. Her soft fingertips felt his rough calluses, calluses he’d developed defending their lives.

     “Don’t go yet,” she begged. “We’ll be parted soon enough. Let’s just sit here together for a while, can we, please?”

     Shaun paused, but then he nodded and sat again, and they remained there, talking over old times, for a long, long, time.