Warrior, Renewed: Book Two of the Comhairle Chronicles

Chapter Five: The Second Prong

A/N: This one is very rough, sorry.

“They’re over the perimeter wall,” Nate announced as he entered the dojo.

The Longhirst Facility's residents had reconvened in the training hall, where Aodh's team, along with Tor and Deòthas, were distributing weapons to the rest of Ealair's pensive looking class.

“Marionettes?” the red-headed captain asked as he helped Eilís, the newest applicant to be granted a place on the training programme, to strap a sword at her hip.

The poor petite blonde looked terrified, her sky blue eyes widening until they resembled saucers. Ealair didn't blame her for her alarm. While they’d all signed up to train as ghaisgich or guards, she had only joined the course a week ago, filling the space Tor vacated when he took the trials. Facing off against the dead probably hadn't been on her agenda for a while. It had been on no one’s agenda, not since Cailean met his maker.

Nate nodded, his expression grim as he admitted, “Certainly looked like corpses on the CCTV monitors. They'll be at the hall in minutes but, but I've initiated lockdown protocol. The doors and shutters are secure. In theory, nothing can get in here. You're lucky you called before I started updating the system or we would've been going around each window and door manually. As it is, it just took the hit of a button.”

“If nothing can get in, then why are we being given live blades?” Eilís asked, looking more horrified by the second.

“Would you rather go without, recruit?” Aodh responded, raising a brow.

The girl opened her mouth, then closed it again. Eventually she nodded, taking a deep breath and murmuring, “I take your point.”

The captain smiled at her, stepping back. “Good, pleased to know we didn't assign your place to the wrong applicant, eh? Now, my team is going to guard the doors, the most likely entry points, but I need all trainees to go through the building room by room, starting with the ground floor. Check all the windows are secure. I trust Nate's systems, and if he says the shutters are closed, then I have no doubt they will be, but we still need to follow protocol and that means making sure. ”

“And what about us?” one of the guards who shared the Longhirst  facility with the trainees requested as they too entered the dojo. “We didn't sign up to fight your war. We're law enforcement, not soldiers...”

“And yet you're housed in a Comhairle facility,” Deòthas retorted, narrowing her opalescent eyes at the guard. “You wake every dusk and eat food paid for from the Comhairle budget. You may get away with transporting criminals between courtrooms and prisons on a normal night, but you are still Council staff. Tonight the war has come home, so you better grow a pair, or maybe the Comhairle should re-evaluate its retention of a guard force. Tell me, do you have the budget to maintain your own headquarters? Can you secure it with state of the art systems? Will the nobility secure funding for you if you suddenly find yourselves needing to become an independent task force rather a Comhairle backed unit?”

Ealair, like the other trainees, watched the spat with a mounting sense of unease. Not all of them intended to take the trials, and those who doubted their ability to survive Tallamarbh had the option of graduating as guards. But if the Comhairle cut ties with bhampair law enforcement all together...? Well, that would force the uncertain minority to make decisions early, and would potentially sow dissent amongst the recruits.

“You don't speak for the Comhairle, fey-born...” the guard hissed, his tone icy with scorn.

Reaching out, Ealair placed his hand on Tor's chest, just in case his best friend got any bright ideas with regard to acquainting his fist with the guard’s face. Thankfully Tor only glared, baring fangs, but made no move to attack the man who'd spoken out of turn. He wasn't alone in flashing his dental hardware, either. Around the dojo, ghaisgich and trainees alike turned towards the guard with similar expressions of fury, metaphorically closing ranks around Deòthas in a way which had been unprecedented mere months earlier. It pleased Ealair to witness it, even though surprise flared in Deòthas's aura at her colleagues’ and students' reactions.