Tairin had his back to the fence and had not seen Ryder walk up. His body was covered in sweat and dirt, it was clear this was not his first time meeting the ground. Even the glisten of his sun kissed hair was dulled by a layer of dust. He was focused entirely on the other man who had an elated, sly smile across his face.

Tairin's opponent had long black hair tied back with a leather strap, and looked like he would have fit in perfectly in the Spanish courts in the 16th century, with his dark features in contrast to his light skin. The man's white, open, shirt looked as clean as if it had just come out of the wash, which said everything there was to say about the situation. The dark-haired man stood poised, while at the same time looking entirely relaxed.

Tairin, now back on his feet, rushed the man, lunging for an abdomen shot with his wooden sword. Ryder was surprised by how fast Tairin was, but he wasn't fast enough. The dark-haired man smoothly moved out of the way bringing his wooden sword around to whack Tairin on the back, mimicking slicing through Tairin's kidneys.

Ryder flinched at the hard thud the wooden sword made from its masterful connection with Tairin, who let out a pained hiss.

"He's not as bad as you said Graynin, he's quite quick for his build actually. I think we can whip him into shape in no time." The dark-haired man said, while still watching Tairin who had taken a knee, attempting to recover from the blow.

Ryder looked around, she had not noticed anyone else. Her eyes found Graynin near the building, leaning against a fence post. She thought she made eye contact with him, but his eyes flicked away so fast that she might have imagined it.

"No, you're just slow Pierce." Graynin said coolly, with a twitch of a half-smile.

"Is that so? Well then how do you explain me beating you so often?" Pierce asked, as he turned to face the accusations Graynin was handing out. It was clear Tairin was not about to attempt anything for a while.

"You only beat me when you get tricky with your fire. One on one combat however." Graynin brought up his hand to silence Pierce before he could refute, "You don't beat me."

Pierce exaggeratedly rolled his eyes, then made an about face and locked Ryder with a dazzlingly smile and gave a quick bow. "Forgive me milady. I'm sorry you were subjected to the bantering of two disrespectful friends."

Ryder didn't have a clue as to how to respond, so she just smiled awkwardly. Pierce gave a soft laugh and continued to dazzle her with his perfected smile, the concept of unease seemed as if it had never crossed his mind.

She was grateful when Graynin broke the moment. "You're done for the day Shadow, you can go." His tone dismissive in more ways than one.

Tairin rounded on him, "Why the hell do you keep calling me that!"

Ryder was just about to make herself known to Tairin but was cut off by his outburst. She had never seen him so angry. He stood there looking as if he was ready to attack Graynin, his knuckles stark white wrapped tightly around the wooden hilt.

Her eyes flicked to Graynin who had stopped in his tracks on his way inside the barracks, and slowly turned to face Tairin. He appraised Tairin's righteous stance with his withering grey blue stare, seeming unfazed by the aggression radiating from Tairin. Then his shoulders relaxed as he seemingly came to a private conclusion, finding Tairin worthy of a response, "A Shadow is a person from your world," he gestured at Tairin, "the Shadow Realm." Then without another word turned and disappeared into the barracks.

Ryder just stared blankly at the empty door. What kind of an answers was that?

Pierce cleared his throat, "Well that was abrupt." It was clear he was trying to break the tension that still hung in the air. "I guess I will have to elaborate further."

He motioned for Tairin to move closer to him, so that the aggression of his stance was broken. "Every person of power in Esera release pieces of their soul sporadically throughout their lives. We call them sparks. Once released, the spark travels between our Realms," he lightly motioned between Tairin and himself, "and implants in the fetus of an unborn Shadow. The spark is the ignition of the fetus's own soul. The life contained in the spark is a broad, nonspecific, piece of who the Long Lived is at the time of separation. The Shadow that receives it can be of either sex and will not be a replica of the Long Lived, the spark is just the baseline the Shadow's soul will build from. It provides snippets of what a soul needs to know about being alive, the innate nature of a person, so to speak."

Ryder gaped. The concept was almost too big to believe. Then a forgotten snippet of information bubbled up, and her mouth went rouge, "The spark is the collective unconscious."

A fascinated smile bloomed on Pierce's face, "Can you give me an example of what you think that means?"

Why did I open my big mouth, she thought as she tried to think past her embarrassment of being put on the spot. But her true nature rose up, and she felt the desire to prove herself. "Well, the idea is that all people are born with a basic inherited set of deep-rooted understandings, that lay in their unconscious." She felt her heart calming to a more normal pace as her confidence grew. "Examples of these innate ideas can be seen all over the world through stories. Somehow different cultures end up using characters that are similar, even though they live in different places, or at completely different times. They still somehow create similar morals and use similar heroes and villains to teach. These archetypes manifest everywhere."

Pierce rewarded her with another dazzling smile, "You are right. Granted, it is a simple way of explaining it, but sometimes simple explanations provide the best understanding." He turned back to Tairin, whom Ryder noticed looked more confused than before.

Pierce seemed to be fueled to tell more by his excitement at Ryder's ability to grasp the concept. "Another interesting philosophy your people have created to explain the unique power they have detected from the spark of life, is astrology."

Ryder couldn't help but think of Mikaila, who would instantly die with righteous victory to hear astrology has merit. Horoscopes were her answer to everything.

"In astrology the signs are broken down into the four elements earth, wind, water, and fire, which are the bases of power in this world." He gestured wide around himself, "Our society revolves around the different races ability to connect with and manipulate the four elements. Something else that Astrologist have accurately touched on is how they explain the twelve signs are different ages, starting with Aries being the youngest, and Pieces being the oldest. As the long-liveds mature, obviously so does their soul. So, when the spark of life is expelled from an individual it takes with it their maturity, which influences the Shadow's soul. Now I'm not saying that Astrology is accurate, the month a Shadow is born-in has nothing to do with the age of the spark they receive, but the basic ideas touches on the truth of the individual Shadow's soul."

It would be a painful apology Ryder would have to make, now that Mikaila's favorite pastime wasn't a load of hooey. Oh, the gloating Ryder would have to endure.

"So," Pierce added with a voice of finality, "the people in your world," Pierce once again gestured towards Tairin who was standing on the other side of the fence from Ryder now, "are essentially shadows of the people in this world, like the shadow you cast when the light hits you. The shadow from the spark causes you have a similar outline, but everything is fuzzy and distorted. That is why we call it the Shadow Realm, and its people, Shadows."

Tairin looked utterly lost, "That is not the answer I expected."

"Me, neither." Ryder answered. She did however find it odd that Pierce went out of his way to always gesture towards Tairin when he referred to 'the other world'. It was a peculiar distinction that made her think of Athos, and the question of what she could possibly be.

"It is a lot to take in." Pierce admitted. He gave them a thoughtful smile, then reached out to take the practice sword from Tairin. Leaving them to their own conversation.

"I think I would have preferred it to be a simple insult." Tairin said as he shook his head, as if trying to clear out the clutter. With the clutter seemingly dealt with Tairin effortlessly hopped the fence, officially closing the conversation with the act and scooped Ryder up in a massive hug.

"I'm so glad you're awake. That old guy kept assuring me you were okay, but I thought you should have been taken to a hospital. But he promised you were going to be fine and that you just needed to rest."

Ryder couldn't help but giggle as Tairin held her suspended in his hug, "I feel fine." She said reassuringly. "I was even clean for a moment too."

Tairin laughed and put her down, "Sorry." He said, as he examined his filthy body. "I was clean too, but these guys are brutal. I actually feel like I learned something from Pierce, but I'm pretty sure Graynin was just being an ass and putting a beating on me."

Now that Tairin was closer she could see the red welts all over his arms and abdomen under the layer of sweat created grime. "Geez," she said, taking his arm and examining one of the larger welts on his forearm more closely, "Those are terrible. You're going to be so sore tomorrow." She said prodding the swelling.

"I know." Tairin agreed, pulling his arm from her poking investigation. He stretched his back, testing the level of tightness he already felt taking hold. "This is so different, and harder, than hell-week for swimming. But it's pretty cool too. Pierce wants me to train with him tomorrow morning."

She could see the excitement in his eyes. "Well you've certainly settled in here."

"Well," he shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it because you've been unconscious, so moving you anywhere wasn't an option." She watched as he thought about their situation now that she was awake. "What is going to happen now?"

"I honestly don't know." Ryder said, her good-hearted feelings becoming diluted with a conversation she didn't want to have. "Athos says he can explain more at dinner."

Tairin nodded, a placid look on his dirty, yet still handsome face. Ryder's stomach began to feel butterflies as she remembered their kiss. The kiss seemed to almost be a marker for her life, a defining moment just before her world was turned upside-down. How annoyingly poetic, she thought.

She couldn't help it, her lack of comfort with such a raw moment brought up her defenses, even if it was all in her head. "How about we get you hosed off." She suggested sarcastically, pushing Tairin off balance, his left foot smoothly slid back to counteract her attempt.

"Wow, you are a quick learner." She said smiling up at him as she turned towards the house.

"Yeah, that was the first 'problem' Pierce addressed." Tairin said with air quotes. "He says balance is fundamental for sword fighting, and mine is 'alarmingly bad'." He tousled his hair attempting to get some of the dirt out as he joined Ryder.

Both stopped when Ryder's name was called. They turned back to the sparing arena to see Pierce grabbing the last of the practice equipment.

"Ryder, I expect to see you tomorrow morning as well." Pierce yelled.

"Uh... Really?" Ryder asked, instantly feeling self-conscious. She hated being bad at things, and she had hardly worked with a kitchen knife, let alone a sword.

"Oh, yes." Pierce answered back, she could hear the amusement in his voice. "Women in Esera are expected to be proficient fighters as well, none of this relying on men to protect them."

"Okay." She said hollowly back. And turned on her heels practically jogging away, fearing that she might be summoned to do some sort of training now. Tairin couldn't help but laugh as he jogged to catch up to her accelerated pace.