“Strike!  Strike!  Strike!  Single handed, Owen!  Leave your left hand free!  Strike!  Strike!  That’s better!  At ease!”.
     Owen sheathed his blade with a sigh of relief, catching his breath before staggering over to the table to help himself to a bottle of water.  He drank half, then let the rest run over his face to wash away the accumulated sweat of an hour’s training.  After finishing the bottle, he set it on the table and walked to the nearest walk, resting against it as he slid to the floor.
     “Stretch before resting, Owen.  You’ll appreciate it later.  Trust me.”, Kenrick nodded as he spoke.
     Breathing hard, Owen replied, “I can stretch on the floor.”, and lay down on his back, stretching his arms and legs out as far as he could, rapping the knuckles of his right hand against the wall in the process.
     “Very well.  Don’t complain to me when you can’t move tomorrow.”, Kenrick shrugged his shoulders.
     He turned to a group that was gathered at the other end of the basement, each of them holding a partisan in front of them, forming a wall of sharpened steel.
     “You’ve held formation long enough.  Shoulder your weapons.”
     The demon walked in front of the formation, pausing to silently correct each person’s stance before moving on.  After surveying his trainees, he stood with his hands folded behind his back, slowly looking over them, moving his head from side to side.  To anyone watching, the sight of a lizard dressed in a heavy knee length buff coat standing in front of a group of ordinary people in T-shirts and jeans carrying polearms would have seemed the height of strangeness.  For the last month at Hillview, it had been life as usual for the Defenders.
     “First Hillview Infantry, you are dismissed!”, Kenrick barked, and the crowd thankfully put their armaments in the rack on the wall.
     “You’ve gotten a lot better Owen,”, Kenrick said without turning to face him, “soon you’ll be ready for more advanced lessons.  You still have to work on strengthening your grip.  A broadsword is a single handed weapon.  With your left hand free you can use a buckler or a pistol.”.
     “I still don’t see why I should be singled out to train with a sword when everyone else is using a polearm.”.
     “Because you have the talent.  I’ve told you before, you faced down a trained swordsman, even wounding him in your first battle.”.
     Owen stared at Kenrick, his eyes turning to steel, “I also got my ass kicked and was almost beheaded, too.”.
     “All the more reason to want to train.  Next time you might not be so lucky.”.
     “Well, it doesn’t matter now, I have to go have a shower.”.
     Kenrick turned around, looking at Owen quizzically before he nodded, “Ah, yes, it’s finally your date with Beth.”.
     Owen just smiled in response as he climbed to his feet.  He picked up his broadsword and tossed it to Kenrick.
     “Take care of Baldwin, would you?”.
     Kenrick caught the weapon and gently placed in on the rack in its place of honour.
     “I’ll meet you upstairs, I have to hurry if I want to pick up flowers on time.”.
     “Are you sure you don’t want Baldwin?”.
     “Humans, as a rule, don’t take swords on dates.”.
     “You might have to defend her honour.”.
     “I’ve seen her bludgeon a man into unconsciousness.  Beth can defend her own honour quite nicely.”.
     Kenrick smiled as he assumed his human guise, “That’s a good sign.”.
     “What is?”.
     “A strong woman like that can breed strong children.  She’ll make a fine mate!”.
     Owen’s eyes grew wide suddenly, and he waved his hands in front of himself, shouting, “Whoa!  Don’t get too far ahead of yourself there!  I’m just going out with her, I’m not making plans to father any children just yet!”.
     “Oh, umm, alright.  I’m still not clear on your human customs.  I thought dating was to try and find a mate.”.
     Owen, calming down, shook his head, “Well, it is, sort of, it’s kind of a long term thing.  We usually don’t talk about breeding on the first date.  Don’t you have courtship in Belfar?”.
     “Not for the soldiers.  No time.  Usually we…”.
     Owen interrupted, “That’s okay, there’s no need to go into detail.”.
     “Didn’t you have to go and shower?”.
     “Right, I’m off!”.
     Owen ran upstairs, reaching his front door in almost record time.  He rushed into the bathroom, turning the water on as he quickly undressed.  He showered quickly, regretting that he’d stalled for so long talking to Kenrick, and left his hair wet as he put on some clothes to run his errands.
     He drove to the nearest florist, buying a mixed bouquet, cursing himself for not finding out Beth’s favourite flower.  He paid the clerk and ran out to his idling car, and drove back to the apartment.  Rushing up the stairs, he turned the corner to come face to face with Beth, waiting outside his door.
     She smiled at him as she said, “Sorry I’m early, I don’t take long to get ready.  For dinner and a movie I don’t wear anything too fancy.  What do you think?”.
     Beth placed her hands on her hips, showing off her apparel of jeans and a simple white blouse.  If she was wearing any make-up, it was selected to look as if she wasn’t wearing any, not that she needed it, in Owen’s eyes.  Her long hair was tied back in tail and left to hang down her back.
     “You look great,”, Owen answered.
     “So where are we going?”.
     “I know this nice little Italian place downtown, and a block from there there’s a theatre that plays some great old movies.  Tonight they’re playing The King and I.”.
     “Garlic on a first date?  Daring!”, Beth chuckled.
     “We could go for something else, if you’d prefer.”.
     “No, I love Italian.  Everything sounds wonderful.  Shall we go then?”, she held out her arm.
     “I was going to change first, but seeing as we’re keeping this casual,”, Owen said as he opened the stairwell door, “after you.”.
     Beth glided past him and waited as Owen gently closed the door and offered her the flowers.
     “I didn’t know what type to get.”, he explained as she smelled them.
     “It doesn’t matter, they’re beautiful, we should put them in water right away.”.
     “Why don’t I start the car then and I’ll meet you in the parking lot?”.
     “Sure.”, Beth said as they reached the first floor, and turned to enter her apartment.
     Owen walked out the front door, and stopped dead in his tracks.  A black limousine was parked in front of the building, complete with uniformed chauffeur waiting by the door.  Owen could see through the open window that a woman sat in the driver’s seat.
     “Mr. Buchanan?”, the man standing by the door asked.
     Owen nodded apprehensively.
     “Very good.  May I presume Miss Robbins will be joining you in a moment?”.
     “Yes,”, Owen said, “she just went to put the flowers I gave her in water.  What’s going on?”.
     Beth came out of the building, and stood behind Owen.  The man smiled and opened the door to the limousine.
     “Mr. Buchanan, Miss Robbins.  Your transportation.”.
     Beth looked at Owen in shock.
     “You didn’t tell me you’d be doing something like this?”, she slapped him on the shoulder, “I feel so underdressed.”.
     “I didn’t do this.  I have no clue what’s going on.  Who are you?”.
     The man cleared his throat and answered, “My name is Henry Gardener.  There is no need to be alarmed, and there is no need to stand on formalities where you’ll be going.  Now, if you would please enter, we don’t want to be late.”.
     Owen and Beth looked at each other, and entered the vehicle.  Henry closed the door and got into the front passenger seat.  The limousine started driving forward almost immediately, and Owen tapped on the glass separating the two sections.  It rolled down and Henry turned his head.
     “Can I ask what’s going on?”.
     Henry shrugged his shoulders, “We were told to pick you up and take you to be Mr. Allebarr’s guests of honour for the evening.  The ride will take about twenty minutes, so why don’t you enjoy the ride.  There are beverages in the cooler, please help yourselves.”.
     The glass rose again, leaving Owen and Beth to themselves.
     “Who’s Mr. Allebarr?”, Beth asked.
     “I have no idea.  I was hoping you would know.”.
     “Should we open the cooler?”, she suggested, not waiting for an answer.  Inside where several bottles of iced tea and apple juice.  Beth reached in a helped herself to one of the bottles of juice.
     “My favourite.”, she commented as she opened the lid and took a sip.
     Owen took a bottle of iced tea, saying, “Mine’s here, too.”, as he opened it.
     “This is kind of creepy.”.
     “Ah, this is nothing, you should have been at my place a month ago.”.
     “Oh, what happened?”.
     Owen shook his head, “I wouldn’t know how to explain.  Since I’ve moved to Hillview, though, I’ve learned to expect anything.”.
     Owen lowered the window, and saw that they’d reached the edge of the city, and were driving into the countryside.  He raised it again and said, “I have no idea where we’re going.”.
     “It’s too late to turn back now, so why don’t we just enjoy the ride?”, Beth said with a smile.
     The two of them made small talk until the felt the vehicle slow down and turn a corner.  After it came to a stop the door opened and another uniformed woman, not the driver held open the door.  Owen and Beth climbed out of the limo to find themselves in front a large white building, with wooden double doors waiting open.  A large black man stood in the doorway, dressed in an expensive looking blue suit, holding a silver and ebony cane.  A golden retriever sat beside him, wagging its tail and looking from its companion to Owen and Beth.
     In a deep voice, the large man said, “I am Mr. Allebarr, and welcome to the Sanctuary Club.”.

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