She’d been being what? She knew that Arkin was training them, but to have him say it was a little unsettling, and in a way violating. Her thoughts were interrupted by Arkin.
“And you will learn the Mahann, which will train your mind to use logic, not emotion. Both of these we can learn in the saddle, but at night in camp we’ll go over physical training. Legon, I will work with you and in turn we will switch training Keither and Sasha. Ok?” This wasn’t much of a question but Sasha didn’t fight it. She was willing to go along if for no other reason than curiosity.
Shortly after that, Kovos and Keither woke up and they broke down camp and started off. They were hoping to make it to within a half day’s ride from the end of the road, where it split three ways. From there they would go southwest along the mountains toward Salez. This wasn’t the most direct route, but it had the least amount of towns and villages, so it was ideal for them. As the day pressed on, Arkin was teaching them different exercises to train their minds and quizzing them on hypothetical situations. It made Sasha’s head hurt, but at the same time it was nice. Kovos and Keither listened in and occasionally Keither would make a remark or answer a question. He always got the questions right, and Sasha began to wonder just how smart he was. Also, he’d been so nice to her. She knew that it must have taken a lot for him to say what he had, and she was thankful for that. He was a good guy if you could get him to talk.
They were riding next to the river, which made the air cool. Legon always loved the sound of a stream or river. They seemed to give him energy and yet make him relax at the same time. All the same, he would have liked it more if Arkin wasn’t drilling them. He and Sasha always seemed to just get halfway there but rarely all the way. It was like they had been given information but only part of it. This didn’t seem to bother Arkin one bit. He was rushing along, hitting them with question after question. Then he would correct something that seemed to be insignificant and move on.
He was looking forward to training tonight. He knew how to use a sword and he could use two, but the fenrra were a little shorter than regular swords, so he would have to get used to that. He was glad that Sasha was going to be learning how to fight. That way if anything ever happened to him she might be all right. The faloon looked like it could be handy too. It had a little cord that went around her waist and as it hung it moved with her legs and skirt so no one could see it. There was just the end of the handle that came up, and that could be hidden with cloth.
He could see the she was a little uncomfortable with it. Sasha had never been in a fight and never carried a weapon, much less one that had belonged to her adopted brother’s dead mother. He, on the other hand, liked that she had the blade. It seemed to fit. As the sun fell they set up camp next to a large rock that rose thirty or forty feet above them. They were able to set up camp beneath an overhang. They placed the tents close to the rock, giving them more cover from the elements and making the smoke from the fire track its way up the rock and fan out under the overhang. As soon as dinner was done, Arkin walked into camp with a bag that looked like it contained a spare tent. He started to pull out wooden staves which were finished and polished, the same kind that Legon and Kovos had learned to fight with.
He tossed two to Legon, who noticed that they were shorter than most swords but the same length as the fenrra, and handed one to Sasha and Kovos. Sasha looked a little confused, but the two men got up, understanding it was training time.
Arkin looked down at Keither. “I imagine that your ribs are bruised at the very least, so we won’t start training you for a little while. As for the rest of you,” he addressed the others, “Sasha, you will be working with Kovos, who is going to start teaching you how to fight with a sword. He’s a very good fighter and you will learn a lot from him. Legon, you’re with me. I need to start getting you used to fighting with the fenrra. We will use the wooded staves for a few nights until you get used to the length and fighting style. After that we will put guards on the real blades. Ok?” Everyone agreed, but Sasha was looking a little nervous.
Sasha walked to one end of camp with Kovos. She was feeling a little trepidation. Kovos was nice enough, but she’d never been in a fight before and she was hoping she would never need to. This must have shown on her face because Kovos smiled warmly.
“Don’t worry. We’re just going to go over the basics tonight. I think that Arkin just wants you to have a general understanding, and then he will have to teach you to use that fa… feloon?”
“Faloon,” she corrected.
“Yeah, that thing. It looks like a good weapon and a great idea, but basic broadsword technique will be good for you to know. Don’t worry, you’re not going to be good at it for a long time, so if you’re not a master by the end of the week, don’t lose sleep over it.”
“Ok, I won’t worry too much then.”
Kovos nodded and placed the stave on the ground and drew his real sword, holding it in the palm of his hand and presenting her with the handle. She wasn’t expecting the weight. Somehow, when he’d been using it with so much speed and accuracy, she thought it must have been very light, but it wasn’t.
“Ok, you need to learn what everything is so that way when we’re working you’ll know what the hell I’m talking about, ok?”
“Isn’t this the blade, the handle and the pommel?” she said, pointing at different parts of the sword.
“No, that’s not what it all is. You got parts right, but that’s not just a blade,” he said, a little exasperated.
“It’s a long piece of metal that cuts things. How is that not just a blade? Don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty…” she said, a little confused. Kovos looked scandalized.
“Just a blade?” He stood looking at her, mouth gaping. How was she supposed to know what everything was called? It cuts stuff, right? That was a blade to her.
“Sorry, I didn’t know there was more to it than that.”
“And pretty?” he said.
Legon broke in, “But Kovos, it is pretty. I like the flames a lot.”
Arkin joined in. “You put flames on your sword?” He was starting to smile. Sasha knew the carpenter-spy or whatever was about to lose his composure. “Like the ones you put on the staves as a kid?” Arkin started to laugh hard at that.
“Oh yeah, laugh it up, real funny. I’m a trendsetter, just you wait. In a few years everyone will have swords with flames on them, and I will be rich and famous.” Arkin was on the ground, having a hard time breathing, and it was this more than anything else that made her start to laugh. It felt good. She put her hands on her knees and could feel her eyes water. She could see Legon pointing and laughing at Kovos, who was now starting to join in. The scene must have been too much for Keither, who gave a small chuckle and then put his hand on his side with a grunt. This elicited more laughter from all of them.
“Stop making me laugh! Ouch! It hurts! It’s not funny you guys,” Keither said.
It wasn’t that funny but the stress of the last few days was finally breaking, and Sasha could feel her anxiety leave as the fit stopped. Kovos was shaking his head, telling everyone just how much he hated them all, and that they would regret making fun of the flames and went back to teaching her.
“Oh my. Ok Sash, here’s what everything is named. Just try and remember, ok? On the blade there are a few parts. This first is the tip here, it’s called the Foible. Next is the mid-blade, then the forte is the part closest to the handle. Got that?”
“Foible, mid-blade, and forte. Got it.”
He pointed to the edges. “This edge, the one your knuckles are on, is the leading edge of the blade, and the other side is the false edge. The parts on either side are the flats.”
“Ok.”
“Now this cross part here is the cross guard, then the grip and the pommel. This whole part is the handle of the blade. Got it?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Ok, good. Now we will go over how to hold the sword.”
“Ok.” For the next hour she learned how to hold the sword and the basic names of moves.
After that, Arkin brought a stop to it. She was getting into it. For some reason this stuff was interesting to her, and now she was beginning to understand a lot of the conversations she had with Legon growing up. He was always talking about “parry” this and “thrust” that, but she never really had known what he was talking about. She
