The fight started between two men. One was bald and the other had enough hair for a bear and neither of them wore shirts. They fought with nothing but their fists and feet, battering each other relentlessly. Alden smirked as the bear like man knocked the bald one flat onto his back unconscious. The young man relaxed and his neck creaked. The people were all riled up and wanting another fight when one man slammed into Skorri, making him drop Elise. The young woman landed on top of Alden and the pair crumpled toward the road.
Alden grunted as he hit the ground and waited for Elise to get off of him. The young woman hopped up and Alden climbed back onto his feet. The blonde offered him a small smile, “Sorry.”
The young man shrugged one shoulder, “Not your fault. People need to watch where they walk.”
The man who had bumped into Skorri heard the comment and barked, “You talking about me, kid?”
Alden met the gaze of the man, who was maybe an inch taller then the young man with a sparse beard and greasy hair, evenly and replied, “Yeah, I am. If you got a problem with it I’m sure none of these nice folks would mind us usin’ this ring here to settle our differences.”
The greasy man sneered, “Let’s go then, boy.”
Alden shrugged his duster off and handed it to Warren, “Hold this for me.”
Warren took the coat with a grimace, “Do you really have to do this?”
The green eyed teen nodded, “Yeah, I do.”
Alden moved to walk towards the center of the crowd when Skorri caught him and said, “Leave the shirt too. It became a rule after one guy lined his with pads so body blows didn’t do a thing.”
The young man pulled his t-shirt over his head, tossed it to Warren and marched out towards the makeshift arena. The greasy man was waiting for him and being shirtless, if the greasy thing he wore could be called a shirt, didn’t help matters. The young man had been trained and exercised and it showed, especially when compared to the beer gut of the older man.
Alden squared his feet and denied every rule Sergeant Hunter had taught him by relaxing back on his heels. The young man let his arms relax and hang at his sides as the greasy man eyed him nervously and shuffled back and forth. Alden’s fingers started drumming against his legs at a lazy pace before he cracked his thumb in his palm.
The greasy man stepped in, right arm coming up in a wide hook. Alden didn’t move, just rocked backwards on his heels so the blow whistled by his face and then the young man snapped forward. His left fist came up and slammed into the other man’s mouth. Alden decided he looked like a “Brady”.
“Brady’s” head jerked backwards and Alden stepped forward, his right fist coming across and slamming into the man’s side. The young man snapped his right leg up and kicked “Brady” in the chest, sending the man sprawling out across the dirt. The people cheered as Alden stepped backwards and let “Brady” regain his feet.
Alden watched as the man climbed back to his feet, blood starting to drip from his nose. The young man sneered as “Brady” lurched towards him and swung again. Alden caught his arm and turned, kicking the back of “Brady’s” knee forward so the man fell. Alden reversed directions, bringing “Brady” back up by his arm and tossing the greasy back onto his back.
The man clambered back onto his feet and rushed in again. Alden was tired of playing this game. The punch slid past Alden’s jaw without making contact and the young man punched forward, hitting “Brady” in the mouth again and then tossing a right hook after it. Alden’s fist slammed across the man’s jaw and made him stumble back. The young man swung an uppercut into “Brady’s” jaw, knocking him up into the air before the older man hit the ground with a slap.
Alden stepped back and let himself relax, the crowd cheered and Brady’s form had a bucket of water dumped over him as the young man walked back into the crowd and to his friends.
Skorri slapped Alden across the back and laughed, “You know how to fight. I just wonder how you would do against me?”
Alden shook his head, “I’ll pass on that one.”
The friendly giant smiled, “One day, Alden. One day we will have a fight.”
The smaller of the two smiled back, “Maybe. Not today. But maybe.”
Alden brushed past Skorri and towards Warren again but stopped as Elise hugged him, “Even though you didn’t have to it was still fun to watch you fight. But you owe me a fight sometime.”
The young man hesitated before hugging Elise back, with Enzo glaring at them, and he answered, “You’d probably beat the snot out of me.”
Enzo snorted, “She could.”
The young woman stepped back and turned towards her twin, “I certainly trounced you the last time we sparred.”
The other twin rolled his eyes, “Just wait until next time.”
Elise stepped closer to her brother, “The result then will be the same before.”
Alden shook his head and stepped toward Warren, pulling his shirt back on and tossing his duster over his shoulder. It was almost time for dinner again. And the young man was starving.
Chapter 28 Unexpected Outcomes
The next morning brought a surprise for Warren. Sergeant Hunter told them to meet on top of the Wall and they found the others waiting on them. The large teen stopped and looked at the Sergeant for a moment before letting his question die.
Alden stepped up beside his partner and said, “Wonder what this is all about.”
Warren nodded, “I do to but it probably is not anything important.”
The pair fell into silence and a few minutes later the Sergeant started to speak, “First off, as you all know the Harvest Festivals are next week. The King is having a ball on Sunday. Not this Sunday. The next one. You are all invited to attend. You may bring someone with you or you may not. Many Knights do not bring anyone so don’t worry about it if you don’t. I know how you teenagers are.”
Warren frowned, the Sergeant seemed distracted today but let it slide off as the man continued, “But that is that. And now we focus on today. You will be sparring against each other. I want to see how you are all doing and today is the perfect day since the training rooms are being set up for weapons training. Try not to hurt each other too badly so try and avoid breaking each other’s skulls or limbs and other important things. Now, our first match. Elise Colbert and John Shaw.”
John stepped away from the crowd as Elise moved away from her brother. Warren had forgotten John had even been part of the training. The young man was Alden’s height but skinnier. He was still quiet but there was a confidence around him now.
The Sergeant cleared his throat, “Begin.”
John seemed hesitant but moved first anyway. A jab towards Elise that the young woman slapped aside and returned with a quick punch to the stomach. The young woman shook her head, “Fight me like you really mean it.”
Shaw seemed to come to life and he stalked around Elise, the young man’s movements making Warren think of a wolf. Shaw pounced, throwing another jab, faster and harder then the first at her face. The young woman leaned out of the way and replied to it with a quick left hook. Shaw diped under the blow and came back up with a right haymaker imed at Elise’s ribs. The young woman stepped back out of the way and then stepped forward with a kick.
John grabbed Elise’s leg and tossed her backwards but the young woman landed on her feet and dashed forward again. She launched a right jab followed by a second from the same hand. The young man let the first roll by as he leaned and smacked the second aside before throwing a short underhanded punch towards Elise’s stomach. The young woman stepped back and spun. John prepared to catch the kick again but caught a back hand across the face instead.
The young man staggered backwards and Elise continued her spin, bringing her leg up this time to kick John but the young man caught her leg again. The young woman smiled and yanked herself up using
the leg John held onto and brought her other leg around, kicking John in the shoulder and making him release her. The young woman landed roughly and rolled back to her feet.
John rushed her this time and she grabbed his arm on the second punch, a left hook across her face, and she yanked. The young man was tugged up and over Elise’s head as she pivoted and gently slammed him onto the ground again.
The Sergeant spoke up, “That’s enough. John, never underestimate your opponent. Elise, take any advantage you can. Next, I believe you promised Skorri a fight yesterday, Alden.”
Warren had to suppress a laugh as Alden stared at the Sergeant in surprise and Skorri strode away from the crowd, a broad grin [;astered across his face, “This will be fun.”
Alden grimaced and stepped out of the crowd, muttering, “How the hell did he hear about that?”
Warren crossed his arms and watched as his partner warily eyed Skorri and took up a ready stance. He wasn’t going to play around on this one. As soon as the word to begin left the Sergeant’s mouth Alden moved. He covered the ground between himself and Skorri in an instant, the smaller boy slamming his fist into the giant’s side.
Skorri didn’t see the blow coming and grunted as he took it but blocked the follow up punch from Alden’s left and swung his massive left arm across toward Alden’s side. The smaller boy ducked the blow and stepped behind Skorri, slamming his fist into the big man’s kidney in the process. The giant staggered forward and turned. Skorri lashed out in a quick left jab that Alden bobbed past, a right hook which made the smaller boy step back and a spartan kick that Alden twisted around and back towards Skorri, smashing his fist into the boy’s stomach again.
The giant grunted but absorbed the heavy blow and reached out to grab Alden. The young man jumped backwards out of reach and Skorri followed him. The boy ducked under another left hook and hit Skorri again, this time in the chin. The giant registered the blow and countered with another combination. A leading right jab that Alden dodged followed by a quick kick to the side, which Alden avoided by jerking back out of the way, and then a right hook. Which connected squarely with the smaller man’s jaw and sent him sprawling. The worst part was that Skorri had pulled the punch.
Warren winced at the impact and Sergeant Hunter ended the fight there. Alden hadn’t lost any more teeth but he would be feeling that for a while. The Sergeant smiled, “Alden, good legwork but make sure you can always stay in motion. Skorri, you have all the power you could ever need. But you need to be faster. Nicely done though.”
The Sergeant seemed to consider things for a moment before he called out, “Blackfeather and Faulkner.”
Warren slapped his partner on the back as the young man walked by, rubbing his jaw. Getting to hit Reginald the way Skorri had just punched Alden, now that would be spectacular. Warren reached his mark and squared up to Reginald.
Blackfeather seemed nervous for once but still had his regular scowl in place. Warren stepped forward the moment Sergeant Hunter gave the go ahead. A left jab was tossed out but Blackfeather dodged it and that was followed by a right which was smacked aside. Reginald kicked forward, towards Warren’s knee but the large teen caught Reginald’s leg and tossed him towards the barrier.
Reginald hit the stone surface and stepped forward, tossing a fast punch at Warren but the big man had already moved. Reginald then spun behind the large boy as Warren tried connecting with a right cross. The large boy whirled to face Reginald as the smaller boy tried to kick him in the back and sidestepped the attack. Now Warren’s back was to the barrier. Warren tried for a left uppercut but Reginald dodged the blow and the right jab that followed it before lowering his shoulder and slamming into Warren.
The large boy didn’t see the attack coming and stumbled backwards, towards the barrier. He hit at one of the low points, made for dumping scalding pots of oil onto attackers below if the need should arise. The large boy tripped over the edge and his last thought was of how he let his father down.
And then his next thought was of how badly it hurt when he jerked to a halt by one arm. Warren looked up from the drop below and found Alden’s green eyes staring down at him, full of fury. The smaller teen was trying to hold on but his grip was slipping. Then Warren saw Skorri appear and offered him his hand. Warren reached up with his other arm and latched onto the giant’s grip and felt himself towed back up over the wall.
The trio fell onto the floor of the Wall and the Sergeant started shouting, “You idiots! Always pay attention to your surroundings! Balkfeather, if anything like this happens again I will see you thrown from this wall! Do you understand me?!”
There wasn’t an answer so the Sergeant bellowed, “BLACKFEATHER! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?”
Reginald was calm, even in the face of the screaming Sergeant, “It was an accident. I didn’t expect-.”
The Sergeant grabbed and lifted Reginald up into the air, “I DIDN’T ASK WHAT YOU EXPECTED! I ASKED IF YOU UNDERSTOOD ME!”
Blackfeather managed to call out, “YES, Sir!”
The Sergeant dropped the young man and took a deep breath before continuing, “A Knight is always aware of his surroundings. A sparring match should never approach lethality or even a chance of it. You have to be aware of what will endanger the life of your sparring partner, such as an edge. If you were a fully fledged Knight and you had done that I would have you stripped of rank and removed from the Guard. As it is, I will let this incident slide. This will NOT happen again. And this goes for all of you. Understood?”
There was a chorus of yes sirs from the group and the Sergeant let out a breath, “Good, dismissed.”
The others, including Reginald, made their way off the top of the wall as the Sergeant knelt down by Warren and asked, “You alright?”
The large boy nodded, “I am. Thank you.”
Malcolm shook his head, “Thank Alden. Fastest I’ve ever seen him move.”
The smaller teen shrugged, “You would’ve done it for me. Besides, Skorri is the one who pulled you up, not me.”
Skorri smiled broadly, “Let’s not argue about who deserves credit. Warren is alive. That is the important thing.”
The Sergeant nodded, “It is. You two just can’t catch a break can you? Anyway, go get some rest. Relax. Have some fun.”
Chapter 29 Tools Of The Trade
Tuesday found Alden starting his new routine which didn’t involve the Wall every morning. The first thing the pair had was breakfast, followed by training with Sergeant Hunter, followed by classroom lessons, followed by lunch, followed by more training with the Sergeant and then dinner. Today was the day the pair would receive their weapons and start training with them, although they would continue training with hand to hand combat until the Second Trial at least.
The young man woke his large friend and started to dress in the familiar uniform. Alden had never adjusted to the things. They felt stuffy and too, well, uniform. The young man shrugged the thoughts away as he finished dressing and moved toward the door of their small room. It was time to get the day started.
Breakfast was quick and the pair went down to meet Sergeant Hunter, who immediately had them run a mile and a half before taking a few minutes to cool off. A few rounds of sparring and forms with the Sergeant burnt through the remainder of their time and the pair went to their regular classes where they learned about the different races and what they were capable of.
Elves were a long-lived, graceful people. The largest group of them were located to the south in what the Kingdom referred to as the Confederacy of the Council. The elves there were divided into a collection of different clans and the Kingdom knew there were between eight and fourteen clans. Each clan was granted a seat on the Council which made laws that all elves had to follow and then each clan had individual laws that were to be followed by the members of that clan. Elves were currently not permitted citizenship within the Kingdom.
The reason given was that elvish magic twisted their minds and made them more bestial. Alden scoffed at the reasoning.
The second group covered were the dwarves. They were a hardy people, who lived longer then humans but not as long as the elves. They were rumored to be master smiths and craftsmen but trade was not done with the dwarves so it was difficult to say for certain. The main collection of dwarves in the area were those in the Lachian Mountains but most things the kingdom knew about them was second hand. Dwarves were not permitted within the Kingdom. The reason being was that all Dwarves were enemies of the Crown.
The third and final group went over were the orcs. They lived to the west, in the Badlands. They were bigger then humans but also short lived as far as anyone could tell. They were violent and roamed the Badlands in tribes, raiding into the Kingdom on occasion and slaughtering entire villages before the Royal Guard took care of them. All orcs were treated with ‘kill on sight’ orders. The reason the teacher gave was that every orc ever encountered had attempted to kill whoever encountered it. Alden frowned and wondered if that was true or just what the King wanted them to believe.
The class ended shortly afterwards and that meant the pair traveled to lunch and ate before rushing back down to the training arena where Sergeant Hunter was waiting for them.
Malcolm smiled at them, “I think it’s time we got down to real training. Your weapons are on the table.”
Alden rushed over to the wooden table on the opposite wall of the sand pit and found a longsword and heater shield waiting on him. The longsword was simple, a three foot blade with a spartan cross-guard made of hardened steel and a leather wrapped hilt. The shield was a simple object as well. It had a core of wood encased in steel plating riveted together. The front of the shield was painted whit with a black pair of swords painted over top of a gold crown design.
Warren reached the table a second later and lifted the mace and tower shield from it. Alden eyed the weapons his partner wielded and looked at his own. The tower shield offered more protection for sure but they seemed slower in comparison to his sword and shield. The large boy hefted the heavy weapons easily enough though and Alden stepped back away from the table and his friend. The sword hung on his left hip and the shield had a harness that would let it hang from his back but he would put that on later.
A Knight's Path (The Path of Cinder Book 1) Page 11
