The Brazen Blade

by Billy Wong

  The Brazen Blade

  by Billy Wong

  The Brazen Blade

  Copyright © 2015 Billy Wong

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the Author. Your support of author’s rights is appreciated.

  All characters in this compilation are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Credits and author page

  Sample of Iron Bloom

  Chapter 1

  The carriage rolled to a stop, and Kathryn brushed aside the dark blue cloth covering the window to peek outside. Before the vehicle loomed a massive gray stone structure, looking like the fortress it had once been during the old wars. Outside the open gate stood two tall guards in breastplates holding long spears erect. "So we're here, huh?" she said.

  Her old red-haired driver Liam stepped out, opened the door for her and offered a hand to help her down. She didn't need it, but accepted with a slight smile. She figured she should enjoy the last delicate treatment she'd probably see for a long time while she could. Kathryn glanced about. Uneven terrain stretched out in every direction, grassy slopes broken up by areas of flat plain. Aside from the building and simple dirt road, nothing recognizably man-made lay in view. It looked peaceful now, but she knew monsters lurked beyond her sight, for the school's location had been chosen so that students would be able to hone their skills amid real danger.

  "It's not too late to change your mind, young mistress," Liam said. "Your parents would understand."

  "I'm sure, but after how hard I tried to convince them it would seem like a waste to turn back. Besides, it would make Tristan feel worse."

  "It's good of you to do all this for him. Good luck and be safe, then."

  She smiled. "Thanks, but don't give me so much credit. I also wanted the chance to see more of the world myself. You take care too, and tell Mother and Father not to worry because I'll be just fine."

  He gave a respectful nod and got back in the carriage. Kathryn turned for the fortress and walked towards it. Despite her reassuring words, she didn't feel as confident as she'd tried to come off. Would she be able to adjust and sleep well in the unfamiliar, likely noisy environment? Would she get along with the other students, make friends easily with them? Would her body, strong though it was for a girl's, hold up to the physical rigors? Well, that last one would be a concern if she was a male too. She'd heard plenty of unprepared hopefuls were dropped within a month or less.

  She approached the guards. The fact she hadn't heard the wagon drive away told her Liam waited to see her get inside before he left. Wise of him to do so. Things happened, after all. "I'm here to join the freshman class of the Iron Sword Military School," she said, showing the bronze badge that indicated she had been accepted as a student.

  The guard who replied, a tanned one with a rough thick beard, opened his mouth silently in surprise before finding words. "When you go in, look right and you'll see the line. Wait your turn to receive your uniform, and you'll get further instructions on where to go after."

  Kathryn walked inside, heard the rumbling of the carriage fade into the distance behind her. Wide stairs leading upward caught her eye at once, but she turned to the right as told to look down a long hall along the side of which dozens of boys in their late teens lined up. The building appeared less stark from within than without, as many banners and paintings adorned the walls, but still retained a sense of orderly stoicism with the even spacing between them. Though a good number of students were bigger than her, she felt some relief that she was not shorter than almost half of them. Who knew how many of those less imposing boys would fail to cut it, though.

  When she took her place behind the last youth, some glanced back and their gazes lingered on her long hair and feminine features. The plain trousers and blouse she wore to try and fit in probably didn't help much. She grinned back nervously, then looked down. Wait, she shouldn't have done that. Probably should have said hello or something... she wondered if it was too late now-

  "Hey," the boy directly in front of her said, "I'm Zack. What's your name?"

  She realized he was shorter than her, with a slightly chubby, freckled face and curly brown hair. "Kathryn. Nice to meet you."

  "You too." He extended a hand, and after a second she realized to shake it. "So w-where are you from?" The shakiness in his voice hinted that he felt at least as awkward in this new place as her, and was trying to push past his shyness by forcing himself to strike up conversation.

  Made her kind of glad, since it delayed her having to initiate. Helped her open up a bit, too. "The western province of Lurtdle, where our cooks make up all the recipes the rest of the kingdom tries to copy. You?"

  "Apsenia the golden land, from which the best wine comes." He smiled at their shared moment of local pride. "So what are you doing here? You're not like most of us."

  She shrugged. "I could say the same about you."

  He stared at her briefly before getting it. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean anything! I'm stronger than I look."

  Kathryn touched the hilt of her family sword at her belt. "How do you know I'm not strong?"

  "Well, uh... maybe you are. Still, not a lot of girls come here."

  "My brother Tristan, he-"

  She was interrupted by a tall boy farther ahead of Zack, a blond like her with a neatly trimmed mustache. "Hey lovebirds, come on! The line's moving."

  A large space had grown between Zack and the last boy before him. They hurried to catch up, Kathryn flushing a bit at the lovebird joke, and soon neared the worn door with a window through which the uniforms were handed out. The pants and jacket looked to be made of sturdy blue fabric, which she imagined might be overly warm for some of the activities they would be doing. She wondered where she would change, and how often she'd get to wash them. "Good cloth," Zack said as he watched a boy accept his garments. "Should keep us warm on cold nights."

  "Keep you warm?" asked the well groomed boy who had told them to hurry. "You're not supposed to treat your uniform that way. You need to take care of it with dignity and respect."

  Another student, as tall but much bulkier with healing scrapes on his broad face, snickered. "I doubt they expect our uniforms to be exempt from rough use. We'll be wearing them when we train and get sweaty after all."

  "So what, wearing it while receiving instruction is different from sleeping in it. What do you know anyway? You probably haven't even been taught to have separate clothes for public places and home, like real nobles do."

  "Who says I'm a noble?"

  The other boy started. "You're not? How the hell did you get accepted? I mean I know the school is technically open to everyone, but usually we fill up all the available spots."

  "Yeah, I know you entitled brats are used to taking priority." The hulking youth indicated the massive hilt jutting over his shoulder with a look. "But this is Grim Razor, slayer of the marsh wyrm Skiem. I took the beast's head with it and thus, it seems the staff recog
nizes I have too much potential to pass up."

  "I've heard of you," the tall blond said while Kathryn watched with great interest. "You're Leroy Glose, boy-hero of the south. I don't believe in you! You're just a brute with unrefined sword technique who managed a lucky kill—if you even slew the beast and aren't taking credit for others' work. With my family style, I would beat you."

  Leroy shrugged. "We can test that in sword class."

  "You're famous?" Zack asked, his uniform hanging over folded arms. He sounded less anxious than he had approaching Kathryn, being overtaken with enthusiasm. "Do you know more about what we'll be doing than us?"

  "Honestly, no. But I know I'll succeed."

  Kathryn couldn't help a slight grin at the confidence. Then her ears finally registered the words, "Next! Young woman! Next!" She quickly stepped to the window to behold an annoyed glower from the lean man seated behind it. "Do you know I called to you three times before you noticed?" he asked.

  "Sorry, I was distracted."

  He sized her up and shoved a bundle into her arms. "Don't be. The next time you're 'distracted' from your superiors' orders, it might cost you your life."

  She was taken aback for an instant, but realized what he said was true and bowed her head. "I apologize again. I won't let it happen twice. So, um, where do I change?"

  "In the dressing room right next door with the rest of the boys."

  Kathryn recoiled once more. "But I'm a..."

  "In the dressing room with the rest of the boys."

  She supposed there would be no arguing it. Hugging her uniform to her chest, she scurried away. Zack, Leroy and the other boy involved in the discussion had disappeared, so she followed the last stragglers as they filed into a large, unfurnished square room. She looked around and spotted Zack and Leroy, the latter of whom already had his shirt off exposing a wide, hairy chest and thick waist. Even though she had no real reason to trust them over anyone else, limited familiarity already made her feel more comfortable around them. That, and they didn't stare so hard like many of the others. Good thing too they already stood near a wall.

  Heading over, she asked, "Can I hide behind you two? With your backs turned, of course."

  "Sure!" Zack playfully spread his arms as if to cover her better. "As an aspiring hero, it would be my honor to protect a damsel in need."

  Leroy snorted. "I won't turn my back." At her frown, he said, "What do you have to be ashamed of? Anyway, I have a girl back home. I just want to see if you're fit for what's coming."

  She wasn't sure if she believed that was his entire motivation, but supposed better to let one boy see her in her undergarments than a few dozen more. She dropped her trousers and quickly donned her new pants, then removed her shirt.

  "Damn, you look sturdy," Leroy said. "How did a noble girl like you get those arms and shoulders?"

  Well, that was a preferable comment to others he could have made. "I've been training a lot"—she slipped an arm into the jacket and pulled it on—"since I was pretty young."

  Without looking, though she could tell he fought to keep from turning his head in curiosity, Zack asked, "Training what?"

  "Swordplay, fighting... lifting heavy things. I found the things I saw my brother do interesting, so I learned them with him. Except, I could train more."

  "We never finished talking about why you're here. You were saying something about your brother?"

  Kathryn frowned. "He's... rather sickly. He was supposed to be the one to come here in the family tradition like our father, but he fell sick again and we finally had to accept he wouldn't make it through. So, I came in his place." She felt bad for Tristan. Really, he was quite skilled with a blade, and no slouch physically during a good month—but too many of his months weren't good. She'd gotten the uniform fully on now, and they left the room as somebody yelled for them to once they'd gotten ready. On the way out, they handed their old clothes and weapons off to a student assistant. Apparently they would be transported to their quarters; she just hoped they didn't get mixed up.

  "That's quite kind of you," Leroy said. "Trying to soften the blow to his pride by not letting his frailty deprive your family of a generation's worth of honor, huh?"

  "I guess. Or it might just be my selfish desire to see what it's like not being coddled at home. I mean, I've done some hard training, but I still expect I'll be pushed here in ways I haven't before."

  Zack looked questioningly at her as they followed the other students who were now being directed down the hall. "Do you intend to pursue a military career after this? That won't just be not being coddled. That'll be real danger, even more real than here."

  She'd heard students would eventually make patrols in monstrous territory, and be forced to fight if any monsters attacked. That thought did make her anxious, but she knew battling human enemies if she followed the path of a soldier would be worse. "I don't know yet. It's not as if every person who graduates from this school continues on to military service. Some just do it for the accolade."

  "But it'll honor your family more if you use what you learn for something."

  "I know. That's why I'm not sure. At least I have a lot of time to decide."

  "Well I," Leroy said, "will definitely become a great soldier. And earn lasting fame with my deeds."

  Kathryn began to get the feeling his bravado was at least partly an act. He was just a teenager like her, after all. "Did you really kill a swamp wyrm all by yourself?"

  "I had a tiny bit of help." He shifted the huge blade on his back, erasing the smirk her lips had started to form. "Grim Razor deserves some credit too."

  "I guess we'll have to wait for sword class to see how good you really are," she said with a wink.

  Some turns in the hallways later the group of fifty or so students arrived at a big classroom where she assumed they would get their orientation. The tables and chairs were clean but dull and blocky, giving them a no-nonsense feeling. To her mild disappointment, she wasn't allowed to sit with Leroy and Zack, but assigned a specific chair far from them. Still, they all probably wouldn't get much of a chance to talk anyway, and if they did she could try to make more friends. Boys gave her some doubtful looks as she passed, but she told herself they would warm up to her once they saw her faring better—hopefully—than they expected.

  A burly, large-bellied man in his fifties wearing a uniform not much different from theirs, though adorned with several medals, took the podium at the front. He introduced himself loudly as Major Jax and began to go over what they would be trained in—leadership skills, political and military history, strategy and tactics including use of formations, logistics, outdoor survival, and of course physical improvement and combat. Although the subject matter held Kathryn's attention, many students wearied of the tangent-filled way in which he conveyed it and talked amongst themselves, prompting him to shout repeatedly for quiet. Still, she continued to hear whispers behind her.

  "Think there'll be any special classes for those with gifts?" a boy was asking.

  Another replied, "I assume if anyone has known gifts, they'd be trained separately from us mere mortals."

  Kathryn couldn't help a look back, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble for it. "Gifts? You don't just mean people with talents, do you?"

  One slim youth, the second who had spoken from his voice, said, "No, we're talking about those with strong connections to the earth, manifested in the form of strange powers." Kathryn got excited for a moment. Where she came from the "gifted" were instead called blessed, as stories told of many heroes who had used such powers for good. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's nobody like that around," the boy reassured her, misreading her silence as fear. "If there was they'd be given special treatment for sure."

  She nodded as the Major called for quiet again and turned back towards the front. But the mention of "known" gifts remained in her mind, because some surely weren't known. How great it could be if she got to meet someone like that!

  #

  After orientati
on Kathryn sat through a two hour history class taught by Major Jax. It ended an hour past noon, and she thought it would be time to get lunch until a younger clean-shaven officer relieved the Major, announced himself as Lieutenant Harris and began an introductory lesson on logistics. She found it boring so far, as none of the things covered were new to her, and her stomach grumbled. She regretted not eating something today before getting here. Nonetheless the Lieutenant did interact more with the class, asking them questions to test their knowledge of terms instead of just droning on by himself like Major Jax had. She answered whenever she was quick enough and got whistles of approval in response. She took note of one boy who beat her to the punch half the time, and had equally good answers when he did. Kathryn thought to talk to him once she got a chance. He'd probably make a good study partner, plus smart friends could always be helpful for figuring a way out of a jam.

  After two hours, the class was finally released to seek the mess hall. Ignoring the hunger pangs in her stomach, she found the boy walking alone amid the crowd of students. He was average height, just a hair taller than her, with a slim athletic build, narrow face and large eyes. "Hi! I'm Kathryn."

  He turned his head without hurry to regard her. "I'm Marty. But you probably already knew that."

  Well, Lieutenant Harris had asked for their names when calling on them. "Well met Marty. That was some impressive knowledge you showed in there. Have you studied these things before coming here?"

  "Not formally. But I read my share of books."

  "Me too. What kind do you like best?"

  He shrugged. "All kinds. I'll admit the ones I take the most pleasure from are the old legends, but those don't have as much practical value."

  "I disagree," she said with a smile. "Because you can draw much inspiration from them, and sometimes inspiration is what you need most."

  "I suppose you have a point. Nothing like a heroic tale of courage and sacrifice to rally the troops, even if sacrifice isn't usually so glorious as the tales tend to make out."