by Philip Blood
"Or a Willowman?" Gandarel said but smiled to take the sting out of his words. "All right, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, that Priest Hork is more of an evil creature in my book. He has always given me the creeps."
Mara returned from the stable and saw Aerin sitting with the other three boys. "Aerin, did you forget that you agreed to begin your lessons today?"
"I didn't forget, Mara," he sighed.
Mara smiled, "Good, then come here.” When Aerin arrived she added, “Today we'll start with tactics." Then she addressed Lor and Dono. "Hello boys, I was just going to teach Aerin a lesson, but I need some help. Would you two mind lending me a hand?"
Lor shrugged and then both boys got to their feet and sauntered over. "Sure, what is he learning?" Lor asked with a grin.
"Tactics," Aerin answered dryly.
Mara smiled at Aerin. "He thinks this is going to be dull. Lor, do you have those colored balls you like to juggle?"
As if out of thin air the red, blue and green balls suddenly appeared, rotating in a complex pattern above Lor's moving hands. "These balls?” he asked innocently.
Mara smiled. "Yes, but we'll only need two right now."
The green one disappeared, and Lor kept the other two in the air with one hand.
"I'm going to let you throw both of them at Aerin, at once," Mara explained.
Aerin's eyes widened, "Hey!"
Mara shrugged, "Try not to let them hit you. Go ahead, Lor."
Almost simultaneously, both balls were flying toward Aerin. Aerin swatted one down by sweeping his hand across, but the other ball hit him squarely in the chest.
"Ow!” he exclaimed, rubbing at the spot of impact on his chest. The leather balls were soft, but filled with sand, so the impact had been rather solid.
Lor laughed, "Got ya. I think I’m going to like this training!"
Mara smiled as well and said, "Indeed. Now, Aerin, you managed to block one of them, and that was well done, but what happened with the second ball?"
"I couldn't stop it in time."
Lor retrieved the two balls from the ground.
Mara kept her eyes on Aerin, "Throw the two balls at me, Lor."
Again, faster than Aerin could believe, the two balls were on their way toward Mara.
She simply turned her body so it was out of their path and the balls flew passed, landing in the dirt behind her.
"Movement, it is the most important part of any conflict, but the other side to that statement is you should never react blindly, you must choose your moves, not have them chosen for you."
Aerin looked puzzled. "That's the most important thing? Isn't strength, like Tocor, or weapon skill, like Yearl, more important?"
"They have their place, but movement is critical," she explained.
Tocor came over wearing his customary hooded cloak pulled up over his bald head. He was cradling some long polished pieces of wood against his chest, using his black leather covered hands. When he placed them on the ground Aerin saw that there were poles and a few wooden swords.
Mara invited Lor, Dono, and Aerin to pick up wooden swords; there were no sharp edges or points on any of them.
Aerin noted that both boys kept a wary eye on Tocor and waited for the large man to back up before approaching the newly deposited pile.
"If I have Dono and Lor attack you who will win?" Mara asked Aerin.
Aerin shrugged ruefully. "They will, since two on one isn't fair."
Mara smiled as he answered, "That's true, but life is not fair, ever. How would you survive it if it happened?"
"Movement?" Aerin asked hopefully, though he had no idea what he was talking about.
Mara chuckled and then said, "Exactly, and the first move you would make is to run if you could."
"Run, but that would be cowardly!" Aerin exclaimed.
Dono piped up in a singsong voice, "He who chooses to run away will live to fight another day."
To which Gandarel countered from his spot in the shade, "A coward dies a hundred deaths, a hero only one. I’ve got more old platitudes if you need them," he said with a grin.
Mara caught Aerin's eyes with hers, "That one hero's death comes swiftly, though, yet I do not counsel you to be a coward, only to choose your time. Picking the right time to fight is wise; dying because it’s brave is foolish. When fate deals you a bad selection you can bow to your fate or attempt to change the situation. Use your head, not your heart."
"Tocor would never run," Aerin grumbled.
The Quarian's laugh was a deep rumble in his chest. "Not only have I run, I've run with all of my heart, soul and mind concentrating on saving my hide."
Lor and Dono both stepped back at the sound of his laugh.
"You!" Aerin exclaimed, "You're the greatest fighter I've ever seen."
"It was not the proper time to die," he explained simply.
Mara smiled at her large friend, "It seldom is, but, Aerin, if you could not run and you were cornered and had to fight, what could you do to help even the odds?"
"I don't know," Aerin said.
Mara had Lor and Dono stand side by side and face Aerin with their raised swords. "All right, no blows to the head, just to the body. I want you two to touch Aerin on his body somewhere before he touches you. If anyone has a sword touch their body, they are out and must fall back... go!"
Aerin unskillfully tried to block their somewhat wild thrusts and swings. He stayed completely on defense, retreating swiftly. By making them advance he was able to stop them for a few moments, but his back came up against the hitching post and Dono's dull sword tip poked him in the stomach.
"I win!" Dono exclaimed.
"All right, now attack Tocor," Mara told the two victors.
Tocor picked up one of the practice swords with his black-gloved hand and held it casually at his side.
The two boys looked at the massive mountain fearfully. "But that's not fair, he is a... a... warrior, a very BIG warrior," Lor finally said, though it wasn't the word he had started to say, then he added, “and he is far larger and stronger than we are!"
"You didn't complain about two on one against Aerin, but I'll concede your point, for now. Let's have you attack me instead," she ordered. Mara stood leaning on her wooden cane.
Dono looked sheepish and said, "I can't fight an old woman."
Tocor's face was unreadable.
Lor looked at Dono in disgust.
Mara stepped over near the red headed boy and rapped him sharply on the shin with her cane.
"Ow!" Dono yelped, leaning over and rubbing at his shin.
Mara swung her cane sideways and whacked his protruding rear end.
"Stop it!” he exclaimed, standing swiftly.
"All you have to do is touch me with your practice sword, little boy, and I'll stop,” explained Mara with a sly smile on her lips.
Lor picked up Dono's fallen practice sword and handed it to his friend. "Come, she wants us to do this, so let’s get her!"
Dono nodded, and they advanced, side by side.
Mara waited until they were fairly close, and then just before they could engage, she took a swift step to Dono's left, away from Lor. She swung her cane up and toward Dono's left arm, but he managed to block the swing. However, by extending his wooden sword up to block Mara's cane he effectively stopped Lor from rotating around so that they could both face Mara. She completed her movement and had Dono between her and Lor.
Then her cane smote his sword and it swung wide while her cane tip licked in and touched him on the heart lightly.
"You're out," she explained.
Dono scowled but stepped aside.
Mara lowered her cane as she said, "Enough, Lor, there is no need for us to battle, the point is made."
"Yeah, you're better than they are," Aerin exclaimed.
"Yes, but that is not the point of the exercise. Who knows what happened here?" Mara asked.
It surprised the three boys when Gandarel spoke up from the shade of
his tree, but Mara smiled slightly, though her back was to him so he didn't see it.
"She used her movement to cut down the odds so she only had to face one of you at a time, and she made Dono use his sword to block out his own companion," Gandarel explained.
"In other words," Mara noted, “I moved to make things better for me, and I caused someone else to 'react' in their movement in such a way that it helped me and hindered them. Movement, he who controls the movement of himself and his opponents controls the outcome of the battle."
Gandarel got up and came over. "I thought you were going to teach discipline?"
"Discipline is a concept; I AM teaching them discipline, the discipline of how to survive by using your wits, talents and brain, instead of reacting with animal instinct, panic, and stupidity. That takes discipline. Now, would you care to join us?” she asked.
But Gandarel was still stubborn. "No, I'll watch."
Mara smiled, but shrugged as she said, "Suit yourself."
Each day Mara taught Aerin, and almost every day Dono and Lor showed up and were roped in as well. It took two weeks before Gandarel could swallow his pride and ask Mara to teach him, but when he did she made no point of it. She didn't act surprised or smug, she just added him into the group and it was soon forgotten. Mara rented a house with its own courtyard and the lessons were moved there. Over time, the boys lost most of their fear and prejudice against the Quarian and Willowman. The more they got to know them, the less mysterious and evil they seemed. Gandarel was just careful to never mention the Quarian or the Willowman to his teachers in the Seat, particularly the High Priest of The Hand. Tocor or Yearl did the actual fighting with the boys, with Mara acting as a mentor. Sometimes the day’s lesson did not involve fighting and confused the boys, but eventually her lessons all made sense in the grand scheme of things.
Nearly two years passed without much outward change, five days out of each week the Guardsmen brought Gandarel for two hours of instruction at Mara's hand. Soon Gandarel found himself looking forward to the teaching, fidgeting in his other classes as he waited to escape the confines of the Seat of Stone so he could be with his friends. And because the change was gradual the boys didn't see it, but they were learning far beyond their years.
It was a Threesday and summer had come again when Mara walked onto the sand and faced Aerin in the practice square. All of the boys took note; it was the first time they had seen Mara enter the fighting arena.
She smiled at the surprised boy, he had been sparring with Lor during warm up when Mara had tapped his friend on the shoulder and swapped places.
Aerin was puzzled, and he asked, “Did I do something wrong, Sen Mara?”
Her eyes glinted and the ghost of a smile peeked out of the corner of her mouth. “Not at all, Aerin, in fact, today is your chance to move on to the next level. I think you are the first to be ready.”
Aerin’s chest puffed out with pride.
“Don’t get a swelled head or you might end up with a real one,” she noted. “Today you are going to spar with me. I’ll give you a word of advice, remember everything I have taught you, everything. Your skill with that weapon will not be enough.”
The young boy lost his prideful look and the familiar worried frown he wore when concentrating appeared.
Gandarel plopped down onto the ground outside the sand square as if a spectator at the Gladiator finals and said, “You can take her, Aerin, she’s old.”
That got him a dirty look from both Aerin and Mara. Aerin replied, “Hey, you don’t have to get her riled up!”
Mara brought her attention back to Aerin and stepped forward into the center of the square. “All you need do to win the bout is force me out of the square, or onto the sand.” With that, she casually set the end of her cane in the sand before her and crossed her hands over the top.
Aerin held his staff in the two handed fighting grip he had been taught, the shaft at a forty-five-degree angle from the ground. He approached cautiously, sliding one foot forward before following up with the second to keep his balance ready for a sudden attack or for a lunge at his adversary.
When he closed the distance to striking range Mara casually lifted her cane in her right hand.
Aerin jumped back three feet, and his watching friends guffawed.
“She nearly got you there, Aerin; you nearly jumped out of the square in fright!” Lor said with a smile.
Mara remained quiet while watching the young boy before her.
Aerin moved forward more firmly and again reached striking range.
Mara waited.
Aerin made his move. His quarterstaff blurred in an attempt to strike from the lower left toward Mara’s thigh. It met wood as Mara rotated her cane clockwise striking his staff and driving it to the side away from her. As her cane came around she poked it straight down and smacked Aerin on the top of his extended right foot.
“Ow!” he yelped and jumped back, but he kept an eye on Mara and brought his staff back into defensive position, lest she follow up with a more serious attack while he was in pain from his foot.
Mara followed and seemed to glide forward across the sand.
With the distance between them closed, she again waited.
Aerin feinted low and spun his staff into a quick shoulder attack, and again wood met wood solidly. Within seconds Aerin's staff licked out in swift strikes, each time smacking into Mara's cane solidly. The end of the flurry of blows was almost too fast to see; Aerin’s last deflected blow made his staff ride a little high and Mara jabbed the end of her cane into his stomach.
The air whooshed out of him and he nearly fell backward onto his rear, but he managed to stagger and keep his balance.
There was laughter from his watching friends.
“Come on, Aerin, she is only a girl,” Dono exclaimed.
Lor elbowed Dono in the ribs, “I bet she can take you!”
Aerin readied his staff again and moved back into combat range. This time, he waited in defense.
Mara noted his change in posture and gave him a slight nod to acknowledge his challenge. Her cane moved in an obvious strike for his head, but when he went to block she pulled the end of her cane back. The expected impact did not take place and for an instant, Aerin’s center of balance shifted too far to his left. Mara whirled the cane in a tight arc that came in low on his right. Aerin had no choice but to spin his quarterstaff clockwise to try and block, shifting his weight even further out of center.
Mara’s cane slid off his parry and came up under his right armpit in a stinging blow. She pulled the cane back and slammed around in a sweeping arc that headed for his shin. He couldn’t get his staff around in time to block, so he attempted to jump the cane. It caught his shin while in the air and he did a quarter turn, landing hard onto the sand.
At this point, Mara turned her back to the fallen boy, placed the end of her cane back on the sand and bowed slightly to his laughing and cheering friends sitting at the edge of the square.
On the ground, Aerin felt his face flush with embarrassment. Not only did his body hurt, but his friends were also laughing, and Mara was rubbing it in by taking a bow! Anger surged in his mind. Her unprotected back was right in front of him. Smarting from the blows that would bring him ugly black bruises, Aerin got to his feet with his staff held ready to strike, but then he remembered his teachings and recognized his anger. He paused a moment and then relaxed, his anger fading. He cleansed the area with thoughts of care for this woman who had taken him in when he had lost everything. He decided he was big enough to swallow his pride and let her have her victory. He knelt to one knee in the sand behind her as Mara turned to face him.
“Mara, I admit defeat and I thank you for your lesson. I will try not to fail you again the next time you test me.”
The self-satisfied smile vanished from her lips as if it had never been there, and she regarded the young man before her with fondness. “Aerin, what makes you think you have failed? Today you have proven to me that you ar
e ready to go on to the next level.”
“But you won! You told me I had to knock you down or drive you from the square.”
“True, I said that would win the bout, but winning the bout didn’t have anything to do with passing the test.”
Mara knelt down in the sand facing the puzzled boy and put her hands on his shoulders, looking right through his eyes into his soul. Her next words were soft for his ears alone. “Please forgive my little act, it was necessary. The test was not in winning the fight, but what you did after tasting defeat and humiliation. What would you do with your anger... or hate. Skill is all well and good, but if you cannot control your emotions, if you cannot overcome that most evil part of us that hates, then your power will only feed the Wraiths. I am proud of you today, Aerin, and I can feel the friendship you have for me, it is a gift I prize above all else.”
Aerin did not understand completely, but he knew he had Mara’s respect and it filled his heart with joy. His eyes misted over and he nodded to her in gratitude.
Mara gave him a last squeeze with her hands and then stood and faced the other boys.
“Aerin has passed the first level of discipline...”
“PASSED!” Gandarel ejected in disbelief.
“Yes, he is ahead of all of you, I am very proud of him. I will begin to teach Aerin the next level. Soon some of you will be ready to take the same test. I will tell you when I think you are ready, however, today belongs to Aerin, and tonight we are going to celebrate his achievement by going out to dinner.”
“But he lost!” Gandarel exclaimed.
“I will be the judge of his skill, not you, Gandarel,” Mara said curtly.
Gandarel looked a little sullen about Aerin’s achievement, but all three of his friends pounded Aerin on the back in congratulation.
The tavern dining room was only sparsely attended as Mara, Tocor, and the four boys took their seats at a long table with six chairs, three to a side. Mara sat directly across from Aerin at the end of the table. Four burly off-duty merchant bodyguards were drinking and griping about life at a table to their right.
