CHAPTER 20

“All of you suck!” Master Aldren shouted to the Advanced Weapons class as he walked into the pit, startling me. “You’re barely worthy to be here and this is one of the few classes that have changed and mutated over the years to meet the instructor's desires.”

His small army of student instructors was much smaller this time as he stared at us. The center of the pit had the same large structure in it where he could watch us, but this time there was a painted red ring in the sand that was more than thirty feet from center to side.

He grinned and held his hands out wide, “Welcome to the chosen dome, where you’ll fight each other for the honor of being here one more week.” He stared out at us, there having to be more than a hundred students here. “I meant to whittle this class down to ten students, like it should have always been. And I think this year I’ll finally be able to.”

Murmuring swept through the students gathered around us and there was almost no end to it until her spoke again, “Two of you step in, one walks out the victor, the other leaves the class and has to take remedial weapons training from the other weapons instructor instead of this class.”

“Do we have the option to forgo the fighting, Master Aldren?” Someone shouted and the instructor’s head snapped over to them. The look on his face was terrifying.

“Explain.” Was all he growled.

I found the student and it was a girl that I had seen with Etran and his sister before. I was surprised that Etran wasn’t here. Or at least, he wasn’t with her and I didn’t care to look for him.

“I just meant that some of us are much better with their weapons than the others and should be given special consideration.” She motioned widely around her. “I can almost assure you that no one here could keep up with me, Master Aldren.”

Master Aldren snickered and looked back to his stoic-faced assistants, “Thinks she’s special. How many of those do we get yearly?”

“Too many, Master Aldren.” The student nearest him smirked, then his face went blank once more.

“Sure, you can go first then.” He motioned to the center of the circle. “That’s all the special consideration that you’ll get from me other than considering you gone regardless of your ‘skill’ or lack there of. One of you other students get in here, or I choose for you.”

No one else stepped forward fast enough, and I felt a hand on my back shove me forward so that I stumbled into the circle.

“Ooh, enthusiasm from the worms, I like it!” Master Aldren grinned and clapped his hands as h stared down at me. “You look familiar.”

I nodded, “Yes, Master Aldren, I’m the one with the smart mouth who learns quickly from his mistakes. Cadet Thorn.”

His eyes widened and his grin followed suit as he motioned at the two of us, “Only rules are no killing and don’t use magic of any kind. Don’t let me keep you from it, worms, let's see who will become maggots!”

I hated his terminology, but I didn’t have the luxury of trying to vent that thought as there was a flash of dark brown wood moving at my head in a wide arc. My shuna was in my left hand and met the wooden sword with ease, guiding it aside as I twisted and kicked with my right leg catching the girl in the hip and shoving her back.

The students around the circle went berserk, some of them shouting for one of us to kill the other. Others saying it was a cheap shot to attack someone who wasn’t prepared. I glanced back toward where I had been standing as my opponent readied herself and found Etran Marki standing there with his arms crossed and a grin of triumph on his face.

No wonder I hadn’t seen him.

I growled low in my chest and pulled out my hand axe so that I could take care of my fight sooner rather than later. Memories of my mother telling me to end those who decided to mess with me with brutality came to mind and though I wouldn’t take pleasure in beating her like this, I would feel better for wiping the smug grin of Etran’s face.

As the girl came in, her massive sword slashed at me horizontally. I stepped back out of the way, then bolted inside her swing before she could get her stance again. Her left arm came up in an attempt to drive me away, but my hand axe met her wrist as she followed through and tried to stab me with her right arm.

Bones crunched and she cried out, but I flowed into her guard further and ran the side of my shuna into her neck at the base of her jawline like Bruth had told me to strike for an easy knock out in a fight. She crumpled onto the ground and one of the senior students surged into the circle to shove me away and check on her.

He looked up and said, “She’s unconscious and will need medical.”

“See that she gets it.” Master Aldren waved a dismissive hand and smiled at me, “Congratulations maggot. Step out of the circle and to this side of the stage. You made it.”

I did as I was ordered and watched as Etran scowled and sneered, stepping into the circle. As if no one would be able to touch him.

I stepped into the ring again and a roar of laughter rang out from above us, Master Aldren wiping a tear from his eyes. “You already made it, maggot. Step out of the circle.” I didn’t move right away and he hopped off his stage, staring at me. “You didn’t hear me?”

“No, Master Aldren, I heard you.” I nodded my head at Etran. “He shoved me into the circle in an attempt to get me kicked out of this class. I want to show him what his mistake was.”

He nodded and turned around, walking over to the stage where he turned around and sighed as he leaned against it staring at both of us. “Remember what I warned you about, Marki? Thorn? Both of you are getting to be a real pain. All of you students who try to use each other and our instructors against each other, what did I say?”

“All political and social machinations stop at the entrance to the pit.” I answered calmly. “All that matters in your domain is tenacity and skill with our weapons.”

“There’s hope for you, maggot.” He eyed me balefully. “I know that the two of you have a duel, and in a few weeks, you’ll have your shot at each other. Until then, you will respect my word as law, or I will beat it into you. Get. Out. Maggot.”

I growled to myself and sheathed my weapons, turning my back on Etran and walking away to where I was. Master Aldren turned to the smirking Marki and shook his head, “You just don’t learn, do you?”

“I’ve been called tenacious since I was a toddler, Master Aldren.” He returned easily. “I do not think that scum like him should be here and I have made it plain.”

“And earned my ire for it. Congratulations.” He shook his head again and grunted, “Cookie.”

One of the smallest students behind him, a second year boy who was older than me but almost my height flounced forward with a smile, “Yes, Master Aldren?”

“If young Marki here wants to stay in this class, he has to beat you.” The student blinked and shuffled into the circle with Etran and watched the instructor intently. “Fifty percent.”

“Fifty percent!” He grunted and settled himself into a ready stance that I had never seen before. He had his legs spread to shoulder’s width and his arms bent slightly in front of him with his fists at his waist.

“Fight!” Master Aldren roared.

Etran actually looked to be taking the fight seriously, his narrow blade appearing in his hand and flying toward Cookie with an accuracy that was alarming. The elder student knocked the attack aside and punched the noble boy in the face with his left fist.

Etran stumbled slightly, growling before he turned and his sword became a blur. Cookie weaved and dipped around the weapon and smacked the boy in the face a few times before Master Aldren snarled, “Cookie! I said fifty percent, stop holding back.”

“Yes, Master Aldren!” The wooden blade snapped toward the elder student’s chest and suddenly Cookie was just gone.

He had ducked beneath the attack and swept Etran’s feet from beneath him, the Marki boy slamming onto the ground painfully enough that a few of the audience gasped.

A foot slammed into the sand by his head as he jerked it aside and stood again while Master Aldren chuckled, “I said stop holding back, not kill him, Cookie.”

“Sorry!” The older student grunted back as Etran surged forward with a thrust that wavered low, then jerked up at the last moment.

He landed a hit in the chest and snatched the weapon back, with a victorious cry, “Ha! Got you.”

Master Aldren raised his eyebrows as Cookie just looked at him then back to Etran, “I can still fight?” Etran seemed confused by this as Master Aldren just laughed at the point of hysterics.

Cookie bounded forward and kicked Etran hard enough in the chest that it sent him careening out of the circle toward me and I just happened to step out of the way in the last second.

The instructor gasped, “Winner…Cookie… Oh my god.” He guffawed some more and motioned for Cookie to step out and to take over as he doubled over.

Cookie took over the fights as the instructor occasionally burst out, “Ha! Got you! Bahahaha!”

Etran had to be carted out of the pit as well as several other students. By the end of the first portion of the class, there were fifty students left standing.

“Congratulations all of you, and welcome to the first round of not being a loser.” Master Aldren stared at all of us before staring at the sky above us. “Lunch mess is about to begin. I’d suggest eating light. Your prize for winning this first round is lessons in continued abuse from me and my horde. Come back ready to learn.”

The bell for lunch mess rang and we all filed out of the pit and into the mess hall. Shortly after I finished eating my light lunch, I returned directly to the pit, ready to practice.

There was no one there except the older students who looked to have had trays brought to them. One of them saw me and grunted to the others, smiling.

Master Aldren turned around from where he sat and tilted his head at me, “Back so soon?”

“Yes, Master Aldren.” I blinked around me, there were no other first year students. “Appears I’m the first one.”

“You’ll likely be the only one for the next hour or so, kid.” One of the older students called over the excited chatter of the others speaking around him, his grin visible from where I stood.

“Cool it, Egan.” Master Aldren hissed, then turned back to me. “Why come back so soon?”

“I want to be better with my weapons, Master Aldren.” He frowned at me and I frowned too… was that necessarily the truth? He stood up with his eyes on me and I shook my head. “I want to be a force to be reckoned with. I want to be so good that the other students fear me.”

Master Aldren’s eyebrows rose almost mockingly, “Oh, you want to be feared?”

I shook my head once more, “Not for the reasons that others might have, Master Aldren.”

“Then why?” The other students watched me with interest now and it was a little embarrassing.

“Because I want to be left alone.” I sighed and it felt right. “I don’t want to be seen as a target because I’m small. I don’t want to be a pawn in anyone’s games or the brunt of a prank or malicious plot because I rubbed someone the wrong way. I want people to look at me and know that if I’m not taken seriously, they will pay. And I want them to recognize that there will be a cost for messing with me.”

“Seems rather straightforward, this one.” One of the other older students stood up and crossed his arms. “I like that in a man.”

I frowned at him and he just grinned widely as I spoke on. “I don’t want to belong to anyone who doesn’t respect me and I want to control my own destiny.” He nodded encouragingly and it emboldened me. “I want to win, and I want to make sure that I do it so well that I can become the next Iron Thorn. I want the power to control my own fate and protect my people.”

Master Aldren grunted and smiled, “That I can get behind.” He glanced over his shoulder and growled, “Thane, Byron and Vira, he’s your’s now. Treat him well.”

The massive student who had said he liked what I said stepped forward, his broad shoulders uncommon for elves, making me wonder what he was. A spindly looking young man with the beginnings of a mustache joined him on his left and a blonde elven woman with a ruddy complexion stepped off to the big one’s right. All three of them wore the same red senior student shirts.

The woman tilted her head to the right and rear behind where they had all stood up and watched me march toward the other side of the pit. Once we got there the woman spoke first, “I’m Vira, as you likely guessed, the big’un is Thane and the shy one is Byron. We’ll be your interim instructors for this coming week until the next class.”

“I thought we only met once a week?” I frowned as I asked the question and she put a finger to her lips.

Thane spoke next, lowering his voice, “The class itself is required to meet at least once a week, but the training is constant. So in the mornings on weekends and during the week except the day of class, you’ll meet with one of us to train here.”

Byron muttered, “And that’s on top of your regular physical training as well, so you’ll come here before that, then go to mess.” He looked at the others. “I feel like I got a good idea of his strengths, either of you need to test him?”

“Always.” Thane tilted his head back and grinned.

Vira rolled her eyes, “Great.” She socked the man in the ribs and he just snorted derisively, making her add, “Seriously, its just a spar, don’t kill him.”

Thane walked over to where a large sword that was easily as tall as I was leaned against the wall, calling, “I won’t.” Over his shoulder.

Byron grunted, “Sorry, kid. Just try to dodge him, okay?”

I had to focus to lift my mouth from the ground at the prospect of fighting the massive man.

Vira cleared her throat, grabbing my attention, “Might wanna arm yourself. He’s not exactly patient.”

I pulled my wooden knife and hand axe from their respective places on my belt and watched as Thane turned with his massive sword and marched my way.

His smile was friendly, but the muscles in his shoulders and arms bulged obscenely before his sword flashed in my direction.

My body moved on its own, ducking just underneath the weapon in time to avoid being hit, but not to avoid the follow-up kick that followed that sent me flying thirty feet away from him.

I landed and skipped along the ground for another few feet before I rolled to a stop and glanced up to see Thane stepping confidently forward. “I like your gumption, Saemus, you fight well. What I don’t like is that you’re too confident in yourself to see when someone is better than you. Your stubborn defiance and lack of response to Master Aldren annoys us all. We will show you the error of this folly. And then we will show you where you are weak. Please, know that we do this for you.”

Suddenly he was on top of me, swinging down with his massive blade like it weighed no more than a mess tray to him. The wooden blade crashed into my crossed weapons and battered my weak defenses like the storm bends the grass. If I didn’t figure something out soon, I was going to take that sword to the head and die.

A high-pitched creaking groan drew my attention to the weapons in my hands and I noted the cracks growing in the knife just as his sword met it again and it shattered and burst outward. My right shoulder set ablaze refused to work as the hand axe was snatched out of my grasp and tossed aside.

Thane reached down and grabbed me by the shirt, my injured shoulder screamed—or had that been me—as he stared me in the eyes and growled, “I understand that pain is a proficient teacher. Allow this loss to teach you humility, Saemus. Confidence is king in many situations, and can be instrumental in winning a fight. But complacency kills, and the line between the two is thin already. Now you will learn which side you must remain on.”

He tossed me up into the air and whirled his whole body, lashing out with his right foot. It caught me in the ribs and sent me rocketing into the wall of the pit behind me. Painful, crunching, running lava flowed down my left arm as it fell from the stone and the bones ground against each other. That I knew I screamed because of.

I wheezed a weak breath and struggled to stay awake as he stepped toward me once more before Vira and Byron sprung forward to try and fight him off. He lashed out once and swept the two of them aside like an adult might shove aside children blocking them from something. There was no stopping him coming at me.

A small blur drew my attention just before I closed my eyes to darkness. Thane’s prone figure in front of me comforted me slightly. Only slightly. Then I knew nothing.

**

I woke up a time later in what could only have been the medical ward, the large white tent-like structure of it with sheets of placid colors draped above and dangling low to give the semblance of privacy. As I followed a nice pale yellow, I found Master Aldren sitting next to the cot I lay on with a small book in his hands.

I kept my eyes closed to try and see what he was reading, but he snapped the book shut and my eyes opened when I flinched. He smirked, “Can always tell someone is awake when their breathing changes, maggot. Remember that.” He stared at me a moment longer, “So, Thane’s lesson get into that thick skull of your’s?”

I blinked back the anger that threatened to flood my eyes and I just looked away, remaining quiet until I remembered his penchant for violence if not answered correctly and quickly.

“Stop.” He spoke as I opened my mouth, it was a softly spoken word, but he just looked away as I turned my head toward him. “We all forget that you’re basically a babe and there is so much expected of you since your magic is powerful. Losing like that is embarrassing for any man, grown or not and I can’t imagine how hard it is on a child. You’re talented, that’s for certain, but you don’t have the skill to augment that talent. Etran does.”

I blinked again, confused, “What do you mean, Master Aldren?”

“Meaning,” He glanced around us and closed his eyes before speaking again, staring into the depths of my soul, “If I thought you would have stood a chance at winning against the Marki boy, I would have allowed you to fight him and then I would have kicked you both out for being petty little shits. But as you didn’t and he needed to be knocked down a peg or twelve, I kept you and got rid of him.”

“If he’s better than me, why keep me?”

He eyed me, looking at my arms and exposed chest, and I only just realized I was shirtless. With the weight of the blanket, it was hard to tell if I was dressed at all. “You have a lot more potential, maggot. Think of it this way, once a plant has bloomed in an area, how likely is it to succeed if taken elsewhere?”

I thought about it before saying, “It would be harder than caring for a new plant altogether.”

“Exactly.” He nodded to himself and pointed at me. “Etran Marki is the plant that has bloomed already. He thinks he’s the best and has the talent and training to back that up. His loss against Cookie was assured as soon as I told him he could only fight at fifty percent strength and skill, that would have been anyone’s undoing, that kid is a freak of nature. But against almost anyone in your year, Marki would have slaughtered them.”

I frowned, the thought of him having beaten me again incensing. “I understand, I think, Master Aldren.”

He nodded sagely, “I don’t do this for many students of mine. I’m usually the type to allow them to learn these things through hints but…for some reason I felt compelled to tell you this.” He stood up, irritated, “I have someone to go and speak with regarding you and your injury, so stay here and rest some more. Also, Instructor Sadick told me to have you drink that tonic next to you on the table there. Said it would repair your bones.”

His back moved out of range, then he came back and held something up, it was my broken weapons, “This is understandable because it was Thane, and you can bet your ass I’ve taken it out on him. Weapons break, but this is unacceptable, you hear?”

“Yes, Master Aldren.” I frowned, feeling naked without them suddenly. “What do I do without them?”

“You’re getting weapons made from your own stock of wood, maggot.” He grinned and winked at me. “With a slight gift to the carver for his trouble and me for finding him. He works quickly and is well versed with Cindry wood, so you’ll get your weapons likely in the morning before your next class.”

“What am I supposed to do about weapons until then, Master Aldren?” He just raised an eyebrow at me and I sighed inwardly. It was unnerving having him be able to access my own stock, but I had earned it in mistreating his tools. “Thank you, Master Aldren.”

“Drink the tonic, maggot.” He growled and wandered off, whistling a tune I couldn’t place.

My shoulder was sore as I reached out for the tonic with a grunt of pain, but I was able to grab it and pull it to me quickly.

“You do have a way of getting yourself into trouble, don’t you Saemus?” Sadick grunted at me, his shadowed face floating into view. “What the hell were you thinking, getting attacked by another older student?”

He didn’t let me explain and tilted the tonic into my mouth and it tasted like feet and mud. I retched and he jerked my jaw shut, “You spit that out, your limbs will be remaining broken for a little bit. At least this way, it will be healed quickly.”

Ice sped through my veins and I was on the edge of screaming again.

Another hand alit on my arm and I turned to see the blue-hued dryad kneeling next to me with sad eyes. “I tried to keep her away until you were healed, but she refused to listen to me. I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t moved aside, she would have killed me.”

I raised my eyebrows up at him and she tugged on my bruised arm again, insistently until my gaze was on her. As I stared into her eyes, she opened her mouth and began to speak in a fluid voice, then I could make out words.

“You are in danger here without weapons.” She reached down and twisted her hand, “I brought you this as thanks for growing my love and home. There is no craftsman in the Fae who makes these weapons, no matter what the elves think.”

She handed me a hand axe, the wood it was made of was dense and heavy along the haft, the belly and throat of it thick, but somehow comfortable in my grip with soft leaves woven together like a handle toward the knob. The head of it was almost the same as the training weapon I’d carried, but this one had a thicker butt that was rounded out almost like a club of sorts. Though it was wooden and the cutting edge wasn’t sharp, I knew it would never splinter. And like the shuna I already carried this one had holes in it designed for beast cores to be used.

“This is a shuna!” I muttered back in the same language she spoke to me, surprising myself. “I can’t accept this.”

“I will never give him a limb to make a weapon for anyone, not even you, avatar.” She was insistent when she said this. “I will not maim my love for that. But this is something that I have done. Take it.”

With that last statement, she stood and put her hand on my head, “Be safe, and if you have need of me or my tree, come to us alone. Goodbye for now.”

She turned and walked away, fading from sight a few steps from us and Sadick gasped, “What the hell is with your luck, boy!”

I grimaced and said, “I don’t know.”

Thinking about my luck stat, I opened it and almost gasped.

Name: Saemus Thorn

Race: Elven

Level: 10*

Statistics: Measurement

Might: 3

Dexterity: 6

Constitution: 1

Mind: 3

Magic: 10

Charm: 2

Luck: 8

Skills: Advanced Flow (dual handed)

Skill points available: 6*

How did it go down, and by four whole points?!