THE TRAINING, PART 1

-“You call this skill? You’re holding your sword like a shovel, and my grandmother can move twice your speed. ” Torin said, dodging another wild attack from Leck. The fact that Torin never knew his grandmother was of little importance at this point. He could disarm the lad whenever he wanted to, but throughout the fight he stayed on the defensive. Leck made a forward thrust, which Torin easily deflected downward and to the side, and Leck’s sword point dug into the ground. “If you want to dig a hole there, we should stop this foolishness, so you can at least be useful.” – he advised. Leck didn’t say anything; his burning eyes spoke for him. “The way this is going,” Torin reasoned to himself, “The kid will drop his sword without any help.”

The Baron stood twenty feet away, and viciously chewed on his fingernails. During the last five minutes, Torin threw out more insults and taunts than there were mosquitoes in the air, and tonight there were quite a lot. Some of the swears even he didn’t know, and that astonished him to his boots. Three times he forgot himself, and drew his sword. No one ever insulted nobility that way! But each time he remembered that Torin is testing his son, and the insults were necessary, no matter how painful. Some, the Baron was forced to admit weren’t far from the truth. Leck had good coordination, but that was about it. He didn’t have any battle experience, and physically he was a bit on the weak side. “Well,” the Baron admitted to himself, “maybe more than a bit. Must come from his mother’s side.”

Ten minutes later, Leck was concentrating on only one thing; Not falling down. Never before could he remember being so exhausted.  In the first five minutes of the match, he used up all his strength, and now was counting the seconds. Twenty minutes the stranger said. He had to last twenty minutes. Throughout the whole fight, his opponent almost never moved. Leck finally realized that the real weapons in this match weren’t swords, but the man’s mouth and Leck’s will power, of which he had very little. And now it was too late. His sword seemed to weigh one hundred pounds. His whole body seemed to be filled completely with water, and how is water supposed to hold metal, he thought dreamily. Thirty seconds later, Leck realized that his hand isn’t holding anything. In somewhat detached surprise, he saw that his opponent was holding two swords, and one of them looked a lot like his. After that, his legs decided that it was time to rest. Leck didn’t have any objections.

With some sympathy, Torin looked at the young boy. “I thought all nobility is trained in combat from the age of five,” he said, not looking at the Baron. “Or is this guy much younger than he looks? Either way, you should be ashamed I know I would be.” His yon spoke for everything that was unsaid. “Well, time to turn in.”  Torin slid  his sword into his scabbard, and walked back into the castle.

“Well,” the Baron muttered to himself while picking up Leck and throwing him over his shoulder, “at least there is a bright side to all of this… I just wish I knew what it was.”

The next day at dawn, Torin left. One of the castle maids found a note in his room on the bed, which said ‘I’m traveling Barkoln. If Leck wants to catch up with me, he can do so. I do not want to impose.’ – “Yes, I’m sure you don’t. So we’ll impose on you instead…” the Baron muttered as he re-read the note. This was one decision that the Baron didn’t want to make. Leck grew up n the castle, cherished and loved by all for his unselfish pure innocent heart. He lived in a beautiful bubble, inside of which life was heaven, but if it pops… Sooner or later, the bubble will pop. “Even if Leck despises me for the rest of his life, I’ll despise myself even more,” the Baron decided. He crumpled the note and thrust it in one of his pockets.  “Go get Leck’s traveling gear and saddle his horse.” He ordered a passing by servant. 

… Leck was lying in his bed, and re-living the last night’s match. Never was he treated with such disrespect. The village elders themselves bowed to him. At the monthly village council, Leck’s opinions always carried great weight – at least he thought they did. Last year when he just turned thirteen, Leck started teaching some villagers how to read and write after realizing that most of them were illiterate. It felt good to help people, and know that your help is appreciated. Of course there were people that didn’t like him, like Bovin, the butcher’s son, who lived in Dosvan village. Bovin wasn’t very bright, but he was fifteen, and twice Leck’s width – most of which was muscle. Whenever Leck had to go to Dosvan, (which was often because it was one of the more populated villages and required a lot of attention), he always sneaked in quietly, hoping to avoid the big bully. If, by some coincidence the two met, insults flew, and Leck could never stand up for himself. Leck was in love with a beautiful village girl by the name of Lafina since he was ten years old. She had dark brown hair, big brown eyes and a pretty face. Unfortunately she was two years older than Leck and has never even looked at him yet. As far as Leck knew, she spent most of her time with Bovin.

        Leck once asked his father for help. The Baron calmly asked if he should hang the fifteen year-old Bovin for his insolence. Astonished out of his skin, Leck quickly refused. To hang some one… seemed unreal to him. Then his father said that he wouldn’t help him, that Leck had to learn to defend himself against such men on his own. Many times Leck dreamed of coming up to Bovin and punching the brute in the face. Maybe then Lafina would notice him... No, not maybe, she would definitely notice him! Yet, knew he could never do it. His father interrupted his contemplation by striding into his room without bothering to knock.

“Get up Leck. He said grimly. “And pack quickly. I have given an order to prepare your armor and saddle your horse. You’re leaving within an hour to Barkoln.”

Startled, Leck sat up in his bed. “I’m sorry, I don’t…”

“No time for idle talk son. Torin already left. You are to catch up with him, and ask him… no, beg him to accept you as his student.  And no,” the Baron said seeing Leck opening his mouth to object, “this matter is not open to discussion. I expect you to be out of the castle within the hour. ” Seeing the dumbfounded and hurt expression on Leck’s face, the Baron signed, and sat down on the corner of Leck’s bed.

“You see my boy,” he spoke, staring at the floor “I got into some trouble. It won’t be safe for you to stay in the castle.”

“I can…”

“I need your help lad.” The Baron went on. “But you lack in experience, and I don’t have the time or the knowledge to teach you what you need to know.”

“What if…”

- Again the Baron overrode his son. “No one can teach you to handle a sword like Torin can. Don’t be upset about what happened yesterday. The truth is, Torin is the best swordsman I know. Also, he is one of the few people I can trust. As for you… You, my son, are a noble. You’re meant to be a leader. You are an example to your followers. But who will follow you if you trip over your sword every step you take? If you have never traveled farther than Dhelox? When people look at you, they need to see a true noble, the very image of power and authority. And you… you can’t even last in a saddle more than a day. Please understand me,” he rose to his feet. “And now, go."

 It was one of those early spring days, when the warmth in the air oddly contracts with the snow on the ground, and there is not a single cloud in the sky. Unfortunately the good weather did nothing to brighten a young rider’s mood, as he rode his horse further and further away from the castle.

Leck fumed.  ’Angry’ was too mild of a word to describe how he felt towards his father. The man literally threw him out of the castle! And to catch up and travel with a complete stranger… Who’s insulted him so! Beg him… No. Leck would die first. And he would never return to the castle, he thought coldly, and rode on.

When Leck reached the crossroads, the road he had to take was obvious; to the right lay Barkoln. To the left was the much bigger city of Dhelox. He would go to Dhelox, and get hired as a deckhand on a huge ship. No, he would get hired as a mercenary, and defend a royal passenger, or a huge caravan that that would take him to exotic lands, and using nothing but his sword and his wits, he would become a powerful commander of a huge army, and lead that army to…  Then, his horse stumbled. 

“Hey hey hey! Watch where you’re going, youngster! Use your eyes boy!” – a deep voice barked. When he looked up, in front of him Leck saw a small crowd of soldiers – ten or so - armed with maces and spears. Each soldier was dressed in a red tunic, which had the king’s emblem drawn on it. Most of them had ugly scars on their faces. Each  soldier looked very formidable. All-in-all, the whole group looked positively intimidating.

“Hey! I’m asking you a question! Or are you deaf as well as blind?”

“No sir, I can hear quite well. It’s just that… you surprised me.”

“I’ll ask you again boy: Where are you coming from, and what’s your destination?”

Leck never had to lie before in his life, and he figured that now wouldn’t be a good time to start practicing. “I’m coming from castle Vidol, and I’m going to Dhelox to…”

“Are you a servant of some kind?” the leader asked, suspiciously eyeing Leck and his horse up and down.  Leck drew himself up. “I’m Leck, Baron’s Vidol’s only son and heir!”

“What an idiot!” Torin groaned. Knowing perfectly well that the boy wouldn’t follow him to Barkoln, Torin waited for him at the crossroads. He had no trouble following Leck, and sitting on a branch in a dense forest not fifteen yards away from the road, he watched the whole scene with amusement, until Leck revealed his identity. At that point Torin knew he had to do something, before the little kid told the soldiers anything else important. (like the fastest way to get to the castle, for example.)

“ Well well!” – the leader’s face broke into a wide grin, “What a nice coincidence! I hope you aren’t in a hurry your honorship, because we need to talk to your father, and you’re going to show us the way. I’m afraid that Dhelox will have to wait. You’re coming with us whether you like it or not.” The soldier said, and still grinning, reached out to grab the horse’s reins. Leck opened his mouth to point out that right now is not the best time for him to come back home, when the soldier jerked, and slowly fell from his saddle. A moment of silence followed, interrupted by a short loud scream, and another body fell out of the saddle. “An ambush!” – one of the soldiers shouted, and the silence was replaced with yelling, horse’s braying, and weapons clashing. “Retreat! There are thirty of them! We’re surrounded! It’s the ‘Forester’ Brigands! (Note: ‘Forester’ Brigands’ are Robin Hood type robbers that live in the forest, and make life a living hell for all King’s Guards). Run for it!” – someone yelled, and all the soldiers that were still the saddle considered that a very wise decision. In three minutes no one was there – except Leck, who sat on his horse with his mouth still open. There were four soldiers lying on the ground, three had arrows sticking out of their necks, and one with an arrow in his… Leck looked around nervously. “Oh oh. I think I’ll be going home now.” He said out loud to no one in particular (or so he thought),  and began turning his horse around. 

“No, you won’t be going home now my young friend. As a matter of fact, you won’t be going home any time soon.” – came a familiar voice from the woods. Leck wasn’t surprised to see Torin; at this point, he wouldn’t be surprised to see the Great Horned One himself.

“I think,” Leck began, “My father needs to be told about this…”

“He knows, Leck. He already knows. The first thing you’re going to do is help me drag these bodies off the road. Let’s grab the one that has an arrow in his eye, shall we?”

An hour later, after Leck and Torin dragged the last soldier a good fifty feet into the forest and hid him under a big bush along with all the others, they sat down to rest under a great oak. Torin dug out two apples from his pack, and offered one to companion. After devouring the apple and short rest, a bit of rationality returned to Leck, and he went more and more pale as he thought about what happened. “Do you know what we’ve just done?” asked quietly.

“We’ve eaten two of my best apples?”  The sarcasm was completely lost on Leck. ‘I must be getting rusty,’ Torin thought to himself.

“We have just buried four of the king’s soldiers.” Leck said each word slowly, as if explaining something to a small child.

“And may their souls rest in peace,” Torin said calmly. And then snorted, “ However, I don’t think God will allow them any rest.”

“Are you crazy!?” Leck shouted jumping up. “OUCH!” he yelled even louder, from bumping his head on a low branch that cleverly positioned itself right under him.

“Don’t scream so loud,” Torin advised. “We wouldn’t want anyone to find us right now.” The fact that he was so calm about the whole thing, infuriated Leck even more.

“I don’t think you get it pal. We’ve just buried…” Leck’s speech trailed off. It’s not that he was afraid, but the look Torin gave him made Leck quickly decide that right now wouldn’t be the best time to express himself.

“Alright,” Torin said – after Leck lowered his eyes, “Let me see if I can explain this to you. Officially, Red Guard serves the King. In reality, they serve anyone who can afford to hire them. Two days ago, I performed a service for your father. The service required taking an elf hostage. Don’t interrupt,’ he said when Leck started to say something. “Ask all your questions after I’ve finished. The elf must have had rich friends, or maybe someone else was looking for him, I don’t know. Either way, Someone hired the Red Guard to find him, and they’ll stop at nothing. As long as they get paid, of course. Now,” Torin said, looking intently at Leck, “You may ask your questions.”

Wincing, Leck touched the bump that formed on top of his head. All of it seemed so unreal! Why would father take an elf hostage? And why did he hire this… cold-blooded killer, and not someone more official? If the elf stole something from their castle, wouldn’t it make sense to report it to… but the more Leck thought about it, the more he realized – no one will take the word of a human over the word of an elf in Dhelox. He also realized that his father is in a lot of trouble. “Will they try to kill my father?” – he asked softly.

“They might. But your father is a man of many talents, so I wouldn’t worry about him. Apparently, he decided that the elf is more important to him than the Red Guard.”

“How can you ask me not to worry about my father!?” Leck exclaimed, trying to jump up from his sitting position. This time however, Torin caught his arm, and the accident didn’t repeat. Leck decided not to sit back down, and remained in a half-crouched position. “The first thing I have to do is go a warn my father…”

“The first thing you have to do, is get as far away from here as possible. The Red Guard has your description and your name, which you so thoughtfully provided. They’ll try to catch you and use you to get to your father. And as for your father…” Torin took a deep breath. “He sent you away on purpose. He knew that he would be in danger, so he asked me to help you get away – at least until things quiet down. By the way, you look ridiculous squatting like that. Try to decide between standing up, or sitting down. ”

“He asked you… to help me?” Leck said incredulously, as he sat back down, leaning against the tree. “Why you? Why didn’t he ask someone from the castle?”

“Because no one in your castle knows country like I do.” And no one knows the wilderness like I do, and no one can use a sword like I do. – Torin thought. “But I don’t want to force anything on you. You want to go your own way, fine. But I wouldn’t put any money on you surviving more than a week.” Torin said – rising to his feet, and reaching for his pack.

“And,” Leck said thoughtfully, “You can guarantee my protection?”

“I can’t guarantee anything. But I can promise to do everything in my power to protect you.”

“Alright,” Leck said rising up – and missing the branch by a hair. “Let’s go.”

Torin signed. ‘By the Great One, Baron – you owe me.’

THE TRAINING, PART 2 

One year went by, although they seemed like several years, (to Leck anyway). If he wasn’t in his saddle, he was either sleeping or practicing with his sword. He ate only after performing a particularly difficult exercise. Never has he worked so hard. The worse were the taunts that Torin threw at him whenever they were sparring – and they sparred once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. Leck’s only relief was sleep. In the castle, he usually slept for a good nine to ten hours every night. For the past twelve months, he slept usually six hours a night. Sometimes five. For the first two weeks of traveling he was sure that the pain in his muscles couldn’t get any worse. Now, he didn’t give it a thought. He always considered himself a good rider. Now he knew that to be qualified as a good rider – not only do you have to know how to sit in the saddle and control your horse. You also have to have a bottom made out of steel, and his was slowly getting there.

They usually rode by the road, but sometimes turned into the forest. Torin always pointed out good places for camping, for ambush and for traps. He taught Leck how to make simple traps in the ground, usually when they came by a pond or a stream. Torin would make himself a fishing pole from a nearby tree, and make Leck dig a hole in the ground. The depth of the hole depended on how fast Torin caught their dinner (or lunch, or breakfast). There were times the hole was two feet deep, and then there were times it was five feet deep. Leck was sure that Torin carried the shovel just to make him suffer.

             One morning in mid-June, approximately one year and three months after Leck left his castle, a party of seven gremlins almost ambushed them. So far, Torin never bothered to set guard, and after that morning Leck found out why. The party of the smelly things was yet a good fifty yards away from their camp site, when Torin silently jumped up, and with an agility of a cat climbed the nearest tree.  Leck - on the other hand - would have probably slept through the whole thing, if his teacher hadn’t softly kicked him in the head after he climbed back down. Swiftly, Torin stretched a thin rope some three inches from the ground between two trees.            

“How do you know that they will come from that side? Won’t they try to surround us?” – Leck whispered.

“You might be right, but gremlins in general are not into tactics. Their sense of smell is very keen, but they are lazy and impatient, so my guess is that they’ll blunder right in. Now stop bothering me and go pack up our stuff. 

Actually, Torin had no idea if gremlins were into tactics or not, he had never fought gremlins before. He heard and read about them, but never had any close-up and personal experience, and he wished it would stay that way. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

After Torin finished setting up the trap, he motioned for Leck to pick up their backpacks and follow him. They hid in some thick raspberry bushes some ten yards away from their sleeping place. Many of the berries were ripe, and Torin helped himself to some breakfast after making sure that he was as comfortable as he could be. Leck on the other hand, couldn’t even think about food.  ‘Tense’ somewhat described how he felt as he waited there with thorns sticking into him, whichever way he moved. ‘Demoralized’ came much closer.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the band made their appearance. Leck heard them way before he actually saw them, and it wasn’t their footsteps that made the noise, but their whispering. “They’re telling each other to be quiet,” Torin said softly, and Leck saw that Torin was trying not to smile. Or frown. One minute later, Torin raised his finger, and right on que, the leading gremlin tripped over the rope, and fell down like a sack of potatoes. Leck didn’t have a clear view from where he was, but he managed to see one of them. About five and a half feet in height, the brown furred creatures were probably twice his width with their arms about as long as their legs. He couldn’t very well see their facial features, but he clearly saw their slightly curved noses, good four to five inches in length.  He heard more ‘whispering’, and he didn’t need a translator to tell him that the little critters were swearing at each other. The whispering turned louder and louder – as each gremlin tripped over the rope. Finally, as the last one tripped, their bickering became as loud as a good brawl in a tavern. Not that Leck had any experience with tavern brawls, but he was sure they couldn’t get louder than this. Torin touched his shoulder. “Watch and learn youngster,” he whispered. “Next skirmish you fight on your own.” And he slipped out of the bushes, with a grace of a hunter cat, and making as much noise as a mild breeze.

Torin moved in on them swiftly – with his sword in one hand and a poisoned dart in the other. He was shocked, although he knew he hid it well for Leck’s sake. He knew that in general gremlins lived in tribes, a good eight hundred miles to the north, on the other side of Tersalkir Mountains. The dwarves that lived all around those mountains – and practically owned them, always made sure that the barbarians, gremlins, giants, orcs and other nomad tribes – never crossed the Tersalkir Mountain Range. Apparently something happened to the dwarves. As Torin moved through the forest, he thought about the situation. He was sure that he could kill them, but what was he to do afterwards? Go warn the nobles? The king? The only noble he considered a friend was the Baron, the others he knew were either terrified of him, or wanted to kill him.

             With those unpleasant thoughts, Torin sneaked around the group without being noticed, and hid behind a pine tree, waiting for the nearest gremlin to turn his back. The gremlin obliged.

 Leck heard a scream, and his heart froze. Torin… and then he heard another scream. And another. Leck forgot about everything, and as quietly as he could, crawled out of the bushes holding his sword in front of him. When the clearing came into full view, he halted. Three gremlins were on the ground, one without a leg. Torin was a sword tornado that constantly moved, and when a gremlin didn’t get out of the way – it died. Fourth, fifth, sixth – screamed and fell. Some fell without making any sound. And then Torin tripped. At least that’s what it looked like to Leck, because the man fell on his face, and the last gremlin was nowhere near him – the surviving creature was running with a terrified face into the forest. Leck heard the gremlin’s ragged breathing, which suddenly stopped, and a second later Leck heard a fall.

“Run, you fool! You ugly mother of an ape! Run!” – Torin’s scream was so impressive, that Leck forgot about his backpack, and sword in hand, ran as fast as his feet would carry him.  

Torin knew he was in trouble. A 6-foot rope with heavy metallic balls on each end was wrapped around his ankles, but that wasn’t the problem. It took great skill to throw a weapon like that accurately. Only the Black Guard used it. And if the Black Guard was after him…

“Already gave up hope, heh? Wise decision, very wise decision indeed.” The voice wasn’t loud, but it was the kind of voice that made people listen. There wasn’t a single touch of emotion to it, no feeling at all. They were definitely the Black Guard.

“Commander,” – the voice came somewhere from the north, a bit muffled, as if the speaker had something covering his mouth,  “A young boy – thirteen, maybe fourteen years old is running northwest, toward the swamps. Should he be stopped?”  Silence. Torin realized that if he didn’t say something, Leck would be caught in a matter of minutes. “You better go after him sir,” He spoke up, still lying in the dirt. “He’s a dangerous criminal, more dangerous than me and…”

“Shut your mouth! Heh, do you think I’m a fool?” - Torin wisely kept silent -   “to leave you here, while searching for your servant? Tie him up. Heh!”

Torin felt a sword point touch his neck, while his hands were expertly tied behind his back. His only consolidation was that Leck got away. Or so he hoped.