Young Writers Society

The hot summer sun was unmerciful as filled the small clearing, making sweat tickle Rana’s neck. She leapt forward and swung the sword over her head with all her might. It clattered against Jaerek’s sword loudly, then glinted off. He lifted his sword in an attack, but Rana was too fast.

She whirled in a circle and brought her sword around in a back-handed blow towards his abdomen. He blocked at the last moment, over-extending himself in the process. She stepped forward and stuck her foot out to trip him as he stumbled forward. He rolled over onto his back, just as she brought the tip of her sword down on his collarbone.

“Alright! My turn!” Wyl said eagerly, jumping to his feet. He grabbed a wooden sword from the rack and started forward, feral grin on his face. His black hair was a knotted mess atop his head and sweat already glistened on his dark skin. “I’ll show you two how real warriors do it.”

“You wish,” Rana snorted, stepping back. She bent down and helped Jaerek back to his feet, then turned towards Wyl. She swung her sword in a circle, partly to show off and partly to stretch her sore shoulder. “I could take you all day any day.”

“You talk big,” Wyl said, weighing his sword in his hand. “But you’ve yet to beat me.”

She glared up at him but couldn’t argue. In the dozens of times they’d sparred, he always came out as the victor. But, it was hardly surprising. Where Jaerek was slender and only a little taller than her, Wyl was already the size of a man.

He was only three years older than Rana and Jaerek, but already had broad shoulders and a deep voice. Their juvenility clung to them, while it seemed like Wyl’s was pushed out with the sprouting beard on his chin. He still refused to get grown up friends, as his father desired.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to hurt your delicate little man pride,” Rana said dismissively. “It would embarrass you if I beat you.”

“Really? Is that true, Jae?” Wyl asked, turning towards Jaerek. “Does it hurt your pride every time she beats you?”

“Shut up,” Jaerek grumbled, walking to the edge of the clearing. He flopped down unceremoniously, tossing his sword down beside him as he crossed his arms with a scowl. His brown hair was every bit as disheveled as Wyl’s, and the sweat on his brow made the dirt stick to his pale skin.

His friends laughed at his distemper, then turned towards each other.

Rana swung her sword again, looking for any weaknesses in Wyl’s defenses. She never found any, and she doubted she ever would. All of her swordsmanship lessons were by secret, to avoid her father’s wrath. Wyl actually had an instructor to train him and had been receiving lessons for several years already.

“Ladies first,” Wyl said mockingly, bowing slightly.

“After you,” Rana retorted. She smirked at the glare she got but didn’t wait for a response. Instead, she leapt forward with a thrust towards his abdomen. He blocked easily and returned a volley of blows. A strike towards her side, an overhanded blow, a pass towards her legs.

She blocked each blow, then made a backhanded blow towards his ribs. Their battle was even more intense than her and Jae’s had been. She was the fastest of the three, but Wyl was the strongest. She didn’t find it difficult to get her blade between herself and Wyl’s sword in time to block his blows, but it wasn’t easy to keep him from overpowering her.

As the seconds stretched into minutes, their breaths began coming in pants and their bodies were slick with sweat. Neither was willing to surrender. Rana’s arms began to tremble with the effort it took to keep Wyl’s blade from pressing through her defense.

Wyl brought his sword down over her head. Rana threw her own sword up to block the blow, eyes growing wide when the blades both came down to hover uncomfortably close to her neck. She pushed against the swords with all her might, but they only wobbled even more. Wyl caught her eye and smirked.

She frowned at him, determination renewed. She suddenly jerked her blade downwards as she ducked forward, letting his blade crash down where she’d been standing moments before. She caught her balance and whirled around as Wyl stumbled forward. He turned and instantly made a thrust towards her abdomen, over-extending himself as he misjudged the distance between them.

Rana saw her chance.

A few weeks previously she’d seen Aldik, the War Lord of her country, teach Jaerek a technique that would be perfect for this moment. Father had been around during the lesson so she hadn’t gotten a chance to practice it, but it seemed easy enough – and Wyl wouldn’t know what to expect. Maybe, just maybe, she could get the upper hand and actually beat him. For once.

She rushed forward and rolled across his back before he could recover from his own attack. Rana landed on his right side and brought her sword up towards his chest, but she was a moment too slow. He saw the millisecond of unbalance just after she landed and pushed her to the ground before she could finish the attack.

She let her head fall back against the ground and huffed a sigh as she looked up the length of Wyl’s wooden sword. Defeated. Again. Wyl smirked, amused at how easily frustrated she was. He beat her every time they sparred, and yet it still seemed to come as a surprise to her.

“That’s not how it’s done.”

They all tensed as a deep voice filled the clearing. Aldik came striding forward, arms crossed, shaking his head. He was tall and well-muscled from the many hours of training he did with his troops. His skin was tanned nearly as dark as his brown hair, his piercing green eyes peering out from under bushy brows.

Wyl stepped backward hastily, sword falling to his side, eyes on the ground. Rana scrambled to her feet, trying to glare at him despite the way her heart raced at his sudden appearance. Jaerek jumped to his feet, looking between Rana and Aldik uncertainly.

None of them had the courage to answer. Aldik was swift to mete out judgment against a smart mouth, and none of them dared risk invoking his wrath – or worse, risking him telling any of their fathers. They waited in silent anticipation to see if Aldik was going to chastise them for rough housing or join in to give pointers.

The Algnesian king approved of Aldik giving his son lessons, but he thought it was poor taste to instruct Wyl. He didn’t think it was proper for a Latian prince to be educated by an Algnesian War Lord.

Rana’s father was merely an Algnesian lord, but he was the king’s head advisor, so he could usually cause trouble when he was upset. And he didn’t approve of Rana’s training. She was entirely too boyish to suit him as it was, and he did his best to discourage her strange interests.

“You need to bend your knees when you land,” Aldik said, locking his eyes on Rana. “If you stay off balance, you’re going to get pushed over – every single time.”

“Yes, sir,” she murmured, embarrassed.

Aldik turned his attention towards the boys. They both avoided his gaze, allowing Rana to be the focus of his attention for as long as he wished. Finally, Jaerek had the courage to meet his gaze, still uncertain as to whether they were in trouble or not. “What are you doing here?”

“The kings wanted a bit of grown up time and told me to go play,” Aldik answered playfully, demeanor softening. “Figured I knew just where to find the children who would play with me.”

“We’re not children, you know,” Wyl said.

Rana and Jae exchanged a glance, knowing fully well Aldik did that just to rile them.

“No? Well you’ve certainly got enough to learn before you can call yourself warriors. Your skills are disgraceful.” Aldik turned his attention on Rana. “Especially yours, young lady. We need to work on that move before you embarrass yourself anymore. Pick your sword up.”

Rana picked up her sword and began brushing herself off as Aldik walked to the sword rack and chose one of the heaviest swords. She sighed as he stepped forward and lifted the sword, watching as she reluctantly stepped forward. She hoped he didn’t plan on whacking her too many times before she could figure the move out.

She swallowed hard and lifted her own sword. They all knew exactly how this match was going to go, and she wasn’t eager to be tossed to the ground in front of her friends. Again. Aldik over-extended himself and waited for her to make her move.

Rana moved as fast as she could, rolling across his back and bringing her sword up in an attempt to smack his chest with the wooden blade. He swiftly drove her to the ground, knocking all the air from her lungs as her back struck the packed dirt. He tapped her forehead with the tip of his sword. “Bend. Your. Knees.”

Aldik pulled his sword away. Rana resentfully stood up and brushed her tunic off, then picked the sword up again. She groaned inwardly when she saw Aldik was re-set, ready to knock her over again. She stepped forward and waited for him to over-extend himself. She rolled across his back and brought her sword up, being careful to bend her knees.

She overcompensated.

She realized she was leaning too far forward, half a moment before it was too late. She couldn’t bring the sword up fast enough at the angle she landed at. Aldik grabbed her arm and pinned it straight out from her body, taking control of the sword. He yanked her arm behind her back, disarming her, then pushed her into the dust face-first.

“Better,” Aldik said. Rana rolled over and stood up, glaring at the back of his head as he strode away from her. She rubbed her chin, her tongue throbbing from her teeth sinking into it as she fell. “But still useless. No point in doing that move if you can’t get a surprise blow in… but, then, I guess I can’t expect much. You are just a girl, after all.”

Rana grabbed her sword and lunged towards him with an over-handed blow, aches forgotten as indignation rushed into her at the insult. Aldik whirled around and blocked the blow, smirking. He knew exactly how to get her riled.

He gave the swords a push, making her stumble backward. She started forward again. They fought for mere seconds before he deposited her on her back heavily. She grunted as her shoulders struck the ground, making her even more sore than she had been.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Aldik taunted, gesturing for the boys to join in the battle. “I can take all three of you young’uns at the same time.”

Wyl lunged forward. Aldik easily blocked his blow and returned with another hard blow. Aldik whirled around just in time to block Jae’s blow, then gave him a push – creating just enough time to block Rana’s thrust before turning his attention back towards Wyl.

Aldik was careful to spar with each of them based on their ability. His blows were hard and fast with Wyl – leaving huge bruises any time his sword made contact with flesh. With Jae his blows were hard, but he didn’t strike so fast, giving him a chance to block most of the time.

With Rana, he was careful not to hit as hard as he did with the boys. He would toss her to the ground and rub her nose in the dirt, roughing her up a little bit, but he didn’t want to hurt her. Bruises rarely lasted more than a few days when Aldik inflicted them.

In a matter of moments, Aldik had them all on the ground. He turned in a slow circle, smirking at each of them smugly as he made eye contact. “Children.”

Rana pushed herself up and lunged at him. The boys quickly followed suit, leaving Aldik with the task of trying to keep up with a coordinated attack from them. This fight stretched on for a while longer than the first, intensity growing more and more with each moment that passed.

Aldik threw Jae to the ground. He whirled around just in time to catch Rana’s arm as she tried a back-handed strike at his ribs, then threw her towards the edge of the clearing. She landed heavily and skidded to a stop just in front of the weapon’s rack. She scrambled to her feet, determined.

A moment later Aldik tossed Wyl into her, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a knot of limbs and swords. Rana struggled to her feet before Wyl could and ran towards Aldik’s turned back with her sword lifted over her head.

Aldik grabbed Jae’s shoulder and pushed him backward, making him trip and fall. Aldik saw the shadow on the ground in front of him and whirled around, expecting to find Wyl. Rana leaped in the air, sword still lifted high, and brought it down on Aldik’s head as he spun around.

She was half a moment too late. Instinctively, Aldik ducked under the blow and brought his sword around to her right side. The blade landed solidly on her ribs, making a sickening thud. She grunted and fell to the ground, not even making an attempt to catch herself. She writhed in pain, clutching her throbbing side. She couldn’t breathe.

“You killed her!” Jae said, rushing forward with wide eyes.