“Very well then” Matthews replied. “I needed to break all of you down into three platoons anyway. All of you will be the first platoon, you there, you will be the platoon liaison Mr. Trainer and the kid will be your assistant. If this group fucks up I’m coming after you two and only you two. I don’t have time to play games with you, I still have eighty other men who need the opportunity to earn their swords. I’ll give you the instructions Mr. Trainer and you see to it everything is met”.
CHAPTER 3
“Thwack” John heard the sound as he felt the pain shoot up his side. He had been in training for six weeks and his tormentor was Jason Wood, the first boy he had gotten into it with and the assistant platoon liaison. John had stopped using his shield, Gray told him he needed the pain to learn to fight and told him his shield was cheating when he found out about it. Jason Wood was his primary sparring partner, other than being an asshole, Wood didn’t want to see John fail. It could be because he and Gray would be the ones getting into trouble but John thought it had more to do with the trouble with the bandits. When they graduated, half of all the recruits would be sent to the Lost Legion. The Lost Legion was the name given to the group of men that patrolled the furthest outpost in the kingdom, it had been attacked numerous times and over the course of a year and they always lost at least ten men out of the 500 stationed there. A tough battle had been fought three weeks ago in which 100 of the Lost Legion perished, John’s class was supposed to take the brunt of some of that. Since then Gray had been working them hard in the day in front of Matthews and even harder at night during their private sessions. Jason Wood also knew the sword somewhat, he had been trained by his father and was the second best blade in the platoon.
“That blow would have killed you Jinx” Jason said using the nickname the platoon had come up with. “You need to keep your blade up and watch for a body shot, it can kill you just like a head blow can”.
“You just get off on making me grimace” John said as he lunged at Jason swinging his blade. He went into a routine and thought he was doing great until Jason knocked the sword out of his hand. Jason saw the blade coming back for his side and didn’t think as he conjured his shield and blocked the blow, causing Jason to pause and stare. In John’s right hand stood a sword made out of the amber shield which now covered John’s body. John was so used to conjuring a shield around the sword in his hand he didn’t even think about it.
“You can make a sword out of nothing?” Jason said as he touched the shield. “Can you drop it like a regular sword?”
John had been able to make shields not attached to his body and made one in the shape of a sword at Jason’s feet. Jason gripped the construct and swung it in the air, John could feel his spell and willed the sword to rise. Jason was snatched off his feet and began rising as before he let go and crashed to the ground.
“What the fuck was that?” Gray said as he came over and helped Jason off the ground.
“I don’t know” John admitted. “It was one of my shields but I never thought to use it in that way before”.
“He made a weapon out of his magic” Jason said as John let his spells fizzle. “He blocked my sword hit with his magic sword”.
“Make another one and shield yourself as well Jinx” Gray said as he raised his wooden sword. “I want to test it out”.
As soon as John did so Gray attacked, the sword constructs he made out of his barrier magic stood up well as he went after Gray. Gray was too big and kept John at a distance using kicks and sword thrusts and scored a number of times despite John walking through all of his attacks. Gray eventually called it off and wanted to see if John could conjure a proper shield, like the kind regular men wore. John was able to do so and laughed, the rest of the day was spent making different items the men challenged him with. The real fun was started when John showed them that he could make his shields denser or change the color. Someone challenged him to make a horse, it was too difficult to make the beast gallop but John could make it float above the ground. When John got on the fake horse a different world was opened up to him, he could make the animal fly. John could control his shields, the closer he was the more responsive his shields were. The horse flew into the sky with John and almost made him cry, his father had been correct. John’s ability to make shields just needed a proper outlet for him to show off with. While he couldn’t fly like the rest of the mages there was other things he could do that was just as spectacular. It was the best day of magic John ever had, he had not written his father or the rest of his family since he came. He told them not to write him either as he wanted to see if he could really hang, now though he wanted to share it with the world. John got the thought out of his head, he would just show his father when the time came.
The next day John got up refreshed and went through the morning routine, he was still the weakest link in the platoon but was far ahead of what he had been. The platoon had not lost a single member unlike the others. Right now there were 67 men remaining out of a hundred and it looked like they would all graduate. Today they had a seven mile run, John was already used to being in the back of the pack in his platoon but had improved his time each time they ran. Gone was the baby fat he had gotten from soft living in the tower, John was leaner now and had a little definition in his muscles. Today they would race against the other platoons but this would be an every man for himself run. John normally came in 50th or so ahead of the pudgier men from the other platoons. John pumped his legs still basking in what happened with his magic yesterday, it made him want to run faster. John passed up a red haired boy from third platoon, he and his foe had traded positions in each of the races they had run but the red head won the last two. John passed him up as he could hear the man speed up. John went all out in his run and the red head passed him but only by a foot. John was unsure how long he could hold it but was lucky he didn’t have to. Sergeant Conn called a halt as he read something Sergeant Matthews had given him. The other Trainer, Sergeant Roberts, was off to the side with a sour look on his face.
“Meet me in the armory in twenty minutes, bring your weapons with you” Conn said as his grip on the paper he was reading was so tight it looked like he would rip it.
“We aren’t supposed to be in the armory until graduation” Gray said as he walked along with Jason within earshot of John. “I don’t know what is happening but I don’t like it”.
“What reason would we have at the actual armory?” Jason asked.
“You only go to the armory on the last day” Gray replied. “The first in our class will be given a special sword and corporal rank. The rest of us will be handed a real sword and we will turn in our practice weapons. Then a list will be read letting each of us know our next duty station, things must have changed since I was last here”.
“Conn looked pissed at whatever the list said” John replied. “It was like someone had written him to let him know about the fun me and his mother have together when I sneak out of here when the rest of you are sleeping”.
“I have seen that puny thing between your legs” Jason snapped back. “Birds get hungry whenever you bathe because they think they see a worm”.
“Silence both of you” Gray said. “Now is not the time for grab assing. I don’t think we are going to like what we hear”.
John walked with the rest of the recruits until they reached the armory. The recruits began to form into their ranks but were stopped from doing so by Conn who told them to just gather around him. Conn held the paper aloft and began reading.
“Effective immediately” Conn began. “All recruit training is to be no longer than four weeks, any class currently in session beyond that will cease immediately. Signed General Sideland Burns, Field Commander”.
“What is going on Trainer” Gray said stepping forward. “Don’t bullshit us, something has you pissed off and it ain’t an early graduation”.
“Half of you are going to march out to the Lost Legion tomorrow morning” Conn replied. “They lost more men two days
ago, sending raw recruits is not the way to go. We need some of those damn mages to get out there and help us out along with a proper force of about 5000 men. That would crush this thing but no mage wants to go, the Queen is scared of the Downey and the mages don’t want to live on the frontier. I am about to send 34 of you marching to your death, what is worse is that I now have orders not to drop anyone from training. Something big is happening and we are doing the wrong thing to solve it”.
“I have the sword Sergeant Conn” Sergeant Matthews said as he held a sword aloft. Sergeant Conn took it as Matthews and Roberts disappeared inside of the armory.
“Alright Gray, to no one's surprise you are first in your class” Conn said as he handed over the sword. “Most of our weapons are made by the lowest bidder, that weapon was made by the General’s own smith and is perfectly balanced and numbered to ensure its authenticity. You are the 324th man to get this honor since General Burns started this tradition. You also get promoted to Corporal, your first duty station is far away from the barbarians in Oreck. It is a small town with only ten soldiers who also serve as the city watch. They have one Sergeant, one Corporal and ten privates. The last Corporal promoted and left towards the Downey border and took his one of the privates with him. You are now the Corporal there and I am sending Jason Wood with you since he was second in the class. The rest of you are going to get fucked, the top thirty is heading to the border with Downey and the rest will be fighting Barbarians. Line up and get rid of that wooden junk and accept a proper sword”.
John lined up and turned his wooden sword in and received a sword, an oil cloth and a whetstone. This was the first time he had held an actual sword and was mesmerized by it. It was heavier than the wooden one but narrower. John was almost average with the wooden sword but now he had to learn to wield a real one. John was lost in his thoughts that he almost didn’t catch Conn reading off the names of those going to the border with Downey. John felt his heart stop when he was told that he scored 34 out of 67 classmates, his was the first name called to head off to the barbarian border. People gave John a sad look as he gripped his sword, the joy he felt from learning new things with his magic had fled. He would not get to see his father before he left so he wrote a letter, Conn had given them the rest of day to relax with each other. In the morning a group of wagons would take everyone to their destinations, John was so anxious he couldn’t laugh and joke with the rest. Out of his platoon, he was the only member going. In the morning Conn had the entire class lined up one more time according to their final destinations.
“Alright it looks like this shit will never end” Conn said with a sigh. “The group that is going to Oreck, if one of you wants to switch out for the Barbarian lands I will promote you to corporal”.
“I am already a corporal” Gray laughed. “And Jason is not a fool, you better ask that other lot”.
“Alright is there any of you going to the border with Downey who want to switch out and become a Corporal?” Conn asked. No one moved forward as Conn then walked over to John.
“Don’t look at me” John replied. “I was ranked 34th for a reason, I barely know difference between my sword and my dick”.
“Well then someone better take it or I am just going to hand it out” Conn said looking over the assembled men. A man who John did not know stepped forward, he was probably pushing twenty and stuck his chest out. Conn took his name and pinned corporal’s rank on him, immediately afterwards everyone was corralled into a waiting wagon and was sent off.
The trip there took five days, they switched horses often and the wagon seemed to always be moving. The only time they stopped other than to switch horses were for calls of nature and those were only three times a day. The recruits ate hard tack and a bit of dried animal fat, a Sergeant had told them they would be further divided up once they went into the garrison. When the wagon stopped John was the first off, the bumps they took in the wagon had left him sore and he was desperate to be done with the trip. John was snatched before he could go anywhere by another soldier who had been stationed there.
“Sorry about this but I am supposed to grab five of you and lead you back to my squad” the soldier said as he looked at John. The man had a scared look to him, his face was drawn in and he looked like the slightest sound would scare him to death. John nodded as four others were identified then led over to an area where John could see a Lieutenant in a spotless uniform berating a Sergeant and three Corporals.
“Sergeant you need to send your patrols deeper into the enemy lands” the Lieutenant said in a nasally voice. The Lieutenant was obviously a noble, he wore his hair in a long ponytail and looked comfortable talking down on people.
“Sir it can't be done” the Sergeant replied. “Those damn barbarians have been killing our troops who dare to go too far in. Last night alone a squad never returned”.
“You are only giving me excuses Sergeant” the Lieutenant replied. “Lieutenant Faver’s platoon has gone over two miles inside and has drawn an accurate map about the place. I can't have the man outdo me, especially when I know there are Commander positions available on the front with Downey. You need to stop being scared and travel further”.
“This is not a game Sir” the Sergeant replied. “You are worried about your career instead of your men’s lives. Why don’t you lead us out? Already morale is down since you only hang around here and send us off to die”.
“Sergeant Jonas this is not for debate” The Lieutenant replied. “My job is to handle the plans, your job is to lead our troops. People like you don’t understand what it is like to wield real power, sometimes troops die Sergeant Jonas. Now prepare the men, you already know where I want to go. I want to be the first to map out the terrain, now hurry before we lose daylight”.
“Sir I got the men you wanted” the soldier who grabbed John said as he looked at the Lieutenant.
“At least you can follow orders” the Lieutenant replied. “There you go Sergeant Jonas, more men to search with. Now hurry up so I can take your report to Commander Treesome, I have total faith you will do just fine”.
John watched the Lieutenant walk away, his gait was more of fancy switch than anything else and John thought he looked like he was walking into a ball room instead of walking around one of the most dangerous garrisons in the kingdom. The sergeant looked at them with a grim smile but did not start speaking until the lieutenant was out of earshot. The Sergeant was an older man, probably 40 or so and it was obvious he hated the Lieutenant who looked no more than twenty.
“That piece of work was Lieutenant Tenkay” Sergeant Jonas replied. “He is the worse officer I have ever served under, we have lost over 75% of the people we started with. These lads here just got promoted to Corporal because they are the longest serving still here. Go ahead and tell these newbies how long ago you graduated”.
“We were in the same class” a Corporal spoke, a tall thin blond boy that looked John’s age. “We only graduated four months ago and have been here ever since trying to find ways not to die”.
“Now you know what kind of shit show you all walked in on” Sergeant Jonas replied. “Do any of you know how to draw or how to write?”
“I do” John said as he stepped forward.
“Great, then you will be responsible for writing things down that we see” Sergeant Jonas replied. I know you just got here but we leave within the hour, if we don’t follow that idiot’s orders we may find ourselves at the gallows. Alright Corporals, divide these men between yourselves in some fashion and meet me at the gate”.
Shit had gotten real John thought. It was something Gray always said and John smiled a little at the vernacular he was now used to. He had said more slurs and insults than he thought possible and would be at home in the seediest of taverns but no other saying was more accurate for his predicament. John was taken by Corporal Bonds who was the blond boy that had spoke. John was given a charcoal pencil and some paper and soon found himself in line ready to depart the garrison.
&n
bsp; CHAPTER 4
John didn’t even know the names of the people he was now creeping through the brush with, he was in a squad filled with people who had graduated in prior classes. They had been walking for about two hours now, the terrain was rough and their slow rate of movement threw off John’s estimate of how far they had went. The land was rocky but also covered in grasses and weeds taller than he was, a whole horde of the enemy could be hiding and he would never know it. What was worse was the fact they had to cut down the grasses as they walked, John would have just burned the whole thing but was told the wind always blew towards the garrison, all they would succeed in doing is burning the place down. John heard a loud scream followed by the sound of battle, the squad he was with froze as the Corporal was trying to listen to where the sound was coming from.
“To the North!” Corporal Bonds pointed as a spear burst out of his shoulder.
John looked around as something blunt hit him hard enough to drop him to the ground. John had on his shield though and looked up to a half-naked man carrying a club. The man put his foot on John’s neck while bashing another of his squad mates with his club. Brain matter splattered on John as he grabbed his sword and rammed it straight up into the crotch of his attacker. The man screamed and took his foot off John. John got up and ran, he could see there were at least three dozen enemies surrounding their squad of 10 men. Screams were heard only briefly as he ran, he was a failure as a mage. Despite his magic he was nothing but a scared little boy when the shit got real. His sister would have killed them all but all he did was run. John could hear someone pursuing him and tripped when he looked behind him. Corporal Bonds appeared holding his wounded shoulder, John scrambled to his feet and could see the Bonds was being chased by two barbarians, John stuck out his sword. The barbarian never saw him and impaled himself on John’s sword. John ripped the blade free and the other barbarian gave John a sword swipe across his belly, his shield held as Bonds rammed a dagger into the back of the barbarian between his shoulder blades.
The Knight Mage Page 3