Like leather plated tanks, the five mages stood ready to learn how to fight.
A woman wearing black with silver bars on her shoulders came out from the barracks and noted the falcons who stood across from their students. She drew her steel sword from its sheath and said, “Ok, new recruits, it is time to learn what it is to be a battle mage. Notice that our title consists of two words unlike the wizards, who spend time in their school just casting spells all day long.
“We too use magic, so we are called mages; but now you will learn the beginnings of battle.”
She looked across the five noting their looks. Xara and Uliya looked a little fearful while Niklaus and Jeraan were more resigned. Both had played soldier as kids. They had swung sticks imagining them to be weapons like the woman holding the sword before them.
Krevahs smirked looking confident. This was what he had been waiting for since being left behind in the practice of magic by the others. While Niklaus didn’t doubt that the older boy might one day have talent for it, his preference to make others do his work had already penalized him after just one session. His look must have annoyed the teacher and she pointed to him with the sword before gesturing with her off hand to step forward.
“I am Falconi Martina. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ranks of battle mages, I will list them for you. First there are cadets, who train and learn to become falcons like your other mentors. For those who excel and become leaders, they will graduate to falcondi. Falcondi serve the falconi as our lieutenants, while we in turn work for the highest of our ranks, the ravens.
“In order for you to ever hope to become a falconi or raven, first you must become a cadet.”
Krevahs looked perplexed and replied, “I thought we were cadets.”
“You are dirt at this point. A cadet can fight, but lighting a lamp with a little flame has hardly prepared you to face a real cadet let alone fight the emperor’s soldiers and monsters.
“So dirt, it is time for us to make you into a cadet. Lift your wood sword. It is weighted like a real sword and, if you weren’t wearing your leather armor, it could still break bones and skulls. Do not forget that even a simple piece of wood can be a weapon in a fight, but we will worry about that when you can actually stand properly.”
The woman’s foot slashed in kicking Krevahs’ lead foot from behind causing the boy to stumble and fall onto his back, a side not padded well compared to the rest of him. Struggling to right himself, Krevahs was ignored as Martina moved to the next in line, Jeraan.
“Place your lead foot just beyond your shoulders. You need a wide enough stance to protect you from being knocked over, but do not throw it out to be cut off by a sword.”
Jeraan took a more conservative stance and the woman made him swing the sword. Catching his wrist as she deftly avoided the weapon, Martina tugged hard sending the boy sprawling onto his face.
“Wider, boy, there is no stability to that stance. If I can dodge and catch your weapon, you need to be able to bring your sword back into position to block the next attack.”
Uliya was wide eyed and fearful as Martina made her take a pose. Her sword caught the girl with the flat of the blade until Uliya was in a satisfactory stance. She swung her sword on cue, but the attack was slow as if the girl was afraid to hit the older woman. Niklaus had a feeling that Martina would have no worries over the thought of one of them even coming close.
After sending the girl into a sprawl, Martina barked, “Have more confidence than that, girl. Your stance was fine, but anyone can take advantage of someone too worried that they’ll hit someone.”
Xara was next and just as fearful as the other girl. Treated similarly to the first, her legs were positioned to the falconi’s satisfaction. Uliya swung hard, but was dodged and the arm was pulled by Martina’s offhand sending the girl sprawling similarly to Jeraan.
Swallowing hard, Niklaus learned from the others and took a proper stance without much coaching from the master. He could feel the solidity of the wider stance. As a child, the novice would have been dealt with like Krevahs. Testing his footing before attacking, Niklaus realized that he could shift forward and back easily. Side to side required a bit of a pivot, but he could see where the woman had been pushing them.
Martina’s eyes revealed nothing to him, whether she approved or not of the boy’s initial practice. She nodded for him to attack and Niklaus swung like he would have at someone he needed to hit.
The wood sword was heavier than the sticks he had played with as a child, but he was also stronger than then. Controlling his initial swing as it was dodged easily by the falconi. Niklaus countered the movement and cut back towards her, the first of the cadets to combine more than a single swing.
He stepped back before Martina could grab him and judging himself open to attack again, did so. The woman surprised him. Instead of dodging back out of reach, she moved inside catching his forearm on her shoulder. Her hand gripped his elbow as she began to turn his upper body. He felt her hip against his upper thigh as his feet came free of the ground.
Before Nicklaus knew it, he was on the cold earth. The wood sword clattered onto the frozen ground, which had served to break his fall jarringly.
Martina picked up his sword and aimed it at his throat as he tried to recover and stand.
“Your sword is your life right now. If you are separated from your sword in battle, you will also be separated from your life,” the woman stated miming bringing the cutting edge of a sword down onto the boy’s neck. “When you begin to master your battle magic, a battle mage is no longer dependant on his or her sword. We aren’t just soldiers, children. We are battle mages.”
The falconi sheathed her sword and nodded to Elijah, “Once you are properly trained, you will be the weapon. The sword will be just one of your many tools to kill the creatures of the Dark One.”
A second nod sent the falcon into an attack. Niklaus watched their foot placement. They held their bodies differently from the untrained cadets. Shoulders remained even as they moved, though Martina’s style varied from the falcon’s since he had a sword and she did not.
The movements were quick, but Niklaus thought that Elijah’s moves were practiced and aimed for where the woman was leaving her easy outs as long as she paid attention.
“Shield,” she called up a clear blue protector to her left side. “Stone skin,” she added and deflected the steel blade with her forearm as if she no longer feared the cut of the sword. There was no scratch or blood, though if the falconi had worn the long sleeves of her coat, they would have been ruined with such a maneuver.
“Fire sword,” the falconi’s right hand became armed with a fiery weapon that had strength and mass. She caught his blade with the fire sword and they traded several more strikes before Martina nodded. Bowing to each other, they separated as Elijah sheathed his sword and returned to Niklaus’ side.
“It doesn’t happen over night, but with time you will be able to fight properly. No soldier will be able to touch you and your magic will turn away armies.
“Now you will work on the basics with your mentors.”
For about an hour, Niklaus and the others spent most of the time being pushed and pulled. Sometimes it was just a matter of the falcons forcing them into proper stances. Swords were swung and more forms were beaten into their heads. It would take more than one session for everything to become muscle memory; but with time, they were told, their balance would become a part of their nature.
At the end of the hour, the novices were made to spar with each other. Niklaus had winced at the idea. He knew that this was likely to be where the bigger, stronger, older boy would make his move to get even with the others.
Sure enough, Krevahs started with Jeraan. His wood sword served him as a club and after a minute, the younger, smaller boy finished with a limp and looked like he might have taken some real damage to his ribs. The leather armor served to protect them; but when Niklaus was forced to spar with Uliya, trying to go easy on th
e girl served to sting his hands and forearm.
Xara was battered by the bigger Krevahs and, as they took turns changing partners, Uliya received a similar treatment. The bully didn’t seem to care whether it was a girl or a boy that he was picking on either. It was all within the rules apparently, so the older boy received no rebukes from their trainers; but most frowned as he knocked them to the ground or struck them hard on their leather armor.
Finally it came to Niklaus and the biggest of the four new friends hoped to avenge them against Krevahs. He had picked up some bruises through the armor fighting the others, but they had all tried to hold back except when facing the bully after Jeraan’s beating.
“Your turn,” Krevahs stated with a smirk on his face as he replaced his helmet and stepped out into the cleared space each match used.
“Yours too,” Niklaus replied without threat or insult. They were all under the eyes of the falcons and Martina, who had put on her coat long ago in the cold air. The black leather with the silver metal stripes on its shoulders looked intimidating even though the falconi was smaller than all the boys.
Making sure to give the bully his full attention, Niklaus stepped across from the boy in the starting position.
It started much like the other matches. The two boys traded swings of their mock weapons connecting and glancing off of each other sending tremors through the wood into their hands. Moving in and out, the boys already could see a change from where they had started, but it was still very rough compared to the falcons. Even the cadets on the other side of the yard sparring earlier were much smoother and more confident in the use of their weapons.
When Krevahs lunged into his attack catching the smaller boy’s wrist on the shoulder similar to Martina before she flipped him, Niklaus tried to twist enough to avoid the throw; but the older boy wasn’t trained to do that anyway. His bull rush was used to knock his training partner back and his foot moved behind the ankle causing Niklaus to stumble, but he didn’t fall. It didn’t matter as Krevahs’ momentum closed the gap and he fell onto the younger boy knocking him to the ground.
A fist gripping the blade punched his helmet jarring his head to half stun Niklaus. Punching him again as the older boy pretended to just be pushing off earned him several voices raised in complaint.
Shaking off the punches, Niklaus stood ready to try and fight Krevahs to let the older boy know that he wasn’t through or impressed with his shady moves.
“Are you able to continue?” Falconi Martina questioned seeing that trouble was brewing between them. Often such differences could be taken out safely in duels, but sometimes the teachers had to use their judgment to break up such squabbles before they turned dangerous. Neither boy complained and raised their wood swords signaling that they were ready.
“Go,” the woman stated dropping her arm.
Niklaus used his speed and connected with the older boy’s sword twice before changing levels to strike his helmet a jarring hit. Instead of being stunned, Krevahs growled and lunged for Niklaus as he dropped his practice weapon to grapple with the younger boy. He shoved the smaller boy to the ground and pounced on Niklaus punching the helmet several times batting his head with each blow. Both arms were pinned and Niklaus could do little more than try to buck the bigger cadet off of him. Each hit made it harder to think to extricate himself and the helmet made it easier for Krevahs to keep him pinned until Eyrk and Jeraan’s falcon, Qeras, pulled the bigger boy off of him.
Martina stepped in front of the restrained boy as he was held by the two larger men. Elijah took charge of Niklaus as he stood up looking ready to fight some more.
“That was uncalled for, young man. Eyrk, take him to the kitchens. He can help peeling potatoes and whatever other particularly tedious or disgusting work the cooks might enjoy not having to do themselves. Krevahs can eat when everyone else is done tonight.
“Work on your attitude, boy,” Martina finished looking upward into the taller cadet’s face and still managed to feel like the one with the authority even so. “Just because you have potential, doesn’t mean you are immune to the penalty for being a bad battle mage or human being.”
Falcon Eyrk grabbed the boy by the collar and pulled him beside the barracks to take off his gear before the two disappeared inside headed for the dining hall.
Martina moved to check on Niklaus in Elijah’s care. “And are you all right?”
Frowning more at being beaten by the boy than worrying over the hurt, Niklaus shrugged. His lip was cut and bloodied. The beginning of a bruise on his left cheek was less than he would have received without the guard. Lastly his ear hurt and blood from the leather scratching him seemed to be the cause more than the strike to the head. Again he could chalk up the protective gear doing its job.
“If anything hurts too much, go to the healers’ clinic. You know where it is since you pass it on the way to your classes from the dining hall,” the woman finished. She noted the other bruised cadets and added, “That goes for any of you. Just remember this lesson. Friend or foe, you need to be ready and able to fight back. We can’t hold your hands and protect you every moment of the day. That kind of coddling will get you killed on the battle field.
“Take charge of yourselves and protect each other as well. You four could have beaten Krevahs instead of waiting for us to intervene, you know.”
Jeraan questioned the last suggestion and asked, “But wouldn’t that have gotten us into trouble for attacking him?”
Nodding, Martina stated, “But at least you wouldn’t all have been bullied and beaten by him.”
Left to wonder at the woman’s strange advice, Martina went back inside disappearing from their sight.
“Is she for real?” Niklaus asked aloud voicing what the other three were thinking.
Elijah chuckled joined by the other falcons. “Well, to a point she is and on the other hand, she is not. For now, you might consider yourselves a team. Falcons work together in the field protecting each other against the enemy.
“While she can’t condone ganging up on someone bullying you, showing a team mentality is less frowned upon than bullying your classmates.”
He shrugged and Niklaus felt no more confident in that answer than that of Martina.
The upside of his injuries meant Xara and Uliya were even more worried about him. He had his battle scars so to speak and had lived through the fight. Now he just had to figure out if he was supposed to get the others to gang up on Krevahs or figure out some other way to take care of the bully.
He shared a room with Jeraan and the two boys rested a bit looking at the books given them by the falcons at orientation. It listed all the known battle mage spells and Niklaus wondered if there was a good way to use magic against Krevahs. Certainly magic wasn’t against the rules, if he could find the right spell.
“Stone skin,” Jeraan mused aloud. “It would prevent the cuts and bruises that even the leather armor can’t in sparring. If Krevahs gets on top of us, there isn’t much more we can do than weather the beating.”
Shaking his head, Niklaus complained, “That just lets him enjoy winning every time. No, it’s a good spell to learn, but it doesn’t give us an edge up.”
“The shield spell?” the other boy questioned rubbing the ribs on his left side with a wince. His chest piece had kept him from too much harm, but Niklaus could tell that his ribs were hurting him.
“No, it won’t stop him from using his weight and strength against us. Using this gust spell might be useful to blind him,” he mused.
Jeraan looked uncomfortable and moved to stand hissing at the attempt.
“Krevahs did a number on your ribs. Maybe we better get you to the infirmary. With wizard healers, we can take a beating and be healthy by dinner time,” he said pushing off of his bed. Tucking his book under his arm, Niklaus tried to be gentle in helping the other boy finish getting up to head down to the healer’s wing of the school. It was close to the dining hall, so they could meet the others as soon as whoever got
the call finished healing Jeraan.
The three flights of stairs going down to the first floor jostled the wounded cadet with each step as he held his left arm to his side as if it could do much to reinforce the injury. By the time, the two crossed the dining hall to the infirmary; Jeraan was sweating with the pain.
A middle aged man wearing the yellow robes of a wizard healer noticed the two entering through the double doors into the space. Two much younger wizards in training looked from the boys to the older man as if they took their cues from him.
“Oh my,” the healer spoke with a shake of his head, “you two look like sparring got a little out of hand. Did you do this to each other?”
Niklaus shook his head and answered, “No, we had help from someone else. Falconi Martina has him peeling potatoes or whatever, but I think Jeraan might have broken a rib or something.”
Dropping the name of the falconi in charge of the sparring session made the man frown. She was one of the highest ranking mages in White Hall. If Martina had been there, then Niklaus hoped the wizard would just tend to Jeraan and stop grilling them about their business.
“Urda, Los, take them both to room two. Begin by checking them with your magic for injuries.”
Niklaus started to wave off the need until he noticed the girl named Urda intended to take charge of him. With blonde hair and blue eyes, the girl had a nice looking face and was a couple inches shorter than him.
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have you check me out,” he stated trying to smile and winced at his cut lip. “He was bigger than me and cheated. I mean, in sword practice, I just didn’t expect him to grab me and turn it into a wresting match.
“Can you believe that, Urda?” he finished as the boy put an arm over the girl’s shoulder as if he needed her to take his weight from his injuries, which were mostly to his head rather than his body.
Jeraan shook his head and followed needing some support from the male apprentice, who was taller than the novice.
“Shirt off,” the girl stated when the four reached a room with a pair of tables. A tight knit cloth that felt like canvas for a sail covered the tops of the tables which were long enough for most bodies to lie upon.
White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) Page 23