by Ben Hale
Taryn closed his eyes and breathed in slowly, gathering his focus, allowing his senses to stretch out to every corner of the arena. Time seemed to slow as he took in everything around him, acutely aware of every sound. A soft breeze played across his face. Muffled footsteps came from his masters’ feet spreading out to flank him . . .
—An unusual warmth began emanating from the handles of his swords—
Whispers and pieces of conversation could be heard from the crowd. Taryn couldn’t help but think about his parents . . .
—The sensation of heat was climbing up his arms—
Someone called out encouragement from the students’ bench . . .
—His whole body felt like it was on fire—
Daiki was saying something about the match about to begin, but every sound seemed muted . . .
Taryn struggled to open his eyes and focus on the match, but the world had been erased from his awareness. With all his might, he forced his eyelids open . . .
Intense blue flame engulfed his father’s sword in his right hand, making it look twice as large as normal. Green flame streaked up his mother’s sword, thinner than the blue flames, but even brighter. The magical fires that wrapped around his hands did not burn, but seemed to caress with surprising gentleness. Taryn looked from one sword to the other in amazement, unable to comprehend what was happening
Without warning white light streaked up his father’s sword, leaving behind something written in shining white letters on the blade. A split second later his mother’s sword did the same. Unable to move, he watched transfixed as the blue fire on his father’s sword intensified and seemed to gather on its cutting edge until the entire length of the sharp side looked like it was melting. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he knew the blade was becoming sharper than any weapon could possibly be sharpened with tools alone. Sparing a glance at the green sword just made him stare at it in surprise. Under his left hand the sword was shifting from the beautiful sword he knew, to a magnificent elven longbow with a straight green arrow already notched, and then morphing back to the sword again.
A sudden cry from the crowd brought his attention back to reality. Instinctively he leapt backwards just as a sword flashed across where he had been standing. Seeing a second thrust out of the corner of his eye, he immediately dodged again. For a few furious moments Taryn dodged and weaved, blocking a strike whenever he could. They must not have seen what had happened, he realized. He spared a quick glance at the crowd. No one had a peculiar expression at all; they were just watching the match. No one had seen it—except him—or had he seen anything? Had it been his imagination?
As he brought up the blue sword to block a sweeping attack from Murai, the flame was gone but faint script on the blade caught his eye. Ducking under a thrust and jumping over another low sweep he landed on his back and rolled to his feet. It had been real! He thought. Elation filled his heart as he realized that for whatever reason, his parents had left him magical weapons. A sudden determination to win the match came unbidden to his mind. For the first time in the fight he truly looked at his four masters.
Murai was the furthest from him after his duck, jump, and roll—but coming in fast. Irela stood only a few feet from him on the left, already starting a combination with her twin short swords. Elsu remained close on his right but was still turning towards him, with Edric sliding behind to try and flank him. The only weapons Edric wielded were the heavy arm guards he used to block weapons, and his fists and feet to attack with—which were just as formidable as any sword. Taryn couldn’t allow them to surround him or he would be finished.
In one swift move, he turned around to face the rock wall and ran diagonally towards it. Reaching it in three steps, he jumped up, put his right foot against the wall, and pushed off with all his strength. Using the momentum from the run and the push, he twisted his body in mid-air to land a fast kick on the side of Edric’s head, sending him tumbling away. Landing in a crouch to avoid the swinging sword of Elsu, Taryn spun his body in a full turn and extended his right leg to catch Elsu at his ankles—sweeping his legs out from under him. With a quick overhand chop to the stomach, Elsu was out of the fight. Not knowing if the magic had removed the protection Daiki had placed on it, Taryn hit him with the flat of the blade just to be safe.
Rising from the crouch, Taryn brought his green sword in an upward slash to keep Irela from getting in range. Extending his other sword towards Murai, he backed away to re-evaluate the situation. Elsu had stood up and sheathed his weapon, a look of chagrin on his face as if to say, “I should have seen that one coming.” Edric was on his hands and knees, shaking his head, and Taryn felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn’t meant to strike him that hard. Murai and Irela were on his right and left, but moving in cautiously.
Deciding that Irela was the more dangerous opponent, he took a step closer to Murai and engaged him with his right sword while at the same time rotating the blade of the left sword to rest along his forearm, reversing his grip. He could now block almost anything with the sword laying flat along his left forearm—without getting in the way of his other weapon. Glancing back and forth between Irela and Murai, he blocked the double overhead smash from Irela with his raised left arm while at the same time attacking aggressively with his right. Unnoticed by the fighters, the crowd was on their feet screaming and yelling—they had never seen anyone fight with two katsanas, let alone in such a manner.
Having fought with Irela many times, Taryn knew what she would do next. Sparing a quick glance at Murai to make sure he wasn’t in range, he turned both his swords at Irela, reversing his grip on the left sword back to the original position. Just as he put both weapons vertically on both sides of him, he felt the jarring from Irela’s swords coming from the left and right. Without hesitation he lifted his foot and leaned in to kick her full on in the chest—hard enough to knock her on her back but not hard enough to hurt her. Before she’d even hit the ground he turned around—but dove to the side to avoid Murai’s flashing sword.
Landing again on his back and rolling to his feet, Taryn turned to see Murai already close to him—too close to block his next attack. Keeping most of his momentum, Taryn ducked low and felt the sword pass over his back within an inch of contact. Flipping his right sword to rest on his forearm, he raised his right hand so the sword was vertical as he straightened up—catching the reverse he sensed would be coming. With a simple pull of his fist inward, he sent the blade of his right sword swinging upward to knock Murai’s katsana up and away.
Twisting forward and under the raised weapons brought him in close to Murai’s body and inside his guard, while at the same time he reversed his left sword so it rested on his forearm as well. Despite his uncle’s attempt to throw himself backward and bring his weapon back into play, Taryn continued spinning and tilted his left fist in again, flicking the tip of his left sword out so fast it connected with the retreating chest of his uncle. Again, he turned his hand at the last instant so the flat of the blade hit his uncle’s chest and not the point.
Realizing that Edric would probably be back in the battle by now, Taryn finished the rotation and quickly backed away from Irela and where Edric had been—switching both blades back to their original positions. Keeping them horizontally out in front of him, one high, one low, he spun back to face the two remaining teachers. It was a good thing he’d turned with his swords out because Edric was sprinting towards him, but Taryn’s swords left no room to approach so the unarmed master was forced to leap away.
Ten feet behind Edric, Irela had gotten back on her feet and was on her way to rejoin the fight, a look of determination on her face that he knew well. Wanting to take care of Edric before he had to fight two people at once, Taryn tried to move forward with a quick combination, but Edric blocked every strike with the bracers on his forearms. All too quickly he faced two masters—expertly moving to either side.
Still swinging his right sword to keep Edric at bay, he flipped his left weapon back along his forear
m to better block Irela. This time they attacked as one. Irela also attacked from two angles with her two weapons, making it impossible to block both strikes with a single sword. Dodging forward to avoid one strike and ducking under the high kick from Edric, Taryn brought up his left arm to block Irela’s second attack. Abruptly he crouched and spun towards his unarmed master. As he spun, he sheathed his father’s sword, leaving his right hand free to grab Edric’s extended leg at the ankle.
Instead of doing the normal block, Taryn kept some of the momentum of his spin and pulled. It was clear that Edric had expected his kick to land because most of his weight was behind it, making it impossible for him to stop his forward motion. Without being able to move, his knee buckled and he awkwardly hit the ground with his right leg still extended. Knowing that Edric would only be on the ground for an instant, Taryn let go almost the moment he’d grabbed the ankle, only hanging on long enough to pull him off balance. Slipping to the left he allowed his left sword to follow Edric down and hit him gently on the head with the flat of his blade before he even touched the ground.
One more out of the fight.
A quick glance showed that Irela was already darting in. With his back to the rock face he had nowhere to go, so he jumped backwards—and upwards. Using his momentum, he walked two steps backwards up the wall. Just as his body slowed, he threw himself forward and over the top of Irela’s head. Knocking her weapons aside as he flipped and twisted over her, he landed and spun in an instant, with both katsanas out and ready.
For several moments they eyed each other, master and student. For the first time, Taryn became aware of the thunderous noise from the crowd. Students were standing on the benches and cheering. Teachers were on their feet and yelling uninhibited. Irela seemed to notice it, too, because she grinned at him. “People are so easily entertained.”
Taryn, uncomfortable at the attention yet feeling a rush of excitement, didn’t know how to respond, so he shrugged and readied himself. Irela snorted and stepped in to attack again. The sounds of the crowd faded as he focused on the fight at hand. Back and forth they sought for any advantage, but neither of them came close to landing a hit.
Seeing a vague opening he shifted his left sword to be on his forearm to block, and a split second later swung it back, reversing his right sword to parry—then flicked its tip out with a twist of his hand.
Somehow Irela managed to block the strike with her own weapon and tried to slice up and split Taryn’s defenses with her second blade. Darting to the right to avoid it, he spun to get behind her—but she whirled to face him. Abruptly he tried to flick his right sword out like he had done with Murai, but Irela was prepared for that and dodged to the side. In a rush they came together again with each of them refusing to back down. The intense fighting lasted for several minutes as both combatants displayed dizzying skill, with neither willing to give an inch. The ring of sword striking sword began blending together and echoing through the amphitheater until it became difficult to discern individual blows.
Taryn wasn’t really surprised that Irela had been the last one standing. He knew how good she was. In the entire time that he had trained with her, he had never beaten her in a fair fight; most battles simply . . . ended. Her technique was flawless and her speed rivaled Maemi’s. She’d also helped him develop his technique of fighting with the two katsanas, making her practically unbeatable. Realizing that if he wanted to win he would have to pull off something she hadn’t seen before, he cast around for something he could use. His glance fell on Mae and an idea began to form.
With a quick step forward and an aggressive combination he was able to drive Irela back and to the right. Using first his right sword and then his left he batted Irela’s short swords out wide, taking special care to hit her left sword much harder than her right. After a couple of seconds trading blows, another opportunity came and he did the same thing, hitting both her swords wide but again hitting her left sword a lot harder than her right. The third time he did it, he could see that Irela had a puzzled expression on her face. Seeing another opening, he again swept both his swords out to bat hers to both sides. This time her eyes lingered on her right sword.
Good, Taryn thought, she’s expecting a feint. It didn’t take long before another chance came, but this time instead of hitting her left sword hard, he hit her right sword hard—just as she expected. His unusual swordplay masked his footwork and in an instant he snapped his body around to his left. Before she could react, he’d turned all the way around and smacked the flat side of both his swords on her unguarded torso.
As the final ringing clash from the swords died away, the audience broke into deafening applause and people flooded the arena. The tumult was so loud that no one could hear Daiki as he tried to announce his victory and call Taryn and Liri to perform their test with the bow. Taryn barely managed to sheath his weapons before a wave of masters and students slammed into him.
For one long moment, joy engulfed him, and he felt the rush of intense satisfaction at what he had just done. Everyone around him yelled for him, and for the first time in his life, he felt accepted.
Then he caught Suoh’s sullen look as he turned away, and just like that his elation evaporated.
Tiral, the name echoed through his mind, cooling his happiness like he’d fallen into a snowdrift, and suddenly the loud praise being shouted at him meant nothing. Unable to stop it, the world seemed to pale at the memory of the pirate attack.
He barely heard those around him.
“That was great, Taryn,” Edric had to shout to make himself heard. “My head is going to hurt for a week! I knew you would do something I had never seen before.”
Taryn managed a grimace. “Sorry about your head; I didn’t mean to kick you so hard.”
Before Edric could reply, Murai engulfed Taryn in a huge hug. “You were GREAT!!! I have never seen anything like it. I would hate to be up against you if you didn’t like me.”
Irela managed to grab his arm. “That was a nice finishing move; I didn’t even see it coming.”
Elsu clapped him on the back. “I knew I wouldn’t last long with my sword, but I hoped to last longer than that.” He said it in a tone of frustration, but with a huge smile.
A screaming person—who turned out to be Liri—smashed into him from the other side, almost knocking him over. “I can’t believe how good you were . . .” The rest of her words were cut off as the crowd pressed in on him.
Despite all the commotion and congratulations directed at him, all Taryn wanted to do was to get away. The emptiness he felt was so intense it ached, and only the thought of his parents enchanted blades gave him a glimpse of hope.
Wanting to make things go as fast as possible, he shrugged his way through the crowd and over to the students’ bench to get his bow for the longbow test. When he had finally made it through the throng to the deserted bench he hesitated. Did he want to use his old bow or his mother’s sword that could turn into a bow? After a moment’s thought he unstrapped his swords and reluctantly placed them behind the bench. He wanted to find out what his weapons could do by himself first, without anyone watching.
Bow and quiver in hand, he pressed through the celebrating group until he found Daiki. “Can we take care of the longbow test?”
Daiki nodded, smiling. “Sure, help me get some of the other teachers to settle the crowd.” Then he paused long enough to clap him on the back. “And by the way, that was most amazing Acabi I have ever seen.”
Taryn forced a smile and nodded before turning to quiet the mob of shouting people. It took several minutes to calm the jubilant crowd enough to go back to the benches, but everyone gradually started to clear out of the fighting area. Taryn and Liri stayed where they were and waited for Daiki to explain the procedure for the longbow tests. Taryn knew what to do, so he didn’t pay attention to the announcement.
The test involved firing fifteen arrows: five at the foot of the benches, about fifty paces away from the targets; five from behind the
benches, about one hundred paces away; and the last five shots from on top of the rock face, hitting targets at over two hundred and fifty paces. Targets were generally shaped like animals, with some large ones like deer, and some small ones like squirrels or birds.
Both Liri’s test and his own passed quickly. He wasn’t surprised to see Liri hit all fifteen targets perfectly. When it came to Taryn’s turn, he performed well, even though he didn’t take his time. A few of the targets weren’t hit in the correct spot, but his mind wasn’t on the test. When they were finished Daiki announced they had both passed, but Taryn didn’t notice. Already gathering his gear and dodging well-wishers as politely as he could, he slipped out of the arena. The moment he was out of sight, he took off towards the tree line.
Chapter 3: Discoveries
Taryn raced through the woods towards his cottage. Trees and houses blurred passed him, and before he knew it, he stood at the base of the mountain. Without hesitation, he reached for the sheer rock and began to climb. Two hundred feet straight up he flew, following the long familiar route. Every handhold was ingrained in his memory; every toehold could be reached without looking.
In a matter of moments he arrived at the top and pulled himself over onto a large ledge. Perfectly flat, the ledge ran back over a hundred feet before hitting another wall of stone. His climb had taken him to the center of a broad, stone shelf. To his left and right the ground tapered back until it disappeared into the mountain. Hardy trees, some as thick as a large man, were scattered along the ledge, somehow finding purchase in cracks or shallow soil.