by Brian Keller
As he’d thought earlier, Thad looked to be ten, but could be eleven. Thin, but not starved, with sandy brown hair, brown eyes, straight nose, round cheeks, and a strong jaw and chin. Once he got used to a regular diet of good food, he’d likely grow into a strong lad.
Thad was staring at Cooper; not saying anything, just staring. Cooper finished chewing what he has in his mouth and swallowed, “Uhm, have you seen me before or something? I think I’d remember if we’d met.”. Thad shook his head, “Sorry, um, no, I guess I was staring. I knew.. know.. Boyd. He’s just mean as a snake, and tough. Are you some kind of killer, or something?”. Everyone chuckled a little bit. Birt chimed in, “Nah, but don’t fight him. He’ll surprise yah.”. Cooper thought for a few seconds while he continued to eat then said, “Will Boyd remember you? I ask this because he’s in our class. And in fight training he’s in the Adequate, or middle, group.”. Before Thad could answer, Cooper spoke to Loryn, “Has he selected a bunk yet? We only have two spaces left in our bay, but there are also at least two empty bunks in the same room with Boyd. The ones that Rukle and Dailen were using.”. She nodded, “Thad’s in with us.”. Cooper nodded and turned back to Thad, “Back to Boyd. Do you think he’ll know you?”. Thad shrugged, “Maybe. But Loryn told me that Boyd has made less noise since you knocked him down…?”. He replied, “That may be true, but you said he was like a snake. Not all snakes warn you before they strike. I think Boyd’s just learning to be more careful. Anyway, welcome to the Guild.”.
Back in the sleeping bay, everyone had developed their own routines. Thad had stayed close to Loryn, since she was his guide, so he started going through her alphabet book. She and Aden ganged up on him and got him started learning to read. Cooper was studying the book about plants and the others were taking turns with practicing movements. Birt only had two sticks.
Over the next couple days Cooper held tightly to Mister Skran’s lesson plan and would’ve been up to completing three illustrations each day except for the message deliveries, as a result he’d managed to complete five more over those two days. Tomorrow he planned to bring paints with him to the classroom, he had nine pictures to finish.
That morning brought more changes for him than just painting. Once everyone was seated, Master Worthan spoke with Birt and four other boys. Each of them followed him back to his table and handed their copied books to him as he handed each of them a sheaf of papers to take back to their tables. About an hour and a half later a message needed delivering and Cooper was called for it.
The message was going to an estate in The Heights, almost to Lakeside. Many homes in The Grid had herb gardens and flowers on their grounds. As he walked, Cooper occupied himself with trying to identify as many as he could recognize and remember. He hadn’t gotten all the way through the book yet but before he’d left The Grid and entered The Heights, he’d identified several flowers and herbs. He passed by one home that had a few collections in some raised flower beds. He wondered if the owner realized that nearly every flower growing in two of the beds were potentially lethal. He identified Angel’s Trumpet, Monk’s Hood, Azalea, Delphinium, Belladonna, Foxglove, Cestrum, Black Henbane, Hellebore… If anyone died from poison in that household, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
He continued into The Heights, the estates got larger and the odors got stronger. As he crested the ridge he was looking out over the Lakeside district and Kairnlag Reservoir and The Stand beyond to the north. The Stand was a crenelated wall with towers filled with soldiers that guarded the city from any invaders attacking from the north… or at least that was what he’d put together from the various stories he’d been told over the years.
Every estate in The Heights belonged to one of the landed gentry. His delivery was for Lord Gerald Templeton. Cooper had no idea what this man’s position was, or if it was merely a hereditary title. The hinges on the gate were rusted and creaked loudly when the guards opened one side. The garden looked like they hadn’t been maintained since some time last year. Whatever wasn’t dead, was overgrown. Cooper was forming an impression that this Lord’s title was a hereditary one. The man that answered the door in an untucked, unbuttoned doublet did nothing to cause him to rethink that opinion. The man dropped a half empty bottle of wine in order to have both hands to dig through his pouch to find two coins to give him as Cooper handed the man his message. He felt the coins in his palm and almost didn’t need to look to know that one of them was silver, and not copper.
By the time he returned to the classroom, Birt and two of the other boys were gone from the room. The remaining two, of the four, boys were now writing feverishly. Loryn and Thad were also not in their seats. Cooper figured there was about an hour remaining until the lunch bell would ring. Cooper had finished painting all the base green on the nine drawings, rinsed his brushes, and had started mixing a lighter shade of green when the bell rang. He finished mixing the paint, packed up his box and left the classroom.
Birt was seated in the dining hall, over halfway finished with his meal by the time Cooper had seated himself. Loryn and Thad were nowhere to be seen. Birt was talking with Aden but they paused while Cooper sat down. Aden said, “Hiya Cooper, Birt was just telling me that he thinks he did pretty good on the writing test.” Birt nodded. That’s what Cooper had thought was going on since all the boys had been here long enough, but he asked, “Did you finish copying your textbook?”. Birt had just taken a bite of his lunch. He nodded as he swallowed. Once he could manage it he replied, “Yep. I finished it yesterday. A couple of the boys finished theirs a couple days ago, but had spent yesterday going back through a few parts, to double check I guess.”. Cooper knew better than to ask anything specific about the test. Instead, he asked, “So what will you be doing tomorrow?”. Birt replied with a smile, “Reporting to Master Darius’ class.”. Cooper was about to ask who Master Darius was, but he noticed that Loryn and Thad had just entered the dining hall, and they had a girl with them. The three of them filled their plates and came to sit near the three boys. As soon as she was seated, Loryn said with a chuckle, “This is Gineal.”. The girl gave Loryn a mildly dirty look and said, “Gina, if you please.”. Thad smirked and asked, “Ah, what’s in a name?”. Gina replied quickly, “Nothing at all, Thaddeus.”. Now it was Thad’s turn to pass along a dirty look. Loryn appeared to be thoroughly enjoying herself.
Gina wasn’t what you would call a ‘pretty girl’. She had dark, straight hair, a wide forehead, and an oval face with a pointed chin. Her close set brown eyes looked past her slightly long nose with either disinterest or disdain. If she ever smiled, her thin lips would part to reveal a wide mouth filled with small, grayish teeth. She looked to be about eleven but must already be experiencing a growth spurt. She seemed a little awkward in her movements, like her hands and feet were unnatural to her. He wondered if Manifestation was linked to growth, or to age, or to puberty. If it was linked to growth, this girl should be very close to Manifesting.
He looked at Loryn, “Showing two new kids around, at the same time. You’re alright with that?”. Loryn shrugged, “Sure. It’ll make it even safer in town delivering messages with three of us.”. He nodded. It seemed that Loryn was looking at it in a positive manner, at least..
Cooper turned back to Birt, “I suppose you’ll be moving into second year quarters?”. This made him also wonder about how soon they’d be expected to test against Mister Skran. They were still working on combinations, not even fighting yet. Birt chuckled at him, “I know you’ll miss me, but you’ll still get to see me in Mister Skran’s class, until I pass, that is.”. This reminded him, “Who is Master Darius? And what does he teach?”. Birt had just taken another bite of food and Aden volunteered, “I know he teaches about locks and traps. He likes to tinker with stuff, I’ve heard he has made several tricky gadgets that thieves and assassins use to gain entry into buildings. That’s about all I know, though.”. Birt was nodding, “Thaf wa I hehd too.”. Loryn looked at Birt, “What?”. Birt swallowed, took a quick drink a
nd paused for a breath, “That’s what I heard too.”.
After lunch all except Thad and Gina went to the Training Room. Those two went back to the classroom. They’d make up part of the next class that Mister Skran started. When they got to the Training Room, Mister Skran was standing near the weapons table with three men and two women. Mister Skran told the students to line up with partners. “Today you will begin fighting. These men and women have come to help make sure you don’t kill one another, or injure one another too badly. I still expect there’ll be injuries, but it’s mostly between you and your partner to control yourselves.”.
Birt had positioned himself to be paired with Cooper. He felt pretty good about that, at least they wouldn’t be pushing hard enough to hurt each other. He sat down to start stretching, a few other students did as well, and soon the entire class was loosening up and getting ready. Mister Skran spoke a few minutes more with the other adults who then spread out to different parts of the room. Mister Skran then told the students to stand and, “Begin.”. Cooper and Birt started off with a few combinations. They hadn’t practiced as partners for the last couple weeks so they took this time to gauge each other’s ability. After a few minutes Cooper stepped back and raised his eyebrows to Birt. The boy nodded and they began to circle one another. After several attacks and counters, the boys began to speed up a little. Birt’s movements were fairly quick and his blocks were solid so Cooper felt confident that he could continue to increase his speed. The strikes and blocks were practiced movements but the fact that they were moving freely made those movements seem different as well. By the time Mister Skran called the first halt, they’d had a few awkward exchanges and some sore knuckles, but for the most part they felt much more confident about fighting. As the boys looked around the room, it appeared that most classmates had done the same, started slowly and went faster as they gained confidence. There didn’t appear to be any injuries, but Dailen, being paired with Rukle, looked rather winded. Mister Skran seemed satisfied that the pairs weren’t trying to kill one another so he did not call for anyone to switch partners. He allowed a few more minutes for everyone’s heart rate to slow down a little and then called out, “Begin.”. Cooper and Birt started right in. At one point, instead of countering a thrust from Birt, Cooper reversed his grip on his stick and shifted his position to the outside and raked his weapon across. It slashed a line across Birt’s torso. This wasn’t strictly an improvisation since it was incorporating techniques that had been taught to them, but it was utilizing the technique in an unexpected manner. Birt stepped back and blinked as he tried to sort out what had just happened. He looked at Cooper and said, “Show that to me again.”. He got into position and stabbed at Cooper as he had done before. Cooper repeated his movements and Birt withdrew, shaking his head. Without pausing to do more than reposition themselves, they started again. It appeared that Birt had abandoned the notion of leading off with a straight thrust. As they fought, Cooper found himself adopting the reversed grip more and more often. He could still block effectively, perhaps even better since the blade acted to shield his forearm, but his attacks and counters from this position seemed more difficult to block. He just had to get in a little closer since his reach was shortened by the length of the stick. A slight rotation of the arm could significantly change the angle of the weapon. A reversed grip removed the option of a straight thrust, but the pommel end of the stick could still be used to strike with, he just didn’t have as much reach with it as he would with the standard grip.
Mister Skran called out, “Stop. Left side shift one partner.”. This now paired Cooper with Loryn. They had never practiced together before. Cooper assumed she would be fairly quick and precise. She was usually paired with Aden. Cooper knew Aden was doing well so she must be good enough to provide some challenge for him. Mister Skran saw that new partners were in position and called out, “Begin.”. Cooper had resumed a normal grip on his weapon and was testing Loryn’s ability. It was much like working with Aden except her movements didn’t seem as smooth. She fought with quick, choppy movements, instead of one movement providing momentum for the next. It made her less predictable but it also made her slower. He began to see several opportunities to attack or counter, and he began pressing that advantage. Her defense was better than her offense, but several of his attacks and counters scored. Her forehead was wrinkled in concentration as she was trying to prevent his counterattacks. He started recognizing how to read her movements and could often anticipate her next technique. With this knowledge his counterattacks became even more effective. He could see that she was becoming frustrated and he backed away a step, telling her, “Breathe…”. They continued for a few more minutes before Mister Skran called for them to stop. As they cooled down a bit she asked him how he was able to get so many counters in against her. He replied, “I can see you preparing your attack. You change your posture a certain way depending on what you’re about to do. Stop doing that and I won’t know what’s coming.”. She nodded and began going through some of the motions. She stopped and nodded again. “I see that now. Thanks. I’ll have to figure out how to stop doing that.”.
Mister Skran had been walking around the room observing, he had only stopped a couple partners once in order to make a correction. Cooper took a look around and saw that Birt was now paired with Rukle. Both boys looked a little short of breath. Birt saw him looking and gave him a little smirk. He wondered whether that was because he’d been facing Rukle, or because Cooper was facing Loryn. Mister Skran called out, “Ready…. Begin.”. Loryn squared off against him and seemed to be made more awkward as she tried not to reveal her movements. Cooper didn’t know how to help her. Mister Skran must have noticed something wasn’t right because after a minute he had stepped in and given Loryn some whispered instruction and he withdrew to observe. Loryn appeared a little self-conscious but her movements smoothed out and improved. It became less obvious what her next technique was going to be. He’d have to ask her what Mister Skran had told her, he couldn’t have said more than a dozen words to her. The two of them began increasing their speed and soon they were almost in a rhythm. They only paused and repositioned when a lethal strike slipped past a block, or struck unblocked. After several minutes, Mister Skran called out, “Stop. Rotate as before.”.
The students continued practicing until four hours had passed. Cooper would incorporate a reverse grip whenever he thought it wouldn’t disrupt his partner’s practice. No one used a reverse grip while practicing with him. When Mister Skran announced the end of class he stood near the weapons table. He called Cooper’s name and gestured for him. Cooper placed his weapon on the table and walked over to Mister Skran, who said, “I noticed that you’re working with a reverse grip fairly often today.”. He’d left the observation open, but there was little doubt that he wanted Cooper to make a comment of some kind. Cooper replied, “I think I actually prefer it, sir. It seemed a little unnatural at first, but now using it seems like there are more options. Today I only used it with a partner that I thought could adjust to it.”. Mister Skran considered that for a second before he replied, “I wondered why you only used that grip with some and not with others. Usually a student only uses a reverse grip with a less skilled partner, rather than the other way around.”. Cooper answered, “Sir, I was trying not to be disruptive. We’re all here to learn. If I used a reverse grip with Dailen, I expect he wouldn’t adjust to it well and we’d both get less value from practicing.”. Mister Skran understood, “You need to go on to the classroom now. Some occasion when we have more time, I’ll show you a few things. The reverse grip has some definite strengths but it also has some weaknesses that your peers may not realize. If you intend to use that grip, you’ll need to be shown. You asked earlier about dual handed fighting. That’s where the reverse grip is most effective. Pass this class and I can show you more about that.”. Cooper replied, “Thank you, sir.”, he paused before turning, “Sir, I was trying to figure out how to help Loryn with her movements. You whispe
red only a couple words and her technique improved immediately. May I ask what you told her?”. Mister Skran smiled, it seemed a genuine smile, “I told her, ‘Stop leading with your hips.’”.
Cooper collected his materials on his way to the classroom. Master Worthan looked up when he entered the classroom and Cooper thought he might get scolded for being a little bit behind his classmates but his teacher seemed to be unconcerned about it. As Cooper was arranging his paints, Master Worthan approached his table. He figured that the old man was curious about his progress, or simply wanted to see the quality of his work. Master Worthan leaned over his table and looked over a few of the painted illustrations and said, “Yes, I believe Miss Camilla should be satisfied with these. I don’t think your painting is as good as hers, but she has a beautiful touch with a paint brush, as well as having several years of practice working in her favor.”. Cooper suddenly realized, “Miss Camilla wrote and painted this book?!”. Master Worthan nodded, “Indeed. Impressive, isn’t it?”. Master Worthan was smiling, but then became serious when he said, “But that isn’t why I came over here. I came to discuss the possibility of you taking your writing test next month. It’s a little ahead of schedule, but I can’t see why we should delay it. In the meantime, keep working on pages for Miss Camilla. I think you’re learning valuable information and a useful, artistic skill. When we get closer to your testing date I’ll let you know, so that you can refresh yourself on some of the material in your copied textbook, should you wish to do so. Fair enough?”. Cooper didn’t know what to say, he supposed the only thing he could say was, “Yes, Sir!”.
The sleeping bay actually was different with Birt moved out, but the two new students certainly added some social variety. Gina and Thad seemed comfortable bantering back and forth. Cooper thought it was all fairly amusing, until voices became raised and it became difficult to concentrate on studying. Loryn and Aden tried to re-establish order so they could continue their lessons, but only ended up adding to the overall noise. Dailen rolled over in his bed and groaned as he pulled his pillow over his head. Cooper waited for a minute or so, and then suggested they all head over to the Training Room to sort out their differences. This seemed to quiet everyone down and he resumed studying for another hour or so before lying down to go to sleep.