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Feb. 24, 2009
Chapter Five; Part Two
Tina spun around to face the owner of the voice so bold as to question a pack of large, hungry wolves. What she was faced with was a man, about average height, dressed in weather-beaten cloths. He wore a heavy looking two-handed sword at his side, and had a gleam in his eye as he faced the pack.
"And who are you to question our control of the Forrest of Gorox?" Snarled the lead wolf.
The stranger smiled dangerously. "Earagorn."
As soon as the name was out of Earagorn's mouth, the lead wolf flew into a wolf behind him. Chaos followed. Wolves were suddenly flung into the air like playthings, tossed into each other, and spun around. And Earagorn was grinning like a child at a circus.
After about thirty seconds, the chaos stopped. "Had enough?" Asked Earagorn, still grinning. The lead wolf staggered to his feet, snarling, and sounded the retreat. The pack fled into the Forrest.
"Thanks." Said Tina, somewhat shocked at what had just occurred.
"No problem. Helping damsels in distress is what I live for." Said Earagorn, flashing a grin. Tina frowned.
"'Damsel in distress'?" She asked, still frowning.
"Yup. Would you rather be a child in distress?" Asked Earagorn, grin coming back. Tina's frown deepened, and her brow furrowed. Then Earagorn frowned. "Oh, come on. Lighten up! Say, maybe you can help me."
"And why would I do something like that?"
"Because I just saved your hide, that's why." The grin was back. Tina decided she hated that grin.
"Fine. What do you need?" She said.
"I'm looking for some one. Tall, doesn't talk much, carries around a bow and arrows-"
"Arcon?"
"That's him. You know where he is? Or, did he get lost again?"
"Again?" Came a new voice, only one recognized by both Tina and Earagorn. And Arcon stepped out of the trees, follow by Captain Jalor.
Earagorn glanced at Tina. "This doesn't count. You still owe me." Tina smirked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For a few hours every day following the day of getting lost, Gradwin would come and sit beside Smiths bed- he was not allowed out of it, due to his ankle- and answer questions. Smith had a lot. And was thinking of more every day. Within a week, not only was he well enough to get out of bed and move around, but he was nearly an expert on everything Yith. He had the landscape almost memorized, he had a reasonably sized data bank on almost every race in Yith, and was learning more every day.
Though Smith was well enough to leave Gradwin and the small underground den, he chose to stay, at least for a while. There was SO much Gradwin could- and would- teach him! And Smith wanted to learn as much as he could. He already knew much more then he did when he first came, and that wasn't all. But there were other reasons Smith wanted to stay a bit long, other then the lure of knowledge. He wanted to find out who that girl was he had seen. Though he was up and about quite often now, he didn't so much as catch a glimpse of her. But that only served to increase Smith curiosity.
One day, Gradwin woke Smith at the crack of dawn, telling him he wanted to teach him something in the Forest. Smith, curious, complied.
They walked for several, minutes, never stopping, through the Forest, until they came upon a small, roundish clearing, roughly the size of the sword ring at the fort. They entered, surrounded by the sounds of the Forest, with sunlight streaming down from above. Gradwin walked over to one side of the clearing and picked up a large, strait stick, and tossed it to Smith. He caught it in midair. It had been sanded smooth, all bark removed, and was roughly the length or a two handed broadsword, though not as heavy. Smith stared at the stick for a few moments, not comprehending the meaning of the stick, or what Gradwin wanted to teach. Only when Gradwin picked up sticks of his own did Smith get it. He started to laugh.
Gradwin turned to face Smith. "What do you find so amusing, young one?" He asked, as gleam is his eyes.
Smith managed to stop laughing long enough to answer. "You are... (chuckle)... are going to... (heh heh)... duel me?"
Gradwin's face sobered, though his eyes disagreed. "Yes. Why is that funny to you?" He asked, his face bordering on insult.
Smith stopped laughing and regained composure. "Sorry, Gradwin. It's just that... well... I held my own against some of the best sword fighters I've ever seen, and even beat one or two. So-"
"So you think that I wouldn't offer a challenge." Gradwin finished. Smith nodded, looking a little sheepish. Gradwin nodded knowingly. "Well, I plan on duelling you anyway. So let's begin."
Smith nodded, and the two combatants circled each other. Smith struck first, darting in with a high-to-low chop that would kill anyone with less the lighting fast reflexes. Gradwin didn't have that.
He had better.
Moving faster then a man of his age should have, Gradwin blocked Smith's attack and counter attacked with speed that would shame a striking cobra. Smith only barely managed to defend himself. The weeks of intense training under Captain Jalor paid off. But Gradwin wasn't done yet. Instead of locking with Smith, then drawling back for another strike, Gradwin bounced off Smith defence and spun around to the inside, striking Smith on the shoulder.
"Ow!" Smith cried out in pain. He hadn't had time to react, and now his shoulder throbbed. Smith blinked at Gradwin. "How... how did you do that?"
Gradwin chuckled. "Not as harmless as you first thought, eh? Wait until I get warmed up!" And with that, Gradwin struck again. And again. And yet again. For the rest of the day, Gradwin and Smith battled... or rather, Gradwin stuck Smith repeatedly with a stick, teaching him "the way of the sword". By that evening, Smith was covered from head to toe with bruises, and Gradwin had none.
Reviews
Feb. 27, 2009 - cool
 Posted by jillybean
Very interesting! I was very intrigued right when I started reading. Write more! I can't wait!
Jillybean
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