Serenity Valley (16 page)

I had Fulk leading Demon this morning.
As we headed out toward the stable area, I noticed work on the main
wall had begun. Much of the great wall and turrets had been
salvaged to contribute to the main house additions. Now the main
house complex sprawled in this and that direction, with little
concern for symmetry and flow. Function had been the only concern.
Now a sprawling facility with all manner of different rooflines,
the main house was basically indefensible. It stood unprotected
without the great wall. A train of great ox-drawn wagons shuttled
the large quarried blocks of stone to rebuild the wall. Deep wagon
ruts could already be seen leading off toward the west, where Lord
Goodwin operated the quarries. I loved the hold open and free, but
I knew it better to be defensible than see it destroyed. I thought
of Basilea, Fulk, and myself. We were being prepared for the
future, just as the hold was being prepared.

Basilea, Fulk, and I walked along the
road that encircled the great house. Demon followed along behind
me, with Mildred at his right side. We were all suffering from
nervous excitement. Today we were to be introduced to our weapons
the lady had personally selected for us to specialize in. Ox, the
weapons master, ran the armory and training facilities. He would
see to our basic weapons training, except for Fulk, who would
specialize in the long bow. Ox’s abilities with the long bow
surpassed even Lady Bella’s. We rounded the north end of the main
house compound and could now view the western side of the complex,
which contained the armory and training grounds. The armory was
located in the northernmost end of the guard barracks. Weapons of
all description were stored here, along with shields and light
armor. A great circular wall extended from the guard barracks,
creating several acres of theatre space. The closest grounds
contained walls, trees, ditches, and dummies for training ground
forces. Grounds farthest west were set up for horse mounted
training, with a number of tracks and courses. We entered the
courtyard adjoining the armory and access to the training grounds.
I turned to Demon. “Young man, could you occupy yourself for a
while so we can see Master Ox?” Demon nickered and trotted off with
Mildred to the training grounds. As we neared the armory, we could
see Lady Bella talking to Ox in the exhibition arena, where a
number of targets and dummies were set up for purpose of
demonstration. We approached, and I greeted them, “Good morning,
Lady Bella, Master Ox.”

Bells said, “Good morning, Gamel,
Basilea, Fulk. Master Ox and I were just talking about your
training schedule. Come close, all of you.”

As we neared, I could see the wide
scar on the left side of Master Ox’s face. He was of medium height,
with exceptionally broad shoulders that tapered to a thin waist and
unnaturally muscular legs. His long black hair was braided into a
tight ponytail. He was said to have served in numerous campaigns
before coming to the hold some ten years ago. He was also notorious
for his gruff manner and foul language.

Ox barked, “Aye, my lady, so these be
da whelps you told me about. Well, come on in closer, ya little
heathens, one and all. Can’t spect the lady an I ta be yelling ta
da end a hades now.”

I assumed all in my group were
fighting for control because I surely was. I noticed that even Lady
Bella turned away for a moment to regain her composure.

There were a couple long chests to the
side of the lady and Ox. Ox kicked the lid open on the longest
chest and reached in, retrieving a long bow and a quiver of arrows.
He barked, “This here be da finest damn bow in the country 'cept
fer mine own. 'Twas made right here by our little bastards in the
armory.” Ox admired the bow, then braced it against his leg and
foot to string it. He slung the quiver over his shoulder and took a
stance with his left foot forward and feet apart but parallel with
one another. He raised the bow in his left hand, and in a fluid
movement, with his right hand; he pulled a shaft from the quiver,
notched and shot the arrow. Without moving his left arm or the bow,
his right arm continued to move in its trained fluid movement,
putting five arrows to flight within a few seconds. Ox had the bow
slung over his shoulder before the last three arrows found their
mark on a target some fifty yards away. Even from this distance, I
could see they were tightly grouped in the center ring. The lady
was smiling at us as she exclaimed, “I told you Master Ox was an
extraordinary archer!”

We all were bowled over by the
demonstration of speed and accuracy, and we just stood there
staring, our mouths slightly agape.

“Fulk, come here, boy! Let’s see what
little makings ya got,” Ox called loudly.

Fulk went to Ox, who showed him the
proper stance, how to notch the arrow, and how to sight it. Ox
stepped around Fulk as if inspecting meat on a hook, adjusting him
here and there, then he said, “Well, the young bastard has the
build for an archer, I’ll give 'im that. Now try and loose a bolt
at da target. Aim 'bout a foot above yer point.” Fulk drew the bow
to its full extent and released the arrow. In the span of a breath,
the arrow found its place with Ox’s group. Ox yelled, “Well, I’ll
shit a mountain of coin! Boy, you ever shot arrow
before?”

“No, Master Ox. This is my first
try.”

Ox grabbed Fulk by the shoulders and
began shaking him violently. “Ya little bastard, ya be a natural,
ya be! When I be done wit ye, you’ll be shoo'in' da pecker off an
eagle flyin' high, boy!” None of us could stand it any longer, and
we gasped with laughter; even Ox started snorting.

Lady Bella composed herself quickly
and said, “I told you he was a natural, Master Ox.”

“Aye, my lady, and I be thinkin' more
serious of yer evaluations in ta future.”

Lady Bella bent and opened the second
chest and removed a long scabbard sword of which I had never seen
the like. Holding it up, she said, “Basilea, the weapons you will
learn come from Asian countries. These are weapons fitting to your
stature and speed. Like me, you cannot fight the close battle with
heavy weapons. You must utilize speed and gracefulness as your
allies.

She handed the sword to Basilea, who
withdrew it from the scabbard and said, “Oh, my lady, it is
beautiful. What is this jagged design in the blade?”

“That is not a design but marks in the
blade's metal left by folding the steel over on itself hundreds, or
even a thousand, times. It may take a master one to three years to
produce a blade of this quality. Come, I will demonstrate how to
use it.”

We all followed the lady to a place
circled by three straw dummies. Basilea started to the lady holding
out the sword, but Ox grabbed her shoulder and held her back. When
Lady Bella was about five feet from the dummies, she stepped
forward, almost squatting low, with something in her hands. I was
trying to follow her arm movements, but she was moving too fast and
changing her stance. The center dummy lost its head. She pivoted on
her front leg and spun to arrive in front of the left dummy. A
flash of metal left the upper half of the dummy toppling to the
ground. She spun and stepped at the same time, holding the blade in
two hands above her head. In the blink of an eye, she was in a low
stance in front of the right dummy, with blade flashing twice. She
spun completely around, whirling the blade above her head, and
stopped. She was almost in a squat with her left arm extended and
palm held up as if to say 'stop.' In her right hand was a thin,
gleaming blade, cocked back at eye level, also pointing at the
dummy. She rose from her stance while her right hand went behind
her neck and the blade disappeared from sight.

In a matter of a few seconds, the left
dummy had been severed at mid torso, the center dummy lost its
head, and the right dummy no longer had arms. I looked at Basilea
and Fulk, who stared back with open mouths. The only one smiling
was Ox. Lady Bella joined us with a huge smile.

“Well, that was fun. Feels like I was
back in training as a young girl,” she said.

I composed myself enough to say, “Lady
Bella, I had no idea! You’re fantastic!”

Lady Bella appeared to actually blush,
and Ox spat out, “Our lady is by God, ta most deadly person walkin'
ta earth. Hell, that last fellow ain’t got a way ta hold his
pecker.” The lady turned in a crouching stance and made two
flicking motions with her right arm. A death star and throwing
knife stuck in the forehead of the right dummy. The head started to
tilt forward and toppled to the ground. We were all astonished.
Even Ox rubbed his chin for a moment before he said, “Well, on
second thought, ta fella got other things on his mind dese days.”
Ox’s remark had us all laughing again before he continued more
seriously, “Lady, you have gotten faster. I not even see da neck
cut.”

“Thank you, Master Ox. I’ve been
practicing. The death star Gamel has seen before.” She turned to us
and said, “All three of you will be trained in throwing them and
knives as medium range weapons. Come, children. We have not seen
Gamel’s primary weapons.”

We all followed the lady to the second
chest, where she retrieved a heavy leather pouch. She opened the
pouch flap and withdrew what looked like a flat metal hoop about
nine inches in diameter. “This is called a chakram or quoits and is
used for medium distance throwing.” She demonstrated how it could
be thrown overhead to avoid allies. “It can also be thrown
underhand or from the side.” The lady then loosed one from the
overhead position, and it flew true until reaching a wood target
some thirty feet away, where it buried itself deeply. She said,
“Its thin construction allows it to fly without being affected by
the wind.”

Ox looked at Gamel. “Ya being careful
when throwin' ta thing overhead or you’ll get yerself one ta
these.” He said, pulling back his hair to expose half an
ear.

“Is that how you lost your ear, Master
Ox?” I asked.

Ox said, “Nah, Nah, I got meself
shitfaced and fell through a window, I did.”

Everyone laughed for a long while,
then Basilea spoke up to ask a question. “Lady Bella, is it a
prerequisite for great archers to have a great wit?”

“I don’t know,” Bells said, “but I
believe Fulk and Master Ox are evenly matched.”

With that, Ox grabbed Fulk and started
pounding him on the shoulder. “Aye, the boy’l do fine then, just
fine!”

The lady then produced a strange short
sword that had a curved backbone, wide at the end and tapered back
to the pommel and grip. The blade had an intricate inlay of
polished brass in ornamental designs. In the wide section of the
blade was the face of an angry man with razor-sharp teeth. Fulk
examined it and announced, “Bloody gruesome looking thing, isn’t
it?”

Ox couldn’t resist the opportunity.
“Make the bastards shit der britches before dey draw a sword, me
thinks.” Everyone laughed again. It was going to be difficult to be
serious when Fulk and Ox were together.

“I’m afraid I lean toward the
theatrics a bit, something I inherited from my father,” Bells told
us. “He says one third of any battle is won in the opponent's mind.
He would make such an intimidating display on a battlefield that
many would surrender without a fight.” The lady then showed us a
strange-looking dagger. Instead of a handle, it had long braces on
top and bottom, and the handle was in form of a grip when you made
a fist. She said, “You all will have one of these. It is a katara
and gives you great gripping power, along with some protection from
the short sword, using the braces to deflect blows.” Next, she
showed us a very unusual axe in some sort of harness system. She
said, “Gamel, with your size, strength, and speed, you will be very
good at close quarters. I designed this axe especially for you.
Would you care to demonstrate, Master Ox?”

Ox slipped the harness on, placing the
axe at a slight angle, with handle near the back of his neck. He
then walked over to where an armor dummy stood and said, “Got
special clips to release when you push da handle back.” He
demonstrated. “Then pull 'er up and...” With a loud clang, one side
of the double axehead plunged through the armor. “When ya tire a
chopping, just stick um with ta pointy end.” He withdrew the axe,
then stabbed the spike on the end of the axe through the gash he
had just made. He then handed the axe to me. “Get the feel of it,
boy.” I looked it over closely and noticed everyone else moving in
to get a look. It had blades of about ten inches in length and
numerous designed relief holes cut into the thick part of the
blades. The top of the axehead held a seven-inch straight spike.
The axehead extended into a handle for almost two feet. A wood
handle was then shafted and pinned. The overall length, with
handle, was about four feet, but for all of its size, it seemed
light. It also contained an intricate scrolling design of brass
inlays. The entire axe was polished shiny bright.

“My lady, this is a work of art.
Surely another such as this does not exist?” I said.

Bells responded, “No, Gamel, it is one
of a kind, and my design. Master Ox had the smiths craft
it.”

“Aye, an' I believe the daft pricks
did a fine job at that. They claim ta edges be of sky rock metal,
hardest edge metal ta knowin'.”

“Gamel, with your size and strength,
you would be a good candidate for a long sword or axe,” Lady Bella
said. “As the long sword is mostly used for clubbing, and the blade
isn’t even sharp the entire length, why not give you a weapon
capable of overpowering the sword? Let me show you a hidden
feature.” Taking the axe in hand, Bells said, “As you can see, the
handle end has a leather grip. If you twist it to the left and then
right.” She demonstrated, and an eight-inch blade popped out the
end of the handle. “To withdraw it, simply turn the handle left and
let the blade fall, then turn it right to lock it in.”