Silver Dragon (8 page)

Aleena's mouth fell open as Celos made his way through the course tirelessly. She saw him pick up and push a cart loaded with dirt and then grab a training sword and run through several dummies, striking each one along the way. He continued through the challenges and finished by running hard and coming to a stop before
Sir Amos.

The priest turned a small hourglass over and saw that there was still sand left in both sides. He nodded. "Well done, recruit.
William, your turn."

Aleena watched William, another skilled recruit, take his place and call for Leander's blessing. He began the course and did almost as well as Celos. Aleena shook her head as one after another of her fellow trainees ran through the course ahead of her. Seeing them do it made it so that it didn't look that hard, but she knew better. They were panting for breath and a few winced as they walked when they finished. Durak flashed his hand at her and smiled, showing how he'd torn the skin off his calluses at some point and was dripping blood on the ground.

"Aleena, it's your turn," Sir Amos called to her after everyone else had gone.

"Good luck," Durak whispered.

Celos gave her a nod when she looked at him. It wasn't much, but she returned it and bowed her head to call for Leander's blessing. So far, three of the recruits had completed the course after the sands ran out, guaranteeing they would fail the testing. She wouldn't be alone, at least!

Aleena took a deep breath and broke out in a run. Her foot slipped on the snowy ground but she caught herself before she fell to the ground. It served as a good warning to her when she came to the barrels. Knowing her f
ooting would be treacherous, she slowed so she could make it around the barrels. She misjudged the second one and bounced off it, driving the breath from her lungs and bruising her hip. She bounced off and ran on, brushing against the barrels and slipping through until she made her way to the next obstacle.

Aleena cleared the first gates and then found herself sopping up the dirty slush beneath the next gates. She rose up, breathing hard and grinding her teeth against the cold. She grabbed the rope and tried to swing across to the box but her hand slipped and she fell off into what turned out to be
a snow-covered pit.

She scrambled out of it, her cheeks and chest burning with heat enough to make her forget her sodden clothes. She grabbed the rope and tried again, wrapping it around her wrist once for extra support. She made the swing but stumbled on the box and ended up rolling off it.

She managed the net so well she thought she might have made up some time but the next obstacle stalled her. The wooden wall was easily ten feet up, so tall that she couldn't reach it even by jumping. She cast about, looking for something to use to help her gain a few inches she needed. There was only the wall. It wasn't fair; she was too short to reach it! How could they count that against her?

Aleena scowled and glanced at the gathered recruits and
Sir Amos. Several of the trainees were shaking their heads or looking away. Only Durak and Celos were staring at her. She turned back to the wall and stared at it, and then decided to try something she'd seen her little brother do once when he was young and even shorter than she was.

Aleena back
ed up and got a running start. Rather than leaping straight up when she reached the wall, she jumped at the wall and planted her foot against it. She pushed down, giving herself a boost and struggled to throw her hands as high as she could.

Her fingers cleared the top and gave her purchase enough to hang desperately. She struggled and tried to get her other hand over the lip but lost her tenuous grip before she could manage it. She fell and rolled away
, knowing she had failed.

Aleena climbed to her feet and stared at the wall,
and then shook her head in disgust and went around it. The remaining obstacles flew past her as though she was in a dream. All she saw was the wall. It angered her and drove her to push herself so that when she stopped in front of Sir Amos, she was gasping for breath and barely able to hold herself upright.

He showed her the hourglass. It had run out of sand. "
You have failed."

Aleena gathered her breath to say, "Thank you for the opportunity,
Sir Amos."

The priest started to turn away but he stopped and looked back at her. He regarded her silently for a moment,
and then nodded and turned away. "Come, to the next stage of the testing."

They followed him back inside to where the wind and snow couldn't reach them. Aleena marched stiffly behind the others and tried to tighten every muscle in her body to keep from shivering as the snow and slush melted against her skin. She followed them into the training room she'd spent hours each day in, save that this time there were other people present. Other priests and members of the Knights of Leander sat in chairs to watch the testing.

"Celos, present yourself for testing," Sir Amos called out.

Celos went to the racks of armor and weapons and spent the next few minutes preparing himself for battle. He selected a sword, a mace, and an axe before clomping
to the center of the room. He dropped the mace and axe to the ground but held his sword at his side. Celos turned to the holy symbol of Leander along the wall and saluted it, and then turned and waited. Sir Amos rang the bell that hung near the door they'd come through.

Double doors in the opposite wall that Aleena had always wondered about opened. A man wearing plate armor from head to toe emerged with sword and shield in hand. He stepped forward and saluted Celos,
and then charged him. Aleena gasped when she saw how quickly the warrior moved in his heavy armor.

Celos was just as agile. He sprung to the side and lashed out with his sword, striking against the knight's shield. The knight turned on him and fought back, striking sword against sword or landing ringing blows on the recruit's armor. Celos gave as good as he got until
, after several minutes of the two exchanging blows with no clear winner, Sir Amos rang the bell.

The two fighters separated. Celos discarded his sword and grabbed up the mace he'd chosen. He turned back to see his challenger was waiting for him. Celos saluted him, inviting the battle to be rejoined.

They crashed together again and struck blow after blow. Aleena was amazed to see the difference between Celos's mace and his opponent's sword. The sword could dent and scratch Celos's armor but it lacked the brute power the spiked head of the mace had. Three times Celos staggered his foe with a strike to the helm. It was after the third strike that Sir Amos rang the bell again.

The third match was with Celos's axe and his opponent's sword. As with the mace
, the axe could land a much heavier blow if it struck true. Less than two minutes into the bout, Celos struck his foe in the side with his axe so fiercely that the man crumpled to the ground and held up his hand. Aleena gasped when she realized what had happened–Celos had forced him to yield!

Celos dropped his axe and moved to help the defeated man rise. Blood ran down his side, proof of the power of his final blow. Priests rose from the side and helped the defeated warrior back through the doors so they could tend to his wounds.

"Celos, well done," Sir Amos offered praise in the most minimal of ways. "William, prepare yourself."

Aleena watched the same process repeat itself several more times. Her body grew numb waiting, but she stopped shivering after the third fight.
William and Durak both failed to defeat their opponents, as did the other remaining recruits until it was Aleena's turn.

"Recruit Aleena, as we have no fitting armor for testing, you are not required to participate,"
Sir Amos announced when it was her turn.

Aleena let loose a soft sigh of relief. Then she felt her cheeks warming with shame. While it was true that many of the strikes she'd seen today would have crippled or killed her without a proper cuirass,
at least she could have shown that she had courage. She deserved to be tested, even if it meant she would be beaten. Or worse. Would Alto or Celos have backed down from a challenge?

Aleena nearly laughed at the thought. Celos had fought and won. Alto, she was certain, would have killed his opponent. He fought with force, aggression, and a skill that couldn't be taught. Even though she'd only seen him sparring with the other Blades of Leander
, she knew he was better than any of the men she'd seen today. Alto had just been a farm boy who became a warrior. What did that mean an innkeeper's daughter could do?

She shook her head. "
Sir Amos, I would take my turn and be tested."

"Recruit, you have seen this test and you understand its consequences. Three times this day
, wearing full armor, we have seen men grievously wounded," he warned her.

"I have seen it and I accept the risks," Aleena confirmed. She glanced at Leander's symbol and said, "I place my faith in Saint Leander that he will value my courage and resolve to spread his word."

She dipped her head in prayer to the icon and heard some of the priests talking in hushed voices amongst themselves. She lifted her head and looked at the trace of a smile on Sir Amos's face. "Very well, recruit. Prepare yourself."

Aleena made her way to the racks and
slipped a loose-fitting chain shirt on and then added greaves, pauldrons, and vambraces, which were all too large for her. She slipped the smallest helm on she could find and then grabbed up a shield. She adjusted the slippery helm so she could see through the slits and then selected her weapons before moving to the center of the chamber.

"Good luck, recruit,"
Sir Amos said before he rang the bell to announce the start of combat.

A fresh warrior walked out and then stopped. He stared at Aleena and then turned to look at everyone else assembled. He resumed walking out
and then offered Aleena a salute before advancing to square off against her.

Aleena used her sword defensively, deflecting his strikes and moving out of the way of heavier strikes. It took only a few moments for her to realize she was moving faster and more easily than he was. Aleena used it to her advantage and began to circle around him, forcing her opponent to move to keep her in front of him.

After guiding him for several minutes, he landed a strike against her shoulder that sent a jolt of agony into her back from how her armor dug into her flesh. Seeing her stunned, he tried again but she dodged away from the strike. He advanced on her, confident in his steps and forcing her back away from the open center of the room.

Aleena smacked her sword into the side of his armored leg and caught the return swipe he launched on her shield. She tried again, jabbing into the steel plate protecting his belly and finding her sword sliding away. He trapped her blade between his shield and his side, forcing her to grunt as she yanked it free and fell back a step.

She pushed forward, feigning a lunge and drawing his shield in to protect himself. She twisted the blade away and rotated it up and around to drive his sword high above her head. She kept pushing, keeping their swords out of the fight. That left her shield, which she'd pulled back. She punched out with it and jammed it into his face. Both the force and the clang of her shield against his helm staggered him back a step.

Aleena tried to push the fight and kept her shield jammed into his head. She drew her sword back to jam it against him again but failed to realize that freed up his weapon as well. His sword smashed into the side of her helmet a
nd upended the world for her.

Aleena
crashed to the floor and tasted blood from where she'd bitten her lip. She looked up in time to see him smash the pommel of his sword into her helmet, stunning her further and loosening her helmet on her head. She was blinded and confused when she felt his metal-shod foot crash into her side.

Aleen
a stared up after a moment of blinking the colors and lights out of her eyes. She coughed and tried to move her arms and legs to right herself. She heard a ringing in her ears that added to the confusion.

"This stage is over," she heard
Sir Amos state.

"No!" Aleena coughed the word out and rolled onto her knees before she put one shaky foot under her and rose to stand. "Please,
Sir Amos, I'm not done yet."

He stared at her for a long moment. Aleena looked down at herself and saw that blood had fallen from her helmet down her chain shirt and spattered on the floor. "Recruit, are you injured?"

Aleena reached up with her right hand and pulled her helmet off. She tucked it under her arm and felt her lips and nose. She sniffed and then pinched her nose, wincing at how it burned. She let go and closed her eyes, and then donned her helmet. "No, Father, I'm fine."

He hesitated a moment longer
and then nodded for her to continue. Aleena picked up her mace and waited for her opponent to signal her. When he did, she rushed at him, using her lighter weight and greater speed to surprise him. She pushed his sword down with her shield and slammed her mace into his shield, forcing it down. She continued to hammer at him, striking his shoulder, chest, and helm, and managed to force him back a step. She kept pushing, relying on her momentum, and even managed to tuck a foot behind his. He took a next step and tripped, crashing onto his back and grunting as the wind was knocked from his lungs.