Training

I finally reach the village; I can see the buildings in the distance. I approach the entrance and two large men are guarding it they look me up and down before one of them asks. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"My name is Skye Banks; I've come to train with the swordsman."

The two men look at each other confusion written on their faces. "The Skye Banks, the one that lived here years ago?"

"Yep, with my grandmother."

The men smile wide and they both hug me. "It's been so long, how have you been?"

I hug them both and laugh. "I've been good, how about you two?"

"We've been good. Nothing has changed much since you left."

"Except…well…" The other guy hesitates. "The swordsman passed away a couple of years after you left, he had a heart attack. His wife took over though and she's pretty good at what she does."

"Yeah, remember that whiny kid Rin?" The other guy cuts in.

"Mhm, what about him?"

"Well, shortly after you left he started to train to become a knight, of course, we all laughed and made fun of him because he'd cry at every lesson-"

"Now, he's a captain-"

"But not an ordinary captain-"

"He's a captain of one of the worst divisions in the knights". The guys say at the same time laughing, I shake my head in disappointment and smile.

"Okay boys; tell me where I can go so I can start training."

"What are you training for?" The guys ask in unison.

"I'm going to try out for the knights!" I smirk and pull out one of my swords waving it through the air. The guys roll their eyes and shake their heads.

"You remember where the swordsman lived right? If so then that's where you go." One of them says, I nod and leave the brothers alone so they can go back to guarding.

Zach and Austin, twins and trouble makers of the village…at least they used to be. They would always get in trouble and pick fights. This village is better than most, a lot of the people that live here are trainers or smiths. They get paid to make weapons and armor for the knights and to train some knights as well. When I lived here with grandma I'd watch the swordsman train knights.

I go to where the swordsman lived and knock on the door, a woman presumably in her late forty's answers the door. "Yes, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for someone that can help me train. I was told you'd be able to."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Skye Banks, I used-"

"No, is it you?" The woman looks surprised but happy to see me. "I haven't seen you since you were little. Come in sweetie." I accept her invitation.

We both sit in the living room catching up the rest of the night. She invites me to stay with her while she trains me, but in return, I have to clean the house and the weapons that I'll be using.

"Why are you trying for the knights? Most people try out once they're fifteen why are you waiting so long?"

"I was going to, but some stuff happened and I lost interest in joining."

She looks at me with concern. Mrs. Smith is one of the sweetest people in the village; her husband was a hard worker. They both made swords and trained people, I've always wanted to be trained by one of them and I finally can. I've missed being here, people were so nice and caring, I wonder if everyone remembers me.

"We'll start first thing in the morning, at sunrise. You can stay in the spare bedroom that's next to mine." Mrs. Smith gets up and goes upstairs. I groan and lay on the couch not wanting to go to bed.

I didn't expect I'd be training so soon, what about catching up and I still want to see all my old friends. I sigh before getting up and going to bed.

"Wake up, Skye!" I jump up startled before realizing Mrs. Smith is standing over me. I smile weakly at her as I rub my eyes and she shakes her head. "Get dressed it's time to start your training." She leaves the room, closing the door.

I roll out of bed and get dressed before putting my hair up in a ponytail. I rush downstairs and look to see if there's any food, unfortunately, there isn't. "Where's the food?"

"You'll eat later, first you have to do warm-ups." She leads me outside and there's a big open area filled with obstacles, dummies, and a lot of other stuff. This is going to be hell.

"Uhm...so what am I supposed to do?"

"Run five laps from the end of the training grounds and back."

"What? Is that my training for today then?"

"Don't be ridiculous. How much do you know about the knights?" I look around avoiding the question. I know what they do, but that's it. Mrs. Smith sighs as she shakes her head. "It's recommended that you have magic to join, however, if you're quick, agile, and strong there's a chance you'll get into a division. Rin, I trained him and he got accepted, when I first started training him he would cry at every lesson, now he's a captain. He's both agile and fast."

I nod my head understanding what she meant, I then start running the laps finishing at a decent time. Mrs. Smith then instructs me to get two wooden swords from the bin so I do.

"I want to see how you handle yourself in a fight."

"Huh?" Before I realize it she's running in my direction, pointing the tip of the sword at me. I try to dodge but I'm too slow, she hits me, and again, and again. I keep trying to block and get a hit in but it's no use.

"Enough. It's a good thing you didn't go straight to the capital. You're worse than you think you are."

"I'm better at dual-wielding; I prefer using two swords instead of one."

"No one uses two swords, daggers yes, but swords no."

"I do, it's easier for me. When I first started training when I was younger I used two swords, the instructor tried to teach me how to use one, but it was harder for me. That is why I came here hoping someone would be able to teach me. I know it's on short notice, but I feel like it could help me."

Mrs. Smith is quiet, she shakes her head. "Okay, in that case, I'll do my best. You have about five months so it's going to be constant training. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good, now let's get back to stances…"

We spent most of the day going over stances and different forms. Mrs. Smith made sure to drill them in my head because each one is important whether I'm offensive or on defense. She also made me run laps around the training grounds and do pushups to build up my endurance. In the next five months, I'll be building up my endurance and strength.

The sun is setting so Mrs. Smith suggests we call it a night and she'll make dinner as long as I clean up. As she makes dinner I take a quick shower washing off the sweat that's covering my body. I hear her call me down to eat and I rush to get dressed before my food gets cold. I run downstairs forgetting to brush my hair. We sit at her table eating chicken and broccoli; she goes over the schedule for the week. One day I'll focus on my strength and the other endurance and to get some sparring in as well. She also wants to work on my agility; these next five months are going to drag on.

The past few months have been exhausting. I've been training constantly even on the days I don't have to, my swordsmanship is improving but is it enough to get me into the knights? I only have a couple more weeks until the exam and I leave to go home in a few days. Mrs. Smith wants me to spar with one of the guards to test how far I've come. I asked why I couldn't spar with her like I did the first day, but she said she didn't want to waste her time on me, and that I was nowhere close to her level.

I get my swords and some armor before heading to the training grounds, everyone is gathered around and Mrs. Smith walks up to me. "I know these past few months have been tiring, but I know you've improved. You trained when I told you not to, paid attention, and didn't give up. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you." I smile before approaching the grassy area where one of the guards is standing and waiting. I put some of the armor around my arms and legs.

Someone from the group steps out and stands in the middle of the grassy area. "To win you must push your opponent out of bounds, knock one of their weapons out of their hands, or knock them unconscious." We both nod in agreement. We both have two weapons to make it fair, I have my swords and the guard has a sword and dagger.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you." He says as he puts his sword up, the tip pointing at me.

I chuckle. "It wouldn't be much of a test then would it?" I lay one of my swords down on the ground before putting the other up with the tip pointing at my opponent. After a few moments of silence he starts running towards me, he's faster than I thought.

Before I know it he's in front of me about to strike me, I jump to my right barely dodging in time. He turns to face me and swings his sword at me once again; I put my sword up blocking him, he tries to push me out of bounds but I manage to push him back. I run from him and grab my other sword, making an x with them. I wait for him to come at me, and just as I anticipated he does. He comes at me from my left, just as he swings his sword I duck and hit him in the stomach with the hilt of my sword. He spits out some blood and stumbles backward, I run full speed at him with my swords at my side. He puts his sword up prepared to block me, I run past him before turning around ready to hit him from behind.

He doesn't have enough time to turn around and block my attack so I have the upper hand, just as I'm about to make the finishing blow and knock him out, someone yells making everyone look around.

"We're being attacked!" Someone runs up to us and everyone around us scatters yelling and screaming. Some go to their houses with their kids while others go to get weapons for defense. "I don't know who it is, but whoever they are they're strong our people are dying." I look around and see people fighting.

The guard looks at me. "Ready to put your training to use?"

I look at him and smirk. "You know it."