The Sword Maiden

A Blade and a Horse

The next few days were spent adjusting to my strange new life. Living alone with a man was not an idea I enjoyed but Mr. Volan was very courteous. He revealed little of his history to me, despite repeated attempts to worm it out of him.

I woke up one morning earlier than usual, and heard the sound of swishing. Specifically, the sound of a sword slicing air. Wrapping myself in a blanket to protect against the chill morning I padded to the doorway.

Opening the door I saw Mr. Volan in fighting stance. His sword was up and sweat lined his brow. The morning sun glinted off his sword as he performed a series of slices. I recognized a few of them, but most of them went too fast for me to track.

It was beautiful. Quiet, deadly poetry in motion. He and the sword were one together. They danced together.

As the sun rose I watched him, and fell more in love with his art. Yes, art. That moment changed it all for me. I'd always loved the sword, but I'd never seen it used this way, and I wanted to use it like that.

Finally he stopped his enthralling dance and pointed the sword at the ground, heaving slightly. I was startled as he glanced at me. A slight smile creased his mouth. "Did you like it?"

"Yes." I hesitated. "I did, Mr. Volan."

His smile grew a little. "I thought you might. Get dressed and come out here." He hesitated, then added, "Call me Redwar."

I didn't ask why, but I shut the door and hurriedly pulled my clothes on. For the first time in days my burning desire to rescue my parents was matched by something else. A fervent want to use the sword as good as Redwar Volan.

When I came back out Mr. Volan had traded his metal blade for two wooden practice swords. He tossed me one of them. "Assume fighting stance."

I obeyed. He ran his eye over me. "Too much weight on the front leg. Pull your weight onto your back one."

I shifted. Then he came up to me and adjusted my hands on the sword. "They're too close together." He stepped back.

"That'll do for now. Come at me with a basic stroke," he said, assuming his stance and raising his blade.

I stepped out, bringing my blade forward and down towards his shoulder. He blocked it easily of course. "Again. Faster this time."

I did it again, with more speed. "Again, faster."

Once again, I did it faster. He shook his head. "No no. Pretend I'm a Ravager. Really go for it, okay?"

"Alright."

I stepped back and set myself in my stance. Then, I imagined him as a Ravager. But not just any Ravager. Corban.

Fast and furious my sword burned through the air and met with his. I'm afraid I got a little carried away though. I countered and poised my sword for a strike.

Of course Redwar was too smart for that. He reacted on instinct and before I knew it I was disarmed. I stood there stunned.

Redwar broke the silence. "You're stroke was fast, but a little too unbalanced to be countering my block. A better idea would have been to withdraw."

I nodded. "I'm sorry. I got a little too carried away."

I picked up my sword and settled into my stance.

And so it went on. For an hour we drilled. The clack of our swords resounded throughout the forest.

Finally Redwar lowered his sword. "Enough for now. Go wash up and we'll have breakfast."

I moved to hand the sword back to him but he waved his hand. "Keep it. Practice when you can. Practice is what is needed. Stick it into your belt."

I nodded and slid the sword through the belt. It fit perfectly actually, and I felt better with it, even though I knew it couldn't do much. I ran my hand through my sweaty hair and headed to the well.

After a quite breakfast Redwar handed me a halter and a rope. "Go catch Axe and take him for a ride. I'm going to work in the fields up yonder."

I had discovered during my stay that he grew crops in a different location that his home that was accessed by a thin trail. "Alright," I said slowly, taking the halter. "Where's the saddle and bride?"

"The bridles are in that small shed behind the house."

"And the saddle?"

"There are no saddles. You ride bareback," he said, turning and grabbing a shoulder pack.

Bareback? I stood there, a bit stunned. I'd never ridden bareback in my life. I was apt to get tossed just trying to get on!

He turned back to me. "What? You've never ridden bareback before?"

"No. We always rode with saddles."

He smiled a little. "It's easy. Use the fence for mounting."

And with that he left me.

In searching the shed I found he was right. There was no saddles. Just three bridles hanging from nails. Two of them looked clean and well worn but in good shape. The third looked stiff and slightly dusty. I chose the smaller of two well worn ones, and grabbed a brush to groom Axe with.

Axe was very easy to catch, which was a relief. I didn't know what I would've done if he'd run away. I looped the rope around the fence in a X shape. It was firm enough he could get loose easy but he wouldn't tear down the fence if he panicked.

I began to groom him briskly. He wasn't very dusty. The sun relaxed me and I enjoyed the soothing motion of brushing him.

After finishing with that I took a stick and lifted up his hooves, scraping them out with the stick. It was common practice, to make sure the horse didn't have stones in its hoof that could cause damaging bruises. He lifted them quite willingly.

However, as I was on the last hoof, he yanked it out of my hand and stomped it on the ground. I frowned at him and picked the hoof up again. Again he tried to yank the hoof out of my hand.

This time I refused to let go. I didn't try to hold his hoof still, I let him swing it all he wanted, but I refused to let him put it down. Finally he gave up and let me hold his hoof. Or so I thought.

Just as I was about done, he yanked his hoof out of my hand again. I growled with frustration and made him pick it up again. Once again, he tried to pull it out of my hand and put it down. He nearly succeeded too, but I held on.

When he finally chose to let me hold it still, I let him set the hoof back down. I unbent myself and groaned. My back ached from bending over for so long.

That was my first challenge from Axe. The second was soon to follow.

I put the brush back in its place and grabbed the bridle.