Dawn of a Thousand Suns, Book I: Arch De Angels

Chapter XVII

Michael leaned to the side to avoid the wooden sword coming from above. He barely met the blow with his cudgel, otherwise, he would have ended up with one more bump on his head. He stepped back immediately to increase the distance, but exactly at this moment Uriel kicked him so hard that all the air escaped from his lungs, and if not Angela's cry - "Don't give up, Michael!" - he could no longer stand up.

It was as if these words gave him some strength... Humph... How long should I lay on the ground? As soon as he regained some breath immediately jumped to his feet and made a furious swing with his cudgel, but it was unthinkable for Blondy not to take advantage of his reckless reaction and struck him in the chin with the hilt of his weapon so hard that he went down numb, sparkles in the eyes. And then the darkness took over... Upon regaining consciousness, leaned against a wall. Still dazed, listening to Angela's jokes about his mastery, and watched the fencing of Uriel and Lucius.

Blondy was much better than both. Nor was it surprising from a boy trained by the best fencers at the royal court. But that was not all. He had his style of combat. Sometimes Uriel moved delicately like a butterfly, sometimes forcefully swung his sword like a raging bull and that made it almost impossible for the opponent to keep up with his pace. That's why neither Michael nor Lucius nor some other guys (many of whom were two to three years older than them) could not hit him even once during all this time.

As for Lucius, he was a calm and cautious one, rarely attacked Blondy, and mostly defended himself, so he lasted longer while fencing with Uriel. Blondy said that Michael had a better reaction but was impatient, and so he seemed to have the most bumps or bruises. The rest of the boys were not weaklings, but not too strong either. They know too little about sword fighting, so, despite their age difference, they could not easily beat Michael and Lucius.

They held practical exercises throughout the day in the noble district, and they could not complain about the lack of teachers. Most of the officers trained the people in sword fighting, but masters of martial arts who drastically increased in numbers after the invasion also shared this burden. From time to time, Lord Marcus would explain how to fight red-eyed (who only looked like humans on the outside), who were usually much faster and more agile than ordinary men (not to mention the ability to regenerate).

The wizard said that they react poorly to light and thus it is better to fight them in the sun or the powerful light of torches. For this purpose, the fire was constantly lit on the battlements and there were mirrors to provide light for relatively dark places. According to him, the red-eyes or otherwise the marked ones were deadlier at close range, so everyone should try to keep fighting on a long-range with bows and arrows before they approach, which was an incredibly difficult task because of their enhanced reaction and regeneration abilities. So, on the very first day of entering the town, the wizard made a liquid in which the drawn weapon was much more effective against marked ones.

It was already the third day that they were in quarantine, but the attack did not take place, though at night you could see the red dots on the roofs or in the streets, leaving everyone restless in the rich district. Servants of the temple of Rahail silently cursed the wizard. They believed it was a punishment from God, but they did not dare to say anything out loud, for in the depths of their hearts they feared physical death more than the spiritual perdition.

Michael and Lucius continued to spar with Uriel. After the practice with officers, did not drop their swords from morning till night. Soon it was non-arguable that Blondy was a better teacher than most of the officers, and so they stopped losing time with them. A small space was found between the house and the wall, and they held their fencing lessons amidst the encouraging shouts of Angela and Lyle. Soon after, Uriel became so famous for his lessons that the number of fencers behind the house drastically increased. To ask Michael, it wasn't just Blondy's influence. Not a few boys came here to see Angela rather than to improve swordsmanship and this somehow irritated Michael too much, though he said nothing.