Brave Little Lioness

Chapter 5

Luria P.O.V.

      The next day, battle training started. We stood in four long rows in the courtyard. We had been introduced to our General, General Tavros. Today we were going to experiment and choose which type of weapon we were most comfortable with. Then, he dismissed us to start experimenting. Of course, he was still there to supervise. 

     I thought I should try shooting a bow. I shot an arrow and it didn't even land close to the target, and the bow felt uncomfortable. Then I tried a crossbow which is a little different that a bow and arrow. Same experience.

 'Ok, - I thought, - let's try something that does NOT involve arrows.' 

     I picked up some daggers. They felt comfortable in my hands, but when I threw them, I ended up almost giving someone a haircut.

 'So, - I thought, - daggers ain't for me.' 

     I looked around myself. Most of the boys and men had already chosen what they liked and were comfortable with. Then I saw a pair of twin swords laying on a barrel nearby. Each sword had a little different handle, but you could tell they were from the same set and went together. I walked over to them and picked them up. Already I knew,

 'I like this.'

      I strapped them onto my back and tried a few moves. They obviously weren't great, but I liked them. Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped around. It was Killian.

"Hey Cas. Wanna have a sword fight? Just an easy one"

      At the sound of a challenge, boys around us started to form a wide circle around us, so I agreed. 

"Sure" 

     I had a feeling he wanted me to say something more, but I wasn't going to. As he took his sword out of its sheath, I took mine out of theirs. We slowly circled each other, and then Killian lunged to my right whch I swiftly blocked with my right sword. I lunged to his left, but he blocked it. This "dance" went on for a while, when suddenly Killian caught me off guard and disarmed me of my right sword. It landed with a clatter at the edge of the circle, but no one touched it. I ran to retrieve it, but Killian blocked my path. Our little dance was then resumed, but Killian was caught off guard when I swiftly disarmed him completely. I took this distraction to quickly retrieve my sword. Killian used my absence to rush to get his sword, but as soon as he got up with his sword, he felt something sharp prick the back of his neck. The tip of my right sword almost, just barely touched the back of his neck, while the other slowly came around to the front of his throat. 

"I win."

      I whispered. There was silence throughout the courtyard, but was broken by the crowd surrounding us bursting into cheers and whistles. I lowered my swords, nodded my head towards Killian dismissing myself, and walked away sheathing my swords. I came to an abrupt stop when something pricked the back of my neck. 

"Oh, this isn't over yet." 

      Killian whispered menacingly.

"Killian!" everyone heard.

 Killian lowered his sword to see General Tavros coming towards us.

 "Part of being a true soldier and knight, is accepting defeat. Caspian won this duel fairly. You can win with skill, strength, practice and cleverness, but not with luck. Sometimes you might think you got lucky, but you didn't. Something else happened." and he walked away. 

As I started to follow everyone exiting the courtyard, I felt something on my back. Of course, it was Killian glaring daggers at my back, telling me he wasn't done with me yet.