Ranger in Gavara

Chapter IV

I wake up with people swarming around me, buzzing like bees. The room I am in is small, but comfy. Solid stone walls surround me, with a large wooden door being the only exit. The people leave, and I follow them. They lead me through the castle and into the courtyard. The courtyard is massive, practice dummies line the stone walls, catapults and trebuchet dot the area in a random order. I stand in the threshold of a very large double door, waiting for instructions or a reason as to why I am here.

"Hey. Kid. You just gonna stand there?" A fierce man appears behind me, and I know that he wasn't there before. I turn to face him, two swords rest easily on his back. It is hard to tell what the man really looks like, as his face is covered with battle scars. Instinctively, I take a step back.

"What are you doing?" The man asks, his eyebrow soaring onto his forehead, "If we were fighting, you'd be dead right now. Confidence is half of the battle."

"Sorry," I say, "I just don't know what's going on right now. Why am I here?"

"To become stronger idiot! That's what the Battle Mage said you said. I blink slowly, and the man elaborates. "The gate guard."

"Oh," I say, "well, what do I do now?"

"Try NOT to die."

The man unsheathes his swords and lunges at me with incredible speed, I barely have time to pull the daggers from under my cloak and block a surprising overhead strike, putting both daggers up in a cross shape. The man slashes confidently left and right, forcing me back until I hit a wall. Blocking his incredibly well-timed and rhythmic attacks seems to me like trying to drag a wagon into the sea. I surrender, lowering my head in shame. Weakness had become commonplace in my heart, and it fills me with rage. The man looks at me angrily.

"How dare you." he says, "How can you give up so easily?"

"I am too weak." I say, my eyes seeing the familiar sight of the ground.

The man grabs my head and makes me look him in the eye.

"THIS, is weakness. Sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself instead of working to get stronger." He lets me go and walks away. Over his shoulder he says, "Again tomorrow. Sunrise."

I let the man leave and stand back up. In my heart, I knew he was right, but what should I do? I know very little, if nothing about this world. As I stand, wondering, I see the man looking back at me, shaking his head. I feel a shudder in my spine, he could tell I was still moping about. I decide that I will get stronger and make my way throughout the castle, back into my room. Night had fallen quickly, so I decide to heal my weary body with some rest.

I wake before the dawn out of habit, and head directly to the courtyard with a new fire in my heart. I think about the bandits and the woman that I could have saved. I. Refuse. To lose. As I enter the courtyard, I see the man from yesterday, practicing his strikes on one of the nearby dummies.

"Sir?" I say, still not knowing his name, "I am ready."

"You better be," he said, "yesterday was just pathetic.

I stand with my daggers at the ready, it seemed unfair, daggers versus swords, but I decide that the odds may not always be in my favor in a fight to the death. The man begins his same rush attack, but I refuse to fall back, stepping forward while blocking strikes. His smooth sword strokes are almost impossible to keep up with, and after a while I find myself being forced back. I realize that I need to do more than block to win a battle, I must also attack. I block a strike on my right aide, and watch the other sword come from above my head. I step to the side, letting the sword pass through thin air. As the man misses the blow, he leans forwards, off balance. In a smooth movement, I sweep his legs out from under him and, as he falls, I jump on him with my daggers at his throat.