The Last Knights of Belhae

First lessons

Upon reaching the top of the hill the sun's light was nearly gone, and it seemed like we would make camp for the night. I set up my tent, and unwrapped a portion of the dried salted fish I had packed for the journey. Marae rolled out her bedroll in the grass and threw down her pack, and placed her greatsword gently next to it. She stood facing the sunset, until the last light had left us. There was no fire, and I could not see, but I heard her approach me and simply say, "hammer." I handed her my hammer and she placed it next to my tent and told me "stand."

When I stood, I felt incredible pain on the left side of my jaw, my head snapping to the side. Marae had struck me with the full force of her fist, and I fell to one knee.

"Darkness serves a wonderful purpose," she said, and I felt an elbow to my spine as I knelt over. Though I was still in armor, the pain was immense. "Darkness teaches confidence," and I felt another blow, a knee to the side of the head, and the left side of my face felt warm and wet. "When you are unable to see, you must rely on every other sense, and above all, you must be confident with every strike. You may be confident in your skills with your hammer. But if you are to find yourself without it, will you survive?" Marae helped me to my feet before I felt her body tense and her right side moved slightly away from me, as if she was preparing another strike. I raised my arm to protect my head and felt her gauntlet lock with mine. "A block may protect from a hit, but it only encourages a grapple. In darkness, this is a good thing." She twisted my arm and swept my feet with one strong kick, bringing me to the ground. "As long as there is only one opponent, grappling in the dark allows you to know the location of every limb at every point in time." I attempted to toss her off of me, and rolled over so I was in the mounted position. "A good move, young knight, but never assume you have gained the upper hand until your opponent lay broken." Her arm slipped from my grasp, and I felt a swift punch to the center of my throat. I fell, gasping. I could not breathe, and I grabbed my throat, already feeling it swell.

    "Please... a moment... I must regain my breath." I wheezed, retching for air.

    "Narifayne, if this were a real fight, your head would now be a trophy. We will continue tomorrow evening with hand to hand combat and grappling, and we will continue until you are able to overtake me in a match."

    I lay in pain, and did not move the rest of the night. I was a mere five feet from my tent, but I slept in the dirt, gazing at the blurry sky with a cloth pressed against my wounded head. Though I was beaten, I realized the value of what I would learn from my mentor, and was excited to continue. The next day, I thought, I would surely gain the upper hand.

    Upon waking the next morning, Marae had already made breakfast, a stew of wild vegetables and squirrel meat. I walked next to the fire she made and sat opposite her. She handed me the pot of stew and said "Your wounds are not bad, I will try harder next time."

    I smirked, and took a spoonful of stew, trying to regain some strength. Marae had our weapons sitting next to her, and she picked up my hammer and gave it to me, and laid her sword across her lap.

    "These weapons," she said, "are more than tools. This hammer is now who you are. As a knight, your purpose is destruction. This hammer is more Narifayne than you are, you are simply the force that directs its path. Thus they shall be treated with respect. Keep your weapon clean, honor it. And never let your enemy remove your weapon from you unless it is from your corpse. Losing your weapon shows the ultimate lack of honor. Surrendering must never be an option for you, you will rather die than have this piece of your soul removed from your possession. Every time we are sent on a mission, it is expected that you return with your weapon held high, or not return at all."
These rules Marae told me were rules I carry with me to this day, and it is something I expect of all warriors. When she told me this, a thought did come to my mind, I still was unaware of the task we were set to carry out. "Marae, what exactly is our mission?"
"It is not 'death or glory' if that is what you believe. We are being sent to the neighboring kingdom of Gealdor for intelligence gathering. Some rumors have come out believing King Seida, a high elf sorcerer, has been tapping into perverse magic to build an unwilling army to challenge the might of Belhae. We are only going to see if there is any truth to this."