Thrown Through Time

Chapter 6

Unlike Ulriech, who slept late and had to eat a hearty breakfast before he could start any kind of sparring match, Eirik was up before sunrise, ready to head to the lists.

Sophie was still not fully awake as she stumbled along through the dark behind him, grumbling that she'd been fast asleep when he'd come pounding on her door.

"Battle doesn't wait until you've had enough sleep and eaten a huge breakfast," Eirik said, "You have to be ready to fight any time of night or day."

"Does this mean you're going to wake me up at all hours of the night now?" she asked. What she wouldn't give for a double espresso right at that moment.

"I guess you'll find out soon enough," he grinned.

She walked over to the selection of swords in the corner and picked the same light weight one she'd been using against Ulriech. The rest were far too heavy and she tired quickly when she used them.

"That's a child's sword," he said.

"Yes. I've been told that a few times already," she replied. "But it's not like I could use a sword like yours. It's nearly as big as I am. How would I even swing it around?"

"Well, I'm not saying you have to use one this size," he pulled his own sword free. "But I think we could make you one that would work better than that."

"Great. Until then, I'm using this one." she said. "Now, can we get this over so I can go back to bed?"

"Back to bed?" he laughed. "We'll be sparring all day! What on earth has Ulriech been teaching you?"

"We spar for a couple of hours and that's it! What do you mean, 'all day'?"

"I mean, all day. We have to improve your stamina. Two hours a day isn't nearly long enough! If we go into battle, it could last hours on end!"

"Great," she mumbled. "Just what I was hoping to have to do all day."

"You'd rather I get Ulriech?" he chuckled, swinging his sword around so fast that it made a whistling sound through the air.

"No."

"Well then, let's begin." He swung his sword and she managed to duck, but she couldn't react fast enough to block his sword with her own. "You'll need to be able to stop my sword," he said. "You'll tire  yourself out if all you do is evade!"

"Was Ulriech just going easy on me?" she gasped, ducking again.

"Probably."

"Why!?"

"Because teaching you for real would mean he'd have to also work and that's beneath him." he swung again and again until she was backed up against the stone wall and had nowhere to go. He swung again and felt a jolt through his body when his sword connected with hers as she finally blocked him. "Good! Now do it again!"

"Wait!" she exclaimed. But he had already swung again and she lifted the sword to block him again. "What if I hadn't been ready?"

"I suppose you'd be missing an arm." he shrugged. He lifted his sword again.

For the next hour, Sophie dodged and ducked, blocking his sword when she could, but otherwise just focusing on not losing any limbs. Finally, she threw down her sword and sank to her knees, gasping for breath. "No more!" she panted. "I'm done!"

"Great!" he put his sword away. "Let's get some food."

"What? That's it?" she looked up at him, surprised.

"I'm hungry. I'm surprised you went as long as you did."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she muttered, finally getting to her feet. "But you said we'd have to go all day!"