Narnia- Life Out Of Shadowlands

Ch: 13 Her Story

Chapter 13

 Her story

The next morning I woke up and went down to the training yard for practice. I met Caspian in the armory and he helped me put on my armor. Though his gesture was one to help, I felt a sob in my throat. It was Edmund who had always helped me with the armor and when Caspian helped me, it just drove the fact home harder that my brother was not with me.

However, I did not break. Aslan had given me strength and I would use it to the best of my ability. Mourning over Ed won’t help him. I have to do that which will help him, i.e., lead the army in this battle and win the war. Caspian silently handed me Rhindon and I took it. Though it was still early and we were not expected for another half-an-hour, we both walked to the training yard. We had hoped to do some warm up but stopped short when the training ground came into view.

Oreius and Kanell were sparring there. All my life in the shadowlands, I had never seen my two swordmasters spar. The centauric fashion of sparring was entirely different than that of humans and thus was not a part of our lessons. Though Oreius had demonstrated some moves so that we could fight off Centaurs too, he had never shown a full fledged sparring.  However, here they were. Oreius with his sword and shield and Kanell with his double sword. Both of them had many extra swords on their person.

Centaurs are considered the best swordsmen. They had the advantage of speed like the fauns and humans as well as the advantage of force like the minataurs. I saw Kanell block a really complicated strike from Oreius’ sword and give a returning stroke within a single second. Oreius was about to land a well aimed strike, right at Kanell’s shoulder when he saw us and stopped. Kanell too stopped and turned to look at us.

“Sir Peter, Sir Caspian. We had not expected to see you here so early. But since you have come you may as well begin your warm-ups.” Oreius ordered before sheathing his sword.

Caspian looked at me before we entered the ground. From the way Caspian looked at Oreius and Kanell, I could see that he had never trained under a Centaur before. I suppose he had continued training under his Telmarine masters than train under Glenstrom.

I unsheathed Rhindon and started my warm-up strokes. Caspian did the same and my guess that he had trained under Telmarine masters was confirmed. Once done with the warm-up, Oreius started instructing us about some of the more complicated moves. Though these instructions were mainly for Caspian so that he could learn the fighting style of different creatures and would be aware of their weaknesses, it was a nice revision for me too.

This time our training lasted longer than earlier. King Gale also joined us and Kanell, much to my unhappiness, proposed a rematch between Gale and me. I smiled a little to myself. No using Edmund’s underhand tricks this time; they were meant only for him and only he could carry it out effectively.

Once more I found myself facing the Dragonslayer with Tripund in his hands. At Oreius’ signal we began circling each other. From the corner of my eyes, I could make out people watching us in anticipation but I quickly focused back on my opponent.

“GO PETER!” Lucy’s cheer was the instigation and cheers broke out all around us. Gale and I just kept on circling each other. As I idly wondered when had so many people came here, I found what I was looking for. Gale had lowered his sword just a little and I could now see a small weakness in his defence. Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity, I lunged. Gale however, was definitely a seasoned swordsman and thus, was quick to block my sword. At the first clash of metals, the cheers doubled. Oreius, Caspian and Kanell had already left the courtyard and were now standing under one of the shades. I twisted just at the last moment to avoid Gale’s next swing.