Future History

Chapter 7: Bring the beast down

The air was fresh, washed clean by the rain and smelled of pine and oak wood. No blood stains, copper smells or painful screams. I smiled to myself and looked over my shoulder to the door, curious if I had someone watching me. Perhaps I did, I doubt King Kronos would allow me to walk about the grounds without someone watching me. Before me a stone path stretched toward the barracks, a large wood and stone housing area with an open training arena and many small stable like areas with different things going on. At first I was going to walk by, give it a look and leave it for another time but something caught my eye. The training soldiers, despite the recent victory, were training vigorously. Some fought as if their life depended on it while others laughed while toying with their opponent. I laughed to myself at how these men moved, the movies were only half right, they were fast, no matter their size and had what I was deciding to call 'medieval ninja' moves. Some jumped and kicked, others flipped and swung swords. Fascinated with the show I approached and stood by the side lines watching. Men in leather skirts, thick white shorts and leather straps fought upon the dirt patch the weapons wielded were made of wood, unsharpened for less damage whilst training. Some had shields, two short blades, long blades, spears and nets. One man wielded two long blades, no shield and no leather strapped to his arms or chest. No hair to speak of on his head but plenty on his chest traveling down to hide beneath the white shorts he wore. Not as tall or broad as Kronos but he looked just as frightening and fierce. Why must I compare each man I see to Kronos? I thought as I shrugged at the man. This man pulled some Bruce Lee ninja trick and knocked out his two opponents. Once on his feet again he looked straight at me with his bright blue eyes and pointed a wooden sword at me.

"You." He said with a voice much different from his appearance. I was expecting it to be more masculine, not something I could not even begin to describe. I stepped forward and caught a man in armor out of the corner of my eye stepping forward as well.

"Step forward, woman." I stepped forward again and notice behind the forest of hair on his chest there were scars across his chest. Some looked like stab wounds, others slashes but none looked like they were that serious to him. With a flick of his wrist the man flicked the sword in his hand until he held the pointed end and the hilt faced me.

"Calus." A voice boomed from beside me. I looked to see the armored man step forward, that was when I noticed everyone else had stopped training. Every man in the barracks area was looking at me standing dwarfed before this Calus man.

"You do not have to take the sword my lady." The armored man said while bowing low to me. I almost laughed, it was the first time someone had ever bowed to me before. It was strange. I did not say anything, instead I grabbed the wooden hilt and felt the weight of it. I had wielded heavier bats than this while in self-defense classes. Of course this was no bat. The armored man bowed once more before stepping back. Everyone else gave us some room and began whispering about who would win, or how he would win. No one gave even a whisper that I could defeat the man before me, which only fueled me more. Men always believed that a woman was weaker, stupider and nothing but a toy for them to play with. I was tired of it. I wanted to make an example of this man, I hoped all who watched told Kronos of how strong I was when defending myself. Even if I lost, I wanted them all to know that I would not go down without a fight.

"I shall go easy on you, my lady dearest." Calus said bowing slightly before swinging the sword in his hand. It was not a strike toward me, he was testing the weight. I knew never to strike first, as I held the wood with my left hand, hoping to trick him, I waited for him to move. I did not have to wait long as he stepped forward and thrust the sword to my stomach. I backed away with ease and used the sword to guide it away from me. Then it was my turn, I swung high, he blocked it then drove the sword toward my shoulder. Pivoting my feet I stepped back and leant backward to dodge the sword. In the moment I saw his eyes flash I kicked my closest leg into his knee, sending him back a few steps. A snarl crossed his face, showing a deformed anger as he leaped toward me while swinging the sword in a downward strike. I tried to dodge but caught the sparring weapon on my hip and cried out from the impact. Managing to stay on my feet, I was determined not to show weakness and try to see if I could strike fear into at least one of these men. I got in close, spun around his back and with my right hand smacked the butt end of the sword into the base of his skull. A satisfying hollow 'thunk' sounded a second before he grunted. Calus turned sharply and wrapped his fingers around my throat. The man in armor shouted his name but that only made the man squeeze tighter. I was lifted off my feet and brought to an inch away from his face. In my time it was considered a painful thing for anyone to do, police even made a point that a woman could not take these drastic measures unless there was nothing else she can do. My self-defense teacher made sure he backed off before any one of us could do it. I never had to do this before but a girl has to do what a girl has to do. I swung my leg as hard and fast as I could and kicked the toe of my foot right between his legs, hitting my mark hard and true. The grip on my neck instantly released and found a new grip on the groin I had just kicked. I fell to the ground but managed to only land on one knee. I caught my breath before he did and stood up, dragging a sword with me and lifted it up as I would a baseball bat and swung hard. Edge pointing in I made contact with his face. Before he may have been silent from his pain but now he fell over, one hand on his face the other on his groin as he screamed and howled in pain. I dropped the sword, shocked at what I had done, it seemed so innocent a moment ago but now I felt bad for what I did. The feeling of dread soon left me as I looked at the smiling faces of the men around me. They were all pleased with what I had managed to do and I had no doubt the word would soon spread that I was not defenseless.