The Kingdom of Dawn

Chapter 4: Weapons training

"Happy birthday, my princess." Tarvill's voice rung in my ears as I came down to breakfast. I couldn't help but feel a rush of pride as I danced eagerly around the table before sitting down to eat my porridge. Mildred had put berries in it to celebrate the occasion. I was eight years old today. I knew that Tarvill had something special for me later. He always did, and it was always a good present. I remembered last year's gift was a magnificent chestnut mare. I rode her every day. What would it be this year? Surely nothing could be better than a horse. Unless...

I always like watching birds. The way they soar and swoop through the sky. They look so free, unburned by cares and woes. To be able to fly with them, to join them in their aerial dances, would be greater than anything else I could possibly imagine. But Tarvill couldn't give me that. No one could.

"Estrella, come with me please." I turned and followed Tarvill into the fortress, tracing his steps down hallways I knew well, until he turned down a hallway I had never been down before, a hallway I had never been allowed to go down before. It was the hallway that always rang with shouts and yells and the clangs of metal against metal.

Wordlessly, I followed him. He led me out into a large circular room with a high ceiling and a sand covered floor.

"Happy birthday, my princess." I looked at the package in his hand. It was small and mostly flat, but something about it looked dangerous. Taking it, I eagerly unknotted the string and unwrapped the rough fabric.

Two daggers lay on the grey square. Each had a leather wrapped hilt and a long straight blade about 8 inches long. "Are these really mine? I'm a girl, why would I use weapons?"

"Go on and pick them up." He smiled as motioned towards them. They felt light yet dangerous in my hands. "With the events happening right now, everyone should have a weapon and know how to use it." I know exactly what he means. Bands of soldiers are roaming the countryside constantly, arresting rebels, and often staging public executions. Not only Dawn's soldiers, but also soldiers of the Empire of Night. Small groups would arrive from the North every two or three days, and they would ravage the countryside, killing everyone and burning and looting until soldiers of Dawn showed up and drove them off."

"I suppose you are right. I wouldn't want to be caught by myself without a way to defend myself." My grip on the daggers tightened almost imperceptibly. "What am I supposed to do with these?"

"You can block swords with them." He draws both his daggers, locking them together in an X shape.
"You'll want to step as close to the swordsman as possible while doing so. You can also deflect thrusts, slash at things, and finally stab people." I looked down at the weapons in my hands. The small blades may have looked rather insignificant and useless before, but now they looked definitely viable as a way to defend myself. I adjusted my grip and posture to match Tarvill's.

"I think I want to try them out."

"Go on, lets see what you can do." Tarvill drew his sword. I lunged towards him, trying to make contact with his arm, but he was too fast. Both my blades went flying out of my hands with a swing of his sword, and the point of it rested gently at my neck before I could pick them up. "Nice job attacking, but you have to defend as well, and I doubt you'd do well against me without those."

"You would be dead if this were a real battle."

Tarvill glared at the soldier who spoke. "Get back to your own training." He motioned for me to pick up my blades, then sheathed his sword and drew his own daggers. "The art of using daggers relies on using speed and agility to get inside your opponent's guard and attack them when you're too close for them to counter it." He was ducking and weaving around me as he spoke, and then suddenly his knife was at the side of my neck.

"I would suggest doing more than just standing there next time. I may not be trying to kill you, but one day someone might." He was ducking and weaving again. I shuffled my feet and spun, keeping his weapons in sight. "Much better." He lunged again. His blade slid along mine. "Good. But can you attack me?" I saw my chance, an opening for a lunge at his neck, and went for it.

I would have won had he not ducked. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back with a dagger at my throat. "Of course, you can always use unarmed combat skills with daggers as well."

"I should have guessed as much." One pommel to Tarvill's nose later, I suddenly had four daggers pointed at me, and none in my hands. "I know I'd be dead, but to be fair I did score a hit."

He just smiled and handed me back my blades. "You're definitely getting it."

But our next go didn't go well for me. I only succeeded in learning that being on the receiving end of a stab in the wrist is a sure way to drop a weapon.

I threw down my daggers with a sigh. "I'm never going to be able to get this. Wouldn't a sword be easier?"

"Sword skills are based on strength as well as speed." Tarvill said. "You do not have the strength needed to wield a sword, so I thought that daggers would fit you better, since they rely mostly on speed." He motioned at my daggers, but pick them up and we can try something else." I sighed as I stood up and picked them up.

"What are we doing now?"

Something left Tarvill's hand, and there was suddenly a dagger handle sticking out of the middle of a target about 50 feet away. "That," he said, "Is what we are doing. But we're out of time today."