The following morning, Zane awoke to the sound of the horn at dawn. He shook the sleep from his head, his eyes automatically seeking the posters that covered the walls of his room. Instead, his eyes encountered the tan walls of the tent. Excitement shot through him as he remembered where he was. It was evaluation and placement day! He rolled out of his sleeping bag onto his knees and opened his chest. He pulled out the other tunic that he had packed. He threw it on, clipped his sword to his belt, and slid his shield onto his back. He turned around to see that Cliff was already up and ready. He was sitting quietly at the table, his face a little pale. Aaron was groggily rummaging through his chest, his hair sticking up in several places. Pug was trying in vain to untangle himself from his sleeping bag, which had somehow been twisted and flipped into a huge knot. Zane walked over and seated himself next to Cliff. When Pug finally managed to untangle himself and get ready, they set out for the command tent. When they finally approached, the sun's rays were barely visible on the horizon. Even so, they found that they were the last group to arrive at the tent. Captain Dux saw them coming and approached them,
"Why am I not surprised that it's you bunch that's late?" he asked them. "What's your excuse this time?" Zane, Aaron, and Cliff all looked at Pug.
"Don't look at me it wasn't my fault!" Pug said defiantly. The three continued to look at Pug. "Ok fine maybe it was my fault. I got into a fight with . . . uh . . ."
"Your sleeping bag?" Aaron offered. Pug shot him a look. Dux squinted his eyes at Pug.
"I'm watching you Puganto," he said and walked back to the front of the group.
"Why do I get the feeling that he doesn't like me?" Pug said to no one in particular.
"I don't think he likes anyone," Aaron replied. Zane was only half listening to their conversation; he was busy searching for Rose in the crowd. He finally spotted her in the back by a group of girls. Zane led the others to her, and they sat down on the compacted dirt.
"What do you think they're going to make us do?" Rose asked him as he sat down.
"No idea," Zane answered shrugging. "I didn't really think about it much."
She thought for a moment and then said, "You wouldn't by any chance know what happened to Winston's face would you?" she asked looking over his shoulder with a mischievous smile. Zane followed her gaze and couldn't help but laugh. The entire left side of Winston's face was bruised and swollen.
"Why do you assume it was me?" he asked defensively. "This time I have to give credit to Cliff here." He patted Cliff on the back, who was looking uncomfortable at being included in the conversation. Rose looked at him and sighed,
"Why does Winston have to piss everyone off?" she asked almost to herself. "Why can't I have a normal cousin?" Zane was watching Cliff; his gaze had shifted to the girl sitting on the other side of Rose. She had light brown hair with dark brown eyes.
"What is her name?" Zane whispered to Rose gesturing toward the girl.
"That's one of the girls from my tent. Her name is Penny, why do you ask?" she said looking at him suspiciously.
"Oh no reason," Zane answered. Rose gave him a weird look and turned to the front where Captain "Dirt face" Dux was about to speak.
"Today is your evaluation," he said in his usual bored tone. "The guys will be tested separately from the girls. Before dinner will be the scouting test, and after dinner will be the warrior and archery tests. Everyone will take every test. There will be no whining about placement choices. Placement will be decided by Oran and myself, if you have a complaint about your placement keep it to yourself."
"What do you think the odds are that dirt face makes me a cook?" Pug whispered to Zane.
"With Oran in on the decision I'd say there's a pretty good chance you won't be," Zane replied.
"Now, the ladies will follow Oran and the guys will follow me." Dux said to the group. They were each given a small shoulder bag and then Dux led the guys to the eastern end of the canyon. One of the trainees followed close behind Dux seemingly trying to copy his confident, yet nonchalant lope. Pug must have also noticed.
"Suck up." He muttered under his breathe. Zane nodded and they continued to walk. They finally stopped at the edge of the thick trees that surrounded the river.
"Ok," Dux began. "First of all, I would like to introduce Lieutenant Furtim." He gestured to the small man standing next to him that Zane and Pug had mistaken for a trainee. "He will be explaining this test and will also be the judge of your evaluation."
"Early this morning," Began Lieutenant Furtim. "I placed twenty-five of these," he pulled out a small round glass sphere from his pocket, "In the forest. Your goal will be to find as many of these as possible. There are three colors of spheres, red, blue, and green. Red represents the easiest to find, blue slightly harder, and Green the hardest. Red spheres are worth one point, blue is two points, and green is four points. Your point total is how you will be evaluated. You have to work alone, no exceptions, I will be patrolling the forest randomly and any violators of this rule will be removed from this and all of the tests. You will report back to this spot in one hour. Good luck." He turned and walked into the forest. No one moved and everyone stood staring at Captain Dux.
"Get moving the test started!" He sighed heavily. "Bunch of idiots . . ." He said shaking his head. Everyone scattered in all directions and ran into the forest. Zane went into the forest and looked around. He had hunted small game all his life and assumed that this would be similar. His guess was that Furtim left trails for them to follow that directed them to the spheres. All he had to do was find a trail and it would lead him to one. He scanned the ground and found the half a boot print in a space of dirt. It looked as though it was placed deliberately, and Zane decided that it was his best clue, so he went in the direction that the person who made the print had gone. He started forward scanning the ground and trees for any other signs of someone passing. There! He spotted a flattened patch of grass. He adjusted his direction and continued; twenty feet further he found a snapped twig. He adjusted accordingly and continued.
He followed the trail for about twenty minutes when he stumbled into a small clearing. The clearing was empty except for a large rock and a hollowed-out log. Zane examined both and noticed that the moss was rubbed off on part of the log. He looked inside and yelped with joy. He reached in and pulled out a blue sphere. Excitement ran through him, despite the fact that he wanted to be a warrior, he knew that his father would want him to try his best at everything. He looked at the blue sphere again and felt a surge of pride. He needed to find another.
He spent the rest of the time following various trails, several of which led to nothing. Eventually the feet of trainees stomping through the area confused the trails and Zane couldn't determine which direction to go. He searched in vain until he heard the horn go off signaling that the hour had passed. The horn kept sounding every couple minute so they could move toward the sound.
Zane followed the sound feeling dismayed. He had hoped to find more than one sphere. The trees began to thin, and he came out of the forest near the appointed meeting place. He saw that only a few people were back from the test. He walked through the people and spotted Pug. Pug was sitting on the ground near Captain Dux.
"How did you do?" Zane asked him.
"Not bad," Pug answered.
"You find any?" he asked.
"A few," Pug said simply. Zane sat next to him and they waited for the rest to get back. When everyone had returned Lieutenant Furtim had them line up and began asking their names, which he wrote down along with the number of points they received. Zane got in line behind Aaron and Cliff. Pug got in line behind Zane. He watched in silence as the people in front were evaluated, his spirits lifted as he saw that only a few people had managed to find a sphere. He also noticed to his delight, that Winston had failed to find any. After a long wait, it was Aarons turn to be evaluated.
"Name?" Furtim asked.
"Aaron Rudis," he answered. Furtim then opened his bag and turned it upside down to shake the contents onto the pile of spheres next to him. The bag was empty and Aaron sadly walked back to join the rest of the group. Cliff was next and he stepped up to Furtim.
"Cliff Arx," Cliff told him. Furtim turned his bag inside out and two red ones fell out. Zane felt another wave of relief, that was the same point total as his. Zane stepped forward and said,
"Zane . . . uh," he'd forgotten that he didn't know his last name. He felt his face heat up and knew that his faced was turning red fast. "I don't have a last name sir." He finally said with his head low. The Lieutenant though didn't seem to care. He took Zane's bag and dumped the blue sphere on the pile. Zane then went to the group and stood by Cliff and Aaron. Pug shuffled up to Furtim and told him his name. Zane noticed that Captain Dux took a step forward at Pug's turn, he really was watching him! Furtim took his bag and seemed surprised when three red ones and a blue one fell out.
"Not bad Brevis," he said in a respective tone. Pug grinned a huge grin and said,
"You think that's good then watch this!" He shook his sleeves and two green spheres slid into his hands. He dropped them into the pile still grinning. Furtim seemed lost for words at the appearance of the two green spheres, but Dux wasn't.
"Enough with the games Puganto! Do you have any more or am I going to have to shake them out of you!?" he said angrily.
"That's not a good idea sir," Pug replied, "You wouldn't like where you found the last one."
"Puganto!" Dux growled his facing turning red.
"Just kidding sir. That's all of them," Pug told him his smile fading.
"It better be! Now quit holding up the line and get out of here!" Dux yelled. Pug scrambled to get out of his way and came over to Zane and the rest of them.
"You know Pug. You're really not giving him a reason to like you," Aaron said when he approached. Pug just shrugged and stood in silence the smile returning to his face.
"How did you get so many?" Zane asked him.
"It was easy," Pug replied with another shrug. "I found the blue one right away. Then I spent most of the rest of the time hunting down the two green beauties. The red ones . . . uh . . . well I might have nicked them out of other people's packs while they had their noses pointed to the ground." Zane looked at him incredulously. "What!? They never said it was against the rules!"
Zane laughed and patted him on the back, "I should've known you'd be the one to think of some way to get around the rules," he said.
"Yeah," Aaron put in. "It doesn't surprise me at all." Pug just crossed his arms, smug grin still on his face. They sat around and took turns describing their small adventure in the woods, except Cliff of course, he just sat and listened to everyone else. When everyone had been evaluated, Captain Dux commanded everyone to start head back to camp for food. The walk back to camp went quickly and they were soon eating. After they finished, Zane found Rose in the crowd. He asked her how her evaluation had gone and learned that the girl's evaluation had been the same as theirs. Rose had found a blue sphere, same as Zane. Then the horn sounded, and they once again gathered in front of the command tent. When they all arrived at the command tent Captain Dux began to speak,
"At this time, the ladies will be asked to once again split up from the guys. Ladies will be evaluated on their nursing skills while the guys will be evaluated on their fighting skills. Both tests will take all afternoon and the archery evaluation will take place after the evening meal."
Zane waved goodbye to Rose as she reluctantly joined the girls for the nurse evaluation. As he watched her go, he noticed Cliff once again watching Penny leave with Rose. He made a mental note to ask Cliff about it.
"Alright you wannabe soldiers, time to see what you're made of. It's time for the warrior evaluation. You will be evaluated on your hand to hand combat, sword fighting skill, and free style skill. In free style fighting you will be able to choose whatever weapon and equipment you like. Your skill in each will be evaluated by none other than," he paused dramatically. "Me. Also joining me to evaluate your skills will be Commander Oran, Lieutenant Furtim, and Colonel Lentae. Now, to help us evaluate your skills, a tournament will be held for each category. Brackets for each tournament were made yesterday when you arrived. Your names were randomly inserted into the brackets this morning during your first evaluation. Everyone gather over there," he gestured toward an old wooden board. A large piece of animal hide had been nailed to the board and a list of names with numbers were written on the board. "We will begin with the hand to hand combat tournament. There are four circles drawn on the canyon floor. There is a number next to your name on the board. Numbers one through twenty will be in the first circle," he said, "twenty-one through forty will be in circle two, forty-one through sixty will be circle three, and sixty-one through eighty will be in circle four. Before each fight of the sword and free style competition Oran will use some voodoo on the weapons so that you don't kill each other. We will need everyone to put their weapons in a pile in front of the command tent. Find your number and form a circle around your assigned fighting area."
Zane gingerly placed his weapons onto the pile and walked to the board that Captain Dux had pointed out. He was not fond of parting with his weapons, but as long as Oran was handling them it should be okay. Zane was number sixty-six and was in circle four. Aaron was number seventy-two and was also in circle four. Cliff was number seventeen and was in circle one, while Pug was number twenty-three and was in circle two. Shortly after Captain Dux lead them to a cleared-out space in the canyon with four circles of compact dirt. Zane and Aaron went to circle four while Cliff and Pug went to their assigned circles. Everyone quickly formed a ring around their respective circles. Dux was standing in the middle of circle one, Oran was in circle two, Furtim was in circle three, and a very large man, that Zane assumed was Colonel Lentae, was standing in circle four. Lentae called out the first two numbers for the fight. Two people stepped forward into the circle.
"Ok," Colonel Lentae said in a deep voice. "The rules are simple, you fight until one person gets in five solid hits, someone leaves the circle, or someone gets knocked out. Commander Oran has enchanted the circles so that if you receive a particularly hard blow you will be knocked out but will retain no injuries. However, beware, hits that are not strong enough to knock you out or kill you will still injure you. Bones will also not break within these circles, but the blows will hurt just as bad. Anyone that runs deliberately out of the circle will be disqualified." Lentae stepped out of the way and yelled. "Begin!"
The two people ran at each other and began to fight. The fight was extremely short as one of the fighters was big and the other was small and scrawny. The small one managed to doge the other's blows for a little bit but as soon as the bigger one landed a hit the fight was over. The smaller fighter was passed out on the ground.
"Don't worry," Lentae yelled. "He'll wake up in a couple hours." He dragged the kid out of the circle and called out the next two numbers, sixty-three and sixty-four. Zane remembered that Pug was the second fight in circle two. He turned to watch but he couldn't see anything past the group of people standing around it. He turned his thoughts to his fight ahead. If they kept on going in the number order as they were, he would be the next fight. He took deep calming breathes to calm his nerves; his stomach was bubbling. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard, trying to plan a strategy. He had barely begun to think when Lentae called, "Sixty-five and sixty-six." Zane stepped forward and began walking into the circle.
"Good luck," Aaron said from beside him. Zane turned toward him; he had forgotten Aaron was there. He nodded to him and saw that he was pale, his face set with determination. Zane turned away from him and went into the circle. He examined his opponent up and down; he was about Zane's height but not quite as muscular. Zane judged that he would be able to beat him, but he didn't want to underestimate him either.
Lentae yelled begin, and the other kid rushed at Zane before he could gather himself. Zane waited until the kid was close to him and then dove at his oppenents legs and rolled. He felt the kid's shins collide with his back; he rolled a little farther and popped up to his feet. The kid was lying sprawled out on the ground. The kid scrambled to his feet and faced him. Zane slowly approached him and when he was close, feinted to the left and swung in with his right hand. The kid fell for the feint and caught the punch in the side of the neck. He stumbled backwards toward the edge of the circle making garbled noises from his throat. Zane took the opportunity and rushed forward and pushed him out of the circle. The kid stumbled back and fell onto his back outside the circle. Lentae called off the match and Zane went back and stood next to Aaron. He couldn't believe that he won! He was filled with confidence from his win and was looking forward to the next fight.
"Nice fight!" Aaron told him with a nod.
"Thanks," Zane replied with pride. They watched the next couple of fights until Aaron was up to go.
"Wish me luck," Aaron told him as he stepped forward. Zane nodded and prepared to watch the fight. Aaron's opponent was a small quick looking kid. Zane didn't know how good Aaron was at fighting, but by his awkward stance, he had a feeling that he knew very little about it. The match started and the small kid charged at Aaron and he awkwardly lunged out of the way. His opponent was faster however, and he turned around and kicked Aaron square in the face as he was getting up. Aaron collapsed in the circle knocked out cold. Zane winced and decided that he was glad that his father had taught him to fight at a young age. Zane watched the rest of the fights by himself. He was very interested as he studied each of the different fighting styles used. He thought that maybe by watching the others fight, he would learn a thing or two.
Soon the first round of the fighting was over and only forty of the eighty people were left. Aaron was now awake, standing next to him looking sullen.
"At the rate I'm going I'll be a cook for sure," he said solemnly.
"Don't worry," Zane assured him. "There's still plenty evaluations left. Aaron just turned away. Zane turned his thoughts to the fight ahead, if he was right in how the bracket had been set up, he would be in the first fight of the second round against the big guy that had won the first match of the day. Lentae called his number and he stepped into the circle to see that he was right. Judging by the size of him and the way he had fought before Zane knew he would not be able to knock him out or push him out of the ring. He would have to try and get five solid hits on him to win this fight.
Lentae yelled go and Zane stood in place, as did his opponent. They slowly started to circle each other looking for an opening. Zane was slowly stepping in closer and closer as they moved. Once he was close enough, he lashed out with his foot for the kid's knee. The kid sidestepped it and punched Zane in the side.
"One solid hit!" He heard Lentae shout. He backed away from the kid gasping for his breath. The kid tried to take advantage of Zane's lack of breath, but Zane was ready for it. When the kid approached, Zayne lowered his head and rammed it into his stomach. Now it was the other kids turn to try and catch his breath and Zane stepped forward to take advantage.
The kid thrashed out at Zane, pulling the same trick Zane had just used. Zane was prepared and side stepped the hit and punched the kid in the side of the ear. Zane moved in beside him, he was bent over, stunned from the hit to his ear. Zane drove his knee upward into his stomach and watched the big kid fall to the ground. Zane quickly stepped forward and kicked him hard in the side twice and Lentae stopped the fight.
"That's five solid hits!" he yelled. Zane walked back to stand next to Aaron whose sullenness seemed to have vanished.
"That was awesome Zane! That guys going to have bruises for a week!" Zane just smiled and watched the rest of the fights. They were soon done, as there were only five this time. Next round there would be two fights in the first two circles, and three fights in the last two circles. Zane's turn came faster than he would have liked.
His opponent was big but extremely slow and Zane easily defeated him with quick punches and kicks. After the match, he returned to the outside of the ring and found Aaron looking at him with newfound respect. When the round finished, a fifth circle was drawn. A one on one fight would take place in each of the five circles. Zane was still in circle four and was preparing for his fight. He saw that his opponent was big, just as big as the last one. Zane assumed that he was slow and felt confident walking into the circle to start the fight.
Lentae yelled begin. The big guy rushed at Zane with surprising speed. Zane jumped out of the way and just barely escaped the attack. The monstrous onslaught continued as he attacked Zane with lighting fast attacks. It was all Zane could do to avoid them. If he wanted to win this fight, he would have to think of something, and quickly. He gathered himself from a particularly close call and lunged forward to surprise him. Instead of being surprised, his opponent seemed to be waiting for this. Zane watched as the guy's massive hand drew back and the last thing he saw was an enormous fist plunging into his face.
Zane woke up several minutes later outside the ring next to Aaron. He shook his head groggily and remembered what happened. Without a word he stood up next to Aaron. He could not help feeling terrible, he had failed, he had promised his father that he would be the best and here he was, on the first day of camp being beaten. He turned to watch the fight. He would have to focus his energy on the sword and free-style tournaments. He was surprised to see that everyone was gathered by one circle. It was the championship match. He must have missed the other fights while he was knocked out. He was unsurprised to see Cliff standing in the circle with the beefy guy that had knocked him out.
"Doesn't surprise me at all that Cliff made it for some reason," Came Pug's voice from behind him.
"How did you do Pug?" Zane asked.
"I got my butt whipped in the first fight," he replied grinning. "But at least I'm not the only one." He smiled and patted Aaron on the back. "I guess were not cut out to be fighters eh?"
"No kidding," Aaron replied nodding. They heard the yell that signaled the start of the match and all turned to watch. As fast as Zane had thought his opponent had been, Cliff was even faster. Zane watched in awe as Cliff jabbed the kid in the face and then threw a lighting fast hook into his face that knocked him off his feet and left him out cold. The four judges gathered around him and congratulated him on his win and then began organizing everyone for the sword fighting tournament. Zane, Pug, and Aaron made their way to Cliff to congratulate him.
"Congrats big man!" Pug yelled as they approached. Cliff just smiled meekly, and Zane could tell he was happy despite his shyness.
They were then directed back to the circles, and once again gathered around their appointed areas. The rules were even simpler than the hand to hand rules. This was due to the fact that one solid hit with a sword would cause your opponent to be killed or incapacitated. The first fight lasted only a couple of seconds before one of them got in a solid blow. During the first match Zane noticed that Captain Dux, who was the judge for the first circle, was watching the fighting intently. Zane realized then that they weren't just evaluating by winning or losing, but they were also watching your technique. Pug was in the second fight, so Zane paid close attention to the fight. Pug was up against a very small opponent, even smaller than Pug. The kid could barely lift the sword and Zane had a feeling Pug might win this one.
Captain Dux announced for the fight to begin and Zane watched Pug lunge forward with his sword. The kid managed to block the blow but dropped his sword in the process. The kid went down to his hands and knees and tried to scramble away. Before he could Pug brought the sword down across the kid's back and he fell to his face as though he was hit by a club. Dux stopped the fight and called for the next fighters.
"Way to go Pug!" Zane told Pug as he returned.
"Not really a win you could brag about," Pug answered. "But I'll take it since it will more than likely be my only one." The two stopped talking and watched the rest of the fights. They went much quicker than the hand to hand matches had, some only lasting seconds. Before Zane knew it, he was up to fight. He stepped into the circle and drew his rusty sword, they were not allowed shields in this combat, and faced his opponent. He was about Zane's size and had a nice sword balanced in his hand. From the way he stood Zane knew that he had experience with sword fighting. Though Zane had never wielded a sword before, his father had taught him technique with sticks, and he was determined to win this time.
Dux yelled to begin and Zane rushed forward and began to attack. Both were light on their feet and they parried back and forth for quite a while before Zane noticed a weakness in the kid's style. He had experience, but his skill was lacking in blocking jabs. If Zane slashed downward and then quickly jabbed at his stomach the kid would not be quick enough to bring his sword around to block it. Zane executed the move perfectly and jabbed him in the stomach. Instead of running him through, the sword just pushed him backwards onto his back. Dux declared Zane the winner and he walked back to Pug.
"Wow your good man," Pug told him with respect. "You'll be a warrior for sure. Zane hoped that Pug was right, but didn't reply. Just being a warrior wasn't enough for Zane, he had to be the best. The rest of the fights went quickly, Pug was eliminated the first fight of the second round. But Zane won again and breezed his way into the championship match.
When he stepped into the circle he saw that his opponent was a little bit taller than he was and slightly better built. He had black hair with dark eyes. His skin was dark from the sun and he had a scar running from just above his eye to his opposite cheek. Zane was more determined than ever to win the fight, but saw the same determination in his opponent's eyes. He could tell just by the look on his face that this would be his hardest match by far.
"Begin!" Yelled Captain Dux. They circled each other looking for an opening. Neither could find one and they kept circling each other for several minutes. Finally after Captain Dux's urging, the two lunged at each other. They parried viciously for several minutes and both were soon covered in sweat. Zane's father had taught him to defend first and attack second. He was to defend his opponent's attacks, analyze their fighting technique, find a weakness, and exploit it. Only problem was, Zane couldn't find a flaw in his opponent's technique. Zane spun and swung right then spun his sword around in a circle and slashed downward, and then he quickly jabbed at his leg. For a second he thought that he had him. But he blocked the jab and then jabbed again surprising Zane. Zane blocked the jab but was knocked off balance. His opponent slashed relentlessly not allowing Zane to regain it. Zane barely defended off the blows and when the kid did the same move Zane had tried earlier, slashing downward and then quickly jabbing, Zane fell and landed on his back.
The kid poked Zane lightly on the chest and said, "Dead." Dux called the fight and Zane stalked angrily back to his friends and said nothing.
"Don't worry that guy is good," Pug told him reassuringly.
"He beat me too," Cliff told him. Zane shrugged off their condolences and walked in silence as they were directed back to the board for the freestyle tournament. Zane took his number in silence; he was number twenty-two this time. That meant he would be in the first fight. Good, he thought, he wanted to win so badly it hurt inside. He would not lose this time. There was now a pile of other weapons, such as maces, axes, spears, and swords and shields. Zane strode over to the pile of enchanted weapons that belonged to people and plucked his dented shield out of the pile. Then just to be safe, he took a dagger out of the other weapons pile and stuck it in his belt. They never said that he couldn't use more than one weapon. Without even bothering to find out what his friend's numbers were, he stalked to his circle and waited for the first fight to be called.
As the people were gathering around the circle, he noticed that no one was in the same circle as him this time. He didn't really care, at the moment all he cared about was winning this fight. Oran, who was watching circle two called the first fight forward. Zane stepped forward drawing his sword and saw that his opponent was tall and not very coordinated. It would be an easy fight. He had a spear and a shield but looked like he didn't know how to use them.
"Begin!" Oran yelled. Zane rushed forward and dove to the left side of the kid; the kid tried to bring his spear down on him as he rolled, but Zane came out of the roll, caught the spear with his shield, and cut it in half with his sword. He then rammed his shield into the kids face and put his sword at the kid's throat as he lay on the ground. Oran called the fight and Zane walked back to the side. He watched the fights in determined silence and noticed that the winner of the sword tournament was in his circle. Good, Zane thought, the sooner he could whoop this kid the better.
No one even came close to defeating Zane as he easily blew his way through the rounds. Now there were ten people left, and the fifth circle was now being used. When Zane stepped forward for the fight he already knew who his opponent would be. It was the dark haired kid from the sword fighting. He also was carrying a sword and shield looking determined as ever. Only this time, Zane was more determined than he was. Oran yelled for the match to begin and Zane wasted no time circling and looking for an opening knowing that there would not be one. He rushed forward and immediately began sparring back and forth with him. They both used their shields as well as swords to block their blows. Zane slashed downward and the kid blocked it with his shield, then the kid swung sideways and Zane had to spin to block the blow with his own shield.
Zane was beginning to tire out and knew that his opponent was also. But he was determined to fight as long as it took. When the kid attempted to pull the move that he had before by double jabbing at Zane, Zane blocked the first with his shield, then the second with his sword. After he blocked the second jab with his sword he brought his shield upward and connected with the kids head. The kid stumbled back stunned, but it wasn't a hard blow. If Zane didn't act quickly the kid would recover and he would lose his chance. He had to do something that he wouldn't expect. He thought quickly and thought of the one thing that the kid wouldn't expect, Zane giving up his weapon. He threw his sword as hard as he could at him and rushed forward as the kid was dodging the thrown weapon. He put both arms behind his shield and tackled the kid shield first. He landed heavily on top of him and then rolled off. They kid was seriously knocked around now but the battle was still even because Zane did not have his sword. The kid slashed downward with his sword and Zane caught it with his shield. The kid kept his sword on the shield and pushed downward trying to force Zane to the ground. But Zane had two arms behind his shield instead of one. He heaved upward with all his strength and his opponent's sword flew outside the circle. The kid tried to bring his shield onto Zane's head, but Zane blocked it with his own. Now they were locked face to face each trying to push the other two the ground. Zane knew he had to end it now. He reared back his head and rammed his forehead into his opponent's face as hard as he could. The kid stumbled backwards clutching his face with one hand. Zane charged forward and drew the dagger from his belt. He hit the kid's legs out from under him with the sword, jumped on top of him and attempted to plunge the dagger into the kid's chest. The Dagger only bounced off and left a nasty bruise. But Zane didn't care, he had won!
Oran called the fight and Zane walked back to the circle in triumph. Now he only had three matches left to go and he would win. He breezed through his next fight and stepped into the circle for the semi-final match. He looked and saw that his opponent was Winston. Anger immediately boiled up and Zane found himself wishing that their swords could harm each other.
He walked to the middle of the circle, "Nice face," he said to Winston nodding toward his swollen features.
"That is no way to talk to your superiors," Winston told him smugly.
"Hmm if you're my superior than why haven't I seen you in any of the championship matches," Zane told him smiling. Winston snarled viscously at him but said nothing. Oran called for the fight to begin. "Now we will find out if you really can use that sword of yours," he said gesturing to Winston's beautifully made sword, "Which I seriously doubt."
"I wouldn't be so confident without my giant oaf around to do the fighting for me," Winston snarled. Winston lunged toward him and began parrying with him viscously. Zane had to hand it to him, he was good. Only, Winston had made one enormous mistake. He didn't have a shield and seemed to forget that Zane had one. Several seconds later in the match, Zane rammed his shield into Winston's face and knocked him backwards and he dropped his sword. Zane punched him hard in the face with his sword hand for good measure, and then swung his sword hard at Winston's neck as if trying to decapitate him. Unfortunately, the blow just lifted Winston off his feet and threw him a couple feet sideways into the dirt. The match was called and Zane walked away smugly.
He was quickly called to go to circle one for the championship match. He walked to the circle and once again found himself in the championship match. He stepped into the circle and saw to his surprise that his opponent was Cliff. Cliff had a shield like his but instead of a sword he had spear.
Zane went up and shook Cliff's hand, "Good luck," he told him. Cliff nodded and said
"Same to you." Then Captain Dux ordered for the fight to begin. Zane knew that Cliff would be a much tougher opponent that his first one with a spear. He had a feeling that Cliff knew what he was doing with his spear. Zane noticed that Cliff also had his sword in its sheath at his hip. Zane wasn't the only one who had taken more weapons. Cliff made a lunge at him with the spear and Zane blocked it aside with his shield. Then Zane lunged with his sword at Cliff and he blocked it with his shield. Zane blocked the spear a few more times and realized that he had no chance as long as Cliff still had the spear. It was so much longer than Zane's sword that he couldn't get in close enough to attack properly. He had to get the spear out of Cliff's hands. He had an idea, it would leave his left side exposed but only for a moment and all Cliff had to attack it with was his shield. It would have to be very quick. Preparing himself for a hard blow, when Cliff lunged with the spear he wrapped his left arm with the shield around the shaft of the spear and using his right hand quickly cut the spear with his sword. In the two seconds that his left side was exposed, Cliff lashed out with his shield and connected with Zane's head. Zane fell backwards seeing stars, he was really learning to appreciate Cliff's strength.
He forced himself to stay awake and rolled away from Cliff, who was now drawing his sword, and stood. Despite the large lump forming on his head, he felt comfortable now that they were on his turf. Cliff ran toward Zane and they began sparring, Cliff definitely had skill, but not as much as he had with a spear. Zane analyzed his style and was soon leading the fight. Cliff was a good attacker, but was lacking in his defense. Every time Zane blocked a blow from Cliff's sword his arm shook and felt like it would splinter into a thousand tiny pieces. Zane decided to go on the attack before his arm turned to Jell-O. He blocked an attack with his shield and then quickly began his offensive. He lunged forward with his shield and Cliff blocked it with his own. At the same time, Zane stepped forward and locked swords with Cliff and spun his sword in a small circle. The movement twisted Cliff's wrist and he dropped his sword. Zane then quickly stabbed toward Cliff's lower body and he had to block. This left Cliff's head open for attack. Zane swung his shield and connected with his head. The blow barely fazed Cliff and he dove past Zane rolling on the ground for his sword. Zane drew his dagger and threw it with all his might at Cliff's exposed back. Cliff managed to grab hold of his sword, but when he turned around to face Zane, the dagger hit him blade first in the chest. The dagger bounced off harmlessly but would normally have been a killing throw. Dux called the fight and Cliff stood up.
Zane could not believe that he won! He was the freestyle tournament champion! He was filled with pride and had a huge smile on his face as he went to Cliff.
They clasped arms and Cliff said, "That was some fight. I didn't know you were so good."
"You are really good yourself," Zane said rubbing his head where Cliff had hit him with his shield. "I didn't think I would after that hit to the head. I'm going to have a lump the size of your shield tomorrow." Cliff laughed and they walked back to the group and found Pug and Aaron.
"Wow guys," Pug said, "I'm sure glad that were your friends and not enemies."
"No kidding," Aaron replied.
"So how you guys all do in this did and the sword fighting? I never got to ask," Zane asked them.
"I didn't do too badly in the sword fighting," Aaron answered. "I won three fights and then got my but whooped."
"I got smoked in the first match as you saw," Pug said laughing.
"What about you Cliff," Zane asked.
"I got beat by the same guy as you in my third match," he replied.
"Oh yeah," Zane said. "How about in the free style?"
"I won three and then got knocked out," Pug said. Wow, Zane thought, honestly that kind of surprised him. He hadn't expected Pug to win any.
"I won three also," Aaron replied. Zane nodded.
"I fought some crazy idiot in the championship round," Cliff replied with a smile.
Zane laughed and said, "Yeah, can't imagine who that was,"
Pug was staring at Cliff in amazement, "I think that was the longest sentence I've ever heard you put together," he said. Zane laughed again and they started back to the camp for supper. When they arrived they seated themselves at one of the six person tables and Zane signaled for Rose to come and sit by him. She sat by him and Penny sat across from her next to Pug. Zane asked her how the nurse evaluation was. She said some very un-lady like things about it and sat with her arms crossed.
"I kind of liked the nurse evaluation," Penny said happily. "I kind of hope that I get to be a nurse." Zane heard a chocking noise from his right and looked to see Cliff spitting out water. He had been so intent on a conversation with Pug and Aaron that he hadn't noticed Penny was there until she spoke. Zane elbowed Cliff on the back and whispered to him,
"Talk to her." Cliff looked at him completely astonished. "Oh come on Cliff, I've seen you looking at her." Zane whispered again, "All you have to do is talk to her." Cliff shook his head with a completely nervous look on his face. Zane shook his head and they finished eating and swapping stories about their evaluations. When they finished their food the horn blew for them to head back to the command tent. They followed the rest of the camp and made their way there. When they arrived Zane prepared himself for another excessively long speech from Captain Dux. Instead, another man was waiting for them at the command tent.
"Who is that?" Zane asked the others. Pug, Aaron, and Pug shrugged, but Rose answered,
"That is Sergeant Sagittis. He helped with the nurse evaluation."
"Why is he here at the command tent?" Zane wondered out loud.
"Not sure," Rose replied, "He must have something to do with the next evaluation." Zane nodded coming to the same conclusion and turned to the front as he began speaking.
"For those of you who do not know me I am Sergeant Mauris Sagittis. I will be evaluating your archery performance for today. This test will be relatively simple. You will be given a bow and a quiver of arrows. At the northern part of camp by the cave entrance to the woods is the archer training area. This is where you will be tested. Guys and Girls will be tested together for this evaluation. Now if you will please follow me." Zane noticed Rose's brighten at the mention that they would be tested together.
"Time to show you boys what a girl can do!" She said enthusiastically. They followed the Sargent across camp to the archery area. The area was a large cleared out space with targets placed at the end of the range against the canyon wall. There was a line drawn across the ground fifty feet back from the targets. They were told to find a bow and gather in front of the targets. Zane stepped forward and grabbed a bow from the pile. The wood felt hard and lame in his hands. How could a piece of wood be a weapon? He felt much more comfortable with a nice sword in his hands. Not Aaron though, looked as though he had been waiting for this all day. His face shone brightly as he picked out a bow and quiver.
The six of them stayed together at the same target. Two more people joined their target, and when all fifteen targets had eight people in front of them Sergeant Sagittis gave them a short demonstration on how to hold and shoot the bow correctly. Then he ordered for the first person to step forward. Pug stepped forward and took an arrow out of his quiver, leaving nine left inside. He carefully nocked an arrow and drew back the string, his face set with concentration. He took aim and when Sagittis gave the order fifteen arrows flew through the air simultaneously. About half of the arrows struck the targets, while the other half went wildly off in other directions causing the evaluators to duck and scramble out of the way. This didn't seem to bother them though; they were probably used to this happening on the first day. Plus Zane had a feeling that Oran had enchanted these bows so that they would not kill.
Pugs arrow hit the target on the outer edge and he shouted in triumph. After the first shot, the trainees fired the rest of the arrows at their own pace. Pug managed to hit the target with every arrow but one. Unfortunately, this arrow narrowly avoided impaling Captain Dux, and Pug cringed when he saw Dux glaring angrily at him.
"Stupid Dirt face," Pug muttered as he walked back to the rest of them. "I should've tried to hit him on purpose and see what he says then. Aaron stepped forward and expertly nocked an arrow. He drew back the drawstring and on the Sergeant's command let the arrow fly toward the target. His target slammed perfectly into the center of the circle and Aaron nodded in satisfaction.
When Aaron was finished, there were ten arrows grouped closely around the center of the target.
"Wow Aaron that was amazing," Zane exclaimed when he walked back to the group.
"It was nothing," Aaron replied meekly. But Zane could tell that Zane was proud of his shooting. After Aaron, the two others in their line went. Both were fair shots but nothing compared to Aaron. When they had finished, Zane stepped forward to go next. He took an arrow from his quiver and awkwardly nocked it on the string. When Sagittis gave the word he pulled back the string, took aim, and fired. The arrow flew across the ranged and stuck in the dead center of the target. Only problem was, it was in the target three over from the one Zane was aiming for.
"Nice shot," snickered Pug loudly from behind him.
"Shut up," Zane told him nocking another arrow. He drew back the string and fired for a second time. He yelped out loud as the string snapped against his forearm, leaving an instant welt. Out of the next eight that he fired; he managed to get two into his own target. He walked dejectedly back to the group and watched as Rose went to shoot. She took an arrow and nocked it on the string smoothly. She looked amazing standing up there with the bow drawn back. Pug must have noticed Zane looking at her like that because he said,
"Better hope she doesn't show you up," he laughed. "Of course, that's not going to be that hard. But if she does it won't make you look to good." Zane punched him on the arm and watched as Rose let her first arrow go. It smacked into the target around the middle. "Ouch it's not looking good for lover boy here." Zane punched him on the arm even harder as the others turned and laughed.
The rest of Rose's arrows hit the target, though not as close to the center as Aarons, it was still impressive. When Rose had finished Cliff stepped up to go looking nervous. His huge arms pulled back the string to its full firing power, and he fired and Sagittis' command. The bow leapt crazily out of his hands and the arrow flew wildly toward the sky. Cliff fell over and landed on his backside and watched in horror as the arrow landed in the ground twenty feet away.
"Well you definitely beat Cliff at least," Pug said bursting with laughter. Cliff's second attempt didn't go much better and the string broke as he pulled it back. Cliff stalked grumpily back to the group with eight arrows still in his quiver.
"No worries big man," Pug told him patting him on the back. Penny was the last to go in their group. She walked up to the line and daintily nocked an arrow. When she fired her first shot, the string lashed her hand and she dropped the bow with a squeal. Zane noticed Cliff flinch at her pain.
"Looks like you've been teaching her how to shoot," he whispered to Cliff with a smile. Cliff glared at him but was smiling. Her arrow flew completely off target and stuck in the ground ten feet away. She managed to miss the target with the rest of her shots and came back to the group with welts covering her forearms.
"Are you ok?" Cliff asked her with a concerned look. He took her arms and examined the welts. Penny blushed and Cliff quickly dropped her arms turning red as a tomato. Sagittis called for them to start back to camp and get to bed. As they trudged back to camp, Zane started to feel exhaustion kicking in. Adrenaline had taken him through most of the day, and now that the evaluations were finished he felt the effects of the day's hard work. When they reached camp, they bid the girls goodnight and went back to their tent.
When they reached their tent, Zane noticed that he wasn't the only exhausted one. They groggily put their belongings in their chests and went to bed. Zane lay in bed despite his tiredness and thought about his performance. He was feeling confident that he would be classed as a warrior, but there was no way he could be sure. He knew he wouldn't be an archer and he seriously doubted that he would be a scout. But he was still very nervous about the next day. After a while he fell into a troubled sleep.