I opened my eyes slowly. The sun was covered by thick trees. I looked over at my pocket watch and saw it was an hour before seven. I woke Kyle up and told him we should get packed and dressed. He awoke the others and we collapsed the tents and put snow over the embers of the fire. We loaded up the backpacks with the supplies we needed and headed out. At the edge of the woods we saw another group heading to town. They all looked tired and weary.
After an hour, we finally made it through the woods back to the village. Captain Steve Haizer was waiting at the barracks for our safe return. We were the first group to return, followed by the one we saw. Captain Haizer had hot stew and warm bread waiting for us. We sat down and ate the delicious food. Within the hour, all groups were back. Everyone was accounted for.
"Congratulations! You survived in the wintery forest. I will talk with the scouts and see who passed and who failed. In the meantime, get some rest and eat up." he said.
He walked into his office and the twenty scouts followed him in. I leaned against Kyle and closed my eyes. He wrapped his arm around me.
"That wasn't so bad." Hunter said
"No, only the bear." Kevin said
"Luckily we had Caide." Joseph said
"Yeah, that could've been bad." Thomas said
"We did well. We only relied on Caide for the bear, which is acceptable." Kyle said
"We might be here for a while, if he has to talk to all twenty." Hunter said
"Yeah." Thomas replied
"Only two months left until we graduate." Kyle said
"It's crazy. Soon we are going to be knights." Thomas said
"Is Rowan asleep?" Kevin asked
"No." I replied
"I want to be." Joseph said
"Yeah." We all said
Captain Haizer came out rather quickly. He had a joyful smile while he spoke.
"No one failed this test. This is the first time in a long time where nobody failed. I am proud of each and everyone of you. Keep up the great work," he said, "Take this week off, even from personal training. We will continue Monday."
"That's nice." I said
"Yeah, it is." Kyle said
"Silence. I have one last thing to say. I want to talk to all of the people who are graduating this year. Everyone else is dismissed." he said
We stayed behind and so did four other groups. Some of the people I didn't know very well. I did, however, know one of them extremely well. His name was Marcus Turok. He was a tall kid with black hair and deep brown eyes. He was one of the best warriors in the entire village, maybe not as skilled as Kyle. But not only that; he was also smart. He had a high aptitude for the sword. He was very intimidating, but kind. He lived here, down the road from my house. I never really talked to him, but I've heard stories about him. He had a calm but sad look on his face and was quiet and kept things to himself.
"You all have two months left of training. Unfortunately you lose a month of training. That means we must push harder than ever or you will fall behind. Please work hard, train hard, and study hard. Good luck!" he said
We were dismissed from the barracks and Kyle and I walked home. I dropped him off at his house and then went straight home. Mom and Eve welcomed me home. I showered and fell chest first onto my bed.
January and February flew by too quickly. Before we knew it, we only had a week left until graduation. The last week was the most important. It was our final exam. We spent every day going over tactics and fighting techniques. I slept for twelve hours the night before and still felt exhausted. The final test was next Monday. If we passed then we would graduate the next day. If not, then the knighthood isn't for us. We weren't told what the test was, but we trained and trained.
Monday morning came and we gathered in front of the barracks with the other four groups. A few minutes later Captain Haizer walked out of his office. With him were five knights in full armor. Some had a shield and a sword, others just had a sword
"Good morning everyone! Today we are going to take your final exam. We will start with a six on one. If you manage to defeat the knight as a team you pass. If the knight beats your team, you fail. All six do not have to be conscious to win. If one is standing, then you all pass." he said
"What do you mean conscious?" Kyle asked
"The knight will fight with his sheath on his sword and will try to knock you out. You are fighting with real swords, to take him down." he said
"What if we kill him." a kid asked
Captain Haizer looked at him and let out a laugh.
"If you kill him, then your group will be promoted to Captain." he said
"For real?" Kyle asked
"Yes," Captain Haizer said, "You will have ten minutes to plan. Once they are over, the fight will commence."
We walked over to our spot.
"Can't we just all jump him?" Kevin asked
"No, it would be too easy for him." Thomas said
"There are only two with a shield, so let's focus on one without." Kyle said
"Sure, although, it would be easier to fight one with a shield. Because The swordsman would be using one arm. So there would be less strength in his swings." Thomas said
"I was just talking practically. We have a higher chance of fighting one with just a sword." Kyle said
"I think it would be best to have two in front of him at all times. We can change who is taking him on from time to time, but I think Kyle and Rowan should be the only two he fights directly the most." Thomas said
"Why?" I asked
"You two are the best fighters in our group. The rest of us will distract him occasionally to get you and Kyle an opening. Do not hold back, we will have to kill someone one day. Hesitation will get you killed, or in this case knocked out. If we manage to kill him, it would be seen as a great feat." Thomas said
"Kill him? A man? An ally?" I asked
"Well, yeah. We could get promoted to captain. Which could take years to achieve." Thomas said
"I don't think we should, even given the chance." I said
"You don't have to be the one to do it." Thomas said
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Kyle said
"What do you mean?" Thomas asked
"These are professional knights that have real experience fighting. I doubt we could even scratch his armor. Why else would we be using real swords and he is not? We might not succeed. I have faith in us, but there is a chance we will fail." Kyle said
"What do you think we should do?" Thomas asked
"Do not try to kill, you will lose focus. I think we should try to disarm and overwhelm him. Having two opponents always, is a good idea. We can, like you said, use the others for distractions and random assaults." Kyle said
"I'm with Rowan." Kevin and Hunter said
"I am too. Even though being promoted out the gate would be impressive." Kyle said
The time was up and Captain Haizer rang a bell. We all gathered in the main training area. He appointed us opponents. We actually got a knight with a shield. I thought it was luck, but after looking at Kyle, I knew it was not.
"Your name, sir?" Kyle asked
"My name does not matter." he said
His armor was silver and he had an emblem of a red bird on his shield. His sword was short, but long enough for some distance.
"We shall begin." he said
Kyle jumped in first. I followed quickly. The rest surrounded him and waited for an opening. Fighting with Kyle was always fun, but I never knew how much he was holding back until now. He dashed the knight at full speed and clashed swords with him. I didn't even see Kyle move, one second he was next to me and the next he was not. The knight pushed him back with the shield and Thomas rushed him and swung at his left side, where the shield was. The knight let go of the shield and twirled at Thomas, hitting him directly in the head. If he was using his blade, Thomas would've been killed. I charged him and kicked the shield off to the side out of reach. While Kyle and I fought him, Thomas grabbed the shield and stumbled back. I tried to be in sync with Kyle's movements but I couldn't match his speed. I wasn't fast enough. The knight was relentless in his attacks. It felt like we were fighting each other for hours. My arms ached from swinging. They were burning from the effort. Every time I thought I had a chance, the knight blocked my attack and slashed at me. I couldn't win this. He was too strong. I managed to block one of his attacks and spun around him, slashing at his legs. He rolled out of the way, but Kevin and Joseph quickly attacked him while he was down.
"Stop!" Kyle yelled
Kevin and Joseph quickly pulled away and I noticed Captain Haizer was now watching us.
"Don't attack while he is down!" Kyle said, reaching his hand out to the knight.
"What are you doing?" he asked
"Fighting a fair fight." Kyle responded, pulling the knight up.
"If you want it to be fair, want to give me my shield back?" he said with a laugh.
"Not a chance," Kyle said, smiling, "Whenever you are ready."
"Let's go." he said
"Rowan!" Kyle yelled
I quickly ran at the knight and clashed at his chest. I ducked out of the way and Kyle swung down at him. I looked over at Captain Haizer and saw he was smiling. The knight and Kyle were ferociously attacking each other. There was no opening, nothing I could do.
"Rowan! Take this!" Thomas said, handing me the shield
"Thanks!" I said
Kyle backed down and I was able to hold my own against the knight. I blocked all the attacks and made contact with my sword. Kyle got behind without the knight knowing, he wound up the attack and stopped his sword before he made contact with the neck of the knight. The knight dropped his sword.
"You won." He said
We fell down and sat on the ground in fatigue. The other groups were still fighting their knight. Captain Haizer came over, clapping.
"Congratulations. This is the fastest someone has defeated their knight. Kyle, you had the chance to kill him but you didn't. Why?" Captain Haizer said
"Rowan said it was wrong to kill him. I wanted to, so that I could be promoted, but I respect my team's opinion more." Kyle said
"Rowan, huh?" Steve said
"Yes, sir." Kyle said
"This group is rather interesting. I heard some new stories from your survival test, literal ones and inspirational ones. No one has done this before. Since you did not kill him, I cannot promote you to captain, but I do believe you will reach it one day." he said
"Thank you, sir." we all said
The knight walked over to a bench and sat down. Kyle and I walked over to him.
"Now that we defeated you, may we know your name?" Kyle asked
"Sure, my name is Tarius Aiken." he said
"My name is Kyle Landon." he said
"And my name is Rowan Niron." I said
"Nice to meet you." we said
"Likewise." Tarius said
"How long have you been a knight?" I asked
"twenty years." he said
"Wow." Kyle said
"I was going to retire, but then this war unfolded." Tarius said
"Where are you stationed?" Kyle asked
"A village near the East border named Kelmarsh." he said
"That is a ways away." I said
"A few weeks." he said
"So you live right next to the nation Kralovia?" I asked
"Relatively." he said
"What if they decide to aid Evermoon?" Kyle asked
"Then I might see you on the battlefield." he said
"Yeah." I said
"Kyle, you are an extraordinary fighter. Who trained you?" Tarius asked
"My father, Sir Justin Landon." Kyle said
"I've heard stories about Sir Landon. He was a mighty warrior and well respected." Tarius said
"Thank you." Kyle said
"Where's Thomas?" I asked, looking around.
"I saw Captain Haizer take him into his office. Probably to look at his wounds." Kyle said
"You should watch the other fights. You may learn something." Tarius said
"Yeah. Goodbye, sir." we said
We went over to the other matches and saw Marcus, the only one left standing in his group. The strange thing was, the knight looked like he was about to pass out but Marcus didn't even have one drop of sweat. In fact, his sword was still sheathed around his waist.
"What is your name?" Marcus asked his opponent.
"Gideon." he said
"Marcus." he replied
"That is one unholy tactic you have." Gideon said
"You like it, I came up with it." Marcus said
"Have everyone wear me down then you come into the fight to finish me off? No, I don't." Gideon said
"Let's end this," Marcus said, unsheathing his sword, "Here I come."
The second he unsheathed his sword, he dashed and swiftly cut off Gideon's head. His movements were so fast and smooth. Gideon didn't even react to Marcus' speed. Captain Haizer had a blank expression on his face while watching. Tears fell from my eyes as Gideon's body slammed to the ground.
"Oh my..." I whispered, clutching onto Kyle.
"Damn." Kyle said
Captain Haizer congratulated Marcus for winning. He told him a letter would arrive in the mail in a few days. He would earn the title and have a badge. He walked away and left the barracks.