busy"Difficult Measures"
Johan and Althey practiced
until the pudgy boy lay on the ground
panting with exhaustion.
"Why do I even have to do this?"
Althey moaned. "I'm a healer, not a paladin!
I'm meant to help people, not try to cut them in half."
"You will be a paladin," Johan said.
"Gailah would have it so, and you
took up the fallen star that she sent.
You must learn to defend yourself."
"But ..." Althey said.
"If not yourself, then learn it
so you can protect the casualties,"
Johan said. "What would you do now
if someone were hurt on the battlefield,
and the enemy still all around?"
"Die, I suppose," Althey confessed.
"That won't do at all," Johan said.
"Pick yourself up and learn to do better."
"It's never like this in the legends,"
Althey grumbled as he sat up.
"That's because the legends are told by fools,"
Johan said. "People who have never seen
a real battle are more likely to dress it up
in ribbons and nonsense."
"They say that battles can last all day,
and the great heroes never lose
because of their special prowess," Althey said,
swinging his slender practice sword.
"I can't imagine how. I can barely hold this thing
for a few minutes; it feels like a whole tree!"
"Battles can last all day," Johan said,
his voice dark with the memories,
"though each pair of opponents
may only face each other for moments.
It is never without cost, though a watcher
might not see how hard it is for those in the fray."
As he spoke, he drew a fresh line
from the marker stick stuck in the ground,
to show where the shadow must reach
before they would stop for another break,
so they could measure the time.
"I'll never make it that long," Althey said.
"Do you know, I used to say the same,"
Johan said as he drew his sword,
a confession he had not shared before.
"Don't believe you," Althey said.
"You could do this from dawn to dusk."
"I can now, because I've practiced for years,"
Johan said. "I was not always a paladin, though.
I was a clerk's son first, meant to marry a rich widow or
become the apprentice of a barrister, soft as could be
when I went to the bright city. Yet Gailah
wanted me, so I learned to fight." He chuckled.
"I thought my arms would fall off before I did.
My old master Darthur ran me around the woods,
whacking at me with a baton all the way."
"It's hard to imagine you like that," Althey said.
"You're such a hero now, and I'm ... not."
He waved a hand at his thick body.
"We may need some difficult measures
to get you into shape, but we'll manage,"
Johan said. Then he swatted Althey
on the hip with the flat of his sword.
"Get your guard up, now. Pretend
that fallen log behind you is a casualty --
don't let me get close enough to kill it."
The poor log, of course,
died over a dozen deaths at
the point of Johan's sword, and
Althey collected another layer of bruises.
He never gave up, though, and Johan
was proud of him for that.
Hours later, Johan called a halt
when the shadow touched the line.
Althey promptly collapsed again,
gasping for breath. "I think,"
he wheezed, "this will ... kill me ...
and save ... our enemies ... the trouble."
It was a day for awkward confessions,
but Johan couldn't let that one pass.
"I think that by the time you face anyone
in combat for real, you will do far better
than either they or you suspect," he said.
"You know more weak points of the body
than I do, Althey. You lack only
the strength and the skill to put
your sword through them, and those
are things which can be acquired."
"You really see ... a paladin in me?"
Althey asked his mentor.
"I do," Johan said,
"but more importantly,
so does Gailah."
* * *
Notes:
A slanted stick can be used to make a sundial. Even if you don't have a timepiece, you can gauge the passage of time this way just by watching the shadows move.
January 12 2015, 01:57:57 UTC 6 years ago
Thank you!
January 12 2015, 02:25:41 UTC 6 years ago