Sword Training With a Twist

From The Author:

My first couple of weeks back at work after yet another bout with illness really took it out of me, hence the lateness of this blog post that I’d planned for Enchantment. The event is over, but the story still wanted to be told, and those are some cool swords.

From The Amazing Catwoman:

Oh, look: it’s ,me again. I know I’m not always so chatty up in here because She of course gets all the glory and the kudos and the pretty dresses. Not that I would wear the pretty dresses. But you know, I had so many questions from our Queen’s Guards in training around this whole Sword & Sorcery fair she made them all attend with her, I figured I would give you (whoever the heck you are: I don’t know you from FørsteAlv) a little glimpse of what it looks like when they make me teach the n00bs.

*Today we’re going to talk about something different…*

‘OK, barn, the bit you probably already know is the Swords bit. You know, that’s when we give you a wooden stick and tell you to hit the practice dummy and Wulfrich shouts at you explaining you’re dead already’.

There was a chorus of various flavours of ‘yes’, with some groans sprinkled in. Apparently, some die more violently than others. I should come watch training more often.

‘Now, that’s what you get when you first decide to intern with or enrol into the Queen’s Guards. But we’re all some kind of Fae, and that means we are magic. That’s where the Sorcery bit can apply to you’. I looked around for signs of interest. There were a few, but I had to wonder what Wulfrich does to these kids to make them so stony-faced. ‘Come on; some of you have had some magic in your backgrounds’. Silence.

‘Fine’, I said. I put the rapier away and faced them. ‘Let me show you what I mean’.

‘Lesson one’, I said. ‘Magic is hard‘. I began to concentrate. ‘Now, my magic tends to have a signature that’s kind of like spots or sparks of fire. Now that we have magical signature-enabled cameras, I can even see it once in a while. So first I have to think about my magical being, and then I have to consider, imagine very carefully and precisely, hm… two rapiers, let’s say’.

There was an audible gasp from the barn. Maybe they were listening after all.

‘Now, this is the block position; something I can do when the swords are idle’, I said. ‘And you can still see the magical signature around me, for now. But as I get more into the process of it, you’ll find that the signature goes away’.

‘Here is a sideways slash’, I said, using my arms to direct the blades. ‘I’ve been using magical blades for a long time, and I can make them do pretty much anything I want, including rotate round me like a little “come closer and I’ll kill you” kind of sign’. Some scattered giggling.

‘In the “ready” position, the blades mostly just hang about looking kind of daunting, and that’s exactly what you want them to do. Any fight I can win without ever landing a blow or drawing blood is a win’. This got nods; I know Wulfrich says the same thing to them, and it’s what all sword masters should do. ‘For those of you who haven’t done it, killing is not something we come back from easily. Some humans seem to do it without a care in the world, but we magical beings, life force stopped does something to us. I hope you never have to find out what that something is’.

I took a step back and sheathed the twin blades. ‘Any questions’?