Part 8

Greza woke up to the sound of a horn blowing.  She had become used to the harsh sound but that didn’t slow her down at all. 

She sat up, threw back her covers and began putting on her uniform and boots.  As soon as she was finished she turned around and made her bed like they taught her to do. 

When she looked up she saw that she had actually beaten the other females.  In the Company they weren’t women or girls, they were always females. 

It had been two weeks and all they had been learning was marching, physical fitness and discipline.  Immediate obedience was always demanded.  That was what she was used to but it seemed that many others had a problem with it. 

When she walked out into the main room where the males were, she noticed that they were all excited about something.  There was more play fighting and joking than usual. 

She wanted to ask but they’d just respond with a rude or useless joke.

When they formed up in the biting cold out in the courtyard Sergeant Drakan walked up and down their ranks, inspecting each recruit.  He seemed to scowl more than usual. 

“Recruits!  Listen up.  Today we begin combat training,” Sergeant Draken said. 

He glared around just asking for one of the recruits to say something so they could be punished.

Fortunately no one broke discipline.  She had no problems with the physical part, but she felt sorry for the Humans.

“You’ll be sparing against your fellow recruits today in an evaluation to determine your skill level: beginner, intermediary and advanced.  For the most part, you will spar against other recruits of your same skill level, but this will not always be the case.  In war, you cannot choose your opponent or their ability.  You must be prepared for anything.”

He stopped pacing and pointed to the first man in formation. 

“We’ll start here and work our way down.  You will spar the man behind you.” 

There were four ranks so it was even, but she was on the end and no one was behind her.  She wanted to show her skill so the males would stop mocking her and calling her a scrawny maid. 

For once they were doing something interesting, something she knew she could do.

“You will be using padded staves for now.  First two, step out of formation and take positions on either side of the field.”

The “field” was a roped in pen covered in straw.  The male human and hobgoblin walked out into the pen and stood at rest to await further instruction. 

“Now, pick up a stave and wait for my order.  When I say, attack.  Do not purposefully harm the other recruit.  Understood?  Accidents will happen but if I see that you did it on purpose, I’ll make sure you regret it.  That said, there are no rules.  You do what you must to win.”

They had already lost one recruit for thievery.  He had been tied to a stake and lashed before being thrown out of the fortress. 

She knew exactly what it felt like to be lashed.  Her back bore the marks of the lash and her torso, legs and arms bore the marks of countless fights.  She always bathed when no one else was around to avoid questions. 

Greza didn’t want them to know she had been a slave.  They were always using the term ‘slave’ as an insult and it made her wince every time she heard it.

It was humiliating.

She looked up as the match began.  The two men held their staves in an awkward manner.  She could see by the placement of their feet that neither of them knew what they were doing. 

As they attacked, they did so in halting movements as if they weren’t sure what they were doing.  It was somewhat painful to watch.  These men did not know how to fight. 

The fight burst into a spastic series of clumsy swinging until one of them was hit more than the other. 

They were both put into “intermediary.”  What would it take to be put into beginner?  Lying on the ground and crying? 

Two by two they went into the “field” and fought.  Most went into beginner or intermediary.  Only a few went into advanced.  She didn’t see how any of these people could be a threat. 

Finally, it was her turn.  Sergeant Drakan stepped in front of her. 

“It’s just you, recruit Greza.  I’ll let you choose which skill level you want to fight.”

“Advanced.” 

There was some snickering from the other recruits.  Sgt.  Drakan chose to ignore it. 

“Alright, Greza wishes to fight an advanced student.  Hyrin, step forward.”

Hyrin was the card player from her first night.  He was strong for a Human. 

She walked into the “field” and over to the rack of staves.  She picked it up and felt the weight in her hands and tested the balance. 

Greza turned around and watched Hyrin as he stood there with his stave.  He was relaxed and not alert at all.  He was confident in his victory and probably thought he wouldn’t have to try hard at all.

She took a breath and waited for Sgt. Drakan’s signal. 

“Go!”  Drakan said. 

As soon as Drakan said it, she threw her stave right at Hyrin’s head.  He did two things.  He raised his stave to block the projectile and he tried to dodge at the same time. 

She bolted at him as soon as the stave left her hands.  She plowed into Hyrin and grabbed his arm.  Greza yanked him down, almost to the ground.  Then she moved behind him, grabbed hold of his stave and pulled it in to begin chocking him. 

Then the whistle blew to end the fight and she instantly let go and stepped away.  Hyrin fell to the ground, chocking.  The fight had only taken a few seconds.  After every fight people clapped but when she looked over she saw that they all stood there in silence. 

Sgt. Drakan walked up and looked down at her. 

“Where did you learn to fight like that, recruit?”

“I was a gladiator, sergeant,” she whispered so only he would hear.

This drew some murmurs from the other recruits but she couldn’t tell if this was good or bad. 

“I see your skill level is a little higher than the other recruits.  I want to see how much higher.  I’m your next opponent.”

She kept her eyes to the ground as Sgt. Drakan took off his coat and picked up a wooden practice sword.  Fighting another recruit was expected, but she couldn’t fight a sergeant.  She’d be beaten.  The leaders will find out and throw her out of the fortress like they did the thief.

She put her padded stave back in the rack and also picked up a practice sword.

Sgt. Drakan walked up and stood before her. 

“Greza, don’t hold back.  Don’t be afraid to hurt me because I will not hold back.  Understood?” 

She nodded. 

Sgt. Drakan readied himself. 

“Fight!” 

She knew he’d come at her with everything he had.  He was a veteran and knew what a real fight was.  Clever tricks wouldn’t work on him.

With her wooden sword in her off hand, she charged at the sergeant.  As he moved he kept his balance.  He was good and knew what he was doing. 

As she got within striking distance she made an obvious attack with her left hand sword.  It was a distraction for the real attack. 

Drakan raised his sword to block.  He was fast for a human.  His instincts were good.  He saw the sword and didn’t think, he just reacted. 

But then Greza’s leg shot out and kicked the side of Drakan’s knee.  She pulled it but the blow still crumbled that leg and brought him down to his knee. 

Again she struck with the sword.  He blocked it and was preparing for a strike inside her guard that was surely aimed for her head. 

But her real attack was already going. 

Her right fist slammed into the side of Drakan’s head and knocked him into the dirt.  She had pulled the blow to avoid killing him.  If she had been armed with her cestus, she would have cracked his skull right open.

Again, there was only silence.

Then Sgt. Drakan slowly got to his feet.  Blood was coming down the side of his head where she had struck him. 

Now that she had time to think she wondered how she could do such a thing.  She wasn’t allowed to hit her superiors.  She was in big trouble. 

Then Sgt. Drakan began laughing. 

“Girl, you pack a punch like a swinging log.  Well done.”  Then he turned to the other recruits.  “Recruits, listen up.  Recruit Greza has demonstrated how to fight.  You use deception, strength and skill. You do whatever it takes to win.  She is far above any of your skill levels and she will not be participating in your daily combat training for this quarter.”

Then he turned to her. 

“Greza, I have something special planned for you.”