I was true to my word. I met Arial at her door that next day. It took me staying awake all night, so that I wouldn't oversleep, but I did it. She was taken aback when she snuck from her cottage, and found me leaning against the wall by the front door.
"Ahhh, what are you doing, lurking about like that?"
"I told you I would be waiting for you outside your door."
"You didn't have to be so lecherous about it though."
"Lecherous? I was just standing here."
"Forget about it. I want you to take me to the river."
"I don't think you are ready for it."
"Why don't you think I'm ready for it? It's just a river."
"True, it is just a river, but there is more to it than that. You need to have proper footwork, or you may hurt yourself."
"Is this really how your father taught you?"
"Yes, well no. He was much harder on me, than I am you, and as I said. I didn't go to the river until I had learned the first three movements. You haven't even learned the first part of the first movement yet. Besides, aren't you going to make me read scrolls in order to learn how to control the aether?"
"Don't turn this on my Pitre. The scrolls are important for you to understand why you are doing what you are doing."
"So is this training that I am teaching you. My father said that I learned fast, and that he really didn't expect me to go into the Swordsman's Euphoria as soon as I did. It may take you longer, or maybe because you can touch the aether, it may happen sooner, but you will still have to learn to be a swordsman."
"Very well."
Arial stomped off in the direction of the forest, and I knew that exasperation. I had experienced myself. I was impetuous when I was training last year, but since I knew I was going to be accepted to the academy, the only thing I had to do, was train. I took off in a sprint and bolted right past Arial.
"You'd better hurry if you want to learn something new today. I'm doubling my practice, so I will have little time once I cut the trees down."
I heard one more exasperated "Humph!", and then the thud of feet running behind me. After my initial burst of speed to get past her, I slowed so that she could keep pace. Not too slow, because that wouldn't benefit her training, but slow enough so that she wouldn't lose sight of me. That was, until the final few hundred yards. I tore off in a blur to the clearing where I practiced. It was the first area that I cleared all the trees, My father told me to take trees from other random areas after he had seen what I had done. "It's not good for the forest." he said. I asked him why, but he simply waved me off and told me to get back to practicing.
I once again heard heavy footfalls, and breathing as Arial entered the clearing. When she finally got to where I was standing, she collapsed to the ground.
"Are you alright?"
"I....I....I'm fine. I...I, ju....just need to ca..cat....catch my breath."
"We need to work on you stamina. You sound like a heard of bulls running through the forest with all that heavy breathing." Arial tried to reach up and swat me, but her exhaustion got the better of her, and she merely through herself off balance and fell the rest of the way to the ground. She laid there starring up into the early predawn sky. "You rest here, I'll go cut down my trees." Arial moved her head in what I presumed was a nod, and I took off to the thickest part of the forest for my trees.
The morning air was still cool. We were a few weeks until the end of spring, and it felt nice in the forest. I found two worthy trees side by side and began chopping. Half way through the second tree, I heard a scream from the clearing. I stopped what I was doing and ran back to the clearing as fast as I could. I heard another scream right before I broke the tree line. When I did, I couldn't believe what I saw. Arial was in the center fo the clearing, with her stick pointing straight out, directed at a large wolf. I had never seen a wolf in the forest. This wasn't their home. I dropped the ax, and drew my sword from my back. I yelled at the top of my lungs, to get the wolf's attention. It worked, and the wolf had turned in my direction. I started walking towards him. He stood chest height on Arial. I was just a small bit taller than she was. Arial took a step away when he turned, but that drew his attention back to her.
"Don't move. I'm hoping to draw him away from you." Arial stood still, and I screamed again, to draw his attention, and then a stomped towards him. It worked again, he turned and this time, he took several steps towards me. I continued to stomp as I approached him, and yelled for him to come after me. He must have understood, because the third time I yelled it, he leaped forward and ran at full speed towards me. I stopped, took a deep breath and relaxed. I still had 15 yards before he was on me. I took a single step back with my right leg and braced for what was about to happen. When he was within 10 feet of me, he leaped into the air. At his peak he was twice my height in the air, and was now plummeting towards me with his jaws agape, and teeth slick with spittle. The look in his eyes spoke volumes about how he was about to break his fast with me. At the last second I stepped to the side, and raised me sword, slapping him in the underbelly as he went by. He yelped from the sting of pain as the flat of my blade slapped that sensitive area. He landed and slid to a spinning halt. He growled and saliva flung from the sides of his mouth. I yelled to Arial,"Get to the tree line, and hide behind a tree." The wolf lowered his front end readying to pounce on me. He was a mere 6 feet away now. I had hoped that the slap would scare him off, but it only made him more angry.
I readied myself again, but stepping my right leg back, sword pointing at the wolf from my right shoulder to my left hand which was held out in front of me. This was a move from the 7th movement. It was a defensive posture that allowed for retreat or attack. I could either step back with the left leg to retreat and swipe a block with my sword, or step forward with the right leg and lunge the sword forward in a jabbing motion. I had already made up my mind on which path I was going to take. I didn't want to, but it was the only way out of this. I already tried to scare him off with the slap.
Then wolf leaped into the air again. This time it was more direct. He only leaped to head height. I altered the move from the original, and stepped back as I thrust the sword forward. The step back allowed me to move just enough to the side to avoid being directly in the wolf's path, and I stabbed the sword into the area of his neck. The sword sank in just before a massive paw collided with my left shoulder. I was sent to the ground, and the wolf landing partially on top of me. He tried to get up, but the blade had done it's job, and I felt his balance stutter as he fell back on me, and he took his last breath.
I tried to push the massive animal from on top of me, but my shoulder was hurt. I couldn't budge him. I tried sliding out from underneath him, but that wouldn't work either. His blood was beginning to pool up around us, it was warm and sticky, and smelled metallic. It made me nauseous, but I hadn't eaten, so I just hacked. I heard footsteps slowly coming towards me.
"Pitre, are you alright?" It was Arial testing every step as she came closer. "Is it dead?"
"It's dead, but I'm stuck underneath it. My shoulder is hurt as well."
The footsteps quickened, and Arial slid down next to me. She had a look of fear and horror on her face.
"Can I help, give me your hand, I'll try to pull you out." She grabbed my arm by the wrist and began to pull. I tried to shimmy as well to help myself out. After a couple of minutes, I was finally free of the wolf. It wasn't until then, that I truly saw just how big he really was. As I said, he stood about chest high, but he was thick and stock. He was twice as wide as me at the shoulder, and he was longer than I was tall. His fur was a mottled grey, brown, and black. His paw, which is what stuck my shoulder, as the size of my head.
"I need you to go back to the village, and get my father. Bring him here with a horse, so that we can get the wolf back to the village. We shouldn't leave it here. It might attract other animals, and we could use the meet and pelt."
"What if there are other wolves out there? I read that they travel in packs."
"Then you should run faster then you did to get here."
"That's not funny Pitre."
"It's not meant to be. Here take my sword with you."
"I don't know how to use it."
I stood up and pulled the sword from the wolf's neck. "Here, you hold it like this." I put the sword in Arial's hand. "If you see anything coming towards you, you swing it like this." I clasped my hand over hers, and swung the sword in wide arcs back and forth
"There is more to it than that."
"Yes, there is a lot more to it than that, but that is all you have time for. Focus on your breathing and your running. The closer you get to the village, the less likely the wolves will follow you, if there are any more. Now go."
"What will you do for a weapon, if more wolves come?"
"I still have the ax." Although I didn't know how I was going to swing it. My left arm was having limp at my side, and the shoulder was in a lot of pain. "One last thing. Hold the sword away from you as you run. If you trip, thrust it forward so that you don't land on it."
Arial finally ran off towards the village. I walked over and picked up the ax, and tried a few swings with my one arm. I could swing it reasonably, but I had no real control of it. It was just too heavy for a one armed swing. I would just have to hope that nothing came along.
It took nearly a half hour, but my father and Arial finally rode up on horseback. I could see the look of shock on my father's face as he saw the wolf. He guided Arial off the horse, and then dismounted himself. He walked up to the wolf, and then around it. Looking over every inch of it. Then he looked at me.
"Arial tells me that your shoulder is hurt. Let me have a look at it."
I walked over to my father and he pulled my tunic over my shoulder so that he could look at it.
"It's only dislocated. It will be fine in a minute. I want you to grit your teeth boy." He pulled my arm straight down, and the pain was excruciating, then he slammed his hand in the back of my shoulder. I felt brilliant burning pain, and then nothing. There was still some soreness, but it was more of a sore muscle pain rather than my limb had been ripped from my body pain. "You got lucky boy. A wolf that size should have eaten you for breakfast."
"I think that was his plan."
"Did you get your trees cut down for the day before this happened."
"I was in the middle of cutting the second one down, when I heard Arial scream."
"That reminds me. Why were you out her girl?"
"I asked Pitre to teach me how to play at swords."
"Is that so? You have mastered the sword enough to become a teacher now, have you boy?"
"Yes sir, I mean no sir. I was just showing her what you had shown me."
"Well then, show me what you have learned girl. You still have the sword in you hand."
"I never used the sword, until Pitre told me to take it to get you. I only used a stick before."
"Ahh, that is good. Hand me the sword then, and grab your stick."
Arial handed my father the sword and walked over to where she was standing when the wolf attacked. She searched around for a minute, and then found her stick and picked it up. She showed my father the blocks and slashes that I had shown her.
"Not too bad. It appears that you can teach. I'm glad you started off they way I started you."
"She said she wanted to learn the way I did."
"Do you have her cutting down trees and lugging a twice to heavy blunt sword around."
"No sir."
"All the better than. Do you really want to learn the sword lass?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, I will take over your training then. It appears that there is a tree out there that needs to be finished cutting down. Give her the ax boy. You aren't going to be any good with that shoulder for a few days. We need to get those trees down and brought to this clearing, so I can make a sled to haul this carcass. It's best not to waste a kill. Show her where the tree is boy, and show her how to use that ax. When you are done, come back here, and I'll bring the trees up."
I did as my father asked. Arial struggled but she finished cutting the tree down. My father got the trees to the clearing, and made a make shift sled for the wolf. He attached it to the horse with rope, and dragged everything back to the village. We didn't light the forge that day. The day was spent cleaning the pelt and cutting the meat. We then cooked it all for everyone in the village. My father had said that he hadn't seen a wolf in the area for decades, and that it was even more rare to see one of that size. That day was the first time I had killed anything. I didn't know how I felt about it. I can still remember the smell and stickiness of that blood. The feel of my sword sliding into the fleshy neck of the wolf, and the sound of it's last breath as it laid on top of me. That was also the day that my legend began.
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