The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 4)

     The first snow was beginning to fall, and that meant that my training just became harder. The trees were going to get harder to cut down, and the ground was going to be slick with ice and snow. It had been three months since my father started training me, and he increased my tree cutting. I not only had to cut the tree for the forge, but I now had to cut another tree for the warming the house. The house is small, so we didn't need that much wood, but my father insisted that I cut it down, and give the remaining wood to others in the village that couldn't cut their own wood. I did it all without hesitation, because when I was done, I could head back into the forest and practice with my sword. I got rather adapt at felling trees, and hauling them up to the mountainside. What used to take a couple of hours, now only took a fraction of the time. I was able to get two trees downed and chopped into kindling for firewood before the first light of the sun. I had to carry a lantern with me, but it was worth it so that I could swing that heavy beat up sword around.

     One morning I noticed my father watching me as I slashed and stabbed with my sword. I was doing everything that I saw those boys do in the arena, the only exception, is that I used a sapling tree for a partner. Even though the sword was blunted, it would put large ruts in the sides of the small tree.  After some time, my father slowly walked up to me.

     "You're not too bad there lad. I see that you remembered what you saw at the arena, but there is a problem. you have the moves, but you have no understanding behind them. Today you learn some of that understanding."

     He then took the sword from my hand and started to twirl it in front of him and behind his back. I had never seen anything like it. I instantly wanted to do that.

     "Impressive huh lad?"

     "Yes papa. Where did you learn how to do that?"

     "I learned it when I spent my time in the Blind War. When we weren't marching or fighting, we were training. The captain of my legion was widely known for his ability with a sword, and he wanted to make sure that anyone under him was nearly as good as he was. He would drill us first thing in the morning, after lunch, and then before hitting our nighttime slumber. I'm going to show you the drills he taught us. It's one thing to attack a poor defenseless sapling, but another to fight another man. That is why you have to have an understanding for what move and why you are doing it. My Captain created a series of movements that were replicating a duel of sorts. The art of the sword isn't always about attack, defense is a large part of it."

     "I thought a shield was for defense."

     "It is, but what happens if you lose your shield?"

      I'd never thought about that, what would happen if I lost my shield. I just took for granted that I would always have a shield if I had a sword. I didn't have a shield though, and my father never even brought it up until that time.

     "I can see by the look on your face, that you are just starting to see something you never thought about. Yes boy, you can lose your shield, and the reason I haven't given you one yet, is because I want you to know how to handle yourself with a sword and not need a shield."

     Not need a shield. This just became very exciting. What kind of swordsman didn't need a shield? I guess I was going to find out.

     "I'm only going to show you the first three moves, and I want you to practice them every day until I decide that you are ready for three more moves. Watch carefully."

      My father began with the sword in his right hand down at his side. In one quick fluid movement, he lunged forward with his left leg, and swung the sword in a reverse arc across his waist then bring it up and straight down in front of him with the sword held point up.

     "That is the first movement. Did you see what I did, or do you need to see it again?"

     "I saw it."

     "Here, take the sword and do that movement for me."

     I took the sword and held it point down at my side. I lunged with my left foot and began to swing the sword across my waist, and then the momentum of the sword and the slippery ground sent me sprawling to the ground. My father burst in to laughter.

     "I'll tell you something lad. That is exactly what I did the first time I tried that movement. The only difference is, that I didn't have slippery ground as an excuse. I learned it in the middle of the summer when the rainy season was far from arriving. Give it another try, but think of what you do when you drag those trees up the mountainside and how you keep your footing."

     I slowly picked myself up, and wiped the snow off my pants. I stood upright again with the sword pointed at the ground, and I thought about how I had to use light but firm footsteps when I carried the trees through the forest and up the mountain. I lunged forward again, swinging the sword across my waist, arcing it up and then down to rest chest level with the point up.

     "Good lad. You got that much faster than I did. Do that five more times and then we will get on to the second movement."

     I happily obliged. I felt more confident with each time I did it, and I could see a faint smile on my father's face. After the fifth time, I handed the sword back to my father and patiently waited for the next movement. He quickly did the first move again, and when he stopped he turned and told me to watch closely again. He lunged forward again and flung the sword point forward in a stabbing type of motion.

     "Do you have it? I know that it looks simple, but trust me, it's not as easy as it looks."

     I told him that I had it and took the sword from him. I went through the first movement again, and when it was time for the next movement, I stopped, took a deep breath and concentrated on what my father did. I lunged forward again and swung the sword down to stab forward. The weight of the sword took it straight into the ground and my left leg slide past it as my right leg stayed far behind me.

     "I told you that it wasn't as easy as it looked. Let me show you again, and this time I'll explain it to you."

     He took the sword back and got in the final position of the first movement. He told me that the movement with my feet was a slight hop. You pushed with the right foot as you glided forward with the left. As you did all that, you snapped your wrist forward to flick the sword tip forward, to create that stab forward.

     "Your biggest mistake was that you tried to slash the sword forward. There will be a time for that, but not in this movement."

     He handed the sword back to me and I tried again. I went through the first movement again, then I did a hop forward, when my feet hit the hard slippery ground I went sprawling again.

     "There there lad, not a bad second attempt. When you do your hop, you still have to do it one foot at a time. You always want to have your plant foot on the ground as long as you can before you commit to that lunge. Start with the left foot first, as you pick it up, push with the right to spring yourself forward. Your right foot should barely leave the ground so that it is ready to plant when you stop advancing."

     He showed me the footwork several times before handing the sword back to me. I once again went through the first movement, and arrived before the lunge. I did as he said, and my feet firmly planted, but I forgot to do anything with the sword. I tried again, and this time flicked the sword, but when I did I ended up throwing it a few feet in front of me.

     "Keep a loose but firm grip on the handle. If you grip too tight, the sword won't react, too loose, and the sword does what it did there. I want you to think of the sword as a stick. Instead of trying to thrust through something, I want you to think of taking a stick and tapping someone on the nose with it."

     I began to see what he was doing. It wasn't a big powerful motion, it was simple and little. It was a small motion, not a big one. I ran through the first movement again. I sprang forward and flicked my wrist pointing the sword forward.


     "That is perfect boy. Do that whole ting 5 times now, and then the next move will be yours."

     I did the two movements 5 times and it felt better and better each time I did it. I began to feel the weight of the sword as something that I could use as opposed to something that was just there.


     "Excellent boy. Alright, ready for the final movement of the day?"

     "Yes papa, I'm ready." Of course I was ready, this was more fun that chopping down trees and fighting a sapling.

     He went through the first two movements again, and then once again told me to watch carefully. Form the position of the sword pointing forward, he took a step back and brought his sword hand inane then back out in a circular motion with the sword point down, and then bringing the sword from his right side to his left side, then flipping the sword straight up, and back across his body, as he took another step back.

     "Do you have it lad?"

     I stood my head emphatically. Although I saw it clearly, I had no idea what he did. I needed to see it again and try to slow it down in my mind. He did final movement once again, and I watched intently. I saw that on the first movement he only brought his left leg back towards him, and then on the second motion, he did the hop step in reverse.

     "What about now, do you think you got it."

     "Yes papa. I think I do." I took the sword from him and slowly readied myself. I went through the first two movements, with no trouble. I paused and thought about what I had just seen my father do. I brought the sword in towards me as I brought my left leg back towards me. I brought my hadn't up and across my body with the sword point down, then I whipped the sword upright and began the hop step back as I brought the sword back across my body point up. I did it. I got it on the first try.

     "Boy, you do have the makings of a swordsman in you. It took me nearly a whole afternoon to land that last part of that. Now, I have a question for you. Can you tell me what the other person was doing during those movements you just did?"

     I hadn't a clue what someone else would have been doing during all of that. "No papa."

     "I didn't expect you too, but as my Captain always said, 'it never hurts to ask'. You have to imagine that you are fighting someone else when doing these drills. The first part of that movement, you are lunging forward and blocking an attack and readying your sword for what comes next. The second move is to test your opponents readiness. You do a flicking stab to see if he is acutely aware of your presence."

     "Didn't he just try to stab me? You said I blocked didn't you?"

     "Indeed I did lad. When I say you want to see his awareness, what you are really looking for is how quickly he reacts to such a move. If he gets out of the way fast, then you got a tough opponent. If he gets stabbed in the nose, then you probably don't have to do much else. That is what the next part of the movement is about. In this case, he got out of the way of your stab, and quickly tries to stab you back. The first attack is going for your stomach and that is why you block with the sword down. That is a low block. It will cover your chest to your knees, if you do it right. The second is a block up. After the low stab he goes for your head. If you do that block right, it will cover your chest to your head. All of that together is known as the first move."

     "That whole thing is the first move?" I was stunned, that was quite a bit for one move.

     "I want you to practice that for the rest of the day. After today, you will do that drill before you cut your first tree 10 times. After your second tree, I want you to do it 20 times, and after you've gotten both trees up and settled, I want you to do it another 70 times. That is 100 times in all, and I want you to do it in that precise order. Don't try to get it all done before you fell the first tree. You may get good at the movement that way, but there is no challenge in it, and you won't get out of it what I want you to. How are you supposed to do it now?"

     "10 times before the first tree, 10 times after the second tree, and then 70 more times after I have the trees up the mountainside and cut and stacked."

     "Good, I'll be checking in on you from time to time, to see just how your progress is going. When I feel you are ready, I'll show you the next movement in the drill. Off you go now, finish up doing that for the rest of the day."

     I practiced that movement until the sun was peaking over the tree line. I was exhausted as I walked back to the house for dinner, but it was a good exhaustion. It was exhaustion from accomplishment.

I Got A Makeshift Photo Booth.

     I am in love with that HUE Go light. I took my first photo using it, to get some different tones rather than white light, and I like the way it came out. When I get everything set up, I think it is going to be a great addition to Saki's Lounge.

     That's the light in it's most vibrant of red. I did record a video of my turning it on through Alexa, but I haven't previewed it, so I have no idea how the audio or anything is on it. Oh yeah, I guess I should share the picture I took. I posted this on Instagram a little earlier, but here it is.

     I had it on a purple hue for that one. I really like it. I can only Imagine how good it's going to look when I get a proper camera set up and start taking pictures in my "photo booth". Yeah, that's what I'm going to call it. I'll check out that video tomorrow, and if I think it's worth posting on here, I will do it Sunday. If not, I'll bust out the GoPro and get a better quality video of it for you. 

     I have an addition to my weekend plans this week. You know, other than starting the clean up of all the old stuff in the lounge and the rain gutters. The Punisher premiers on Netflix on Friday. I've been looking forward to this since he was first announced on Daredevil. Don't get me wrong, I'm still waiting on Season 2 of Jessica Jones, which they finally gave a date for. it's 2018. That's all that Netflix will give you on that, at least that is all that I've found. Since Punisher is going live on Friday, Jon Bernthal has been making the rounds to the talkshows. He is quite the interesting dude. Grew up in D.C. and was kind of a bad kid. Liked getting into street fights and typical hooligan type stuff, but then he found acting, and it was his high school acting teacher that turned things around for him. She mentioned that he should go and try to get in this prestigious acting school in Moscow, and he did. He thinks that she knew that if he had stuck around there, he probably wouldn't have had any future at all. it all worked out, and a tiny little show by the name of The Walking Dead, did all the rest. If you don't know him, he was Shane in TWD. A pretty impactful character for one that was only on 2 seasons, which is 1 season longer than the comic books had him. He is married now, with 3 kids, and here is the best part, he loves pitbulls. That right there, just made me like him even more.

     When I was younger, I was a giant Punisher fan. I had all the comics, t-shirts, and anything related to him, so the idea of finally seeing a really good representation of that character is thrilling. He was great in Daredevil, and Netflix has done a fantastic job with their part of the Marvel Universe, so I can't see this going bad. Jon Bernthal in the two interviews I heard him in, said that he wanted to honor the fans, and give them something they would be proud of. That is all I ask, and I think he will do it in spades.

     I feel like this is going to be pretty short tonight. I don't have much to talk about, so let's get to Favorite Song of the Week and wrap this puppy up. If you have been enthralled with the latest Levi's commercial, it is probably because of the song. The internet is an amazing tool to help you find things you didn't know you needed to know, until you start looking for them. This song is one of those things. It is by a woman who goes by Jain. She was born Jeanne Galice Toulouse, France in 1992.

She was dragged around the world because of her fathers job, but those travels influenced her musical tastes. She stayed in Dubai, the Congo and Abu Dhabi. She finally settled in Paris,Which is where she calls home now. This song is from her 2015 album Zanaka which is Malagasy for child. It was meant to honor her mother who is Franco-Malagasy. That is the official language of Madagascar. I honestly thought when I heard the song that I was going to find out that she was South African, but it is all the influence of her travels that give her that sound. Here is Jain with "Makeba"

     Admit it, you wanted to dance when you heard it? It's ok, dancing is a good thing, and people should do it more. Time for me to go to bed. I think it's going to be another short week, so I have a long weekend to look forward to getting everything I need to get done done. Peace in and goodnight.

It Was A Busy Weekend, But I Got It All Done.

     I got a lot accomplished this weekend. I was off on Friday, so that helped out a bit. I got my channel trailer finished. I didn't get all the footage that I wanted, so I made do with what I got, and I really like the way it turned out. I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. I know that I will get better with the editing, but this exceeds anything I've done to this point. I can always make a new trailer in the future, or I can just make a new video in this fashion without it being a trailer for the channel, either way, it was the most fun I've had so far doing these videos. I guess I should show you the video. I got it live yesterday, because I couldn't wait, as I said, I'm pretty proud of it.



     Please take some time and give it a view. It's 4 minutes and 43 seconds of pure adrenaline and beauty. Well, I guess the beauty part is subjective, but it's what I think is beautiful about this area. In reality, this is what I set out to show you when I started making these videos. I think I will do more like this in the future, and get better of hitting the beat with the edits.

     Before all that happened though, I went to the birthday of a 1 year old. My very good friends were honoring their 1 year old and they were on this side of the state, so I had to go. I wasn't going to miss it even if I did have to head over to St. Pete for it, but they were here. It was fun, I rode Saki there, because I wasn't passing up a clear sky evening. I don't know how it happened, but I ended up with the 1 yr old. I don't have kids, so I don't hold them very often at all, but there I was holding a tiny little kid. She was a good kid, she just sat there and smiled, it could have been gas from all the pizza she ate, but I like to think it was my charm, or at least I was funny looking. She started climbing and I had to get instructions on proper baby handling from dad. I succeeded and the baby was ok.

     On my way home, I had a car pull out right in front of me. I thought about filming that night, but decided against it, since the party should be a private thing for family and friends, so I didn't get it on video. Here is the best part, as I had to slow down at a high rate of speed, and hit the horn. Admittedly probably a little too long, but hey, I get a little perturbed when someone nearly kills me. Here is what happened as I sat behind them. I didn't want to cut off the car to the left of me, even though they saw what was happening and they backed off to give me room to escape if needed. The passenger in the car, threw their cigarette out the window to try and hit me. Too bad I was on the driver side of the road, so it went wizzing by me. When I saw the car to my left fall back even more and then turn off, I cranked it and flew by the car that had cut me off. They tried to chase me, but there was no way they could keep up. I didn't do anything rude, I just wanted to get away from them, so I looked at them as I passed and that was it. It was the "I'm looking at you because you are a jerk" look. I guess that upset them. I got home safe without any harm to me or the other vehicle. They should consider themselves lucky. I've seen plenty of videos where riders have busted the mirrors of people that have done stuff half as bad as what they did.

     The next day was Saturday, and that was film day. I had invited 3W to come along on the ride. I knew full well that he would bail on me, and sure enough he did. I give too many people the benefit of the doubt, but that is ending with him. This was my final invitation to do anything with him. He called off at the last minute because of the rain. As you saw in the video, I rode in that rain and even did something rather stupid going over a bridge in that windy rainy condition, but I needed footage like that for the video. He saw rain as a horror, and I saw it as a challenge. I won't get better as a rider if I don't push the envelope from time to time. You have to balance on that edge sometimes in order to get better. It's like anything in life. You can sit on the sidelines safe and sound, or you can take a small risk and push yourself beyond previous limits, and become something better. I refuse to sit on the sidelines.

     When I got home from the ride, there was a package waiting for me. I had ordered a few things for Saki. Since I dropped Saki last week, I decided it was finally time to get a little protection against that. I ordered new bar ends, since one of them got damaged in the fall, and frame sliders that would definitely help out, if Saki ever fell over again.

     









     I'm a sucker for good packaging, and the frame sliders and bar ends were nicely packaged. All of it was from a company called Puig. The bar ends were a carbon fiber looking material. They aren't real carbon fiber, but they have that appearance.

     They are weighted differently than the stock bar ends, so there was a little vibration in the bars. It wasn't anything that would cause me any problems. Maybe on a long ride, I might get hand fatigue, but I have ways of dealing with that. Lessons you learn from riding. I chose the Puig Racing frame sliders, because they had a sleeker look than most frame sliders. The normal frame sliders, are just long hard rubber cylinders. They are more function than fashion, and I wanted both for Saki. These do the trick and look good as well.

     In that last picture, you can see them sticking out about half way up. You can see how they will protect the fairings in the event of a fall, or even worse, if I go down riding. Nothing is perfect, but these will save me some damage. This was my first time taking the fairings completely off, and sadly I didn't think to get any pictures of Saki letting it all hang out. I did have the windscreen off for that last one though, and Saki looks pretty rad like that. I've since put it back on. I wouldn't go out riding like that anyway. I'm too worried about something getting messed up that normally wouldn't if that was on there. 

     I only had small difficulties with the fairings, but I moved passed it pretty easily. Plus it gave me a lot of confidence for when I do tear everything down and paint it. That is still far off in the future though. I think I already mentioned that I need to get all the equipment and then learn how to use it properly first. I'm going to practice like a madman before I even think about laying the first coat of paint on Saki. I have one last really cool picture of Saki for you. After everything was bolted back on,  I wheeled Saki out of the garage and got a nighttime shot. It came out really cool.

     Oh, Just noticed when I was grabbing that one, that I do have one more picture for you. It was also a nighttime shot, but in this one, you can see the damage and the repair from the fall. Like I said before, it looks better, but nowhere near perfect, and this shot you can see why.

     Just look to the left of the R and you will see it. You will also notice the placement of the frame slider, and how if it was there, none of that damage would have happened. Once again, lesson learned. I put off getting the frame sliders because of price, but when you look at the bigger picture of the cost its going to cost to paint Saki, it is nothing. That is the main reason I'm going to do this myself. If I paid someone to do it, it would probably cost about the same amount, and I wound't learn anything from it. Same goes if I went the easy route and bought new OEM fairings. Those things are expensive. Just buying that one side fairing would cost about as much as it would to paint it. If I learn how to paint it, I can paint other things, and maybe make a little money back from people that want their bikes or what not painted. Its the whole give a man fish versus, teach a man to fish.

     I was chatting with a friend while I was putting those frame sliders on, and she mentioned how much I seemed to love doing all these repairs and such. I really do love doing it. It's relaxing to me. She also mentioned something I hadn't thought about. She said that it was very artistic. I'd never thought of it that way, because I'm really just bolting things on, but there is an artistry in it, when you take a long look at it. I'm manipulating things to get Saki to look just as I want it too. If you look at day 1 versus now, there is a major difference, and there is still more to come. The artistry will really start when I start the painting. I have ideas, I ran them by her and she was excited for them. Sorry, still not going to tell you. It has to be a surprise when I finally reveal the new look.

    Last thing for the night, and I don't have any pictures for you of it yet. My phone is about to die, and I don't want to plug it in until I go to sleep. Video would actually be better for this little thing anyway. I've been thinking about getting another Echo Dot for the lounge. The reason for this, oh wait, do you know what an Echo Dot is? Ok, quick rundown, the Echo Dot is a device from Amazon that connects to the internet and answers questions for you, plays music, orders things from you Amazon account, a few other things and most importantly for this, it can control lights and things. Phillips makes a advice called the HUE Bridge. When you use that with special lightbulbs and a little area light called the HUE Go, you can use Alexa, that is the name for the Echo, to turn on the lights. I can also turn them on from anywhere with my phone, since the HUE Bridge is hardwired to the ethernet. I can turn on or off my lights from pretty much anywhere that my phone has a signal. Pretty cool right. Here is the best part. the HUE Go is this cool little area light that is portable and changes colors. I'll get video of it doing it's thing for Tuesday.

     I had a little trouble getting it all connected to Alexa. For a brief moment I thought I was going to have to get a whole other Echo system. The Dot is the smallest version of it, and it wasn't connecting to the Phillips HUE Bridge they way I thought it would. I looked online for some answers, and it was looking like I needed to get and Echo Plus. It is about 10 inches high, with a 3 inch diameter, maybe 4 inches. I wan't against getting one, but if I did, it was going to have to wait, the Echo Dot is $49.99 while the Echo Plus is $160. Quite a big difference. Waiting also meant that I couldn't use Alexa for the lights I put in in the kitchen and living room, and of course the HUE Go. No I have not let the fact that the HUE Go is really Hugo get by me. Anyway. I found one little box on the Echo Dot page that mentioned the Phillips HUE skill. Skills are like apps in Alexa. You have to download it so that it will work in conjunction with Alexa. Once I did that and got it all dialed in, Alexa had control of the lights. I now have Alexa in my living room and in the lounge. The lounge is really my own selfishness. I can use the Echo Dot to play music and ask things of Alexa while I'm out there working on Saki, and also for that HUE Go. I have big plans for that little light. It is going to be a fixture for what will be my new photo area. You've already seen a few pictures in the makeshift area. That light is going to add some real groovy ambiance for lighting of photos. I'll get pictures and video for Tuesday, but the HUE Go is bowl shaped, and can either sit flat like a bowl, or at an angle. I'll show you it all on Tuesday.

     I got all of that done this weekend, and next weekend is going to be mostly about cleaning things out. I'm going to start getting a bunch of stuff out of the lounge that no longer belong in there. The lounge needs to be its own area, and weed killer and old paint buckets aren't going to cut it. I also need to clean out the rain gutters. It looks like another busy weekend, but one that I will enjoy when it is over. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 3)

     I rose before the sun the next day. I was tired and sore from the journey home from the Kingdom, but I was determined to do everything I saw at the arena.  I squatted, I stood on my toes and hands in a plank, I found an old log from the fire pit and carried it around. I didn't have a barrel, and I figured that a good sized fire log would be the same weight as a barrel.

     It wasn't until years later that I found out that those barrels were full of rocks, with one of them being empty. The boys weren't allowed to show any sign of who got the unloaded barrel. There were all to act as though they had it. I missed that bit of the training.

     I ran around the village and then sprinted to the tree line and back. I did each of these exercises a dozen times. For my sparring training, I found a good size tree, and a stick that felt about sword length, and attacked it until I was tired. I did this for several months. My father watching all the while from his forge in the mountain side. This would take me about an hour each morning, when I was done I would go to the forge to help my father.

     "You've been at that for months now boy, are you so determined to be a knight?"

     "Yes father."

     "I guess I should start showing you how to fight with a blade then. You look foolish slapping around that tree out there. What did it ever do to you to deserve treatment like that?"

     I was excited. I couldn't believe my own ears. My father was going to train me how to use a blade.
     "Will you father?"

     "If you are this focused after a few months, I may as well show you how to use that stick you've been slinging around. I have something for you though that might work a bit better."

      He went over to his workbench and there was a large burlap sack laying over something. I hadn't noticed it there before. He flung it off of the bench and exposed a sword underneath.

     "Here lad, this is a practice sword. The edge is blunted, so that you won't cut yourself, but it can still do some damage if you don't wield it right."

     The sword was indeed blunted. When I think back on it now, it was an ugly excuse for a sword. The blade wasn't true, and dinged in all possible ways. the guard was misshapen and lopsided, but it was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life. It was a true sword.

     "I thought you couldn't make swords father? Won't you get in trouble with the King?"

     "This will be our little secret, and if any discerning eye laid upon that sword, I doubt they would even allow it to be called as such. If you are going to be determined to go through with what you are calling training, I can at least guide you in the right direction, and that direction is going to need a sword."

     My father handed me the ramshackle sword, and I nearly dropped it. It was heavy, so heavy that I needed both hands to hold it.

     "Yes, it's heavy boy. If you train with a heavy sword, when you get a real sword, it will feel like you have nothing in your hand. I will expect you to be using one hand to wield that sword. You will need the other to brace your shield."

     I could't imagine holding this sword in one hand. It weighed as much as a goat. I did see my father hold it though, so I would do it as well.

     "For now though, that sword will stay here in the forge. There are some things you are going to need to learn how to do first, before you get to swing that around. You've been a big help around here for me, but it's time you take on some more responsibility. Every morning, instead of those foolhardy exercises you've been doing. I want you to take the axe and go to the forest and fell a tree. You've seen the ones I fall daily for the forge?"

     "Yes papa."

     "They can't be green, and they can't be too old. You have to get one of a moderate size, so that we can cut a cord of wood for the wood pile. Once you've cut the tree down, you have to drag it up here to the forge, then you will start cutting it up for the wood pile. You will do this every morning from here on out, until I tell you otherwise."

      "Yes sir." I had never cut a tree down before, but I had watched my father do it on several occasions.

     "Also, once you have stacked all the wood on the woodpile, you will oil and sharpen the blade on the axe. I will show you how to do that after you've taken your first tree. Then you will hang the axe right were it is hanging right now. Do you see it over there on the wall?"

     "Yes sir." The axe hung to the right side of the old workbench. It was then that I noticed just how big the axe was. It was always in my fathers hands when I saw it before, and my father was a large man. I slowly walked over to the axe, and it got bigger and bigger as I got closer.

     "I see a look of concern on your face. Don't worry lad, I'll be with you tomorrow morning, to guide you through things. You will cut your first tree down, I have no doubts of that."

     If my father said I would do it, then I would. I still stared at that axe though. It looked heavier than the sword, with it's massive doubled edged head on it.

***

     Tomorrow morning arrived and I was ready. I looked all around our hut, but I couldn't find my father. I walked outside, and he was sitting on the step. He grumbled a little and said,"You're late." It was still twilight and the sun was nowhere to be seen for at least another hour. "Come on boy, quite your lallygagging." He took off in a sprint towards the forge. I had never seen my father run before, and he was fast. My father as I said, was a big man, he was by no means fat, but a man that size should not be able to move that fast. I took off after him, but he was increasing his lead on me as we went. He made it to the forge a full minute before I rounded the final corner to go up the path to the entrance in the mountain. 

     My father made his forge in an old miners cave at the foot of the mountain. He said that with all the natural stone it would be safer for the village. No house could catch on fire if the fire was no where near a house. It made sense to me.

     "Grab the axe and let's get to the forest. I need to have this forge fired up before the sunrises or I won't get anything done today."

     I looked at that axe, and groaned a little to myself. I was already winded from the run, and now I had to pick up an axe that looked the size of a horse. I had to stay focused. I walked over to the axe and grabbed the smooth wooden handle. I lifted it from it's perch on the wall, and was shocked by it's weight. It couldn't have weighed more than a chicken. "Is this a joke papa?"

     "What do you mean boy?"

     "It's so light. This won't be able to cut a  branch much less a tree."

     "Oh ye of little faith boy. It is the real thing lad, just you wait and see."

     I slung the axe of my shoulder as I'd seen my father do and we walked to the forest. We couldn't stay at the tree line because it would wake up the other villagers, so we went a few hundred yards in, so that the trees themselves would muffle our chopping.

     "Alright boy, I wan't to see how well you were watching me, pick out a tree. Walk up to it and put your hand on it first, I don't want you to start hacking away at it till I've had a chance to look it over first."

     I did as he told. I found a tree that looked like the ones I'd always seen him cut down, and placed my hand on the trunk.

     "It appears you've been watching with a sharp eye, good lad. Before you get started, I want to show you how to use the axe, and where to cut. This is very important for a couple of reasons. The first being, so that you don't cut of one of your own limbs, and the other being, that you don't fell the tree on top of you. You have to make the cuts so that it directs the tree where you want it to go. I had seen my father notch a tree before but I had no idea why he was doing it. He then showed my how to swing the axe properly. Letting it slide in my hand as the other gripped tight at the base. It was almost like my own little version of the dance with the swords, that I saw the young knights in training. Even though the axe was light, it was still exhausting. It took me until the sun was fully up in the sky before the tree went down. I still had to drag it through the woods and to the foot of the mountain. 

     I'd never given thought to how heavy a tree was. This tree was about 20 feet long and as thick as a mans leg. I hadn't noticed, but my father had a length of rope around his shoulder. He showed me how to put notches in the tree on either side so that the rope would not slip, and then he tied it around my waste. "You're going to get tired boy, but at least this way, you will still be able to lift your arms. I tugged and pulled at the rope and after an hour, I was at the foot of the path to the forge. That is when my father told me one last secret about pulling the tree up the hillside to the mountain.

     "Tomorrow, I want you to clear all the branches off first. That will make it easier to get it up the hill. Make sure you stack those branches though, the villagers often come into the woods later in the day and get those branches for their own fire pits to heat their kettles."

     I know that he did that as a lesson to me. I wasn't sure what it was then, but now I know that he wanted me to ask questions. He would have told me about the branches if I'd only asked if there was an easy way to get it to the forge. He never told me to ask questions, but I soon learned that there was always some little piece of information that he would withhold in the hopes that I would ask the right question. 

     I cleared all the branches, cut the tree into manageable size logs for the fires, and then took all the branches down to the tree line for the villagers. I then hurried back up to the forge to finish my task. I still had to learn how to sharpen the axe. My father was waiting for me when I walked through the entrance of the small cave. He pulled out a small grind stone, and a bottle of oil. He showed me how you only need a very small amount of oil on the stone and to make circular motions on the blade. He watched over me as I sharpened both edges of the axe and checked it on the nail of his thumb. "If it catches on your nail, it's not sharp enough. Make sure it glides across it, but don't push to hard, you only want to cut your nail, not chop your finger off." He showed me a fine line in the middle of his thumb nail.

     "Off you go now boy. Spend some time playing with your friends. You won't become a knight in a day, so you should spend your childhood being a child when you can. I'll be lucky to get a single horseshoe done today, with getting these fires lit so late."

     "I'll stay and help father, it's my fault you are so late."

     "Don't worry boy, you will be helping here soon enough, but for now, go play. You don't know it yet, but you aren't going to be feeling too good by tomorrow morning. Off you go now."

     "I did as my father said, and I ran off to play, it was already late in the morning, and nearly mid day, so I went looking for Arial. I'll tell you about her at another time though.

I Can See, And It Looks Like Stangelove.

     I can admit my faults when the arise, and one has. I just can't keep up with all the murders of the past couple of weeks. There was Denver, Virginia, New York, and most recent Texas. Not to mention that there is a serial killer roaming around Tampa Bay. I would like to have all the names for you, but I just haven't found the time, but I will try to get them up on Sunday night.

     I found something out about the "Featured Post" widget on the right side over there. It is only a Featured Post. It will only display one post at a time, so I can't have a list of just The Patchwork Knight chapters over there. I will try to see if there is something like a playlist widget or something like that, but in the meantime, I will put the most recent to the current chapter in that space. Chapter 1 is over there right now, but on Thursday Knight, that will change to Chapter 2, and so on and so forth, until I can figure something out to get all of them in one space, so that they are easy to find.

     I guess a few updates are in order as it pertains to my personal health. I got my knew glasses and contacts yesterday, and they are working out fantastically. The glasses are Ray Ban frames, and I really like them a lot. I think they are considered Wayfarers, but they are the new thin ones. I could swear that I saw something like that on their website. I've never owned a real pair of Ray Bans, sunglasses or otherwise, so when I saw that my optometrist carried Ray Ban now, I was all over them, not to mention, they were the best looking ones, for my opinion anyway. I was so happy that I could see again without strain. My contacts were the real problem. It was getting more and more difficult to read, and my eyes would tire out earlier in the day. Wearing those new contacts today, was a far cry from what I was used to.  I knew as soon as I put them in, that they were going to be ok. My eye doctor always wants to do a follow up with me on the contacts, to see that they are sitting in my eye right and that they are comfortable. I'll probably make that follow up visit in a couple of weeks. She always likes me to wear them for about a week before I go in, and since I'm going to try to get the final bit of footage for that video I'm working on on Saturday, I won't be able to go this week.

     My back is almost back to 100%. Did I mention that I strained my back when I had to pick Saki up? I don't remember. It's been a rough few days. No bending over, and a whole lot of bending at the knee. I had to wear Icy Hot patches on my lower back for a couple of those days. Actually, today was the first day without one, and that was only because my back was feeling so much better today, that I forgot to put one on. I'd put my back at around the 85% mark right now. It's still tight, but the pain has pretty much gone away. Just in case you were wondering, no, it has not stopped me from riding. I rode yesterday to pick up my glasses, and to work today, not to mention, to shoot all that terrible footage on Saturday that I couldn't use, I even went out for a little while on Sunday too. Riding makes me feel better.

     Speaking of riding, trust me, this is a very clever segue, the show Ride with Norman Reedus had it's premiere for the new season, Sunday night, with the second episode in it's normal time slot on Monday. I love this show, and I think anyone that rides should give it a chance. If you haven't seen it, it is Norman Reedus, he plays Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead, goes around to different parts of the country and rides with some other, normally a famous persons, and checks out the culture and scenery of those areas. The premier had him in Barcelona, Spain with his costar Jefferey Dean Morgan. I can't put that one as one of my favorite episodes, and I can't really tell you why, but the second episode with Dave Chappelle, goes up there as one of my favorites. On that ride the went through the Low Country. Charlotte, South Carolina, to Savannah, Georgia. I've driven through that area several times in my life, but never stopped to check it out. I was always headed to Pennsylvania or West Virginia to visit family, and couldn't stop. I need to take some time some time, and head to the Low Country for a vacation some time. From the show, it really seemed like my kind of place. The show airs on AMC on Monday nights, give it a chance, you might learn something new.

     Oh, it's that time again. Favorite Song of the Week time. I'm making this one pretty easy this week. I got in a mood for Depeche Mode, one of my all time favorite bands, and had to stream the hits. There is always one song that stand out for me, because it is such an odd content for a pop song. It's clearly in my mind, about sadomasochism. It's just very odd subject matter for a fun loving pop song. It's that mixed  content that makes Depeche Mode so great. Depeche Mode were the first wave of the Industrial sound. The had effects that sounded like metal pipes clanging or barrels ringing. One song even had the sound of scissors snipping together. It was truly the dawn of industrial music. This happens to be the first year that they are up for nomination in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Now, I won't get into my problems with the R&R HOF, but Depeche Mode is a band that belongs in, but I doubt they will get in on their first try, even though the inspired so many of the bands that were big in Industrial music. Anyway, here is "Strange Love" by Depeche Mode.



     I love that song. A new chapter of The Patchwork Knight goes up on Thursday, and I'm hoping to have that video ready for you on Sunday. It all depends if I can get all the footage that I want by then. The forecast is calling for rain on Saturday, but I'm going to try and push through and get it regardless of the weather. We will see how it all works out. Peace in and goodnight.

Problems, More Problems, And Fats Domino.

     It's been kind of a weekend of futility. I got some things done, but with a lot of turmoil, and when I say turmoil I don't mean anything that can't be overcome, it's just annoyances, and pretty much all my fault.

     I came across an idea for the channel trailer for my YouTube channel. What that is, is a video that displays on the front page of your channel. It's the video that introduces people to your videos, so it should be a good one. The one that is up now, wasn't my choice, and it always appears there after a few hours of a new video going up. I can replace it with another video that I have, but I don't really have anything dynamic and exclusive as an introduction, so it's time I made one. I of course have other ideas for that video, but they entail a lot of work, and the need for other people to help out. I got an idea for one that won't rely on anyone else, so I started working on it this weekend.

     The first thing I needed to do, was get Saki good and clean for it's time on camera. This wasn't going to be just a get on and ride type of video. I was going to get external shots not on the bike, with the bike riding by the camera, and what not. That Saki wash was the first problem I ran into. I got Saki out of the garage, and got the tire stands so that I could lift it up  and wash everything. As I was putting the kickstand on the block that I use to get the bike to sit straight up instead of its usual lean, I thought it felt a little of kilter. I should have stopped right there and readjusted, but I had big plans and I needed to get to them. I put the rear tire stand under the rear end and started maneuvering it in place, when Saki started to teeter. With the new rear cowl on it, I have no good place to grab and pull it to me, and it went over on it's side. It was a pretty sickening thud when it hit the ground.

     I quickly ran around and lifted it up and got it back on the kickstand to assess the damage. I managed to strain my back in the process, so I'm kind of uncomfortable right now. I deserve it. Once I got it up and steady, I gave Saki the once over, and this is what I saw.

     Needless to say, I was bummed. My washing of Saki was going to turn into a touch up of Saki. I got it all clean and looking better than it did before I started, and then rolled it back into the lounge, so that I could focus on the touch up paint. It was never going to be perfect, but I could make it look better. This is how it ended up.

     Trust me, this picture makes it look much better than it is, but it hides the majority of the flaw. This got me thinking though, and this might be the right time to start working on my painting skills. My dad taught me a long time ago, how to paint cars, so I have and understanding of it. I just need to remember everything and look a few things up. Here is the plan though, at some point, I'm going to paint Saki to colors of my choosing. I love the color it is, but I could love it even more. The biggest problem with this, is that I would be without Saki while I'm doing all this painting, and I plan on going deep with it. I'll leave the frame the same, so that I won't have to pull the engine, but I do plan on getting the wheels powder coated a different color. That means, the tires and all the fairings will be off the bike, which will make it unridable. That is going to kill me, but it will be worth it in the long run. I'll paint the fairings myself, and look into a place locally to get the powder coating done. While I'm at it, maybe I'll get new handlebars and get them powder coated to match the wheels. This little drop and flaw can turn into a good thing. No, I'm not going to tell you the color scheme, but if you know me at all, you should have a pretty good idea of what color Saki is going to be, and when that happens, Saki may have to get a new name to match the new skins.

     With Saki all taken care of, it was time to work on the footage for the opening of the video, This video is going to be a lengthy process. I have to get multiple shots from different angles, and the only way I can do that, is to set my single GoPro up in different ways, and do the same thing over and over. The one problem I might run into, is when I get the shots for the bulk of the video. I'm going to have to leave the GoPro on the side of the road, and do a few fly by's on it. That leaves it exposed to anyone passing by to take it. I'm hoping for some lonely roads with no one on them. I have a few places in mind.

     I got most of the opening done last night. The shooting at the location I chose went really well and I got some quality shots. I had the GoPro set up on the seat, the tank, the ground, and then finally on a chest mount , just to get a quality 30 seconds or so. It's tedious but worth it. Today I ran into the next big problem. I was heading out to get some of the on the bike views from my favorite twisty location, and a surprise view. I made a pretty big mistake, and it was somewhat intentional, but I should have linked the GoPro with my phone and checked the angle. It was atrocious. I was trying a different setting in hopes that the view would be better, but with the way it was mounted on my helmet, it was looking down at the handlebars the whole time, and that wasn't going to work, so everything I shot today, was useless. It was another live and learn moment, and I learned that I should always check the angle on the phone before I spend an hour and a half filming. There are a few things that I will never get the chance to shoot again, but maybe new things will pop up. I'll reshoot again sometime this week. I'm thinking Wednesday would be the best day. I'll get those locations and the shots I planned done then, and then I'll get the rest of the bulk footage this Saturday. I'm going to head to Ft. Pierce for that stuff. There are some beautiful views down there, and that is what I want. I want a lot of scenery. This is going to be a 5 minute video. No talking, only views and edits. So far, I really like what I got, so I'm excited for finishing this up this coming weekend. I'm hoping to have it up in time for next Sunday's post. I may get a little something together on Wednesday when I reshoot today's footage. I have an idea I've been wanting to talk about, and filling time in between the stuff for the channel trailer seems like killing two birds with one stone.

     On to the real reason we are here tonight, and that is Fats Domino. I wrote extensively about him in the 365 and at that time I knew, and even wrote, that I would be writing this very piece soon. Fats Domino is swirling in the ether and he is playing a mean rock piano. Born February 26th 1928 Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino Jr., would become the first rock star. I know there is some debate on this, but Fats released this song.

In 1949 and it hit the charts in 1950, by 1951 it sold a million records. That makes him the first rock & roll star. Fats was the soul of a new sound that was being played in New Orleans for years. Here is the best part about Fats' songs, you always feel good when you hear them. Other rockers have a dark angst that Fats didn't have. It wasn't just his songs that made you feel good, it was said that he was just as jovial in person, and would often ask you to stay for dinner that he would cook. He mentioned in one interview that he spent $250 a day on groceries. If you saw him in his home of the 9th Ward in New Orleans, you could rest assured that you were going to be invited to come have some gumbo that he was going to be making later that day. When he went on tour, he would bring groceries from home and pots and pans, and cook dinner for the entire crew. He liked going around the world but he said that it was so hard to find good food anywhere else, and I can tell you, New Orleans food is the best. I've had it and I often miss it.

     The Beatles were huge fans of Fats, and John Lennon said that if there was no Fats Domino, there wouldn't be a Beatles. They would often praise him, and even took the legendary line, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from one of Fats' songs.



At about the 1 minute mark is the line, but please, listen to the whole song. That line became one of the biggest songs in Beatles history, and I know you've heard that one. Fats was honored by all the praise that was laid down upon him and he covered several of The Beatles songs, but one of them stands out as one, that seems to be written for him, and once you've heard him do it, you can't hear it being sung by anyone else, not even The Beatles. Lady Madonna was an obscure hit for The Beatles, and maybe that's because it was written for someone else. That person should be Fats Domino. Just one thing I want to point out for you to listen to, and that would be the way Fats says run. It's more like ru-onnnn. It's just fantastic. That is that deep New Orleans accent. If I spend anytime there I fall into that accent, and it is glorious.



     Several bands have covered Fats' songs, but my favorite comes from one of my favorite bands of all time. Cheap Trick did "Ain't That a Shame" on their Cheap Trick at Budokan album. There are few albums better than that one, and that songs just adds to it. Probably my favorite song of Fats is none other than "Blueberry Hill". I can remember as a kid me and my dad singing that song whenever we would hear it, and even when it would just come into our head. That song, just like all of Fats songs, put a smile on your face and made you feel good about everything around you. This world lost a good one October 24th, but the ether gained the best rocker and cajun chef that it will ever get. Go listen to some Fats and put a smile on your face. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 2)

     "I'm going to be a knight." I declared with bold resolve.

     "Slow your horses there boy. I wish that I could say that you will be one, but you have to be high born to be a knight. You can be a soldier and even become a general in the King's army, but a knight is a lofty impossible goal to strive for, when you are not high born."

     "Your father is right lad. You have to be a noble to be a knight. Even being born noble doesn't mean that you can be a knight either. It takes lots of training, which starts from the day they are born. I can take you to where the young squires train when they aren't serving their knight."

     "I'm going to be a knight. I don't care what it takes, I want to make you proud papa. I will do whatever it takes. I know there has to be a way to become a knight. Please take me to see the training."

     "Are you staying at the inn tonight?

     "Yes, we were planning on leaving first thing in the morning to get back to the village. It is a days ride from here."

     "Well, you are going to be a little late getting home tomorrow. I'll take you both to the training grounds. The training begins just before first light. I'll wake you at the inn."

     "You don't have to do this Galdren. The boy is headstrong, and if he sees the training, he will want to do it even more. The less he sees the better."

     "Trust me, once he sees what they go through in a morning training session, he will change his mind."

     "I don't care what I have to do, I will do it. I will be a knight."

     "See, he's headstrong I tell you. I'm holding you responsible for this Galdren."

     "Won't be the first time you've held me e=responsible for something Feyre. I remember a night during the campaign when we met those caravan girls..."

     "Ok, that's a story for another time. The lad shouldn't be hearing tales like that at his age."

     "Ha ha ha, fair enough. Well, if I'm going to be responsible I have something for you Pitre."

     Galdren went to the rear of his stall and started rummaging through a large box. There were sounds of metal rattling and the occasional mumble of pain as he hit his hand on something sharp or pointy.

     "Here it is. Take this boy, it will get you started on your journey to knighthood."

     Galdren handed me a gauntlet for the right hand. It was shiny and new looking, with brass filigree at the edges. It was remarkable, and very big. I gently took it from his hands and turned it over and over starring in wonder at it. I tried it on, and it fit almost all the way up my arm.

     "Thank you, it's beautiful."

     "Your welcome lad, don't worry, you'll grow into it. Take good care of it, and it will take care of you. Here, take this rag and wrap it up."

     Galdren handed me an oily rag, and I wrapped it up with the care of wrapping a priceless artifact.

     "The oil on that rag will keep the metal of that gauntlet conditioned. Neve wash that rag, and always keep that gauntlet in it when you aren't wearing it.

     "I will."

     "I'll see that he does as well. Put that in your bag boy, and don't take it out again until we get home. That will draw some eyes are way, that we don't want looking at us. I can't believe you gave him such a fine piece of armor."

     "Don't worry about it. That was one that I made for the King himself, but he didn't like the accents on it. Good thing that I only made that one piece. I would have been in a fit if I'd done the whole suit for him and he turned me away."

     "Ah, I see  you've learned from your mistakes then. There was a time when you would have done the whole suit without even getting all of he demands for the armor."

     "Right you are. It only took me 10 suits of armor to finally learn that lesson though."

     "So, that's how you got so good at your craft."

     "You old fool, That's not how I got so good, I was born that good."

     "Let's go get some lunch boy, I don't think we can fit in here with his ego present."

     Galdren laughed harder than I'd heard a man laugh. We waved good-bye with the promise that we would be awake and ready to go by the time he got to the inn in the morning.

     After lunch, we walked around the market for another hour. It was the longest hour of my life. The only thing I wanted to do, was get to the safety of our room at the inn, so that I could take that gauntlet out of my bag and look at it. That is exactly what I did until the sun went down, and even then, I simply held it, still seeing it in my mind's eye.

***

     It wasn't difficult to wake me up, I barely slept that night. I was too excited. I had a piece of actual armor, and I was going to see knights to be, train. My father usually rose before the dawn, so that he could light the forges for his daily work of hammering out horseshoes.

     "Papa, why don't you make armor, did Galdren not teach you how to do it?"

     "He taught me, but the King's law says that only the King's blacksmith can forge armor. It keeps his subjects from being armed. If the people aren't armed, they can't revolt. Although I doubt anyone would. The King has the respect of his people. It wasn't always that way, mind you."

     "What do you mean?" 

     "When I was a lad about your age, the King's father ruled over this land. Some say that he was mad with old age, but my father told me that he was always a mad fool. He would send his knights out to terrorize the border villages. He said that true citizens of the realm stayed near the castle. He would levy higher taxes the further you were from the castle, so most of the people did move there. The outliers were considered traitors to the realm. This was all before the Blind War. The Blind War was fought because he angered neighboring realms, but he died before the war began. His son had to come in and take care of the mess that he made."

     "I didn't know that. Why does no one talk of the old King?"

     "No one talks of him, because we want to forget. The Mad King cost the realm many lives. King Reese fought back the raiders of the Mudwood, and then used diplomacy to settle pacts and treaties with the other realms. He renounced all the taxes that his father had put forth, and the realm began to prosper. When the outlier villages were able to keep some money, they were able to travel to the Kingdom more often, and spend that money. That is how the birthday celebration for the King began. People would all come to the castle on the day of the King's birth, and the festival of the King began."

     "I'm glad we have our king."

     "So am I boy, so am I. Get dressed now, so we can scare Galdren before he gets here."

     Getting dressed wasn't a problem. I had kept my clothes on from the day before, so I only had to get my boots on. I got my bag with the gauntlet in it, and we headed downstairs. The inn was quiet, even the keeper wasn't up at this early an hour. We quietly opened the door, and snuck out so not to wake anyone. As we closed the door. I could hear footsteps running towards us. I clutched my bag tight, and my father spun around in a single motion. As he raised his arms in a defensive posture, I turned and saw our attacker. It was Galdren. He was running at full speed towards us, waving his arms and growling like a wolf.

     "You damned fool, I was going to beat you to a pulp."

     "I knew you would try to sneak out and get the jump on me, so I came over a little early. I've been waiting at the corner of that building for an hour. You need to get up a lot earlier if you want to catch me unawares."

     Both my father and Gandrel began to laugh, and then the hushed themselves for laughing to loud, which only made them laugh louder. After they had calmed down, we began our stroll in the early morning moonlight to the training grounds.

     "Now boy, I want you to be very quiet while we watch these lads train. They won't take kindly to someone making noise while they are hard at work. I want you to watch and learn. Just because you aren't highborn, doesn't mean that you can't learn something that might help you out later on. You can always become a general in the army, and what you learn here today, might help you then."

     "I will father. I will watch everything. Nothing will escape my eyes."

     We arrived at an arena. My father said that it was the tournament grounds. I didn't know what that meant, but I wasn't going to ask, because I wanted to be quiet and learn form what I saw. I could ask him questions later. Galdren led us to a balcony that overlooked the floor of the arena. On the far side of the grounds was a tunnel. Young boys began filing out of the tunnel and jogged to the center of arena. The looked like they were no older than I was. I'd seen 9 summers at that point in my life. The boys lined up side by side, in four rows. The stood rigid. A lone figure appeared in the darkness of the tunnel. He strode out and walked around the rows of boys, looking at each one. He would nod as he passed each one as if he had done an inspection and liked what he saw. When he had circumambulated the boys, he stood in front of them. He shouted something that sounded like "HUP" and all the boys dropped into a low squat with their hands raised in front of them, fingers pointing forward and palms down. The looked as though they were sitting in chairs, and the stayed there for what seemed to be an eternity. The band yelled "HUP" again, and they all sprung up to their originally standing position. They looked as though they hadn't just squatted for an inhumanly amount of time. They stood rigid once again. The man yelled "HUP", and the boys all dropped to the ground, on only the tips of their toes and the palms of their hands.

     After 4 rounds of those two movements they began running around the outer edge of the arena. I counted 10 laps before they stopped. Then they lined up at the far end, and sprinted back and forth from end to end. This was another 10 laps before they lined up in the center again.

     "This is just their warm-up." Whispered Galdren. The real fun is about to begin now.

     The boys broke up into four groups and went to different corners of the arena. The tunnel busted with movement, and more men dressed similar to the first one came out and went to different groups, then more men came with racks of weapons, and horse carts of barrels. The horse carts went to one of the groups nearest where we were. I heard another 'HUP" and the boys in that group unloaded the carts. Once the carts were unloaded, they lined back up and waited for their next command. When it came, they each grabbed a barrel and lofted it over their head. They formed a circle and began walking, but it wasn't normal walking. They would lunge forward and go down on one knee. They would stand from their upright leg and that leg would then go to it's knee when the lunged forward. I don't know how long they did this, because another group caught my attention.

     The group furthest from our overlook, were grabbing wooden swords and shields. On the command of the instructor, they began doing drills in unison. They would lunge and stab, step back and slash, lunge and swipe the shield in front of them in an arcing fashion, step back and thrust the shield forward. It looked like a dance with all the boys doing the same movements without flaw.

     The third group was doing grappling techniques on one another. Each tandem did the same exact moves as the others. This was a couples dance, and it was impressive. Every movement was precision. Each step had a reason, each hand hold had a cause and effect. There was no movement wasted, everything appeared to be an absolute. 

     The fourth and final group was sparring with wooden swords. Once again a dance within a dance. Every move was efficient. The instructor walked around evaluating each student. From time to time he would stop a pair, they would freeze in the position they were in when tapped. The instructor would then move their arms and legs to a position, once they were readjusted, he would have them continue.

     The sun began ago rise, and that was time for them to all rotate their position in the arena. This happened until each group had done each exercise. It was nearly noon by the time they were done with their training.

     "That is only the morning training. There is an afternoon training as well, that is even more grueling."

     "Can we stay and watch papa?"

     "No, we have to be on our way, It's already going to be past nightfall by the time we get home."

     "They don't allow anyone to watch the nightly training sessions. I've only been permitted to see it once. That is the elite training, lot's of secrets in that session. Kingdom has to keep something out of prying eyes."

     I thanked Gandrel once again for the gauntlet, and my father and his old friend embraced before we headed back to the inn, to pack the rest of our bags, before heading to the stable for our horses. Before I knew it we were riding back into our village. I didn't notice the length of the journey because I was too focused on what I had seen back at the Kingdom. I would learn all those techniques that I saw.