On Swordsmanship

Hazel

I feared for my friends; truly, I did. They might have been quite good swordfighters, but Praetor Reyna was too.

"Oh, dear," I murmured, upon seeing the very woman appear. Her long, black hair was plastered against its self and her shoulders, as though she just only just left a bath. Her Collies, Aurum and Argentum, stayed a half and one pace away, as though they knew what troubled her. The tunic she wore was not the same one that she had been wearing to breakfast. Her blade, glinting in her left hand, twitched, betraying her otherwise carefully guarded emotions to those who knew what to look for.

The Praetor's entrance stopped everyone's fighting, making the single last clash of blades that much louder and prevalent. We all looked to our Praetor, awaiting instructions. She nodded at each Centurion, once each for Gwendolyn of Ceres and Dakota of Bacchus. She and I made eye contact, though not for long, and she then wrote on a piece of paper, then she showed it to Gwendolyn, who was the more senior of the two Centurions.

"Attention!" the Centurion called out needlessly. "Our esteemed Praetor has been asked to find Lady Diana, and has need of great warriors to travel about with her." Legionnaires and Probatio alike conversed, each voicing their thoughts or opinions. "Quiet!" she yelled out. "I don't want a brawl about this, so anyone who wants to, they can stand here," and she pointed off to my left, or to her right, and she continued: "and they will fight in a tournament for a chance at going. Questions?" A few hands were raised, and their owner's questions were made known. Really, though, how difficult was this? Our objective is simplicity its self: fight to join a quest. End of story.

"'ey," a voice spoke from behind me, making me jump. Battle reflexes, indeed. I turned to face it, and my beloved was the culprit. Frank Zang, an son of Mars, who hailed from a land beyond this: Germany. Frank claims that his family came from even further lands, far beyond the East, in a country called China.

"Frank," said I, kissing his nose. He chuckled. "Wilt thou be trying for the quest?"

"Aye," he replied in his Germanic accent, nodding, "and you as well?" I nodded, confirming. Clasping his hand in mine, we walked to far side, joining those that stood there already. We then numbered four-and-twentieth half-bloods, who were then split into pairs by the Centurions, and told to fight. I drew my spathia, or cavalry sword, and fought. I did well enough, and was left with only Frank and two others.

Praetor Reyna walked about us, examining us with careful eyes. One hand rested at her side, while the other tapped her sword idly against her leg, never actually slicing it. She pointed at the boy beside me, and they fought. Within a matter of moments, he was pinned, and Reyna was shaking her head no. She pointed at Frank next. With a nod of encouragement on my part, he stepped out.

He drew his bow, and knocked an arrow, and thus was ready. Reyna nodded once, then ran at him, swinging her gladius in a downward arc towards him. He rolled to the left, firing an arrow at the same time. It missed, but distracted her enough that he could spring up, nocking a second arrow. He spun on one foot, kicking the other out in a sort of counter-weight. It connected with Reyna's sword, trapping it, while simultaneously throwing his rotation off. He stumbled, recovering quickly, but Reyna caught it. She grinned, wickedly, and slashed at him with her other blade, a small dagger that would reappear in its sheathe, regardless of where the blade was.

His eyes widened, and he ducked, only to fall due to his trapped foot and leg. The arrow flew off the bow, as his hand had slipped, and it nicked Reyna's hair just above her ear, taking a thin line with it. His eyes opened even wider, if that was even possible, and he rolled away, just barely missing her gladius, and narrowly missing her left foot. He kicked up, flipping onto his feet. He rose to his feet, now ready to fight Reyna.

But, she was nowhere to be seen. At least, not by him. She was just behind him, having moved around him while he was leaping up. She raised her dagger, now in a backhand position, and readied it to strike. Frank must have noticed my face, for he turned around, raising his bow in the process.

And just in time, too. The blade connected with his bow, which was thankfully made of Imperial Gold, and thus did not break. The two both were dripping in sweat, and panting heavily. Never had I, in the year that I had known either of them, seen them fight with such gusto and speed. The two would easily have had the entire Cohort's attention, even if Reyna was not a Praetor. Frank and Reyna stayed in their positions for a minute. Then another. Soon, Reyna nodded, and backed up. Frank lowered his bow, and fell into a more relaxed stance, though still ready to defend himself if needed. Reyna shook her head, then gestured towards me and the other girl, who was shaking.

"Well done, love," I told him as he came to stand at my side. He grunted, unable to say any real words. He was dripping in sweat, and his shoulders sagged. I chuckled quietly to myself, then turned my attention to Reyna and the girl who was now taking a beating.

Reyna swung her gladius down, putting a rather large amount of force behind the blow. The girl blocked with her own gladius, though only just. She had to put a hand on the blade to stabilize the force, which became her undoing. Reyna angled her sword downwards, sliding the two blades against each other, making everyone cringe, and the girl pitched forwards, her balance gone. Reyna spun her sword around and placed the tip of it against the girl's neck. Reyna shook her head again, then sheathed her gladius, and helped the girl stand. Then she turned to me.

I stepped out, slowing my breathing. I focused only on what I had been told to watch: her eyes. They never gave any indication as to where she would walk, let alone attack. We circled each other, neither wanting to make the first move. It would have been fool-hardy to attack first, for Reyna had been the one that had taught me, at least initially. Both of us had sparred for the last year infrequently, and I knew she would win. I think both of us did, really.

So focused on her eyes was I, that I barely got my spathia drawn and up in time to block her dagger. Spathia have some advantages, but against a dagger, these are mostly worthless. Daggers are faster, lighter, and better for short distances. Cavalry swords are better for distance fighting, or swinging with powerful blows.

Reyna spun away, bits of hair flipping about her head. I raised my spathia and swung hard in a diagonal blow that both forced Reyna's gladius and her away. The power behind the swing was such that it caused her to drop her dagger. I allowed myself a small smile. Even Frank had been unable to do that!

Reyna attacked again, switching to using two hands on her sword. We parried, neither able to get the upper hand for more than a moment. However, of to the sides, I felt a sort of twitching, like there was a force of some kind that was drawing me. I pushed hard against Reyna's gladius, and chanced a look. Nothing, save the shadows on the wall. Oh, right…

Reyna chopped downwards, and I rolled away to the left. She rapidly swung out towards me, but I was already too far away. She recovered, and walked towards me, a rather wicked snarl on her face. I was genuinely worried for my safety if this did not work. I swung my blade quickly across from left to right, then charged her. She was stunned, not quite sure what my plan was. By the time she had realized I was going to tackle her, it was too late. As I wrapped my arms around her middle, and her gladius joined her dagger, we flew back towards the wall and fell.

We hit the ground with a hard "oof!" I was tired from the shadow travel, but now I was the only one with a weapon, as Reyna's were on the other side of the Arena, and thus the Fifth. I placed the tip of my spathia against Reyna's neck, and said, softly, "Dead." There was no sound save the heavy breaths from her and me. No one made a move.

"Hazel Levesque, how would you like to join me on a quest?" I stood, sheathing my spathia.

"'twould be an honour," I said, saluting. I helped her stand.

"Good. Then we leave tomorrow morning. Pack and be ready to leave after breakfast." I saluted. She turned to face Frank. "I want you as well. Between you and Hazel, I have no doubt that we can find Lady Diana and Apollos' Oracle."

"Apollos has no Oracle," Frank said without thinking. Reyna blushed, like she had said something she was not supposed to.

"Never you mind." With that, she walked toward her fallen weapons, the crowd parting before her like a set of doors, and collected them. "I wish all of you good luck," she said to the Cohort as a whole, and then she was gone.

"Well, now… That was interesting." I elbowed Frank.

"Be nice," I chided. He chuckled.

We spent the next hour training, trying to improve our chances against the First and Third, but we held no hopes. When we finally broke for mid-day meal, we were all tired, sweaty, and gross, with low morale. Nothing seemed to cheer any of us, save Frank and I, though that had more to do with the fact that we were finally going on a quest.

"Hey," Praetor Jason said, sitting down beside me. I think he was trying to look suave, but if so, the pound of butter he had just set his elbow on ruined the effect. Frank seemed torn between telling him off for flirting with me, and laughing at him. Of course, neither would be a good idea, because Jason was, of course, a Praetor and could make Frank's life miserable.

"What dost thou wish, Praetor Grace?" I asked, managing to keep a straight face. I made a point to look anywhere other than his face and arm, focusing instead on my half-finished plate of spaghetti.

"So, I hear your going on a quest with Reyna tomorrow, eh?" That got my attention. I sat up straight, dropping my fork and knife. He laughed, and put his arm on mine. "Calm down, Hazel, isn't it?" I nodded once, stiffly, my entire body tense. I knew Frank would be just as tense. No one touched me, save Frank. Anyone else was liable to draw back a bloody stump.

"Please, sir, release mine arm," I stated tersely. He looked down at it, and quickly drew it back. I relaxed, and felt Frank do so as well, though only slightly. "Thank thee." I turned to Frank. "Relax," I told him, trying to make him not appear quite so threatening. Mars' son he might be, but he still seemed… off, as though he needed to grow another two years right away. He did, albeit reluctantly, and I turned back to Praetor Grace.

"Now, what can I do for thee, my lord?" I asked. I could almost see the wheels in his mind turning, wanting to say something awful. Thankfully, he did not.

"I just wanted to check, being Praetor and all. I care for everyone, regardless of rank and Cohort." I got the feeling he was only talking about the women in the Cohorts, but I restrained myself. "I merely wanted to make sure that you understood what you're getting into, that's all. Really," he added when he saw the disbelieving look in my eyes.

"Right, well, thank thee, but Frank and I be more than ready for whate'er lie ahead."

"Whoa, hold on now. Don't drag me into this," he said, hands raised. I gave him a look that said "deal with it," and he backed down.

"Yeah, but still… Really, I was referring to Praetor Reyna." I raised an eyebrow, disbelieving.

"Oh?" He nodded.

"She's… out there. Somewhat. In a good way, I mean. And she has some of the weirdest habits. And she holds no qualms about playing favorites, either. So, I guess, well, what I'm trying to say is, just, watch your backs, yeah?" He was looking increasingly uncomfortable, and was running his hand through his hair, likely a nervous habit. His eyes kept flicking around the room, not lingering on anything, or anyone. I realized that I was wrong: he truly cared about everyone, not just the girls in the Legion.

"Well, thanks, Praetor. Now, if you don't mind, Hazel and I are eating," Frank said, foregoing subtlety, while simultaneously remaining oblivious. I sighed, then covered for him.

"Thank thee, Praetor Jason, for thy warning. I ne'er have found this to be true, but then, thou hast known Praetor Reyna longer than I."

"Yeah…" he trailed off, a look of worry on his face as he left the pavilion.

"What a creep," Frank decided, tucking into his food once more. I sighed; there was no getting through to Frank once his mind was made up.

Author's Note: Er... hi? *Silence* *Chuckles nervously* So... Sorry about not posting for, oh, two weeks? Three? Ah... my bad. I have no excuse beyond Frozen is awesome. Yeah, I don't know how that happened. Oh, well. I started reading Fanfictions for it, and just could not stop. Oops. Also, as I found that I cannot update both this story and my Eragon story each week, I will be alternating every week from here on out. So, until next time, (hopefully only two weeks) see ya!

-Ronald, Son of Neptune, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion of Rome