The next morning, Liam was woken early by the sound of someone hammering loudly and very antisocially on the barracks door. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and swung out of bed. The stone floor was very cold under his feet, so he dressed as quickly as possible and pulled on his sturdy leather boots. Then he stood there, not sure of what to do. Martin came wandering up.
"Will you do my ties for me please? I don't know how." Liam sighed.
"Okay kid, but you'll have to learn to do them for yourself. I'll teach you sometime, if you want."
"Okay."
"I'm Liam, Liam Cooper."
"Martin Farrier."

Just then, one of the oldest boys came bursting in. He looked around desperately.
"Oh Mithros!" he swore. "And you're late already! Do your beds; quickly or there'll be all hell to pay. Come here, kid, and I'll tie you up. Its disgraceful at your age, not being able to put your clothes on yourself!" Liam turned and hesitantly made his bed, casting sideways glances at the others to see what to do. When at last everyone appeared to be ready, the boy looked them over.
"Did no one tell you that we don't wear boots for exercises? Take them off and push them under your pallets, hurry!"

Ready at last, they set off at a run to the training yard where they would begin their lessons. The older boy beckoned Liam over.
"You older ones will have to help the babies until they've learned to do things for themselves. Its hard on you, I know, but someone's got to. Get another kid to do your bed, while you go around doing the little kids' ties."
"Okay."
"Good, run now, or you'll be late!"

Panting heavily, he made it to the yard at the same time as Martin and the other very small boy. The older children were already there and working hard. Most were doing exercises, some were learning gymnastics and some were practising kicks and punches which were worked into short sequences. Shang class one stood there uncertainly, until one of the warriors - Liam thought it was the Rat, the one they'd met yesterday - came over.
"I hope you're all feeling awake, everyone. Good, because today you start your training properly. Split into two training groups of three and one of four."

Martin came confidently to stand possessively next to Liam. Gary came up with the one girl in their class. They both eyed Martin doubtfully, but didn't say anything once they saw him glaring at them.
"Great, that's all worked out easily. You three go over to the Shang Wolf, over in the corner. You three go to the Shang Kestrel, she's by the fence there. You four can stay with me. Don't worry, we'll change groups and teachers as we get to know your standards and how fast you pick things up." The others went off to where the two other warriors were waiting, leaving Liam and his group with the Rat.

"In case you don't remember, I'm the Rat," the warrior said. "Now, don't get any grand ideas, because all you're doing just now is exercises. They'll make you stronger, so when you start learning to fight you'll be faster. You won't be touching edged weapons for another year, probably, unless you're exceptionally good. This is the first thing for you to do." He demonstrated a simple press up.
"Now you try. That'll do, but get your tummy in Gary. Is it hard work? It will get easier as you get stronger and fitter, so the harder you work, the easier it gets. The other one we'll do now is this." Now he showed them a sit up.
"Do ten of each, and keep repeating it. I mean, do ten press ups, then ten sit ups, then ten press ups and keep going like that until you collapse. We've a full hour of nice exercises before we can go and eat breakfast."

Liam groaned inwardly and crouched down to start. He managed two sets of each before his arms gave out and he lay sprawled on his back, exhausted. Gary and Martin were already resting. The girl, Liam didn't know her name, with her face bright red with effort, kept going for about five seconds after him.
"Very well done," the Rat said to them approvingly. "That was really good for a first try, but you boy, Gary did you say your name was, are going to have to work much harder. You could easily have done another ten." Gary looked panic-stricken. The Rat grinned not entirely reassuringly at him.
"Go for a quick jog around the yard to relax your muscles, then come back here and we'll try something else."

Liam shook out each of his tired, aching legs and began to jog slowly around the yard, watching some of the older students with wonder. Some of the gymnastics they were doing, the speed of their punches seemed far beyond what he could ever hope to achieve. They were also much better even than most sixteen-year-old squires he'd seen at the palace. When he reached their corner again, he was told to stretch his muscles and then have a rest.

After a short time, when they felt almost able to stand up, the Rat spoke to them again.
"As a treat, and believe me this won't happen often, we'll finish our exercises now and move on to learn something else. This is one of the most important things you'll ever be taught, so pay attention. I'm going to teach you how to fall."
"I do that often enough without being taught," the girl muttered. Liam hid a grin - he had a feeling the Rat wouldn't be too pleased with that kind of comment.
"Oh good," the Rat said, smiling benevolently. Liam looked at him suspiciously. "You can show the others how to do it properly, since you're so experienced."

Without any further warning, the Shang warrior took her hand and, with a smooth tug, sent her flying over his shoulder. She landed heavily on the ground with a thud that raised clouds of dust from the dry soil. Sympathetically, he extended her hand and pulled her up. She scowled at him.
"Now shall we try it my way?"
"Yes sir."
"Thank you, and all of you remember in future, that Shang do things differently. If you've been taught how to ride by your parents, its likely that you will learn again, and still get it wrong. Hey Marek!" he called, waving at a boy on the other side of the yard, "Come here!" One of the older boys finished a somersault then left his tumbling and jogged over.
"Show these youngsters how to fall."

The boy nodded, and held out his hand towards the Rat. Again, the Shang warrior sent him flying, with seemingly no effort at all, but this time, the boy twisted gracefully in the air and landed on his front, slapping the ground hard as he hit. Instantly, he rolled over and came up onto one knee, ready to repel any further attack by an enemy or in this case his master. It didn't come, and the Rat nodded at him in approval. Then he turned to them.
"Now, did you see that? While you're in the air, twist so that you land on your front, slap the ground as you hit, then come up onto one knee. That means that you stand a good chance of defending yourself against another attack. We'll show you once more, then you can try for yourselves. Again, the boy repeated his performance flawlessly, with the ease of long practice.
"See now? Thank you Marek, you can go."

Marek brought one fist to his chest in a strange salute and returned without question to his own work, beginning immediately where he had left off.
"Liam," the Rat said. "You try first. Remember to hit the ground as you land."

Somewhat shakily, Liam held out his hand and felt a strong pull. He managed, well, more or less, to turn as he saw the ground approaching him rapidly. A cloud of dust rose around him as he slapped the ground, landing heavily on one leg. He then attempted to roll up onto one knee as the boy had done, but only succeeded in getting tangled up in his own limbs. He ended up sprawled ungraciously on the floor. Gary grinned involuntarily, it was a funny sight.
"That was excellent for a first try. We need to work on getting you safely up again though. Lie down and I'll take you through it slowly. Put you weight on your side, it doesn't matter which, and push round. That's it, now bring one knee up and there you are. Try that once more up to speed. Got it? Good, now you Gary. See if you can do as well as Liam has."

Dusting down his front, Liam returned to join the other two while Gary managed to turn and even hit the ground, if only after impact, when it was useless to anyone.
"Not bad," the Rat said gently. "But the idea is to hit the ground while you land, not after. For a first try, that was good. Now you, little one."
"I'm not little!" Martin told him very firmly, with the confidence that only extreme youth can bring. "I'm almost as big as him!" He pointed at Liam, only two years older, who flushed. Looking at Martin, he realised that the 'tiny' boy was only about a finger length shorter than he was. Much to his and Gary's embarrassment, the four-year-old, once he started at last, landed almost perfectly then stopped, unsure of what to do.
"That's very good, Martin. You older ones watch how quickly the young child can pick things up. Sarlie, you may try again, for learn this you must."

The girl, her blond hair plaited neatly back from a lily-white face, stepped forwards sullenly. Sarlie hadn't meant him to hear her comment - quite the contrary in face. Silently, she tried her best, but never even managed to turn and landed heavily and awkwardly on her back. From where he was standing, Liam could see her face convulse in pain as she screamed. One by one, the other children, even the well disciplined older ones, stopped their work and stood, looking silently over at them. The Rat knelt hastily down beside her and checked her carefully over. Then he scooped her lightly and gently up in his arms and turned his attention to the rest of his group.
"You boys keep working at your exercises. If I'm not back when the session ends, join the Wolf's group and follow his instructions until I return." Then he left, running towards the buildings. Liam and Gary, both shocked, looked at each other, then at Martin's white face.
"Come on Martin," Gary said quietly, giving him a quick hug because he looked so close to tears. "Let's do our work, shall we? That'll take our minds off it."
"Remember there isn't anything we can do to help Sarlie, but we can do our very best here," Liam added, trying to reassure himself at the same time.