Chapter 3

MEGAN paced around the room she shared with Adrienne and Sarah, who was currently napping on the bed. There was no escaping it; she was bored stiff. The stereo was in Gandalf's room, along with her personal CD player and music, as well as any other potential forms of amusement stored within her backpack. There wasn't even a single damn window to look out of in this room!

Heaving a mental sigh, Megan turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her. She walked down the hall to the door of Kavila and Erin's room, which was most of the way shut, leaving a small slash of candlelight on the floor. Erin was gone and Kavila was studying, but at least Kavila was awake. Pushing the door open with a creak, she stepped inside.

Kavila was crouched awkwardly over the low table, physics book open in front of her. Megan threw herself onto the bed as Kavila looked up from her book. "Hi Megan," Kavila greeted.

"Hi. I'm bored." replied Megan. "What're you doing?"

Kavila grimaced. "Trying to work out this physics so I can explain it to Erin and Gandalf."

"Fun," Megan remarked.

"Oh yeah. Exactly what I'd choose to do with my time," Kavila replied in the same tone. "If I wasn't cooped up in this stupid room…I'm sure it's considered a very nice room by most people, but I wanna see the city!" she exclaimed. "Gandalf said I have to stay in the room though, and it's not like I have anything better to do while I'm here than study."

Megan glanced around the room, not surprised to see that it was exactly the same as her room. Suddenly her gaze fell on the pack, a rolled-up piece of parchment sticking out of it, and it occurred to her that Gandalf had not forbidden her to leave the inn. She hurried over to the maps, spreading them out on the floor.

Gandalf had drawn a map for each level of the city. They were not particularly well-detailed, and it was rather obvious they had been made in a hurry. But Megan was able to figure out the general organization of the city, and the location of a few key places.

The first level of the city was booths and shops, as well as the famed Gate. The second and fourth levels contained the houses of the lower classes, while the noblemen and wealthy lived in the sixth level. The third level held more shops, as well as most of the city's taverns and inns. The Citadel comprised the seventh level, and it was in the basement of the palace that the library was kept. Erin and Adrienne had taken the map of the fifth level, which must be the location of the armory and, most likely, the barracks as well.

Megan considered the maps. It looked as though she could either wander the shops of the first and third levels, or try to get into the library. Considering the fact she was dressed as a commoner, and looked more like a servant than anything else, Megan figured she would have a hard time getting into the library, even with Gandalf's note. Thus, she opted to head for the first level of the city. She took a couple of coins, just in case she got hungry or thirsty, and headed out.

There was a palpable sense of foreboding over the city of Minas Tirith. The merchantmen had all been forced into the city as a result of the coming battle, and were hawking their wares as best they could. But the people of the city were reluctant to spend their money on exquisite cloths or bejeweled knives, preferring rather to save it in case the battle forced them to flee their homes.

But though they were not buying the goods, the people were desperate for a way to forget the shadow of fear hanging over them, if only temporarily. The streets were crowded with anxious faces, nervous expressions replaced by looks of wonder for a few moments as they watched the magician or handled a swath of sky-blue silk.

The wares were certainly something to gawk at. In a matter of minutes Megan passed booths selling delicately crafted jewelry with iridescent gems, dozens of different breads with deliciously tempting aromas, and instruments ranging from drums to harps, not to mention the fire-eater and juggler. It was a much different (and better) experience than shopping at the local mall, Megan thought.

She wandered over to a brightly and rather tastelessly dressed man who had gathered a large crowd, wondering what his trade was. As she neared, she realized there was a sign hanging behind him that read:

Garoldor The Magnificent Magician

Renowned Throughout The World

For His Wizarding Abilities

Megan chuckled a little to herself as she made her way into the crowd, wondering what Gandalf would say if he saw the man. Renowned throughout the world, is he. Bet he's never been to the Shire, Megan thought. She watched as he began his next trick. "Behold, ladies and gentlemen, as Garoldor the Magnificent Magician performs his greatest feat: I will make fire spring from my hand, obedient to my command. And this is no fire that you find in your fireplace at home; this is magical fire!" With that he held his hands dramatically above his head, cupped as if to accept an offering from the heavens. "Behold!" he called, and at that moment green fire appeared between his hands.

The crowd gasped in awe, but Megan could barely keep from laughing aloud. She had seen his thumb move the instant before the flame appeared, and it was her guess that he had used some sort of lighter and a piece of copper. The man cried "Be gone!" and the fire was extinguished. The crowd roared with applause, and Garoldor smiled charmingly at them as a few people threw coins into the bowl sitting on a stool to the side. Megan chuckled derisively at their gullibility, having seen the "magician's" finger move just as he spoke, presumably to turn off whatever lighting device he had used.

Suddenly Megan heard Garoldor shout, "Hey you! Come here!" She realized with a start that he was looking at her, and had noticed her derogatory expression. Before she could slip away, several people behind her shoved her forward into the ring. The magician grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side. "Here you see one who doubts my claims!" he called, and the crowd murmured disapprovingly. "But I shall prove her doubts wrong! Have you a coin, child?" Megan stepped away from him, tearing her arm from his grip. "No way, you fraud! I'm not giving you any of my money!" she exclaimed. The crowd fell completely, eerily silent, waiting for Garoldor's reply. "Oh, come, you know not what you say!" he cried, reaching into the bowl for a coin and displaying it high above his head for all to see. "I shall make this coin disappear!" The crowd held their breath as he curled his hand in toward his sleeve and back out again, so that his palm faced outward to the crowd. He wiggled his fingers to show that the coin was not hidden within, and the people once again cried aloud in wonder. Garoldor held up a hand in a plea for silence, and once the crowed had quieted, he reached behind his ear and pulled forth the coin.

Megan's dubious expression did not change. "Do it again!" Garoldor smiled and quickly did so. But this time, when he held his hand out to show that the coin had disappeared, Megan reached up and pulled back the sleeve of his robes. Sewn into the inside of the sleeve, plain for all to see if one only drew back the fabric, was a large pocket. Megan reached inside it and pulled out the coin, displaying it for the crowd to see.

Angry and surprised murmurs grew in volume as the crowd wondered at the deception. "How'd he pull it out of 'is ear?" called one woman. "The scoundrel! We should take our money back, and more besides!" yelled another young man.

This time it was Megan who held up a hand in a plea for silence. "Just before he reached up to "pull" the coin out of his ear, he let his arm fall to his side, like this," Megan demonstrated. "The coin fell into his hand, and when he reached behind his ear, he just had to shift it from his palm to his fingers."

There was silence for a few moments, and then the angry mutters returned. "No one should get away with that!" cried one woman. "'E's a thief an' a cheat!" called another. Suddenly one boy surged forward toward Garoldor, and the rest followed in a wave of angry faces. In the ensuing chaos, Megan managed to escape into a doorway directly behind her, hurriedly hiding herself behind a stack of books within the shop.

The storekeeper came to the door and looked out, a slightly plump older man with greying hair. Megan tried to squeeze herself further behind the books.

"So you're the one who started all this," he said, still watching the proceedings outside, but obviously speaking to Megan.

"Not really, sir," she started.

"You had the nerve to prove his 'magic' false," the storekeeper pointed out, turning his gaze to her. She scooted partway out from behind the books, feeling it improper to hide from this apparently kind old man, who also seemed to distrust the street magician.

"I hadn't really planned to say anything, sir," Megan said. "He pulled me out of the crowd."

The storekeeper grunted in reply, turning away and moving back into his store. "If you want to buy anything, I'll be in the back."

Once the man had gone Megan looked around the store, ignoring the commotion outside. He sold mostly furniture, but there were odds and ends piled in corners throughout the store, including several stacks of books.

Megan glanced briefly at the pile she had hidden behind. There were several books that she surmised were novels of the time, some history books, and some other reference books; mostly nonfiction tomes.

But just as she was about to turn away, one title caught Megan's eye: Herbs and Their Uses in Treating Common Ills. Megan had always been interested in herbal medicine, and considered herself fairly good with herbs. Carefully removing the tome from the stack, she began to flip through it.

Megan was surprised to see many familiar plants drawn carefully within the pages, their healing powers detailed beside it in almost ridiculous detail. She didn't recognize any of the plant names, but she found that some of them sounded rather similar to modern names.

Closing the book with a snap, Megan made her way to the back of the store. She would need something to do back at the inn, after all. The storekeeper was working on a chair, carefully carving out the legs and fitting them to the seat. Megan cleared her throat softly, and he looked up. "Do you want to buy something?" he asked.

"Depends on how much you'll sell this for," Megan answered, showing him the book.

"Ah!" he said, nodding. "'Tis a fairly common book, and that copy is rather aged. I should say one silver for it."

Megan quickly handed over the coin, smiling at the shopkeeper. "Thank you, sir. I'll enjoy this book." Then she left the store, quickly returning to the inn with her new entertainment.

"NOW, lass, this is the crossbow bolt. Here's the point, the fletching, the shaft, and the nock," Vilad said, pointing to each part of the bolt as he named it. Erin and Adrienne nodded from their positions on either side of him. Then he reached down the crossbow, which he had braced against the ground at an angle so that he could more easily draw back the string. "Now, see here, you pull this string back until it slips into this little niche, the rolling block. Bracing this stirrup against something like the ground or a battlement will make it easier." He pointed to an iron bar bent into a rectangle that was attached to the end of the crossbow. "Then put the arrow here," he continued, pulling the crosswise string behind a tiny, slightly curved piece of wood protruding from the main shaft of the crossbow. The bolt he placed in a trench-like indentation running the length of the crossbow's main shaft. "Then you hold it like so," he demonstrated, positioning it so that the main shaft rested on his outstretched left arm, leaving his right arm free to fire and reload the weapon. He aimed it briefly, then continued, "Reach down here and pull this trigger, and it lowers the rolling block and releases the string. See?" he glanced briefly at the girls, then shot the crossbow. All three heard the bolt bury itself in the target, though in the darkness none of them could tell where.

Vilad stepped back, handing the crossbow and one bolt to Adrienne. She stepped up to the line, fumbling awkwardly with the unfamiliar weapon. Erin watched with amusement; she had taken Adrienne to the archery range and let her shoot a full-sized bow once, but other than that Adrienne had little experience with ranged weapons.

Adrienne loaded the crossbow, lifting it to her shoulder. She held it like a rifle, with the butt against her shoulder. Vilad immediately stepped up beside her, moving it lower and adjusting her grip on it. Then he moved away, and Adrienne aimed and fired.

The sharp crack as the bolt lodged itself in the wooden fence reverberated throughout the practice ground. Adrienne handed the crossbow back to Vilad with a sheepish grin, but Vilad merely said, "Crossbows are difficult to shoot because one must adjust to aiming not at eye level, but much lower. The bolt is not at eye level, and so you cannot aim as you would were you shooting a longbow. Thus beginners usually have a tendency to aim high. With practice, you will adjust." Then he handed the weapon to Erin.

Erin's stomach chose that moment to protest its emptiness with a loud growl. Vilad laughed, taking back the crossbow and moving toward the armory door. "We shall continue these lessons later. It is time for the noon meal! Will you come with me to the mess hall, and tell me more of yourselves? Surely you must have a tale to tell, since Gandalf has taken such interest in you."

Adrienne looked to Erin, who shook her head. "I think we should return to our room and see if Gandalf has left any further messages for us," she said. "But thank you for the invitation."

Vilad chuckled again. "You are most welcome. I will be rather occupied this afternoon, what with soldiers practicing and needing new livery and armor. But if you were to return this evening, I might be able to spare some time to teach you the sword."

"We will!" Adrienne called as she and Erin reached the door. "Thank you, Master Vilad!"

Once they were outside, Adrienne turned to Erin. "Why couldn't we have gone to lunch? I thought Gandalf was going to be busy all morning!"

"I've got something to tell Kavila," Erin replied. "Working with those crossbows gave me an idea. Besides, we ought to check in and see if anyone else has found anything interesting." She set off briskly down the street, and Adrienne followed close behind.

-----SO at length Faramir, Gandalf, and Pippin came to the private chamber of the Lord of the City. There deep seats were set about a brazier of charcoal; and wine was brought; and there Pippin, hardly noticed, stood behind the chair of Denethor and felt his weariness little, so eagerly did he listen to all that was said.

When Faramir had taken white bread and drunk a draught of wine, he sat upon a low chair at his father's left hand. Removed a little upon the other side sat Gandalf in a chair of carven wood; and he seemed at first to be asleep. For at the beginning Faramir spoke only of the errand upon which he had been sent out ten days before, and he brought tidings of Ithilien and of movements of the Enemy and his allies.

Then suddenly Faramir looked at Pippin. "But now we come to strange matters," he said. "For this is not the first Halfling that I have seen walking out of northern legends into the Southlands."

At that Gandalf sat up and gripped the arms of his chair; but he said nothing, and with a look stopped the exclamation on Pippin's lips. Denethor looked at their faces and nodded his head, as though in sign that he had read much there before it was spoken. Slowly, while the others sat silent and still, Faramir told his tale, with his eyes for the most part on Gandalf, though now and again his glance strayed to Pippin, as if to refresh his memory of others that he had seen.

As his story was unfolded of his meeting with Frodo and his servant and of the events at Henneth Annun, Pippin became aware that Gandalf's hands were trembling as they clutched the carven wood. White they seemed now and very old, and as he looked at them, suddenly with a thrill of fear Pippin knew that Gandalf, Gandalf himself, was troubled, even afraid. The air of the room was close and still. At last when Faramir spoke of his parting with the travelers, and of their resolve to go to Cirith Ungol, his voice fell, and he shook his head and sighed. Then Gandalf sprang up.

"Cirith Ungol? Morgul Vale?" he said. "The time, Faramir, the time? When did you part with them? When would they reach that accursed valley?"

"I parted with them in the morning two days ago," said Faramir. "It is fifteen leagues thence to the vale of the Morgulduin, if they went straight south; and then they would be still five leagues westward of the accursed Tower. At swiftest they could not come there before today, and maybe they have not yet come there yet. Indeed I see what you fear. But the darkness is not due to their venture. It began yestereve, and all Ithilien was under shadow last night. It is clear to me that the Enemy has long planned an assault on us, and its hour had already been determined before ever the travelers left my keeping."

- The Return of the King, J.R.R. Tolkien

-----

WHEN the two girls finally reached Erin and Kavila's room, they were slightly surprised to find Megan there as well. And Megan was…reading? Adrienne looked again; yes, she was reading. But when Adrienne had left this morning there was only one book, which Kavila was currently studying. "Someone's been shopping…" Adrienne chided.

Megan looked up. "Oh…yeah. I was just trying to find something to do, so I went out to look around town. I hadn't planned to buy anything, but…"

"Then you went into a bookstore," Erin finished with a knowing smile. Megan, like Erin and Adrienne, was the type of person who was usually defined as a bookworm.

"Well, not really a bookstore, it was actually more of a furniture store, but the guy just happened to have a lot of books sitting around, and I just happened to see this one." Megan replied.

"Just happened to," remarked Adrienne skeptically.

"How did you end up in a furniture store?" Erin asked, not sure she wanted to hear about this adventure Megan apparently had.

"Um…long story." Megan answered after a pause.

Erin raised her eyebrows and sat down. "I'm ready to hear it."

"Wait," said Adrienne. "I bet this is a funny story, since it involves Megan—" Megan mock-glared at her—"and we wouldn't want to leave Sarah out of the fun."

"She's taking a nap in our room," Megan offered somewhat sourly, and Adrienne left, quickly returning with a slightly dazed Sarah.

And so Megan began her tale. By the time she was done all the friends were doubled over with laughter. "…and so, I found this book, and he sold it to me!" Megan concluded with a grin, showing everyone the spine with the name on it. "Herbs and Their Uses in Treating Common Ills," Erin read. "Interesting. I never knew you liked herbal medicine."

"Yeah, I tried some back at home, and it worked all right, so I just thought this book would be kind of interesting to look through," Megan replied.

"You ought to go to the Houses of Healing," Erin told her. "It's on the fifth level with the armory and the barracks."

"Hey, you guys went to the armory!" Kavila exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Erin had to prove her archery skills," Adrienne replied, grinning.

Erin shoved her playfully. "Let me tell the story," she said. "After all, I was the one 'proving my archery skills'."

Adrienne laughed and let her do so, interjecting sarcastic comments every once in awhile for the sole purpose of annoying her. When Erin was finished, Adrienne spoke up again. "You said you wanted to tell Kavila something," she prodded. Kavila sent her a questioning glance.

Erin nodded, even as her stomach rumbled yet again. "I did, but it can wait until we've all got some lunch to eat. I'll go down and have it sent to our room."

Erin got some strange looks from the innkeeper and his family when she asked for their meals to be sent up, but to her relief, no one asked questions. After all, she was paying them for their services, and (as any innkeeper would) they believed strongly in the phrase "mind your own business."

Erin returned to an eerily quiet room. Everyone stared at the door as she entered, and she got the unsettling impression that they had been talking about her. But Erin put on a cheerful face and sat down with her friends, ignoring it. "Lunch is on the way," she announced, but her friends' grim countenances did not change. "All right, all right, I'll tell you!" she exclaimed.

"Have you got an idea for how we can help with the battle?" Kavila asked.

Erin nodded. "I spent the morning working with crossbows. They're incredibly powerful weapons, especially compared to darts or even full-sized bows. Watching Vilad shoot them gave me an idea: what if we built a giant crossbow, one that could take out a Fell Beast, or set devastating fires in Sauron's siege engines?"

Her friends regarded her skeptically. "How are we going to do that? We don't know anything about how to make little crossbows, much less giant ones!" Sarah said.

"Someone had to make the crossbows the Gondorians use," Erin replied. "We can enlist their help."

At that moment two of the serving girls opened the door, bringing the food. Everyone but Erin dug in; she was too caught up in her explanation. "Not only that," she continued, "this idea brought to mind some of the medieval-style weapons like ballistas that I've read about. Here," she grabbed Kavila's physics book and began sketching on the cover. "The giant crossbow will be incredibly hard to pull back. We'll have to come up with some kind of pulley or winch system to draw it back, and something to hold it back while we aim. We could do something like this," she sketched a drawing that looked like a large saw with widely spaced teeth. "When you draw the string back, it'll be attached to a mechanism with a spike poking out to the side where this saw-like thing is. As you draw the mechanism over each tooth of the saw, it locks into place in the depressions between teeth. Then to make sure the arrow flies straight we can give the arrow a little tunnel to run through, like the barrel of a gun, except it'll have to be big enough for the fletching and arrowhead to pass through." She looked up, face flushed with excitement. "What do you guys think?"

Kavila looked at it, brow creased. "It looks good, but how big is it going to be? What are the dimensions?" she finally asked.

For a moment, Erin was stumped. Then her face lit up again as she exclaimed, "I've got a ruler in my backpack! We can use it to scale up the crossbows!"

"One 12-inch ruler to measure this thing out?" Sarah said incredulously. "How big are you thinking it'll be?"

"Maybe six, seven feet long. I'm thinking the arrows will be three or four feet long, and as thick as we can make them and still have them fly. Whatever bowyer we get to help us with this will be able to figure it out." Erin met each person's gaze for a few moments, as if trying to infuse them with her determination and enthusiasm. "We're going to need to get on this soon. This is going to need some major experimenting before it's ready to use in battle."

"Erin, we've got what, three days?" Kavila exclaimed. "We can't do this!"

"Now Kavila, you're being pessimistic. We're going to do this exactly like the ancient Romans did, through trial and error. If they did it a couple thousand years ago, we can figure it out now." Erin retorted with unfailing optimism.

"They probably had a few years to perfect it!" Kavila replied heatedly.

"We'll just have to accelerate the process then." Erin answered patiently. "Who's with me?"

"Erin, I don't think—" Megan started to say.

"If you've got a better solution than this, I'd be glad to hear it." Erin interrupted irritably. "But as Kavila said, we've got about three days, give or take a few hours. We need to get started now. If you've got an idea, speak up. If not, let's get to work." Erin looked from person to person, but no one spoke. "We're agreed then?" she asked in a softer tone.

Adrienne shook her head. "This has to be the craziest idea I've ever heard, but it's our only alternative." She sighed, unable to help the feeling that this could only turn out for the worst. "Let's do it." Sarah, Megan, and Kavila murmured in agreement.

Erin beamed at them. "Great! Everyone eat up, and then I think we ought to pay a visit to Vilad and see who makes the crossbows in this city."

They hadn't been eating for more than a minute before a knock came on the door. Erin rose and opened it, gasping with surprise and joy as she saw who it was. "Gandalf's here!" she called as she closed the door behind the white-robed wizard. "We were just eating lunch," she told him. "Have you eaten?"

"Yes, with Lord Denethor, thank you." Gandalf replied. "How has your day been so far?"

Before anyone else could comment, Erin exclaimed, "I think we might have a workable idea!" Erin grabbed her quick sketches and began enthusiastically explaining her plan to the bemused wizard.

When she was finished, to the astonishment of all, Gandalf laughed aloud. "A wonderful idea! See that you carry it out as quickly as possible! I must return now; I merely came to make certain all was well with you." With that, he bowed his head to them and swept out of the room.

"Now that we have permission to go ahead, let's start working this out!" Erin exclaimed.

Kavila sighed and resumed her place at the table. "First of all, I think we need a better sketch," she said.

"Good idea," replied Erin. "We want something to show Vilad when we go back tonight. By the way, everybody's coming with us tonight."

"Everybody?" Kavila asked, face brightening at the prospect of getting out of the inn.

"Everybody." Erin confirmed with a smile for Kavila. "We're getting sword lessons tonight, and I want everyone to have at least a rudimentary idea of how to defend themselves. Besides, we're going to propose this idea to Vilad tonight, so we need to have you along, Kavila."

"You want me to learn swordfighting?" Kavila exclaimed, suddenly not so sure she wanted to go along. "But…swords are pointy! I don't like pointy things! They hurt people, you know!"

"Yes, that is the idea," Erin replied, chuckling. "You may have to make the choice between hurting someone and getting hurt, and I don't want you getting hurt. You're rather crucial to this whole plan."

"Nice to know I'm needed," Kavila retorted sarcastically.

"Hey, can I help draw this sketch?" Sarah asked.

Erin considered for a moment. "I don't see why you couldn't try. Got an extra pencil, Kavila?"

Kavila shook her head. "They're all back in our backpacks in Gandalf's room."

Erin sighed. "All right, let's try this. Kavila, you sketch. When you're done, hand the pencil to Sarah, and Sarah can try while you and I start working on the mechanics of this weapon. Sound good?"

"That works!" Kavila answered, immediately reaching for one of the maps. "We'll have to do it on the back of these maps, since they're our only paper."

"Good idea. While you two are working on those, I'm going out for a walk. Anyone want to come?" Erin asked.

Megan stood up. "Sure, why not?" she said. The two girls left, joking and laughing.

BY dinnertime that evening, the design of the giant crossbow was finalized. Once the sketches were finished, there was little for Kavila and Sarah to do, since they had no proportions or measurements to work with. Nothing more could be accomplished until they met with Vilad.

Dinner was a silent affair. Their many discussions today had made the sense of approaching battle ever more tangible. Everyone was lost in thought. Three days until the battle. Three days to build and perfect a giant crossbow. Three days until they would have to use it.

The silence was like the deep breath before a plunge. Everyone knew that the next few days they were all going to work harder than they had ever worked before, because the product of their work could very well change the tide of the upcoming battle. No one was untouched by the anxiety, the uncertainty, the expectancy.

Then suddenly everyone seemed to look at their plates and realize there was no more food for them to pick at. Erin looked up and sighed. "All right you guys, it's time for us to take off." Though she spoke softly, it sounded like a shout in the still air of the room.

Erin's quiet remark brought her friends out of their thoughtful dazes. All five girls stumbled to their feet, working the pins and needles out of their legs. Kavila grabbed the sketches she and Sarah had made, and then they left.

The city was dark and ominously quiet. Few people wandered the streets. Even the taverns, normally loud with off-tone singing and the sounds of fistfights, were subdued. The pale white buildings seemed almost ghastly, rising out of the unnatural darkness. The five girls moved cautiously through the streets, bunched together, constantly scanning the shadows for movement.

Once they were inside Vilad's armory, the girls' watchful mood was dispelled by the presence of bright, flaming torches. Vilad came once again from his back room, this time carrying two swords. Kavila flinched as he neared the group, moving back behind the others.

"Well, well!" he boomed, laughing. "You've brought friends! Are all the women of Minas Tirith going to visit me tomorrow, asking for sword lessons?"

Erin chuckled. "No, Vilad, there are only five of us. Adrienne and I thought it best that our friends also learn how to defend themselves. As friends of Gandalf, we may find ourselves in…dangerous situations."

Vilad's expression became serious. "Indeed. Many are the legends of Mithrandir, and few are children's bedtime stories. I cannot fault your reasoning. Take these, and I shall get weapons for the others." He handed the two swords to Adrienne and Erin, then gathered three more from the back wall.

Erin stepped away from her friends, swinging the glittering weapon experimentally. Adrienne followed her, calling out, "Watch out, Erin!" They clashed swords a few times, laughing and grinning.

Vilad dodged around them, chuckling. "Aren't we eager to begin!" He quickly distributed the other three weapons, missing the look of terror in Kavila's eyes as she tentatively accepted the sword hilt. She almost dropped it, unprepared for the weight of it. Vilad retrieved a sixth sword and called, "Erin, Adrienne, spar's over!" As the girls turned to him, faces flushed with exertion and excitement, he continued. "Besides, your form was wrong. Now, these are the hilts," he pointed to the simply-adorned silver crosswise piece just above the grip. "Here is the blade, and the grip. Hold the sword with two hands, right hand above left hand." He watched as all five girls complied. "There may be times when you grip the weapon with only one hand, but especially for you lasses, I believe it is best if you hold it with two."

Vilad continued through the lesson, showing them the different positions of striking and blocking. Then he lined them up and, yelling like a drill sergeant, called out the different moves he had just taught them. For a quarter of an hour they continued like this, until all five girls knew the positions by heart. Even Kavila was slightly more comfortable with her sword, though she certainly wasn't looking forward to sparring.

As if he had read her thoughts, Vilad called out, "Now, pair up for sparring!" Kavila tried to move unobtrusively to the back of the room and fade into the faint shadows, but Vilad saw her. "Get back here, lass! You're with me!"

Kavila couldn't have thought of a worse way for this whole situation to turn out. Erin had paired up with Adrienne, and Sarah and Megan were standing together, so that left her with Vilad. She, the terrified incompetent, was sparring with the swordmaster. Why couldn't Erin have been the one to pair up with Vilad? She was certainly more suited to his loud personality, and she actually wanted to learn! Kavila just wanted to put down the pointy sword and sit in a corner. Or even better, go back to the room, away from the walls and walls of glittering, sharp implements.

You may have to make the choice between hurting someone and getting hurt, Erin's words came back to her. All right Kavila, she told herself as she took a deep breath and began walking toward him. It can't be that bad. After all, if he's a swordmaster, he's taught plenty of people how to fight, and he probably knows how not to hurt someone just as well as he knows how to hurt someone.

Kavila was a few steps away from him when he brought his sword up into the ready stance with a growl, a feral grin on his face. Kavila jumped backward and gave a little scream, her sword clattering to the floor. It can be that bad, she amended, heart pounding.

Vilad chuckled. "Now, lass, that was not the reaction I was hopin' for. Don't you remember the ready stance I just taught you?" Kavila nodded. "Now pick up your weapon and do that." She followed his direction. The moment she had her sword in the desired position, Vilad charged. He took two steps forward and brought his sword up in an overhead strike. Kavila screamed again, cringing and ducking slightly, but this time she held her sword up in what was more or less the proper overhead block. "Good!" Vilad called, even as he swung towards her left side. Kavila shied to the right with a cry, but managed to meet the attack with another sloppy block. Vilad stepped back, barely breathing hard at all.

Kavila watched him warily, eyes wide with fear. Her heart was pounding and her breath came in gasps. This whole sparring thing frightened her more than anything else, except perhaps the Nazgul. That sound of metal clashing grated on her nerves, reminding her of every horror movie involving knives she had ever seen. She was painfully, acutely aware of the weapons' sharpness, and, having taken Anatomy, she was quite aware of the damage those edges (and points) could do.

"Better! That yelling of yours is a bit hard on my ears, though," Vilad called. "Again!"

Another spar, and this time Kavila managed to keep quiet after the first blow. She still wanted to scream, though. Never again would she be able to stand the sound of metal against metal, of that she was sure. Vilad must have noticed the unreasoning terror in her eyes the second time around, because he generously allowed her a few minutes to rest and "calm down," as he put it.

Kavila sat down against the wall, needing the solid wall at her back to steady her. She was breathing so hard she felt like she was going to faint. She wasn't tired; her rigorous dance classes had prepared her more than well enough physically. However, she could definitely say that she knew firsthand what the phrase "frightened out of your wits" meant.

Kavila watched her friends sparring with a worried frown. All four were sparring quite seriously, and those blades were sharp. Erin and Adrienne, of course, were going at it with huge grins and teasing challenges, calling out corrections of technique to each other when such faults were detected. Sarah and Megan were more subdued, but were definitely holding their own against each other. All four were learning well, and plainly enjoying it.

Finally Vilad stopped them, passing around a flask of water and encouraging everyone to gather around him. All but Kavila came back laughing and mock-fighting, though she had regained control of her breath and her wits by now.

When they had all gathered 'round, Vilad cleared his throat. "You all did well for your first lesson," he began. Kavila snorted with sarcastic laughter, but he ignored her. "Erin and Adrienne, you two were doing very well, but you did have some small technique flaws. Erin, your strikes are too heavy-handed sometimes." Erin chuckled a little and nodded. "Adrienne, you are trying to do more complicated attacks and blocks that I haven't taught you yet. You need to practice what I teach you. Sarah and Megan, you were both slightly timid and missing openings for attack." Kavila personally had thought they were anything but timid while sparring, but…her thoughts were cut off as Vilad continued.

"And Kavila…" Vilad chuckled a little, as did all four of her friends. "You need to overcome your fear of the sword. As long as you know how to use it, it will not hurt you."

"Your sword is the one I'm worried about!" Kavila retorted.

"Kavila is absolutely terrified of anything sharp that's larger than a kitchen knife," Erin advised him in a "whispered" tone that everyone could hear.

"Shut up, Warford!" Kavila retorted.

Erin gave her an innocent look. "It's the truth!"

Kavila glared, shaking her head with annoyance while everyone else laughed.

Erin was the first to regain her composure. "Vilad, we have something else we'd like to talk to you about."

Vilad regarded her seriously. "And what might that be?"

"The reason we're here in Minas Tirith," Erin replied. She retrieved the pack with the sketches and laid them out on the floor. "We're helping Gandalf design a new type of siege engine, something to use against the Nazgul and siege towers. The basic idea is that it's a giant crossbow, but its size meant that we had to add some features. For instance, we want to be able to move it around quickly to aim, so we thought we could suspend it from a wooden frame on strong ropes." She quickly explained the rest of it to Vilad. When she had finished, he studied the sketches for a few more minutes.

"A dangerous weapon, this," he finally remarked. "What did you wish to ask me for?"

"We need someone to help build it, someone who has experience with building crossbows and other ranged weapons, who can help us create a working machine," Erin replied. "Do you know anyone we could go to?"

"Indeed I do!" Vilad laughed. "The man whose shop is next door there, is a master bowyer. Most of the ones hanging there were crafted by Kalva's hand. He is a good friend of mine. I shall go now and bring him to meet you, and look over these designs. I am certain we can convince him to give up a few hours a day to help us build this weapon!"

Vilad left, returning only minutes later with Kalva. Kalva was a much younger man than Vilad, well-muscled from hours of toil in his workshop, yet still somewhat slimmer than Vilad. His angular, handsome face was framed by the usual Gondorian brown hair, grown long and pulled back tightly to keep it out of his face as he worked. He smiled as he entered, greeting all five girls courteously before seating himself on the floor with Vilad.

Vilad immediately showed him the sketches, explaining the design just as Erin had done a few minutes before. When he had finished, Kalva said, "I think it will work. Three days, though…that's not long at all. We may have to improvise with this…" he trailed off, studying the sketches thoughtfully. Finally he glanced up again. "I say we do it."

Erin grinned. "Perfect! Where can we build it, and how soon can you help us get started?"

"We can build it on the practice field. The soldiers can practice in here." Vilad answered automatically. "And why not start now? As you said, we have little time."

"Too true," Erin sighed. "Where do we start?"

"We need supplies. Wood, rope, and someone to craft the metal pieces," Vilad said. "I shall leave now and see what I can find."

"All right. Vilad, Kalva," Erin looked them both in the eye. "Thank you. For all of this."

"Anything for Gondor," Vilad replied with a smile as he left. The five girls settled down with Kalva and began working out the finer points of their design.