Savage Birthright by J. Clifton Slater

Author:J. Clifton Slater [Slater, J. Clifton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-09T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15 – Drills and Ducking Duty

Griping and complaining about the lack of food, the volunteers formed a semicircle around General Sisera.

“Make fists and cross your arms at the wrists,” Alerio demonstrated. “Left arm to the front.”

Only a few of the sixty followed directions.

“Why?” one warrior demanded.

“An excellent question. Step up here and let’s find out.”

He was taller than Alerio but leaner. That didn’t mean he was skinny. The man just had no excess fat on his body.

“Cross your wrists, like this,” Alerio instructed. Sliding his right leg back, he angled the foot to the side, dug it into the dirt, and bent his knees. “Now, move me.”

“What if I hurt you?” the slender warrior asked.

“You’re not man enough,” Alerio mocked.

“My name is…” the man started to say.

“I haven’t all day to jaw with you,” Alerio snorted. “You can tell me about your pathetic childhood some other time. Now, push me out of your way.”

The tendons in the warrior’s neck threatened to burst from his skin. And the sinew along his arms flexed in response to the insults. In a sudden, but not unexpected reaction, he charged.

The Illyrian came at Alerio with his hands extended away from his body, his legs straight, and his back rigid.

Alerio allowed the man to grab his crossed arms. His rear leg stopped the man’s forward movement. As the warrior attempted to wrestle, Alerio shifted but didn’t used any unarmed combat techniques. What the Legion weapon’s instructor did was hold the man stationary for a few beats. Then, Alerio dipped his left leg and shoulder, forcing the man off balance. With a twist and shove, he flung the warrior to the ground and stepped over him.

“We don’t have shields,” Alerio explained while straddling the prone warrior. “But the movements are the same.”

“It’s not the same,” Edon disagreed.

Alerio dropped. His left forearm smashed into the chest of the lean warrior. Grunting as the air exploded from his lungs, the man coughed and doubled over in pain.

“You’re right,” Alerio admitted as he stood. “If I had a shield, I could have struck him in the head and the chest at the same time.”

The lean warrior rolled over and worked his way to his hands and knees. A final cough cleared his lungs and he inhaled deeply.

Alerio squatted beside him, rested a hand on his back, and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Arvin,” he replied.

“Arvin, you are the second squad leader,” Alerio declared. “I hope you’re fast.”

“I am, sir,” Arvin confirmed. “And I had a happy childhood.”

“I’d like to hear about your family and village,” Alerio told him. He hooked a hand under Arvin’s arm and helped him to his feet. “But right now, we have to do shield drills.”

“Shield drills,” the squad leader for Second Squad stated. To reinforce the statemen, Arvin crossed his wrists and lifted his arms for the Company to see. “Even though we don’t have shields.”

Alerio demonstrated the stance for bracing and described the weaponless shield drills. Then the Company divided into four groups. Alerio

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