The Guild of Warriors by Martin Swinford

Author:Martin Swinford [Swinford, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, celtic, epic fantasy, Adventure, magic, young adult, sword and sorcery, fantasy series, The Path of Swords
ISBN: 9781386717232
Publisher: Gable Press
Published: 2017-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

IT FELT GOOD TO BE back in the training hall again, the weight of the practice sword solid in his hands. After weeks of training the cadre were starting to show their potential and the boys were starting to develop their own styles. Drustan still relied on muscle but was starting to develop speed. Fin fought with stamina, stringing together long series of strikes and cuts that wore opponents down. Brenn was agile, able to dance out of the way of a blade, teasing his opponents to use up their strength before striking at any gap in their defence. The Ghost fought with an intense fury, a calculating fighter who never wasted a movement. The Weasel was dirty and tricky, a favourite of Sargent Crow, using any ploy to bring down the opposition. Luan, on the other hand, was struggling. He had learned all the defences and all the strikes, his footwork was good, he was strong and fast but something was missing. 'Still,' Luan thought, 'plenty of time yet.'

His sparring partner was Stav, slightly taller than himself but thinner, dirty blonde hair above blue eyes and permanently fixed grin. They bowed to each other, raised their swords in ritual greeting and then both assumed warrior stance, signalling the start of the bout.

Luan allowed Stav to move first. Some would say that this gave up initiative, but Luan preferred to wait and gauge his opponent’s skill and style. Watch and learn, look for the weaknesses, then exploit them, that was his nature. Stav paused then feinted left before lunging forward aiming to strike directly at Luan’s chest. Luan stepped back, easily deflecting the wooden blade and brought his own sword up, anticipating the next blow as Stav's sword whipped down towards his head. Luan deflected again and then countered with a well-aimed cut that whipped his blade sideways in an arc at his opponent’s wrists. Stav countered with his own strike and for a second their blades wound around each other before Luan suddenly stepped in, shoulder barging Stav in the chest. The tall boy took a step back, freeing his sword, and they paused for a second. This time Luan took the initiative, stepping forward and aiming a series of blows at Stav who parried, absorbing the blows, stepping backward until the chance came. Suddenly he drove forward, pushing Luan back with a quick combination of strokes to the head and body. Luan parried desperately but even as he retreated Luan spotted the gap, an instinctive knowledge of the right strike. Too late he lunged forward, already knowing that the chance had gone. Stav's grin was broad as he slammed his sword down on his opponent's, and then used the momentum to body slam the off balance Luan to the floor.

"Yield?" he asked, the point of his practice sword touching Luan’s chest.

"Yield!" said Luan with a sigh, grabbing Stav's arm and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"You almost had me there," Stav continued. "You were unlucky really."

But Luan knew that luck had nothing to do with it.

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