The Making of a Mage King: White Star by Walls Anna L

Author:Walls, Anna L. [Walls, Anna L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Bucks County Publishing
Published: 2013-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Sean returned to the front courtyard before the sun had even begun to rise. His lazy day had made for a restless night; he had even tried thinking of Armelle, but that only made things worse and he didn’t want to wake her. After rousing Laon, he had informed the watch commander of his intentions, and left.

At first Laon had stood aside to be his bodyguard, but as Sean toyed with the idea of using the whipping post as a target, he remembered what he had seen Laon try to do the day he had taken the boy, Kendal, flying over the camp. Now was as good a time as any; he pulled Laon over and pared him off with the heavy post.

“You’re not here to chop the post down, so don’t. What I want you to do is use all your strength and speed, see how close you can get, but without touching it. Now, follow what I do.” Sean took him through the simplest set he knew, reminding him from time to time that the post was not there to stop his sword. After he felt that Laon had a handle on the kind of control he wanted, he moved him away from the post with the admonishment that the post was still there, but only in his head this time.

The distraction was welcome for Sean, but it was definitely not a distraction for Laon, who was grimly determined to learn this form of practice.

Watching him, Sean remembered his own first days like this. It had seemed pointless and frustrating to pull his strike at the last second, and only at the very last second. It wasn’t until much later that he learned the value of such control, then later still that he could enjoy the solitary workouts he currently used whenever he had the chance.

By the time the sun started to light the sky, Laon was wrung of everything he could manage for his first lesson. Sean then drew his second sword and went ahead with his own workout. He was well into it when men began to show up for their formation.

Sean purposefully continued, switching to the most complicated set he knew. The teacher he had learned it from had been a wide-shouldered man with straight, black hair that hung lank and stringy, but he knew how to use two swords and seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, especially when his hair obscured the two he did have in the front of his head. In an effort to outdo this long-dead teacher from another life, Sean made additions, and while the men gathered, he pitted himself against the impossible. In his mind, the old master became a hundred. In his mind, his battle raged while soldiers, hushed by the spectacle, assembled.

Sean’s display made them see the death at the end of his swords. They saw the destruction within his reach. They all knew that even the very best among them wouldn’t last but moments against that onslaught.

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