The Fearless War

The Dark Workshop

After a while of walking, I arrived at my house, outside were the skins from today's hunt, the common thing is that every week my father sells them in the center of the village. A steady income since my sister took the reins of the hunt.

"Oz is here!" my sister shouted in a voice that scared the birds, I assumed they had been waiting for my arrival to see if I got a job.

Dinner was served, by the looks of it, my sister in her frustration of the morning, hunted several horned rabbits. Their meat was good when young, but apparently anger got the best of my sister, and there were only rabbits with a sour taste.

"How did it go with your Uncle Oz?" Mother was cleaning the fur off the carcasses, while my sister had an anguished look on her face.

"Well, it might just be helping him wake up and organize the workshop a bit."

"That sounds like Miles, haha. Still no sleep all day?"

"Honey don't be like that, he's your brother."

"Don't worry Lean, Oz knows what I mean."

"Hehe... Yes." In order to finish dinner faster, I humored my dad, so after finishing my plate and discussing a few more things about what I was going to do in the workshop, I headed to my room.

Closing the door I put on my night clothes, which were a loose shirt and pants, and after I was comfortable I went to the edge of my bed and lifted a board from underneath.

What I could see under the board was the notebook my grandfather left behind, which had all the stories he had once told me. I flipped through its pages until I got to the point I wanted.

On the first line it said [The soldier with two swords], it was the fourth story in the notebook. When Grandpa passed away, I didn't know who to talk to talk to about the notebook, but one day Uncle Miles told me that Grandpa left earlier than he anticipated, since he wanted to train me just like him.

It seemed that he wanted to help me instead of grandfather, and guide me with the help of stories, just as he had had to learn.

The reading of [The Soldier with Two Swords] began with a battle in a forest, in which a soldier of the regiment of knights was able to use two swords as a method of attack and defense.

-----------------------------------------------------

[The Soldier with Two Swords]

The straggling soldier only wanted to return to his family, he was not from a noble house, or a favorable business, he was just a family man who wanted to survive.

However, he had a responsibility to the place where he lived, he could not let them take resources from the land. It was the fourth day of fighting, they were cornered at the border and the soldier was helping with the wounded.

"s**t, resist a little, the doctor is coming!" shouted the soldier to his wounded companion, he did not know him but like him, he wanted to live for his family, he could not leave him like that; but destiny is cruel and his companion did not survive the night.

Before leaving the tent, he held the sword of the deceased in his left hand, while he went out with two weapons in his hands. Something impractical in an endurance fight like that. He headed into the forest without regard for the warnings of his other companions, the others already considered the fight a lost cause.

When he reached a clearing in the forest, he could hear nothing but the wind, but even so his body moved as he cut an arrow, he continued to advance while he let out a shout that suddenly frightened the archers stationed in the forest.

As he approached the source of the arrow, he increased his speed and threw thrusts with his dominant hand and with his other hand, the sword was upside down but he used it to defend himself, his agile movements were subtle but hid strength behind them.

After the noise died down, the soldier was able to finish off the enemy archers, and before he could rest he put both swords in defense and avoided being cut from above by another enemy.

His energies were almost exhausted, but he defended himself from the endless thrusts of the new enemy, he used both blades to move the enemy at will, he guided him and threw stabs at every opportunity he had, there was no better way to describe his movements than a dance.

When he managed to deliver the killing blow, he collapsed from exhaustion and stared up at the sky, it was a starry night and the clouds were rolling in before the forest.

The story reminded me of a phrase my grandfather used to say, "Make the enemy give up by seeing the difference in power in your techniques."

At the end of the story, it recounted how to 'dance' with the swords in order to take down or finish an enemy, as well as something I didn't understand, which was to perceive attacks, which was necessary when someone fight without using a shield or protection.

---------------------------------------------------------------

After I finished reading the story, I closed the notebook and returned it to the board under the bed.

'What will Uncle Miles have prepared for this?' I asked myself as I lay down preparing to close my eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Grandpa, are you okay?" I said as I watched him fondling his wrist.

"Ah, don't worry Oz, it's nothing important, I was just remembering an old friend."

"Ok ... " I walked over and saw him rubbing his eyes, I could only try to guess what had put him like that.

"What do you want to do little boy?" he stood up not caring that she could see his face.

"Let's go to dinner, there's steamed meat today."

"Oh! did your sister accompany your father again?"

"Yup, he keeps teaching her how to hunt."

"Don't worry little Oz, your time will come."

"Ok..." At that moment I felt disappointed in my family's lack of attention, not just for me, but for my grandfather.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Ugh!" There would be no better way to describe the pain I felt than a stampede.

"Aw brother, I've been waking you up a lot lately, why don't you sleep more?"

"I'm busy being awake by my thoughts, not that you've heard of that before Eve."

"Uh-huh, whatever, are you coming to breakfast or not?"

"Right away." I'd get ready as usual, another normal day, only with the fact that on that day, it was the beginning of a deception before my family, an illusion that I would have to show them.

"Ready for your first official day of work Oz?" my father as usual, found himself eating rations uncontrollably, but still his excitement filled the kitchen.

"Not much ... although I could use some tips on how to wake up Uncle Miles." I had to be careful not to blurt out too much information. Otherwise, I would have said everything.

"Uhm ... well I can't think of much, you can try putting spices in his nose."

"Honey, what are you trying to get Oz to do to your brother?"

"Nothing at all, don't mind that Lean." Despite his denial my father tossed me a bottle of his spices, they were black chili peppers that grew in the winter. So as not to give him away, I hid them in my boot and left the house before he started another conversation.

"Oz! wait for me!" my sister followed behind me, she was prepared to hunt, but what she missed was her quiver.

"You ran out of arrows again?" it wasn't an unusual event, but the speed with which Eve hunted was going to endanger the forest population someday.

"It's not my fault, I lost a few when the bowstring broke."

"Are you going with Uncle Miles or to the central market?" Normally my sister couldn't afford the arrows Uncle Miles made, but around the time the snow was starting to fall, several nobles were asking for arrows for hunting competitions, so the workshop ended up with an excess.

"I might ask Uncle Miles for a few."

"You know you have to be careful with those, the edge is nothing with the ones you normally use."

"It's not the first time I've used them don't worry."

Her attempt to demonstrate her ability only served to increase my anxiety. Because the real reason why Uncle Miles always had an excess of arrows was that when he got excited about making them, he ended up with arrows that were too sharp for a simple competition, or even made arrows of high noble quality.

"Well, I'll just have to trust you sister."

"Of course you will, and how do you wake up uncle?" Without realizing it we had already arrived at the workshop, I had not noticed it because the aroma of the forge was not in the air, it was turned off.

"Wait here, I'm going to open the door."

For as long as I could remember, the forge in the workshop had never been off, I needed to know if something had happened. The only thing I could think of was that uncle wasn't there because I didn't want to think otherwise.

"Oz, wait!" Without listening to all of my sister's response, I went to the back of the shop, and entered through the window. there was no noise but my breathing.

In this situation I didn't know what to do to find uncle, I walked through the whole area of the workshop without the presence of another person, at that moment I remembered my grandfather's first story, 'The hunter searched for food with the senses of an animal, not only relied on his ear.' It was the story of [The Winter Hunter], it was the first one I could train with uncle, without wasting time, I sat in the center of the workshop.

I closed my eyes and focused on breathing, after a while the sound of my body was minimal, I breathed hard and quietly, and touched the floor with my outstretched hands. As my mastery at the moment, it was necessary to be still for that, but if I trained more I could do it walking.

Seconds passed when I felt uncle's scent and breathing, I stood up and ran to the forge, it was closed, I hit it and heard screams from inside.

"Uncle did you get in there by yourself?!"

"Hehehe, well Oz there's a funny story behind this."

" Keep it!" Without regret I threw a kick at the forge and the door swung open.

While uncle Miles was trying to get out of the forge, I went to open the door only to find another problem.

"Have you stopped playing already?" my sister was a bit upset apparently, her things were on one side and she looked like she had fallen down a mountain.

"What happened while I was inside?"

"Oh, nothing really, I just tried to climb out the window and fell into a bush, thanks for leaving me alone by the way."

"I told you to wait, didn't I?" It was to be expected of my sister that she couldn't wait a few moments still.

"You ran off like it was nothing, how do you want me to wait?"

"Anyway, go in and grab the arrows you want, I have to work." It wasn't a complete lie, I still had to question uncle before I could start training.

Without wasting any more time, I led Eve to the ammunition section in the workshop, there were barrels full of arrows of various types, as well as darts and throwing knives.

"Uncle went overboard this year didn't he Oz?"

"It's the same as every year, you know that."

Despite that, I had to agree with my sister, there were at a glance several more barrels of arrows than last years, and a few were oddly shaped, the one that caught my attention the most at the time was some double tipped arrows.

"By the way, where's Uncle Miles?"

She had already finished filling her quiver when she noticed uncle's absence, he was still trying to get out of the forge when I opened the door so I assumed he was cleaning up.

"He must still be asleep, is that all you need?" I remarked pointing to her overpopulated quiver.

"Yes, I think if I use them right they will last me through the summer."

"If they will only last you until summer it will be because you didn't take care of them, I suggest you go get ready at home so you don't lose everything all at once."

"As if I would lose arrows of such quality, but yes, I wouldn't want to use them all, I'll see you at the house."

Eve hurried back into the house, and when she was out of sight, I closed the door and locked it.

"Now, what will be better so I can question him?"

There was still the matter of why Uncle Miles locked himself in a forge full of coal and metal. I went up to his room and he was looking out the window for something, as if his life depended on it.

I grabbed a pike from the furnace and threw it at him. "Uncle, would you be so kind as to say what happened?"

With no problem in the least, Uncle Miles ducked just before the pike touched his back and turned around in shock to see me there.

"You didn't happen to see anyone outside Oz?"

"Other than Eve who already left, no, why?"

"It happened again Oz!!!, I don't know who sent them, but I'm going to make him pay when I find him."

"A little context would help me right now."

It was rare to see uncle Miles upset about something, even rarer to start yelling, I needed to know what had happened in the short time I hadn't seen him.

"Ah, you're right, well, it just so happens that this is the second time people have come yelling at my door that they want to be my apprentices and they're ready for the test."

"And since when are you starting to look for apprentices?” It was unlikely to think that the man who ran an entire shop on his own would suddenly be looking for an apprentice.

"You know I haven't done anything like that, and that's the thing, they both came and knew everything about the workshop, and they didn't leave for hours, the one from today came from last night!"

"And that's why you pretended not to be and locked yourself in the forge?"

"Thinking about it now I could have gone out the back but I didn't want to meet anyone."

"Whatever, the good thing is that I was able to practice detecting again." Previously I wouldn't have been able to train that technique without being blindfolded and almost fainting. It was a good thing to be able to do it like that.

"Oh! So that's how you found me huh?"

"If it wasn't for that uncle, you'd have stayed there all week."

"You don't know that little Oz."

"Anyway, any idea who knows you well enough to know how to make you suffer?"

"None." His response at that moment was as short as his fuse to anyone outside his workshop. It was no wonder there was someone who wanted to make him run.

"Well I suggest you think hard uncle, before the next one comes along."

His expression turned to anguish when I mentioned the word 'next'.

"Changing the subject, is the room finished?" If I wanted to continue my training, I couldn't have any more distractions at that point.

"Ah yes, it's done. I guess you read the story last night right?"

"I went over the essentials, so shall we get started?"

"Not so fast, first of all, I have to give you something."

Uncle Miles led me back downstairs and walked over to a chest next to an anvil, there was nothing flashy inside, but still, he pulled out two rods covered with cloth.

"What are you waiting for open them Oz!"

I followed uncle's indication and inside the cloth were two short black swords, the hilts had no guard, only two dents to avoid grabbing the blade, my reflection was in both blades, but darker and more vivid.  I ran my hand over the pommel and felt an engraving when I got a good look at it, it was the initials 'O.W'.