Beginning Our Journey

We rode together for several hours, Kaida in the front guiding us toward Elyria, with me and Zahyr following behind her. We traveled for several hours, none of us sharing a word, each of us lost in our thoughts. Only as the sun began to set did Kaida finally say, "We'll rest here for today, we've made good progress, we should arrive at Elyria within the month."

I was taken slightly aback by the fact that this journey would take a month, but I quickly brushed the feeling off. We all dismounted our horses, and Kaida immediately turned to both of us and said, "Zahyr, you tend the horses, and Zarek, you find some wood to start a fire while I set up the tents."

I gave a nod and rushed to find wood in the surrounding area. Thankfully, there was a small group of trees nearby, and I was able to break off some branches for us to use. Satisfied with the amount of wood I found, I walked back to give it to Kaida. She was busily setting up the tents, but noticed I was there and said, "Good work, leave the sticks there, in the meantime, I want you to start getting familiar with your sword before we train."

"Yes ma'am," I said to her, as I dropped the wood I was holding and drew my sword from its scabbard. Holding the blade tip out, I gave a few practice swings in order to get a better feel for its weight. After a couple more minutes, I saw Kaida turn to me, draw her sword, and say, "All right, let's see what you've got." before immediately swinging her sword at me. Caught off guard, I clumsily tried to block, and as her sword struck mine, I lost my grip and my sword went flying out of my hands and landed with a thud a few feet away.

"Pick it up." She said to me, and I hurriedly rushed to do so before standing in front of her once again. "Show me how you hold it." She asked, and I quickly lifted my sword to show her my grip. Standing beside me, she glanced at my grip for a moment before saying, "You have a basic idea of how to hold it, but that's the problem." She extended her sword beside mine, showing me her grip on the handle. "Look at the way that I hold the sword and try to copy it." Glancing at how she held her sword, I was able to quickly adjust my grip and was pleased to feel that I had a firmer grip on the handle.

She gave a nod of approval, "You pick things up fast, does your grip feel more secure?" she asked me, and I gave a nod. "Good, now let's try that again." She said as she proceeded to get into a fighting stance. I quickly tried mimicking her stance and prepared for her to attack. She swung her sword in the same way, and this time I was able to block her swing and keep a firm grip on my sword. Acting almost instinctively, I pushed her sword away and tried to respond with my attack, but she quickly blocked my attempt and put her sword at my throat before I could react.

"For a beginner, you didn't do that bad, but there's still plenty of things for you to learn." She sheathed her sword and continued, "That's enough for today, we've already covered the basics, we'll work on honing those skills tomorrow." She then turned and walked towards the now-lit fire, and I sheathed my sword and followed after her.

Zahyr was sitting by the fire, watching as we approached. "You all right kid?" He asked me, and I gave him a nod, "By the way, you can just call me Zarek, I prefer that over calling me 'kid' or 'boy'." I said to him as I removed the belt holding my scabbard and set it aside along with my sword. Zahyr just nodded his head, appearing lost in his thoughts for a moment,

"That's great Zarek glad you're all right, but Kaida, you could have gone easy on him."

"He needs to be ready to fight whatever we might cross paths with, and if they won't go easy on him, then neither will I." She countered. Zahyr just rolled his eyes, and although he seemed annoyed, he didn't say anything else about the subject. "Time to get some rest, we'll be leaving at first light." Kaida said to us before walking away and entering a tent.

Feeling the fatigue start to weigh on me, I grabbed my belt and sword walked toward the other two tents, and entered the one next to Kaida's. I set down my sword in the corner of the tent, removed my cloak, and set it next to the makeshift bed. I let out a deep sigh as I lay down on the bed. I closed my eyes as I was reminded of everything that happened today. Eventually, my mind slowed down and I was finally able to sleep.