The Boy From The Forest

At the fork of the River Beaucoup

“Norman, we are here. Where is everybody?”

“Vincent, there are tons and tons of young men here, milling around like a herd of cows.”

“I mean we are supposed to join an army. I don’t see an army.”

“YOU are the army. Every stinking one of you.”

Everyone turned to see who had spoken. There stood a man who was no longer young. But his body was harder than anyone’s. And his eyes, his eyes were very hard.

“I am Sergeant Hardcastle. I am here to turn you bunch of turnip pickers into an actual fighting force. But I don’t know, all of you look like a bunch of whiney little momma’s boys.”

James stepped out, spear in hand. “That is very insulting. You need to say you are sorry for saying that. Ooomph!”

James had not meant to say ‘Ooomph!’, but quicker than thought, Sergeant Hardcastle’s fist had lashed out and hit him in the stomach. James just barely managed to stay standing by leaning on his spear.

“All of you, stand in a straight line. If you don’t know what a straight line is, I can explain it to you.” The young men from every part of the Forest began to arrange themselves in a line. It was kind of straight.

“You need to learn how to fight. You are not here for sewing lessons. Corporal Stone will pass out swords to each of you.”

The Corporal started passing out wooden sticks. They were about three feet long, and you could tell that they had been recently cut from a tree. A few still had leaves on them.

“These aren’t real swords.”

“If you want something in this army, you have to earn it. You will start with wooden swords, and if you show me you can do something with that, you will get a steel sword.” In every part of the Forest, blacksmiths were frantically trying to fashion enough swords. It was just as well to start them with wood; that way, they would not hurt themselves so bad.

Sergeant Hardcastle took a wooden sword for himself. He had an actual real sword in a scabbard at his side, but this way he could have some fun.

The Sergeant looked at his training command. His eye fell upon Barry. “You there, come here.”

Barry came out, not knowing what to expect. He was carrying his wooden ‘sword’ like he would carry a piece of firewood.

“You are going to learn to fight with that sword. Try to hit me with it.”

Barry swung the piece of wood, leaves and all. Sergeant Hardcastle ducked and then hit Barry on the head with his “sword.” And in the stomach. And on the leg. And on the head again. Not too hard any of these times, Sergeant Hardcastle did not want to knock Barry out, he just wanted to humiliate him.

Everybody laughed. Barry raised the wooden “sword” above his head and charged Sergeant Hardcastle, screaming like a banshee. Sergeant Hardcastle stepped aside at the last second and pushed Barry to the ground.

“A sword is an offensive weapon with which you will attack your enemy. It is also a defensive weapon, to keep him from killing you. The last part is really important if you want to stay alive.

“You go back and stand in line. Who is going to be next?”

“I would like to take him on with my fists. I know how to use my fists.” Grumbled Barry.

His baleful eye fell on Norman. “You, pretty boy. Come here.”

Norman came forward rather reluctantly. That gave Sergeant Hardcastle time to say “Isn’t he so cute!!”

Everybody laughed. Two different girls had told Norman he was cute, but this was not the same thing.

“Swing your sword at me, pretty boy.”

Norman swung the so-called sword at his Sergeant. Sergeant Hardcastle danced away and brought his own sword to bear.

And was parried by Norman. Norman had brought his own “weapon” up to a defensive posture without having to think about it. Norman then stepped forward, which enabled him to actually force Sergeant Hardcastle’s wooden sword toward the ground.

I should have told you, as the Second Son of The King, Norman had been trained in all sorts of weapons from a very early age. He could use a rapier, which is a light-weight sword where quickness is of the most use. The wooden swords were a lot like this because they did not weigh much.

Norman could also handle the great broadsword, a spear, crossbow, bow and arrows, and a mace. A mace is a spiked metal ball attached to a short handle with a chain. He could also use his fists.

Norman stepped out of his clinch with Sergeant Hardcastle. The Sergeant was a strong man, and Norman could not hope to match him that way for very long. Norman brought up his weapon at an angle, and waited to see what would happen next.

For just a couple minutes, the two men thrusted, parried and tried to fake each other out. Then Sergeant Hardcastle broke the stalemate.

“YOU are hereby appointed Corporal in charge of swordsmanship. If anyone is having a hard time handling a sword, I will send him to you. You can get back in line now.”

Sergeant Hardcastle congratulated himself. He had found a way out of a difficult situation. It would not do to be beaten in front of everyone. Now, if he could just turn this crowd of bumpkins into a fighting force.

Aboard the Saffron Flower

“So you are telling me that the provisioning party came back with nothing.”

“Yes, Great Overlord.”

“Where is the Centurion of the second phanex? Don’t you know it is beneath my dignity to talk to someone like you?”

“The Centurion of the second phanex did not make it. I am the highest ranking member of the provisioning party to survive. These natives show a high level of social organization.”

“Hmmm. Maybe we can use this to our advantage. I have new orders for you.”

Near the Castle of The King

Princess Icelandia was taking a walk in the countryside. It was quite a pleasant day. She had a little entourage of other young highborn girls that were at the Castle. A sturdy servant woman held a parasol above Princess Icelandia. A red-winged blackbird sat on a cattail stalk and sang for them.

“Right there. That is what we need.”

“That is a group of the natives. The last time we met some of them, three of us did not come back.”

“These will be easier. They are not covered in metal, and they are not riding on the four-legged creatures.”

“I thought that the four-legged creatures were the dominant life-form, not these silly looking things.”

“Shut up, both of you. They will hear us.”

Bhhhhxy, Cvvvvvqwerty, and Dffffrt hid behind a clump of boulders. Cvvvvvqwerty was the leader, since he had been out of the cloning tank the longest. They waited for Princess Icelandia’s party to come closer to the clump of boulders.

“The one under the shade, she is the most important.” Cvvvvvqwerty wanted to give his command some direction.

“She does not look big enough to feed even one of us. I really think we should try to get one of the four-legged creatures.”

“We have been over this.” Cvvvvvqwerty was feeling the loneliness of command. “The Cultural Anthropologist told us how to distinguish the sexes. There are only two sexes, so it should not be that hard. And she also showed ways to identify those individuals of high rank in their society. If we capture an individual of high rank, that can force the other leaders in their governmental unit to do what we want them to do.”

Icelandia saw a white lily growing right in front of the boulders. She ran over to look at it. She was already thinking of ways to incorporate it into her tapestry. Such a pure white flower!

Bhhhhxy, Cvvvvvqwerty, and Dffffrt stepped out from behind the boulders. Being Warrior caste, they were permanently manifested in the same shape, roughly humanoid. To the people with Icelandia, they looked like large human beings with brutish features. The expressions on their faces never changed, which made them all the more brutal looking.

Bhhhhxy grabbed Icelandia and threw her over his shoulder. Cvvvvvqwerty pushed the poor old servant woman to the ground. The poor old servant woman grabbed a medium sized rock and threw it at Cvvvvvqwerty while she was still lying on the ground. The rock hit Cvvvvvqwerty’s head with a solid thunk. He swayed for a moment and then gravity got the best of him. When he fell, he nearly landed on top of the poor old servant woman.

Bhhhhxy ran back to the Saffron Flower with Princess Icelandia over his shoulder. Dffffrt ran right behind him on the narrow path. They were genetically engineered to run long distances without tiring.

Princess Icelandia bounced along on Bhhhhxy’s shoulder. This was very disconcerting for her. She had no idea how to fight an inhuman monster. She knew she was supposed to be terrified, scream and hit Bhhhhxy with her little hands.

Icelandia did none of these things. If she tried to hit one of these creatures, she would just hurt her hand. But they could be injured. The one had gone down when old Mary had hit him with a rock. Right now, she had to bide her time and see what she could figure out. This was the biggest challenge of her life, that was for sure.