The Edge of a Knife

Chapter 1

Caladrel awoke to the sound of chirping birds. "Chief, let's go! We don't want to leave Rockney waiting!" Chief was Caladrel's best friend. He was different from all of Caladrel's other friends. Chief was the name of Caladrel's dog. He had golden fur with a little honey tint to it. He had mysterious, almost freaky, pupiless, milky eyes. Chief was blind.

"Goodbye mother! I'm going to train with Rockney!"

"Okay! Do well! And tell him thank you again!" His mother replied. Caladrel's father had died before Caladrel was born and Caladrel's mother had to raise Caladrel on her own. She was very poor and wouldn't have survived if Rockney hadn't stepped in to help.

Chief and Caladrel walked through the towering, green trees. Nobody would have noticed them if it wasn't for Caladrel's shiny, blond, shoulder length hair.

Caladrel and chief finally arrived at Rockney's hut. "It's about time you arrived! I've been waiting!" Rockney exclaimed. Right as Rockney released the words from his mouth, Chief ran over to greet him in a friendly manner. "We need to prepare you for your big day. Are you ready?" 

"Of course!" Caladrel replied.

"Move your feet!" Rockney yelled as the day was coming to an end. Rockney was caladrel's fighting instructor. He was one of the only people in the city that was not an elf. When an orc tribe attacked Rockney's human city, he was the only one to survive. An elven search party then found him and took him in. He was like a father to Caladrel. Rockney spent more time with Caladrel then Caladrel's parents did.

Caladrel was preparing for the next day when the general of the elven armies was going to pick only one person from each town to be in the army. To be in the army was the most honorable position for anyone to be in in the elf society.

Caladrel's sword made three lightning quick vertical slashes at the training dummy's head as he positioned himself to make the final blow. A low thrust. 

"Well done." Rockney said. "You will no doubt impress the general's scouts."

"If I perform like this tomorrow." Caladrel replied.

"Just remember to get good sleep and eat a good breakfast tomorrow. Then you'll do great." 

"I just hope I don't go up against Damadrian. He is my fighting equal."

"I bet Damadrian hopes he won't go up against you. You cannot fear to go up against him, because if you get paired with him and you both are performing to your best, the person with the lesser fear will win." Rockney said firmly. "It's about time you get some rest. It is getting late."

"Thank you Rockney for helping me prepare for my big day."

"Anytime Caladrel."

Caladrel walked home with Chief by his side, then went to sleep, thinking about the upcoming day.

The next morning, Caladrel woke up, ate a good breakfast, then headed off to the training center but couldn't bring Chief. He met Rockney along the way. The village they lived in was in the middle of a forest. The training center was the center of the small town. It was well hidden and concealed by the lush green trees surrounding it.

Inside the training center, there were boys Caladrel's age everywhere all competing for a spot in the army. The scouts that were going to be the ones picking, studied everyone walking in looking for something unusual or special about anyone. They seemed delighted when Caladrel and Rockney walked in, immediately recognizing Rockney. Rockney was well recognized as the best fighter in all of the region. "We'll keep an eye on your boy." The scouts said to Rockney. Rockney nodded then moved on with Caladrel.

The man who seemed to be in charge stepped forward. He was dressed in gold, well crafted elvish armor with a blood red cloak draped over his shoulders. "Welcome to the picking of warriors. I am Saervox. As most of you know, only one of you will be selected to join the military as most of you are needed for farming. May the greatest warrior win!" Saervox then started pairing the boys. When he got to Caladrel, he studied him for a moment, then yelled, "Damadrian! Come fight with this boy!" Caladrel then saw Damadrian approaching him. Damadrian was a shorter then average but well built boy. He had long auburn hair with emerald green eyes.

Saervox then told everyone to choose their weapons. There were racks full of wooden weapons for each pair. Caladrel gestured Damadrian to chose first. Damadrian stepped forward and grabbed a giant two handed battleaxe, his trademark weapon. Then Caladrel stepped forward, but instead of grabbing the two handed sword Damadrian had always known him to fight with, he grabbed two smaller swords, one for each hand which surprised both Rockney who was watching, and Damadrian who was going to be fighting.

Saervox then yelled, "Begin!" Caladrel and Damadrian studied each other for a while. Then, finally Damadrian attacked first, a huge arcing vertical swipe with his massive battleaxe. Caladrel brought his left arm up to parry it but the force of the swing forced Caladrel to side step in addition to the parry. Caladrel then tried to pull off a high horizontal slash with his other sword, but Damadrian ducked his head just in time. Then Damadrian brought his axe up for another swing. Caladrel then dove through Damadrian's legs with swords out to trip him right as the axe came down. Surprised, Damadrian hit the ground stunned. Caladrel then took his chance to pounce on him.

"They are a great pair." One of the scouts said to another as they were watching Caladrel and Damadrian. "Both would suit our army well."

"But the general said we could only take one." The other scout replied.

" We will just have to see which one ends up on top. If it remains a draw, then we may have to pick someone else."

"Or both."

Caladrel pounced where Damadrian was before Damadrian rolled out of the way. The fight went on for several minutes after, as both fighters were swinging, parrying, and dodging. Finally Saervox stepped forward and hollered, "Stop!" Everyone stopped fighting. "We just want to let you know how hard this choice is going to be. We saw a lot of talent out there. We will inform you of who our choice is in 2 hours. From now until then, you may do whatever pleases you." Saervox then gestured for everyone to be dismissed. Caladrel found Rockney, then left the training center.