Briar Woods (Re-working)

Chapter 14, Part 2: Training Continues

We continued the grueling training. By the end of the first week, I began to feel a sense of relief. My men were excelling at a rapid pace. I knew many of them felt the same urgency as I did. They were dedicated to giving their all in learning how to fight. The safety of their families and homes were at stake.

They were still practicing with wooden swords, but I hoped I could transition them to an actual blade by the following week. There was no time to coddle them. I pushed and pushed them to the braking point time an again.

In the archery training, Will, Timothy and Malcom did extremely well. Warrick was proficient with a bow as well and yet something about him continued to bother me. It was almost as if he were purposely holding back. Maybe it was my imagination, but the bow seemed all to comfortable in his hands. Was it only because I was an archer myself? But I could have sworn that every time I watched him shoot an arrow he was hitting the target exactly were he intended to--below the bulls eye and the right slightly. Even though he wasn't hitting the target he was consistently hitting the same spot.

To make certain the trainees received the best possible training, we mixed the groups up after the first week. Brom and Sir Raulf were very skilled warriors and I knew the men would progress even more if their training was not limited to one teacher.

Lord Pennington helped a little with the training as well. He did not have an active role, as he was making preparations for there departure. With his injured men on the mend, they knew the could not postpone their leave, much longer.

I enjoyed training with the local villagers, they did not have anything to prove and were not there for their own glory. They wanted to fight for what was theirs. I grew prouder each day, as I witnessed their improvement and felt an exhilaration that buoyed me up and gave me hope. Maybe this would work after all.