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Authors: J. M. Fosberg
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momma? I heard what you said about your pa.”
“My momma died making me .”
The man nodded. “Who takes care o’ ya now? Where do you stay?”
“I ran away from the orphanage. That place ain’t for me.”
The big man stared at him for a while. “Well, come along then. If you want to kill Black Dragons you’re going to have to learn how to kill first. You gotta learn to use your head. Now search that man. Whatever he has is yours. You killed him. That was a wizard, by the way. Maybe he’s got something magic. That’s how I got this magic blade. It cuts through their magic shields.”
Jerrie searched the body and found one of the most useful items he would ever own in his life. He still carried it today. When he held the wizard’s ring in his hand, Galen’s blade began to glow. He didn’t tell Galen about that. He didn’t want him to take the ring, and Jerrie knew he couldn’t stop Galen if he tried. He also took a small bag of silver and coppers from the wizard. That was how Jerrie had begun his time with Galen.
Galen was a bodyguard for merchants and nobles. For ten years Jerrie lived with Galen, and during that time Galen taught him how to fight. Galen taught him how to fight with sword, spear, and shield, but Jerrie always went back to the knives. Galen said that his ability with the knife was amazing. Galen forced him to practice fighting with another bodyguard who worked with him. Each of them had a different fighting style, and each of them helped Jerrie develop his. He learned that initially the man with the longer weapon had the advantage, but once Jerrie got inside that reach, he just needed one well-placed cut or stab, and the other man would be done.
The hardest part was the hits he would take on his forearms deflecting the swing that always came to keep him back. Galen had bracers made for him —thin steel bracers that protected his forearms from just above the wrist to just below the elbow. They slowed his arms down at first, but eventually he got used to them. He never tried to block a blow with the bracers. The metal was very thin—it was more to protect him from cuts then anything else—so he used the bracers to deflect and redirect blows as he made his way inside his opponent’s guard.
When he was seventeen , Black Dragon assassins came to their home. They had somehow discovered that they had killed the wizard years ago. Things like that had a way of coming out in the city. Usually someone who saw something years ago and was down on his luck sold the information to whoever might be interested. People died everyday because of money.
How the Black Dragons found out didn’t really matter. One day Jerrie was training with Galen. When they took a break the other bodyguards who worked for Galen were standing around them. Galen looked around, realizing that nearly half of them were missing. He raised the sword in his hands. It was a dulled practice sword, but Galen was far better than any of the others. He would be able to use it to get one of their swords from them.
“So who was it? Who has enough pull to turn my own men against me ?” Galen asked the seven men standing around them.
“It was the Black Dragons ,” one of the men said as he stepped forward. “They gave us two choices: kill you and get paid, or die for you. Five of us died. Seven chose to live.”
Galen looked at Jerrie , then pulled his magical dagger from inside the back of his waist and tossed it on the ground in front of Jerrie. Then he turned back to the men and smiled. “When you came here, you chose death.” Then he was running toward the man who had stepped forward to speak for the others.
Jerrie saw another of the bodyguards start forward toward Galen, who was still about six steps away. Jerrie threw the dulled dagger in his right hand. It flew between Galen and the man he was charging and buried itself in the throat of the man who’d begun to try and gang up on Galen. Jerrie had known that the
“My momma died making me .”
The man nodded. “Who takes care o’ ya now? Where do you stay?”
“I ran away from the orphanage. That place ain’t for me.”
The big man stared at him for a while. “Well, come along then. If you want to kill Black Dragons you’re going to have to learn how to kill first. You gotta learn to use your head. Now search that man. Whatever he has is yours. You killed him. That was a wizard, by the way. Maybe he’s got something magic. That’s how I got this magic blade. It cuts through their magic shields.”
Jerrie searched the body and found one of the most useful items he would ever own in his life. He still carried it today. When he held the wizard’s ring in his hand, Galen’s blade began to glow. He didn’t tell Galen about that. He didn’t want him to take the ring, and Jerrie knew he couldn’t stop Galen if he tried. He also took a small bag of silver and coppers from the wizard. That was how Jerrie had begun his time with Galen.
Galen was a bodyguard for merchants and nobles. For ten years Jerrie lived with Galen, and during that time Galen taught him how to fight. Galen taught him how to fight with sword, spear, and shield, but Jerrie always went back to the knives. Galen said that his ability with the knife was amazing. Galen forced him to practice fighting with another bodyguard who worked with him. Each of them had a different fighting style, and each of them helped Jerrie develop his. He learned that initially the man with the longer weapon had the advantage, but once Jerrie got inside that reach, he just needed one well-placed cut or stab, and the other man would be done.
The hardest part was the hits he would take on his forearms deflecting the swing that always came to keep him back. Galen had bracers made for him —thin steel bracers that protected his forearms from just above the wrist to just below the elbow. They slowed his arms down at first, but eventually he got used to them. He never tried to block a blow with the bracers. The metal was very thin—it was more to protect him from cuts then anything else—so he used the bracers to deflect and redirect blows as he made his way inside his opponent’s guard.
When he was seventeen , Black Dragon assassins came to their home. They had somehow discovered that they had killed the wizard years ago. Things like that had a way of coming out in the city. Usually someone who saw something years ago and was down on his luck sold the information to whoever might be interested. People died everyday because of money.
How the Black Dragons found out didn’t really matter. One day Jerrie was training with Galen. When they took a break the other bodyguards who worked for Galen were standing around them. Galen looked around, realizing that nearly half of them were missing. He raised the sword in his hands. It was a dulled practice sword, but Galen was far better than any of the others. He would be able to use it to get one of their swords from them.
“So who was it? Who has enough pull to turn my own men against me ?” Galen asked the seven men standing around them.
“It was the Black Dragons ,” one of the men said as he stepped forward. “They gave us two choices: kill you and get paid, or die for you. Five of us died. Seven chose to live.”
Galen looked at Jerrie , then pulled his magical dagger from inside the back of his waist and tossed it on the ground in front of Jerrie. Then he turned back to the men and smiled. “When you came here, you chose death.” Then he was running toward the man who had stepped forward to speak for the others.
Jerrie saw another of the bodyguards start forward toward Galen, who was still about six steps away. Jerrie threw the dulled dagger in his right hand. It flew between Galen and the man he was charging and buried itself in the throat of the man who’d begun to try and gang up on Galen. Jerrie had known that the
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