Nightblade by Ryan Kirk

be treated as one of theirs and you could live a normal life in relative peace, comfort and prosperity. You could choose your future as you see fit. You would have a last name and status in this world as you grow older.”
    “And my other choice?”
    “You can stay here and I will take you on as my apprentice.” Once again Shigeru had to hold up his hand before Ryuu could commit. “You must understand what that means. I myself am masterless, hunted and an outcast both from the people of this land and my own people. I have no last name, nor would you. Life would not proceed as it has this past moon. Training will be difficult. You will wake up early and train mentally and physically all day. There are no breaks and no second chances. You will be cut and you will bleed. I will not abuse you, but neither will I take it easy on you. You succeed or fail on your own terms, and you may die. If you do succeed in the training, you will be hunted and hated for the rest of your life.”
    “You also need to know this. The nightblades are hated within the Southern Kingdom and throughout all three Kingdoms. Perhaps someday that will change, but it will not happen for many cycles, if at all. If you follow me, you will never have a normal life, a life with friends and family who care for you.”
    “Finally, there is one other truth that I believe in. Nightblades have always lived by the sword, and throughout history, we have died by the sword. It is very likely that you will die young, cut down by one stronger than you. Or by thirty scared of what you may become. Regardless, very few of us die peacefully in our sleep.”
    Shigeru gave the boy credit. He didn’t jump to one decision or another. He sat in silence and thought. Although the boy didn’t know what he was doing, Shigeru could sense the battle of emotions running though his mind. For a moment, Shigeru thought that he might have overdone it and he might have lost the best chance at a pupil he’d ever had.
    His fears proved ungrounded.
    “I will stay here and train with you.”
    Shigeru did not reply, but instead offered a bow that went halfway to the ground. The boy bowed all the way to the ground, forehead against the wooden floor of the hut.
    The rest of the meal was eaten in uncharacteristic silence. Shigeru had half-expected a fresh barrage of questions regarding training and what was to come next, but none came. Ryuu sat pondering his future, and Shigeru could see on his face that the journey was one that was part over-hopeful imagination, part sadness, and part anger. Shigeru was pleased. He didn’t want to train a boy who believed that swordsmanship was only fun and games. It was a hard way of life and an easy way to die.
    It was the way of the sword. It was the way of death.
     
    When the meal was finished Shigeru urged the boy to go to bed, even though Ryuu couldn’t contain his excitement. His fears had been overwhelmed by his dreams of training. He only got the boy to sleep by repeating, “It will be the hardest thing you have ever done in your life. You will need your sleep.”
    When Ryuu was awoken in the morning he found that Shigeru had not exaggerated. As the child of a farmer he was used to waking up with the sun, but the sun wasn’t even up yet. He was still bleary-eyed from sleep when Shigeru pushed him out of the hut. Ryuu watched as Shigeru lashed two wooden swords to his back in addition to the steel swords which were his constant companions. Together they took off at a trot. For Ryuu, who was only five and much shorter than Shigeru, the trot felt a lot more like a sprint.
    Shigeru made it into a game, teasing and prodding Ryuu to try to catch him. As Ryuu’s body started to wake up he fell in love with the game. Even though he was quickly exhausted, he found that he was always willing to sprint just one more time with the belief that this would be the time it worked, this would be the time he caught Shigeru. When the game was over Ryuu found they