Nightblade by Ryan Kirk Page B

planet was moving? That was silly.
    Shigeru’s eyes sparkled, and if Ryuu had thought to guess, he would have guessed that Shigeru was laughing at him. But Shigeru’s face betrayed no other emotion and Ryuu was too young to understand his new-found master.
    The training went through the day. When they finished, Shigeru again took Ryuu trotting through the woods in a friendly game. When they got back to the hut it was almost dark, and they had just enough time to get a quick meal started before the sun set. Ryuu asked if he could miss the evening meal. He wanted nothing more than to get to bed. His arms and back were sore from swinging the wooden sword, his legs were sore from running, and everything else hurt from the light blows he had taken throughout training.
    Shigeru made him eat. Training would be hard every day, but he had to keep his body well conditioned. Ryuu knew Shigeru was right, so he forced food down his throat as well as the tea Shigeru had prepared. As he ate, he realized that the food tasted better than anything he had ever eaten, and he said as much.
    “It’s because food has become more important to your body, so your body treats it with more respect now.”
    Ryuu shook his head a little. He wondered if Shigeru realized he was speaking to a child who had no idea what he was ever talking about.
    The next morning was brutal. Ryuu woke up at dawn as usual, but his body seemed to be several heartbeats behind his mind’s commands. He was sluggish and could almost hear the screams of his limbs as he willed them to motion. There had been hard days helping his father in the field, but never anything like this.
    His pain disappeared when he stumbled outside to catch Shigeru in his morning practice. The early morning sunlight glinted off Shigeru’s blade, glinting like a crazed firefly in the daylight. Ryuu couldn’t track the quick motions of the blade, only see the flashes of lightning as the sunlight reflected off the shining sword. Shigeru’s movement was otherworldly, his feet and arms moving in a graceful, deadly, beautiful dance. Ryuu imagined he heard Shigeru’s sword sing.
    Ryuu could see that Shigeru had noticed him right away. He thought he saw Shigeru’s eyes glance his way for the briefest of moments, but his awareness was formed more by the knowledge that it was impossible to sneak up on Shigeru. He was always aware of everything. Ryuu accepted it. It was just the way of being a nightblade.
    Despite his awareness, Shigeru did not halt his morning routine. He completed the movements with a simple, effective sheathing of his blade. One moment the cold steel was flashing in the sunlight, the next it was resting in the warm embrace of its sheath. Ryuu hadn’t even noticed the movement.
    Shigeru took a deep breath and Ryuu could sense that he was being examined. Shigeru’s conclusions drawn, he spoke, “You are young, and training to handle a sword is difficult work. Later, we will train every day. But today we rest.”
    Ryuu felt relief wash over his tired body. Everything hurt to move, he couldn’t discover a single exception. His feet were sore from running and standing all day. His legs were sore from holding positions. His core and arms and chest and back hurt from handling the sword and the hand-to-hand combat. A day of rest meant the opportunity to go back to bed and sleep the rest of the day away.
    But as he turned to go back to bed he heard Shigeru’s voice behind him, a hint of laughter in his words. “Not that way, Ryuu. We’re going for a hike through the woods.”
    Ryuu wanted to groan, or scream, or cry, but even at his young age he knew that none of those responses would make any difference to Shigeru. They would go on a hike and it would end when Shigeru said. Ryuu wondered for a moment if it was worth even trying to resist, to put up a token argument. A moment’s reflection confirmed that it wouldn’t and he dutifully followed Shigeru away from the hut with one last,