13 Training day

  The next morning, Sara found David outside her house as if he was waiting for her to finish her personal chores so that he could tell her the next duty she was to perform.

  Sara, forgetting the conversation about learning to fight, asked, “I thought today was my day off? Or did Draco change his mind and decide I needed to do something?”

  “I am here because you wanted me to be?”

  Sara stared for a moment, then remembered the conversation. “So, you’re going to teach me how to defend myself?”

  “Yes, but are you willing to put in the work? This is going to be harder than any work you will do as a servant. It might be easier for you if you just stayed a weak little servant girl.”

  “No!” Sara said, stepping towards the giant, then, with realization of what she said, “Yes, I’m willing to work, and no, I don’t want to be weak.”

  David smiled, nodded, then said, “If you are ready, then we can begin, but I warn you, fighting is not just about preparing your body; it is about using your mind. You have to think and not let your emotions lead you. Anger is powerful, but it can also get you killed, but I will teach you that later.”

  “I’m ready,” Sara said, though part of her doubted. “But first let me throw some mint into my bathwater.”

  “What is that for?” David asked, walking beside her as she went to the side of the house and gathered half a bucket of leaves.

  “I’m going to add it to my bath water. It was something one of my maids did for me. She said it would help my muscles relax, and I’m guessing that after today, I will need it.”

  David nodded as Sara dropped the leaves into the trough, which she used for bathing. “Probably a good idea.”

  Sara brushed off her hand and looked up at David, “What do I need to do?”

  David smiled, “First, I am going to give you a head start. Run over to the trees over there,” David pointed to the opposite side of the valley, then said, “and prepare for me to attack you. You will find what you need, but remember, use your mind.” David paused, then said, “Go.”

  Sara took off running. When she first got to this valley, Sara wouldn’t have been able to run that far, but her body was able to do things it wasn’t before. She didn’t like to admit to herself what all the hard work had been doing for her.

  Once she was most of the way across, she heard David yell, “I am coming to get you, Sari.”

  Sara looked over her shoulder and didn’t see the giant. Sara had seen him run; the legends that said giants were lumbering oafs were completely wrong. He could cover the distance far faster than she could, so she knew there wasn’t any time to waste.

  The trees weren’t far ahead and hanging on a tree were a shield and a sword. David had said what she needed would be here, but as she began to take the sword and shield, she wondered why David would have these here.

  David said that what she needed would be here, but she didn’t know how to use them. They were not what she would need to protect herself from David, but Sara pushed the thought out of her mind and stepped away from the trees. She tried to prepare the shield on her left hand, and her sword was held out to meet the giant. She didn’t feel prepared. She looked at the blade and found that it wasn’t sharp, which was fine with her as she didn’t want to hurt the giant.

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  “Besides,” Sara told herself, but then saw the giant running at her. “He wouldn’t give me something that would hurt him.”

  Everything in Sara said to run, but she stood there holding the shield and sword like she had seen men do it on the practice field outside of the castle. The sword was heavy and hard to hold up, and the shield was even worse. Sara prepared herself because it looked like David wasn’t going to stop his charge.

  Whack!

  Sara didn’t even see the impact but felt it as she was knocked from her feet and onto her back. The shield was lying on top of her, and the sword was no longer in her hands. For the second day in a row, the wind was knocked out of her lungs, and she struggled to catch her breath.

  “That was not effective,” David said, standing over her with his hand out.

  Sara took it, and the giant easily pulled her to her feet, all the while shaking his head.

  “I told you to use your mind.”

  Sara was going to complain, but David continued.

  “Same lesson, run back across the valley, and you will find what you need. Now go.”

  Sara ran back across the valley, and as she got within sight of her house, she heard David’s voice again saying that he was coming. Sara looked around as she ran and saw a spear stuck in the ground in front of her house. She ran and grabbed the spear and turned to face the direction David was coming from. She thought again that she didn’t want to hurt David.

  Sara shook her head and said, “He wouldn’t give me something that I could use to hurt him.” She hoped she was right because she saw David running straight at her, and once again, he wasn’t slowing down. Sara raised the spear and pointed it toward the giant. Sara couldn’t hide behind a shield, so afraid to see the spear pierce the giant, she closed her eyes right before the spear struck.

  Whack!

  The spear did not strike David; it flew from Sara’s hands, and once again, Sara was on the ground with the air knocked out of her.

  David stood over her, offering his hand. Sara reached up, and David lifted her to her feet. This time, Sara could feel where the giant had smacked her in the chest, as there was no shield in front of her.

  “You are not using your mind.” This time, David waved his finger at her. “Second, if you do decide to attack, do not close your eyes. Yes, what you may see will be horrible if you are using a weapon, but in the time, you have your eyes closed, your enemy can change direction and hit you where you are not expecting.”

  “So, I need to keep my eyes open”, Sara said, trying to learn the lesson.

  “Yes, but that is not what I am trying to teach you. Now get moving.” David once again pointed across the valley.

  Sara began to complain when David reminded her, “You promised not to complain, and I did tell you this was going to be hard,” then David raised his voice, “SO MOVE!”

  Sara turned and ran back across the valley. This time, she wasn’t moving nearly as fast, but David seemed to know, as it was the same distance from the trees as before that she heard his warning cry.

  The shield and sword were there, and once again she grabbed the shield and weapon, then turned and faced the giant. This time, she was determined not to close her eyes. Watching him close the distance, Sara waited to lift the sword and shield into position when she knew that he was close. She stuck out the sword, trying hard to lift the heavy blade to meet his oncoming charge. This time, Sara saw that the giant changed directions and moved around the blade, his hand out to come in contact with the shield.

  Whack!

  And she saw the sky.

  This time she didn’t take his hand but rolled over and stood slowly on her own, clenching her teeth so that she wouldn’t yell at him. This didn’t seem like training to her, but before she could think of anything to say, David responded.

  In a voice that was louder than he normally used, he said, “You are getting practice in one of the skills you need to learn today, but willingness to take abuse is not the lesson I wanted to teach you.” David pointed back across the valley and this time did yelled, “Move, Sari.”

  Sara paused for just a moment when David bellowed, “NOW!” His voice filling the valley.

  Sara turned and ran. This time, she was running much slower and trying to understand what she was doing wrong. She was most of the way across when she began to stumble. Her legs were cramping when she heard the voice of David warning her that he was coming.

  Sara dropped to the ground, knowing that she couldn’t make it. It was then that she had an idea. If she moved on her hands and knees, the grass was taller than her, and so she started moving away from the path they had taken. She heard the thumping sound of David’s feet coming and she moved even further away and lay out on the ground, hoping he wouldn’t see her.

  She heard David thunder past, and it was then she thought she knew what the giant was trying to teach her.

  “Good girl,” David’s voice rang out. “You figured out the lesson, come on out and let’s talk.”