One Month of Training

The next month was torture for Josh.

Mat made the fencing lessons hellish. The lessons were so tough that Josh went to sleep dreading the next session. The sour-faced dwarf was a terror, driving the boy from one end of the large room to the other. He would scream, then easily slip past Josh’s clumsy guard and slap him cruelly with the flat blade.

“Get that guard up!” Slap!

“I thought you were anxious to learn!” Slap!

“Pick up your clumsy feet!” Slap! Slap! Slap!

During these sessions, Josh learned one lesson he would later treasure—to fight back with fiery determination, no matter how great the pain.

When Josh could hardly lift his sword arm, Tam would take him to a grove for archery practice. Many times Josh’s fingers bled until the string was red, but he never complained. He began to be rewarded with the satisfying thump that sounded each time an arrow split the center of the target.

Volka used up whatever was left of Josh’s strength, teaching him to saddle and unsaddle his horse. Josh’s horse was a rather ugly roan pony named Roland. At first, Josh hated the horse because he had trouble staying on the spirited animal. But soon he came to love and trust the sturdy little beast.

[...]

Perhaps it was this talk that led Josh to new heights of concentration. In any case, the next day during the fencing match he surprised Mat by driving straight at him so furiously that the dwarf lost his sword.

For one moment, the dwarf felt the point of Josh’s sword against his throat, and Mat fell speechless.

Then Josh lowered his point and said quietly, “It’s time to begin.”