David Bishop and the Legend of the Orb by T.C. Crawford (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

they have that right, but I implore you all to remember what it is we are fighting for and what the consequences will be if we fail.”

The crowd of men before her all nodded with acceptance, they knew what the stakes were. They had all fled the carnage in the aftermath of the General’s coup and knew what awaited them if they were to fail. They had lost loved ones who were murdered before their eyes during the revolt. They had lost their homes and businesses in fires that sprang up from the fighting that raged through the capital that day. Not one of them made a move to leave.

“All right men let’s get started!” she yelled to the crowd, to which they all shouted in agreement.

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By the time the sun began setting in the sky above, Erin and the men were exhausted from the day’s hard training. She had been surprised at how quickly some of the men had taken to her lessons on simple hand to hand combat.

Some had even surpassed her expectations and began helping those who were struggling with the lessons, allowing her to focus more on the ones who needed it most, allowing the training to go more quickly than she had first anticipated. They had even started working on some weapon handling techniques, particularly one-handed swords and axes, as they were the basic weapons that the blacksmiths had been working on day and night to forge and the easiest to manage.

She slowly made her way through the training group, congratulating everyone for a job well done and promising to start again early the next morning.

When she had acknowledged the last of the group, she started to make her way back towards her own campsite and tent.

When she reached her campsite, she felt hungrier than she had ever felt in her life. The entire campground was filled with the aroma of succulent meats roasting over open fires. She walked past wild boar, chickens, rabbits, and some pheasants all being nicely browned while slowly spinning over the cracking flames. In her camp was a roasted boar and off to the side was a large pot of boiled corn waiting to be enjoyed by a host of hungry soldiers.

She eagerly grabbed a wooden bowl and helped herself to a chunk of the pig and a husk of corn before sitting down on the bench near her tent. As she tore off a piece of meat in her teeth, she noticed Captain Ryan walking toward her with a bowl of his own. He sat beside her before asking her how the day’s training had gone. Erin quickly swallowed her bite of food, eager to relay the news of her training session.

“It went well. I gathered around two hundred volunteers, each ready to fight for their freedom. Some of the men have really taken quickly to the lessons I’ve been giving and have even started helping train those who were having a difficult time grasping some of the techniques.” She smiled, happy to have such a successful first day and to be a part of something of such importance.

“Great job, soldier!” Ryan said, smiling. He was happy to see her finally smiling again. He could see the training really helped keep her mind focused on the task instead of fruitlessly worrying about her friends.

“Thank you, Ryan, for giving me the opportunity to help. I know you didn’t have to, but you gave me the chance to be useful and I really appreciate it.” She smiled again before starting on her corn.

“I’m honored to have your assistance” he replied, trying to spot the best place to launch his next bite on his dinner. “You did a great job out there. You were trained well. These men will do good to listen to what you have to teach them” he finished, finally finding a decidedly delicious portion of meat to bite into.

She nodded in appreciation, still chewing on a piece of meat. They finished the rest of their meal in a comfortable silence, happy to have the company of a friend in such times and both satisfied to have a nice warm meal to fill their starving bellies.

When they finished eating and taking their plates back to the wash basin, they decided to call it a night. They waved goodbye and each retired to their own tents.

The night was silent apart from the slow, steady crackle of the fires that were left to light the camp for those on watch and the seemingly endless chirp of insects somewhere off in the woods around them. Erin listened to the peaceful night, happy to be back in bed, letting the sounds of the forest help her drift off to sleep.

✽✽✽

By the afternoon of the next day Erin had finished training the men in short range weapon combat. She had found the men who had taken to the training more quickly than the others and used them to speed along her progress like the day before, helping to train those who were grasping the concepts and techniques more slowly than the others.

The process proved to be efficient and effective.

She had requested for a series of dummy soldiers to be crafted by some of the woodworkers who were in her ranks. They chopped down a few small trees and, cutting them into manageable sizes of equal width, tied pieces together to make a cross shaped body with a small cross section for a head. They proved to be invaluable in teaching her men where to strike and how to land the most lethal blows to their opponent.

As the day pressed on, she had the men performing normal training exercises on their own in small groups while others performed quick one on one combat skirmishes with wooden swords and shields.

Her men were doing an excellent job at shaping up into battle ready soldiers. She estimated that by nightfall the next day they would be ready to use real weapons during practice.

The day grew old