Eldrick entered the library, gathering tomes he sat in preparation for his trance. Looking around the room he noticed Lugh sitting at one of the tables, quill in hand, ink slowly dripping from the nib as he tried to read the tome he was studying. Eldrick standing, walked over to Lugh.
"What are you reading?" Looking over his shoulder Eldrick noticed it was one of the tomes he had read the first day in the library. "Ah, herbology."
"Yeah, except I don't understand it."
"What is it you don't understand?"
"Everything, I can't read. I get by on watching others but when I have to study by myself I just can't do it."
"Well, that would explain why your notepaper looks more like a blotter than notes. Here let me help. No, I won't be telling you what it is, I am going to teach you to read. Then you can learn it for yourself." Eldrick sat on the bench beside Lugh. "First thing you need to learn is the alphabet. But to do that you are going to have to learn the shape of the letters and what they sound like. Which will require you to write them out." Reaching over he picked up a new sheet of paper. With a practiced hand, he drew lines across it. At the beginning of each line, he placed a letter. First a capital version then a lowercase on the line below. Explaining as he went. As he finished the first sheet he passed it over to Lugh while beginning a new sheet to continue the lesson. After three sheets of paper, he had the entire alphabet written out. Explaining the sound of each letter and whether it was a vowel or a consonant. Once the explanations were done he instructed Lugh to copy each letter until he had a clean version and could recognize it at a glance.
Leaving Lugh to his work Eldrick once again settled himself for his learning trance. Calming his mind he entered the trance. This time he tried to keep part of his awareness separate in case Lugh needed help. Once in trance, he lost track of time. Lugh calling his name brought him out of the trance. Rising to see what Lugh needed he noticed the fading light. Once again he had spent an afternoon in trance.
"What is it Lugh?"
"Well, it is time for dinner. Then after dinner, I am supposed to work with you on staff work. I don't know how much skill you have so I am going to start at the very boring basics. Kind of like you did with me. Boring but necessary." He held out an arm, "Well, Ellie shall we go get dinner?"
With a smirk, Eldrick took his arm. "Why Lugh, I would love to get dinner."
They left the library laughing, arm in arm. Entering the dining hall Eldrick saw Jane waving him over. People shifted to give him room on the bench beside Jane, while Lugh sat across from her. Yosef brought food to the table. Setting platters in front of the assembled diners, before heading back to the kitchen for more. Once everyone was served he came out with a platter for himself and sat beside Lugh. With everyone seated Amarna entered.
"Sorry to interrupt your meal but I have the night duties list. Lugh, special assignment with Ellie, Yosef, you are going to be spending time in the cadaver room. Caitlin, the apothecary, Jane you are on cleaning duty. Once your meal is over I would like to see you in my office for further instruction. That is all for now, enjoy your meal." Gathering a tray for herself, she turned and left.
With Amarna out of the room, everyone started chatting again. Lugh was in good spirits, despite having extra work. The meal progressed convivially. With the platters being cleared of food people began leaving for either tasks or to find their beds. With everyone filing out Lugh rose to go. Waiting for Eldrick before leaving the room. Eldrick, Jane, Caitlin, and Yosef rose nearly simultaneously joining Lugh near the door.
"I guess we had better get this meeting over with." Resignation dripping from Caitlin. "I hate working in the apothecary."
"Why is that?"
"Oh Ellie, you don't know do you? Numbers and I do not get along. As long as there is someone there to help me I can get it right but if I am trying to read them they seem to jump around."
"That must be difficult. I don't know if there is anything I can do to help with that." Eldrick felt compassion, though he couldn't really understand.
They reached Amarna's office door. Eldrick knocked and waited for a response.
"Enter." They filed into the room, standing with their backs to the wall. Eldrick closed the door.
"These assignments are to help you improve though I know some of you may not survive the training." She looked at Caitlin and Lugh. Tomorrow Eldrick you will be trying to explain your learning trance to all the students and staff. Lugh tonight is staff work with Ellie. I am going to need to get used to hearing that. Yosef, I need you to do a dissection and take notes on the muscle groups, how they are connected and the skeletal structure. Caitlin, the apothecary needs supplies in the form of poultices. Specifically in the form of mustard plasters prepped. Jane, as clean-up you have the kitchen and a deep scrubbing of the operating theatre. Also please check on our levels of bandages." Taking a pause she started to wave them off. "Oh, the courtyard is out of bounds for the foreseeable future after yesterday's events. So the staff work will have to be in the entrance foyer." Now she excused them to their tasks.
"Well, I wasn't expecting this turn of events," Lugh mentioned as they filed out of the office. "Ellie, go get your staff." He paused for a moment as Eldrick started for the stairs. "Put on some leggings and get out of that dress."
Eldrick, surprised to hear that, turned back at the base of the stairs. "But, I was ordered to continue as I currently am."
"Do Jane or Cait wear a dress while training?"
"Ah, no they don't. Well since we are going to be remaining inside the building I guess it doesn't really matter." He nodded and ran up the stairs.
After a few minutes, he returned in his trews and tunic, his staff in his left hand. Lugh nodded seeing this. Eldrick took his stance, staff held out horizontal in front of him. Lugh shaking his head approached and adjusted Eldrick's stance.
"Never start with your staff held out like that. It invites attack, then again any stance with a staff invites attack." He chuckled. "Now feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. I think before we really start I want to see what you know about the manoeuvre a staff can be used in. Take them slow to start."
Eldrick began swinging the staff. Most of his motions were for basic defence. After a while, he moved into attack poses. After the first couple, Lugh stopped him.
"This is going to be a very stressful session for both of us." Shaking his head slowly. "The first thing I noticed is that you are not stepping into the attack. Some moves require you to step forward while others need you to take a quick step back. You don't want your feet planted, you lose power that way. Here watch."
Lugh, staff in hand started whirling it over his head then dropped into an attack posture. One leg slightly forwards of the other while his staff kept up a continuous motion. With some of the attacks, he took a step towards Eldrick and then others required him to retreat slightly as the staff flashed forward from below. Explaining the reasoning behind each move as he went through them. Once the demonstration was complete, he ended in a ready position.
"Now this time I want you to attack me. I will be using defence only and not trying to attack." He bit his top lip. "The reason I say I won't try to attack is because there are some patterns which lead directly into an attack. After a while, we will get into a routine in which you will need to attack and defend." Bracing himself in preparation. "Ok, come at me."
Eldrick looked at Lugh in shock. There was no protection for either of them. He had to trust that Lugh knew what he was doing. Thinking about the tasks handed out to each of the others he understood Amarna's reasoning. Taking his position, a deep steadying breath then he attacked. The ends of the staves flashed with the constant clack of wood on wood. After a while it became hypnotic and Eldrick could almost feel himself slipping into a trance of sorts. Faster and faster they flew the crack becoming more of a clackity-clack as the speed increased.
"Enough!" Lugh called out. "How? I mean when you started your motions were clumsy at best. I don't understand but as we continued I was struggling to fend off your blows." The stunned expression caught Eldrick off guard.
"What do you mean?"
"I felt like I was trying to defend against my old mentor." Lugh mopped his brow with his sleeve. "The old codger was better than anyone I had ever seen with staff work. I mean he was past retirement but hadn't lost any skill or speed. I think this time you go defensive while I attack. I know it doesn't seem fair but I have a funny feeling."
Eldrick blinked but nodded nonetheless. He prepared himself for the bruises he just knew were coming. When Lugh struck with vengeance and out of the blue. Eldrick was able to fend off the first attack, though just barely. They continued, with Eldrick barely holding Lugh back from actually striking. Once again the crack of wood on wood increased. Eldrick found himself slipping into a trance while defending, everything becoming instinctual. The continual clash brought an audience from around the hall. The murmurings of the onlookers rose in volume. Eldrick's staff was moving so quickly it could barely be seen but for the blur, it left in the air. Suddenly silence filled the room. Eldrick looked over at Lugh sprawled on the floor slowly rising to his feet.
"Well, that was definitely interesting. I don't really think there is much I can teach you. You are a natural with the staff." Rubbing his chest gingerly. "That last strike was not something I could defend against with my staff out of position because of your defence. Like I said before some defences lead directly into an attack." He looked around the room. Not seeing any of his fellow Thormalkians he breathed a sigh of relief. "Tomorrow you will be with Cait if I have anything t say about it." He bent down to retrieve his staff from the floor. "She is better than I am and I would love to see how you compare to her."
Eldrick stood in stunned silence. A sheepish look on his face. Some of the healers approached him to congratulate him. Lugh narrowing his eyes, a cockeyed grin coming over his face.
"Okay, I have an idea. This time we are going to spar properly. I will be trying to land blows while you defend and this time I expect you to find opportunities to attack at the same time instead of just defending." His grin widening. "Let's see if you can actually repeat this." He sprinted at Eldrick without giving him any time to react.
The speed of the attack surprising Eldrick, he barely got his staff up in time. Lugh didn't stay in one place weaving around and changing positions as he tried to breach Eldrick's defences. Eldrick's eyes following the motions while fending off the attacks. The sparring match moved all across the floor of the entryway. Eldrick slowly giving room and being pushed back towards the stairs. As his left foot hit the bottom riser he knew he was going to be in trouble if he didn't do something. The clacking of staff on staff triggering the trance, he let instinct take over. Spinning his staff he blocked Lugh's attack shifted position so he was no longer back to the stairs and retreated into the middle of the room. He dropped under the attack as it passed over his head, catching Lugh by surprise when he came back up with an underhand strike, sending Lugh's staff flying, then sweeping his legs with the butt.
A raucous cheer went up from those watching. Lugh grinned as he climbed back to his feet. "I was watching your face during that sparring match." He reached out to clasp Eldrick's arm just below the elbow. "Are you aware that the moment you hit the stairs your eyes seemed to glass over? I mean you weren't the same person in some aspects."
"What do you mean? My eyes glazed over?"
"Yeah, it was like I was watching you while you are studying. The same thing happens then."
"I guess I sort of went into a trance. I seemed to know where your staff was going to be. I mean not just the one attack but the next few."
"I sort of figured that. Cait seems to be the same. I don't understand it though." Brushing himself off he went to retrieve his staff once more. "I think this is enough for tonight."
"I would agree." Amarna's voice echoed in the silence. "Lugh I would suggest you go see Caitlin in the apothecary for one of those mustard plasters for your chest. It will help with the swelling and from what I can tell your breathing."
Lugh bowed his head in acknowledgement, turned and headed to find Caitlin. Eldrick standing in the center of the room looked around. Amarna motioned him to follow her. He did so. As they entered her office she turned to the assembled onlookers.
"Get off with you. There is much to do in the morning and I don't want to see a bunch of exhausted healers." She closed the door behind her. "Ellie, I am surprised at just how much skill you have. I was led to believe you were still learning how to use the staff."
"I uh, well that is," he spluttered unable to get out a coherent sentence. "I only started learning before we left the farm. That is, Sergei had only given me simple directions." His face a mask of confusion. "Lugh said I went trancelike while we were sparring. Is that common?"
"As far as I know, it is not. In fact, it is rather rare." She smiled broadly. "I know of only one other who seems capable of such a feat. I am going to pair you with her tomorrow. I have a feeling it is going to be a very interesting sparring match. I would highly recommend doing some limbering stretches before your lesson. And some now to prevent muscle cramps. I will give you a few exercises, to work on when you return to your room before you go to sleep tonight." She explained the simple stretching exercises, demonstrating proper technique.
"Now off with you, so I can get some work done. I couldn't concentrate with all that clacking going on out there."
Eldrick taking the dismissal left, closing the door behind him. When he reached his room he went through the exercises he had been given. Having completed them, he crawled into his bed. He was asleep before his head touched his pillow.
