The Black Iron Empire by James E Wisher EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available For Free Download
- Authors: James E Wisher
- Language: English
- Genre: Sword & Sorcery Fantasy
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Yaz stood at the edge of the village training grounds, really just a
dirt circle outside the walls and a few yards from the town proper
where the boys between thirteen and eighteen met for daily drills.
He held his hands clasped behind his back at parade rest. A bright sun
shining in the clear sky tempered the morning chill. Summer was still a
month away and you knew it on mornings like this. In a few hours it would
be warm enough that he wouldn’t need his wolfskin cloak, but for now the
heavy garment felt good.
He hunted the beasts himself last year. Yaz made a decent living selling
furs, among other things. On the ground at his feet rested a curved,
rectangular shield nearly as tall as Yaz himself. Next to that lay a blunt
spear. Together they served as training versions of the village militia’s
primary equipment.
At seventeen, Yaz was completing his final year of training. Assuming
he passed the weapon master’s assessment, the next time bandits attacked
the village he would take his place in the shield wall with the other village
men. Though assuming he was going to pass would have been a mistake.
Master Aaron Hendal, the giant, blond weapon master, had made it clear
more than once that he didn’t think Yaz was cut out for the shield wall. He
was too short and too skinny. His body just wasn’t designed to absorb the
sorts of impacts fighting in the wall required.
Yaz couldn’t argue with his reasoning, but as the son of the village
chief, no favoritism could be shown. If anything, Master Hendal pushed
him harder than any of the other boys. It paid off in some ways. He might
be small, but Yaz was the best archer in the village. He was still using a
bow designed for thirteen-year-olds, but he could put an arrow in a man’s
eye from forty paces.
A roar and crash split the air as the current group of trainees, two
opposing teams of four, came together, shield to shield, pushing for
advantage. Dust flew as they scrambled for position. To Yaz’s left and right
boys cheered and shouted encouragement to their friends.
Yaz remained silent, focusing on what the boys did. Everything Yaz
experienced was permanently imprinted on his memory, ready for perfect
recall at any moment. In fact, he remembered everything from the time he
was three months old onward. This wasn’t at all normal, according to his
mother, but also nothing to worry about. One of the sages had a similar gift,
though his perfect memory only extended to what he read, and he taught
Yaz how to deal with the ability and the nightmares that came with it.
“Enough!” Hendal bellowed.
The trainees stopped at once, separated, and stood at attention. Hendal
walked up one side of the formation and down the other. At last he said,
“Good. Clear the circle. Group two get ready.”
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