The Call to War!

[cobra]

Sarel equipped himself with a helm as well, before taking up a blunt blade and taking a ready position. He awaited his teacher to begin the demonstration.

[raive]

Iriel leaped forward and brought his blade down in an overhand chop, but suddenly he twisted to the side and swung at Sarel's right side.

[cobra]

Sarel reflexively put his sword up to block, but ended up getting hit by Iriel's feint. He staggered a bit, regaining his composure quickly, before putting his sword back in ready position, knowing where he went wrong and what would happen if that blade were really sharp.

[raive]

Iriel furrowed his brows and instead of trying to trick Sarel, as was normal for elven swordplay, he made an immediate thrust at Sarel's chest, hoping that Sarel could block it.

[cobra]

Sarel, again on reflex, used his sword and smacked Iriel's blade away, before pointing it at his neck, stopping before the tip touched his throat. He backed away, looking at Iriel for approval or critique.

[raive]

Iriel pushed the sword away after letting it stay there for a second. "This isn't going to be as difficult as I thought. Well done. It was a basic strike you blocked, but if you block like that, you can block any human's strike as they're far slower. Where did you learn that?"

He then noticed that the mage hadn't been completely thorough in the dulling of the blades; a small trickle of blood began to run down Iriel's neck. Iriel healed himself with a quick spell and turned on the mage. "You call these blades dull? It's a good thing I used the side of the blade to hit young Moongleam here else I could have severely damaged the armor, not to mention his side."

"I'm sorry, sir, I'd never cast that particular spell before. Here, let me do it again..." he cast the spell again. "There, I apologize greatly." He bowed deeply.

"I forgive you. Just do it more carefully next time. Now, then..." he looked back at Sarel. "We will train more." He got into a fighting stance again.

[cobra]

Sarel gulped, uneasy at what he had done. He sighed it off and psyched himself up again, before attempting to attack Iriel with a leg sweep with his sword.

[raive]

Iriel stepped to the side nimbly, out of the range of the attack, and pressed the blade against Sarel's neck in a motion akin to normal fighting speed - for a seasoned High Elf. "Too slow. To be a Swordmaster, you must strike quickly and you must strike hard. This is imperative."

[cobra]

Sarel grunted, stepping back. His eyes narrowed, and his face became serious. He took a deep breath, and came in again, looking as if he was going in for the same strike, but curving the path of the blade in a backwards 'J' shape, just in case Iriel got out of the way of the attack.

[raive]

Iriel saw this coming, almost too late, and he ducked underneath the strike, rising up and slashing at Sarel in a long, raking, rising vertical motion.

[cobra]

Sarel's reflexes suddenly sparked. What he saw almost came in slow motion. In a flash, Sarel brought his sword back, knocking Iriel's sword out of his hands, before coming back at his neck. He stood there for a moment, before he backed up, suddenly a bit frightened with what he did, "What... Did I? just do that?" he said, shuddering.

[raive]

Iriel blinked and stepped away. "How in the name of Caledor did you--you're talented, Moongleam. Extremely so. I--" suddenly, he heard a blaring horn sound from the Tower. "Sarel. That's the call to battle. I think we're fighting Daemons or Druchii this time around. If they're Druchii, that is, our dark kin, then we shall show them a reckoning that they've never seen before. This I know. Come, young one. We must fight." He strode off towards the tower where Swordmasters were already assembling.

[cobra]

Sarel gulped, but stayed true to his teacher's call. He dashed off with Iriel, following him to the tower.

[raive]

At the tower, Swiftstride was barking commands at the one hundred Swordmasters assembled, along with Iriel. When Swiftstride saw Sarel, he narrowed his eyes. "Sunblaze, this one is too young for battle. He'll be killed."

"Not so, Commander. He has magical talent. I have faith that he won't be killed."

"Very well. Have him fight behind you, covering your back. The Druchii are cowards and will strike our backs, given the chance. We cannot let him die as that will leave us with a bad mark against our name. Sunblaze and Moongleam, you're with Bettimlar regiment. They will be in the second wave. Sunblaze, I'm promoting you to unit commander for the time being."

"Thank you, sir."

Swiftstride looked at Sarel. "Moongleam. Protect Sunblaze at all costs. You and he are extremely important for different reasons. Take your duty seriously and you may be considered an actual Swordmaster. Now, go."

Iriel took his place in the front rank of the Bettimlar regiment. "Behind me, Moongleam."

[cobra]

Sarel took up is sword, uneasy, getting behind Iriel. He took a deep breath and took a stronger stance behind him, "So... are these... Druchii... powerful at all?"