John got up from his straw bed. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his legs. He glanced out of the window to find that the sun had just recently risen. He yawned one final time and proceeded into the main room of the house. His father sat near the open fire pounding on a piece of red hot metal. "Father it is almost six in the morning."

"When will you learn, John that there is no money made in sleeping. Now go out and get me water and more metal from the scrap pile."

"Yes father." He picked up the bucket and walked out and around the house. They lived in the small town of Tandin. John had spent his whole life in this town. The town sat in the midwest region of the kingdom of Dunlock. Tandin was far from the capital of Dunlock. It was so far that most people in Tandin were ignorant to affairs in the capital.

A few people of the town passed by and gave a wave of hello to John. Everyone in the town knew John and liked him. They were amazed at his athletic ability and quick wit.

John walked behind his house and down a hill to a small stream. He bent down and filled up the bucket. He ran up to the house and gave the full bucket to his father, and exited the house once again. This time he walked to a large pile of old armor. He began to pick the large pieces out when something caught his eye. from the bottom of the pile he pulled a three and a half foot broad sword. It was still in perfect condition.

He lifted the sword into the air. He felt a strange surge of power flow through him. It felt as if the sword had become an extension of his own body. He closed his eyes and let his mind flow free. He started to swing the sword around in a circle. The circle grew with speed and power. He let his body take control of the sword instead of his mind. He wield the sword like he was a master. Normally he would fear cutting himself, but this time he felt confident. He dreamt of fighting warriors on a battle field and striking them down one by one. He felt as if he knew what he was doing, or as if he had known what he was doing for a long time. He took one final swing with the sword and abruptly stopped.

When he opened his eyes he found no one watching him. He let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like every time John was by himself, he would pretend he was a knight fight in wars or protecting maidens. He was always scared that some one would see him, but no one ever had.

He would often wonder about his destiny. Since he was the son of a blacksmith he knew that he would eventually become one himself. He enjoyed helping his father, but it didn't feel right. He didn't feel that he could spend the rest of his life working as a blacksmith. He wanted to be someone else. He wanted to be a knight. "Enough with thinking about that. I've got work to do," he thought to himself. He picked up the rest of the scraps and hurried back inside.

When he returned to the inside of his house, he handed the scraps to his father. He stopped his work, looked at John, and said, "How old are you now?"

John became puzzled. His own father knew perfectly well how old he was. "I'm seventeen," he responded.

"Seventeen already, my how the years have gone by. Soon enough you'll be taking over as the blacksmith of the village." John's face saddened a little and his eyes fell to the floor. "What am I saying? My son, the fastest, strongest, and smartest boy in the village becoming a blacksmith. No not a blacksmith. A knight. Now that is job for my son." John's mouth fell to the floor. He couldn't believe what his father was saying. David bent down and pulled two floor boards apart exposing a hidden compartment. From within he pulled out a small chest. "This should be more than enough to pay your way through training at Dunlock castle."

John stood in total shock. Was this a dream? It had to be. He was finally going to get the chance to achieve his dream of becoming a knight. The honor, the loyalty, the courage, the swords, and the battles, would all be every day things to him. He was going to be a knight. He was going to get to fight for justice and save beautiful women. He couldn't wait to start.

"This is my gift to you John for your eighteenth birthday. I would have waited until then, but by that time training for knights would have already started and you would have had to wait six months before you could start."

"Thank you father. You don't know how much this means to me." John thought for a moment and decided that he should let out the truth. "I never really wanted to be a blacksmith at all. I have no idea why, but for some reason I have always wanted to be a knight. It was like I was destined for it."

"I know John. I always had a feeling that you didn't want to follow in my foot steps."

"I hope you're not angry at me. I still love you, but..."

"Don't worry about it or about me. I want you to be happy, and I know you'll make a fine knight," David interrupted. "Listen to me John because I going to tell you something important." John gave full attention to his father. "John sometimes in life you will come to a crossroads. You will have to choose one direction. There will be no one to help you. No one to tell you what to do. At those times you need to close you eyes and follow your heart. You must trust in yourself before you can trust anyone, and anyone can trust you. Now hurry into you room to pack your things. You've got a long trip ahead of you tomorrow."

John bolted into his room filled with excitement. He tried to calm down, but the excitement of going into knight training was too much. He did manage to keep himself calm enough to pack his clothes some what organized. Once his clothes were packed securely into his sack and his room empty, he returned to his daily chores.

Through the rest of the day, John tried to remain focused, but it was almost impossible. At times like this he would usually receive a lecture from his father about how important it was for someone to remain focused at all times on their work. David knew the excitement flowing through his son, so he remained silent.

As night came the two retired to their quarters. John laid on his bed with his eyes wide open. He would never fall asleep with this much anticipation flowing through him. As he lay there staring into darkness, he began to imagine all the fun he would have and all the people he would meet at the school. He imagined himself standing in front of a king and kneeling down as the king knighted him. He would enter and win jousting tournaments. Once he became a knight he knew his father would forge him the finest sword and armor. He knew he would be an incredible knight.

As he pondered all these idea, it grew more and more into night. He tried to fall asleep because he knew that falling asleep would help the night to go faster, but it was no use. Finally late into the night he gave sleep one final try, and it proved successful as he fell into it's gentle arms and away from the physical world.

"Come on John get up. You got a long trip ahead of you."

John rolled over and opened his eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to recognize the familiar form of his father. He rolled back over to fall asleep again. Then he remembered the importance of this day and jumped out of bed. He glanced outside to find he had not overslept.

He rushed out of the room and rinsed his face thoroughly. He put on a clean shirt and returned to his room where he picked up his sack. He check one last time to make sure he had everything. Once his check was complete he exited his house.

When he stepped outside he found a horse waiting for him. "You're going to need a horse if you want to get to Dunlock castle on time. Take one of mine," said David. John mounted the horse, gave his father their final good-byes, and headed away from the village. He hoped it wouldn't be the last time he would see his father.

It was a cloudy autumn day. The clouds were nothing more than a thin sheet over the blue sky. In some places the sun shown through holes in the cloud sheet. The sun shown down in beautiful golden pillars of light upon the hilly grasslands of Dunlock.

John rode at a fast pace. He wanted to reach Dunlock castle as soon as possible. It was too bad even at the fastest it still takes a full day. He sat back and enjoyed the scenery. Dunlock was very beautiful during the fall season.

All of Dunlock was mostly grasslands. In the north there were the Tierrian Mountains and to the west just south of the mountains it was mostly forest. In the southern regions of Dunlock, the climate was warmer giving the citizens of Dunlock a small paradise to come to in the summer.

He reached the city of Dunlock at about noon. The town outside of the castle was bustling with activity. He dismounted his horse and led it through the crowds. There were all kinds of people conducting various business. John headed through the crowd along the path leading up to the castle. He passed different shops and merchants all trying to push there goods upon him. He ignored them as he continued to the castle.

The crowd lightened up as he reached the front of the gate house. He stood in awe and admired the tremendous size of the gate house and the castle itself. He had never seen a real castle in all of his years living in Tandin. "State your business in the main castle," said one of the guards while manning his post in front of the gate house.

"Is this where they have training for knights?" responded John.

The guard looked at John and sized him up. "Straight inside. Head for the man sitting at the table."

John gave a look inside. There were several men sitting a tables. "Which man at the table?"

"The one with one eye." John gave a look again and saw the man indicated to him. He proceeded toward him.

Once he entered the court yard he could see many other boys his age. They were probably starting training just like him. He walked up to the table and was immediately greeted by the one eyed man.

"Let me guess you are here to be trained." John gave an affirmative nod. "Do you have the money required for payment?" John pulled the bag of gold from his sack and handed it to the man. The man opened it and examined it. "Excellent." He unraveled a long list. "Now which lord are you related to?"

John was slow to respond. "I'm... not related to any lord.... my father is a... blacksmith."

The man broke out in laughter. "A blacksmith. You can't be serious?" The simile faded as he began to realize that it wasn't a joke. "You do realize you must be related to a lord of Dunlock if you want to train here."

John became offended. Why did it matter if he was related to a lord or not. He deserved to train as much as any other boy. He slammed his hands down on the table and threw an intense stare into the man's one eye. "I am bigger and stronger than most of these boys here. If you turn me away, you'll be turning away one of the best knights you'll ever have!" he said sternly.

The man stared back and smiled. "I don't know why, but I like you. I'll make an exception in your case. My name is Simon, and I'm head instructor here." John became filled with happiness. The man glanced at a list. "I'll put you in the north keep, floor two, room fourteen." He handed John a key. "You're right about not letting people push you around. Keep it up, and good luck in your training." With that John grabbed his sack and began his walk to the north keep.

The north keep was not much different than the south keep of the castle. Each had a large number of students filing into the main entrances. John fell in line with the residents of the north keep. The entry way opened up into a large hall lined with rooms. Each room held two students. At the end of the hall, lining the back wall of the keep, was a huge stairway which winded all the way up to the top of the keep.

John worked his way through the crowded hallway toward the stairway. He glanced into rooms as he passed by. There were many kids of different shapes and sizes at Dunlock castle to train to be knights. They had come from every region of Dunlock. There were short ones and tall ones, fat and skinny ones, and even muscular ones.

John reached the stairs and climbed them to the second floor. He used the numbers atop the doors to help him count all the way to room fourteen. The second floor was almost the same layout as the first only it was smaller.

He walked into room fourteen. There was a bunk bed for two along the right wall. In front of him was a single desk that stood against the rocky wall and window. The last piece of furniture was a dresser along the left wall. The room itself was square and divided into thirds. The third on the right was occupied by the bunk bed. The third on the left was taken by the desk and the dresser, and the middle third was left for walking space. It was a tight fit for John, but it would suffice.

John set his sack on the bottom bunk. "You can have the bottom if you want it. I like the top," said a voice from behind John. He turned to find a boy with curly blonde hair looking at him. The boy only stood as high as the middle of John's chest. He was fairly skinny. "I'm sorry. My name is Michael. You must be my new roommate."

"My name is John," he responded.

"Nice to meet you John. I've been here for a year already, so if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask."

"Well I do have one, what kind of training do we do? I'm really not familiar with this school."

Michael gave him a confused look. "Do you mean, what do we do in a normal day?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant to say."

"Oh. Well we wake up early, and the first thing we do is exercises which is pretty tough, but you'll get used to it. The we eat breakfast. After breakfast we have physical training where we are taught various hand to hand combat with different kinds of weapons. Then we have lunch. After that we have our studies, then dinner, a short free time, then we go to bed."

"That sounds like a lot."

"Just stay with me for the first week or so and I'll help you along."

"So what do we do for the rest of today?" asked John.

"Today is a day off for all of us already here. I don't have work to do, but since it's your first day you should walk around and see the place." John agreed with the idea, but before he left Michael stopped him. "There is some things you must know. First thing is, don't go into the main part of the castle. The king says it is off limits to peasants, and he doesn't want his daughter to be seen by peasants."

"A princess I might have to look into that."

"Trust me you don't want to. For one thing if you get caught in the main part of the castle you will be arrested and tried for trespassing. Also from what I've heard, the princess is extremely ugly."

"Are you sure she is ugly?"

"Hideous, every one in town knows about her though no one has really seen her. They say that she is so repulsive the king keeps her locked in a tower, so she will never know how ugly she is."

"Well I guess that ruins the fun."

"Don't worry there is still a lot to see. You can see the training grounds in the courtyard. You can see the hall where we do our studies, and you can talk to other students in the south keep." John begins to turn to the door. "There is one last thing. Most of the kids here are pretty kind except for one, Bryant. I must warn you to stay clear of him. He likes to push kids around and has the size to do it. I would stay away from him if you want to stay in one piece."

John flashed back a smile. He always felt people like Bryant needed to be taught a lesson. "Don't worry, I stay away." He turned and exited the room into the crowded hallway.

The courtyard was still pack with students registering. John strolled through the swarm trying not to draw attention to himself. Michael's warning had made him curious. He wanted to find who Bryant was. Maybe if he wasn't too big John could teach him a lesson.

He found himself next to the armory which was between the main part of the castle and the north keep. It had only one entrance. It was locked and guarded by two soldiers. John walked alongside of the main castle entrance and headed for the south keep. Between it and the main castle was the study hall. It stood empty awaiting tomorrow's rush of students.

As he turned into the entrance of the south keep he walked right into somebody. Before he could even apologize he was pushed into the wall. The boy stood about six feet six inches.

"Out of my way!" he yelled. "You're lucky I'm in a rush because I'd beat the life out of you if I wasn't"

This must be Bryant, John thought to himself. He was pretty angry for being pushed, but now was not the time to get in to a fight besides if it was Bryant he was too big to fight. A different strategy was needed. Bryant turned and walked away. I'll get even with him not for me, but for all of the students he has picked on, thought John. He felt he had enough site seeing for one day and decided to return to his room.

When he reached his room he found it was late afternoon. The window in his room was over the armory, and the sun could barely be seen setting. He was tired from his long journey to Dunlock castle and decided to turn in early. He laid down on his bunk and tried to put the newly found hate of Bryant out of his head. He hoped Michael wouldn't wake him up when he came in. It took only a few minutes for him to fall asleep.

When he awoke it was night. The entire castle was eerie with a dead silence. He pulled himself out of bed. He assumed it was the middle of the night and he awoke when he did because he went asleep so early. He stood up and glanced out of the window down at the armory. It stood still and silent.

Something moving across the courtyard caught his eye. He figured it was a soldier until it came into better view. He could see it was a hooded figure. He was headed for the armory. Probably a thief, John thought. He slowly moved out of his room. Once he reached the hall he rushed down the stairs.

He slowly moved out of the main entrance. He kept his back against the wall and out of sight. He peered around the edge of the keep. The figure was working on the getting the locked door open. John took this opportunity to move in closer.

When he was in close enough he leaped, tackling the figure to the ground. He pinned him down and removed the hood. He was surprised to find it was a girl, a beautiful one. She had long dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. John's eyes met her, and he was instantly flooded with a wave of emotion. She was the most amazing girl he had ever seen in his life. For a few moments they laid there in each other's arms staring at one another.

She snapped out of the trance and kicked John in the stomach. The blow caught John off guard knocking the wind out of him. She shoved him aside, stood up, and began to flee.

John quickly recovered. "Wait," He spoke in a loud whisper as he stood up and raced after her. She was fast, but John was much faster. When he closed the gap between them enough he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me," she spoke. She struggle to get free.

Her voice was soft and gentle as it flowed through John's ears. "Who are you?" John asked.

She ceased struggling. Her eyes fell to the ground. "I cannot tell you, besides you would not believe me." She pulled herself free and fled once again.

"Wait," John called, "I want..." He suddenly cut off when he began to hear the sound of voices. He knew he would be punished for being out of the keep at this time of the night, yet he had to find out who this mysterious girl was that stirred so much emotion within him. He looked for her, but she was gone. He turn and made a mad dash for the keep entrance. He stepped in just as soldiers entered the courtyard.

He stealthy moved back into his room and into his bed. He pulled the covers over himself and feigned sleep while he listened attentively. He listened for noises but heard none. He decided he was out of danger, so he positioned his body comfortably in preparation for sleep.

As he closed his eyes his mind began to fill with strange thoughts and emotions. They were all centered around the strange girl he encountered in the courtyard. The emotions were strange and different. He had known many girls when he lived in Tandin, but none were like this girl. He was drawn to her. It wasn't just her beauty that aroused these feelings. He had seen many beautiful girls and none compared. It felt almost as if he was destined to be with her. Maybe it was love, he thought. He had to know for sure.

In his bed that night he made a promise he intended to keep. He had read many stories about men and women falling in love and the power it gave them. He remembered the way they felt when they first encountered their true love, and he felt much the same. He promised himself he would find her again, and this time he would not let her go. He would find her even if he had to spend the rest of his life searching.

That night he dreamt of her. In his dream he saw her beautiful face once again. He discovered she loved him as he loved her. He dreamt she was captured by an evil lord and he rescued her just like all the stories. He knew was in love. Now all he had to do was find his love.

The clang of the morning bell instantly brought John out of his slumber. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Soon after the bell ceased its annoying clatter a knock came at the door. Michael dropped from the top bunk and opened it. In the doorway stood one of the instructors. He checked in the room.

"Don't worry sir we are awake," said Michael.

"Good. Be down and ready to begin morning exercises."

"Yes sir," Michael responded. He turned to John. John stood up and change his shirt. He secured his things and exited the room with Michael. They followed the line of students out of the keep and into the courtyard. All of the students organized themselves into straight even lines. An instructor stood on a stage in front of them and began to lead them in a variety of different stretches.

John knew all about the exercises. One time he had read a book on how a knight trains and all of the exercises they do. He used to do the same exercises every morning before he worked helping his father.

He looked around to see if he knew any of the students near him. He really wanted to find his mysterious love, but doubted he would with all men in the courtyard. One boy he did find was the one who had pushed him. He leaned over to Michael. "Is that boy over there, Bryant?" he asked.

Michael lifted his head and looked in the direction John pointed. "Yes that's him."

"Oh... I was just wondering." He wasn't of course. He wanted to know who Bryant was so he could get even with him and keep an eye on him.

They went from stretching to doing more strenuous exercises. John glanced around to see many of the student struggling. It seemed easy to him. He noticed one of the students was Bryant. As Bryant fell to the ground exhausted he looked around as if embarrassed. His eyes met John's and John returned his glance with a smile taunting Bryant. Bryant gave an intimidating look. John laughed. He wanted to anger Bryant into something rash. He was hoping Bryant would jump up and attack him. He instead returned to his exercises. It looked as if the final confrontation would have to wait.

Once they finished their morning routine they all gathered into one line and filed toward the front of the castle. They all walked into a building just behind the front wall and next to the gate house. Inside of the building were rows upon rows of tables and chairs. John assumed this was the dining hall. He mimicked the rest of the students as he watched them walk along a table stacked with bowls. Each student picked up one of the bowls and proceeded to the next table where they had it filled with soup then found a seat at one of the tables. John did as the other students and found a seat at a table with Michael.

Breakfast was short. There was just enough time to finish one bowl of soup. Then they returned outside to begin their physical training. They gathered around an instructor as he began to teach them about various weapons.

"Each week you will learn about a new weapon. This week we will start with the quarter staff." From behind the instructor a man walked up and whispered into his ear. He addressed the mass of students crowded about him. "I want each of you to take a staff, split into pairs, and begin practicing. There is something I must attend to." He walked away with the other man.

John grabbed one of the quarter staves. He partnered up with Michael and began to practice handling the staff. He knew he could easily over power Michael, but he decided to take this chance to experiment with some moves.

He stopped suddenly. "What is it John?" asked Michael.

"Look at Bryant. He is practicing with someone who isn't even half his size." Michael noticed the unfair match up of Bryant with a five foot, skinny boy. The boy held his staff in a defensive position while Bryant slammed his staff down on it repetitively. Then Bryant took a side ways swing knocking the staff from the boy's hands. He then smacked the boy on the side on the head. The boy fell to the ground in a cry of pain. "That's it" John yelled. He rushed over to put himself between Bryant and the boy.

"Leave it alone!" yelled Michael. "If you get into a fight you'll get punished heavily for it."

John turned back and drooped his staff. "I won't fight him just embarrass him."

He crossed his arms over his chest and stood strong. Bryant had his back to John and was bragging about his latest victory to some of his followers. His followers were made up of boys who pushed around students and used Bryant's intimidation as protection.

"I didn't know beasts of burden could become Dunlock knights!" John yelled in Bryant's direction.

Bryant turned around and looked down at John. He let out a laugh. "Are you talking to me?" he asked looking down at John.

"You are the only one here who closely resembles an ox aren't you?" John said with a smirk. He knew he was fueling Bryant's anger.

"I'll give you one chance to run away before I crush you." responded Bryant.

"Crush me? Are you sure?" asked John playing dumb. Bryant gave a positive nod. John noticed Bryant was still holding his staff in front of him with one end in the ground. John moved closer to Bryant. "Do you know what you really are?" John spoke slowly using his words to distract Bryant as he put his hand on the quarter staff Bryant was still holding.

Bryant leaned close to John. "What am I?" he asked.

John quickly pushed the staff smacking Bryant in the face. "An idiot," he responded. Bryant stumbled back clutching his face then recovered and immediately went wild in a fit of rage. The other students held Bryant back.

"I'll kill you!!! Nobody makes an ass outta me!!!" John laughed angering Bryant further.

"What is going on over there?" yelled the instructor as he rushed to find out what the disturbance was. The students quickly calmed down even Bryant regained his composure.

"Nothing is going on. It is just a misunderstanding," responded Michael in an attempt to avoid trouble.

"Well, you better get this cleared up now! The king is visiting the training center tomorrow! I don't think he would enjoy any of this nonsense."

"We'll get it straight, sir," added Michael.

"You'll get it straight now!!!" the instructor yelled, "Is that clear?!"

"Yes sir," the crowd responded.

"Good, now head to the dinning hall for lunch."

The crowd of students gathered their staves into a organized pile then headed for the dining. Michael made sure John stayed clear of Bryant.

"Relax Michael, I'm not going to cause any trouble. I just want to stir things up a bit."

"Well you've stirred things up more than a bit. Do you realize how severe the penalty is for fighting."

"I'm just trying to provoke him into doing something rash. In the end he will be the only one to receive that penalty."

"And what if you must confront him?"

"Then I will make sure there is no way I can get in trouble."

"I don't know about all this and I don't really care. Just don't get me involved," responded Michael.

"Don't get yourself involved," responded John. They quickly finished their lunches and followed the mass of the students into the study hall.

The instructor in the study hall was an old man with a long gray beard. He gave a long lecture about courage for most of the time then he put some questions on a chalk board behind him. He then instructed the class to answer them. John had already assumed he would have to answer the questions, so he started early and finished early.

He glanced around the study hall. It had an incredibly high ceiling. The students sat in rows which slanted up a long two walls of the room. The rows crowded around a center point below from which the instructor gave his lecture. He scanned to see if there was any other students done with there assignment. He found the only other person was Bryant. John couldn't tell whether he was done or didn't bother to do it. He just sat in his desk and threw a stare of sheer anger back at John. John flashed a smile.

The dismissal bell destroyed the delicate silence of the studying students. The study session seemed to last forever. With the classes dismissed, the heard of young trainees made a mad dash for the dining hall to receive their final meal of the day.

As soon as each student finished their dinner they depart to engage in personal activities during their free time before bed. John and Michael returned to their room. Michael returned to the assignment from today's study session. He didn't finish in the given time.

Close to the end of free time a figure appeared in the doorway to John's room. He was one of Bryant's followers.

"If I were you I wouldn't mess with Bryant," said the boy.

"He doesn't seem so scary to me," responded John.

"That's just because he's on probation. If he gets in trouble again he'll get kicked out of the school, but if you anger him enough he won't care about the probation."

"Well you see son, I'm an impatient person. I'm not planning on waiting long." John paused for a moment to think. "You tell your boss, master, lord, whatever you call him to meet me tomorrow during the training session. If he can find a way to distract the instructors then well have a duel of quarter staves. If he wins, I will swear never to make a comment again. I will also bow to him. If I win, he must swear not to harm or push around any students anymore. Now go and hurry." The boy nodded and ran down the hall.

The final bell rang signaling lights out. John blew out the candle and climbed into bed.

"You're crazy you know that John."

"I just trying to prove something to everyone and to myself, and I hoping to bring a little entertainment to this training camp."

"And get yourself killed in the process."

"Now your overreacting. I can beat Bryant."

"I'm the one overreacting. Listen to yourself."

"I know I can. His anger is his weakness. If I get him angry he'll be out of control. I'll remain calm and stay back striking strategic blows every once in a while."

"Whatever you say, John."

The next morning, John could barely pull himself out of bed. The first day of training had wore him out. It took some help from Michael to fully awaken him. After stretching and giving a final yawn, John was ready to begin the day. It was only when Michael reminded him did John realize the challenge awaiting him on this day.

The morning exercises gave John an excellent warm up for his up coming confrontation. At breakfast Bryant's messenger from the previous night sat down with John. He spoke of Bryant's acceptance to the duel and explained the plan of distracting the instructors. John agreed with the plan.

"Tell your man to be ready. I'll meet him in front of the south keep." The boy left with the message. John took a deep breath and closed his eyes to prepare himself for battle. There was no turning back now.

Almost everyone at the school stood waiting for John out in front of the south keep. Bryant stood waiting also. As John entered the circle he received one of the two staves Bryant was holding.

"Let's make this quick," said Bryant.

"My thoughts exactly," responded John.

The crowd separated giving the fighters some room. Bryant began to flex his muscles in an attempt to intimidate John. John stood relaxed. He wanted Bryant to think his defense was down and attack foolishly. It worked. He closed his eyes to let the feeling he once had before consumed him heightening his senses. The spectators cheered as they circled the ring of students.

Bryant held one end of his staff with both hands. He lifted it above his head in an effort to knock out John in one blow. In doing this he had opened himself up to attack. As Bryant lifted his staff above his head, John quickly jabbed him twice in the stomach. Bryant bent over gasping for air. John readied himself to finish Bryant while he was stunned. He placed his staff between his right side and his right arm and held it with his right hand. Once he was sure he had the staff locked against his body, he spun around leading with his right side to increase the power of his blow. He gathered all of his strength to increase his speed and struck Bryant with a back hand motion.

He struck Bryant's face and caused an explosion of blood to erupt from his mouth. Bryant was thrown to the ground and laid motionless. The crowd instantly fell silent.

"What is going on?" The voice was familiar to John. He peered over the student's heads. He saw Simon, the head instructor he had met his first day in Dunlock. Simon was walking out of the main castle. He was with a knight dressed in armor and tall partially bald man with a small short gray beard. From the crown on the man's head, John remembered the king was visiting the school today. What a wonderful day to get into a fight, he thought to himself.

One of the boys bent down to check on Bryant. "He's dead!" the boy called out in a panic.

John hoped the king wasn't within listening distance. "What?! What kind of camp are you running Simon!!!" yelled the king. It looked as if he had heard, and wasn't too happy about it. "Guards seize him!!!"

John looked to the crowd of boys for help, but they quick dispersed and ran into hiding. Single guards came at John from different directions. He met the first one by parrying the guard's sword above his head. He then struck the guard in the stomach and the face sending him to the ground clutching his injured face.

He ran for the main gate. Two guards rushed at John yelling. John held his staff horizontal and simultaneously striking both of the guards in the face. The two guards flipped upward and on to their backs. He continued for the main gate but was too late as the portcullis slammed down. He turned to face his attackers. He gave one guard a quick powerful jab in the groin then pulled the staff striking another in the face.

The strange feeling was flowing through him more than ever. He ran at another guard holding his staff with both hands at one end. He struck the guard in the mid-section with a tight powerful swing. The guard collapsed to the ground and curled into a ball clutching his stomach. John immediately ducked quickly to avoid a guard's sword. He swept the guard's legs out. He fell to the ground and John jabbed him in the face. John stepped to the side to elude another sword. He swung knocking the guards head on way and swung back throwing the guard down. He charged another guard swinging down pinning his sword to the ground. He then whacked the guard twice in the chin. The guard fell to his knees holding out his hands to catch the blood streaming from the fresh wound on his chin. John evaded another guard and struck him in the groin then the face with two rapid consecutive shots.

"Ector get him!" the king yelled. The knight standing with the king started to walk toward John. John ran at him swinging his staff. Ector caught the staff in his left hand and pulled his sword from his belt with his right. John struggled to get free, but the knights grip was too tight. Ector threw John to the ground and struck him in the head with the hilt of his sword. The blow sent a stream of pain down John's spine as he fell and on to his stomach.

John laid there half conscious. "Who is he, Ector" he heard the king's voice.

"I've never seen him before, but he fights well." They were the last words John heard before he lost before he lost all conscious thought and faded into black.