Chapter 3 - continued

The next lesson for the day was another combat session. While most of the battle training extended to both classes of students, the full contact armored sessions were reserved for the warrior path. In order to get the pupils used to the weight and feel of armor, each of the students wore a training suit for each skirmish.

The armor, while not the traditional heavy iron plate, did have similarities to the standard issue gear. Their training suits were custom sized sets of thick leather armor shaped to mimic the sectional blades of traditional plate. A light leather helm with no real protection was also worn.

In addition to this, multiple pads of ceramic were attached to certain areas via leather straps. These plates served three purposes. The first was simply for extra protection. The second was to help mimic the heavy weight of Protectorate armor. The third was an aid for scoring during full contact training battles. In order to score a point, the attacker had to hit the clay section with enough force to crack or break the pad. This also simulated dents that might occur with traditional metal armor.

Donovan had sparred in this armor several times before. It was awkward at first, but he had learned to adjust to the altered movements and the shifting of the different plates. He had lost both of his previous fights, once to a thirteen old female and once to a sixteen year old male. They were not total losses. He had been able to block most of attacks with his weapon, but still fell in the end.

The weapons used for these sessions ranged from short copper bars to mimic rapiers, to long steel poles for polearms. On this day they were using medium weighted training swords similar to the size of the standard broadsword.

His sparring partner for today was one of his few friends in the program, Sidney. Sidney was an eleven year old boy from a nearby farm. He was slightly heavier than the others, and both of them were the two youngest members currently training with the Church. They were of course the weakest of the trainees, but both had jumped leaps and bounds in the past month in terms of strength.

The combat grounds consisted of a soft clay floor covered with patches of dried grass. Hay bales had been placed randomly throughout the battleground to act as temporary walls used for cover. Sidney and Donovan, fully suited in their armor, went to their starting positions. The combat trainer rang an iron bell, and the two began charging toward each other.

Sidney took the first swing. It was easily deflected by Donovan and his training sword. Sidney swung again, this time an overhead blow which was again blocked. As a response Donovan kicked Sidney in his side. The young man consequently fell to the ground.

Donovan raised his blade to the right, swung his sword down towards Sidney's legs, and impacted upon a shin plate. The clay plate cracked, and Sidney was spun around on his rear. In real battle, a blow of that kind would have disabled his foe allowing him to take a finishing blow. In other cases, he could leave his opponent upon the field and move onto other more lethal targets.

Sidney rolled on his back away from Donovan, and sat their kneeling. He immediately rose, charging Donovan yet again. Donovan was unable to spin out of the way, and Sidney was able to clip Donovan on the chest with his shoulder. Being the larger of the two, the blow from Sidney was punishing but not painful. The plate located on Donovan's breast showed no signs of fracture.

Temporarily disoriented by the hit, Donovan strafed to his right and hid behind one of the hay bales. He paused and then moved to another bale further behind him. The temporary wall he had initially used shuddered and fell over from one of Sidney's sword blows.

Donovan quickly used this to his advantage. He grabbed a handful of scattered hay and threw it into Sidney's face. Temporarily blinded, Sidney took a few steps back and toppled backwards over a single bale behind him. He lay upon the ground trying to clear his helm of the grass.

Donovan rushed in an attack stance towards his fallen foe. He took a step upon the nearby hay bale, jumped into the air, and shifted his sword into a downward stroke. He came crashing down onto the center chest plate on Sidney's armor. The ceramic pad shattered into several pieces and Sidney coughed up a mouthful of blood.

With a ring of the iron bell the match was over. Donovan was the winner for the first time during his training.

Sidney lay upon the ground holding his chest. Donovan placed his hand down to help Sidney up from the ground, and pulled him up. Sidney wiped some blood from his mouth with his wrist and made a chagrined look at Donovan.

"Did you have to hit me so damn hard? I think you might have cracked one of my ribs! It feels like I got hit by a stampeding cow!"

With condolence on his voice, Donovan spoke. "I just wanted to win this once."

He spoke again. "Besides I didn't really hit you all that hard. I could have split that leather armor of yours if I had really wanted to."

"Good work Donovan," the trainer said with a congratulatory tone.

"You both must realize that we guardsman will use anything in our environment to help with each and every battle. Use of the scattered hay was a clever tactic, and as you both saw, it was a deciding factory in Donovan's victory."

Continue to Chapter 4