Darth John snow's Arc

Chapter 2 of 10

By morning, the two recruits stood in the yard with borrowed swords hanging wrong in their hands. Darth John Snow watched them swing at the air and knew the truth. They would die on their first patrol. He set down his huge blade and walked them past the stone walls of the training house, where blade racks lined every side. He planted a wooden post wrapped in worn canvas in the center of the yard. "Hit it," he said. "Until your arms shake." The taller recruit struck once and grinned. The shorter one missed and stumbled. Darth John Snow folded his arms and waited. Hours passed. The canvas tore. Hands blistered. The girl came by with water and a small orange lizard on her shoulder. She watched them swing and nodded as if grading them. Then she pointed to the far end of the yard, where a line of wooden dummies stood in a row across worn stone. "That's the line," she told the recruits, certain as ever. "When you can walk past those without falling, you're ready." Darth John Snow had not said this. He had not even thought it. But he did not correct her. He let the line become real. By dusk, the taller recruit crossed the row of dummies clean. The shorter one made it halfway and dropped his sword. He picked it up without being told and tried again. Darth John Snow saw it and said nothing. The recruit crossed the line on the third try. They were not skilled. They were not safe. But they could swing without cutting themselves, and they could stand a watch. The shorter recruit looked to Darth John Snow for praise. Darth John Snow turned away. Then a rider came down the path, shouting that bandits had been seen on the north road. The recruits looked at each other, not at him, and reached for their blades.