“He’s a monster,” Dena said between gulping gasps of air.

  Three hours of non-stop Ka-Sho—and all twelve barehanded forms—had even Syl on her back regretting every life choice she’d ever made.

  “I can’t feel my legs…” Leeze wheezed.

  “I’d be happy to feel them for you,” Kule offered.

  “Touch me and you lose those fingers,” Leeze said, rolling her head just enough to glare at the boy. Kule was too busy looking at her sweat-sheened legs to notice.

  “Spear forms,” the Sho-Sen said and all seven trainees on the ground groaned in unison.

  “But Sho-Sen,” Leeze complained. “We just competed last night! And we have to compete again tonight. Shouldn’t we get a break?”

  The Sho-Sen, their instructor, simply crossed his muscular arms. “Considering some of what I saw last night, I thought you would appreciate the opportunity for extra practice.” His eyes shifted to Kule, who was conveniently examining his fingernails.

  “Syl’s just going to win anyway,” Leeze sighed.

  Syl only half-listened to the complaints as she stood and picked up her Sho-Val harness. The argument would play out the same way it always did, so she loosened her tired muscles while running spear-forms in her head.

  Each of the twelve barehanded Ka-Sho forms had a slight variation involving the use of the Sho-Val. It was anybody’s guess which the Sho-Sen would start with, so she strapped her harness on.

  “While Syl’s performance last night was excellent,” the Sho-Sen gave her a small nod. “Even she can make mistakes. Victory is still up for grabs. And if you ever want to beat her, you need to stop simply following her.” A poignant look reminded them only Syl was on her feet.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Kule asked from the ground, finally taking his eyes off his fingernails. “We just…” His words cut off when he looked at the Sho-Sen’s face.

  The man was definitely not kidding.

  Each of the trainees sluggishly got up and joined Syl by their kits.

  As taught, Syl drew and inspected each of the Sho-Val’s three components. She started with the paired blades, each two feet long, and attached to foot-long hafts. The softly curving edge was free of nicks and sharp enough to split sunlight. The balance felt right as she slowly executed a pair of spins before switching hands and repeating the same maneuver.

  Confident in the blades, she reverently placed them on the ground and drew the third, and simplest, piece of the Sho-Val. Two feet of haft with no blades, each end had clasping mechanisms to connect with the other components. Many people ignored its functionality. In nimble hands such as Syl’s, it made the Sho-Val an extremely versatile—if difficult—weapon to master.

  Syl went through each of the weapon’s configurations, from separate paired blades, eight-foot double spear, to five-foot single spear. Unlike most others, Syl also practiced with the middle haft in one hand and a blade in the other and she checked the balance before finally nodding her approval that all was in order.

  Her Sho-Val was the prize for her victory at the Ka-Sho-Dan the previous year, and it was a remarkable piece of work. Her inspection finished, she sheathed the weapon in the harness over her back and took up her position again in front of the Sho-Sen.

  When the others finally lined up beside her, the Sho-Sen looked at Kule. “Which form would you like to practice?” he asked.

  Kule answered predictably. “En-Da!” he said emphatically, stating the easiest of the forms.

  “Then we shall start with Pal-Bok,” the Sho-Sen said, and an evil grin slowly spread across his face.

  On the wheel of Ka-Sho forms, Pal-Bok was the polar opposite of En-Da, and one of the most difficult with a Sho-Val in hand. Exhausted from three hours of practice already, Pal-Bok would be grueling.

  “Great choice,” Rogar said out the side of his mouth.

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  Though she couldn’t disagree with Rogar, Syl simply took up the ready position without complaint. For Pal-Bok, even the relaxed, first position took effort. She balanced on one foot, the full eight-foot spear held above her head in one hand, with her other arm straight out in front of her. If they hadn’t done the barehanded forms already, she could have held the position for hours.

  Everybody’s muscles trembled as they took the stance, but nobody dropped out of it.

  A small smile of respect replaced the evil grin on the Sho-Sen’s lips. He was proud of them, and that gave Syl the determination she needed to slide through the forms as the drums thumped their demanding rhythm.

  Mercifully, they only went through six of the twelve forms before the Sho-Sen had them put down their spears.

  “At least he didn’t make us do bow forms,” Kule whispered to Rogar.

  “Excellent idea, Kule,” the Sho-Sen said, and gestured towards their resting bows.

  “But what about lunch?” Leeze asked.

  “Complete the bow forms to my satisfaction and lunch shall be your reward,” he answered.

  “And if they aren’t to your satisfaction?” Kule asked.

  “Then we have six other Sho-Val forms we can enjoy together. Now, bows.” The Sho-Sen stood straight with his hands clasped behind his back. The discussion was over.

  As before, Syl was the first with the bow in her hand. The first back in line. The Sho-Sen gave her a small nod.

  “Syl, which form?” he asked her.

  “Lo-Dal,” she said immediately. Lo-Dal combined significant groundwork with numerous athletic flips, and with the bow, required being able to accurately shoot from several awkward positions. It was the form Syl struggled with the most.

  “Lo-Dal it is,” the Sho-Sen said.

  “Oh, of course he actually goes with what she picked,” Kule said quietly.

  “Because it’s already one of the most difficult forms,” Dena shot back.

  “If you have the energy to talk, you have the energy to take up the first stance,” the Sho-Sen said, abruptly very close to Kule. The boy did well not to jump out of his skin at the man’s sudden appearance beside him.

  Two other bow forms followed Lo-Dal and each of the seven trainees held their breath as they waited for the Sho-Sen to call out a fourth stance.

  “I’ve got special plans for you this afternoon,” the Sho-Sen said cryptically instead. “So go home and get something to eat. Be back here in two hours.” The man didn’t leave room for questions, turning and walking off immediately.

  “What do you think he’s got planned?” Edar asked.

  “Torture is my guess,” Dena said.

  “Torture after lunch is better than torture now. I think another bow form would’ve killed me,” Leeze said.

  “At least…” Kule started, but three others interrupted with a shouted, “Shut up Kule!”

  “Fiiiiiine,” he grumbled.

  “We don’t need to go back to the village,” Dena offered. “I brought enough sandwiches for everybody.”

  “We can eat those on the way back. A pre-lunch snack to get our stomachs warmed up for the main event,” Kule said, rubbing his hands together. “Candied boar!”

  “Then why did I bring this all out here with me?” Dena looked regretfully at her packed lunches. “I think we should just stay here. Besides, who knows what the Sho-Sen has planned for us. We don’t want to have boar-tummy later.”

  “There should be fresh pie,” Syl said slyly.

  “To the village!” Dena practically shouted, pointing. “What are you all waiting for?”

  “So, Syl, you ready for the second round of the Ka-Sho-Dan tonight?” Edar asked her a few minutes later as they walked in a loose group along the covered trail back to the village.

  “After that practice, I may just end up sleeping through it,” Syl said, eliciting a chuckle of agreement from the rest of the group.

  “You’d think he’d give us an easier day,” Leeze added. “Does he have a bet on somebody from one of the other classes or something?”

  “His niece is what, thirteen now? Did she pass the first round last night?” Edar wondered aloud.

  “The Sho-Sen is harder on her than he is on any of us,” Dena said. “Besides, I’m sure you all saw that smile today. He wants one of us to win.”

  “He wants Syl to win,” Kule said bluntly, but without any resentment.

  “Not as much as Reylo does,” Rogar said, and elbowed the boy on his right in the ribs.

  Reylo proceeded to turn as red as was physically possible. His crush on Syl was about the worst-kept secret in the village. But Syl just didn’t think about him the same way, and she didn’t have the heart to break it to him.

  “I just… you know…” Reylo stumbled. “I want to see one of us win, and I think Syl’s got the best chance.”

  “You also think she’s got the best a…” Kule cut off abruptly as Dena thumped him in the stomach.

  “Reylo’s right,” Leeze said between mouthfuls of sandwich. “You do have the best chance Syl. Everybody’s watching you.”

  “But don’t expect us to just roll over and give up. We’re all aiming for top spot,” Rogar said with determination.

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Syl responded with a smile as she looked at her friends.

  “Maybe rolling over and giving up would be in your best interest, Rogar,” Dena said, jabbing a sandwich in his direction.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

  Dena held up one finger. “Yesterday, Syl had you face down in the dirt begging for your mama during your spar.”

  “I tripped!” he explained.

  Dena held up a second finger. “Day before that, pretty sure she dunked you in the river.”

  “Saw a fish,” he mumbled.

  Dena held up a third finger, but everybody was laughing too hard for her to even go on.

  Syl couldn’t help but smile at her friends. The next few days would have her dancing like her life depended on it. But with these people beside her, with their unspoken support, she would come out on top.

  The jibes continued all the way back to the village and poor Rogar was left red and mumbling by the friendly torment. With just ninety minutes left until the Sho-Sen expected them back at the Ka-Sho field, the group was quick to wave their goodbyes and split up.

  Except Dena.

  She looked at Syl with determination and mouthed a single, sacred, word.

  Pie.

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