Free 02 The Invaders by John Flanagan Page B

Skandian warriors are capable axmen. Competent, let’s say. But only a few are better than that. And only a very small number are experts. Your instructors were all pretty average warriors.”
    He paused, seeing a few frowns. “I’m not saying that with any disrespect. It’s a fact. They’re only supposed to teach you the basics.And they only have a few months to work with you, in which time they have to teach you a whole lot of other basic skills. Brotherband training is just the beginning. It doesn’t teach you everything. It can’t. The instructors simply have no time for showing you the finer points. When you were practicing weapon skills, the command I heard most often was,
Hit harder! Give it all you’ve got! Call that hitting?
That sort of thing. Am I right?”
    A few murmured yeses answered him.
    “Now that’s fine if you’re looking to build up muscles and tire yourself out so you sleep nights. But it’s not good enough in a fight.
    “Think of it this way. You’re in a battle. You swing your ax at someone as hard as you can. If you hit him, you split him open maybe down to here.” He indicated a point in the middle of his chest. “Now, if you don’t hit him quite so hard, you might only go this far.”
    He pointed to a spot between his eyebrows. Again, nods greeted the demonstration. Slightly puzzled nods, but nods nonetheless.
    “Is he any less dead?” he asked them, and saw a few faces showing understanding. “You’ve got to learn to control your power,” he continued. “Keep in balance when you strike. Don’t overswing. You just saw how easy it was for me to deflect Stig’s stroke and send him off balance. And that opened him up to a counterstroke.
    “Tomorrow, we’re going to start a new exercise that’ll help you learn to hit so you stay in balance.”
    The boys exchanged glances and he could see he’d caught their imagination. They were wondering what this new form of training was going to be.
    Good, he thought. If they’re wondering, that means they’re interested.
    “That’s it for today. You can head back to your tent and take it easy. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day.”
    It was Jesper who asked the question. Hal could have guessed it would be him.
    The boys were relaxing on their bedrolls, mending clothes or equipment, sharpening weapons or talking quietly among themselves, when the former thief voiced the thought that had been in many of their minds.
    “How come Thorn knows so much about fighting?” he said. “After all, for as long as I can remember, he was the town drunk.” A few of the others nodded and he continued, his gaze seeking out Hal.
    “I mean, we all saw him today, when he took on Stig. He made it look so easy.” Stig glanced up quickly at that, and Jesper hastily made an apologetic gesture. “No offense, Stig. We know you’re not an easy opponent to beat. So how did Thorn manage it? And you’ve got to admit, he did make it
look
easy, even if it wasn’t.”
    Hal and Stig exchanged a meaningful look, with Stig asking an unspoken question. Hal finally nodded.
    “It’s time they were told,” he said. “Go and ask Thorn to come in here, will you?”
    Stig nodded and rose to his feet. As he left the tent, he heard a storm of questions break out from his shipmates. He smiled to himself. They were in for a surprise.
    Thorn pulled back the canvas flap that covered the tent doorway and stepped inside into the light. As he did so, the babble of voices that had been coming from the tent cut off abruptly, and every eyeturned on him. Stig slipped through the opening behind him and took his place on his own bedroll, grinning expectantly.
    Thorn scanned the ring of incredulous faces and settled on Hal.
    “I take it you told them?”
    Hal nodded. “It’s time they knew,” he replied.
    Thorn chewed the ends of his mustache for several seconds, not sure what to say next. Finally, he began to turn away toward the door.
    “All right,” he said. “So now you