Amazing Story Club

Hunters of Aoerm Hunters of Aoerm ( Part 2)

 By Kayode Ijaola , 15 years,England

( Winning Entry- July 2006 Contest)

“Hey Xen,” joked Lance as they walked down the stony path to the town hall at late afternoon  “maybe they will pick you to be the new leader”
Xen nodded and let out a small grin.
“Yeah maybe”
“I’m not one to kiss and tell,” Terron winked at Lance “but I here that they might be doing something different this time”
Xen and Lanced begged Terron to tell them what this new thing was but Terron kept quiet and said they will probably found out later.
The party entered the town hall were there was a babble of all the families and friends happily arguing about who they thought was going to be the new leader.
Xen’s Party sat down somewhere near the front. Terron was happily quarrelling with a nearby family about the best way to kill a chicken. A pool of babbling girls as usual surrounded lance. Xen was just calmly sitting down itching to hear what this new way of election was. The mayor of Aoerm was called Eroth and was a very proud and vain man. He was extremely well fed and only came out wearing the finest of garments. Apart from this he was one of the wisest people anyone in the village had ever met. He called always resolve a quarrel without ever having to resort to and physical action in any need and with both of the two quarrellers happy at the end. The mayor stood on the high stand and called for order. His voice was so powerful it was clearly heard over the ferocious jabbering of the village and quickly quietened every one down. The village turned to stare at the proud mayor who had a booming smile on his face.
“As you all know the recent death of our great leader of the Hunters, Realm has sadly passed away,” at the mention of Xen’s grandfathers name all the people who were still whispering immediately stop whatever conversation they were having and paid deep concentration to the mayor. “This of course will mean we need a new leader” he paused to survey his congress then continued. “Usually we will have all the participants come and stand at the front and present there case while the rest of the village will vote for who they wish to lead the hunters but because of the affliction we have been suffering these past few months I believe something a little more interesting could do us all good.” The whole village had their eyes open wildly raring to know what this interesting idea was.
“In the times of old the hunter leader was not chosen by votes and diplomacy, there was a competition held and all who wanted to take to lead the hunters would take part, obviously whoever one would become the leader of the hunters.” Again the mayor paused to look at the eager faces of his village. “I think its time to endorse past traditions”
There was a great up roar of approval and the citizens had realised what this meant. The noise was deafening, even the mayor who would usually try to come his citizens down at a moment like this was letting the riot run wild. Eventually the booming voice of the mayor did calm everyone down enough to stop the upheaval but you could see the excitement in the people’s eyes.
“Therefore we will be holding the Aoerm competition three months earlier, to 18s and over anyone who wants to take part. Whoever wins will become the leader of the Hunters.”
There was another uproar but this time Xen wasn’t part of it.
The words eighteen rang through his heads like a church bell. He wasn’t going to be eighteen for another month. Xen wondered if he would be able to take part. He told his cousin and uncle he needed some fresh air and ran outside to collect his thoughts.

Xen looked for the most comfortable place to lye  down. Though it was almost mid-night and everything thing would be pitch black to the untrained eye Xen seemed to have an amplified eye power. He could almost see clearly in the dark. Though Xen was naïve so he thought this applied for every human. The night was almost filled with an aura of dark even Xen found it hard to see. The town houses and workshops surrounding the town hall were completely dark and deserted. Everyone had left their houses to go to the choosing of the new leader. Xen realised that this was probably a lot more imperative then the other hearings. Times had been increasingly hard in Aoerm because of all the growing rebellions systems to the king. The rebels would attack the cities of Aoerm just to get to the king. The cities needed a strong army to protect them from the growing threat. This is why the Hunters would be so valuable this year. Xen searched the bottom of his mind. He really wanted to enter in for the competition. He wanted to prove his worth to the entire city to prove he was not just a local blacksmith. He wanted to have glory. Though he wanted all these things he wondered if he could really lead a team of men, each of them having to follow his every command. Being chosen to be the leader would mean that Xen would have to be aware of everyone else that he may be putting in danger with his laws. Xen didn’t know if he could handle that. The emotions Xen was feeling were immense, gushing through his mind like a cool water spring. Xen new that he could not be responsible for a team, he knew his age would restrict him from being valiant enough to have the lives of people in his hand. Xen sat slumped down the wall he was resting against. He was glad he came to a decision and new however bad it made him feel inside he knew it was the right one. Xen walked back inside the town hall were all the jeering had stopped and five men were at the top of the stage along with the mayor who was congratulating these men.
”These men have volunteered to take part in the competition for the leader of the hunters. The competition will be held in one week but we will need one more man to take part. If anyone should volunteer,” The mayor paused allowing anyone who wanted to volunteer time enough to raise their hand but no one did. “Then that’s person should meet me before the end of tomorrow.”

The mayor declared the meeting over and then climbed down the raised stage to talk to people at the front row. There was a great hub hub as people started getting up ready to leave. As Xen and his cousin and uncle were walking home they chatted about the days events.
“What happened while I was away?” Xen asked
Lance turned to talk to Xen.
“Well the mayor asked people to stand up if they wanted to volunteer, he said there should be a maximum of six people in the competition but only five stood up. They need one last person to take part.”
“Xen, I talked to Eroth after the hearting he said that he knows you would love to take part but he cant let you, He feels sorry for the timing of the competition and if he could hold it at a later date till you come of age he would but times are to hard to wait for the a new leader.” Terron said.
Xen nodded in agreement he saw the mayors quandary and knew it to be fair. Plus he did not want to take part in the competition anyway.
Lance looked at Xen expecting a depressed face but Xen was fine.
”Are you all right,” lance asked.
Xen nodded again.
“I don’t think I would be able to be the leader of the Hunters anyway, I thought about it and I don’t think I could cope with so many lives in my hand.”
Lance agreed with Xen but still looked a bit unsure.
As the reached the house Terron told Xen and Lance to go to bed for they had a long day ahead of them.


Xen woke up brushing his long hair out of he’s eyes. He got up to find Terron and Lance having breakfast. He went to have a wash and got a quick meal to eat for breakfast before joining them in the Smithery.
Terron beckoned Xen to join him and he gave Xen some overalls.
“Sword making is really quite hard so you must pay attention”, Terron said sternly.
Xen nodded while putting his gloves on.
“First we must start with the blade. This is the easiest part to it as it is only one shape.”
Terron started melting the block of iron he had in front of him to the shape of a blade. He thinned down the edges at one end. Terron nodded foe Xen to start he’s own blade. He got his tongs and tried to shape the sword exactly how Terron had taught him.
“Its is better to start from right at the end and then work your way down, you can smooth out the roughs bit later” Lance yelled over the noise of the banging tools. Lance was hard at work on what looked like the hilt to the sword.
When Xen and Terron had finished Xen placed his sword in the water. He thought that he’s blade was very good for a first try so did Terron.
“That is very good Xen, I thought we would have to use your first tries as a practice but this is good enough to finish.”
Xen found it hard to suppress a gleeful smile.
“Now we must work on the hilt, this is the hardest part to the sword if u don’t get how to do it right, but you do seem to be a quick learner.” For this we just make a T section to the sword, which means we have to mould the sword. This makes it stronger than just cutting it out, also it doesn’t waste metal. Xen looked again at what Terron did, how we bent the melted metal with the extended tongs. After a while Xen realised how to do the Hilt and got started on his own, It quite a long time for even though the metal was melted it was still quite strong. Though again Xen had an exceptional skill and the hilt came out as good as Terrons.
“Again very good, now we must wind the grip round in a strong rope”
Xen got to work straight away; he didn’t need to be shown how to do this.
“Now we must weld the blade together with the hilt, this is just like we do when making a table. “
Xen new exactly what to do, he put the two part of the sword together which slotted into one another and covered the joining parts together with molten iron.
“Now our sword is basically complete, we do need to get Lance to finish them by adding a Pommel and a fuller but apart from that you have just completed your first sword.”
Xen felt ecstatic. He loved making swords and seeing how they come out at the end. He was in the Smithery for hours completing more and more swords, with each one getting better and better.
Finally all eight swords were made and Terron and Lance both went to get supper but Xen stayed behind. Terron had allowed him to make a sword of he’s own. He spent hours in the workshop trying and failing to create a sword that he felt satisfied him, sometimes the blade was to heavy and Xen’s strength struggled to carry the blade let alone wield it. He tried the starting on the hilt but he struggled with that as well, sometimes the hilt was too wide or fragile. Frustration was starting to get the better of Xen, which made it even harder to create the sword. Xen started on the blade again following carefully Terrons instructions. Xen become conscious the mistake he was making was trying to create the swords like the one he did earlier. These were meant for people older and stronger than he was and he would not be able to manipulate it. Xen sat down and tried to judge the perfect weight of the sword to fit his age. He needed to make the blade light but also strong. Yet again he continued to craft the blade of the sword fitting his dimensions. The blade was now very lean and light. He tested the strength against a stone table that rested in the corner of the room by hammering the blade onto it. A small crack started to appear at the mid end of the blade and began to wind its way up the blade. Xen threw the unfinished sword to the floor. He was so aggravated by his failure he couldn’t see how to create the sword without it either being to heavy or to fragile. He sat down on the small steps leading to the cellar and stared at the broken blade on the floor. He could not think of a way of making the sword stronger. He knew he had to keep the same dimension as the last blade but that wasn’t strong enough. Xen looked up in deep thought he saw how strong beams that wound it way around the room supported the ceiling. Xen stopped in mid-thought realising the answer was so simple, if he added a piece of metal winding round the sword it would make it quite stronger the blade would look odd but it would be able to withstand the same amount of pressure a normal sword went through. The more he thought about the idea the better it seemed. He got up straight away elated by his initiative. He grabbed his Hammer and tongs and straight away started making the blade he made it thinner than the last one in thought of the slight extra weight. Xen then proceeded in adding two winding streams of metal around the blade. The job was harder than he had thought and he had to spend a while to weld the two metals together. Finally after 30 minutes Xen had completed the strange reinforced blade he had just created. It looked outlandish but Xen thought it was also very beautiful, though beauty wasn’t the matter it was strength. Xen stood above the stone table that lay at the side of the room for a second time ready to give the blade the same test as the last. He raised the blade dreading but hoping what was going to happen. He closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer and quickly without any more thought, brought the sword down as hard as he could onto the stone table. Xen opened his young eyes, an expecting look on his face even though he new what had happened. The sword still lay in Xen’s hand with a meagre scratch but the stone table had a large chip on the side were the sword had collided with its rough body. Xen grinned exceedingly and got back to work making the hilt. He made the two supporting metal streams extrude a little more than the blade in order to attach it to the hilt more securely. As soon as he had finished the hilt he continued in adding a pommel and a fuller. Xen after an hour finished his sword and looked at his creation in marvel. It looked like nothing that he’d seen before. The rapier was long and very swift looking, more blatantly there seemed to be to snakes winding there way along the blade and meeting together as one at the top. The sword felt more like an extension of his arm. He swung the sword round a couple of times. It was particularly light but very strong nether the less. Xen tried to swing the blade around his fingers like he had seen Terron do but accidentally released the hilt sending the sword hurtling into a pile of waste metal. Xen retrieved it deciding to learn how to wield it before trying and extravagant moves again. In the Hunters group he had only be allowed to carry a long dagger and sometimes short-swords. Xen ran into the kitchen meeting Terron who was busy mending a broken chair. He looked up at Xen grinning face and then his eyes slowly shifted to the sword Xen was resting on.

“What in the name of all that is good is that,” Terron said with a flabbergasted look on his face.
“Its my new sword,” Xen grinned, “Like it?”
Terron just kept staring at the blade
“I mean… what happened to it,” Terron replied still with a look of complete awe on his ageing face.
Xen explained the dilemma of the sword making to Terron when Lance came into the room obviously disturbed by the noise Terron had made.
“What’s the matter?” he said wondering about the commotion.
Terron just pointed to the sword Xen was holding.
Terron was struck dumb.
“What on my bastards name is that”
Terron laughed as Xen explained the problem with the sword again to his older cousin.
“Well it certainly looks er… different,” Lance said as Xen finished.
“Can say that again,” Terron said going back to his work.
“I think its good and it’s a perfect sword,” Xen said in defence.
“Sure don’t look it,” said Terron and received a playful kick from Xen.
“Give it here then,” said Lance and quickly caught the sword as Xen threw it across the room.
Lance brandished the sword round and round with elegant grace. He span it round over his head and flicked it in the air quickly catching it again finishing the little show by spinning the sword round his fingers.
“Its actually quite good,” said Lance with a surprised look, “despite.”
With that he threw the sword back at Xen and quickly ran out the room with Xen in hot pursuit.