Ornery
Adjective
- Being bad-tempered and combative.
- Not changing one’s mind or position on something even when presented with good arguments.
Lunge, slash, clang went the sword. Metal banged noisily as Gabriella fought three soldiers at once. “You aren’t good enough to spar and fight with me.” Gabriella sneered. Batting back one sword that came close to her eyes, Gabriella put her whole body behind her next slash and split a wooden shield in half.
Broken splinters of wood clattered to the ground as Gabriella shoved her practice sword into the belly of her sparring partner. There were two soldiers left. “One down, two to go. Come on!” Gabriella yelled. The two soldiers with swords began to lower their weapons. “What are you doing?” Gabriella barked.
The taller of the two soldiers stepped forward cautiously. “Gabriella Khan, Daniel needs help. We are going to take him to the physician.” Clearly this soldier was nice. He wanted to do the right thing. He knew Daniel needed help immediately. Michael took off his helmet, was thumped on the head with a wooden sword, and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Two down, one more to go.” Gabriella said after whacking Michael. She began circling the final soldier before swooping in looking to finish him off.
Gabriella looked into the final soldier’s eyes. The brown eyes glinted with fear and a desire of surviving at all costs. The final soldier didn’t wait to be attacked. He charged at the khan. As Gabriella’s wooden sword arced directly towards the soldier’s head, he turned at a right angle and ran as fast as he could toward the gate. Gabriella bellowed, “Get back here you coward! I am the Khan, ruler of this castle, and all the land around it. Get back and fight. Your Khan demands it!”
Gabriella took off after the small soldier. His small strides were nothing compared to the khan’s. She ate up the distance with 4 great steps. Jumping onto his back, she tackled and pinned him to the ground. “You are abominable. Any day now, River Raiders will come from mountains to raid our granary tower and take our harvest.”
The soldiers training stopped to see what Gabriella was saying. “We might as well open the doors and invite the dirty River Raiders to live with us through the winter rather than have cowards on duty.”
For years, the khan had always protected the castle from River Raiders that attacked. To be efficient, the khan split people into different groups to prepare for the eventual battle. One group of people worked the fields for the harvest. Another group of people were builders that built defenses around the castles. The other group trained as soldiers during the spring, summer, and fall months.
“Gabriella Khan, I think you are crushing the soldier.” Michael said while limping on a sore leg and rubbing his head. “We don’t have enough soldiers to stand guard. We need everyone strong enough to hold a sword to stop the River Raiders.”
Soldiers all around the courtyard had begun to nod their heads in agreement to what Michael was saying. The soldiers followed his commands and respected him greatly. After all, Michael was the captain of the soldiers. Gabriella was the khan, not Michael. That meant she made all the rules. If she didn’t want this soldier defending the walls, he wouldn’t.
“You dare question your Khan? Bow before me.” The Khan demanded.
Michael bowed on his knees and said, “Mighty Khan, I am your loyal soldier forever.”
The complete story, It’s Nice to be Nice, will be published to the class website on the last day of school: June 22, 2017. Until then, enjoy the other teasers.