Liam crossed the cave to where Beldi rested. Swirling hieroglyphs embellished the lustrous stone floor.
Beldi motioned him to sit. Liam dropped silently onto the cold rock. Beldi put a finger to his lips and fell back into meditation. Liam closed his eyes, emptying his mind of thought.

     The chill of the floor crept into his legs and the stirring of air from above whispered of a thousand faces that had passed beneath the domed ceiling. The rippling laughter of the underwater stream and the occasional fluttering of bat wings gave life and rhythm to the flinty veins of the mountain.

     On the edge of hearing, whispering voices drifted in with the currents of air. Liam relaxed his tense shoulders. The voices became more distinct. Behind them, strains of ephemeral music swelled, exquisite almost beyond bearing. Liam strained after the music, but it vanished the moment he acknowledged its presence. When he quieted his mind once more it returned, growing in intensity until he could almost hear it clearly. Then his mind intervened, and it fled once more.

     Liam opened his eyes. Beldi gazed intently at the glinting cuskara. "We call this Viatóa tú. Cave of Souls. If you listen long enough, you’ll hear them. All the people that have ever entered this place. All the lives that have come and gone over generations. This place is filled with their sweat and blood, tears and triumph. They exist eternally in the memory of the stone."

     Beldi rose, lifting the weapon. "I started using the cuskara when I was a small child. My parents lived in Bitama Village, and they sent me here, to Bitama House, to learn the warrior arts." He swung the cuskara in lazy circles around his torso and over his head, flipping it easily from hand to hand. The blade’s metallic voice sang stridently as it whirled through the air. "The cuskara is lighter than most swords. In a skilled hand, it is fast as lightning and as deadly. Stand up." Liam stood. Beldi handed him the sword.

     Liam protested uncomfortably. "I don’t know very much about swords."

     "Then you won’t have much to unlearn," said Beldi offering the hilt again. Liam took it. "Just look at it, touch it. Let your hands memorize its texture and balance."

     Beldi crossed the cave to a row of shelves hewn into the stone. He retrieved two wooden swords, identical in shape to the cuskara, and two pairs of worn bracers. "Put that on the ground over there," he said, securing the bracers over his forearms. Liam laid the cuskara on the ground several paces away. Beldi helped him gird the bracers and handed him one of the heavy wooden practice weapons.

     "The cuskara can be wielded with one or two hands. You have to be equally skillful with each." Beldi traced the air with the wooden blade; the cuskara shifted from right to left hand so swiftly that Liam’s eyes nearly lost the progress of the weapon. "A great deal depends on your ability to transfer it quickly from one hand to the next. Your opponent should never be able to predict where the next stroke will go."

     "Before you can learn to move, you must learn to stand. You’ve already learned basic balance. Plant your feet. Sword toe pointed toward your opponent, opposite leg back and vertical. Legs shoulder width apart. Back straight." Beldi pushed Liam’s shoulder. He held his balance. Beldi grinned. "Good. Good. Cuskara takes the same agility and balance as navigating the trees. You’re already halfway there."

     Beldi lifted the blade with both hands, the crook of his right elbow nearly level with his ear, blade tilted slightly. "This is sali batu—high stance." When you face an opponent, you never know exactly where they will attack first. Left? Right? Both hands? From high? From low? You need to be able to make split second decisions. You can do that if both hands are ready. Or, if your opponent is using a two handed weapon, you have to be able to counter their blows." Beldi lunged, parrying an imaginary attack. "Then you can strike them with quick one handed movements." The cuskara blurred in the air, striking a deathblow to the invisible foe.

     Beldi shifted back into sali batu. Liam imitated him. Beldi adjusted his arms slightly. "It is uncomfortable, but you will learn. You begin every exercise in sali batu. If your opponent attacks from up high…" Beldi angled his weapon down slowly toward Liam’s neck. "Bend your knees slightly and flick the blade aside." Beldi demonstrated and then mimicked an elevated attack. Liam repeated his motion. "Now your opponent is exposed to your blade. This is called anu batama. If they are slow, then you will easily counter attack. Try it again."

     He brought the sword down slowly, and Liam deflected it. "Faster." He repeated the movement several times moving faster each time. The final blow came so swiftly that Liam nearly missed. Beldi softened his stroke enough to avoid breaking bones, but Liam’s already wounded shoulder stung excruciatingly from his mistake.

Beldi laughed sympathetically, "Believe me, you will make fewer mistakes after a few of those. Try it again."