Dad slid the sharper stone along the table. I looked down at it. It was well worn having seen its share of arrows.
“Dip the arrow head in the water,” he said. He moved the bowl toward me. “Then draw the arrow along the stone, first one way, then the other,” he said.
I shrugged and did as he said. As soon as I pulled my first line, he said, “Stop!”
“What?” I asked him.
“You have to tilt the blade,” he said. “The way you were doing it, you were just dulling the blade. You are really trying to get the edge thin. You just grid away one side then the other until the edge is as thin as can be.”
“How do I know?” I asked him.
“When you can’t even feel the tip against the stone. Then there is nothing more to grind,” he said. “You have to understand everything about the world,” he said, his eyes blazing. “Your skin is made up of layers. The outer layer is really dead. Underneath the outer layer is the live skin and the blood. You push the arrow, just a little. If you feel it slide through the outer layer, it’s sharp enough. You don’t need to push hard. If you have to push at all, then it needs more sharpening. You’ll learn.”
I nodded like I understood but all I know is that the arrow cut me. But if I was going to be a Cavalier, I had to learn.
“Can I try again?” I asked him.
“Sure,” he said, handing me another arrow.
I sharpened the arrow like before. I could tell when it was right. But this time, when it came time to test it, I closed my eyes and tried to put my brain right on my other thumb. I let the arrow rest on it and applied just the tiniest amount of pressure. I could feel it sliding through the calloused part, just like Dad said. I stopped it before it cut me.
You can see where I stole the sharpening stone to fold into The Ark Lords. Tomorrow, the final part of Chapter 2 and the day after, the last little remnants of Chapter 3.
Entry 1-241: August 23, 2013
The Last Cavalier, Part2c
Yesterday and the day before, I covered the first two portions of Chapter 2 of The Last Cavalier. Here is the final part: