Rezkin suddenly yanked on the reins and pulled his charger to an abrupt halt as a small-man ran right in front of him. The small-man was chasing a round ball. As soon as he caught up with the ball, he kicked it to another small-man. Several other small-men and a few small-women were running alongside, laughing and calling out for the small-man to kick the ball to one of them.

Rezkin frowned. These small-men and small-women should know better than to run in front of a battle charger. And, none of them were carrying weapons, nor did they take note of him or his weapons. They seemed completely oblivious to their surroundings. They were currently breaking at least half a dozen Rules, not the least of which were Rules 8—Know your surroundings and 24—Always be on guard. He could not see how any of these small-men and -women would live to see the next year of their lives.

He watched the small-men and small-women for a few more moments, taking special care to keep the rest of his surroundings in mind. He had never seen other small-men, aside from himself in the looking glass when he was young. He had not imagined there could be so many together in one place. He could see the advantage in training them in this way, though. Learning to fight opponents of similar size would be much easier than having them fight against big-men as he had. The small-women’s garments were completely unacceptable, though. He could not see how draping one’s body in so much loose material could be beneficial. Even now, as the small-women ran, their legs were tangling in the fabric, and they had to keep their hands occupied with holding the material out of the way. If their hands were filled with clothing, how could they hope to carry a weapon?

Rezkin tore his attention away from the small-men and small-women as he noted that more of the villagers had stopped their chores to stare at him. Why were they giving him their attention? He was not moving or making any threatening gestures. If anything, they should be paying attention to the movements of the small-men in case they decided to launch a surprise attack during their chaotic fury. Some of the big-men stepped in front of the big-women, apparently prepared to serve as guards should Rezkin choose to attack.

The warrior could not see any advantage in attacking these people. They did not seem threatening or hostile. If anything, they looked terrified. The hidden women must have failed to learn their Skills since they were apparently unable to protect themselves. Considering the fact that the grown women were wearing the same ridiculous garments as the small-women, it was understandable that they would have difficulty during battle even if they had the Skills.