After Finger Roberts let us stop for the day, I walked a short distance out of the camp to get a little time alone. I found a little clearing in the under-growth about 700 meters from the camp and sat down to practice the meditation that we had been taught that morning. I struggled for a long time to clear my mind but found it to be absolutely impossible. Every time I thought I had got it right, I found myself drifting off on some tangent, thinking about something that we had done that day, or remembering where I had come from, or just feeling the general aches and pains that I had gathered during the day.

After a while of this, I decided that it wasn't going to work for me and just relaxed. As I sat there I started listening to the sounds of the forest around me and after a while, it felt as if the peace of the forest had crept into my mind. I wasn't paying attention to any one thing, but just allowing everything around me to soak into me. Slowly I felt more and more as if I was becoming almost a part of the forest, instead of an intruder. As I thought about it, I realised that I had built up a mind picture of the area around me; almost a 3D map of the terrain and the flora. I decided to experiment a bit and found that I could treat it as if it was a virtual computer simulation, and turn it around and around in my head to examine each part of it. I started to get excited when I realised that I could look at everything from any angle.

I wasn't sure exactly how I had accomplished this; whether it was a live image or it was something built up from observation of the area while moving through it. After some experimentation, I saw that it must be 'live' as I found I could 'zoom in' on any area and observe from close up the insect and animal life there.

I concentrated on the process that I had gone through to get into this state and to call up this image to make sure that I would be able to duplicate it, then deliberately shook it clear and started again a few times. On the third time I did this, I realised that it was actually a permanent image in my mind, and it seemed that it had been there all along. I had simply not known it was there or how to access it. I stood up and started to move around while trying to keep the image in my head and discovered that with a little effort, it started to feel natural to have this image and I thought that with time and practice it would be there constantly almost as an extra sense like sight or smell.

It struck me suddenly that this might be the situational awareness that I had observed in my first meeting with Roger de Vries.

With the success that I had achieved in a direction wholly unexpected from the meditation, I thought I may as well try to apply what I had learned to using the sword. I drew the sword from the scabbard slung over my shoulder and took up a stance in the first position. I closed my eyes and centered myself, slowing my breathing and narrowing my focus to the feel of the sword in my hand and my awareness of my surroundings. Once I had done that, I started moving slowly through the forms that we had been practicing that day. As I moved, I ignored the sword and concentrated on my body; on the way that the muscles in my arm moved, how my back swiveled and arched; the way that placing my feet differently affected my balance and how the combined movements of my body affected my control of the sword's movement and the speed and power that I could apply.

As I went through the forms, again and again, I started to adjust the way that I moved all the different parts of my body as I could feel that subtle changes made an effect. I experimented with what worked and what didn't and slowly I felt myself coming into balance. That's the only way I can describe it. It was as if I had been off-balance all my life, and I had only discovered the true meaning now for the first time.

I started moving slightly faster and then speeded up again and discovered that once I was in balance, going faster was simply a matter of nudging my balance slightly so that it became natural for my body to move in that way.

It suddenly struck me that I was feeling euphoric: I had mastered something that I had heard of but never really seen or believed before. It was as if I had moved into a mental place that I had glimpsed like a far off shore seen through the mist. A place of peace and power. I let the feeling seep into me and spread throughout my mind and body and I moved with joy. I decided I liked doing this Sword Dance.

I slowly became aware that someone was impinging on the edge of the area that I was holding in my mind; someone who was watching me. I kept up the movement while trying to see who it was. I found it strange that I couldn't make out the person watching me even though the trees and plants around him were very clear. I tried to speak to the person with my mind.

"[Who are you?]" I queried.

"[I Watch]" came back.

The 'taste' of the person was strange. I thought about it for a few seconds then realised that this might not be a person at all. Maybe it was some sort of alien; one of the members of the other races that we had heard of but not really been introduced to as such.

"[What is your name?]" I asked.

"[Amusment. S'Alor]"

"[I am Cy.]"

"[Well met. You interest me. You are not prey. I will watch again.]"

And the 'person' was gone.

I suddenly found that my concentration was faltering and I opened my eyes and discovered that I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. It was a surprise to me to realise just how fast I was moving. My sword was a blur and I could feel that I was performing the sword forms perfectly. I slowed down and eventually stopped. I decided that was enough for one day so I sheathed my sword and walked slowly back to our camp.

I dropped off my sword and the rest of my kit in the barracks room and grabbed my towel and soap and headed for the stream.

Once I had rinsed off the sweat and dirt, I realised that the cut that I had picked up during the day's training was completely healed. I also noticed that I was slightly more muscular and all the remaining body fat was gone. I had a six-pack stomach for the first time since I was eighteen or nineteen. I thought about that and got an idea. I sat down on the edge of the stream and concentrated to get myself back into the meditative state that I had discovered while practicing my sword forms. I dropped into that state very quickly. Once I felt ready, I focused on the problem that I had with the hair on my face. Once I had achieved that, I focused on my body discarding all the hair that it found there. I felt a funny sensation that seemed to shiver the skin all over my body. I opened my eyes again and jumped back into the water. When I emerged, I rubbed my hand over my chin and found I was completely smooth; I didn't have any more stubble. I was very happy about that.

I climbed out of the stream and was drying myself off when I was surprised by the sound of loud hysterical laughter.

"What have you done NOW Cy?" gasped Desrae when she could stop laughing for long enough to talk.

"Got rid of the stubble," I answered, puzzled at her amusement.

"Not just the stubble you fool... you look like a billiard-ball!"

I reached up and rubbed my hand over my head. She was right. I seemed to have made a mistake. I had no hair on my head. As I explored further, I discovered that there was not a single hair left on my body. Even the hairs on my toes had disappeared.

"Oops!"

"Oops is about right" Desrae laughed, "I came to see if you were here to tell you that the food is ready."

I got dressed and followed her back into camp where I was the butt of numerous jokes from the others. Finger Roberts just gave me a wry grin and told me I would have to improve my control.