by Eric Vall
The princess seemed to recount the tale of battle with a look of nostalgia. “The competitors that win each round, of course, get to go on to the next one. This continues until there are only twenty remaining, and then there is one last round that takes place within the throne room in front of the war council and the royal family to determine the final winners. Those are the ones that have the honor of joining the royal army.”
“How long does this entire process take?” I asked curiously.
“However long it takes.” Annalíse shrugged. “It usually takes about two months altogether.”
“That’s crazy,” Rana cried out in disbelief.
“That is our way,” the female warrior said reverently. “I don’t agree with my father on many things, but I do agree with this. Our trial is one of the biggest reasons why our army is so fearsome and deadly. Few other continents have such an intricate and grueling process and push their soldiers the way that we do.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Rana admitted.
“So, you said before that your brothers encouraged you to enter into these trials,” I asked the chestnut-haired woman. “Did you actually do it?”
“No,” Annalíse sighed.
“What happened?” Morrigan asked before any of us could get our words out.
“No one knew I wanted to compete, other than my trainer, Kalon, and my brothers,” she began with a heavy sigh. “I trained late at night and in secret. I was getting ready for the first trial, but then my father found out.”
“And he was an asshole about it?” Rana asked.
“He flew into a rage,” the princess said flatly. “He said that I was about to make a mockery of our kingdom and our sacred trial. I tried to argue against his accusations, but he wouldn’t listen. Even my brothers and Kalon all spoke up in my defense, but to no avail.” She paused her story for a long moment as if the worst was to come.
In the pit of my gut, I knew that to be true.
Finally, Annalíse continued. “Of course, my father wouldn’t punish my brothers for their participation in my so-called stunt, they are his sons after all. But Kalon… my father threw him in the holding cells for crimes against the king. He claimed that Kalon had committed treason for training me to compete. Kalon didn’t even fight it, he allowed my father’s men to take him. I haven’t seen Kalon since then. I don’t even know if he’s still alive. I ran away the next day and wandered the continents for half a year. Then I meet Rana, and you all know the rest.”
“I’m sorry, Annalíse,” I placed a comforting hand on the princess’s shoulder.
“I’m alright,” the swordswoman said hurriedly and rubbed at her eyes with her forearm. “It’s just that Kalon means so much to me, he’s done a lot for me over so many years. He was more of a father to me than my real father has ever been. He believed in me and wasn’t so foolish to think that my gender would hold me back from reaching my goals.”
“That is why I am so determined to be the one that challenges my father,” Annalíse said as determination replaced her grief. “Not just because of my arranged marriage, but because he refused to let me participate in the trials despite the fact that I went through the training just like any other, and even more importantly because of what he did to Kalon.”
“His actions were despicable to say the least,” Morrigan said with a look of undisguised disgust. “You and Kalon committed no crime.”
“You certainly didn’t,” Rana said with a frown. “Your dad is unbelievable.”
“Surely your mother said something to dissuade him,” Carmedy chimed in.
“Not to my knowledge.” Annalíse shook her head solemnly. “She never goes against what my father says. She says that a queen must always support her husband’s decisions. I understand the need for support, such a thing is essential to keeping a marriage strong, but so is honesty. If one feels that the other is making an unwise decision, there is a way to inform them of your thoughts and feelings respectfully. This business of politely nodding one’s head in silence and agreeing with everything that is said is absolutely ridiculous to me. It should be a partnership, not a dictatorship. Both people should not only feel comfortable but encouraged to speak freely,” The female warrior grumbled with irritation. “Should I ever choose to marry, I would never do as my mother does.”
“Yes, I have a feeling that your husband would be well acquainted with your thoughts and feelings,” I said with a wry grin. “You’re certainly not one to hold your tongue.”
Annalíse only answered that with a shy smile.
“Anyway,” Rana’s eyes darted back and forth between Annalíse and me a few times before settling on me, “I just thought about something that the rest of you seem to have forgotten, particularly you, pal.”
“What’s on your mind, Rana?” I folded my arms over my chest and raised my eyebrow.
“You said if Annalíse trains and improves enough by the time we reach her castle that you’d let her be the one to knock High King Ainmere off his throne, right?” the fox woman asked me.
“Yes, that’s what I said.”
Rana turned to face the swordswoman. “And you said that whoever kills the High King is the one that gets to take his place, right, Annalíse?”
“Yes, that is our way.” Annalíse nodded.
“That’s what I thought,” Rana said as she shifted to cross her legs in front of her. “So that means if Annalíse gets to kill the king, you’d better get used to not being the one calling the shots, because she’d be in charge, not you big guy.” Rana gestured to the princess with a smirk. “It’d be High Queen Annalíse, not High King of Darkness. If you want to be king, you’d have to marry her.”
“Oh, I… hadn’t thought of that,” Annalíse said as her freckled cheeks turned a distinct shade of crimson.
“We’ll sort all that business out later,” I said, but the thought was intriguing.
“I thought of something else,” Carmedy spoke up. “Wouldn’t your brothers be jealous or something that you’d be in charge instead of them? Wouldn’t it seem like you sort of overstepped them since they’d be in line before you under… well… normal circumstances?”
“I very much doubt that they’d feel that way,” the princess explained with a shake of her head. “When they were quite young, the idea of one day becoming High King was exciting to them, but as they grew older, their views changed.”
“Understandably so,” I said. “Such a position is quite the responsibility and comes at a great price.”
“Exactly,” Annalíse said. “The High King has countless duties including the responsibility for the safety and maintenance of all Tamarisch and the bulk of Tintagal. Not only that, there is the constant reminder that on any day, someone can challenge you to combat for your throne. My brothers often said that if they absolutely had to hold positions of royalty, they would prefer to hold lesser positions or better yet, rather just continue to be high ranking soldiers in the royal army. They would offer no protest to my ascension.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” I said. “I’d, of course, want to have such high-ranking men remain in their military positions, especially given that they’re your brothers. Perhaps they’ll also aid in the running of the kingdom?”
“I’m sure they’d be happy to do that,” Annalíse replied. “That sounds like something that they’d be well suited for.”
That seemed to settle the heavy discussions of politics and the past. The five of us finished our meals and continued to talk amongst ourselves about lighter things for another hour or so before I finally rose to my feet.
“I think now would be a good time to get started with your training,” I said to Annalíse.
“Excellent,” the female warrior said enthusiastically, and she sprang to her feet.
“Have fun.” Rana waved as we walked away. “Try not to kill each other,” the fox called after us with an airy laugh.
Annalíse and I entered into one of the tunnels and, after glancing
down the branches, selected another tunnel that led to a small, empty cavern.
“Alright then,” I said as I drew the God Slayer from my void pocket. I tapped the end of the halberd on the icy floor, and the weapon’s many blades slowly slid out. “I’ll begin with teaching you how to use your augmentation stone properly and the transformed weapon that comes with it. First, I’d like you to summon forth the power of the augmentation stone.”
“How do I do that?” Annalíse asked as she drew Bloodscale from her back.
“Simply press your thumb on the stone to activate it,” I explained.
As I instructed, the human woman pressed her thumb on the face of the green hexagonal gem. No sooner had she done so than a humming sound emerged from the warrior’s weapon, and the sharp edges of the sword started to glow with vibrant green light just as they had done before. The same emerald runes ignited across Bloodscale’s blade. The humming intensified as green lightning erupted from the sword. The blade grew in size as it sprouted its rune-covered axe blades before the magical energy surged over the warrior’s form, replacing her normal gear with the glorious golden armor from before.
“There,” I said with a satisfied nod. “Now, you know how to summon the stone’s power, and you’ve already learned how to recall the armor and return Bloodscale to its original state.”
I raised the God Slayer up into a defensive stance and grinned. “Now I’ll teach you how to wield this weapon. Attack me.” I beckoned to the female warrior with my free hand.
Without hesitation, Annalíse rushed toward me and swung her augmented weapon to strike at me. I quickly sidestepped her attack, however, and as she flew past me, I brought my halberd down on Bloodscale. The impact knocked the blade out of her grasp and caused her to stumble. The weapon fell to the ground with a metallic clatter as the swordswoman caught herself. She then furrowed her brow and huffed as she stooped over to reclaim Bloodscale. As she did so she grumbled to herself and though I couldn’t hear her words, her frustrated expression betrayed to me that she was scolding herself.
“Shit, you are really fast,” she hissed.
“You must be quicker on your feet than that,” I said to the chestnut-haired woman. “Not only that, you must become accustomed to your weapon’s weight. You said before that it was surprisingly light?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Annalíse nodded, the augmented axe-sword back in her hand.
“You have to adjust to this,” I lectured her. “Don’t allow your movements to become sloppy just because the balance has altered. Use the weight to your advantage.”
I raised my halberd once again. “Now, try again,” I said as I beckoned to the woman to attack.
Annalíse slowly and quietly circled around me as she waited for just the right moment to strike. Suddenly, she lunged forward and swung Bloodscale over her head in a tremendous chop. She was quicker this time, but still too slow.
I hopped out of the way just as I had before, but as the axe head of her weapon slammed down into the floor, Bloodscale’s runes flashed with emerald light. The ground cracked beneath the weapon as that light burst forth from the blade as a wave that tore through the solid ice floor. The burst of magical energy left a wide, jagged crack in its wake before it dissipated at the cavern wall.
“By the gods,” Annalíse breathed as her eyes roamed across the chasm in the icy floor she had created and then shifted her gaze to the weapon in her hands. “I had no idea that the augmentation stone had made Bloodscale so powerful.”
“Indeed,” I said seriously. “The power of these stones is not to be taken lightly. All the more reason why you can’t afford to be sloppy with your movements. While I admit that the destruction that it just caused is quite impressive, you wouldn’t want an attack like that to go astray and hurt one of your comrades.”
“I understand.” The female warrior’s lips pressed into a tight line as she stood tall. “I promise I’ll wield it with the utmost care.”
“Good,” I said to the swordswoman. “Now, this weapon is similar to a battle axe. While you are trained to handle a wide variety of weaponry, I do believe your skills with the axe aren’t quite up to par with your sword skills.”
“Not quite,” Annalíse said with a slight wince. “While I am worse with spears, I know I still have room for improvement.”
“I wouldn’t use the word ‘bad,’” I replied. “You’re quite talented, a fact plain to me even before the story of how you trained for the trials.”
“Oh, thank you.” Annalíse looked down at the ground uncomfortably and shuffled her feet. “That means a lot coming from you.”
“However,” I continued with a firm voice, “if you want to have even a chance of defeating your father, you have to do even better than you ever have done before.”
“I know I can do it,” the freckle-faced human said confidently as she raised her head to meet my gaze.
“Alright then, let’s continue,” I said and motioned for her to come closer to me. The princess nodded with a look of tenaciousness fixed on her face and then walked toward me. Once she was a few feet in front of me, she planted her feet firmly on the ground, pinched her lips together in determination, and brought Bloodscale up into a ready stance.
I held up a hand before she moved to attack. “This time I don’t want you to rush at me. Instead, I want us to revisit the basics just to freshen them in your mind. I’m sure it’s been quite some time since you’ve used a battle axe.”
“Yes, it has,” Annalíse said as she lowered her weapon slightly.
“Since this weapon is a combination of both a sword and a battle axe, you’ll be able to use a combination of fighting techniques which should prove very useful in battle. Let’s start off with a basic over-head cut. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart with one foot in front of the other,” I instructed the human woman.
The warrior moved as per my instructions and then looked at me expectantly for my next words.
“That’s fine, now, go ahead and demonstrate slowly,” I bid the princess.
Annalíse slowly brought her weapon over her head and lowered it toward my head, to which I brought up the pole of my halberd to thwart her attack. Her form was greatly improved as she took my instruction and advice to mind as an excellent minion should.
“Fine work,” I praised. “Just a quick note on defensive technique, keep in mind that the battle axe is a weapon of brute force, so dangerous that most men are laid low by one good blow. Use that fear to force your foes to make mistakes and allow you to strike a telling blow. Your feint strategy must be excellent, and you must be three to four steps ahead of your opponent.”
“Got it,” the swordswoman replied. “I’m slightly embarrassed. I just told you how my kingdom raises fine warriors, but next to you, I fight like a child.”
“It is a new weapon, and I am a god,” I said. “You will quickly become better.” I returned to my original ready position. “Let’s do it again, but regular speed this time.”
Annalíse quickly drew up into stance once more and, without a moment’s hesitation, swung Bloodscale back down on my head, and once again, I parried her attack. Though each swing was done with more confidence than the last, I still saw some imperfection, and that would not do.
“I see that your blade wavers a bit at the end of your swing,” I observed sternly. “We’ll practice this movement as well as outside and inside cuts until every strike is perfect. Once you have achieved this, we’ll practice stopping your attack at the end of each swing. This will help with your swing discipline to prevent overextension as well as keeping your blade straight as you cut.”
“Understood,” Annalíse said intently.
“Try again,” I said as I pulled my weapon away from her blade and repositioned myself in preparation of her attack.
The princess bit her lip and then swiftly swung her weapon overhead again. This time, instead of blocking her jagged axe blade, I quickly sidestepped her attack. I wanted to demonstrate how eas
ily her weapon could be knocked out of her hand due to the current way she was holding it. I didn’t get the chance to do so, however.
The human woman obviously hadn’t anticipated my sudden movement, and with the amount of force that she had applied to her swing, she started to stumble forward, a proof about my point regarding swing discipline. Not wanting her to fall on her blade accidentally, I hurriedly caught her in my arm as Bloodscale crashed to the floor, and the sound of the metal clattering against the ground rang through the air.
Annalíse regained her footing and looked up at me as she scratched her head with an embarrassed expression. An expression I wasn’t sure was due to her error or because my arm was around her waist. I could feel the warmth of her body that was pressed against mine and I heard her breath quicken. Annalíse didn’t wear perfume like Carmedy and Morrigan but somehow I still found her natural scent sweet and intoxicating and I inhaled the scent as it drifted up to my nose.
“I-I suppose I wasn’t ready for that, was I?” the female warrior stammered, and I thought I detected the slightest blush.
“Not quite,” I said with a faint chuckle. “I don’t think your father will be quite as merciful as I just was. We have some work to do. Swing discipline, remember?”
“Right.” She cleared her throat awkwardly and moved away from me with seeming reluctance to pick up her weapon. She walked away for a few steps and then paused for a moment. “Master?” the chestnut-haired woman said as she slowly turned toward me.
“Yes, what is it?” I asked her. “Is there something wrong?”
Annalíse blinked her brown eyes several times, and her lips parted to speak but no words came out.
“Nothing, never mind,” she finally said as she closed her mouth.
“Are you sure?” I raised an eyebrow.
“No, it’s… it’s nothing important,” Annalíse said quietly. She mumbled something under her breath that I couldn’t quite catch as she stooped down to retrieve Bloodscale. “Anyway, I’m ready to try again. I won’t rest until I get this right.”
