by Hugo Huesca
“Whoops, Alder, I accidentally picked a fight with fucking Vaines. Don’t worry, I just need you to do one quick thing for me. By the way, if you take too long I’ll probably get permanently maimed. No pressure.”
“Sorry, did you say something, Lady Xorander?” someone behind him asked.
“No,” he said without looking back. He headed to another side of the crowd.
He never understood why he never felt the sense of wonder and adventure that other Bards always claimed adventurers felt during their exploits. Alder only felt scared out of his wits. He wanted to be back in the Haunt, telling a good story and with a warm drink in his hand. But he was surrounded by insane, murderous bastards, and had to kidnap Vaines’ protégé from right under her nose.
Who could have known that living the tales was harder than recounting them? No one had taught him that part. No one talked about the paralyzing fear he would mess up and get himself and his best friend horribly killed.
And Lady Redwood was still trying to seduce Argent!
Ed and Vaines were already scouting the terrain, so Alder had no time to waste. Time to put that creative spellcasting course to the test.
“My Lady Redwood, meet me back inside. It’s about Wright. Don’t say anything,” Alder whispered, mixing his illusion magic with his bardic talents to mimic Sanguine’s voice. Getting the tone just right, though, that required raw skill and luck.
Redwood’s shoulders stiffened. She mumbled an excuse to Argent, who seemed disappointed while he blatantly stared at her ass as she left.
This is my chance, Alder thought. I’ll need all my Charm, all my skill in the Bardic art of seduction, all I’ve ever learned. Argent is Kharon’s Chosen. He comes from Ed’s world. He’s surely clever as hell. I must outthink him. Somehow, I must get inside that fortress of a mind through the weak spot of his basest instincts. Now, I must become poetry, carnality incarnate, raw passion barely contained!
Alder clenched his fists, took a deep breath, then relaxed his hands and sauntered off toward Argent.
“Lady Xorander,” Argent said. “You’re here to watch Ed get his ass handed to him?”
Alder altered his voice using illusion. He was about to greet Argent when he realized he had no idea how to address the man. Master Argent seemed insufficient. Lord Argent was not right. Friend Argent was out of the question.
Cold panic blossomed on his chest. He had forgotten what he was about to say. Behind him, Lord Virion was explaining the terms of the duel to the eager crowd.
He said the first thing that came to mind. “Come with me to the maze.” Instantly, he cursed his frail nerves. Argent would never trust Xorander enough to head unguarded with her to a secluded location. He would become suspicious for sure.
“Why?” Argent asked, frowning.
“Ah… well, all this fighting and grandstanding has roused a fire in me only you can quench.” He had stolen one of Lavy’s “research books” once, and the women within had talked just like this.
Argent narrowed his eyes. “What?”
He’s too clever! Alder thought in a panic. He knows! But it was too late to change course now. He had to play his cards to the bitter end.
“I would like you to make love to me in the bushes.”
There. Sorry, Ed. I’ve failed.
“Ah, so you want to fuck?” Argent asked. “Shit, why didn’t you just say so? Let’s go!” He turned to the ogre. “You. Get lost. I’m not into voyeurism.” To himself, he added, “Finally. I knew my harem would start any time now.” And off he went toward the garden.
The ogre and Alder exchanged a bewildered look, then “Lady Xorander” hurried after Argent, Kharon’s Chosen. No one looked at them. The fight began with a brutal clash of steel that seemed to ring through Alder’s bones. Sweat dripped down his forehead as the crowd jeered and cheered.
“Bring us enchanted steel or we’ll be here all night,” Vaines called over the crowd.
If they needed new swords, that meant the duel was still going, and Ed had at least a couple more minutes until the servants procured them new weapons. A hint of relief was quickly drowned when Alder realized Vaines needed enchanted weapons because she had struck Ed’s blade so hard they both had broken.
“Hurry!” he told Argent. “My fire needs quenching right now.”
While everyone waited for the new swords, Lord Steros entered the circle, headed Ed’s way, and grabbed his forearm.
“Lord Wright is bleeding,” Lord Steros announced. “First blood has been drawn, so Lady Vaines has won.”
Ed gave Steros a bewildered look. “What are you doing?”
“Saving your life and your reputation,” Steros whispered without looking at him. “Losing a duel with Vaines after parrying that lunge is nothing to be ashamed of. If you give her a chance to humiliate you, that will change.”
Vaines pursed her lips. “I did not cause that wound.”
Ed bit his lip. She had moved so fast. Inhumanly so, covering the ground that separated them in less than a second. Her talent build had to be insanely optimized. Had he gripped his sword wrong, or if his Endurance had been a rank lower, the strike may have broken his wrist.
Steros was right. Giving Vaines a chance to land a solid blow, even with unsharpened blades, was a dangerous idea. The Endeavor was only a couple months away, and a broken bone took time to heal, even with Andreena’s potions.
He hazarded a glance past the crowd surrounding the circle, past the scowling faces and disappointed frowns. He thought he caught a glimpse of Ryan and “Lady Xorander” heading away from one of Vaines’ ogres.
“This is from a previous wound,” Ed explained, pulling back his sleeve to show Lord Virion the stitches. “I’m not sure if this fulfills first blood, but I think Lady Vaines can do better than winning on a technicality.”
Virion examined the wound for a second, then turned toward Vaines, who nodded once. “The fight goes on,” Virion announced, to the delight of the other Dungeon Lords.
“Your funeral,” Lord Steros told Ed, and exited the ring.
Vaines’ servant brought a second set of dueling swords, these ones enchanted with basic combat magic so they wouldn’t break as easily. The air around the glyphs of their steel blades shimmered with faint arcane energy.
“We are now allowing the use of magical weapons for the duration of the duel,” Lord Virion announced after he and Steros were done examining the enchantments. “All in agreement?”
Lord Steros waved it away. “Let’s get on with it already.”
“That’s the spirit!” Vaines said, slashing with her sword once to test it.
“Just one second,” Ed said. He took his jacket off so the sleeve wouldn’t rub against his wounded forearm and distract him. He was technically taking off a layer of armor, but he still had his gray spidersilk vest, so pledge of armor would trigger. Besides, Vaines’ strikes would break his bones just as easily whether he was wearing a jacket or not.
But as he threw the jacket away, he used a Thieves Guild’s sleight of hand, almost without thinking, to shift one of its contents to his belt.
“Combatants, step forth!” Virion called.
Vaines and Ed crossed steels, and a spark of magical feedback surged between them. They stepped back. The world slowed around Ed as all distractions disappeared from his mind, and his reflexes took over. He would need all his strength and skill just to slow Vaines down, so there was no point in holding back.
“Begin!”
Vaines’ sword turned into a flash of gray headed straight for Ed’s neck. He stepped back at the same time he parried, and the impact almost ripped the sword out of his hands. He began a counterattack, but Vaines shifted her grip and threw a sideways punch with the pommel toward Ed’s temple. He gave ground, threw his head back, and barely avoided being brained. Before he had time to recover his stance, Vaines used the momentum from the punch to transition into a vertical slash aimed straight at the middle of Ed’s body. He grabbed his sword wit
h both hands and parried. Arcane feedback surged between the fighters, and the Dungeon Lord could feel the hairs on his arm being singed off. The impact then threw him a foot back, like a small explosion he could feel reverberate through his teeth and his spine.
He stumbled backward, trying desperately to recover his balance, but a pair of hands then pushed him forward, almost throwing him face first into Vaines’ incoming lunge. He ducked and jumped to the side, feeling the air parting right above the back of his head.
He gritted his teeth. Vaines moved so fast it seemed like all of her strikes came at the same time, and just staying alive took all of Ed’s skill. There was no time for footing or technique.
Sweat soaked through his vest and ran down his arms under the effort of maintaining improved reflexes. Normally, he would’ve turned the talent on and off at crucial moments, but with Vaines, every instant was crucial.
She kicked at him as he was shifting from his jump. Ed sidestepped into her reach, using his skeletal hand to grab his blade two inches below the tip, then threw an upward jab with that arm, which turned into a weak yet lightning-fast short-range slash meant to nick Vaines’ chin and end the duel.
When she dodges back, I’ll stop the slash and stab forward. Using his sword as an over-the-shoulder spear thrust wasn’t a move found in the Cardinal Command’s repertoire, but rather was one of the creative mercenary gambles Kes had learned in the field.
Vaines, instead of dodging back, ducked down, bent her knees, and threw her elbow up, catching Ed’s exposed belly. Even through his pledge of armor, the air rushed from his lungs and he almost dropped his sword. Worse, Vaines had instantly transitioned from the elbow strike into a brutal downward slash, this time aiming her blade squarely at Ed’s skull.
She had countered Ed’s gamble and punished it in the best way possible in a single movement. Was she thinking her attacks through or was this just decades of combat experience dictating her actions?
The Dungeon Lord’s sword was in no position for a normal parry, and he was too close to Vaines to dodge. He let go of the handle and swung the upside-down sword in an arc above his head in an almost graceful motion that hid the raw desperation in his movements. The handle caught Vaines’ blade from the side, then pushed it down onto the grass.
Vaines simply kicked Ed’s sword out of his hand. He would’ve lost a couple fingers from the move had he not used his skeletal hand.
Shit, Ed thought, as he saw in slow motion how his sword carved a spinning arc in the air and Vaines raised her sword to return to fighting stance. If she caught him unarmed, he’d be screwed, but the sword was too far to just jump and grab…
Without thinking, he threw his hand backward as he focused on the ley line under the garden, and a drone appeared with a puff of smoke, Ed’s hand clutching its tiny legs. The terrified drone had its arms extended forward, and a new drone instantly materialized in its grasp, and another and another almost instantly, until the last one caught the sword’s handle right as it bounced against the grass. Ed then jerked his arm forward hard, and the line of drones flailed like a whip, throwing the sword in a small arc. He caught it easily with both hands as the drones disappeared in a puff of smoke, and he re-entered combat stance to receive Vaines’ rush.
Except the rush didn’t come. Vaines stood bewildered.
“What?” Ed asked, panting and drenched in sweat. “Drones are a Mantle talent.” He could hear more than a couple Dungeon Lords laughing their asses off. Even Vaines’ eyes glinted with amusement. Ed’s cheeks turned a shade of red, although it could’ve been just from exhaustion.
“We don’t use drones during a duel,” Vaines explained. “Or we would spend all night hacking at the sods. Don’t try that again or I’ll have to win on a technicality. Again.” She shifted her stance an inch. “Still, congratulations. That was quite the creative move. Your drones must have lived quite the interesting life at your service, Lord Wright.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Ed said. He could hear Sanguine’s shrill laughter behind him. Why don’t you come out here and see how you do against her? Ed thought bleakly.
Vaines aimed her sword at him. “Enough games. Let’s end this.”
“So, no offense,” Argent was saying as they entered the maze. “But let’s make this quick, alright? I want to see what Vaines does to that asshole.” He was already fumbling with his pants.
Alder’s Bardic dignity screamed inside him. Where was this guy’s style? Besides, Argent had a rather poor idea regarding the length of a duel. Even a normal encounter would be over in a couple minutes at most, and Ed and Vaines had been fighting for a while now. Alder had to hurry.
“Right, sure. Come here,” he said, and reached for Argent’s hand.
“Ouch!” Argent said, pulling away. Then his eyes widened, as physical contact dispelled “Lady Xorander’s” illusion. “You’re a guy!” Kharon’s Chosen exclaimed. “That’s not cool, dude.”
“Sorry,” Alder said, stepping back just in case Argent had enough Endurance to blast him with something.
Argent wasn’t exactly exuding menace at that point, though. He was actually grimacing like a spoiled child. “You’re Ed’s friend!” He tried to pull his pants up, then stumbled, and his expression went all groggy. “What have you done to me?”
Alder showed him the ring in his hand, with the tiny silver needle painted red. “Ring with a sleeping draught. Pretty neat, huh?”
“Yeah. Actually, that’s—” Argent stumbled and fell in Alder’s arms “—pretty cool… God, Vaines is gonna kill me…”
“Sorry,” Alder repeated to the unconscious guy. He was about to cover Argent up with his cape, but froze when he raised his gaze to the spot where Argent had stood a second ago and saw a perfect circular ripple in reality, breaking the symmetry of the maze with the golden light of the silver chandelier inside the palace’s Main Hall. Argent’s guardian ogre stood right in front of the Portal as it slowly dissipated, giving Alder a confused, menacing grimace that would turn violent any second now.
Panic flooded into Alder’s veins. How much Mind does an ogre have, anyway? he thought desperately. “Don’t worry. You’re just seeing things. Blink and we’ll be gone,” he told the creature as the Portal disappeared and the light of the hall left the maze.
Alder covered the napping Argent with his cape and slowly dragged the man deeper through the foliage corridors. The Bard sent Ed a message:
Ed, got Argent, but I was seen. GET OUT NOW. NOW NOW NOW.
Ed could barely stand, and his arms screamed every time he swung his sword, which hung clumsily from his numbed hands like a useless iron bar.
Anything other than his full strength wasn’t enough to slow Vaines down, and she seemed like she could go all night. This fight was about to run its course.
But Alder needed time gain some distance. Ed grimaced. Despite the danger, Vaines had given him one hell of a fight. A small part of himself screamed in joy as the rest shouted in terror every time their blades met.
Such an opponent deserved a fair fight. Ed wanted a fair fight, no matter the end result. But if he fought fair, Vaines would disarm him with her next strike and it would all be over—and, without a distraction, Alder would surely be found.
Ed’s honor was not worth his friend’s life. He raised his sword as Vaines approached, as unstoppable as a storm, and as certain as death.
“Enough, Lord Wright. You can barely move. Come and meet your fate,” she called, causing a stream of cheers and jests at Ed’s expense from the crowd.
Ed wracked his brain for his best answer. “I’ve got your fate right here,” he said, the best he had given the circumstances.
He rushed at Vaines, swinging his sword in an arc over his back and shoulder so gravity would lend power to his strike his arms could no longer yield. Vaines parried it so hard that Ed’s sword almost smashed against his face, the strike overloading the enchantments in the steels, blinding him with stars and bending his blade’s spine into a useless
mess.
Vaines swung her broken weapon like a club in an instant follow-up attack, and Ed threw himself to the ground to avoid it, dropping his sword in the process. He pulled the knife out of his boot as he rolled toward Vaines and swung up at her leg—
The kick struck him square in the stomach, talent-enhanced, the weight of thousands of experience points behind it. It was like standing in front of a moving train.
For an instant between heartbeats, Ed had the peculiar sensation of his guts trying to wrap around his spine. Then it was all a tangle of pain and confusing sensations as the world shifted around him. Finally his back hit something hard and reality faded to black.
A couple seconds later, Ed regained consciousness just as his emergency drones were pulling him off Sanguine’s stunned, crumbled-over shape. For several long, terrifying seconds, Ed fought unsuccessfully to take a breath, but his lungs refused to react. In his stunned state, he wondered if Vaines had struck him so hard his lungs had burst.
Air then rushed through his throat like a burning cloud. He gasped and coughed as Sanguine tried to push him away.
“Get off me!”
Ed wanted to respond with something cutting, but speech was beyond him at the moment. Somehow, he managed to stumble his way back toward the circle, where Vaines had already put away her sword. “It’s over,” she said.
“I… ain’t… bleeding,” Ed managed. Then he coughed again, and the pain of the sudden motion had him bent over the grass, which he painted red as blood spilled from his mouth. That can’t mean anything good, he thought weakly. The smell, the pungent taste, and the sticky sensation of his own blood overwhelmed his senses. Just to remain standing took all his remaining strength, and at this point it was more a test of Spirit rather than Endurance.
“There,” Vaines said.
Ed spat blood again, this time to clear his throat. “You cheated. That talent… was magical.”
“And you used a knife. Stay down, Dungeon Lord, and take the loss. Another hit like that and you’ll die.”
