Mitigating Risk

by Blaise Corvin

  I pushed that thought away and didn’t let it ruin my mood. If I cut through the woods, I could probably reach the source of the smoke faster, so I risked it, turning off the road. There was always a chance that the smoke could be from a random brush fire, or a cooking flame for a temporary camp, or even a monster. I was really hoping it was a homestead or even a small settlement.

  Settlers usually had weapons, and always had tools. They had to be fairly self-sufficient, after all.

  Reaching my destination took a lot less time than I’d predicted, and with a start, I realized it was because of my new ‘Bonded status. I really did have more endurance and strength than before. I could also tell the effect was slowly growing. Amazing.

  As it turned out, the smoke was coming from a cabin. The building had been put together with logs from the surrounding forest. Something was strange, though. From what I could see, there was no garden or farm.

  Usually, settlers were farmers or at least kept a small garden to incorporate tastier food into their diet of native plants. I didn’t see a fence, palisade, or earthen wall, either. Barriers against monster attacks, or even more standard predator animals were common, but the cabin didn’t have one.

  Unease turned my stomach as I scoped out the building. It was obviously inhabited, but I didn’t get any hints about what kind of people lived there from the outside. The lack of a garden or wall was definitely strange, and could mean many things. I wondered if the cabin was a refuge for drug runners or some other kind of criminals. There were always slavers, too. Sure, slavery was against the law in many places, but Ludus was a big place, and the only consistent law was that of Dolos.

  I remembered some of the things my father had told me about Earth. Electricity, firearms, airplanes...the technology from Earth was either outlawed on Ludus or didn’t even work. It was all the will of Dolos.

  If I remembered right, gunpowder always blew up on its own, as did some other chemical compounds. Meanwhile, using electricity, or technology from Areva or Mo’hali people would attract dolosbots. Dolosbots were bad.

  I shook myself out of my wandering thoughts and stared at the cabin again. What was holding me back was simple; if I went to the cabin, I might end up killing someone for my own convenience. I could wait until darkness, maybe try to sneak around and steal some things. That route had problems, though. The longer I went without a weapon other than my shiv, the more likely I’d be caught unprepared by monsters, brigands, or bounty hunters.

  The idea of hurting people for my convenience didn’t sit right with me, but neither did breaking my promise to Arren. I was on a time limit, too. If the people in the cabin were normal people, hopefully, they’d stand down and wouldn’t fight. I decided if the cabin people actually saw me, I’d act threatening and then take what I absolutely needed...maybe a shirt and a weapon.

  The thought of just knocking on the door and asking for help crossed my mind, but then I dismissed it. This was Ludus. There were very few ways to make a person out in the wild more suspicious than by acting decently. I shook my head and began creeping towards the cabin, thanking my luck that there weren’t any farm animals around to give away my position.

  If my good fortune held, I would be able to get in, grab something useful, and get out. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I wasn’t a fool. I was also not in the habit of lying to myself. Trying to steal from this cabin could go badly. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the next opportunity I’d get like this, and I was orb-Bonded now. The odds of being in any actual danger probably weren’t very high.

  I crept up to the window of the cabin and peered inside. Nobody was there, at least not in the main room that I could see. There were two other rooms, probably bedrooms coming off the main room, but the doors were open, and I didn’t see anyone there, either. Hmmm.

  An outhouse stood behind the building - so someone could be there. Whoever lived here could have gone out to do something too, maybe fishing or hunting. The fire in the fireplace meant the cabin wouldn’t be empty for long, though. I decided to take a risk.

  With a gentle push, I got the shutter to open. Then I eeled my way into the cabin, ignoring the tears in my shirt catching on the rough logs. I would never be a graceful sort of girl, but a decent amount of practice meant I wasn’t entirely unskilled at breaking and entering.

  Once I was inside, I looked around, my hand on my shiv at the small of my back. Other than the crackle of the fire, I didn’t hear anything—so far so good. I crept forward towards a chest of drawers, hoping to find a shirt that would fit me so I could leave. My heart hammered in my chest, beating so loud I was sure people in Bittertown could hear it. Then when I’d made it halfway across the floor, my fears became reality and two figures stepped out of the doorways.

  One was a man. He had dark hair, tan skin, a clean-shaven face, and a hooked nose. His face was in shadow, so I couldn’t get a solid view of what he looked like. He wore a simple tunic and jeans, but the way he stood made me instantly wary. Dangerous, my senses screamed.

  My eyes were yanked to the closest person as she took a couple steps towards me. Barely a woman, she couldn’t have been older than sixteen, give or take a year. That made her a legal adult, if not entirely full grown. She had fiery red hair and fierce eyes. For all the girl’s obvious spirit, what really caught my eyes was the big, bladed weapon she held in her hand.

  “What do we have here?” asked the girl. She showed her teeth in a feral smile.

  “You did a good job hiding your presence, Vitaliya,” said the man. “But taunting an enemy is stupid.”

  “Whatever. It’s not like she’s going anywhere. I can kill this one, right, Gonzo?” asked the girl. The matter-of-fact way she’d said it made my blood grow cold. I’d known a lot of dangerous people in my life. Rotting hell, I’d been forced to kill my own best friend just a couple days ago. My wariness of the teen girl’s threat shot up like a garrenzo sprout in spring. This girl was a killer. The way she’d spoken wasn’t bravado, but confidence.

  Something was unsettling about her. Maybe even something crazy.

  “Yes, but if you make a mess you’re cleaning it up,” said the man, sounding bored. “It’s your choice how to handle this, but you must use the blade. That is your lesson today.”

  “Fine,” huffed the girl. “I could just fry this bitch now and be done with it, but so be it. I hate this, though. Why the freezing hells are we out here, messing around? This pointless training is keeping me from little Aodh!”

  Suddenly, the girl smoothly sidestepped, placing herself between myself and the door I’d been inching towards. “You’re not escaping. I have to do training,” she said, spitting the word.

  I took in the scene again, my eyes owlishly large before narrowing to slits. Fine. If this were the way the universe would force me to play it, so be it. I drew my shiv, held backward against my wrist and dropped into an easy fighting stance. “I just want a shirt and a weapon. Please let me go, and there won’t be any trouble. I’ll even leave without taking anything.”

  “No, that’s not happening,” said the girl, her voice smug.

  My mind flashed to all the blood and death I’d seen the last few days. My heart sped up, and my body thrummed with strength I’d never felt before. “Then you will die,” I said. At first I was sad, then resolute, eventually settling into the low, buzzing anger that I tended to find while fighting.

  The red-haired girl smiled and darted forward, swinging her bronze short sword at my head.

  Chair is Mightier

  The flame-haired girl was young but skilled. Unfortunately, she was also really trying to kill me. Armed with only my shiv, I had no way to block, only potentially counter-attack in a lethal fashion. The shiv was small, though. Attacking with the stabbing dagger would be an all or nothing move. I was orb-Bonded now, but I really didn’t want to test my new toughness in such a risky way. It seemed my physical abilities were still growing, too—not yet fully developed. I was probably currently superhuman, but
not by much.

  My opponent’s bronze blade looked like a practical, no-nonsense short sword. The light through the windows and from the fireplace glinted off a wicked looking edge. What’s more, the girl wasn’t giving me any openings at all. So after dodging the first couple strikes, I improvised.

  I darted back, still looking for a way to escape, and grabbed a wooden chair from where it stood against the wall. The next few attacks came quickly, the girl grunting in frustration, and I weathered them as best I could while holding the chair in front of me. I was definitely on the defensive. The red-haired girl was fast, and her technique was good. I’d never used a sword before, so I couldn’t help myself from watching her movements with professional interest.

  The girl was trying to grab hold of my chair with her free hand. ‘Bonded strength or not, I could not allow that. Unfortunately, my opponent’s actual attacks, while not as fluid or crisp as from an experienced fighter, were still effective. If she took control of the chair, she might lay me open. The redhead had obviously been taught by an expert, perhaps even the man who was still standing in the cabin, unmoving.

  I was very aware of the watching man as I tried to create space for myself. This was made much more difficult by the fact I didn’t want to turn my back to either person. I felt cramped; the room was not made to fight in. Without my newfound strength and speed, I doubt I would have lasted long. If this were a fair fight, the girl probably wouldn’t have had a chance, but a little shiv versus a sword wasn’t a fair fight.

  I tried using my chair as an improvised weapon a few times, but it was made of thick wood. Even with my strength, the chair was awkward. The girl watched me with glittering eyes, and I got the impression that she was accustomed to fighting people stronger and more skilled than she was.

  Wonderful.

  Luckily, while the girl’s sword was sharp, it was still bronze, so the edge started dulling quickly. I turned the chair whenever I could, deflecting the blade instead of blocking it outright. As a result, my makeshift weapon didn’t immediately get reduced to a bunch of kindling. Also working in my favor was the fact that the fierce redhead seemed to have a normal amount of strength. I was fighting a teen girl, not a huge, armored orb-Bonded like I had back on the road.

  This was a different situation entirely.

  The panting girl was very good about minding her distance during the fight, and shuffled forward, trying to score a hit on my head or arms. I kept my distance, though. Whenever I could, I also jabbed with the chair to keep my enemy honest. The entire duel would probably look fairly bizarre to anyone watching. I still had my shiv in my hand, though.

  My opportunity came a few moments later. The girl snarled and lunged forward, trying to score a clean hit on my shoulder. Unfortunately for her, I’d been watching for her to overextend.

  I quickly lifted the chair up and twisted, trapping the blade. The young woman’s eyes flew open as I pivoted, darting forward diagonally, my narrowed eyes automatically searching for ideal places to strike. My weapon hand darted forward at the same time the girl’s other hand came up, trying to ineffectively ward me away.

  Suddenly, a strong hand clasped my wrist, and even with my growing, orb-Bonded strength, I couldn’t budge my hand. Somehow, the watching man had crossed the distance all the way across the room, grabbing hold of me and the teen in a heartbeat. His hand holding the girl’s was covered in ice.

  He had to be orb-Bonded. How do I keep running into these people? I shouted inside my mind, my fighting heat turning to frustration.

  “That’s enough,” said the man, his voice quiet but firm. "You two were about to kill each other.”

  I was about to reply but realized what he probably meant. The girl must have been a mage, or a magic-using ‘Bonded. It made her earlier comments make a lot more sense. I looked carefully and saw a small heat shimmer above her hand. I thought I’d been about to win, but perhaps things weren’t so simple.

  With a flip of her hair, the girl scoffed, saying, “I could have just killed her without all this stupid fighting. Waving blades around is a waste of time.”

  “Yes, but this is part of your training, Vitaliya,” the man said patiently. His hand on my wrist didn’t budge, even when I tried to pull it away. I briefly considered reversing my grip and trying to go after his wrist with my shiv, but he seemed to read my mind, turning to look at me. My blood ran cold. In that moment, I knew that this man could kill me as easily as a normal person could kill an insect. The whole exchange had obviously been on purpose, but that didn’t make it any less effective.

  I’d gotten the message, so I stopped trying to find ways to escape or fight back. This was the type of situation where I would just have to see how things played out. I wouldn’t have survived my first winter as an orphan in Bittertown if I was the type to push a losing fight.

  The chair I was holding in one hand was useless now, so I dropped it. The bronze sword I’d trapped also fell clattering to the floor.

  “This is stupid, Gonzo,” said the girl, Vitaliya. “I should be protecting little Aodh right now. He is all alone and defenseless. And when I am with him, I should protect him the best I can, which is with magic. I’m a fire mage. Using sharp metal is pointless. Why are we even doing this?”

  While the girl pouted, I absently wondered about her relationship with the man. Wife or lover? No, they didn’t have that kind of energy. Father and child? No, that didn’t fit either. The man also looked too young. Now that he was close, I suddenly realized he was kind of handsome. That was a strange thing to notice while waiting for my fate to be decided. I could feel my face getting hot, and I hurriedly focused on something else while the girl finished her complaining.

  Both Vitaliya and Gonzo’s clothing was dark, serviceable, and utterly nondescript. I considered their appearance and where they lived. A fire mage and an orb-Bonded or body/life mage camped out on the edge of the wilderness, the girl in training…

  She’s his apprentice, I was sure of it now. Apprentice of what, I didn’t know, but it was the only possibility that made any sense at all. With a brief shake of my head, I returned to the argument between the mysterious man and teen.

  “When am I ever going to be using a sword to fight? Nothing can even get close enough to me to hit with a weapon like that if I turn my heat up,” Vitaliya said with a tone of finality.

  Gonzo regarded us both, his dark eyes calculating. Finally, to me, he said, “You, burglaress, you said you need clothes and a weapon?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want any trouble, but you attacked me.”

  “You broke into the cabin. This is wasting my time.” Vitaliya rolled her eyes. My mouth twitched, but I didn’t reply. Instead, I kept most of my attention on Gonzo.

  After studying me a moment further, Gonzo said, “What is your story, burglaress?”

  I took a breath and thought for a second. The hand on my wrist was unwavering, and even with my orb enhancements, the dark-eyed man could probably crush my arm into pulp if he wanted to. The two strangers really had me dead to rights. Vitaliya was young, but I had no reason to believe she was not a powerful mage like she described herself. Gonzo was probably a high rank orb-Bonded. I decided to be honest, but not give everything away. That would be stupid.

  First, I introduced myself. Then, without mentioning Duanna or my orb, I launched into a shortened version of my life story. I included the Jackals being after me and hiring bounty hunters. The only actual lie I told was claiming that I had gotten away from the bounty hunters back on the road, and that they’d taken all of my gear. I also claimed I’d shredded my clothing by fleeing through the forest.

  I’m not sure that Gonzo believed my whole story, but eventually, he said, “Alright, Nora. My name is Ryan Gonzolez, but you can call me Gonzo. Vitaliya needs a training partner. If you stay and spar with Vitaliya here for a couple days, I will give you clothes, a weapon, and some basic traveling provisions. Don’t ask many questions and I think we will get along fine.”


  “Wait, what?” exclaimed Vitaliya. “I almost had her! She tried to steal from us! It’s bad enough I have to learn to use these ridiculous, pointless weapons. This scruffy…person got lucky. It wouldn’t have even been a contest if I could have used my magic. She also used that chair. A real fight wouldn’t be like that!”

  The casual acceptance of events by both Gonzo and Vitaliya made me mentally shake my head. I was armed, obviously capable, and had been willing to kill Vitaliya, but neither of my new hosts had further batted an eye as they adapted to my presence. These were probably some dangerous people. I’d been smart to go with the flow.

  I briefly wondered why Gonzo would think I was a better sparring partner than he would be, but then I remembered how fast he’d moved and how easily he’d subdued us. It rankled a bit to admit it, but he was probably too powerful for Vitaliya to directly train with. That’s why he wanted me to fight with her.

  The implications really weren’t very encouraging for me.

  “A real fight won’t take place in a room with furniture? Oh it won’t, will it?” Gonzo’s gaze was flinty. “You think you know when you will be attacked, or what the circumstances will be? Perhaps you should be training me, huh?”

  Vitaliya grumbled, and Gonzo continued, “Nora’s use of the chair was one reason I’ve asked her to spar with you. She is adaptive, and if you both had had the same weapons, she would have taken you apart like you were standing still.

  “It looks like Nora isn’t a regular, baseline person, but neither are we. We have our secrets, so she can keep hers. But, Vitaliya, you have a long way to go if you can’t recognize the gulf between you and this woman.”

  “I still think I almost had her,” grumbled Vitaliya.