Champions of the Apocalypse (12 page)

Thrax stared out into valley below as he though on his old days of adventure of battle.

“I’ve never heard this before. How could the League have ever won? That would have pitted twenty against ten?” asked Jonas with great interest.

“Well, not quite, they didn’t all change sides. It was hard, let me say. Back then, I was a member of the Swordmasters Guild. We were nominally part of the League and that year we were called on to fight in the Contest. Only two of us lived from that battle. Just me, and that little weasel Gratus. I told your father back then I thought he had betrayed us, but according to Galan the weasel saved him at the last moment in the battle,” he said with a scowl.

“Gratus, he was my father’s right hand man. Why did you not trust him?”

“Instinct, my dear. I didn’t see him perform any act in the Contest that required him to cut or kill any members of the Brotherhood. I did find him with a blade near Galan but one of the Brotherhood fell on him and his blade. Galan always said I had it in for him but, there was always something in his eyes that told me otherwise. Galan and I argued for hours but in the end we went our separate ways. He was a good man, I am truly sorry to hear that he is dead,” said Thrax with an honesty that was sincere.

“Thrax, my father should have listened to you. I spotted him forcing a knife into my father’s throat during the battle at Haven. He must have been waiting for years to strike.”

“With your father dead that means the truce must be upheld with the old tradition of the Contest?” asked Thrax.

Synne stood up and walked a few feet away to look down the mountain and into the valley. She could see for miles though the open plain was flat and barren, land of no use for grazing or farming.

Jonas leaned over to Thrax, “It isn’t just Lord Galan. Master Lar of the Brotherhood is also dead.”

“Master Lar? Dead? That is a pity. So, he did well for himself. That is a great shame, I have wanted to even a score with him for the last twenty years!” he said with a hearty roar. “Still, the old git is dead so that is something!” he laughed.

“What do you know about the Raiders that use the track at the base of the mountain?” asked Jonas.

Before he could answer, Synne spoke from her place overlooking the valley.

“And why have they never stopped you doing whatever ever it is you do here?”

“Well young lady, they don’t come here for the same reason they didn’t get you last night. The path is treacherous and I always, and I mean always, hear them coming. A few years ago they sent a few small groups to speak with me.”

“What did they want?” asked Jonas.

Thrax shrugged and gave a smug grin.

“Who knows, you’ll have to find them at the bottom of the valley and ask them yourself,” he said before turning back to Synne.

“As for what I do here. I mind my own business though from time to time I teach the odd traveller the old ways of combat. Fighting with the blade, staff and bow. Not been much business in the last five years though, not since the Raiders got their train working,” he added.

Synne and Jonas were both intrigued by this part of the conversation.

“Tell us about the train?” she asked.

“The track has always been here and you would find the odd group of Raiders here and there. About five years ago though one group, I don’t know who their leader is, managed to get information on building an engine, you know, the one that you’ve seen on the track. I don’t know how they did it, the only source of information I know of is in your father’s library.”

“Yeah, I wonder who could have got that kind of information out?” said a sarcastic Jonas as he looked at Synne.

“Gratus,” muttered Synne under her breath.

“Maybe,” replied Thrax with a shrug. “Once they got the train working they started sending lots and lots of people and tools to the North. The train goes there every night and comes back in the morning, presumably to the Horizon Trading Post. I assume they’re building something up there to be moving back and for so often. One thing I do know is that they never bring people back.”

Synne sat down and drank a little more. The clothing on her had started to flap in the wind and she was evidently self-conscious of the baggy sleeves that seemed to flutter with each gust of air.

“When we were being divided up a man called Khan said we were going to be put into groups. One was to go to the mines and one to join their military, the rest who knows?
 
Both of the first two groups they put on that train and sent to the North. Why would they want workers and warriors in the same place?” Jonas asked.

“Yeah, a very good question. I think we should find out and fast,” said Synne.

“Hey, easy now. These Raiders in the North are not small groups of scavengers. They have access to weapons, armour and supplies. If you just wander in you’ll get caught and nobody will be able to get you out, not even me!”

Synne didn’t look impressed.

“That’s up to you. Right now, I need to know what is going on. I need information. If any of my people are there I must know,” she said with great passion.

“Then what will you do?” asked Thrax.

“I’ll think of that when I know what we’re up against.”

“For now I suggest you rest, get yourselves both fully healed and fit. I can’t stop you but I can make sure you are both prepared for the journey you want to undertake.”

Thrax stood up and moved away from the table.

“Now, what kind of combat training do you have?”

“Combat?” asked Jonas.

“Yes, if you’re planning on going anywhere near the Raiders you need to be able to handle yourself. Can you use a blade, a spear, mace or bow?”

 
“Of course, my brother Ulric trains all of our forces,” replied Synne.

Thrax walked away from the two and disappeared inside one of the small rooms running along the perimeter of the open training area. Lots of noise came from his direction, as he pulled and dropped various items as he searched for whatever it was he was after. As he carried on, Synne looked about the training area and examined it in greater detail. It reminded her of the accounts she had read about in Ancient times where an open space was used for combat to the death. The floor was covered in sand and the columns that ran all around the outside were carved with figures. She approached the nearest column and was surprised to notice the detail in the stone.

“Jonas, take a look at this?”

He wandered over and the two stared in awe at the detail and the objects shown. On one section there were six machines flying through the air. Each one carried a number of men wearing unknown armour and carrying various projectile weapons, much like the powder weapon she had seen the one Raider using on the train.

“What are they?”

“I have no idea. They look a bit like the machines in the War of the Worlds book, but these are being used by men. Look down here!” she said excitedly as she moved to the next column.

This one was very different. It showed hundreds of men all standing in close formation and marching with large rectangular shields in a box formation. The group of men were marching up a steep ramp that led to some kind of fortified settlement that had much in common with many of the settlements Synne had visited, when travelling with her father. She looked carefully at the men defending the barricades. They used a mixture of spears, slings and stones.

“Okay, show me what you can do,” came the booming voice of Thrax as he returned to the training area.

Synne turned to see him holding a number of weapons under his arms. He dropped the bundle to the ground with a clatter and stood staring at them. Jonas stepped back, indicating he wasn’t particularly keen to get involved in some kind of demonstration with Thrax.

Synne looked at the weapons, most she recognised, a few she didn’t.

“I’ll take the sword,” she said as she stepped forward.

Before she could reach the weapons, Thrax lifted one and tossed the wooden sword over to her. She caught it neatly and with a gentle flourish positioned it out in front but not too far ahead. The point of the weapon aimed directly to Thrax’s head. He grabbed a similar sword and held it low and to his right side as though uninterested.

“I see you like the shorter weapons,” he said with a snarl.

Jumping forward he struck a feint to the right and then pulled his body around to his left, neatly avoiding the counter cut by Synne and brought his weapon down towards her head. Spotting the danger at the last moment, Synne did the only thing she could think of, and stepped into his attack and push her own sword high. At this range, she caught the blade just above the crossguard and twisted off to her right. As her sword started to lower under the pressure, she punched Thrax in the stomach and then tried to strike him in the face. Thrax easily grabbed her right elbow in his left hand and twisted her around, neatly depositing her on the dusty ground, unhurt, apart from her pride. As she wiped the dust off her loose clothing, the old warrior started to laugh. She lifted herself up and raised her sword, ready to attack.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded.

“I have trained with all kinds of people before but never have I seen such violence from a lady at such a short range!” he laughed.

Unsure whether to be please, or annoyed at his comments, Synne simply went on the attack. She cut fast and each time it looked like her front was exposed she brought her weapon back into position and delivered another strike. Thrax moved slowly but with perfect timing and precision. As Synne’s attacks piled in, he neatly avoided them using the minimum of effort whilst delivering the odd light cut himself.

“Your speed and timing is good but you fight with too much passion. Calm your anger, slow your breathing and look for the openings.”

Synne stepped forward and managed to clip his forearm with a light cut and then jumped back to avoid a cut to her head.

“Calm yourself, I see the openings and there is one on your head!” she shouted.

Leaping forward she cut high and hard for Thrax’s head. It looked like the perfect cut but Thrax knew a feint when he saw it. Synne had already overplayed it by telling him and the cut was too powerful drawn out to ever realistically work. He acted as though he was going to parry it and then she did the expected changed in direction. Landing short she bent down and lashed low in a horizontal cut that would have struck him in the rib. Thrax simply dropped his point and intercepted the cut before neatly twisting his wrist and striking her with the back of the sword on the forehead. She stumbled back, a light trickle of blood running down her face.

“I told you, calm yourself,” he said, though she looked less than impressed with his words of wisdom.

“I’ve seen how you move with the single blade, let’s try something with a bit more bite,” he said with relish.

Bending down he picked up a wooden spear. It was a good six feet long, so short by any standard, but perfectly suited for one on one combat. As before, he tossed the weapon over to her before picking up a weapon of his own. Though the weapons were entirely made of wood, they both had a lump of dense fabric tied into a ball on the tip.

“Now, the spear is the simplest and most effective weapon ever used by man. It can be tipped in iron, or simply cut down to a point and burnt in a fire to harden the tip. Have you used one before?”

Synne nodded and with her left foot forward, she lowered the spear to belly height and pointing towards Thrax. She held onto the spear with both hands about a foot apart.

“Good,” said Thrax as he watched her move.

They started to circle each other, Synne looking for opportunities to attack whilst Thrax studied her moment and intentions with fascination.

“Remember to move when it gives you a tactical advantage or when you are looking to create one, don’t just move for the sake of doing something. Movement creates tempo and tempo makes you practicable.”

With great speed, he stabbed forward, releasing his left hand so that just his right hand remained near the base of the spear shaft. The weapon covered a distance and would have struck Synne, if not for the fact she brought up her own spear to deflect it. No sooner had she pushed it away that Thrax pulled it back, moved his hands and then swung with the back end, neatly catching the back of her leading knee and sending her to the floor. Before she could get up, he was on her, the tip of his spear pointing directly at her heart. She shook her head, wiping the dust and sand away from her body and looked up at him.