Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) (9 page)

“Amazing what a lot of people will
convince themselves of,” she said and gestured to the cadets in the stands.

“It’s nothing special,” Lemin responded.
“Every year they do the same for the cadet who wins the tournament, but this
year it’s different. I guess they think you really have a chance of beating me.
Not that I’m worried,” he added with a grin.

“I don’t need to let you rest or anything,
do I?” Senndra asked. “I’d hate to beat you and then have it brushed aside due
to a technicality.”

“
If
you beat me,” Lemin said, “then
I will give you full credit. As it is, I’m not even winded.” He raised his
sword. “On guard.”

Senndra raised her sword and began to
slowly circle Lemin. As she watched him move, the first principle of sword
fighting popped into her head. Always attack first. Without warning, she leaped
forward, with her sword held out, and caught Lemin’s blade on her own. She
brought the hilt of her sword up in order to hit Lemin’s head with it, but he
dove sideways away from her. He jumped to his feet and attacked so suddenly
that Senndra barely had time to duck. She waited for him to fly over her head
before she stood and swung around, her sword extended. The flat end hit him on
the shoulder and sent him spinning away. Senndra quickly capitalized on her
advantage and crowded Lemin. She raised her sword and brought it down for a
stroke that was meant to end the match, but the instructor managed to get his
weapon up just in time. He blocked Senndra’s blow and
returned
with one of his own
. She spun away from the strike and ended up
backwards to her opponent. Instinctively, she guessed what his next move would
be and swung her sword around behind her back. She heard the sound of metal on
metal as she spun around. Lemin raised his sword for another blow, and Senndra
raised her sword in a defensive gesture. The blow came down with such force
that it slammed Senndra’s sword sideways, almost wrenching it from her grip. Pain
stabbed through Senndra’s wrist, and she
knew right
away
that her right arm was practically useless. Lemin swung another
blow, but this time Senndra had no weapon to stop it. Instead, she raised her
arm and grabbed her opponent’s wrist. His sword stopped mere inches from her
face, and she ducked backwards before he could force it any further.

Senndra stepped away from her opponent and
slowed her breathing. She tossed her sword from her right hand to her left. She
knew that her skill with that hand was much less, but it was better than
fighting with a sprained wrist. She swung the sword through the air several times
and listened as it whistled, then prepared to meet her instructor. He attacked
first, faking a blow to her head, but finishing with a blow to her midriff.
Senndra had seen that move more times than she could remember and deftly met
his sword with hers before spinning away. She knew that if she tried to
withstand a full force attack, she would not stand a chance with her right arm
out of commission. She raised her sword and attacked Lemin, putting all of her
weight behind the blow. He appeared ready to block the strike, so Senndra faked
it toward his head. She switched to a jab to his knees, but it never contacted.
Lemin sidestepped Senndra's sword and allowed her to fall forward into the
dirt.

Senndra rolled over and watched as her
opponent approached. He extended his sword as though to press its point against
her throat, but she wrenched her weapon out from underneath herself and batted
his sword away. He attacked again, this time bringing a blow down from above.
Senndra knew that she could not block Lemin’s
sword,
so she swung
at his knees. He had to pull back his blade to hop over
Senndra's sword, but it only bought her a few extra seconds. One last time, the
instructor raised his sword for a victory blow. As he brought his weapon down,
Senndra raised her sword and slammed the flat of its blade against Lemin’s
wrist. The force of the blow snapped his wrist down and flung his weapon
several yards away.

Taking advantage of her disarmed opponent,
Senndra rolled to her feet and swung her sword at him. For a moment she could
see Lemin's face clearly, and the smile on his face told her that she had
underestimated him. Ducking the blow, he spun to her left side, capturing her
wrist and twisting it around behind her back. The movement jarred the sword
from Senndra's grip and moments later, she felt her own steel at her throat.
The fight was over.

“Well, it looks like the cadets will have
to wait to see me get beaten,” Lemin said as he released Senndra's arm and
returned her sword. Senndra slid the weapon into her scabbard. She turned to
look at the cadets in the stands and saw that many of them were starting to
leave.

“Is your wrist okay?” Lemin asked Senndra.
“I saw you take a good hit early on. Maybe you should have the doctor look at
it.”

“It's not bad,” Senndra said. “I've been
there pretty much every day since I started sword fighting. I think I'll give
the doctor the day off.”

Lemin had to be told several times that
everything was fine, before he finally dismissed Senndra and called for another
student. Senndra jogged to where Rita sat in the stands.

"It was a good fight," Senndra's
friend said. "Better luck next time, I guess."

"Better luck? Against Lemin?"
Senndra said. "It's nice of you to say so, but I seriously doubt it. I
would wager that there are only a handful of people in the world who could beat
that elf."

"You're right, but one of those
people is here right now."

Senndra gave a surprised exclamation and
jumped in her seat. Vladimir had snuck up on her without a sound.

"Really? Rita said in a voice of
disbelief. "Who here could beat Lemin in a sword fight?"

"That's easy; the best sword fighter
here," Vladimir responded.

"Timothy?" Senndra asked
incredulously. Here was finally something that she and Vladimir could talk
about. "There's no way that he has a chance. Lemin's far too good."

"He's good to be sure," Vladimir
agreed. "Better than most people in the world, in fact, but you can tell
that he is a dragon rider at heart. He prefers to shoot arrows from the back of
a dragon, not swing a sword in hand to hand combat."

"So what about Timothy?" Rita
asked. "What's he like?"

"He was born to fight with a
sword," Vladimir answered. "He has the build and proficiency for it.
I wager that given a few more years of training, you will be hard pressed to
find anybody who could beat him."

"You talk like you know
Timothy," Senndra said. The question was implied.

"Somewhat, yes," Vladimir
answered, "but what I said doesn't have to do with that. All you have to
do is watch them fight. Actually, here's your chance."

Senndra looked toward the arena and
watched as Timothy walked out to face Lemin. The two barely exchanged
pleasantries before beginning to fight. It was clear that today was about the
tournament champion facing off against the best instructor at the academy.

"Watch the motion of the feet,"
Vladimir said almost as soon as the fight commenced. "Timothy has
excellent range of motion, and while Lemin is also moving well, it's almost as
if he doesn't want to take any steps."

"That would make sense if what you
said earlier is true," Rita commented. "If he's used to fighting on a
dragon, he would have learned to keep his feet locked into the stirrups at all
times."

"Look at his arm motion,"
Senndra countered. "He's constantly moving his sword back and forth,
trying to find an opening."

"Agreed, but his style is for close
fighting," Vladimir countered. "He prefers a short sword or a knife,
and it shows. Timothy uses a hand-and-a-half sword, which gives him the
advantage of length. If he can utilize it properly, that could almost win the
match for him."

"Almost?" Senndra asked.

"Lemin has obviously fought against
long swords before, and he has more experience," Vladimir explained.

"You're not making it sound like much
of a contest," Rita said. "I guess you think Lemin has a wrap on this
match?"

"Timothy was practically born with a
sword in his hand," Vladimir said. "Just watch the fight. It'll be
exciting if nothing else."

Timothy and Lemin had moved constantly
during the course of the short conversation, but without drastically changing
position. They were still in approximately the same location that they had
started the fight, and continued to exchange blows for another minute. Timothy
was the first to break contact though Lemin didn't press the advantage. Both of
the combatants looked winded but continued to circle each other, looking for a
good opening. There were a few weak thrusts exchanged, an attempt by each
fighter to keep the other on the defensive, but nothing even resembling the
original energy level. Then, in an instant, the tempo of the fight changed
again.

Lemin blocked a thrust from Timothy and
retaliated with an overhand slash. The younger man sidestepped to avoid the
attack and circled counterclockwise. The clash of metal again filled the place
as the combatants slashed, thrust, blocked, and parried. Though there had been
argument over the fact last night, there was no uncertainty now as to who the
best cadet at sword fighting was. For the moment, the outcome of this match,
cadet against legendary instructor, seemed to be in doubt. The fight continued
to rage, and the cadets watching were on the edge of their seats. Was this finally
their chance to see Lemin beaten?

Something about Lemin's carriage changed,
a change that Senndra had seem many times before when the elf was not in clear
control of a bout. Something was about to change, though what it would be was
uncertain. She didn't have to wait long to find out. Ducking his head to avoid
a blow, Lemin stepped quickly toward Timothy, striking him in the stomach with
his fist. Timothy staggered backwards, but the elf was on top of him already.
Capturing the younger man's sword arm under his arm, Lemin struck the wrist,
causing his opponent to drop his weapon.

Timothy had been taken off guard by the
new strategy implemented by Lemin, but had adjusted quickly. The elf was faster
than he was, but he was larger and stronger. Ripping his sword arm free, he
delivered an open handed strike with his left hand. The blow contacted Lemin on
his breastplate, thrusting him backwards and putting space between the two
combatants.

"This is where it falls apart, I
guess," Rita commented. "Unarmed, he doesn't stand a chance,
right?"

"No," Vladimir agreed.
"He's toast at this point."

"Don't count him out yet,"
Senndra said. She didn't know why, but she really wanted to see Timothy win.
Maybe it was just that she wanted to see Lemin beaten like every other cadet
here.

Timothy threw his fists up in front of his
face in a typical fighter's pose. Lemin dashed forward, stabbing as he came
within range of his opponent. Timothy used the palms of both hands to block the
blade away and spun, kicking Lemin in the chest. The elf staggered backwards
and circled clockwise. Timothy stooped and picked up a handful of dirt from the
ground. As the elf charged, the younger man flung the dirt at his face, but the
move was futile. Lemin spun right, avoiding the dirt and kicking Timothy in the
side. Timothy was knocked off balance and fell, and Lemin followed up with a
strike. Timothy rolled sideways as the blade descended, then back on top of the
sword. The weight of his body pulled the hilt toward the ground, ripping it from
his opponent's grip. He rolled off of the sword and retrieved it from the
ground. Now the tables were turned; he had the weapon and his opponent did not.

Dodging blows from Timothy, Lemin ran
backwards toward where the younger man's weapon had fallen a few minutes
earlier. Diving to avoid a swipe, he slid past the sword, grabbing it as he
passed and rotating his body to end the slide on his knees. Timothy pressed
what was left of his advantage, raining a series of blows down on Lemin, but
the elf was too skilled. Blocking every strike, he rose to his feet and swung
wide at his opponent. Timothy jumped back, barely avoiding the strike.

"It's a short sword, dummy,"
Vladimir said to himself. "You can't fight like you're used to
fighting."

With both of the combatants armed again,
they backed away from each other momentarily to catch their breaths. This was a
short reprieve; Lemin knew that Timothy had very little practice with short
swords and was clearly at a disadvantage, one that the elf was not going to squander.
He stepped forward, striking as he moved. Timothy caught the first strike on
his blade and tried to return the blow, but his blade missed Lemin by a foot
and a half. The younger man just wasn't used to the short weapon in his hands.

Lemin clearly had the advantage now, and
he chased Timothy around the arena, constantly swinging his weapon. The outcome
of the fight was all but determined, but Timothy either didn't realize how
outclassed he was or didn't care. He continued to run away from his instructor,
looking for opportunities to strike, but not finding any. It was a simple task
for Lemin to finish the fight. Staying out of range of Timothy's sword, he
rained blows on his defenses. The young man was weakening, and it was beginning
to show. Lemin thrust his sword forward, but Timothy batted it to the side. The
next attack was the final one, the one to finish the battle. Lemin swung hard
overhand at Timothy. The blow smashed through the tired man's defense, and
Lemin pulled it back under control before it hit Timothy's shoulder. Though the
blade of the sword was blunted and Lemin had softened the blow, it was still
enough to knock Timothy to the ground. Lemin placed the tip of sword
momentarily at Timothy's throat before removing it and allowing him to stand.