Gunther The Swordmaster

“Came back so soon, eh?”, Gunther sneered when Sophia entered, “Got ya interested in my sword after all, huh? Haa Haa Haa!”

This earned him a few swings from the Warden’s staff. However, he just laughed through it. But he went dead silent as soon as he spotted Kieran following the young Inquisitor. Gunther’s usual crazed look was replaced with a wary one, as he watched the man walking behind the woman.

“What’s the meaning of this?”, he asked with a hint of anxiety in his voice, “What is… he… doing here?”

“You boasted about being the best alive with the sword, did you not?”, Sophia asked with an icy tone.

“I did…”

“Then prove it.”

Gunther looked at Kieran, who just stood expressionless behind Sophia. The giant man scratched his face.

“Against… him?”, he then asked slowly.

“Against him.”, Sophia confirmed, “That would not pose a problem for you, would it now? Since you are the… best swordsman alive… or was that just the usual deceitful boasting of a pathetic man, trying to loosen some pants?”

Gunther looked between her and Kieran, who still showed no emotions on his face.

“The conditions?”, he asked after a while a bit hesitant.

“First to three clean hits wins”, Sophia explained.

“What if the first hit kills?”

“Then the other two should be a lot easier.”

Sophia went to the wall, where the training swords were stored, without waiting for an answer. She picked two similar longswords up and flung one at Gunther’s feet. The giant man looked at the steel and hesitated.

“What’s the price for winning?”, he asked yet undecided.

“What do you want?”, Sophia inquired, “Anything but your freedom. Everything else should be in my power to arrange.”

Gunther scratched his unshaven face and looked at Sophia with a lecherous grin.

“Then…”, he licked his lips, “I’ll take a night with you… alone and with a bed that can withstand some… breaking in…”

“How dare you!”, the Warden bellowed and went for another swing with his staff.

A quick gesture from Sophia stopped him.

“Fine…”, she said with a sigh, “If… you win, I will share a night together with you.”

“What?”, the Warden exclaimed perplexed.

Gunther looked at the woman with raised eyebrows, even forgetting to grin for a second. Kieran turned his head towards her but still showed no emotion. Sophia held the other longsword out for him.

“Beat him”, she ordered loud enough for only him to hear, “but don’t kill him.”

The marks on their bodies glowed dimly for a moment. Kieran reached for the sword.

“Add some booze. I prefer my women…bigger… so I want some compensation if I’m to risk my life for a small kitty!”, Gunther demanded cheekily.

Kieran saw a vein appear throbbingly on Sophia’s forehead for a second before she turned around with a fake smile.

“As you wish, you’ll have your booze…”, she said with an icy tone, “Just be careful not to drink too much… would be a shame to forget everything… or worse…”

Gunther laughed and picked up the sword.

“Now that is…”, he pointed the weapon at Kieran, “a price worth killing and dying for, eh lad?”

Kieran grabbed the hilt of the sword Sophia held out for him.

“Make it hurt”, she hissed and gave the weapon free.

Kieran felt his mark react slightly again. He looked at the steel in his hand for a moment then made three test swings. It had been over twenty years since he held a sword for the last time, but his body still remembered.

“Get in position and start on my signal”, Sophia ordered the combatants.

Kieran went to the middle of the room, gripped the sword with two hands, and held it vertically with the cross guard slightly above his right shoulder. Gunther lumbered to his position a few meters away from him.

“The price got you motivated as well, eh?”, he said grinning and rested his sword sloppily on his shoulder, “Sorry lad, but that wench is mine to fuck.”

Gunther bared his teeth with lecherous grin. Kieran showed no reaction.

“Begin!”, Sophia exclaimed loudly.

Gunther lunged forward, gripping his sword with both hands. The giant man closed the distance with an unexpected speed and swung his sword with a roar in a wide arc from above. Kieran hadn’t even moved yet as the opponent’s weapon came down with crushing force.

Clank

Steel met steel and suddenly Kieran’s sword pointed directly at Gunther’s face. The giant man was not the only one surprised by this situation. Sophia furrowed her brows. She had watched Kieran the whole time, but she had not seen his strike. Unsettled by the pointy end in front of his face, Gunther pressed his sword against the side of the other one, forcing it to move away. Kieran stiffened his body and pushed against it. Gunther leaned his whole weight into it and forced the weapon slowly to the side. Kieran pushed the pommel with his left hand quickly forward, letting the sword snap back.

Zing

Gunther’s weapon slipped to the side, and he lost balance for second. Kieran quickly pulled his left arm back. His sword snapped back forward, slashing across the giant’s face and leaving a shallow cut.

“Ah! You fucking Bastard!” Gunther bellowed and held his bleeding face.

“That was a pathetic attempt. Such a display is not enough to loosen any pants, I’m afraid…” remarked Sophia disparagingly. “Oh yeah, I forgot. You can give up as well if you want to spare yourself further humiliation.”

Gunther glared at her and wiped his face.

“Oh, don’t you worry, lass. Your knickers will come off sooner or later…”, he scoffed and went back to position. “I guess I have to take this serious after all.”

Gunther switched his stance, holding the hilt next to his hip and pointing in the direction of his opponent. Kieran was already in the same position and stance like before. Sophia mumbled a quick incantation and her eyes glowed up for a second. Kieran turned his head slightly and looked directly towards her.

“Begin!” Sophia started the second round.

Gunther closed the distance slowly until he got into striking range. Sophia watched Kieran now closely with her magically enhanced eyesight, in order not to miss his movement again. Gunther lunged forward like a spring with a stab to the chest. Kieran moved at the last moment. Lightning fast he struck the side of the sword with his own, deflecting the stab to the side.

Clank

Kieran then let his sword fall horizontally and swung it up, right at Gunther’s face. The giant reacted instinctively and swung his sword, parrying to the other side.

Clank

Kieran used the sidewards force of the parry and let his sword circle over his head, striking from the other side with the short edge. Gunther parried in the last moment.

Sophia watched them striking blows and parrying them one after another. They went back and forth, seemingly matched. At least to an untrained and magically unenhanced eye. Sophia looked closely at Gunther’s face . The growing frustration was clearly visible. Every one of his swings were parried with unbothered easiness, while the quickly following counterattack had to be met with panicked parries.

Sophia looked back at Kieran and she noticed a faint smile on his stoic face. There was a spark of enjoyment in his eyes. Unlike Gunther’s, whose were full of bloodlust and murderous intent, Kieran’s lacked that. Sophia wondered if that was because of her order. But she had no time to ponder that further, since the second bout was about to end.

Clank

The swords met slightly above their cross guards and bit into each other. Kieran pushed his arms up, knocking Gunther’s aside. The giant man lost his balance slightly for a split second. Kieran used this opportunity, let his sword tilt backwards and thrusted his pommel forward. Steel met face with teeth shattering force and the giant had to take a step back to prevent falling over.

“Second point to still zero,” Sophia announced.

Gunther lumbered back a few more steps and shook his head dazed. He spat a big clump of blood on the floor and a few teeth were visible, or at least fragments of them. Sophia was unable to hide her smile fully.

“Ooh, seems my knickers getting farther and farther away from you…”, she sneered, “You can always give up, if it’s too much for you.”

The undoubtedly unflattering remarks Gunther’s were luckily muffled and interrupted by another clump of blood, rendering them inaudible. The giant spat out again and wiped his face. His eyes had their crazed look back as he glared at Kieran, who was already back in position. Gunther bared the teeth he still had. His face was consumed by bloodlust as he lumbered back to his starting position.

“Beg—”, Sophia was interrupted by a loud roar.

Gunther lunged forward bellowing swinging his sword wildly. Kieran sighed as he looked at his opponent, who now reminded him more of a rabid bear than a man. The first swing at him was accompanied by a thundering roar. Instead of parrying, Kieran simply shifted his weight on his back leg and slightly lean back. The sword cut through the air, missing its mark only by a hair’s breadth. With a displeased grunt the follow-up attack came from below. Kieran stepped back and quickly dodged again. The third attack came from the same side as the first. Hard and from above. Kieran stepped forward instead of back, directly into the attack and raised his sword.

Clank

Steel clashed roughly at the middle of the blades. Kieran pushed forward on his sword. Gunther pressed against it. Kieran let go with his left hand and grabbed the swords at their meeting point. Simultaneously he wound his hilt around his opponents and hooked hooked the pommel into the giant’s arms. A quick and forceful turn later, Kieran had wrenched Gunther’s sword from his grasp and pointed both at him. Since the giant man was a stubborn one, he refused to let go of his sword until he could not hold on anymore, so he was pulled forward directly into the tips of both weapons. Kieran drove them deep into Gunther’s shoulder. He pulled his own sword back out, but left the opponent’s stuck.

“And that’s it…”, Sophia commented the result of the duel, “Looks like you have to keep spending your nights alone. Maybe I’ll arrange for some booze for the effort… A sip of watered ale should suffice for your performance. Now drop the swords.”

Kieran dropped his sword immediately. Gunther breathed heavily and stared at the sword protruding from his shoulder. Slowly he grabbed it and pulled it out with a grunt. He looked around with the sword in his hand.

“I said, drop the sword!” Sophia repeated and furrowed her brows.

Gunther slowly looked at her. His eyes glareing with crazed bloodlust. He took a step in her direction.

“Didn’t you hear, you Imbecile!” the Warden bellowed and swung his staff.

Crack

The Warden was undoubtedly not an amateur in combat. Simply the fact that he was one of the Prison Warden here in the Haefn Prison, where the worst criminals were kept, was testament to his martial capabilities. The staff of a Warden was not only made out of Sinderwood, one of the hardest kind known, it was also magically imbued, capable of breaking a steel weapon with ease. All that should have been clearly in the Warden’s favor, not to mention the fact that he was still uninjured. But in spite of all that, it was his body that fell to the ground, cleaved in half. Gunther barreled past the body parts.

“I’LL HAV’ ME WAY WI’H YOU, BI’CH!! EV’N IF I HAV’ TA KILL YA FI’ST!” he roared and spat blood.

Gunther sprinted towards Sophia, who seemed to be frozen in place. Kieran watched the whole thing emotionlessly without moving, his sword on the floor in front of him. The giant man reached the Inquisitor within a couple of strides. Kieran still did not move. Gunther roared, turned his body and went for a wide horizontal swing. Kieran felt the mark on his chest react and he finally moved. The sword in front of him had vanished.