Let's Call It a Draw

“This looks like a good place to camp for the night,” Bastian said and steered the cart towards a patch of dirt next to the road.

Others must have used this place as a campsite before them, because a fireplace was already built with a bunch of stones, but it looked like the last time it was used was a while back, since the surrounding plants had begun to creep their way inside.

“Bastian, you get some firewood and I’ll clean the rabbits. You guys deal with the horses and get some water in a pot,” delegated Valeria and jumped of the coachbox.

She grabbed the two dead rabbits. The second one was shot by her not too long ago. Valeria then grabbed a knife as well and began to skin them. Bastian got down from the and went to the small meadow nearby to get some wood.

“You get the water,” Sophia said to Kieran and handed him a cauldron.

He nodded and went in the direction of a small stream nearby. When he came back, Sophia finished with the horses and walked over to him.

“Let’s do a little sparring… we didn’t yesterday,” she said to him.

Kieran agreed and they began their training a bit away from the camp. Valeria watched them while skillfully cutting up the rabbits.

“What do you really think of him?” Bastian asked her with a bundle of firewood in hand.

“What I said… I don’t think that he’s a bad guy… The explanation with the special secret unit seemed a bit off, but as we both know some corrupt things going down in the Inquisition and especially the leadership. So, it could be possible for them to have secrets even from the crown…” Valeria mumbled thinkingly.

“You think she is in on it?”

“No… Sophia doesn’t seem like the corrupt type… She lives a very modest life and most of the money she earns goes back to support her sick mother or local orphanages.”

“The financial situation of her family could be an angle for someone to use her…”

“Coud be… but I still think she isn’t connected to the corruption, at least not directly. Her record shows a very strong sense of justice and…. Holy shit! They’re really going at each other!”

Valeria and Bastian watched the two sparring partners some very quick blows. Sophia then threw in some magic spells. Flames erupted and rocks exploded, escalating the sparring match above what was considered a normal level by most. Kieran dodged them all and went for a quick counterattack. Sophia blocked it just in the nick of time. Then they both went into a flurry of slashes and parries.

“What do you think of their fighting, Bastian?” Valeria asked. “Think you could take them?”

Bastian looked at the two clashing into each other repeatedly in a speed that was difficult for normal eyes to follow.

“Her? Yes, I could… But I have to admit, there are probably not many that could. Her fighting style is quite interesting…” Bastian said in acknowledgment.

“In her file it’s recorded that she’s a specialist in mixing magical combat with traditional sword fighting,” Valeria added.

“I can see that…”

“What about him?”

Bastian watched Kieran reprimand for a mistake she had made, which had given him an opening to strike.

“Probably not…” he said thinkingly.

“Probably?” Valeria questioned.

“Hard to say… I don’t think he has shown what he’s truly capable of yet… He has definitely shown that he can be dangerous, but I don’t sense any animosity from him.”

Bastian dropped the firewood next to the fireplace and grabbed his sword.

“What are you doing?” Valeria asked.

“Getting to know him better,” Bastian replied with a smile.

He went over to the two fighters. Kieran had again broken through Sophia’s defense and held his sword to her neck.

“Dead… you leave your left side exposed when you prepare to go for a thrust and shift your balance, and that movement is easy to read and to counter.” He reprimanded her.

“Aren’t you a bit hard on the girl? That little shift of balance was very subtle, I doubt many fighters could notice it… and even less would be able to capitalize on the opening in that brief of a moment,” Bastian remarked walking up to them.

Kieran turned and smiled.

“You would be able to I bet,” he said.

“Probably…” Bastian replied, smiling back and unsheathing his sword. “Why don’t we test what else I would be able to?”

Kieran looked at Sophia. She nodded.

“Guess I’m still not fully recovered yet from having exerted all my magical energy the day before yesterday…” she mumbled and sheathed her sword.

“If that was you not being fully recovered yet… color me impressed, Lady Sophia,” Bastian admitted.

“Thanks…”

Bastian got into position and greeted him by putting his sword in front of his face. Kieran did the same. Bastian attacked first. A quick horizontal slash with the false edge from the right.

Clank

Kieran parried, wound his sword around his opponents, and went for a stab to the shoulder. Bastian pushed his sword to the side and went for a slash from the other direction.

Clank

Parried again and Kieran stepped to the side and went on the offensive.

Clank

This time Bastian parried. They paused for a moment sword to sword.

“Not bad…” Kieran admitted, “As expected from a member of the Kings guard.”

“How did you know by the way? You knew it before the princess revealed her identity, right?” Bastian asked.

“Your sword… Such a heavily enchanted sword is reserved only for the top troops of the Empire… and the Kings guard.”

Bastian stared at him for a moment and then burst out in laughter.

“Good one, Kieran. It’s true the Kings guard do get the benefit of receiving some special gear, including the sword,” Bastian admitted and put on a challenging expression. “Wanna put the intensity of this sparring match up a notch?”

“With pleasure,” Kieran replied with a smile.

Bastian pulled back a bit and flourished his sword. Glyphs began glowing on it’s blade and on the cuirass that he was wearing. Kieran felt the immense magical power surrounding the man suddenly and smiled even wider. With a incredible speed, Bastian stepped forward and swung his sword diagonally.

Clank

Kieran parried with an equally unbelievable fast reaction.

“Oh?” Bastian commented. “Interesting.”

Then they vanished in a blurry flurry of steel with movements way too fast for a normal person to even comprehend. They attacked, parried, dodged, counterattacked, and went for feints countless times all in the span of a split moment. This flurry went on for minutes without one getting the upper hand. Then they suddenly stopped. Both had gone for an attack. Kieran for a vertical slash to the throat. Bastian for a thrust from below to the stomach. They had stopped their sword only a hair breaths away from contact.

“Double?” Bastian asked without moving.

“Double,” Kieran confirmed.

“Well, I guess in a real fight I would have my head cut off and would be dead immediately.”

“And I could bleed out and join you a bit later.”

“So… draw?”

“I guess…”

Bastian and Kieran relaxed their bodies and pulled their swords back.

“You still held back, right?” Bastian asked.

“Well, this is a sparring match after all,” Kieran replied smiling.

“Would it be a draw as well between us in a real fight?”

“No.”

Bastian did not need to ask who would win in such a scenario, he knew it as he looked at the grey-purplish eyes staring back at him sadly.

“Well, let’s call it here. Thanks for the nice talk, Kieran. I think I understand you better now.”

“My pleasure, Bastian.”