“You caused poor Jones quite a scare yesterday.” Merida told Alec as the boy sputtered for breath. “He wants you sent to Vulcanus. The idiot.” The archmage waited for a response before realising that Alec was still far too focused on breathing after his first dunking of the morning. So she pushed him back down. Cold eyes regarding him as he stared back up at her through the mana-saturated water.
He’d stopped struggling. Which was impressive in its own right. It took a lot of willpower not to fight back when being drowned, she could attest to that personally, the desire to live was so strong, sometimes at the worst possible moments – like when trying to play dead when being held under the lake by a pair of street toughs who’d been paid handsomely to remove an irritating elf who asked far too many questions.
That was one thing she was growing to dislike, how impressed she was by Erebus’ chosen apprentices. She didn’t want to like them. She wanted to kill them… or at least wanted to want to kill them.
She’d pondered why Erebus would do something as reckless as leave his proteges in her hands. Three days ago she’d have called it arrogance, as if she would be afraid of offending a rival with some casual murder. Now she was sure of the archmage’s true motive, and equally sure she’d underestimated just how insidious the famously forthright necromancer could be when he chose.
Because he’d known she’s see in them what he had, that she wouldn’t be able to turn down the chance to correct the mistakes of her past, the verminous cretin. It was almost enough to make her kill them both out of spite. Almost.
Finally she let Alec up for air, and to continue their rather one-sided conversation. “I wasn’t sure you’d turn up today. If you’d decided to just forego magic I wouldn’t have tracked you down, frankly you wouldn’t have been worth the time if I’d needed to.”
“Why are you tell-”
She pushed him back down, slowly counting down in her head as she watched him with a pleased smile. If only more of her conversations could be like this she’d be able to get so much more done.
“He’s right though that the rage is an issue. Don’t worry, we’ll fix it. You aren’t the first traumatised child we’ve had to work with, you won’t be the last.” Merida reassured him as she met his panicked eyes as he fought his natural urge to breath. She wasn’t sure how well he could hear her beneath the water, especially with his heartbeat doubtlessly pounding in his ears, but she’d find out. And back up.
“I’m not-” And back down.
“It would be weirder if you weren’t.” She told him. “It’s not entirely your fault of course. The debrief team were all so busy congratulating themselves on nabbing both of Erebuses’ apprentices for Necropolis training they wouldn’t have noticed.” And she’d be finding out the names and addresses of the fools involved. Not because she cared about Alec and Holly, which she begrudgingly would admit she was beginning to, but because that sort of incompetence that high up in the Joint Response Task Force was something that could imperil entire cities unchecked.
She was perhaps being a bit harsh, the pencilpushers in charge of debriefing Second Response mages were not used to dealing with child survivors, for the simple reason they weren’t used to dealing with any survivors. By the time Second Response got called in they were lucky to find enough remains of the First Response team to arrange for burial or reanimation.
The typical Second Response debriefing involved either a matter of fact report while an embittered mage tried to kill with just their eyes, flagrant lying or a level of detail that was just shy of ‘we arrived, we killed the threat, we left’. Dealing with traumatized people just wasn’t in their remit when their charges tended to come pre-traumatized.
It was easy to forget that while people were assets, assets were also people. It took a rare mind to hold that duality and still order people to their deaths.
“I said I’m not-” And back down.
“The real tragedy here is that you’re the lesser talent. Don’t get me wrong, you’re going to be a powerful mage in your own right in time, but Holly is by far the better prospect. More levelheaded, more cautious. Rightfully the time I’m spending on you is time I should be spending on her.” Merida continued, apparently intent on just making her inner monologue someone else’s problem.
“Then-”
“Of course she’d die without you, so we’ve got to whip you into shape enough that you aren’t a liability.” The archmage mused, letting him up for a proper breath. This time Alec didn’t even try to get a word in before he was pushed back beneath the surface.
“Good talk.” Merida told him with a cold smile.
*
Holly was suffering through yet another lesson close quarters fighting. The dryad had to admire the irony, this sort of physical thuggery had always been Alec’s forte, not hers, and yet here she was practicing how to hit people with a stick while her host, by all accounts, got to just soak in what was for all intents a bath of liquid mana.
Master Vee had her practicing more than a single strike today at least, a couple of blocks followed by a counter that she was required to do slowly again and again as the ghoul tried to zero in on what her body was capable of, and whatever insights he’d drawn he wasn’t sharing, not yet.
The one bright side was that she was able to pay attention to the actual lesson taking place, and watching the ghoul in action was something to behold.
“What, class, is the golden rule of fighting magical creatures?” He said, the other students knelt opposite him on the smooth stone floor. The gymnasium walls also free of the damage inflicted on them the prior day.
“Don’t let them touch you.” They chorused back in a single voice.
“Correct. Before all else you are mages. What you learn here in this class will only be applicable when things have gone horribly wrong, and they will go horribly wrong. Every supernatural predator that walks the face of Reath is faster and stronger than you… with the possible exception of Brin… and they will not hesitate to take advantage of that. Most will not be polite enough to challenge you to a duel. It will happen in the dark. By ambush. By surprise. Often the only warning you will get will be a vague sense of unease, if that.
“I know some of you doubt the efficacy of a class where magic is not permitted. Let me assure you, there will be no time for a spell. No time for thought. You must be able to react, and react perfectly. And you won’t get a chance to try again if you get it wrong.
“We’ll do this exercise one at a time. I want you all to watch and learn from each other’s mistakes. Brin you first. We’ll start twenty metres apart.”
The ogre got to his feet with a heavy sigh. “Master Vee, why Brin always first? Just because can take beating don’t mean want to.”
“Then you’d better learn to like it.” The ghoul said heartlessly. “You Brin are one of the rare few who can turn a battle on its head. There’s nothing more gut-wrenching that watching the best among you get taken out by overwhelming force, and there’s nothing more inspiring than watching them get back up again. You, more than anyone else here, must learn to be indomitable.”
The ogre grimaced but nodded, plodding over to face their teacher and putting his fists up in a fairly tight boxer’s stance.
Vortigern Vee didn’t give any warning, just striking like a serpent as he ate the distance between them in a single bound, a clawed hand turning into a fist at the last moment as he went to drive it into Brin’s stomach.
The ogre blocked it, barely, hunching and lowering his guard to take the blow on his forearms with a heavy and meaty thwack that echoed across the crude gymnasium before he lashed out with a jab like a pneumatic piston, following up with a rising knee that would have winded an elephant.
Neither blow even came close. The old ghoul was just too fast and too agile, ducking under the punches and casually stepping back from any kicks, all the while putting in blows that Brin was forced to take on his increasingly bruised arms as the ogre changed tactics, trying to bullrush the undead monster.
It was a good call. Brin’s only real advantage was his strength, if he could just grab the ghoul he’d have a chance. But it wasn’t to be, Vortigern simply sidestepping the rush to put a punch into Brin’s short ribs before returning to laying blows that would have shattered Holly’s ribs into his arms until finally the poor ogre’s guard dropped and the ghoul’s uppercut carried him several feet across the room to crash heavily to the ground.
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Holly had thought that was an end to it, and so it seemed did Vortigern Vee, the ghoul half-turning to direct the class before turning back as, with a groan, Brin slowly rose to a knee, and then, somewhat shakily, to his feet, wiping blood from his lips with the back of his hand as the ogre forced a grin.
“Good lad.” It wasn’t a lot of praise, but it was sincere.
This time Brin didn’t let his teacher take the initiative, charging the ghoul with a bellow of hopefully faux-rage, arms wide to give him the best possible chance of grabbing the smaller but faster fighter.
“Enough Brin.” Master Vee snapped sharply, the ogre halting his charge in just a few steps. With a smile their teacher walked up to him and patted him on the upper arm, the shoulder out of reach. “Sorry to ruin your moment but I’d have had to hurt you there. You did well, but stop letting me dictate the pace. You shouldn’t need to get angry to seize the initiative.”
“Yes Master Vee.” Brin nodded slowly, bowing low to him before he stomped back to his place in the line, between Alicia and Hope – though the arachni’s best attempt at kneeling really was just curling her legs in on herself.
“Kristos, you’re up next.” The ghoul said, the faeblood rising up with uncanny fluidity, a confident smile on his too handsome face.
“Are we permitted weapons for this?” He said, going so far as to face away from their teacher, hands resting nonchalantly at his sides.
“If you think you can draw them in time.” Master Vee allowed bemusedly, a twinkle in his glassy eyes.
“And we are simulating ambush yes?” Kristos double-checked, still not facing the ghoul.
“Indeed. I admire your commitment to the premise but you might be sabotaging yourself here.” He warned, undead flesh tensed to strike. He was giving Kristos a bit more distance to start with than he’d given Brin, about half again, though Holly was in no doubt after the last display that he’d be able to cross in a single bound just as easily.
The faeblood didn’t reply, letting out a long breath that fogged when it met the air.
Master Vee gave no further warnings. One moment stood still, the next an unliving missile aimed at Kristos’ back. Holly didn’t know how Kristos knew it was coming but unlike Brin he didn’t just take the blow.
The faeblood took a moment to give Holly a wink before he took two steps forwards and drew his blade, driving the scabbard back hard, smoothly unclipping it from his belt, to slam the blunt tip into the airborne ghoul before pivoting off of his back foot to bring his blade down to try and bisect their teacher down the middle.
Vortigern caught it bare handed, fingers clasping so hard on the metal that it came to a complete stop before it could cut deep into his flesh while striking with his spare hand, only to abort the blow as he ducked low under the sheathe as Kristos tried to brain him with it. Both strikes a single fluid movement, no wasted movement, no hesitation.
Kristos’ backswing with the sheathe was the same but this time Master Vee was ready for it, catching it with his spare hand, the two staring at each other as they struggled for the weapons.
“You know where this is going.” The old ghoul said with a smirk, calm and conversational as he slowly redirected the blade back towards its owner.
“Yeah. I know.” Kristos’ words were clipped, forced out through gritted teeth as he strained, arms shaking with the effort needed to keep his own blade away from his throat. Then he let go, ducking under the suddenly unwieldy swing of their offbalance teacher to tackle him to the floor, raining punches down upon him.
The faeblood’s advantage didn’t last, Vortigern just grabbing him by the throat and lifting him bodily off of him as he rose to his feet as Kristos tried to drive kicks into the teacher’s ribs, not even bothering to try and break the iron grip on his throat – he knew a lost cause when he saw one.
“What were your mistakes?” The old ghoul asked as he gently set his pupil back on his feet before letting go.
“Bringing a sword to a monster fight.” Kristos tried to quip, his croaking voice betraying him as he rubbed at his throat.
“No. That at least you did well in.” Vortigern answered smoothly. “When you took me to the floor, what was your goal?”
“Not getting my throat opened on my own blade?” Kristos retorted.
“So you instead took a much faster and stronger opponent to the floor and then wasted your sole remaining advantage, that of leverage, by trying to punch unconscious a ghoul. At least try and break an arm, it’s not going to work but it would at least be something.”
“Yeah yeah… you just wait old man. I’ll get you next time.” The faeblood grumbled, giving the teacher a shallow bow as he stalked off.
“The day you pose a threat young Kristos is the day I stop letting you enter my class with a live blade. Now… Alicia, you’re up.”
The necromancer silently moved to face her teacher, hands raised and ready. Certainly Vortigern took her as a more serious threat than Kristos, giving her the same twenty metre gap he’d given Brin.
Alicia’s weapon of choice it turned out were a pair of long knives, the young woman sliding her cloak off her as the ghoul leapt to throw it over Vortigern to reveal the blades, sidestepping to draw and plunge them down towards the entangled teacher’s back.
At least that had been the plan, the necromancer not expecting Vortigern to snatch the cloak out of the air, roll to his feet and throw it over his rather distressed pupil as she wildly put several holes in her own cloak as she fought her way free.
Master Vee didn’t make any further moves to attack, he didn’t need to as Alicia gave only a cursory bow then glumly walked back to the line.
“It wasn’t a bad plan.” The ghoul said gently. “A lot of monsters would have been quite helpless, but you’ve got to remember that the old monsters have seen it all a dozen times before. You won’t beat them with cheap tricks, especially one that telegraphed, only technique will save you in your time of need. Though you could have had me if you’d been a bit smarter about it, just draw one knife next time, you didn’t need two and you could have drawn it the same time you drew the cloak.”
Alicia nodded stiffly, still looking like she’d just tried to down a glass of lemon juice. Holly couldn’t see why she was taking it so badly, Kristos had barely lasted a couple of seconds longer. As far as could tell the point wasn’t even to win. There was no way Vortigern would let that happen with live steel in play, the point was to just have a response. To not freeze when an apex predator surged towards you with murderous intent.
“Anesh, your turn.”
Of the four up so far the ritually scarred apprentice was the most nervous as he slowly walked over, dragging it out as if he could avoid the inevitable. Which was why it surprised her when Master Vee only gave him a fifteen metre gap, the old ghoul’s eyes narrowed as he prepared to leap.
Holly wouldn’t realise what happened until she’d had a chance to replay it in her head a few times. One moment the two had been facing off. The next Master Vee was on the floor with two knives embedded in his chest and Anesh’s rapier at his throat.
Belatedly the dryad realised the teen had drawn and thrown a pair of knives from somewhere about his person, launching them underarm to lodge in undead flesh.
“Nicely done.” The ghoul said, grinning to show too-sharp teeth.
“It was simple enough after watching you do it three times.” His student said, waving off the compliment as he helped his teacher back to his feet, Vortigern returning the knives with a slightly wet squelch. “Plus rule two, of course.”
Clearly that meant something to the class going from the collective groan of realisation, Kristos noting Holly’s uncomprehending look from the corner where she was meant to be practicing. “Rule one is don’t let them touch you. Rule two is that, unless it’s got wings, it can’t change direction once airborne. A lot of supernatural predators like to leap, and it’s the moment when they’re vulnerable.”
“Ghouls included. Though it’s also the moment where a large apex predator is moving towards you at speed so it’s rather important not to miss, as young Anesh admirably demonstrated.” Master Vee added. “Now for our final student… Holly please come up.”
Holly nearly dropped her staff on her foot, “Me?” She all but squeaked, fully convinced this was a punishment for not paying attention to her own exercise. “Sh-shouldn’t Hope be going next? I’m not even technically in the same class...”
“Hope For A New Dawn can’t take part in this exercise.” Vortigern said solemnly.
“Arachni don’t bruise, we break.” Hope explained with concerning cheer, her injured leg on close inspection still bound in webbing. “And I can’t hold a weapon… and venom doesn’t work on undead. Well arachni venom doesn’t at least. There is literally nothing I can do to him in this exercise.”
“But I still don’t-”
“Holly will be fine.” Brin rumbled. “Master Vee quite gentle.” So spoke the one student who’d had his arms pounded into mince, though maybe that really was gentle where the big ogre was concerned.
“Quite.” Master Vee said as Holly walked over to the spot opposite with all the enthusiasm of a condemned man. At least she got the full thirty metres.
“Should I face away or um… if we’re simulating an ambush what should I do with the staff?” Holly queried, awkwardly holding the shaft of wood away from her.
“You’re training to be a mage aren’t you? The beauty of the staff is that there’s really no way to hide or sheathe it, and thus you don’t have to worry about clearing a scabbard. On the other hand anyone trying to jump you knows you’re a mage, so that comes with its own host of advantages and disadvantages. I’ve known some masterful staff-fighters who walked around with unbearably gaudy staves, their opponents were so braced for spells that they forgot how to handle being bludgeoned. My advice… just hit me with it. If you can.”
Holly swallowed nervously as she raised her weapon, waiting for the jump. She had no real expectation of landing a blow, and she doubted anyone else expected it of her either. Just not totally embarrassing herself would suffice.
Then Vortigern was upon her, nowhere near as fast as he’d been with the other students, the leap taking a much higher trajectory and stopping just short, his claws lashing out twice, and to her shock she parried both blows before whipping the tip towards the ghoul’s head, which he unsurprisingly stepped back from. An almost automatic copy of the same movement she’d spent half the class practicing before stepping forwards for the overhead strike from yesterday.
Master Vee calmly caught it and pulled the staff from her grasp. “Good. You didn’t freeze. And we have our answer on whether dryads can build reflexes. It’s still early days but I think I can start training you properly now.”
“Thank you sir.” Holly said cautiously, bowing low before heading back towards her little corner of the gym. And then hurrying back to retrieve her staff, cheeks a deep green with an embarrassment not helped at all by the way she’d just held up the entire class.
Still… maybe she wasn’t completely useless with weapons afterall.