Von

When Talla finished explaining her Heartbeat’s ability, Von studied her carefully. “Why is your ranking so low, then?” Comparatively, anyhow. Her current ranking was still higher than his own. “That seems rather strong, my fair lady.”

Talla shook her head. “To a degree. But think—there are three surfaces for Tournaments. Concrete, grass and clay—you understand that I am only strong in one of those, yes? For the other two, my Heartbeat is near useless—especially for concrete.”

Von lifted his eyes to study her carefully, there was a touch of annoyance there. It would work against Vandyr, no?But he thought better than to say it or question it. She would share with him what she wished and he would push for no more. “Are you certain of this duel?”

“Aye, my lord. Are you?” Her tone was serious and she leaned closer to his eyes. “I may accept your hospitality and seek shelter in Stormkeep for a while, if I am not to find another elven city that suits me in the future.”

“It would be my honor to have you as my guest.” He considered this. Is there a way to invite her into the castle in a more permanent fashion? They already had a Master of Swords in Master Cycle and there was hardly another position for her. Even if there was something she could do, would it be prudent to land an elf? His people might not be agreeable to it. He would have to talk to his brother about it. But she could stay for years if she wanted without trouble. “I understand other elven cities are in dire need of help.”

”Help is less than what they need,” Talla repeated bitterly. “The Elders concentrated whatever power they had in Bosque years ago, moved the capital as close to the Stormlands as they could to avoid losing face when the dwarves took it over. Fools. If you think this city is bad, then do not look at other settlements. Overcrowded with Deathless and lacking in food, most elves would accept a Stormermener dungeon over freedom there.”

This was true. Von had heard of elves who wilfully crossed the border and committed a crime for a dungeon’s relatively warm walls and food thrice a day. It does little to enamour my people to them, that. But he understood it better now that he had seen what the capital of the Woodlands looked like. If this is their pride, I fear their shame.“Stormkeep will be your home for as long as you need it, my fair lady,” Von muttered. “I may not be as useful to you as Von of the Past would have been, but I will not abandon you.”

“Von?”

“Yes?”

“I hated you in the past,” she said coldly.

He did not know what to say.

“You were an arrogant man who laughed in combat while others struggled and hardly spared a second for those you bested in combat.” This struck him like a dagger to the heart but he did not move. “More than once you missed your kingdom mandated meetings to teach local children about swordsmanship because you were too busy with some lady you met at a tavern or two.” I…no. I could never have done that! Von was horrified at that, but he also lacked the ability to imagine himself merely speaking to a woman and bedding her the same night. What if I had shamed my noble house and fathered a bastard? “Quite frankly, there was little to admire about you aside from your swordsmanship.”

“I—I am sorry for the person I—“

But Talla did not let him finish. She smiled kindly at him. “But the Von of Now? I quite like him.” She put a hand to the left side of his chest. “I once told you that I needed not your kindness, but the dark heartbeat inside of you—the cruelty that allowed you to obtain victory after victory.”

“I remember, my fair lady.”

“It is true that I still need you to become strong. I do not think I could best Vandyr myself and despite the Elders’ despicable behavior, the people have no fault—I wish to protect them from the curse still. But…I much prefer you the way you are now. And were I given the chance to return you to how you once were, I would not take it. Much rather trust you to become stronger—to become stronger alongside you—and mayhap find another swordsman to fight in our place if neither of us manages it.”

Her hand was still on his chest and she did not move it even as she stepped closer to him. “Do you wish you could be the Von of the Past still?”

“Aye, my fair lady.” He could not lie to her. “I do. Many times, I wonder how I could banish my current weakness…not just in swordsmanship, but in character. Von of the Past would not have hesitated as I had when demanding satisfaction for Jonathan.”

She gently touched the side of his face. “Kindness isn’t a weakness, Von. It’s your strength.”

“My fair lady, I—“

“The First Elder is ready for the duel now,” Rei said, stepping into the clearing. “You can head there when you’re ready to—“ He stopped suddenly at the sight of the two. At first neither of them realized what was wrong until Rei’s blank stare caused them to exchange a glance and move away from each other rather quickly. “Anyhow,” Rei started again, coughing, “The First Elder will be waiting for you when you are ready.”

He turned around and left.

Neither of them knew what to say. “Good luck in your duel, Talla,” Von said. Somehow, ‘my fair lady’ seems inappropriate right now. “We will have bandages ready and the carriage ready to take off the moment it is done.”

“Thank you,” she muttered.

The First Elder

The woman had always been a fool.

He had hand-picked her to serve as a Maiden of the Forest, yet she refused the position. In my day, a woman would have rather cut her own belly in shame than to reject the position. But times were changing for the worse and now she could walk in the streets without being shamed for it. None seemed to hold it against her. Polite chuckles would be exchanged over the idea, with a vague, ‘Ah, yes, that sounds like something Talla would do’ but there would barely be a hint of disapproval in their voice. She wanted to be a swordswoman instead. He could not accept that. It was that sort of degeneracy that had cursed them to begin with.

It was just as well that he would fell her himself. She thinks me easy prey, no doubt. Ah, I might be old, but I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve. He could have refused the duel or appointed a champion but that would have been wasteful. She was quite the eyesore. “My Elder.” Rei knelt down before him, hand over his chest. “I stand ready to fight for you, if you desire.”

Rei was one of the few elves that made the First hopeful for the youth. Ah, he was enamored with ideas of the outside world like many of them, but he supported his duty above everything else. The day he pledged himself to the Elderguard his blade never wavered—even when his feelings did. He was unhappy about competing in the Champion tournament while Talla was gone and unhappier still about the usage of the dagger. Yet he had obeyed the orders nonetheless. He will not break his oath, this one. “You need not fight, youngling,” the First told him. “I will do it myself.”

“But my Elder—!” His eyes were full of concern. He does not wish to see me die and he does not wish to see the wench become a murderer. Good lad. “Is it because I lost to the human? I understand I shamed you, but—“

The First shook his head. “Shame…there is shame in how we act. Not in how we fare in battle. We are not humans or demons, we do not measure our worth by how much blood we draw. How you live your life, noble Elderguard, is what makes you worthy. You respect our traditions. You are strong.”

“But my Elder—!”

The First went to his knees and touched the side of Rei’s face. “You were not harmed by the human earlier,” he noted thoughtfully. “Was this Kai’s work?”

He hesitated. “My brother is unwell and my words unnerved him. The fault lies with me.”

It does not, but it is useful to pretend it does. The other Elders felt responsible for the boy’s state and they would award him the title when he gets his temper under control. He is Cywin’s son. If taking care of the son keeps the father sweet, so be it. People suspected Cywin of treachery, but they did not understand it—the man did not intend on becoming Prince of the Woodlands, far from it. But he did intend on ridding the elves from that horrible system of shared Eldership. He will make me the sole Elder, under the condition that his son inherits the title after my time comes. That was just as well. There was so much he could accomplish if the other three didn’t get in his way…

“My noble Elderguard, fear not. These brittle old bones will not break, nor will they bend.”

The wench stood across from them. She had picked the site for the duel, and had refused the arena from the human’s earlier duel. Instead they had met near the lake, having chosen a patch of grass as their duel, flanked by trees and water on either side. It was an odd choice for terrain. If she wants to maximize her youthful advantage, why pick a duel on grass? Though the ground appeared even, there were many tree roots and vines hidden beneath the grass. One would be hardly able to move fast across that terrain. What is she thinking? Dumb lass, this is why she should have been a Maiden rather than a swordswoman. What a waste. She is pretty enough, her prayer would have pleased the forest.

“This duel shall go until surrender or death,” Talla began, “and the stakes are pure honor.”

“Very well,” the First agreed. “Let us begin, then?”

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She shook her head. “Weapons,” she demanded. “The terms must be made clear ahead of time.”

The First grinned at this. “Do you think I would dishonor myself with trickery against a fellow elf? Misguided as you might be, you are a creature of the forest, same as I.”

“Single sword,” Talla shot back, gritting her teeth. “Longsword, rapier, smallsword—whatever you would like. Nothing else.”

“As you wish.”

Talla fell into her stance, drawing out her rapier. It was shorter than the human’s, albeit not by much. A traditional Elven Blade, at least. The First too drew out a similar sword in opposition and studied his opponent carefully. He could not bend his knees as she could, only vaguely lowering his torso while her knees were bent at near perfect quarter-angle.“Begin,” they both muttered.

She thinks me a frail old man who can hardly defeat her. Perfect.

Talla took a step forward, and the First moved his blade to the sky before suddenly bringing it downward—at himself. This appeared to shock the woman, who stopped suddenly and watched in horror as the Elder drew his own blood. “The issue with youngsters,” the First said, his grin widening, “is that you want Heartbeats to be weapons to kill your opponent. If there is one thing I respect the human for—and that is not a certainty—it is that he understands this quite well. You have never seen my Heartbeat, have you, Talla? I retired from fighting long before you took your first step.” And now, the afternoon breeze reminded him of his younger days. Ah, how glorious they were. “Watch it now—the Forest’s Heartbeat!”

The First drew his own blood five times by quickly brushing his steel against his forearm and triggered his Heartbeat. He had no intention of allowing Talla to understand what his ability was—he sped up toward her at a speed that far surpassed her expectations and stopped just before her, pushing her blade out of the way with his feeble old hand and smiling. “Hello, Talla,” he said.

It was here that he thrusted his blade forward and it came out of the other end of her shoulder. The human cried out her name, and the First knew that Kai was watching this through grit teeth. Do not be upset, boy. I know you fancy the woman, but we will find you one that better suits your honor. The wench pulled herself away and the First did not give chase—there was no reason to be hasty. She attempted at cutting him with her sword, but her clumsy gesture missed him by more than two inches, her blade connecting with the vines on the ground before bouncing upward. “What’s the matter? Am I not the prey you expected, wench?” the First demanded. “You hoped to grind these bones of mine to dust, did you now?”

Talla did not respond. Her expression remained the same as it had been since before the start of the duel, stern and concentrated. “You are the Elder who obtained his position through dueling. That you have a Heartbeat is hardly unexpected.” Her words were dull, but her breath was heavy. Blood flowed from her shoulders and it did not seem like it would stop any time soon. “I just have to figure out what it does.”

The First smiled and he was quite confident she would not.

His Heartbeat was “Speed.” Tuned to five hits, it allowed all of its targets to increase its speed by a certain amount, while ignoring drawbacks such as impact on their own body or increase in stamina use. After some experimentation the night before, the First had found that even his old body’s fragile speed was increased enough with a tuning of five to outpace a young elf. The wench had expected a frail old man to oppose her, and this had allowed him to deliver a near fatal blow in the first exchange.

“Youngsters do not understand,” he muttered, “that Heartbeats affect all living targets. This includes yourself, my dear. You never thought of using them this way, have you? The old way. Too enamored with the bright lights of pavement walkers.”

Talla’s heavy breath did not keep her from responding. “Be that as it may—your Heartbeat still obeys the same rules as every other Heartbeat.”

“Oh?” the First asked, a twisted sort of slyness to his voice. “Do you think so? What if my ability outlasts yours?”

Talla shook her head. “If that were the case, you would have walked into this duel with your Heartbeat already active. The fact you had to draw blood from me first means it triggers as normal. That you need a one-on-one duel to take place for its ability to activate. Moreover, it means the duration of your attack is the same. Five hits to trigger it, so five seconds total. This means that as long as I can keep you from hurting yourself five more times then you can’t activate it.”

“Aye,” the First acknowledged. It was true. “But can you?”

He brought his forearm against his blade and started cutting at it once more. Drawing blood felt more painful in his old age, but his pride as an Elder gave him strength. Killing her here is necessary to keep more youngsters from following her ways. This Heartbeat given to me all those years ago—it shall protect our elven way. One cut. Two cuts. Three cuts. Four cuts.

And Talla showed up right before him, sword arm extended in his direction. He could not dodge the incoming blade. But he could cut himself one more time before the attack connected.

Five cuts, and the Heartbeat triggered. Foolish wench, you don’t understand how little time it takes to draw my own blood like this. As long as the wounds are separate, the Heartbeat will still trigger. Two seconds are all I need to satisfy the requirements! Time slowed to a crawl for him and he dodged her attack, stepping out of the way at just the last minute and causing her overextended attack to bounce off overgrown tree roots on the ground.

Here came a precarious position.

There were four seconds left on his Heartbeat, but with her sword arm extended, even toward the ground, it would be unwise of him to approach for a deep attack. Perhaps an attack to the arm, then. No. That is irresponsible. But he still held out his sword angled toward her in a stop-hit if she chose to give chase. And then, to his surprise, she did. Without even so much as lifting her sword arm, the woman rushed forward and collided her shoulder against his blade, almost as if intentionally. Almost as if…no!

The First Elder used the last of his speed to retreat to safety. “You demonic wench in the body of an elf!” he cursed. “May the rot take you whole, down the lowest of the Depths!”

For the first time in the match Talla’s expression changed, from her nearly blank, serious expression into a more confident one. And there was a smirk there. “Elder of mine, were you not the one who spoke of more creative use of Heartbeats a moment ago? How cruel of you to admonish me for following your sage advice!”

“Damn you,” he muttered, “damn you!”

Some in the crowd watching the duel, including the three other Elders and the human appeared quite confused at this development. But the First understood her plan quite well.

Heartbeats affect ‘living targets.’

This meant that whenever he triggered it, anything he had drawn blood from during this duel would be affected by the Heartbeat—provided they had been struck enough times according to the tuning. In other words, if Talla was hit five times as well, then she would also obtain the speed boost from the Heartbeat. That’s why she stabbed herself…she gave herself a light wound to increase the amount of strikes against her!

“You understand, yes, Elder of mine?” Talla asked, falling into position once more. “Once you have hit me five times…your Heartbeat will become useless, and you will become just a pathetic old man.” Here she sneered at him. “Pathetic husk of a once glorious man…much like our city.”

I will not allow you to insult our people, wench!

“It takes you about two seconds to cut yourself five times. You could have started doing it while we exchange words, but you know I would attack the moment you attempted to do so. In those two seconds, I have enough time to cut our distance short and launch an attack. You can complete your Heartbeat’s requirement, step backward to safety, and attack me if you dare. But do you dare, Elder of mine?” Talla stepped forward and the Elder stepped backward. “After all, you only have three more chances to kill me. If you draw my blood three more times and I still draw breath, you will have lost.”

Ridiculous, he thought, his own heart racing, that is ridiculous!

To his surprise, Talla pointed her sword away from him and rushed toward him with both her forearms crossed ahead of her. She does not want to land an attack—she wants me to draw her blood in a harmless way! The First began to draw his own blood once more, and this time it was nearly not enough. His fifth cut came slower than last time, pain and old age catching up to him. Even that minuscule amount of blood was enough to make his movements just a fraction slower. No…no!

The First managed to trigger his Heartbeat, but Talla injured herself on his blade with a light cut on the side of her sword arm as he retreated. With his increased speed, he retreated as she desperately gave chase, and every attack of hers appeared to miss time and again, bouncing off tree roots or vines on the ground. To think this wench proclaimed herself worthy of the title of champion! She is not even close to hitting me!

Both opponents now stood across from each other at a reasonable distance. Concern ran through the First’s mind—he was slowing with every exchange, and his superior speed meant nothing if she could threaten him. His first strike against her shoulder had been the only truly damaging one, and as much as it pained him to admit, mere exercise was more taxing on his elderly body than blood loss was on hers. “If only I could use it one more time,” he muttered.

Talla stabbed the ground with her sword. “Go ahead.”

There were urgent cries from the crowd, but the First paid them no mind. Instead, he glanced at her warily and said, “Are you mad?”

“Aye. But my sword is in these hands of mine no longer. Why not attack now, Elder of mine?”

It reeked of treachery, yet he could not conceive a way it could be so. Her blade was away from her and she had not wounded him once. Even if the wench had obtained a Heartbeat somehow, there was no way for her to trigger it. This is my chance—she expects me to waste time and succumb to my old age. I shall not allow it! He drew his blood for the final time and advanced forward in his increased speed. Your death will be for the betterment of our kind, Talla. Rest assured your death shall have meaning. Farewell, young—

Something had caught his wrist. “Who dares interfere in a duel between—” the First started, turning around in fury. But then he realized it was no person holding his arms backward.

It was a vine. “What—”

Tree roots shot from the ground and wrapped themselves around the man, tight as chains, forcing his sword away from him and crushing his bones. Pain surged through his body and he let out a primal scream. “What—the trees—”

“You mentioned before that my generation does not use Heartbeats creatively,” Talla said, absently picking up her blade. “Do you not understand, you fool? Even with your increased speed, there is no way you could have bested me in a fight. I chose to fight you on your terms for one simple reason.”

She missed those attacks on purpose. Her aim wasn’t me, but the tree branches, the tree roots…she can control them. How many times did she cut them? That was the purpose behind her wild missed attacks. This is Talla’s Heartbeat. The tree roots grew tighter, and the First felt something inside of him snapping. Some sort of liquid started to fill his throat. No…I can’t…

“Do you know what the reason is?”

If I die here, our city will never return to what it once was. They need me. I cannot allow myself to—“I surr—”

Vines wrapped themselves around his mouth, muffling the sound and forcing him quiet. His eyes full of terror looked at the swordswoman who stepped toward him, the tip of her sword dragging against the ground. “You cannot surrender this way.” Her voice was colder than winter. The Stormlands have poisoned her, this cruelty is not elven! This is—! But fury would not find place in his heart, for a more primal feeling took over entirely. He resisted, shaking his arms wildly, but upon doing so found only pain—his arms had been broken at some point. The First could not move, and he could not speak.

“Now that you can’t surrender, there is nothing preventing me from—” Talla drew her sword and pierced it through his chest. “This satisfies honor and does not make me a criminal in the Six Princedoms, beneath the law of the King of Princes. Is that understood?”

Wench, cursed—cursed—

But the First Elder realized she was no longer even looking at him. Talla’s gaze rested upon the remaining Elders, who in turn returned it a serious glare of their own.

No one was looking at the First anymore. Not the Elders, not Talla, not the human, not even Kai. He was not even the most important person on the day of his own death.

“Von, we’re leaving,” Talla declared, stepping away from the dying Elder, “innocent I might be, but I doubt I will be welcome in this city again.”

End of Chapter 13,

“This is Talla’s Heartbeat.”