by Vic Broquard
Chapter 3 Adjustments
“Hi, I am Mage Dana Aceda. Dad says I am to get you two fully equipped and trained. Oh, dad is Archmage Marek, the door warden and one of the two blade enchanters. Archmage Karel Ambrose, my uncle, is the falconer and other blade enchanter,” the lad said shyly. Breakfast was done and the two new guests had returned to their new room.
“So why are you staring at us?” Wen asked, figuring it was because her sister was now a cripple. Already Chan was experiencing many difficulties with their normal routines. Wen had to tie Chan’s boots for her, to say nothing of helping her get dressed in their new leather outfits, compliments of Jarka.
“I — I’ve never met anyone from Jing before. You don’t look too different from us,” he replied, his face flushing.
“What did you expect us to look like?” Chan retorted.
“Well, I don’t know, but it is such a different world, Jing — I mean. I sort of expected you to look different from us, somehow. Well, your skin has sort of a yellowish hue to it.”
“Most everyone around here looks like white ghosts to us,” Wen teased him, “excepting you and a few others. How come your skin is tanner?”
“Oh, I get that from my mother. She and my aunt are originally from Asami. Mom and my aunt are Duskas and so are we. I mean myself and my sisters as well as Uncle Karel and Aunt Chika’s two teens. Anyway, Uncle Karel and dad want me to get you all equipped. Have you two really killed nineteen Green Dragons?” he asked curiously.
“What? You don’t think two women can do that?” Chan asked slightly antagonistically, as she looked at her stump which had now fully healed, thanks to Jarka’s healing potions.
Dana flushed, “Er, no. Well, yes. Well sort of. You are Duskas, but usually it is the male Duskas who get all the keen fighter training. Of course, the women Duskas get some; they have to be able to protect themselves and all that.”
“I see. Well, it was our male Duskas that brought the vile greens to Jing and are permitting them to murder our people with impunity. So it has fallen to we women Duskas to put a stop to that,” Chan replied snidely.
“Chan, I mean you no offense. I am just envious. I admit that I’ve never killed any dragons before, but I am a good fighter. I found the blades far more interesting than learning to do magic. I know, with two Archmages I ought to have worked more at it, but as Archmage Zdenka — she’s the best magic teacher ever — as she says, we each learn as much as we are able. I go more for the combat arts, though we haven’t seen much real fighting for two decades now. Anyway, retired General Janos Lavos says that I am one of the best that he’s ever seen. That’s why dad asked me to work with both of you, and particularly you, Chan.”
“Why particularly me, eh? Cause of this?” Chan waved her left stump up and down.
Dana flushed, “Yes, of course. I don’t mean to put you down or anything.”
“But now you think I can’t fight? Is that it? Now I am a helpless cripple?” Chan retorted, venting her pent up anger and loss. Dana’s face crimsoned. He knew that he’d put his foot in his mouth big time. He was at a loss on how to extricate himself without upsetting her further.
Wen stepped in, “Chan, you know that they have a point. You can’t pretend that you are unharmed from yesterday. I had to tie your shoes and help you into your clothes this morning. They have a right to doubt your skills now. Honestly, sis, he’s just being totally honest with you.
Tears welled up in Chan’s blue eyes. Her body slumped. At last, she could withhold her tragic loss any further. Crying like a baby, Chan mumbled, “I’d rather be dead than a helpless cripple. Why didn’t you just let me die, Wen? How can I live like this? I’m only fooling myself with all this talk of being a dragon slayer. I’m not good for anything anymore.”
“Incredible! This is exactly what both dad and Zoran said would happen! Wow! How did they know? Now that you’ve said it, I suppose I can see why, Chan,” Dana exclaimed, totally taken aback by her sudden outburst and tears.
Sympathy for her, consoling words, a sorrowful demeanor, maybe even pity — Chan rather expected to hear such from this gangly teen, but not this. Baron Zoran expected this from her? The Archmage too? Chan stopped crying and looked up at Dana. “Well, I am a helpless cripple now,” she insisted.
Dana signed, perhaps they were right, he thought. Rather annoyed, he replied, “Only if you want to be one, Chan. That’s why they sent me. I’m the best fighter around here. So are you going to come with me and let me get you two fully equipped and trained or not?” Dana asked slightly annoyed. “Frankly, Chan, I didn’t have you pegged as a loser.”
“What? What do you mean?” Chan sniffled, wiping her eyes with her remaining hand and stump. “Loser? I helped slay nineteen dragons.”
“Right, I didn’t figure you for a quitter, Chan. Even if you are quitting, Chan, I am still supposed to rearm you both. Baron’s orders.”
“I’m not a loser or a quitter!” Chan said hostilely. “Okay, show us the weapons.”
“Cool. Follow me,” Dana said. He led them down the long corridor and into a large practice room. “Lots of mats. Come on, this way.” He paused before a locked door. Dana waved his hand in air and magic triggered. The women heard a clunking noise and the door opened of its own accord. “Magical door. They keep their new magical weapons in here. Locked up and all that.”
“Incredible!” Chan exclaimed.
“Wholly molley, wow!” Wen added. Both women stared at countless weapons, all nearly arranged by type. Shelves of weapons covered all three walls of the twenty-foot square room. Magical lights in the ceiling provided a daytime level of illumination.
“Okay, daggers first, my ladies,” Dana explained moving to his right and the giant case of some twenty daggers. “Examine them all and take the one that feels the best in your hand.”
“This is unbelievable! Are all these weapons magically enchanted?” asked Chan, rubbing her eyes with her right hand. Never had she seen so many magical blades in one place before. Here was a fortune if they were sold.
Wen and Chan began picking up the daggers, trying them out for balance and grip. Their hands were a bit smaller than Dana’s and both realized that the makers had taken different hand sizes into account, creating a perfectly balanced dagger for a specific hand. Finally, each chose one that best suited them.
“Great. Now I doubt that you are into bows and arrows, right?” Dana asked. Wen said that they never used them. So naturally their eyes moved over to the lines upon lines of swords. Some were two-handed monsters which only the very strong could possibly wield them. Bastard swords predominated, but there was a goodly supply of broadswords, scimitars, and short swords. The two women headed for the short swords, for these were what they usually wielded.
As they began experimenting with the choice of nearly twenty, Dana suggested, “Might I offer a suggestion on your choices?”
“How so, Dana?” asked Wen.
“Here, put your fighting hand in mine and push against my hand please.”
She did so and he slowly increased his force back against hers, forcing Wen to push all the harder against him. “Keep going until you have to back up, Wen. There. Okay,” he suddenly released his hand. She looked at him like he was out of his mind.
“Okay, try this one, Wen,” he said, looking the pile over and settling on one particular short sword. She picked that one up and gave a couple of swings, cutting the air. “I think that one will give you the best edge in a fight,” Dana suggested. “I have a good feel for these things. Now you, Chan.”
Chan was a bit reluctant at first, but seeing Wen’s satisfied look, she hesitantly put her right hand against Dana’s. He began to push back against hers, forcing her to resist and push back harder. “Come on, as hard as you can Chan,” Dana pushed her. Annoyed, she pushed as hard as she could, holding back nothing, hoping to push this young lad off his feet. He met and balanced her force and then nodded, releasing his hand, causing her to move forward slightly. I
nvoluntarily, her left hand came up to push against his body, but only her stump moved into position, further embarrassing her.
“Pay that no mind,” Dana said almost completely ignoring her awkward move. Instead, his eyes were already surveying the rows of short swords. “Ah ha. This one should be perfect for you, Chan. Give it a try.” He handed her the sword. While she was hesitantly swinging it, he added, “I know each of these swords. They give them to me to try out once they finish enchanting them. I never forget a sword. Sometimes, they try to fool me, but I get the last laugh.”
Seeing the questioning looks, he explained further. “Last week, Uncle Karel brought me a supposedly just enchanted new bastard sword. I took one heft with it and said, ‘Hey, you gave this very sword to me two weeks ago. What gives, Uncle?’ He roared with laughter. He said that he was just testing me.”
“That’s pretty amazing,” Wen complimented him. “How can you do that? Tell the difference between them?”
“Each weapon is unique. I have a good memory for such details, I guess. Okay, do you like these short swords?” he asked. Both enthusiastically said that they did. “Okay, then accept them as a present from Baron Zoran Vladislov as a token of his friendship. I hope I said that right. I am not so big on court formalities and politics yet.”
“Thank you, please relay our thanks to Baron Zoran for us,” Wen replied.
“Will do. You can thank him yourselves at lunch. Now, I am supposed to be training you, if you want, Chan. Your call,” he said, looking her over.
“Well, okay. I am already quite skilled, but we can see, I guess,” Chan replied somewhat reluctantly.
“Good, I like that spirit. Come on. Into the arena. I took the liberty of fixing up a lot of mats last night. I figured that you would not be backing down, Chan. Okay, you’ve lost an arm. No matter what else you think, you simply are going to have to learn to work around that disadvantage. You’ve never tried to fight like this yet, so let’s take it easy on you, and let you see just how it is going to impact your fighting ability. Once you’ve gotten that discovered, then you and I can find ways around it and perhaps find ways to even exploit it.”
“Whatever are you talking about?” Chan asked.
“At first, you will be relying on your left hand as you have always done, only it isn’t there now. That is going to seem terribly humiliating and awkward. Forget about that, Chan. If you are going to continue to be a dragon slayer, you are going to have to learn your new limits. From there, we can move onwards,” he tried to explain. Dana knew that she would be in for a rough time of it, but if she had the steel determination that he guessed she must have, she ought to make it.
Thus began the most embarrassing round of practice combat that Chan had ever endured. She quickly began to realize that Dana was right. She had all of these routine motions and actions which utilized her left lower arm and hand in some manner. All of these failed her miserably, of course. Instead of teasing her or making fun of her pathetic fumbles, Dana cheerily said, “Okay, we found another one of your training patterns that we need to alter. Good going; let’s find the rest!” She did not expect such replies, and soon she was throwing herself into the practice session.
An hour later, they stopped, Chan was dripping with sweat. So was Dana for that matter. “Okay, Wen, your turn. Let’s see your stuff. I’ll be looking for ways to improve your skills too.” Wen then got a thorough workout as well.
“Okay ladies, that’s enough for one day. Take the rest of the day off and visit with everyone. I need time to review what we’ve done today and work up what we need to do next. Tomorrow, at nine, we will resume in earnest.” He bowed to the two and led them back to the long corridor.
“To the bath barrels,” Wen whispered to Chan. Once in their own chambers, Wen helped Chan undress, and the two hopped into the warm waters of their bath barrels, soaking their rather fatigued muscles.
“Dana seems to really know how we fight, doesn’t he, Chan? I mean he kept finding all the ways that you are handicapped now.”
“Tell me about it! Embarrassing, Wen. I felt like a novice with the blade. Maybe I am fooling myself, Wen. Like this, I may never be more than a liability to you if we ever go dragon hunting again.”
“I hope not, sis. Dana did say that he was going to help you work out ways around your missing arm. Maybe he can. He sure is cute, isn’t he?” Wen said with a wry grin.
“Cute and bossy, but we’ll see. I will say this: I got more out of that workout than we ever did in the days with dad’s sword master.”
“Probably because he thought of us as only needing to protect ourselves, Chan,” Wen stated the rather obvious. “Say, you know you could maybe get a hook for your left arm. We’ve seen a few soldiers who lost an arm get them. I suppose that it helps them, sis.”
Chan grimaced. She was humiliated enough with her stump and had no intention going around advertising it further with some metal hook where her hand should be. Later, while getting dressed, Chan finally began to use some of her useful magical spells to help herself get dressed. Wen smiled and thought that was a good sign.
A maid knocked and told them that lunch was in a half hour. The two finished dressing in their new cotton dresses and headed off to dine with their hosts. The first chance they got, both thanked Baron Zoran for his wonderful gifts of the magical weapons.
“Use them wisely, my ladies. Come, I want you to meet Archmages Emil and Renata Vogler. They are our dear Gold Dragon friends. Emil, Renata, these are the two Duskas that I told you about, Chan and Wen Meerong of Jing, the Green Dragon slayers.” The two women looked at the golden hued man and woman and shook their hands hesitantly.
“Pleased to meet you. Archmages? Wow. I didn’t know that dragons could be Archmages,” Chan said.
Renata grinned, “Neither did we. We owe that to Archmage Oldrich. She was our teacher, but she’s long since dead. Humans have such short lifetimes, you see. Archmage Zdenka, who was part of our team, has taken over here. Honestly, she is even better at it than Archmage Oldrich was.”
Emil added, “Right now, we are working on the enchanting of some large gems. We’ve acquired some fist-sized emeralds and are experimenting to see just how much magical energies those vessels can hold. So far, our research is fascinating.” He saw that the women were not so interested in gems and changed the topic. “Well, Green Dragon slayers are you?” Both nodded.
“Impressive. Well, even though they are dragons, I say good riddance. Greens are the scum of dragons. Can’t be trusted with anything; they are only out for themselves.”
“Well, our idiot dad made some kind of deal with them to bring them to Jing,” Chan explained.
“Foolish human. Whatever deal he made with them, you can expect that the greens will not honor it any long than it suits them to do so. Untrustworthy, to say the very least. I wouldn’t give a hoot for whatever deal he made with them. Greens don’t like humans as a rule, excepting for any gems you might have — that and gold,” Emil pointed out.
“We know, they’ve been murdering lots of our people,” Chan replied. “Well, nineteen of them won’t be doing that anymore.” Emil smiled.
Baron Zoran added, “Chan, Wen, after lunch, I’ve asked Emil and Renata to attend a special briefing on dragon-kind. I would like you both to attend. Many of us here would like your input and observations to add to those of the golden Archmages.” Both women nodded and smiled. Chan observed that Baron Zoran was not treating them like enemies, but rather as equals. Well, in a way, they could be, since they were in line for the thrones that their brothers now held or so Chan thought.
As they walked down more halls in this fortress-tower complex, Chan and Wen continued to see the same style constructions. Unlike their father’s and more recently those of their two brother’s fortresses, this one was exceptionally plain, but highly functional. A small valley stream fed a pond inside the walled grounds, providing water for myriad purposes including times of siege. The construction was either t
he red-brown granite or the blacker hornblende and basalt combinations, hewn from the mountains that lay behind the rear of the fortress. There was nothing fancy or elegant anywhere that these two had been or been shown since their arrival. Even the long corridors that led from the Circle of Ascension in the bowels of the fortress were just as simple and plain as everywhere else.
“The folks around here are not wealthy, so we kept the fortress simple,” had been Baron Zoran’s comment when Chan had asked about it earlier.
“This place is so different from ours, Wen,” Chan commented while they were alone and awaiting the afternoon meeting.
“I don’t get it, sis. Adapazan is like Jing. We are both not-have planets. Yet dad and mom have got a fabulously elegant main fortress and castle to house their original Circle. Even our younger brother’s new fortress-castles are far, far fancier than Baron Zoran’s here. Could these people be even poorer than we are on Jing?” Wen asked baffled by this incredible austerity.
“How can that be? They have all of this land, stone abounds. Where there are stone and mountains, there has to be mines and minerals galore. How could there not be gold, silver, iron, copper, and even gem mines?” Chan replied and asked.
“Defies imagination,” Wen answered. “Surely they have them in quantity. So why build such an austere fortress? It is purely functional from what we have seen. I asked Archmage Nadia about it, and she said that they have no need for fancy court finery here. Well, she said that the original Castle Dorumova where the original Circle of Ascension is located is very huge and fancy. Baron Zoran’s half-brother resides there, Baron Jan Vavrin. Apparently that one is the only fancy one on Adapazan.”
“Well, I think this is rather fitting, Wen,” Chan admitted. “After all, why take so much wealth away from the inhabitants just so you can have a fancy place to live at their expense?”
“We don’t,” the soft voice of Archmage Nadia broke in on their conversation. “We try not to tax our people for more than the basic necessities. After all, we’d not like to have to pay heavy taxes either. Around here, you will find that we do all that we can to not impose on those who depend upon us for their security and leadership. If you will come with me, the meeting is about to start. You know, we’ve never had such an all-encompassing meeting about the dragon situation before, but times are changing.”