Bargain

by Riley S. Keene

  Ermolt tried to keep a grim look on his face, but he found the sight of Elise shoving around the Overseers amusing. He had to settle for a smirk when he saw the Overseers at the back already starting to adjust their position in response to her corrections ahead of them.

  At least they could learn.

  Over breakfast this morning, Elise and Ermolt had discussed how they would be handling the training. While Ermolt had much more training and skill, most of his training had been with smaller groups, or even one-on-one instruction. Elise’s training as a Conscript gave her the skills she needed to instruct a larger group, so she would take the lead. Ermolt’s plan was to back her up, and provide more nuanced information when she needed it.

  And to observe.

  There was a lot of things that could be told about a person by watching them fight. Hesitation was the sign of a good person, but a bad fighter. Empathy had no place in the battlefield, although Ermolt himself had constantly tried to find a way. His skills made it possible. At this level though, someone who hesitated or went for a non-fatal attack was going to open themselves and their companions up to a whole world of hurt.

  “Great,” Elise said at last once the group was lined up to her satisfaction. “It only took you half a bell to figure out how to stand in a line. Well done.” Someone chuckled and Ermolt had to bite his tongue to keep from doing the same.

  Elise moved back to the front of the group, and looked over them with her arms crossed. “I’d say I’ve never seen a sorrier group, but I remember when I started at the Temple of Ydia we were a bunch of prepubescent misfits, so that would be a lie. But it’s a near thing.”

  “Are you gonna—” one of the Overseers in the back began.

  “Did she ask you a question?” Ermolt said casually, interrupting the thief. The man paused. “No?” Ermolt pushed himself off the wall and he leaned forward to loom over the group. “That’s what I thought. Good. Because I don’t want to hear any of you speaking otherwise! Listen to the woman and you might learn something!”

  The group shuffled, but no one said anything else.

  “Right,” Elise said, arching an eyebrow at Ermolt. He smiled and leaned back up against the wall. “Now, you all have your short swords. Ermolt is going to lead you in a simple form. That will help us see where you need to improve. If you’re all making the same mistakes, we’ll give a lesson about it. Otherwise, you’ll pair off to spar and we’ll go around and give individual corrections. Any questions?” Elise looked around at the group. All eyes were on her, and it seemed like most were actively trying to not look uncomfortable at the idea of sparring with each other. The silence lingered for a moment before Elise shrugged and motioned to Ermolt. “I guess the floor is yours.”

  Ermolt pushed off the wall once more and lumbered forward a few steps. He knew he was an impressive figure. But he wanted to prove quickly that he wasn’t just a large man with a far reach and more strength than the Overseers could possibly take on. He wanted to showcase his training. And the Overseers could use a little Celnaer Hold expertise.

  “The short sword has a few particular advantages over the long sword,” Ermolt said, drawing the short blade from his hip. He held it over his head so everyone could see it, even though it was a fairly common weapon. “Namely, speed and maneuverability. In open combat, it will always be at a disadvantage compared to a weapon at more reach or weight, but in close quarters it is unmatched.”

  He paced in front of the group, swinging the sword back and forth as if testing its weight. “In a tight hallway, a longer weapon can’t achieve a proper swing. And in a crowd, a longer weapon can’t be brought to bear without cutting into allies or innocent bystanders.” He brought the weapon around in a flourish, the metal glinting with the speed of its movement. “Even a man of my size and strength can benefit from knowing how to employ a smaller weapon, so I don’t want any of you grumbling about it being too small for you.

  “So let us start with the stance,” Ermolt said. He stopped at the front of the group again, sword firmly in his right hand. “All of the core problems with any untrained fighter come from stance, and so we need to get this right before going into anything else.”

  He shifted his left foot back. Ermolt was amused to see some of his pupils were mimicking his stance, even with an empty hand. He memorized their faces. It was good they were trying without being told. They would be among the ones who lived when it came to a fight. “In almost every case, you need to have your strongest hand forward, whether it’s your right or your left.” He raised his right hand, and passed his sword from his left into it.

  “In dueling, you want to keep your body behind your weapon and facing your side to your opponent. Doing so offers a smaller target and can make it difficult, or even impossible for your opponent to seriously harm you.” He put his left hand behind his back and turned his body completely to the side, demonstrating a functional dueling stance. Once more, a handful of Overseers moved with him.

  “A word of caution—in a real fight, the merest tap of a weapon isn’t an instant loss. And if you have a decent gauntlet, your off-hand—even empty—is still useful.” He shifted his stance, bringing his left leg out from behind his right. Ermolt kept his feet shoulder width apart. He raised his empty left hand to shoulder height, and held his sword in front of himself. “This will be our starting stance. Once everyone has the stance correct, I’ll walk us all through the form, move by move.”

  Getting them into the proper stance was not too much of a challenge. Ermolt stayed at the front, holding his stance as demonstration. The group drew their own swords—wooden training weapons, as opposed to Ermolt’s steel—and positioned themselves. Elise went around and physically adjusted some of the worse stances, grabbing arms to move them into position and kicking feet to put them in the right place. Again, once she began, the others paid attention to her corrections and started to follow along.

  Once that was done, and Elise was back off to the side, Ermolt led them through a standard combat form. It began with some simple guard stances and a few simple strikes and transitions. He returned to the starting stance and started over again after adding each move, slowly driving home the essentials as the form got longer and longer. The Overseers went through the simpler parts fairly well, but once Ermolt got into working in off-hand strikes, the group got sloppier and sloppier.

  “That’s enough,” Elise said after the first time someone almost lost their balance and fell. Those near the poor man helped him to his feet again, and Ermolt was touched by the companionship of these thieves. He’d seen many trained fighters laugh at a comrade who’d lost their balance, sparing no sympathy for those they’d one day wade into battle with. It was a good sign. “Let’s go through once more, Ermolt, and then we’ll break it down.”

  Ermolt went through the drill again, shouting out each move as he went. He sped through the form, forcing the Overseers to struggle just a little bit to keep up. When he reached the part Elise had called a halt at, he broke into the remaining moves of the form at full speed. The blade flashed as he whirled it around his wrist. In between he weaved in some carefully measured punches and added a few kicks as he completed the form. With a final flourish of his sword he fell back into the starting stance to a burst of applause.

  “Impressive” Elise said, patting him on the shoulder with a smile as she moved to take the instructor position again. “But I’d appreciate it if none of you share in his showboating. Ermolt has trained at Celnaer Hold.” A few of the more well-versed Overseers gasped, or just looked at him with bulging eyes. “He’s earned every moment of his showing off. But you lot have a long way to go before you can even sneeze out of form. So! Now that you’ve all caught your breath, let’s begin the next part.”

  The next bell went quickly. Elise showed the Overseers how to recognize and manage the line of the attack. Ermolt helped her with some demonstrations about the importance as it pertained to keeping balance, disrupting enemy balance, and avoiding wasteful
movement. They were quick to show that it was most important in determining when an attack was useful, and when it was just swiping a weapon around for the sake of not standing still.

  After the lecture, Elise led them through the same combat form Ermolt had, and they were both pleased to see the slashes and thrusts were much more careful and controlled. Even a few of the off-hand strikes were cleaner and clearer.

  “Now I would like you to split off into partners and do a little sparring,” Elise said as the drills were finished. “Try and practice working the strikes and guards from the form we’ve showed you into their intended applications. Ermolt and I will go around and offer help and corrections where it’s needed.”

  “I know many of you don’t favor the short sword,” Ermolt said as the groups began to split up. “But this is still useful exercise. I’ll visit the marketplace tonight and see about getting some more interesting training weapons put together. Perhaps we can give everyone a turn handling something they’re more comfortable with.” He gave the group as nice a smile as he could. “You’ve all got a lot to learn, but that’s why we’re here. We’ll cover as much ground as we can while we’re here.”

  “Pair off!” Elise gestured at the lines. “Don’t try and get fancy, just grab someone nearby.” She sheathed her own weapon.

  The Overseers had a long way to go before they could match Temple forces. They were rough stone, barely functional as a tool of any kind. It wasn’t the best starting point. Ermolt would have loved to have an army already trained to protect his escape as he took on a dragon.

  But this wouldn’t be the first time he took on an opponent with a weapon he’d spent days and hours crafting solely for a purpose.

  And he was sure it wouldn’t be the last.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  After two days of training, Elise was finally starting to feel like they were making a lasting impact on the Overseers.

  It was more than just improving their fighting. Elise had started to notice small things. Even the most stubborn listened intently to Ermolt’s lectures, and more of them were practicing after the training block. The thieves appeared to be starting to look up to them.

  Maybe even respecting them.

  It was a strange thing.

  Elise expected respect from a fellow Conscript. She had years of training and had been a part of many special missions—like the one that originally landed her with Ermolt and Athala. But the Overseers didn’t know her from any other Conscript. There was no reason for them to respect her. And yet they did.

  Ermolt had called it instinct. With such little natural skill, many of the Overseers could likely see this assault being their last. But Ermolt and Elise had taken the time to give them skills that would keep them alive for longer.

  Would it be long enough to allow Sirur to be freed and slain? Elise wasn’t sure, but with each passing bell she grew more and more hopeful.

  They were trying. And that in itself was worth so much.

  At the end of the day’s training, Ermolt had taken a vote for their next set of training weapons. To Elise’s surprise, they’d chosen maces. Many admitted to awe at watching her and Athala storm the Keep that first night, and wished to wield the cumbersome weapon half as good. Ermolt found a carpenter who could construct enough wooden training maces for the group to learn their next combat form. The order wouldn’t be ready for another day or so, but they had plenty to teach them until then.

  Elise, Ermolt, and Athala had been invited to stay indefinitely at the Keep while they were in town, but Elise thought it good for them to have some separation. Otherwise Athala and Anton would work all night. So they still spent their nights at the inn room they had rented south of the Temple. They did, however, take their meals in the Overseer’s District after Merylle had introduced them to a few of the local business owners.

  Time and again the common folk told them stories about how the Overseers had helped them and their families. It may have been something as simple as a financial gift to support a sick loved one. But there were other stories that reminded Elise of Priest Nolte and his kindness in Khule before his passing. Elise wanted to support the businesses with their patronage as a sign of good faith. Ermolt had been convinced to do so by the quality of the food before the owners had even come over to chat.

  Over every meal, Athala filled her companions in on the progress of the planning meetings. She tended to get sidetracked by technical discussion of Anton’s various inventions rather than the plans that necessitated them, but it was good to see the wizard had grown more comfortable with being separated from her friends. After what happened in Auernheim, Elise had been concerned the girl would develop social anxiety. Well, worse social anxiety.

  Unfortunately, most of the planning was stymied by the idea that anyone sent to handle the lever was a sacrifice. The Temple Guard would not enter the dome without explicit orders from the High Priest, and Teis wouldn’t allow it or else word might get out about the dragon being held there. But the High Priest’s office was fair game, and anyone there would be overrun easily. Anton had some ideas about providing a number of his inventions to aid them, but every one of them was just a stall tactic. Once the Temple’s forces were in position to retake the office, those inside were all but doomed, no matter how many flashbangs and smoke bombs they had.

  On this particular evening, Elise and Athala were arguing over the idea of enlisting townsfolk as mercenaries to help defend the front door so that more Overseers could be placed at the switch. The two of them had pushed away their bowls of stew and were leaned over a few rough sketches of the Temple, as well as a few lists from Merylle of active, uninjured Overseers.

  As they argued, Ermolt was digging into his third bowl of stew, a heel of bread firmly lodged in one hand. He paused occasionally to add a comment about the condition of one of the Overseers, or to support Elise’s argument that training a militia of innkeepers was much harder than one of thieves who knew which end was the pointy bit on a sword.

  “You’d be hard-pressed to convince them anyway,” a soft voice said, causing Elise to look up, startled. Merylle sauntered towards them, all bundled up for the encroaching cold of the late-summer nights. She looked briefly at Elise, but quickly focused on Athala, much to Elise’s disappointment and relief. “These innkeepers have fought hard in many ways for what they have. They might see themselves as indebted to me and my kind, but they are as free as any. And so if given the choice they won’t risk what they’ve worked so hard for in order to satisfy the seemingly wanton desires of an ex-High Priest.”

  Merylle slipped up next to the table and leaned against it casually with one hip. She crossed her arms over her chest and crossed her ankles as well.

  “T-that might be the case,” Athala said, stepping away from her notes, “but you never know until you ask.”

  Merylle smiled slyly. “You’re so right. But I would stop fretting about all this. After you left today an old friend of mine blew into town. He’s offered to help with the lever, and his crew is almost as good as you three.” She shook her head and her dark curls bounced over her shoulder. “There are some details to work out, so we should continue looking for a backup plan in case it falls through, but I’m sure we can come to an agreement over the next day or so.”

  Elise blinked at Merylle. The woman’s tone was calm and nonchalant, but there was a tightness to her form that spoke of stress and anxiety.

  “At any rate, I wanted to thank you again, Athala, for a productive day today.” She gave the wizard a polite nod.

  “I don’t know if I would call it that. Even with your friend’s help, there still so much to coordinate.” Athala grimaced.

  “Just the same, I’m sure without you we would have given up yesterday,” Merylle said with a stiff laugh. “Or at least stopped coming up with new plans and started trying to figure out who we like the least.” The Overseer grew quiet for a moment and her gaze shifted from Athala to Elise. “If it’s not too much trouble, I wante
d to ask you to meet with me tonight, Elise. I wanted to have a talk about a few things. Perhaps over a drink?”

  “Oh, ah, of course.” Elise tilted her head, a little confused. What could the Overseer’s leader want with her? Athala was the planner, while Elise was just the wet blanket that ruined everyone’s plans, much like she’d been doing when Merylle walked in. It would even make more sense to work with Ermolt. The barbarian was excellent at scouting locations.

  Merylle stared at Elise for a moment before she finally smiled. “Thank you. Meet me up by the Keep before last bell. I have a few things to take care of tonight, first.”

  “Uh, sure. Sounds good.” Elise found herself unable to help herself and she returned the woman’s smile. “We’ll just be here a bit longer. I’ll, ah, I’ll see you then.”

  The Overseer looked at her for a moment longer. Elise hesitated. She opened her mouth to ask if everything was alright but before she could Merylle uncrossed her various limbs and walked away. She left the tavern with a faint smile still ghosting her mouth.

  As soon as she was out the tavern’s door, Athala poked Elise in the ribs hard.

  “Agh!” Elise jumped and swatted at the wizard’s hand. She’d been staring. “What was that for?” she asked, as if she didn’t know.

  “I saw that look. You’re off on a romantic rendezvous, aren’t you?”

  “What?” Elise frowned and flipped a bit of hair out of her eyes. “What are you even talking about?”

  “Tch, as if. ‘Talking over a drink’?” She tried to poke Elise in the ribs again, but she danced away and slapped the wizard’s hand again. “Maybe tell her to make her invitations more subtle next time if it’s supposed to be a secret.”

  “It’s nothing like that!” Elise stomped her foot to punctuate her totally not whining tone. “I don’t know what she wants to talk about. Probably the plan or something. Or maybe about her friend and their ultimatum for helping. I don’t know.”