My eyes flicked around, still slightly unfocused. I took in my opponent’s steps, her breathing, and even where her eyes landed. Like usual, I thought with my gut, acting on instinct. Hmm, maybe Duanna was right about me after all. The thought was abstract, just noise in the back of my head as I reacted to Vitaliya.
The red-haired girl took two quick steps forward, lowering her center of gravity. She advanced with her sword above her shield, then shifted her defense to cover the centerline of her body as she went around her shield to half thrust, half chop at me.
The strike was executed very well. I wasn’t familiar with the style Vitaliya used, but I could see how it could be effective. Unfortunately for her, I was really familiar with my old club. Also, while a shield was a weapon of war, the Jackals had actually encountered them when we’d had fights with the Bittertown Guard.
I closed with Vitaliya, dropping my own center of gravity and parrying her training blade to the outside. Then I took advantage of her shield’s inherent weakness, tapping it on the bottom with my weighted training blade. Vitaliya couldn’t see what I was doing, could only rely on touch, so she slightly dropped her shield and shifted her feet to counter any attacks to her legs.
When Vitaliya shifted, I was already moving, darting to one side, fluidly executing a circular attack with my sword’s back edge. I scored a touch on Vitaliya’s barely exposed shoulder.
“Touch!” cried Gonzo, his face impassive. “Vitaliya is disabled.”
“That didn’t count,” said Vitaliya, gesturing at me with her sword. “I’m using a shield! I’d probably have armor on too, and that strike wouldn’t have done anything!”
“You’d be right, if you were actually wearing armor...but you’re not,” replied Gonzo, his eyes twinkling. “Plus, what if she had an enchanted sword? What if you’d been poisoned? Your goal is not to be hit at all. You’re using a shield, and that was a nice attack, so the win goes to Nora.”
“But that’s stupid! Why don’t we use those rules with daggers?”
“Even if we had, Nora still would have won most of the time, and daggers are different,” replied Gonzo.
“That doesn’t even make any sense!” muttered Vitaliya.
“It’s really simple. If someone cuts your hand in a knife fight, you can still fight. If someone sinks a sword blade into your shoulder during a sword fight, hitting the arm holding the shield up, your arm is probably done, and you will bleed out.” Gonzo patted his shoulder. “You got hit really fast, too. Let’s just reset.”
This time I didn’t try to hide my smile. I just accepted that I was in a good mood, and I realized that I was having fun. It was satisfying to take obnoxious people down a peg, and Vitaliya definitely belonged to that camp in my mind.
The red-haired girl glowered, firming her brow and dropped into a fighting stance again. “Start another duel,” she urged Gonzo with clenched teeth, not looking at him.
Gonzo rolled his eyes. “One, two, three, go,” he said.
I barely had time to get my guard up before Vitaliya had taken a swing at my head. The angry young woman harried me, keeping me on the defense. We circled each other, and Vitaliya pressed the attack several times, but I was just too fast, strong, and canny for her to overwhelm. However, her form was perfect as she advanced with her shield, jutting her bottom out behind her as she carefully protected her body.
Vitaliya had to be tired at this point. She was holding her center grip shield out with a nearly straight arm most of the time, and keeping the lowered stances she was holding was very hard on the body. I knew all of this first hand from the previous day. Vitaliya was apparently a mage, too. Not orb-Bonded like me, though. Her entire body was probably straining, but she still hadn’t offered me a single good strike.
Things probably would have been different if I’d had a shield too, but I didn’t. I was at a massive disadvantage. With our relatively short weapons, all Vitaliya really had to do was make sure her shield stayed out far enough, and keep her body held back. Of course, that made attacking harder for her too, which was probably why I hadn’t been hit yet.
Our slow, serious dance continued for a moment longer until I decided on an extra violent plan. Then I found a good time to use it. Vitaliya had just gotten done advancing on me, trying to get a good shot in while she also protected herself. After she tried a few strikes, I backed away, and Vitaliya began circling again. For just a second, her eye level dropped below the rim of her shield. In that split second, I acted, taking off like a demon on a blood trail.
Using all my newfound strength and power, I raced forward. By the time Vitaliya could see me again, it was too late. I sprang forward, my foot connecting with my opponent’s shield, all my weight driving her shield hand back. The girl cried out in pain and shock, dropping her guard, but her sword still snaked out on reflex.
I batted aside my opponent’s admittedly savage attack and slashed, my own strike catching her on the arm before she fell on her ass. Then I sprang forward, lifting her shield with my off hand to block a second defensive strike before stabbing her in the side.
I stepped back, panting, and nobody said anything. Vitaliya breathed heavily on the ground, her eyes closed.
On the one hand, I was feeling very pleased with myself. That had been a great attack, and it really did feel good to kick Vitaliya’s ass. On the other hand, my instincts were screaming at me to shut the hell up. I listened to my instincts.
The silence stretched for a few more moments until I heard a sound, like a whisper. I realized it was coming from Vitaliya. The noise started off small but kept rising until it was a full-throated growl.
The girl bound to her feet, eyes wild. She glared at me, then at Gonzo before stalking over to one side of the sparring area. She cocked her arm back, throwing her training sword at a tree, but the weapon bounced off the trunk and came right back, hitting her in the head.
I carefully did not show my smile, did not even raise my hand to cover my face. Something told me to play this one calmly. Vitaliya held her head in absolute silence for a few moments, then suddenly shrieked. She held a hand before her, and a raging jet of flame burst forth, instantly cutting through the forest underbrush before hitting a distant tree trunk. The fire burned so hotly, the tree’s bark exploded into steam and wooden shrapnel, the entire side of the trunk turning to a charred ruin in only a couple seconds.
After her display of magical destruction, Vitaliya whirled, her eyes wild. To the side, Gonzo calmly asked, “That was quite a temper tantrum. Are you finished now?”
Vitaliya worked her jaw, and my blood ran cold. As the girl stared at her mentor, I realized that the teen girl could have killed me whenever she had wanted. Her words during our first fight hadn’t been empty. Vitaliya was an extremely dangerous, extremely powerful fire mage. I’d never seen anyone throw magic around like that before.
Then again, anyone with that kind of talent wouldn’t be slumming it in the Jackals or the Guard. I would have never had any reason to meet someone like Vitaliya before this. The world was really a big place. I suddenly felt very small.
In that moment, I also realized that I’d been arrogant. I was stronger and faster than a normal person now, and I was skilled with weapons. But even though I’d been beating Vitaliya, she’d been holding her own while we sparred. On top of that, she had real power. Power I couldn’t match yet. My victories suddenly all felt hollow.
“Are you finished now?” Gonzo repeated.
“This is rotting stupid!” exclaimed Vitaliya. “Little Aodh is all alone, and I’m out here in the middle of nowhere, in Berber, sword fighting with a girl who just tried to steal from us the night before! Why am I not frying her? Why are you teaching me with her there? Why am I even learning from you? People like her should be killed, not coddled!”
With that, the angry young woman retreated back to the cabin, her back straight.
Gonzo looked at me apologetically and jerked his head towards a couple log rounds. “Come sit. Let’s have a quick cha
t.”
I mutely followed the man over to the indicated seats. After I’d sat, Gonzo fished a flask out of a pocket and took a sip. After he’d taken a swig, he returned it to his pocket, looking me in the eye. “That’s probably the end of training today. Vitaliya was not supposed to do that, and she knows it, so I can’t just continue like nothing happened.
“I believe you that you’ve had a hard life. I can sort of relate, which is probably why I’ve been more thoughtful than I might have been, why I gave you this chance.”
Gonzo scratched the back of his head and continued, “I wish Vitaliya hadn’t had her meltdown, this would be a good teaching moment for her.”
“Meltdown?” I asked, the word tickling my memory. Then I remembered that my father’s friend had used the word before, and I connected this realization with Gonzo’s accent. “You’re from Earth aren’t you?” I blurted.
Gonzo laughed. “Yes, and the fact you were able to figure that out speaks well for you. Seriously, I wish Vitaliya was here.”
There was a moment of silence as Gonzo seemed to search for words. Then he said, “I’m having this talk with you because you’re probably wondering why I’m helping you. I’m going to explain this to you because...I see some of myself in you, Nora. On top of that, I think about where I was five years ago, then where I am now, and I wonder if you might grow that much too.”
I wasn’t following at all, so I adopted a politely interested expression. Gonzo reminding me of my captive situation had made me feel awkward, and I wasn’t sure how to react.
Gonzo studied my eyes for a moment before rolling his own. “Okay, I can see I’m losing you, so I will keep this simple. If you live, I think you will achieve great things, Nora. I am going to help you, but this is not free. You will owe me a favor, perhaps a major one. You see, right now, you might not be worth anything. You don’t own anything, you have no allies, and you even tried to steal from me.
“However, unless I’m completely missing the mark, you are faster and stronger than you have any right to be. See, Vitaliya really is fairly good. To beat her like you have been, you would have to be both powerful and skilled. You don’t strike me as a mage, so that means you’re probably a new orb-Bonded. This would help explain why you’re on the run, too.”
I didn’t say anything, and Gonzo kept talking, not looking for my confirmation of being ‘Bonded. “I see greatness in you. I’m investing in you, Nora. This won’t cost me much now, but if you survive, I could be paid back many times over. A smart person always looks to invest in important people. That’s the lesson I wanted to give you, Nora, and the one I still need to teach Vitaliya.”
The back of my neck went cold as Gonzo more or less repeated what Arren had told me before she’d died. My jaw clenched, but I nodded and kept silent.
Gonzo studied me again and nodded. “There is a small bag near the cabin. It has some food, a small water bottle, a bronze short sword, an extra change of socks, some light armor, and a few basic traveling necessities. I feel sympathetic towards you, Nora Hazard, but this is not charity. You owe me for this, and I will hear you say it before you go.”
I nodded again before licking my lips and clearing my throat. Suddenly my tongue felt two sizes too large, but I somehow managed to choke out, “I owe you for this.”
“Good. I’m glad you were here to teach Vitaliya some things, but I think you probably got the better side of this bargain. I hope it serves you well, Nora. And don’t forget our promise. You’ve been very good about not asking questions, but I hope you know better than ever to cross me.”
Gonzo’s gaze was flinty, and I swallowed. In that moment, just like the day before, I became deeply aware that this man could probably end me between two breaths. In the back of my mind, I wonder if other new orb-Bonded were threatened so often right after attaining their new power. I doubted it. I must just be lucky.
Then again, maybe it would help keep me alive.
“All right, Nora. I think you’ve been here long enough. Don’t ever forget me. My name is Ryan Gonzolez. If you ever attempt to cause me harm or harm anyone I hold dear, I will kill you. Should you conveniently forget the favor you owe me for sparing your life, I will kill you. But if we meet again in the future on friendly terms, I will be very curious to see what you’ve made of yourself, Nora. Good luck to you, and I hope that this lesson helps you on your journey.”
I knew a dismissal when I heard one, and I woodenly got up, heading towards the bag that Gonzo had indicated. My head swam with confused questions. Did Gonzo just encourage me or threaten me? Maybe both.
After I’d grabbed my bag, I didn’t look back for a while; I just walked in a fast, but calm manner. I needed to get away from the frightening people and Gonzo’s cryptic comments.
As my legs carried me forward, my shoulders strangely began to loosen. Through all of my roiling emotions, despite being threatened, I felt a strange sense of comfort. I wasn’t sure why so many amazing people believed in me, but I believed in myself, too. Survival wasn’t enough. I needed to thrive.
My steps lightened, and I held my head high. My promise to Arren, working for Enheduanna, all of it was still crazy, but it didn’t seem quite so overwhelming anymore.
I would find a way. I always did.
Vib-blade
Luckily, the weather stayed fairly decent while I walked for the next few days. I really, really didn’t want to get rained on while traveling over unknown terrain.
Worry about pursuit kept me away from any cities or regular roads. I was a bit concerned about navigation at first, but staying within the boundaries where monsters didn’t generally venture proved to be easier than I thought.
Sometimes there were markers, but oftentimes it was obvious where the cultivated land ended and the wilderness began. I had a lot of time to think while traveling, and I wondered if the clear transition to wilderness was because people kept pushing the boundaries of farmland, clearing the wild right up until folks started getting killed. This explanation made sense to me, so I accepted it. Maybe I’d find out if it was true one day.
My food situation turned out to be relatively simple. Gonzo had given me some salt, and enough spices to make the wild vegetables and fruit I found even tastier. I really didn’t understand why so many people didn’t like them. He’d also given me a Firestarter - a magical tool powered by a bit of crushed up magic stone. It was about the size of my finger and made starting fires easy. My other option for making fire would be to rub sticks together, and I really didn’t feel like working for an hour just to start a fire.
One of the other odds and ends Gonzo had given me turned out to be a braided aluminum snare. My eyebrows had climbed when I’d first seen it. Such an expensive gift! If I’d been a normal street runner, I might not have even known what it was, but one of my father’s friends had been a hunter when I’d been young. I could vaguely remember visiting his hunting cabin and seeing a snare.
Figuring out how to use the snare had been easier than I thought, and I’d caught my first animal by the second day. My catch had only been a squirrel, but I’d still been very excited. Skinning and cleaning my catch had been intimidating at first, but I’d figured it out. A small, simple bronze folding knife had been another gift from Gonzo. I’d used the knife and discovered that dressing the squirrel wasn’t much different from the rats I’d cleaned back in Bittertown as a girl.
I could still remember how to do it after all these years.
The solitude as I traveled really helped my state of mind and previously bottled up emotional turmoil. The second night of traveling after receiving my gifts from Gonzo, I’d broken down in the middle of my squirrel dinner, sobbing so hard my ribs hurt. I thought about Arren and the terrible thing I’d had to do to my friend. I remembered almost dying, the feeling of being impaled and pinned to the road. My reactions couldn’t be bottled up anymore. I let out all the loss and sadness I’d experienced over the past week.
The experience was extremely painf
ul, not least of which because the reservoir of sadness had been building for so long. Even though I’d known something like a breakdown had been coming, the sheer number of things assaulting my heart had made it hard to breathe for a while.
It was a good thing I hadn’t been anywhere near any monsters, or I might have been attacked and not even have noticed until it was too late. As it was, I was lucky that no human predators, or dangerous animals like a big cat found me, either. For at least a few hours, I’d been dead to the world, curling up into a ball after I’d eaten my meager meal.
The kindness I’d experienced from various places made me feel less alone, and more alone at the same time. Interactions from my past, and even recent ones - like with Reesi, Vitaliya, Gonzo, and even Enheduanna - forced me to reconsider my life, to think about things a different way. Asking, ‘Why me?’ over and over again didn’t actually help anyone survive or make them wiser. Some of the harshest lessons from my childhood were surprisingly useful still as an adult.
Ultimately, working through my knot of stuff to deal with just required time. It was like peeing; it had to come out sooner or later. It was inevitable that untangling my conflicting reactions to the events of the past week would take a toll on me, but the delay had not helped. I knew that certain heartbreaks would echo the rest of my life, too. Arren, I will always remember you…
After my emotional breakdown, I began traveling again. In addition to thinking a lot, processing painful memories, and polishing my admittedly lacking fieldcraft, I took the opportunity to practice my new ‘Bonded abilities. At first, I hadn’t been all that impressed by my Flight ability. Hovering off the ground a little bit was not exactly the image I’d originally had of zipping through the sky.
However, a little bit of experimentation had yielded much-improved results. The first time I’d really begun to understand the potential of the ability, despite its low rank, was when I had been climbing a tree to get a look around my area. The first branch off the ground had been a bit high, and I’d gotten an idea to try floating a bit. Then I’d kicked off the ground, and to my surprise, I’d easily reached the branch. On top of that, while using my ability, climbing the tree itself had been many times easier too.
Mitigating Risk (Nora Hazard Book 1) Page 10