The Vampire & Her Witch

Outside the ancient fortress, Thane quickly guided Ashlynn to an area of the forest that was directly north of the tower she’d claimed for her coven. It was, in fact, the very same stretch of forest she’d planned to clear in order to plant a more diverse selection of trees that would be nurtured by her coven in the same way that Amahle nurtured the sandbox trees, blackberry vines and other thorny plants of the Briar.

When she arrived with Thane, Ashlynn was momentarily shocked by the scene of devastation that greeted her within this stretch of the forest. Branches lay strewn about the ground and on their way to a small clearing they passed several whole trees that had snapped and fallen in the tempest of the previous night’s storm. The ground underfoot held a thick layer of freshly fallen leaves and cedar needles, muffling their footsteps and adding an eerie quiet to the forest.

”I, I did this last night, didn’t I?” Ashlynn said, swallowing heavily as she realized how destructive the tempest had been.

”This forest has seen worse than last night’s storm,” Thane said, pointing to vine-covered stumps scattered about the forest. ”A century ago, it was a firestorm that swept through the Vale. Fifty years ago, it was the worst blizzard I’ve ever seen and far more than just trees collapsed under the weight of that much snow. The old and the weak fall when a tempest rages, but they make way for the young who will replace them.”

”There you go again,” Ashlynn said, shaking her head at the vampire knight. ”Sounding ancient and wise. But I understand,” she said, looking around at the devastation. ”This is a reminder to keep control of my power, but I shouldn’t mourn the losses so much that they paralyze me. This too is part of nature’s rhythm.”

”Good that you understand,” Thane said, tossing a practice blade to Ashlynn and drawing his own sword. ”Now, listen carefully. I’ve never seen Owain fight personally, but he has a habit of abusing his training partners and Marcel has been able to gather a bit of insight from people who have suffered his notion of ’practice,’ so I have a rough idea of what you should expect when you face him.”

The instant Thane began his lecture, his demeanor shifted and his amber eyes sharpened, becoming much more focused as he began to prepare Ashlynn to face the man who had tried to murder her.

”Owain favors power with both hands on his sword,” he said, taking an aggressive, high guard position with one foot slightly extended and the pommel of his sword held even with his chest. ”He has an advantage of height against you and he’ll try to use that to batter you down, raining blows at your head, neck and shoulders,” he said as he launched himself forward, swinging down at Ashlynn’s head as though he was splitting a log with an ax.

-CLANG-

Steel rang against steel as Ashlynn blocked the heavy blow directly. The force of the impact sent shivers through her palms, all the way to her elbows and her knees bent to absorb the force of impact. Less than a heartbeat after she blocked, Thane pressed forward, twisting slightly as he slammed the pommel of his sword into the side of Ashlynn’s head, knocking her violently to the ground.

”Owain doesn’t believe in a restrained fight,” Thane added as he pointed the tip of his sword at Ashlynn’s startled emerald gaze. ”He uses the whole weapon. Pommel, cross guard, and the entire length of the blade. When he comes at you, each attack is only a prelude to the next one,” he said, pulling his sword back and holding out a hand to help Ashlynn to her feet.

A trickle of blood flowed from a cut on her scalp, staining her pale blonde hair red and pain surged behind her eyes, making it difficult to see for several heartbeats as she fought her way through the pain to reach out to the forest. The freshly fallen trees still held traces of life that would take days to dissipate, but Ashlynn borrowed that energy freely, sealing the wound and restoring clarity to her vision as she pulled her sword back into a middle guard position.

”Before, I taught you how to counter force with force because you would be as strong as most of your opponents, if not stronger,” Thane said patiently when it was clear that Ashlynn could focus on his words again. ”But now, you need to learn how to deflect without stopping his force. You need to be aware of the follow up that will come after you deflect the first blow and think of how to counter it as well.”

”Like chess,” Ashlynn said, nodding in understanding. ”The more moves ahead I can see, the better my chances of winning are.”

”Like chess,” Thane agreed. ”But played very quickly. And, just like in chess, if you only anticipate your opponent in order to counter his movements, you will never control the battle. When you defend yourself, your mind should be thinking of how you’ll move to attack, to make him feel threatened by your blade instead of seeing it only as a barrier he has to break down in order to hurt you.”

”Now, come at me as I came at you and watch how I respond,” Thane said as he adopted the guard that Ashlynn had used.

This time, when Ashlynn attacked, Thane made a similar blocking motion to the one she had used, but as he blocked, he twisted his body and lowered the tip of his sword, deflecting Ashlynn’s blade harmlessly past his body before his blade swung in a tight arc, landing softly against the edge of her neck.

”Visor, neck, armpits, elbows, wrists, knuckles, belly, groin, knees and ankles,” Thane said, using the tip of his sword to tap each area in turn. ”These are the vulnerabilities in armor that every knight trains to attack and defend. Threaten one of these spots, and you force Owain to pause his attack to deal with yours. Swing at his chest,” he said, tapping his steel breast plate for emphasis. ”And he’ll ignore it and allow his armor to do the defending while striking where you’re weak.”

”Aim for the joints of the body,” Ashlynn said. ”Got it.”

”Good,” Thane said with a nod as he took up a defensive position once again. ”In that case, show me that you understand,” he said, holding his arms out wide and turning slowly in front of her. ”Attack me where the armor is weakest. Come for my head and fight like you mean it!”