Borne on the Blade by Zachary Dugas & Daniel Jones

Author:Zachary Dugas & Daniel Jones [Dugas, Zachary & Jones, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

The sunrise found Duren in the small courtyard behind the White Horse Inn practicing with his new blade. He had worked up a decent sweat and he could feel the ache of his muscles, particularly in his chest and he relished the feeling. The staff that worked at the white horse had grown somewhat used to him coming out here in the mornings. At first several of the laundresses would give him rather playful looks that he made sure to ignore, but that stopped quickly when Lisika entered the tournament and even the bolder women had quit when it became known that she was quite handy with a sword.

“You are doing it wrong,” a voice said and Duren finished his movement before turning on his heel to see the Old Man leaning up against the frame of the door that led out to the street straight from the courtyard. The sun reflected off of his bald pate and Duren smiled at him before tossing the blade through the air at him. He caught it deftly and tested the balance with several practice cuts before he fell into stance holding the baselard in his right hand with the leg of the same side stretched out forward. “You had your lead foot straight, like this, you should tilt it inwards slightly like this,” he demonstrated. “It shortens the stride slightly but allows you to pivot and strike with greater speed and with a shortsword speed is the operative strategy.” He demonstrated the cut and thrust he was talking about before standing back up and tossing it back to Duren. “It is good to see you are keeping up on your forms, I suppose I was worried for nothing,”

“Why would I not keep up on my forms?” Duren asked, confused.

“Well you now have a nice bed warmed by a lovely wife, greater men than either of us have been brought low by such comfort.” he laughed and Duren joined him in it, before walking over to the well, drawing out cold, clear water and pouring it over his head to rinse off the sweat.

“True, but those men didn't have women like Lisika, I highly doubt most of those women were as handy with a sword, nor as driven as she is.”

“Yes, well that might indeed be true, I see that you have undertaken the task of teaching her some,” he said, coming over to lean against the side of the well.

“Not really,” Duren said, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes and looking at the old man. “We duel, practice bouts and she just picks it up, I never have to tell her she just sees it and instinctively knows it, if I let my guard down for a second she is through it and if I am not careful and diligent she will surpass my skill,”

“Well we can't have that now can we?” Hvolti laughed, slapping Duren on the back. “Still it is good to see you matched so well,

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