Acadian: I definitely worked hard at showing vs. telling in that last segment, where a great deal of information was dumped on the reader. I wanted to make sure it all flowed out through natural conversation.
Phereinon definitely mic-dropped at the very end there! I had fun with that.
Renee: I really enjoyed writing that second half, where everyone is retelling how their parents kept them in line. It gave me a opportunity to show how multi-cultural this group is, and give every one of the Seven at least one thing to add.
Perhaps the cockatrice should hope that Phereinon does not come back...
Chapter 11"Come Sindeok, spar with me," Dark-Eye insisted. "There are none here who can give me a good workout."
The former
nangdo did as his new leader commanded. He knew better than to gainsay the older Teodon. In the short time he had been in the raider company, it had become very clear that when the one-eyed Teodon spoke, everyone leapt. Failure to do so was tragic.
"I will show you how to use the longsword, as the elves do," the black-striped bandit leader said. "When not using a shield, their methods are superior to our own."
Dark-Eye tossed a wooden practice sword to former
nangdo. Like the aetherial longsword that Sindeok had witnessed Dark-Eye summon, the weapon stretched nearly five feet long, with almost four feet of that being the blade. He caught the wooden weapon with one hand, then shifted his grip to both hands when he brought the weapon to a guard position.
It was not as heavy as he expected, nor did it feel at all clumsy. Dark-Eye took a few simple, testing strikes at Sindeok's head, and he easily parried them all. He found himself sliding one hand up past the crossguard, to the lower section of the wooden blade. That gave him more control over the long weapon, and Sindeok soon found, more force to his blows as well.
"Do the elves not use the shield at all?" Sindeok asked. Pure bone aristocrats like himself never used them when fighting in duels. It was considered coarse and crude. But during sieges or set-piece battles, shields were far too effective a defense against arrows for anyone to ignore.
"Their armor makes shields pointless," Dark-Eye said. "Even their simplest fighters wear
astril, which will stop any weapon of mundane steel. Their greater fighters wear crystal panoplies, which even enchanted blades are hard-pressed to bite."
"Then how can they defeat one another?"
"With the longsword," Dark-Eye declared. "As you know, every part of your sword is a weapon, not just the point and cutting edge. But with a longsword this is far more the case than ever. Half-swording is much more effective, bringing you far more power and versatility. This allows you to accurately stab into even the smallest weak point of armor."
Dark-Eye emphasized his point by not only half-swording with his weapon, but also by spinning it around, so that he led with the grip. He swung the weapon down in a great arc over his head. This brought the crossguard down at Sindeok's skull like a hammer. The former
nangdo brought his own longsword up to parry, also half-swording with one hand upon the hilt, and the other near the point of his sword. Sindeok caught the blade of Dark-Eye's sword upon his own, and they stood there, blades locked.
"This is the morte-strike," Dark-Eye said. "The crossguard itself will not pierce armor. But the physical force from the blow will. Strike hard, and you will break the bones of even an armored foe."
Sindeok was about to push his captain's blade aside when the bandit leader suddenly yanked down hard. The black-striped Teodon's crossbar caught upon Sindeok's blade and pulled it down. Thinking quickly, the younger warrior let go with his left hand, allowing Dark-Eye to harmlessly sweep his point down toward the ground. He imagined that if he had not done so, his sword would have been completely stripped from both hands.
Without thinking, Sindeok followed through with the swinging motion of his blade. This brought the point back toward his body, where he gripped it once again with his left hand part way down the blade. Only now he too was leading with the grip. He twisted slightly to the left, and jabbed forward horizontally with the weapon. His pommel nearly smashed into Dark-Eye's face. But the wily Teodon swept his own longsword in a sideways arc, pushing Sindeok's blade aside.
Continuing the same motion, Dark-Eye took a half-step forward. He thrust his point up toward Sindeok's face. Sindeok was as mindful of the bandit leader's feet as he was his point, and took a half step back. He knew that by coming in so close the red-scaled Teodon was probably intending to trip him. But he was able to get just far enough away to avoid such an opportunity, and parried the sudden attack.
With that Dark-Eye stepped back out of range, and lowered the point of his weapon. "Well done," the bandit leader said. "You have good reflexes, and have trained well. No one else here has ever lasted through an exchange of blows with me. Not even your former
hwarang."
"It was you who taught him, was it not?" Sindeok ventured. He had witnessed Dark Eye's duel with Daeso, and his former leader had lasted far more than one exchange of blows. Still, he was not about to point this out to his new captain.
Sindeok had joined the Celestial Gallery company after Daeso had become
hwarang and taken command. He had only heard whispers of Ugeo - Dark-Eye now - and those were rare slips of the tongue. None of the older Celestial Flight
nangdo had seemed to want to talk about their former leader, and when they did it had been forbidding.
"Indeed I did," Dark-Eye declared. "I trained them all. But in my hour of vengeance, they betrayed me, and cast me out. All because I devoured the hearts of those who did this."
The bandit leader raised one finger to his eye patch, and the scarred scales above and below the leather strap.
"Now that you have tasted the sweet meat of victory, you are cast out as well Sindeok," the former
hwarang went on. "Your brothers will now hunt you down and kill you. You now only have one course, as do I. We will take our revenge upon those fools in Hansando, especially the
gyukon. They will learn to either eat, or be eaten."
At one time Sindeok would have shivered at the words. But now he simply felt the hunger twinge from deep within his belly. He knew that he should be horrified, but now the thought of eating another manaborn filled him with nothing but craving.
Morte Strike and Half Sword Defense