Into the Void

'Bored enough to teach you some real swordplay, something that'll maybe save your precious skin.' He slapped at his left and for the first time Teldin noticed that the big man had on sword sheathed at his side. Aelfred noticed his glance. 'Oh, aye, the deck crew's all armed now. Void scavvers don't often travel in schools, but it does happen.' He turned and bellowed to one of the crewmen who was oiling the windlass ranked back the heavy ballista. 'Hoi, Gendi. Toss me your weapon.' The man in the turret hesitated. 'Come on, toss it here,' Aelfred repeated. 'You don't have to worry about scavvers with Teldin around.'

The man smiled and drew his sword. He gripped it by the thick forte of the blade and with an easy underarm toss lofted it, hilt first, toward Aelfred. The polished steel reflected a riot of colors. With the utmost nonchalance, Aelfred reached up, and the hilt slapped into his hand. He reversed the weapon and held it out, grip toward Teldin.

'Take it,' he instructed. 'Well, take it.' Teldin grasped the proffered weapon. 'Now look at it. Closely. Feel it.'

Teldin followed his friend's instruction. He adjusted his hand around the grip. It felt quite different from the sword- Lort's sword-he'd driven into the scavver. That weapon had possessed a smooth grip, wrapped in something that felt somehow both smooth and rough-perhaps sharkskin, which he'd heard was a common wrapping for sword hilts. This weapon's grip was metal, the same golden metal as the pommel and guard-probably bronze, he thought. It was ridged, worked into a complex pattern of scrolls and leaves. While he thought that it might become uncomfortable in protracted use, he had to admit that the ridges made for a sure grip and that the depressions would probably be good to prevent sweat or blood from making the hilt slippery. The cross-guard-or quillions, sprang the word from some deep recess of his memory-curved forward and branched. The inner branches came within a finger's span of the blade's edges, presumably to trap or break an opponent's blade and, so, disarm him. The blade itself was oiled steel, shiny and clean, with a razor-sharp edge along almost the full length. The blade thickened and became blunt only within a hand's span of the quillions. The thick portion of the blade-the forte-was etched with a delicate pattern similar to that on the grip. Toward the extreme point, the blade thickened slightly, but the point itself looked as sharp as a needle. He swung the weapon back and forth gently, using only his wrist. He guessed it weighed two or three pounds, with the balance point way back in the forte, near the grip. Finished with his examination, he looked expectantly up at Aelfred.

The warrior had drawn his own weapon, holding it lightly, with a loose wrist. 'Two things to remember about the short sword,' Aelfred said. 'First, it's a thrusting weapon, more precise than a broadsword. It doesn't have the heft to just hack away, like with a meat-axe, but if you put your weight behind the point, it'll go through most armor like it's soft cheese. Second, the point is mightier than the edge… but the short sword does have an edge. If you get an opening for a cut, take it, but keep it small, controlled. Like this.' With the speed of a striking snake, Aelfred straightened his wrist from its partially bent position. Steel flashed like quicksilver in a short arc-a total distance less than the length of Teldin's forearm-and stopped as sharply as if it had struck a solid object. In even that short swing, the blade whistled. 'See?' Aelfred asked. 'Short, controlled. With a good edge, that's enough to split a man's skull. Try it.'

Teldin gave the weapon a flip with his wrist, trying to imitate the big man's motion. The blade moved, but not nearly as fast, and it didn't stop sharply but continued its swing almost a hand's breadth beyond where Teldin wanted the swing to end. He felt his cheeks tingle a little in embarrassment. With his hours behind the plow and hewing wood on the farm, he figured his wrist should have been strong enough to do better. Aelfred didn't notice his discomfiture-or if he did, the warrior chose to ignore it. 'It's leverage,' he explained. 'That sword doesn't weigh much, but it's spread over two feet of blade. Does your wrist hurt?'

Teldin flexed the wrist experimentally. Yes, it did, he noted with surprise-and even more embarrassment. The tendons along the side of the wrist, the ones that continued down from his little finger, were slightly sore.

'There's not much the average person does that uses the same muscles swordplay does,' Aelfred continued. 'You want to know how to tell a swordsman? Look at my wrist.' Transferring his sword to his left hand, he extended his right arm to Teldin.

Teldin looked. The tendons of the warrior's wrist were thick and ridged, even with his hand relaxed. Aelfred clenched his big fist, and the tendons stood out like ropes of steel. He turned his hand so Teldin could better see the side of his wrist. From the edge of his hand down into his forearm, the ligaments and muscles under the skin showed pronouncedly, as hard as rock.

'All it takes is lots of work,' Aelfred grinned. 'If you want, I'll show you some exercises later. For now, defend yourself.'

Standing square to Aelfred, Teldin bent his knees slightly in what he thought might look something like a fighter's crouch. A little self-consciously, he lifted the sword and held it out directly in front of his chest.

So fast that he hardly saw the big man move, Aelfred shot his empty right arm forward and poked Teldin painfully in the center of the chest with a thick finger. Instinctively Teldin brought up his empty left hand to block the thrust, but much too late. Aelfred's arm flashed again, this time grabbing Teldin's left hand in an immobilizing grip. The warrior looked down at the hand he held in feigned amazement.

'What's this?' he asked scathingly. 'Trying to stop a thrust with a bare hand? Are you so tired of that hand that you want it chopped off? Well, you're run through the heart, so it doesn't matter anyway.' He let Teldin's hand go with the same revulsion he'd show for a dead fish.

Teldin's face burned with embarrassment. 'I didn't want to hurt you,' he muttered.

'I wouldn't have let you. Trust me on that.'

'All right,' Teldin said with a sigh. 'What am I doing wrong?'

Aelfred laughed. 'What aren't you doing wrong? First, your stance is too open. You' re giving me your whole chest and belly to rip open if I want to. Turn like this.' His hard hands took Teldin's shoulders and turned him until he was side-on. 'There,' he went on. 'Smaller target area, right? Oh, aye, you'd fight more open if you had a dagger in your offhand, but one thing at a time, eh?' He grasped Teldin's right wrist and started to move the arm. 'Relax,' he growled. 'Don't fight me. Bring your elbow down more. There.' He stood back to examine his handiwork.

Teldin's elbow was lower, close against his right side. 'Forearm parallel with the ground,' Aelfred instructed. 'Wrist straight and strong.' The warrior's empty hand flashed again, dealing Teldin a stinging slap on the back of his left hand. 'And get that left hand back. You're just asking to have it cut off. Tuck it under your belt if you have to.'

Teldin nodded. With his forearm level and his wrist straight, the sword's blade angled upward and out, with the point on a level with his eyes. The position was very natural, he found, even comfortable. For the first time he started to feel like a swordsman… or at least a reasonable facsimile.

Aelfred stood back, appraising him. After a moment, the big man nodded his satisfaction. 'Good,' he growled. 'Now the thrust. It's like this.' With the sword back in his right hand, he lunged with a speed that belied his size. His sword point flicked out fast and hard as he took a short step forward. He recovered instantly, returning to the ready position so fast that it almost looked as though his arm had stretched. The fluid grace of the movement astounded Teldin.

'Watch the footwork this time,' Aelfred instructed. 'Watch the step forward.' He repeated the motion. 'The step extends your reach, but it also puts your weight behind the point. Got it?'

Teldin nodded.

'You try it, slowly. I'll talk you through it.' He stood beside Teldin and took the smaller man's right wrist in his big hand. 'Start with the wrist like this. Extend the arm, but keep the wrist straight.' Teldin tried to relax, to let the seemingly inexorable force move his sword hand forward. 'As it comes forward, you take a short step forward flow. Got it? See how it makes you shift your weight so it's behind the blade?'

Teldin could feel the logic behind the moves. Even in slow motion, he felt the weight of his torso reinforcing the movement of his arm. 'I've got it,' he said.

Aelfred released him. 'Have you, now?' he asked ironically. 'Then I want you to kill the mainmast.'

'What?'

'Do it!' Aelfred barked. 'It's going to tear your face off and eat it for dawnfry. Kill it!'

Teldin heard a muffled chuckle from the crewman who'd lent him the sword but forced himself to ignore it. He stepped toward the mainmast until he was what he felt to be the right distance away and lunged.