The House of Oldenrock

Initiation Part III

They paced around each other, and Margot analyzed the way that he moved in order to find the perfect way to beat him.  She doubted that he really had to analyze her.  He probably did not have to analyze anyone, for brute force was generally a tactic, that when used by the correct person, could defeat almost anyone.  Margot continued waiting and watching.  She would let him charge first, for she could not analyze someone’s movements too much.

Chunky quickly decided that he had had enough of the pacing around, and he charged at Margot.  He had left enough space in front of Margot, so that Margot could easily sidestep his charge and give him a sharp jab in the side. It would not have been enough to kill in a real battle, especially had he been wearing mail or armor, but it still would have been enough to injure.  The only problem with the training match was that the wooden sword did not put him at any sort of disadvantage, for there was little injury that the wooden swords could inflict that would render anyone unable to fight.

Chunky stopped.  Although he might have had the look of someone with few thoughts going through his head, he clearly was not one to fall for the same trick twice. He quickly pivoted around and lashed his sword at Margot, but Margot was ready.  She parried his stroke away, but the force of the blow surprised her.  Exhaustion did not cause brute strength to cease, and Margot even wondered just how exhausted he was.  His run might have been shorter than hers, but then she remembered something Rodder had told her, “Just convince yourself if you’re dead tired that they’re dead tired too.  Don’t convince yourself otherwise, because then you’ll lose.”

Margot could mentally put herself at an equal playing field with Chunky, and besides, after all, the best swordsman in The Olgenoct trained her. Rodder Oldenrock’s Gift placed him above everyone else in the field of sword fighting.  Although she had never fought against an opponent who was the same size as Chunky, Rodder’s training had prepared her to face any opponent. Then Margot attacked.

She spun at him, feinting to the right and then striking to the left with a blow that he could hardly parry.  She stepped back before he could attempt to strike at her.  “If you’re facing a larger opponent,” she remembered Rodder saying,  “be the mosquito that he can’t swat.  Flit around him.  Be nimble.  Be quick.”  So Margot did that.  She danced around Chunky, her sword slicing through areas that he could not parry.  She gave him a tap with her wooden sword on his wrist, his knee, and his forearm, but none of those areas were enough for her to win the fight.

Margot began to tire quickly.  She had to move much more than Chunky had to.  She had to dart around him, while Chunky could remain standing almost stock-still.  “If you start getting too tired,” she remembered Rodder say, “end the fight.  Just find a way to end it, unless you want to die a slow and painful death.”  Margot then launched a furious attack, the last one that she was capable of, in an attempt to finally beat him.

Chunky must have sensed her changing in fighting, for he then put even more force in his blows.  He allowed his fighting style to be only defensive in order to not waste energy on attacking.  He understood that the fight was going to end soon, either with Margot tiring out or breaking through his defenses. Finally, Margot figured out what she needed to do.  In a quick succession of movements, she feinted to the right, and then to the left, stepped back, drove forward in a zigzag, and then quickly brought her sword up to his neck.  “Death,” she said.

Chunky dropped his sword and fell to his knees.  “Who are you?” he asked.  Clearly he was unused to being defeated, and especially not by a girl.

“Margot Oldenrock,” she replied in between pants.  She brought her hands up above her head and walked around in slow scattered circles in an attempt to catch her breath.