Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) (28 page)

As they went in
search of a drink, Marc looked over at Danner.

“Have you ever
told a woman that theory of yours about their type of logic?”

“Are you
insane
?”

- 3 -

 Birch
watched with a critical eye as Garnet drilled his denarae through a complicated
game of follow-the-leader. The Shadow Company commander led a line of a hundred
or so denarae as he wound through trees, up and down rocky inclines, and
occasionally across level ground. All the while, the denarae passed three heavy
medicine balls to each other by tossing them over their heads to the man
waiting behind them. When a ball reached the end of the line, the last man ran
to the front and inserted himself behind Garnet, then started the ball-throwing
process over again.

The Gray paladin
recognized the exercise as one he and Gerard had undergone during their
training days, which the Red paladin had apparently passed on to Garnet and his
generation of paladins. The added complication of terrain imposed a new dynamic
on the exercise, and Birch watched with interest as the denarae worked
perfectly together as though a single mind guided their actions.

“They’re very
well-coordinated,” Mikal commented. The Seraph was standing next to Birch with
his arms crossed, staring intently at the denarae.

Birch nodded.

“Amazing to
think that a simple experiment created long ago would one day lead to this,”
Mikal said. “I have heard stories of their success, and from what I’ve observed
first-hand, I believe they will play a critical role in the days to come. How
ironic if a controversial and forbidden experiment ends up as a key player in
our salvation.”

Birch remained
silent. He was glad Hoil and Siran had already left, or else they might have
asked uncomfortable questions.

Kaelus’s
memories lent him knowledge of what Mikal was talking about, but he didn’t
trust himself to speak. Birch felt there was such a thing as having too much
knowledge, and that some things were better left unearthed, at least until the
right time. He didn’t know if that brought him further away from the Orange
Facet or closer to its heart. Birch had never been exactly sure how some of his
beliefs measured up against the virtues of the Prism, he just knew that he
had
his beliefs, and that they felt right to him.

Mikal shifted to
look behind them, and murmured, “Now what have we here?”

Birch followed
his gaze and saw a very determined-looking Kala striding toward the clearing
where the denarae had just stopped. Garnet was gesturing for them to break off
in sparring groups, but he turned when Kala approached him. Without speaking,
Birch and Mikal moved closer together so they could better hear the
conversation.

“You once agreed
to spar against me for training,” Kala was saying.

“I did,” Garnet
said, nodding slowly. “You never asked again, but I understand you’ve proved
rather formidable against Danner and Michael.”

“And now I wish to
take you up on your offer.”

“Now?” Garnet
asked, glancing around.

“Is there a
problem?”

Birch frowned.
Kala seemed almost
too
defiant, as though she was daring herself to
pursue this task. He wondered for a moment until suddenly he remembered how
he’d first learned to dance. A particularly lovely young woman named Moreen
gave private lessons after-hours in the inn where she worked, and Birch had
been rather asinine in his approach to asking her for lessons. Not because he
was against the idea of dancing – which is what he told Moreen – but rather
because he wanted more than anything to learn
from her
and didn’t want
her to realize his reason.

“The mixed-blood
woman seems a bit… overly rude,” Mikal said delicately, “in her approach.
Garnet
is
the commander. Shouldn’t she ask him respectfully?”

Birch chuckled.

“My immortal
friend, I don’t think I could explain it to you if I tried,” Birch said.
Mikal’s friendship with Kaelus had largely transferred itself to Birch, who
learned more about the demon within him with every passing day and felt
completely at-ease with his immortal companion. Mikal had come a long way in
his dealings with mortals as well, and had loosened up considerably since he’d
first revealed himself to them.

“Just watch and
tell me if anything occurs to you.”

Mikal looked at
Birch out of the corner of his eye, then nodded.

During their
exchange, Garnet had apparently acquiesced to Kala’s demand, and the two of
them were readying themselves for a duel with their wooden bowkurs. Somewhere
someone had found her a set of wooden blades to match her preferred weapons.
Almost as an afterthought, Garnet dismissed the denarae around him and
instructed them to return to camp and take the rest of the night off.

 “She
thinks he’s dismissing them so that he can save face if she defeats him,” Mikal
commented. “Her thoughts are in turmoil, but I can tell that, at least.”

“I can guarantee
it’s exactly the opposite,” Michael Semnriak said, walking up to the pair.
Brican was with him. “Birch, you’ve seen some of Garnet in action.”

Brican nodded.
“I’d wager every silver penny I own he told us all to leave so she won’t be
embarrassed in front of a third of his men. Of course, I haven’t bothered to
tell
her
that. No sense in distracting her.”

“I’ve seen the
young woman practice,” Mikal said, “but for all the time we’ve spent watching
this Shadow Company, I have never seen Garnet fight. Is he really so skilled?”

“Just watch,
Mikal,” Michael said with a confident smile. As the last of the denarae
disappeared toward the camp, Garnet and Kala finished their preparations and
faced each other across a flat, grassy clearing. Birch, Mikal, Brican, and
Michael were the only ones left to observe the duel.

Kala and Garnet
approached each other carefully. Kala glared at Garnet with fierce
concentration, but the mountainous Red paladin gazed back with an absolutely
unreadable expression. Kala made the first attack, which Garnet easily parried
and returned with two rapid strikes of his own. The warrior woman was clearly
taken aback by the speed of his attacks, which were much faster than anyone
could expect from the massive weapon Garnet wielded.

If any words
were spoken, they were too quiet for the four observers to overhear. They
watched in respectful silence as the match ensued, but from the outset, it was
clear who was the better swordsman.

“How can any
man.. He’s hardly even trying.” Mikal suddenly murmured, and his voice was an
almost perfect imitation of Kala’s. The others stared at him in amazement.

“Damn,” Mikal
continued in Kala’s voice. “What… Ah! High. Ow! Low. There! Damn!”

Mikal kept up a
running commentary of Kala’s thoughts, which were more often than not single
words or fractions of thoughts as her mind tried to keep up with the pace of
the duel. He seemed fascinated by the way her mind was working amidst combat,
and his eyes were raptly fixed on the duel. It was a strange experience for all
of them, listening as Kala’s voice – emitted from Mikal – matched the
choreography of the fight as they were watching. As the minutes dragged by,
Mikal’s mimicry grew more and more irritated and frustrated, until finally they
heard a cry of frustration from both Mikal and Kala as Garnet sent her wooden
katana flying through the air for the third time.

“Your attack is
not firm enough,” Garnet said without condescension during the ensuing lull as
Kala retrieved her sword, “like you’re worried you’ll hurt me. Strike
confidently. Cut me, don’t
try
to cut me. Don’t worry about
if
I’m going to attack while you’re attacking. Watch me and
know
what I’m
doing even as I do it.”

Kala glared at
him, but nodded, and the fight commenced.

Again, Garnet
disarmed Kala, but instead of stopping or retreating, she moved forward with
her shorter practice blade. Garnet’s face twitched in surprise, but instead of
retreating himself, he too stepped forward. The shift then threw Kala
off-guard, and for an instant she hesitated in uncertainty. In that moment, she
was finished.

As Kala moved to
strike with her imitation wakizashi, Garnet chopped down with his left hand and
struck her wrist. The wooden blade fell from numb fingers even as Garnet moved
his sword in and placed the part of the blade closest to the hilt beneath
Kala’s ribs along her left flank. In a lethal duel, Garnet had only to draw the
sword along her body and he would cut deeply into her abdomen and severely
wound or cripple her.

Garnet’s left
hand ended up on Kala’s right arm, and the two of them stood with their chests
almost touching. They stood silently like that for a long moment, then Garnet
awkwardly released her and took a step back.

“You jumped to
exploit a weakness,” Garnet said flatly, “which shows you’re fighting too much
of a defensive battle. I left it open deliberately, knowing you would go for
it, which lets me know what you’re going to do before you do and to prepare for
it. You’re allowing me to dictate your actions. Don’t exploit weaknesses,
create
them and use them. You can’t trust luck to make them for you. Understand?”

Kala’s cheeks
were crimson as she nodded, subdued.

“Now she believes
how good he is,” Mikal said unnecessarily, then added, “and so do I.”

As Kala
retrieved her practice weapon, Brican and Michael slowly eased away from Birch
and Kaelus. Not toward the encampment, but instead toward a pile of large
boulders off to one side from the clearing. When they were within a few feet,
Brican nodded to Michael, who broke away and approached the rocks from an
oblique angle.

Without warning,
the two men sprinted forward and pounced into the rocks and emerged a second
later with two other bodies, which appeared to be a young man and woman. Brican
subdued the woman almost immediately, but Michael’s opponent was much broader
than him and the two men wrestled furiously on the ground. Michael pinned him
after only a few intense seconds, but he growled continuously at his more
muscular opponent to stop resisting or he’d hurt himself.

Garnet, Birch,
and Mikal raced over to help. Birch reached the struggling pair first and used
his demon-enhanced strength to peel the other man from under Michael. The man
in his grasp squirmed and fought to break free, and as Garnet tried to lend a
hand he caught a stray fist to the left side of his jaw. Birch caught the
flailing limb and pinned both arms to the man’s side. The young man was about
the same size and mass as Birch, but with proper leverage the Gray paladin held
him as though he were restraining a weakly struggling child. Whatever
disadvantages there were, the demonic presence inside Birch had a few distinct
uses he had come to appreciate.

Finally the
thickly muscled man in Birch’s grasp realized the futility of struggling, and
he sagged limply. Wary of a ruse, Birch didn’t loosen or shift his grip at all.
After the wrestling match in the dirt, the captive’s face was obscured behind a
mask of sweaty mud and clumps of grass stuck to his cheeks.

“Let him go!”
the young woman cried, drawing their attention to her.

Garnet stared at
her in amazement and not a little anger.

“Anolla?” he
said in a dangerous tone of voice. He turned and looked at the young man in
Birch’s grasp. “Brad?”

“Uh, hey, big
brother,” Bradley jo’Garet said in a sheepish sort of voice.

Garnet rubbed
the side of his chin for a moment, then he slugged his brother in the jaw, not
quite as hard as he himself had been struck.

“Now,” Garnet
said, “what in the name of all that’s holy are the two of you doing here?”

Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.

- Trames,

“O Musings” (976 AM)

- 1 -

Garet glared
furiously at his middle son, who hung his head in shame and refused to meet his
father’s eyes. Anolla stood beside her twin brother, equally downcast before
their father’s anger. Garnet stood slightly behind his father, arms crossed as
he looked down in disapproval. Flasch had healed both Garnet and Brad’s
discolored jaws, saving the brothers the need to explain the bruises to their
father.

“You have
exactly one chance to avoid the beating of your lives,” Garet said ominously.
“I want straight answers, and I don’t want to hear any excuses. Satisfy me, and
you’ll only have to deal with your mother.”

Brad cringed
slightly.

“Now, why did
you follow us?” Garet asked. “What did you think you were doing?” Neither one
answered. “Well?”

“We just wanted
to come along, father,” Brad said meekly. “We… we wanted to be a part of things
for once.”

Garet shifted
his glare to his daughter, who nodded.

“We didn’t want
to be left behind again,” Anolla said, looking pleadingly at her father. “All
our lives, we’ve watched you ride off on some adventure or another, and always we’ve
had to stay behind and wait. Then Garnet grew up,” she said, waving at him as
her voice picked up intensity, “and we had to watch him leave as well. We
always get left behind. But we just wanted to come with you, to prove this time
that we can do it. We can join you in your adventures.”

“It’s not an
adventure,” Garet roared, and the energy and excitement building in Anolla
abruptly vanished. “We’re going to war, you foolish children. Children, yes,
for that’s what you are. Running off with some grand, romantic notion of being
heroes. We’re going off to fight for the fate of mankind, and you want to tag
along for the fun of it?” Garet shouted incredulously. “I never thought I’d
raised such stupid kids.”