Knight Esquire ya-2 Read online

  Even if he was trying to get out of it, she'd offered to marry him. No matter her reasoning, that was kind. Tor needed to make sure she knew that he appreciated the gesture.

  They walked the rest of the way back to the room slowly, but in silence. Inside the room Tor started pulling out field amulets and handed two of the poison detectors to Trice, one hers, the other for Sara. He set two more aside and loaded up a cloth sack with some of the other fields he'd brought back from vacation with him.

  “What's this?” Trice pointed at what he held in his hand.

  “Oh, well, I made up about twenty flying rigs and new shields just for the school and about that many of the temperature equalizing fields. Those guys in practice armor roast this time of year. It's really bad. Then I added a few more, because, you know, I need to personally bribe Karen and the others into not killing me. I missed eleven days without giving any notice. Kind of surprised Kolb is even letting me come back, to tell the truth. It's probably just so Karen can give me a good thrashing before he kicks me out of his section. I can't really blame him, but, you know… bribes. So maybe?” He shook the bag a little, holding it up hopefully.

  Trice started kissing him again which ended up with him laying on his back, her on top of him for a few seconds before she relented and told him to get off to weapons practice before they decided to kill her fiancee for real. He didn't exactly run to the weapons practice area, not being able too, but he walked quickly. He really didn't want to be too late after all. Eleven days was late enough.

  When he got there Karen was working with another person, both in well fitted practice armor, so probably their own, which meant they had money to spend on luxuries like that. She called out instructions, but not nearly as many as she used the one time she'd worked with him. That made sense; the smaller form in front of her was nearly as good as she was. The moves weren't quiet as clean maybe, and the reach not as long, but the blows hit almost one for one between the two. Tor had only tapped the larger woman about once every four or five hits she'd made on him, and most of those simply lacked the needed power, if he was going to judge himself honestly.

  This went on for a while, so Tor watched, trying to pick up pointers. After all, he'd probably have to work with one or both of them in the future. Their fighting style was very similar, like they'd had the same teachers, or practiced together a lot, maybe both. More, Tor realized, that instruction hadn't come from Kolb. They aimed for the head and body most often, but in a general way, not specific weak points in the armor for instance. Kolb stressed hitting weak points if possible and growled if you didn't get close enough. Maybe more with him than the others, because he was so small and needed the advantage, but Tor had heard him telling everyone similar things.

  After about ten minutes Karen had knocked the smaller form down with a shoulder thrust and started beating him while on the ground.

  “Get up! If you go down like that for real he'll kill you. Get up!

  The thrashing didn't stop.

  Chapter two

  Karen kept screaming at the smaller person to get up, which they finally did, being hit the whole time, about thirty seconds later. No complaints came, they just started fighting again. Well, whoever the other person was, Tor knew one thing; they were tougher than he was. A better fighter too. Obviously whoever Karen feared would kill them, it wasn't him. They continued back and forth for another twenty minutes before they stopped to get some water, sweat dripping from both of them.

  After the tall woman doffed her helm, the padded gray leather dark now, because of the sweat, she drank dippers of water for a while without stopping. It must be extra hot today, Tor realized. He hadn't noticed, since it just felt pleasant to him personally. He dug out one of the equalizing amulets, looked at the other person, a boy that looked familiar, and realized they each should have one. Heat didn’t care if you were in charge or not. It took a second to find, then another to untangle the hemp strings they were on.

  “Here.” He handed the amulets over without saying more.

  Almost automatically they put them on and activated them.

  “Whooo!” Karen yelled suddenly. “Oh my god…” Her eyes closed for a bit and then she smiled.

  “Where have you been all my life? I’d heard about these, from Rolph Merchant, but I didn’t think I’d get to use one.”

  The boy looked at him and smiled a little, a sad and abstract thing. He got it now, it was the boy with the washing, the one that helped him test the clothes dryer that first time. He'd grown, standing at least four inches taller now, even after only a few months.

  Royals. They grow up so fast. Tor smiled a little but didn’t laugh. The kid was a Countier after all, and could take offense.

  “David, isn't it? David Derring?” Tor held his hand out to shake and the boy’s face lit up a little.

  “Yeah. I didn't know if you'd remember me or not.”

  Karen looked at them and grinned herself. “And here Davie's been telling everyone at home he hadn't made any important contacts yet. This will make dad happy at least, as long as we can keep you alive…” Her look went dark then, but she shrugged and turned to Tor, explaining.

  “Out of the blue some Count challenged him to a duel last week. It's insane, of course, who challenges little kids like that? They've never even met. Worse, since the guys a sitting Count, Davie can't even kill him, but the guy can take him out without anyone saying much at all. Apparently dad got into an argument with him when they were at the Capital, so the guys trying to punish him by killing my brother.”

  Duel?

  In theory, Tor knew they could happen, but he didn't know what the rules were or even if there were any. He asked, not even thinking that it might be hard for the boy to hear until after he said the words, but David answered with authority. He'd obviously been studying up on the topic. No doubt. Tor would have been doing that too.

  “It's simple enough. Two men meet, or women, though not usually mixed it's not totally forbidden, and they fight, using whatever they can bring. Well, it has to be just the two of them, and weapons that can be carried on your person, but you show up with your best weapons and fight until you can't anymore. Usually it stops when one of them is dead. But in this case, I can't actually try to kill the Count on purpose. If he dies by an honest accident, that might work, since he challenged me, not the other way around. I have another two weeks to get ready. He's coming here to kill me.”

  The boy looked down and hung his head.

  “The guy is huge and has a shield and full combat aura if he rages, as well as direct effect in a fight. I don't have anything yet, I may never. So, my odds aren't good.”

  Any weapons? Did that mean that shields would count as well? He asked, getting a snort from Karen.

  “Well, yeah. But we can't borrow one from the school for it, since they aren't allowed to be involved and short of getting one on the black market, which is almost impossible… what are we supposed to do? The weapons have to be legally and fully owned, they can't be borrowed anyway. It the law. Even a Count has to follow that one.” She looked miserable, almost ready to cry, which didn't match what he knew about her at all.

  Tor scratched his nose absently.

  “Oh. Well, I guess he can just use the shield from the flying gear I gave him for his birthday? Oh, yeah, right…” He pulled out a set, flying rig and shield and handed one to Karen and another to Davie. “Happy birthday, Davie. Sorry your gift was late like this. I’ll have the rest of it soon.”

  Karen went slightly pale. “But…”

  Tor's eyes flashed and he didn't let her speak. Pointing rudely with on finger at what she held instead. Then he bowed from the waist going about halfway down. He hadn’t tried to kill her after all. He stood after about fifteen seconds, hoping that was long enough.

  “Yours is by way of a blatant bribe to keep you from killing me too much for being gone all this time. I apologize fully and humbly for my absence. If it helps, it was work related, and I felt th
at my life hung in the balance. Um, I made a new kind of poison detector. You two get those for free too, but, you know, there's a waiting list, everyone here is getting one if they want it. David… well, he's my friend. He helped me do testing on my very first novel build project, and you know, there's no debt between friends. I don't know if that's a thing here, but it is where I come from, and it means that at need he can have anything I own, or can make, obviously you too Karen, if it comes up. Besides…”

  Surprising even himself his voice came out in a half growl. “This Count really thinks he can kill one of my friends that easily? Not if I can do anything about it. Now, we need weapons for you too, right? I've never made any, but let's see what we can come up with…”

  Karen wouldn't let them go out to the range instantly to examine weapons, because Tor had to exercise first. Needed to badly as it turned out. The only kindness he was shown was that Davie got to beat him instead of Karen, and he had a feeling that the boy was pulling his blows out of pity, due to his still injured leg. Otherwise he'd have been dumped on the ground more times than he was. Then they worked stones, swinging the heavy rocks with their metal handles around in various exercises until he just couldn't any more. That was normal, but then she had them do it with lighter weights and didn't let them stop until they could barely budge even the smallest ones, which only weighed ten pounds each.

  Only then was Karen satisfied enough to fly with Tor out to the range. David, for all that he now owned a set of flying gear, had never actually gotten to use the schools yet. First years and non-combat students didn't rate, it seemed. Tor chuckled at that, because he wouldn't have either, if he didn't have his own. Even at that, he'd never practiced fighting with a shield on at all. Unless having Count Ward pound on him that one time counted as practice? He was probably supposed to stick to the idea Kolb had taught him and run away if he could. It seemed like a good plan to him. Fly away now, if he had the right amulet with him.

  The range, when they got there, was not impressive. A bit of a letdown really. It was just a large open area that had some dried and scrubby grass growing in clumps, and bare earth along the far end. The ground rose into an earth berm that looked to be twenty or thirty feet thick and about the same height. In front, near the ground, there were a few objects set up as targets. A painted boulder with a fresh looking red x stood next to a half dozen standing wooden plates that were hung in red painted frames.

  Karen walked to a locked box next to where they landed and slapped the lock plate, which got the box to open. She took out three of the object inside and handed one to Tor.

  “Keep it pointed down range please. At all times if possible. These are real weapons, if… Well, I think you'll get it. Pick a target and give it a try.”

  The device itself looked familiar, just a silver piece of metal that had a small sigil on it where his thumb could reach pretty easily. It was obviously made for bigger hands than his, but he was used to that, and just gripped it closer to the middle, before pointing it down range. He aimed at the boulder, not wanting to waste the wooden targets, and activated it.

  A puff of dirt came off of the dirt backing, about ten feet too high. Since he stood about two hundred feet away that was probably just due to poor aim. It wasn't like he'd done it before. He aimed lower and hit the rock, but it didn't do much. The boulder moved a little. At least he thought it did. That might have been imagination.

  “This is just a force lance, but it's only about four times what a student’s lance would be. The fields degrading. Not that we need vast power levels for practice, but it would be nice to have a few around that could be aimed reliably. Here, try this one. Aim for the stone again.”

  Nothing happened in the air between the boulder and himself, but a flame finally burst out of the air around the boulder. He'd seen something like this one before at least. Close up. The flame flickered and died almost instantly.

  All of the weapons did that as he tried them. They worked for a single hit or blast, and then you had to trigger them again. The flame one was just that weak, the field flickering and fading even as he used it. He caught the feeling of the field, but realized that it took power from the user to make it function. Why, he wondered? That didn't seem like a good idea for people that needed to keep fighting for a long time, did it? It could work by just concentrating ambient heat at the point of focus just as well. Better probably.

  The rest all did the same, except the cutters. Even the one explosive weapon they had for practice was weak and grabbed energy from the user. That, Karen explained, was why they didn't just stay on all the time. You had to be very strong to use a weapon like that, and no one could do it for more than about a minute all told, and those people paid for it in exhaustion latter.

  Well. That explained why Wensa hadn't suffocated him with fire at the shield test then. She'd just run out of energy? Thank goodness for that.

  Tor saw a half dozen ways to improve the weapons instantly. He'd have to fly back before he could get the ideas on paper, but he nodded. So better weapons, and one that could take out a Count without killing him? That… could be a lot trickier.

  He didn't promise anything, but Karen probably got that he wasn't going to let a kid go into a fight with a grown man unarmed. He'd challenge the guy himself first, even if it meant he had to die. As it was though, honestly, David was probably more capable of surviving this fight than he would be. The shield would help, probably, and a few weapons that didn't drain him while being used.

  Tor focused on those, a force lance that would pack a punch and an explosive that could be used if things got really desperate. Then he needed something that would take out the man’s personal shield somehow. Really, that would be the hardest part. It would be easier to beat the man unconscious even through the shield than to disable it. That would be dangerous though, because beating him into giving up was just a breath away from killing the man.

  In the end he didn't have anything even remotely like a shield remover ready in time. Tor felt a little panicked when he flew with Rolph and Kolb out to the testing range. Karen and David already waiting, everyone clearly feeling a little agitated, except Rolph. He seemed cool and relaxed about the whole thing.

  “Don't worry Davie. If Tor's on it, you'll be fine.” His large friend, long red hair pulled back into a ponytail, smiled and patted the boy on the back.

  The vote of confidence was appreciated, but Tor just hoped what little he could bring to bear would be enough to save the kid. The fields were on copper tubes, because he couldn't afford to give away real silver, even if it was the standard for weapons. He couldn't even afford solid copper. Taking a deep breath he held up the first one.

  “Force lance.” Triggering it he aimed at the targets, the constant barrage of force hit the backing wall first, but he didn't turn it off and it didn't just pulse like a normal weapon. He spoke while it hit the targets knocking most of them down as he swept the weapon back and forth.

  “It doesn't take personal energy; it's just an organizing field. I'm a little uncertain why the regular ones grab from the user, to tell the truth, but this is way easier to use and you can leave it on. It's strong, but shouldn't kill the guy instantly if he has a shield or even heavy armor. On the good side, it will affect a person even through one of the shields I've made, except for the newest version, which you'll be wearing, so even if he has one of my earlier models it will be at least a little effective. That way the weapon can't be used against you even if he takes it away or something. It just tells stuff to move, kind of like the flight field, or more like the Falcon's or how a water pump works. Obviously you can't fly with the new shield on though, not yet, so wear both and only use the new one when you're on the ground.”

  Taking his thumb off from the sigil Tor moved to the next one.

  “Alright, this is… Well, it's not a proper military weapon at all. It just locks all the air out of an area, so that a person inside the field, about ten by ten, can't breathe. Really it doesn't even rem
ove the air, it just doesn't let it flow, the original idea came when I was working on water sculptures that will hang in the air. Anyone want to test it?”

  To his surprise Kolb volunteered with a small smile. After about half a minute he waved his hand and Tor stopped.

  “That works! I could still fight, but I couldn't breathe, and it felt hard to move. Like being stuck in place. So he won't be able to fight fast, even in a combat rage. Keep this trained on a person and move back as they do and within a few minutes the fight should be over. Nice thinking Tor.” Kolb stared at him for a moment, then smiled. Really he looked proud.

  Tor held up the final piece he had and took another huge breath then let it out.

  “This is… Look, David, if the counts going to kill you, I mean really kill you, like you’re going to die, not just be beaten a little, then use this, but… well, I think you'll get the idea.”

  Tor turned and activated the device, pointing it at the field next to the range, flat, but holding a few trees and some boulders as big as the one with the red x on it. It exploded. Huge walls of dirt and rock flew back and up, digging furrows about fifteen feet across into the ground, moving it back and forth he outlined and then dug out a rectangle with a berm at the back, since it was the only place the earth and stone could move. This took about three minutes. It was loud, like thunder the whole time. Tor was the one doing it and felt a little like soiling himself in fear, just from the sound.

  When he turned around everyone stared at him. Looking odd. Well, it wasn't exactly normal was it?

  “Yeah. So, not much of a toy. Still, if the guy won't back off, it gives you something to go to.”

  Rolph stood breathing hard, looking at Tor and swallowing almost convulsively. “Tor…”

  Kolb took it and gave it a try for about thirty seconds himself. Then handed it off to Rolph to use, each of the others going after that. Then the large bald man picked up all the weapons.