A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 61
Then the battle passed on, leaving Brifik covered in blood but unharmed.
As Celivia reached his position, she braced herself against the rushing bodies around her. In theory all Bersk were perfectly conditioned and would never attack a fellow mansthein. In reality, only a fool would entrust their safety to warriors in the grip of seinrage. Reina would never harm her, but these screaming Bersk were not Reina.
"Are you alright, Nin?" Celivia put a hand on his bloody shoulder and smiled, but it didn't matter. His eyes didn't even focus on her, staring out like little more than ornaments in his blood-spattered face. If anything could help him, it would be time.
Around them, the Bersk began to stalk as the battle ended. Though the death toll had been horrific, a third of the Bersk company still remained. Some hacked at any human bodies that still twitched, others screamed at the sky, and several began to pace toward them, mouths foaming.
"No." Reina appeared in front of a group and struck her hands together just in front of their faces. Celivia couldn't understand the complex sein that flowed with her movement, but it caused a nearly instant change.
As Reina moved from group to group, the Bersk changed. Some stumbled backward, staring at the sky as if seeing it for the first time. A few began speaking and laughing in shared relief, but many wept. Most simply wiped their mouths, kept their eyes down, and started cleaning their weapons. When Reina returned to stand by Celivia, she looked utterly exhausted.
"Some of them survived this time. But many won't survive the next, and so few Bersk live through three engagements..." Reina fell against Celivia as if she had gone into seinrage herself, murmuring into the other woman's stomach. "It's too cruel, Celi. No advantage is worth all of this."
"I know, Rei. I know." Celivia gently stroked her hair and held her close. When the rest of her band finally joined them, none dared to say a word.
Though the battle had been won, there was no discussion of returning to their former location. Those who survived moved just far enough that they could no longer see the carnage and made camp immediately. Celivia realized that the commanders had no doubt planned for this as well, letting the soldiers serve as bait in case any raiders tried for revenge.
After the Bersk strike, Celivia didn't think that was likely.
The Bersk made their own camp, no one ever suggesting that they should join the other mansthein. Despite everything she had experienced, when Celivia looked over them crouching like animals, some chewing on human remains, her stomach turned in revulsion.
Though she wanted to tell herself that these Bersk were nothing like Reina, she knew that it wasn't true. Reina might be healthier and her hair wasn't so matted, but they were fundamentally the same. If the Bersk scrabbling below had a rebirth and the opportunity for Teirsan's education, they could all lead real lives like Reina instead of being thrown against opponents as weapons.
Reina spent the evening working with the Bersk, teaching them how to reduce the side effects of seinrage and increasing their chances of surviving their next engagement. She smiled when she was among them, but when she returned at the end of the day, her eyes were empty. Almost immediately after she fell asleep with her head in Celivia's lap.
Part of her expected one of the band to make a joke about it, but she saw only somber faces. Worst of all, she saw Brifik staring into the fire and seeing nothing.
Chapter 45
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"The littlest smith raised his hammer and struck the tree, and it become steelwood, which he forged into a growing blade. The littlest smith struck all that he saw and reforged it. He reforged a behemoth, reforged dry leaves, reforged dark stone, reforged water and ice. And at last, the littlest smith reforged a star itself, falling from the heavens as a drop of molten steel the likes of which had never been seen before."
- excerpt from a popular children's story across the Maenhu
-
After days attempting to train on her own, Veron ended up outside the house of that damn couple. She told herself that she intended to rob them blind, but didn't make any attempt in the end. Olondris was so often prowling nearby, it would be futile anyway.
Briefly her annoyance made her consider trying to kill Mantyos, to be done with them for good. But though she might succeed at the killing, she'd never survive. Besides, the idea only left a sense of distaste in her mouth. Somehow when she hadn't been looking, the kids had reached in and stolen her spine. They were the bandits, in the end.
It was the middle of the day, so there was no point just wandering in. Veron paced around the outside of the house as if she planned to rob it. Which she'd do, hopefully, it was just that she wanted to steal knowledge.
Mantyos was at his forge, working away on boring shit for the locals. Olondris was nowhere nearby, but Veron had noticed her habits before. Changing course on a whim, she headed to the local errant outpost instead.
There she soon spotted Olondris training several of the guards, all young ones. It reminded Veron of the kids and only drove her aggravation deeper. She might not be the equal of the Zeitai and other monsters, but even this old woman was superior to her. All she had was that pike with its infuriating reach and a bit of speed, nothing else. Without her armor she'd be nothing, though the bitch seemed to wear it at all times.
While she waited for the training to end, Veron idly wondered if she fucked her husband wearing that armor. Hell, he was a blacksmith, maybe he got off on that sort of thing. That thought kept her busy until at last Olondris finished her work and headed for home.
That made her route predictable, so Veron rushed to get ahead of her. All the dull square buildings made it easy to find an alley. Olondris didn't seem to talk to anyone on the street, though a few gave her respectful nods, so her pace was predictable as well. All she needed to do was wait... then strike.
Veron leapt from hiding, her sword swinging for the other woman's neck.
Olondris deflected the blade into the cobblestones with the back of her gauntlet.
It had been done so casually that Veron was enraged, shifting to swing in the other direction. Before she could, Olondris reached out with her other hand and simply grasped her wrist, stopping her cold. Though Veron struggled, the other woman's grip was like steel.
"Everything okay, Steeljudge?" Several errants appeared from nearby buildings, like they'd been waiting around for just that purpose. Olondris nodded briefly to them.
"It is a personal matter. You can go."
As the errants clanked away, Olondris released her and stepped back. Though Veron could have tried to attack again, she knew that it was useless. Olondris hadn't even used her pike, though now she set it in front of her and clasped both hands around it.
"It is inconvenient to be attacked in the streets. What do you want, Veron?"
"You talked a lot about my weaknesses." Veron sourly rammed her sword back in its sheath. "I wanted to see for myself."
"You desire training?"
"You think I'm one of the kids? Coming to beg you for help?" Veron tried to sneer, but Olondris just kept staring at her with that even gaze and she buckled. "Alright, fine, I'm here to beg a little."
"My services command a high price in a town like this. Why should I provide them to you?"
"What? You helped the others for free."
"Because I liked them." Olondris turned away, using her pike as a staff she didn't need. Veron stared for a moment, then scrambled after her.
"Are you really going to insist that I pay you? You and Mantyos don't seem to be suffering, so I doubt you need it."
"We don't. And I would not accept your money." Olondris stared over at her as they walked. "Why do you want training?"
"Because I want to be strong. That's a stupid question."
"And a false answer."
Olondris then walked away, leaving Veron fuming in the street. The worst of it was that Veron hadn't been lying or joking. Obviously she wanted to be strong, what was the point otherwise? She wanted to believe it was just a way of putting her off, but Veron still found herself stalking around the house that night, thinking about it.
Normally she would have found somewhere to drink and stopped caring for a while. They had taverns, and she saw travelers gambling over various games. But she didn't see anyone playing Jabble, and the coins were all wood, and even the beer tasted wrong. No, she couldn't do it.
Instead she returned to the house the next day, this time waiting for Olondris to leave. She saw the older woman part with Mantyos at the door, sharing an insufferably long kiss, then lurked a while longer in case it was a trick. Only once Olondris had truly left did Veron creep to the back door of the smithy.
She might not be able to get through Olondris, but the kids hadn't either. Mantyos was the weak link they had exploited, so she could do the same.
Veron slipped off her heavy robe, which wasn't necessary in the warm smithy anyway. Her armor already hugged her body, but she tugged the drawstrings tighter. On second thought, she threw subtlety to the winds and pulled off her breastplate. If the shirt underneath was pulled down properly, she could show off some cleavage.
Now prepared, Veron slipped inside the smithy. Mantyos worked at his forge as usual, sweat beaded over his body. Part of her had been reluctant to seduce an older man, but she had to admit that he looked good with the firelight glistening on his muscles.
As she walked toward him, she made no effort to hide her footsteps, but did put more swing into her hips. When Mantyos turned to look, she saw his eyes slide over her and linger just where she wanted. This wasn't hopeless after all. But in the end, he turned back to his work.
"If you're here for the children's weapons, they are not yet complete."
"I'm not here for those." Veron flowed to the other side of the anvil and stood with a hand on her hip. "Do you think you could forge a weapon for me?"
"There's a list, so you'd have to wait." Mantyos stopped hammering and looked up at her, eyes finally meeting hers. "What do you want, Veron?"
"I've traveled for a long time and your lands are too fucking cold. I want a warm bed... is that too much to ask?" She leaned forward to give him a better look and again saw his eyes move down before returning to hers. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.
"You know I'm a married man."
"Who never explored everything life had to offer." Veron reached out and slid a hand over the muscles of his side, coming to rest over his nipple. "Wouldn't you like to try something else for once?"
"No." Mantyos grinned at her, his voice abruptly as calm as if they discussed the weather. Veron's arm froze on his chest and she stared at him.
"Liar! I saw you ogling my tits!"
"You're the one fondling my breasts."
She yanked her hand back. "Men... men don't have breasts!"
"Then what were you fondling?"
Had it all been a lie from the beginning? She had been sure that she'd heard the desire in his voice, but now she saw only dancing amusement in his eyes. Apparently such trickery was not solely the domain of women. Mantyos set down his hammer and leaned on the top of the shaft, his gaze infuriatingly fatherly.
"Are you interested in sleeping with children, Veron?"
"What? No!"
"You can see the beauty of their youth, but you would never imagine such a thing. That beauty is meant to dance in the fields and gather flowers and trust in the world. You, my dear, are an attractive woman, but it has just as little to do with me. When I look at you, I see only the weight of all my years with Olondris. I know some men have fallen into seductions saying that they feel young again, but you make me feel unbelievably old."
Veron stared at him, then cursed and turned away. He'd disarmed her as effectively as his wife had earlier. Thoughts of assault or seduction left her, in fact she wanted nothing more than to slink out of Torgaadi and never return. She turned away to collect her armor and cloak.
"Besides," Mantyos said as he picked up his hammer and returned to work, "you didn't even want it."
She spun back. "And you know what I want?"
"Not with a certainty, but I assume that after failing to convince Olondris to train you, you thought that you could get to her through me. That was the wrong idea from the start. My wife asked you a question and whatever you said didn't satisfy her. If you want her help, you will need to find a better answer."
"Then she told you about me. Do the two of you talk about everything?"
"What else are we supposed to do together? Other than the obvious, of course." His eyes danced as he smiled at her, but for once Veron no longer felt pushed aside. She should have been furious with him, yet something about Mantyos was endlessly disarming.
Veron sighed and ran her fingers over her scalp. "I don't suppose you'll tell me the right answer to her question?"
"I don't know it, only you do. But spend the evening, have a good meal, and think it over. I suspect you'll find the answer if you stop playing so many games with yourself."
"Don't feed her anything." The door slammed as Olondris entered, eyes hard in a way that suggested she had been watching the entire time. "You are not welcome here."
"Don't spend the evening, then, but still have a good meal." Mantyos smiled at her, but it was nothing compared to the way he beamed at his wife. Veron thought that Olondris might be upset with him, but she merely went to stand at his side and wrapped an arm around his waist.
Fucking infuriating.
For the next several days, Veron refused to go anywhere near them. Instead she stole some money, bought a room at a good inn, and did her best not to think about them. She failed utterly. Her thoughts were entirely consumed by that question.
It was exactly the sort of thing she'd always hated. Only pretentious assholes sat about contemplating the deeper truths of themselves as if that would bring them more strength than simply focusing on power. You didn't need any inner understanding to cut a man's head off, it was just a matter of swinging fast enough at the right angle. There was no secret at the core of her soul, simply the desire to fight.
Yet she couldn't forget the question, and her own training only made it all feel even more futile. If she trained for a year she might be able to strike a little harder and faster, but that wouldn't matter. Not against the monsters she faced, or even against Olondris.
Somehow she ended up wandering outside the couple's house more than once, just seething at them and their happiness. They were probably fucking in there just to spite her. One day when Veron was about to go, Olondris emerged from the door, gray eyes watching her.
"Why do you want training?"
"It's still a stupid question." Veron spat into the small garden, realized that probably just helped the damn plants, and cursed under her breath. "The only reason anyone trains is that they want to be strong."
"That is not true." Olondris spoke in the same flat tone, yet her stance was no longer so stiff. "To be strong is an abstract ideal, and most of those who believe they are motivated by such ideals are deceiving themselves. I seek strength to defend those I love, a means to an end. Slaten's truthful answer would be that he does not know. Tani's answer would be that she believes strength makes her more truly herself."
"I seek strength because I want you and your husband to accept me into your bed."
Olondris sighed and turned away. "If you do not intend to answer sincerely, there is no purpose to your presence here."
"I don't have your damn answer! Yeah, I might not give a shit about attaining some perfect strength. But there's never been any greater purpose. I've always trained just to be stronger than other people."
"That... is one of the first honest things you've said to me." Olondris turned back to her, eyes still hard, but something new in them. "I will teach you no secret arts, but I will help you understand your flaws."
"Really?" Veron stood blinking for a few heartbeats. "But that answer wasn't different at all."
"You are wrong in that. 'To be stronger than others' is a different purpose than an ideal, and I believe it is one you will find is more true than you know."
Though Veron tried to think about it, she just didn't see it. If there was a secret buried in her answer, it was lost to her. "Now you're the one not being honest. You wanted nothing to do with me before, now you're willing to help?"
"Mantyos has more hope for you than I do. He believes that you only need a little guidance to better apply yourself to life."
"Dammit, old man!" Veron wrenched open the door to shout at him. "You've humiliated me enough, I don't need your pity!"
The smith waved cheerfully from his forge. "I only want what is best for you, my daughter. Perhaps after your training we can make a necklace of flowers and braid your hair."
Though Veron started to curse at him, Olondris grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her out of the house. All of it pissed Veron off except the fact that she'd somehow stumbled into what she actually wanted. Olondris wasn't throwing her out, but dragging her to their small training yard.
Part of Veron hated the pair, but she had to admit that they had something she needed. If she couldn't steal it, she'd have to play by their rules.
"Fine." Veron let her hands fall to her sides and dusted off a sincere look to give Olondris. "You said I'm unbalanced with many weaknesses. What are they?"
"If I spoke them all aloud, I would never begin my other work." Despite her mockery, Olondris stood across from her and watched with a serious gaze. "Your ability to use large amounts of sein at once is exemplary, but you are too reliant on it. Properly crafted techniques would make far better use of your strength. In particular, you are desperately in need a defensive art and a movement art."
"But you said you wouldn't teach me any, and I'm not going to learn those in a few days."
"Just so. The weakness that you can most easily correct is that your understanding of your sein is nearly random, stretching in all directions at once and understanding few. Though your rank suggests that you know your sein with four senses, I believe that the Wooden Judge is wrong in your case. I suspect that you have mastery of only two, with a weaker understanding of two others."
