[Chapter 6 continued]
Cara and Elisa exchanged meaningful glances.
The pirate commander shifted into a very low stance, his sword held almost at the height of his knees, the point shifting between Cara and Elisa. Time froze.
Cara was still focusing on Elisa, trying to gauge what she would do next, while keeping a suspicious side-eye on commander von Brecksbach.
Elisa on the other hand was fully focusing on their new target, her stance shifting ever so slightly. The only sign for Cara suggesting that Elisa was actively aware of her, was Elisa pointing with her lips towards the pirate commander.
The pirate rushed forward. Cara took a few steps back; she had not expected this kind of speed from someone in such a low stance. His long, fast steps evaporated the space between him and Elisa who was bracing for the attack using the point of her sword-spear as her shield, promising her nearing opponent a quick death if he didn’t stop.
Commander von Brecksbach didn’t stop, only holding on to his black long-sword with his left hand at its pommel and he struck a long slash against Elisa’s spear.
The weapons clashed at each other. The pirate´s strange strike extending his reach significantly, crashing with force against Elisa’s weapon pushing it aside.
‘The wide open wing!’, Cara thought here eyes going wide. She was surprised that such an unstable attack could be used in real combat. What the attack lacked in control and raw power it made up with reach and speed. It was enough to push the point of Elisa’s weapon away from the pirate’s line of attack. ‘I need to try that too!’, Cara thought before remembering that she was in the middle of combat. Admiring the enemie´s strange style was not the main priority right now.
It was almost too late when the present came back in focus. Having struck, von Brecksbach did not follow up his attack. Instead, he forcibly drew back his sword with his whole back; coiling back into a low stance again. As he reached the low point of his stance, he let his sword, now securely in both of his hands again, fly back past his shoulders. Again following up this move with his whole body, he flew towards Cara, closing the gap between them with a leap of a step. Rising up like a wave in front of Cara his sword high above his head, crashing down on her from above.
Cara had hardly any time to react, pulling Jeanne D’Arc up, catching the attack in the cross guard and strong of her sword. But such was the impact of the strike, that it pushed her down, her enemie´s blade rushing past her defences coming far too close to her head. She stumbled back half a step, catching herself and turning slightly to the side, so that what power was still coming from the attack would go into the ground instead of her face.
The attack that had crashed into her was fading, its power sliding past Cara’s sword. With the ebbing threat she could switch to a more secure stance, guarding her hands against a stab, the point of her sword seeking her opponents face.
The stab that Cara was expecting never came. The pirate commander´s sword had somehow returned in a circular motion, back up high over the pirates shoulders. Cara had no idea how he had done that. What she knew was that, much earlier than anticipated, a new attack was coming from the same side from high above, her enemies blade somehow washing over her own defences.
While she was starting to panic again, she remembered the advice Natalie had given her. ‘You are smaller than most fencers. Which is bad as long as your enemy is far away from you. It may not feel that way. But when someone larger than you attacks you, push back under the cover of your sword.’
Which Cara did, moving into the attack, wiping it away with her sword, she passed under her opponent´s attack, lifting her pommel towards his face as she emerged behind the pirate’s defence.
Von Brecksbach shoved Cara’s hands away. Now she stood wide open. Time slowed down as she tried to push herself out of it and pull her sword back into the way of the incoming attack. It would be too late.
However, the pirate jumped back before he could strike, a flash of steel appearing in the spot he had just been standing. Elisa’s counterattack.
Elisa opened up a large space between Cara and the pirate. It gave Cara enough time to reposition herself, while Elisa moved into the open space pressuring Commander von Brecksbach back.
Von Brecksbach on the other hand kept pushing bac,k staying close to Elisa, denying her the advantage of her longer weapon. Trying to get close enough to her to get a kick or a punch in.
Cara, now free again, tried to manoeuvre around the pirate commander. But he was moving so fast that she never got quite into the position she was hoping for. Instead a weapon or Elisa were standing in the way or the flow of combat was such that she couldn’t risk pushing into it without having to worry about hitting Elisa.
‘Backstabbing sure is harder than it looks’, Cara thought still trying to find an opening.
“Move back”, a strained Elisa told her. “You’re in the way”, she exchanged a few more strikes with von Brecksbach.
“I want to help”, Cara said still trying to find an opening in the melee in front of her where she could thrust a helping point into.
“Nnnnggg”, Elisa said, blocking an attacking over head strike and shoving the pirate commander away. “Go back, wait for your turn”, she added as she stabbed her way after the stumbling pirate.
“Oh, well done!”, Commander von Brecksbach said to Elisa, tipping his hat. With a little backward flourish, he took of his hat trowing it forward towards Elisa. She swatted it away easily with her sword-staff. This was enough time for the pirate to push forward again, his sword smashing into Elisa’s staff, pushing her off balance, following it up with quick succession of stabs. Elisa was pushed backward, blocking every attack but having trouble to counter them.
The pirate was still too far away for Cara to attack and she knew that if she closed in on him he would just shift away again using Elisa as his living shield. So Cara got creative. ‘All I have go do is break his initiative…”, she thought. She started with an arching back-swing high over her head and throwing her sword at the pirate. The sword flew hilt over point towards the commander von Brecksbach, hitting him in the arm.
“Ow!”, the pirate exclaimed as Cara’s sword clattered to the floor. He glanced over at Cara, cracks in his showmanship appearing all over his demeanour. While the strike had mostly wounded his pride, it had destroyed his timing.
Elisa charged into this gap, shoving away her attacker´s sword with the upper part of her sword-staff, while pulling up the lower part of it moving forwards.
Von Brecksbach reacted immediately, pulling his head away just in time. Elisa missing the tip of his nose by a hair´s breadth. She kept on pushing though burying the metal cap of her staff in the commander´s chest. Pushing forward.
As a wheezing von Brecksbach and the snarling Elisa moved past her, Cara ran forward to get her sword back. When she bent down to get her sword a quarrel struck the floor next to her.
“Hey! No snipers!”, she shouted.
“Only if you are near the commander!”, a voice laughed from a higher deck behind her.
‘Thanks for the tip’, Cara thought rushing after the Elisa vs commander Brecksbach escalation.
By now the two had fought each other to a standstill again. The pirate commander stood in a middle guard, just waiting for Elisa to attack. While Elisa on her side was lurking in a high guard, the point of her weapon aimed at the pirates throat, daring him to take a single move forward.
The pirate commander still looked kind of angry, when he noticed Cara. As he did he beamed at her, waving his sword a little bit in greeting, while never losing his focus on Elisa.
“I am so glad that you could join us again, sweety. I think for you I have to show you my true power.”
Cara looked over to Elisa, who was fighting the parts of her face maintaining her neutral expression from falling off.
“Stay back little ingot”, she said moving slightly to block the pirate´s way towards Cara.
“No, come closer, we still need to finish our duel”, he said.
“Come and gather my brother swordlings!”, Commander von Brecksbach shouted, blocking the attack from Elisa, who had enough of his theatrics.
“Elisa!”, Cara shouted, “more enemies!”, pointing her sword to a group of three pirates who were now jumping down onto the deck. They landed right of Elisa and started charging her the moment their feet touched the ground. Von Brecksbach attacked Elisa again, forcing her to protect her left, pushing her towards the new attackers while opening the way towards Cara.
Elisa cursed. “I’m going to take care of the three lead swords over there. Keep their boss busy for a moment.”
“No problem”, Cara said.
“Be careful”, Elisa said, disengaging from the commander, who let her go with a grin and a wave. Elisa moved her hands closer to the lower end of her staff, to maximise her reach with her weapon. Before she moved towards her three new enemies, she said to Cara, “Don’t underestimate the pirate’s Mayer style. He will overwhelm you especially with a black sword.”
Pirate Commander von Brecksbach now moved openly towards Cara. Slow and steady without a care in the world. “Three strikes and you are back to being cargo”, he said.
“No, thank you”, said Cara, deciding that she really had to work on her snappy combat dialogue.
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