TVC II Supplemental Chapter 3.5: Sparring in Drakenhof

[Get of W'soran]

The large hall was a spacious area set aside for Dieter's Vampiric Warriors to train.
Aside from weapons arranged around the walls, the most of which where swords, there was nothing else aside from markings on the floor to outline the different sparring rings.

When Dieter and Shah reached the doorway there where two of the mortal Aspirants of Dieter's Guard.
The men saluted their Captain as the two Blood Dragons entered the hall.

There was half a dozen Immortal Guardsmen present sparring with each other.

Two of the Guards observed the others, one was the Elderly looking Kelrak who had dealt with Lukas earlier.
The other was a tall handsome blonde vampire called Wolfram Jens who was also a Sergeant in the Guard who was in charge of Simon's bodyguards.

"Captain." Jens said with a grin and a lazy salute "Long time no see."

Kelrak saluted quietly and the other men slowly stopped their training to line up and salute their Captain.

"Sergeants. Lord Shah's men shall be housed with our Aspirants so I want you to prepare quarters for them and ensure they have access to our training facilities. Please see to that and take your men, I want all available Guard's standing station outside the main hall in case the Triumvirate need you." he told them.

Kelrak saluted and ordered his men to follow before marching out.
Jens rolled his eyes slightly and with another sloppy salute followed the others out.

With the room now empty Dieter nodded.
"We can begin when you are read my Lord."

 

[Malochai]

RE: Chapter 2.8: Sparring in Drakenhof

Shah nodded at the Captain and took a relaxed position, arms held by his side but slightly angled, palms facing Dieter. "You need to stamp out the attitude on the young one," he offered politely, before grinning to himself. "And yet that's not what we're here ..."

Suddenly his demeanour changed, slightly lowered. He snarled, his mouth feeling like it was tearing apart as his fangs grew to their full length and his eyes became tinted with red. With speed probably beyond that of mortals, the vampire leapt forward, bringing his left Claw down in a slashing movement and then spinning to the right before it landed, tearing the unique weapon away from it's target and slashing low with his right, the momentum from his turn giving him extra force.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Dieter's features retained their mask of humanity except his eyes changed red as he tapped into the strength of the beast within.

Dieter took a fighter's stance, his legs bent slight and then raised his Greatsword into Ox Stance, weapon raised high with the tip pointed at Shah's chest.

The Blood Dragon remained in the high defensive stance ready as his opponent leapt forward.
At the last moment Shah spun changing his attack to a lower one.

He's quick! the Captain realized.

Dieter reacted swiftly, he dropped into Fool, a low stance, his Greatsword intercepting Shah's claw and with brutal strength he thrust forward, keeping the length of the Zweihander between the two warriors.

 

[Malochai]

The force of Dieter's blow made Shah spin around lest he risk breaking his fingers, but he turned the move to his advantage, using it to gain momentum for a strike, only to find that the Captain had moved back and kept the length of his blade between them. He scowled, trying to see past the obvious and look for a weakness in the vampire's guard. He thought he saw one, and feinted left, and then right, before aiming for his original target under Dieter's arm, but he found that his blow went wide as his sparring partner moved away.

'Damn but he can move,' he thought to himself, before being drawn back to his body when his body reflexively moved right and ducked beneath a blow aimed at his head. 'And he handles that blade as if it were a toy!' Even for a vampire, that was no mean feat. He took two steps back, giving himself a moment to breathe, and then sprung forwards, identifying a key, elemental weakness of the Zweihander and cursing himself for a fool for not capitalising on it earlier. Moving within the sweep of the sword, he closed further and stood a pace away from his opponent. Dieter moved backwards, and a flurry of exchanges passed, both moving to and fro. The world narrowed to a tunnel and the fight was all that mattered.

Lunge. Parry. Counter. Parry. Step. Step. Parry. Duck. Lunge. Feint. Counter. Step. Parry.

The Lion couldn't tell whether they had been fighting for a minute or a day, and it didn't matter.

Feint. Step. Parry. Duck. Lunge. Lunge. Step. Sweep. Step.

Suddenly he felt warmer than he had for an age, and found that he had managed to inadvertently cover his weapons and gauntlets with golden flames which flickered delicately. He stopped for a second to quench them; he knew the dangers of magical fire in training - he had borne scars from the, before. At the last second, he spun around and felt his cloak tear and the Zweihander scrape against the back of his armour.

Breathe. Lunge. Step. Parry. Duck. Lunge. Step. Feint. Sweep. Step. Parry.

With a grunt, Markus stopped an overhand blow from Dieter by crossing both sets of Claws above his head. A litany of curses passed his mouth as, simultaneously, a smile touched it. It had been too long since he'd had such a workout; the Castellans of Carrasville were at the oldest one hundred and fifty - they hadn't had the same time as Dieter to hone their skills or the time to focus on their blade work alone.

"You are skilled Dieter," he said whilst spinning out of the way of another strong blow which probably could have cut him in twain had it connected, and his armour not been as strong as it were. As it was, he would have been severely injured.

Step. Lunge. Feint. Parry. Sweep. Step. Feint. Feint. Parry. Step. Kick.

Despite the fact that many would consider it dishonourable, the Blood Dragon didn't see it that way. It was just another tool in his arsenal and whilst Dieter was momentarily distracted, Shah moved back five steps. He crouched slightly, power and tension building in his legs, and then exploded forwards, both Claws extended and ready to sweep in opposite directions. He powered forwards, quickly - very quickly - hoping to end the bout now. His pride was beginning to show. What had begun as a friendly workout between Brothers of the Blood had transformed into a fight for dominance in the Lord's mind. He kept his cool, looking calculatingly for ways to disadvantage the other Blood Dragon.

Use of Dieter for reactions, etc, was agreed between Get and myself via PM

 

[Get of W'soran]

Dieter's face was devoid of expression as the two Vampire's fought, he had always considered himself little more than a common soldier, granted an immortal one, so to find himself equally matched against this Great Lord of the Unliving was satisfactory.

However even as they danced around each other, slashing one way then cutting another he began to realize something.

"I am the more skilled."

It was not a prideful thought, it was simply Dieter had practiced much longer than Shah for unlike the other Blood Dragon he was not a ruler of men and a Master of Lands.

However whatever gap in skill may have existed was reduced to an almost negligible amount by the exotic quality of Shah's claws.

Dieter simply was not used to trading blows with such weapons.

The Captain noted with interest as Shah's claws became covered in flame and Dieter began gathering power for his own magic only for his opponent to dismiss his enchantments, as such Dieter dismissed any thought of spellcasting.

""You are skilled Dieter." Shah said.

Dieter was about to return the compliment when a sudden kick caught him in the stomach.

Hissing in pain Dieter pulled himself back, stepping away from his opponent.

Secretly however Dieter was very pleased with the manoeuvre from his opponent as it meant that Shah wasn't restricted with ridiculous notions of "Honourable" conduct during battle.

Dieter could tell Shah was gathering himself for an attack and so Dieter stepped forward swiftly, bringing his sword down in a powerful vertical cut putting all of his brute strength and honed skill behind it.

"He's faster! But I have range." he noted silently.

The blade flashed down just as Shah entered into range.

The blade sang and the claws hissed as they cut through the air.

"Captain!"

Dieter's blade halted inches from Shah as the Claw's stopped roughly the same distance from Dieter's chest.

Dieter stepped back lowering his blade and turned to see Kelrak standing at the doorway.

"Sergeant? What is it?" he asked giving a Salute.

Kelrak returned the salute and bowed to Shah.
"Captain the Princess's group is getting ready to leave. And Lord Shah I believe Rowhaine is gathering the Council members destined for the Wastes. You should both head out immediately."

Dieter nodded and turning back to his sparring partner he bowed deeply.

"Thank you my Lord for such an educational experience, I am glad I can now add such rare weaponry as the Claws to the number of weapons I can now safely defend against." he said earnestly for he was now convinced he could counter the strange weapons.

"I must hurry as it seems the Princess shall soon be departing. Sergeant Kelrak here shall see to Lukas and your men whilst we are away." he added.

With another deep bow Dieter turned and swiftly left lest he be late.