Chapter 155

He and Thorburn followed. Five of the lads died in the first minute, rushing at the women. As soon as those died, the other fifteen proceeded more cautiously. Ailene and Isobel retreated slowly and one by one, Thorburn's best fighters died. Isobel kicked a barrel in front of one and he tripped, Ailene stabbed him. They went through a gate between two fences and as soon as two started to follow, Isobel and Ailene did two quick lunges and two more were down. One tried hopping the fence instead of going between and he got a hard point to the chest. The others tried to circle the fence and Isobel went left to meet half of them. Ailene dispatched the one left at the gate and fell on the ones going after Isobel from the rear and they were decimated before they realized they were in a pincers, fighting on both sides. Five more went down. Only six left. They continued to retreat from the other six, staying within attacking range, but the ones remaining were very cautious now. They'd already lost sixteen of their brothers and the fight wasn't even five minutes old. The two women split up, going two different directions, Isobel leading them toward the corner obstacle, Ailene going a different direction. Ailene seemed to stumble and the three following her rushed in to take her out, only to get a faceful of sand and dirt in their faces. Before they could clear their eyes, they were dead. Isobel was holding off the three in her corner and while they were engaged with her, Ailene fell on them from behind, taking down two as Isobel took out the last one.

Isobel and Ailene heard Stuart and Teárlag yelling and screaming from the stand and turned to them and bowed. Suddenly the twenty men they'd killed started clapping as well, as embarrassed as they were. They had to appreciate the two women taking out all twenty without a single casualty.

"If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd not have believed it," Thorburn said. "Less than fifteen minutes and all are dead. They did worse than yours, Bjarkë."

"Only because mine are more accustomed to fighting on this field and know who and what they face. A couple days ago, we sent 26 boys against those two and 25 died before they were both dead. Doesn't matter if we send rapiers or claymores against him. I tried going after Ailene with an axe in there and got killed twice. She thanked me for not throwing my axe. You're welcome to try if you want."

"I'll take your word for it."

"The thing is, Ailene's the best tactical fighter I've ever seen. Put her against Frang in a normal training situation and she'll lose more often than she wins, about 40-60. Put her in this field and she wins about 90 to 10. Isobel is almost as good. They recognize where the terrain and obstacles give them an advantage, and where they don't. Every rock, stone, stick, fence, ditch and hill is something to be used or avoided. Ailene lost the first time she went in there against one of her better students, but someone she'd never lost to before. She hasn't lost easily since.

"She commonly wins against as many as ten opponents before succumbing to the numbers. Isobel's gone against seven and won. We thought that meant we could put eighteen lads out there to test them. It wasn't nearly enough. They seem to read each other's mind. Know exactly what the other's going to do and when. At the gate, when your boys split up, they didn't talk about it. Isobel went one way and you'd think Ailene would go the other to meet the other bunch, or that they'd keep retreating. Instead, Ailene takes out the one left at the gate and goes after the ones trailing after Isobel, and before they know what hit 'em, they're dead. Only six left. Then they split up, half your lads going after one, the other half after the other. Isobel leads her bunch to a place where they can't get behind her where she can hold her three off as long as possible. Ailene falls to the ground like she trips, grabs a handful of dirt, blinds her three so she can kill them quickly and reach Isobel before she can be killed. I'm not sure I can teach anyone to fight like that. Certainly not the ability to know what your partner's going to do without saying anything. If one goes high, the other goes low. If one goes right, the other goes left. If one retreats, the other advances, and it's always the right decision for the circumstances."

"If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it," Thorburn said. "Thirty five of our best fighters all taken out of the fight by our two women."

"It's not just here," Bjarkë added. "I see them looking over the ground every place they go, the house, the barn, the sheds. If you started a fight anywhere, the results might be the same. They've already figured out how to use it to their benefit. The only place they're at a disadvantage is our old training grounds. Flat, even ground and not a thing to use. It puts them on even footing with everyone else and they become ordinary. Still good, nearly Frang good, but ordinary. Cyrus McTeague says they fight to die. They don't want to be captured, so they fight until they win or die. There can be no surrender."

Thorburn nodded. "Do you think we should all take up the new weapons, Bjarkë. They've certainly proven their worth in a fight."

"They have their place, Thorburn, but something else Cyrus said. He's fought with the claymore and he's learning the rapier. He said in a large fixed battle, armies on both sides, what would frighten you more; a charge by a bunch of men holding rapiers, or one with men holding claymores and axes?"

Thorburn chuckled. "I see his point. The fear would be more for axes and heavy swords."

"As a heavy weapon, one swing of the claymore might take down two or three men. The rapier is designed to use the point, which unless you've got people in a nice tidy row, is only going to take down one at a time. Good for hallways, smaller rooms, doorways, places where only one or two can come at you at once and swinging a weapon isn't practical. I agree with him. Let those training with one now, keep using the one they're used to. The footwork is all different between the two and he's having to relearn how to move his feet. Those that have started on the rapier, keep using it. Don't make them change just because they get older and stronger and can now handle the big sword. They'd become less effective switching. He guesses guns will eventually replace swords anyway as they become better."

"Sounds like I should pick the brain of Cyrus, like you have."

"He's a canny man. I find his advice to be sound."

"Come on, let me congratulate our two women."

Thorburn walked up to Isobel and Ailene and smiled widely at both. "Lasses, you put all our work to shame. Do you think you can teach our men to fight as you do?"

Ailene looked at Isobel and she shrugged. "Parts of it certainly," Ailene said. "How we look at the terrain and determine whether it helps or hinders and how to use it. I'm not sure we can teach how well we work together. That's more instinctive. I just seem to know what Isobel's going to do and how I can use it, just as she knows what I'm going to do. It's more than a look, maybe recognition of what I'd do in the same situation and knowing she saw the same thing I did. I don't work that well with anyone else. It's not the same. I don't know if it's because we're both women or I know her and her mind so well."

"I agree," Isobel said. "I'm not sure I like to give up all my secrets because it feels so good knowing we can take out thirty-five lads without getting killed, but I know if they get better, we all benefit. But I'll be sad when it only takes two or three to kill me."