Author's note: This fantasy story contains very little sex, and the sex it does have is more romance than erotica.
There is no sex in this chapter, but there are some mildly sexual elements.
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"The thing to remember about demons," Tyna (the name Rune picked for herself after losing her memory) intoned to the group of men, "is that they are stronger, faster, and more aggressive than you are."
They stood in the common area of the village, the area the folk used for combat training, with chickens cluck-clucking around them, as well as the 'baaah' of goats. Not a few of the villagers were watching, too, interested to see what a shieldmaiden had to teach their fighting men.
Tyna might not remember that she was a Valkyrie. Now, everyone just assumed she was a shieldmaiden, including her.
But she'd not forgotten a thing about demon-fighting that she'd learned while fighting with the other Valkyries.
"Just hacking away at it will NOT work for you."
The men nodded as she spoke. That was good. She'd worried this speech would not go well with a bunch of tough warriors. But this group had experience with demon-fighting. They knew.
"Fear not, I have good news. You can beat a demon if you use your head as well as your skill. A demon will always think it is better than you are, and it will be overconfident. This is the nature of the demon. It cannot help itself."
This drew soft laughs and agreement from the men. Tyna smiled and went on, pacing slowly back and forth in front of them.
"When you engage a demon, let it think it has the advantage, and wait for an opening to strike. The longer the demon must fight you, the more frustrated it will get. Its overconfident impatience is what will expose its weakness to you."
As she moved in front of them, Tyna surreptitiously took the measure of each of the 12 men standing nearby. When she was ready, she stopped pacing.
"You," she said, pointing to the biggest, strongest-looking man in the group. "What is your name?"
"I am Hans, my Lady," he replied politely.
"Come and spar with me, Hans."
Hans looked embarrassed. "My Lady, I don't mean to insult you, but... " He paused as if considering how to say what was on his mind. "...I don't fight women. Even a shieldmaiden. I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you."
Tyna smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Hans, I promise you won't hurt me."
"My Lady, I beg your pardon. You're literally half my size." Hans had been brought up his whole life to protect women, not fight them. Tyna noted many of the other men nodding at his words. Most of them felt the same way. They barely had shieldmaidens in Bollurgard at all.
"Yes, I am half your size. Are you not much smaller than the demons you've already fought?"
This response brought a grudging, general murmur of agreement from the men. The girl was right, and they knew it.
Finally, Hans came out, looking nervous, but ready. "Very well, my Lady."
"I want you to attack me the way you imagine a demon would do it," she instructed as she got ready to spar. "Don't hold back, please."
The man nodded, and then lunged at her, bringing his wooden training blade down on hers with a mighty crash and followed that up with furious attacks meant to overwhelm his smaller opponent. It was a pretty good approximation of the average demon attack: all fury, aggression, and hate!
"Good," Tyna called out as she gave way slowly before the warrior, getting a feel for his style and ability, such as it was when he was playing this role.
After letting Hans attack her for a couple of minutes, the young woman turned the tables and went on the attack, upping her fury and aggression to match his own. The clacking of their wooden blades increased in sound and rapidity as the two circled each other, having at it.
But as time went on, Tyna seemed to tire, her strength flagging and her attacks slowing. The man's superior size and power seemed to be taking their toll on her, and the group of spectators watched closely. Could it be that their fighting trainer had bitten off more than she could chew, right from the start?
The big warrior seemed to sense her weakness, and he closed in intuitively, pressing his advantage and elevating his fury as he tried to complete the win. In the heat of combat, his concern for his smaller, female opponent was finally gone. He'd seen she was skilled with a blade, and now he wanted to WIN.
As he lunged at Tyna, she appeared done, her energy spent holding off the bigger, stronger male opponent. All the other men leaned forward in anticipation of the end of this match.
Nevertheless, when the end came, they were completely surprised. Suddenly she'd turned his blade aside neatly, stepped smoothly inside his defensive reach, and had her blade at his throat in a moment.
The match had gone from looking hopeless for her to over in a matter of two seconds.
"Now, in a real fight, I'd probably have cut his arm off. Since demons fight normally with talons, one less arm is a big loss for it, and a big plus for you," she said, seeming barely winded as her opponent was fighting to catch his breath. "But I think you understand what I did."
The men murmured in response, some appreciatively, others not as much.
"Good fight, Hans," she told the man as he walked back to the group.
"You tricked him," one of the other men said, seeming not to appreciate the value of the tactic as he shook his head. "That might work once or twice, but won't the demons catch on and change their approach?"
"It won't catch on if it's dead," Tyna responded. "Also, the more you hurt a demon, the more enraged it gets. It is their nature. I don't think they can help it. YOU might adapt because the Gods gave you a mind to think and plan and reason. The average demon cannot."
"You can't know that for sure, shieldmaiden," the man persisted with a scowl on his face.
"You are the strongest warriors in your kingdom. You're used to overwhelming your opponent, but this is your biggest weakness when fighting the demons. You can't just beat them down. You need to use the advantages you have," the Valkyrie replied, trying to make the man see reason. Being in the right didn't hurt her case, and she spoke with passion and persuasion.
"I'm not convinced, girl," the man told her, scoffing. "I see no value in this training, 'my Lady.'" And he pronounced, "my Lady" in a mocking tone.
Some of the other men seemed to agree, and they even seemed like they might disperse.
Tyna just smiled at them, and then she focused on the group's spokesman. "Come and fight me then. I'll play the infernal beast, and you show us all how it should be done. It should be easy for you since I have neither the size nor the strength of an actual demon."
"I don't fight women, shieldmaiden," he said derisively.
