‘I’ve seen you ride that enormous beast of yours through the city enough times to recognise the horse and its rider.’Bloody Nightmare was a liability, it seemed.It hadn’t occurred to me that anyone other than Cillian would connect her to me.
‘Your secrets are safe with me,’ he whispered.
Secrets?
‘Thank you for saving my wife and daughter yesterday.’
I watched, dumbfounded, as he walked out of the arena.
I waited in the barracks for the other competitors to finish.Nightmare was drinking from a water trough, and someone had brought her hay to eat.
There was a commotion as the last sword fight finished.They carried a young soldier back through the doors who was covered in blood and missing an arm.He was rushed past and into the barracks, where a curly-haired healer waited.
I looked back to the arena door to see who had cut off his comrade’s limb.I was not surprised to see the ugly giant soldier who had tried to get me to take off my helmet.I felt even more disgust as he cheered and waved the dismembered limb like a trophy as he walked past us.
‘Hey!You forgot your arm!’he taunted as he threw it at the open barracks door.His laughter cut through the somber silence from the rest of us.
There were five of us left.The soldier known as the best swordsman had won his fight easily, not even breaking a sweat on his smooth forehead.Then there was the ugly giant and two soldiers I hadn’t taken notice of until now.
One was slightly older than the others, with a bushy red beard and a balding head.He certainly didn’t like the giant and was keeping his distance.The other soldier appeared to be the giant’s friend, as he was the only one willing to sit and listen to his blustering.
There was no pre-compiled list of numbers this time.Instead, a soldier drew numbers from a pouch.The man with the red beard and the ugly giant would fight each other first.
The ugly giant’s friend had his number drawn next.Either I or the expert swordsman would fight him.
The soldier pulled out number twelve.
The expert swordsman grinned – he would get through to the final three automatically.He sat on a bench and stretched out his legs while the rest of us waited by the door.
Ugly Giant won his fight, but thankfully, Red Beard kept all his limbs.They half-carried and half-dragged Red Beard to the barrack’s infirmary.
I was about to enter the arena when I heard Ugly Giant call out, ‘Take him out, cousin!’
His cousin?I looked at my opponent.Come to think of it, they both had that same dark, greasy hair and unpleasant leer.
I was instantly pleased by this discovery.I was going to enjoy making Ugly Giant’s cousin lose.
He was strong but slow, and his swordsmanship was lacking finesse.He swung repeatedly, and I easily manoeuvered away from him.As he became more winded, he started getting frustrated.
With a quick dodge of his clumsy sword, I drew my own upwards with all my strength and knocked his helmet clear off his head.
The crowd gasped as I hit him again with another powerful strike, driving him back.Before he could recover his balance, I flicked my blade, and his sword flew from his clumsy grasp on his way to the ground.He rolled onto his belly and tried to grab his lost weapon.
I could’ve pointed my sword at his back, and it would’ve been over, but I wasn’t in an amiable mood.I kicked his sword out of his reach and placed my foot on the back of his head, making him eat dirt.I waited until he tapped the ground furiously before I removed my foot.The crowd went wild, and I left him spitting dirt and gasping for air.
Ugly Giant jumped to his feet and grabbed his sword when he saw it was me and not his cousin returning to the barracks.Several soldiers rushed forward, ordering him to lower his sword.I felt his eyes follow me as I walked towards Nightmare.The sweat on my brow dripped and pooled beneath my helmet, yet I couldn’t risk opening the visor under such intense scrutiny.
Three of us remained, and I wanted nothing more than to have the honour of defeating Ugly Giant.But the skilled swordsman was going to decide the outcome.He reached into a bag that contained both our numbers.
He drew out mine.
‘You better win,’ the ugly giant growled at me.‘I want to show you what happens to people who mess with my family.’
The expert swordsman was more than worth the praise he had received from the other soldiers.He was fast like me, and his technique was flawless.I had the height advantage, forcing him to reach higher than was comfortable to block my blows.
Even so, he got past my defenses, and his sword came down on my arm.It was the first blow I had received, and it was a true testament to Cillian’s skill as a blacksmith when the sword bounced off my armour and I barely felt the strike.
I wasn’t so lucky the next time when I took a side hit to my hip.If I hadn’t been so tall, the blow would have landed on my armour-covered ribs.
