I moved away from the scene of our fight and was joined by the rest of my finger.

“Whooo that was intense,” said Desrae.

“Damn right, but a walk-over. I don't think it will be quite as easy next time.”

“Don't be too sure. I have been watching just as closely as you and I think that we are a lot better than you realise.”

“Maybe. Let's see what happens. We have definitely lost the element of surprise though.”

“Not necessarily. I suspect that even the veteran finger leaders are a little surprised, and they have experience of the real thing. If we keep changing our tactics, I think we will keep them on edge. I also think that our speed is going to be very, very difficult for them to counter.”

“Agreed. I think we have just proven though that the use of shields could be an advantage. We couldn't have broken them as fast if they had been using shields, although if we have to fight a finger that is experienced in the meleé with the parry-dagger, then we might have more of a problem.”

“I think you are still underestimating how far we have come. Looks like there is some discussion going on...”

I looked over at Fist Ryon. He had walked off to the side and was involved in an animated conversation with hand Evans and Finger Roberts. The other Finger Leaders had also all congregated in a clump and I saw some arm-waving going on. I grinned at Desrae and the others. Finger Roberts had warned us that we were about to set the cat amongst the pigeons.

After about 10 minutes, Finger Roberts left the other two and walked over to us.

“Any pigeons left alive Finger?” I asked him with a smile.

“Not many!” he smiled back... “There was some discussion about what you guys did, and whether there was anything that you had done wrong, but mostly they were concerned about what would happen to anyone else that they sent up against you. They are going to consult the other finger leaders and find out if there are any of them that think that their fingers could stand up against you. If not, then they are going to set you against the veteran finger straight away. The whole concept of the competition is essentially scrapped.

“I had to face a few hard questions about what was up with you lot, but Hand Evans supported me. I suspect he is going to have some words with Fist Ryon about believing reports that are passed up through the chain of command. He was hanging around here expecting to see some fireworks. It turns out that he, at least, believed what I told him about you guys. The other hand Leaders have also been called so that they can watch you in your next battle.”

“Do you think we will have any trouble with the veteran finger?”

“No. I think that at the very worst, you will find the fight a little more even than your last one, but even then, I think that you have gone beyond what anyone has done before; at least after the first phase of training. Let's see how it pans out.”

We waited for a little while longer until I saw Fist Ryon turn away from Hand Evans and walk over to a bunch of guys sitting under a tree. I had them mapped on my mind-map, but I had paid no particular attention to them up to this point. When I noticed Fist Ryon speaking to them, I realised that they must be the veteran finger that we would have to fight. They were not any brighter on my mind-map than any of the other fingers, but when I focused on them, they seemed to be more intense somehow. As I watched them, both with my eyes and on my mind-map, I saw them get up and start to walk onto the parade-ground. As they started moving, the mind-map images of them seemed to blur slightly and for a moment I had trouble distinguishing the individual warriors. After a few seconds, I managed to compensate. I realised that what I had seen was a seasoned finger that had just gone into battle mode by entering the meditative state similar to what we did.

“[Here comes trouble guys,{image}]” I announced to the rest of my finger.

They all turned to look at the veteran finger, and I could feel them all adjusting their mind-maps in the same way that I had.

I moved back up into battle-mode myself and the rest of the finger followed shortly behind me.

“[Watch out for these guys,] “Finger Roberts warned us, “[they are very very good. The original idea was to put the fear of god into all of you by having the best fingers not only beaten but wiped out by the best fighting finger of the War Brothers Fight. We were supposed to let you build up a false sense of security and think that you were the best. Once you were all cocky, you were supposed to be taken down a peg or two by them. I suspect that Fist Ryon is personally embarrassed by the way that he ignored what he was told about you and has told this finger to really wipe you out.]

“[Don't worry. We are anything but cocky. I was just telling with Desrae that we have to be careful; that the next lot won't be such easy meat.]” I reassured him.

“[OK. Just as long as you know.]

Fist Ryon was standing in the centre of the parade-ground again. “[Join me.]” I heard in my head.

We started walking over to stand near him and as we moved I took the opportunity to evaluate these new opponents.

This new finger looked lean and hard. There were no bearded faces here. All the eyes were wary and very, very aware, and I was sure that we were being evaluated just as closely. Each of the warriors in the finger moved like a velvet coated steel spring; sort of casual movements, but you could see that they were prepared to snap instantly into action at any sign of provocation. I decided right then that the finger leaders we had had for training, including Finger Roberts, must have been away from battle for too long. They didn't compare to the warriors that I was facing now. They were standing grouped loosely in a square; almost as if there was one tasked with watching each corner. The finger leader, a tall ginger-haired woman, was standing outside the square next to Fist Ryon, and at her back was a flaxen-haired man of about my height.

I started giving instructions to my finger as we arrived, “[Desrae, the flaxen-haired guy is yours, I'll take the woman. The rest of you pick a corner each. Remember the variations that we have wargamed; I suspect that we will have to try the option that breaks the finger's unity so that we can defeat them in detail {image/schematic}.]”

“Knuckle Cy Peters, this is Finger Leader Lorraine Jeffry. She leads the veteran finger selected to fight the winners of the battle competition here today. After your win over the last finger, we decided to move directly to a battle between your two fingers. Are you prepared to do this?” Fist Ryon asked.

“Sure Fist.” I answered him. I then stuck out my hand “Nice to meet you Lorraine.”

“Likewise.” Lorraine answered looking slightly startled. She hadn't been expecting me to greet her. I could see that she was already completely focused and my greeting had thrown her slightly off stride. That was exactly what I was aiming for. Unless I was completely mistaken, Lorraine's finger was a very tight unit and they would fight that way. I thought that we would need to make every effort that we could to attempt to break that cohesion.