The last piece of her armour chest plate was tightened with a firm tug at the leather straps. “Do you feel ready for this Mariel?”

“Sure… I’ll be using what you’ve taught me.”

His eyes darkened momentarily while he made a cursory inspection of her gear. “I don’t know what they’ve been doing, but keep your eyes open…”

“I’ll do my best, and keep it in mind… So, what do I need to know?”

“Any strike you land will be judged and given an amount of points, first to ten wins. The weapons aren’t deadly sharp, but I’d watch the throat and eyes, it could potentially kill you… If you can lock his movement, and set your sword against a critical area like the heart or throat, you’ll win.”

She nodded and gave him one last reassuring smile before stepping into the ring. The floor was covered in a light amount of sand, and the arena itself was domed with glass. A loud clanking noise, and the door behind her slammed shut just as the opposite door opened, and Winqas entered the arena opposite her. Waiting in the middle was the apparent judge, from his clothes he appeared to be an official.

“Welcome warriors… You’ve agreed to this duel. Before we start, I’ll remind you that the goal here is not to kill or maim, but to win. Any moment when your opponent is unable to continue the fight will count as a victory… At the ready… Fight!”

As soon as the t left the judge’s mouth, Winqas let out a ferocious roar and charged directly for her. He too carried the usual sword and small buckler, and she immediately braced to avoid his attack. By a sidestep, and catching his chop with her buckler at an angle, she deflected his blow and sent his sword crashing into the sand. His recovery was immediate as he blocked her retaliation with his own buckler before landing a rough kick at her hip sending her staggering back.

On the sidelines, behind the glass, Siravin, Casindire, Saya and Tizare had gathered to watch her duel. They watched on in relative silence, only broken by Saya relating to Casindire what was going on.

“She’s going for him again and… Missed, but she avoided his sweep for her leg by jumping away… But he caught her off-balance!”

“I’m so glad I’m blind… I couldn’t bear to watch it if it’s as bad as you say it is!”

“Don’t worry Cassy… It’s Mariel, she won’t lose… Saya put her hands gently on Casindire’s shoulders while her face to everyone else present, told of a more pious approach to her determination.

Tizare kept a close eye on the opponent as he whirled around, exchanging blows and parries with Mariel. After making sure he was not being fooled by his eyes, he turned his head towards Siravin. “Do you see what I see?”

“I do.” Siravin nodded slowly.

Inside the ring, Mariel’s breath had become a little ragged. She sent another sweep with her sword, and landed a hit on Winqas’s left shoulder guard. The judge raised his hand and shouted. “Two points!” Before she could react, his shield impacted with her chest, sending her staggering back.

“One point!”

As she recovered her posture, groaning from the pain, she noticed something was up with him. His eyes were bloodshot behind the helmet, and his muscles appeared to be throbbing. With another savage roar, he threw himself at her, his sword a barely visible within the flurry of blows. He began hacking away at her buckler with a hitherto unprecedented savagery. With a rough crack, the shield splintered and fell away, but not before a splinter of wood made in through her leather jerkin. Though it was just the size of a middle digit, she felt pain, and a small trickle of blood soon appeared around the wound close to her elbow.

Two points!”

Winqas did not let up and immediately made a swing for her neck. At the nick of time she turned her body away, and backed up quickly, putting some distance between them. In the corner of her eye, she could see her friends behind the glass. Wherever she looked, their faces bore doubts and concern save for Tizare and Siravin’s faces, whom upon making eye contact with her, began to gesticulate. Quickly, she moved farther away, just in time to avoid a thrust that she felt certain would have gone right through her abdomen. Though he kept pace, she managed to make out small glimpses of information, before the relentless onslaught reeled her attention back in again. In pain and starting to feel fatigue taking hold, she began to parry more and dodge less as the pain from the splinter did a number on her senses. No matter how much he swung, roared and missed nothing appeared to faze Winqas in the slightest as he kept up his relentless assault. In the flurry, she saw no opening to use her secret weapons, let alone how she would manage to win the competition. A thought crossed her mind to surrender, but the sheer power of her opponent’s intent told her she might not actually live beyond giving up.

With a savage blow, Winqas struck, but as she raised her sword in the parry she also had to contend with his fist which was aimed for her face. She avoided the fist just barely, but a split second later, she felt the full force of the edge of his buckler slam into her shoulder and the side of her neck. She stumbled and her parry failed, the sword came down, and though it failed to go through her armour it did give her another solid knock on her already bruised shoulder.

“Four points!”

She landed in the sand groaning in pain and shock, a moment later she saw the sword’s edge a mere blink from her chest.

“Victory!”

The edge of the blade made contact and began to pressure her armour. The pressure increased steadily.

“The fight is over, retract your weapon!”

She felt certain the blade might sink into her chest, she knocked it aside with the last of her effort, and though painful, she raised her arm in one last effort to end the battle. Using the remainder of her spent breath, she blew into the small pipes attached under her arm. The needles loosed and though most of them bounced or stuck themselves harmlessly in the leather collar, one got through to Winqas’s neck. A split second followed, and then he began to lurch to one side. With a loud crash, his body’s weight got through the layer of sand and down to the wood below.

“Stop fighting!” The judge hurried over.

At that moment, Charne rushed into the arena followed closely by Commander Rantrink and some aides, bearing the silver crests of doctors.

“What did you do?” Rantrink was first to ask.

“He tried to force his sword through my chest after I lost!” She complained as the doctors began to examine the wooden splinter and remove her armour. After a cursory examination, the doctor asked her to bite on a twined cloth, and with a deft, jerk, pulled the splinter out to a muffled scream. Immediately, another doctor emptied the content of a small clay pot directly into the wound and before anything could come back out, sealed it with a double layer of bandages.

“Sir, your apprentice appears to be asleep… We found these needles on him.”

“What are those?”

Before anyone could give an answer, Daristan and Saryssa entered the arena past a couple of guards whose feeble attempts at pause were brusquely pushed aside.

“That’s my special cocktail… It’s a powerful sleeping agent, used for horses… Scaled down to roughly human amounts… Your little drug addict will be asleep until evening at least.”

“Wha…”

“My dear captain or whatever rank you are… I’m surprised you don’t recognize the signs of Vantris fungus… Or should I say… Forlorn hope?”

The commander fell silent. Passing his glance between Saryssa and his fallen apprentice. He knelt next to his charge, and after an inspection of his eyes, mouth and ears he grimly up righted himself and shook his head.

“I can tell… I admit I had high hopes for him, despite his problems… My apprentice has cheated… And thus, his victory is forfeit… It is a draw.”

“Huh!?”

“After all, the young lady also broke the rules by bringing in an extra set of weapons, though they were not used until after the match, that is still a violation… I will not punish you however, seeing as they were used for self-defence... Charne, do you accept this decision?”

All eyes turned to him as he clearly considered the question in his mind. After some churning, he shook his head.

“No sir! I believe that they both brought illegal items into the fight, but my apprentice did not employ these tactics until after the match was over, and in a way also fought with the handicap of bringing them along! She fought bravely, and have been very diligent in her training!”

“Indeed?” Rantrink nodded thoughtfully before turning to Mariel who was in the process of being hoisted up on a stretcher. “And what do you think about Charne’s instructions?”

“To be fair… He ran me ragged, pushed me to my limit in everything and expected a whole lot although he never said so… He’s a monster… But I asked for the full package.”

A short silence was broken by a collective roar of laughter. Even Charne could not help but laugh a bit, though his face was red.

“I see. Charne, report to my office later… Meanwhile, take these two away for treatment… Ah, and keep them separate, I’d like to have a word with them both a little later.”