Crystal Throne (Book 1) (20 page)

CHAPTER XXII

With his sword and armor finished there was little for Thad to do but fight and train. The little enchanting he worked on wasn’t even enough to allow a break in the tedium. The only real thing he had to look forward to was the moments he got to spend with his friend Jarrod, and those had been fleeting since he moved up past rank four.

Moving from rank four to rank five took even longer as he was allowed only one fight every twenty days, and because there were fewer fighter in the higher rank, he had to wait until one of them wanted to fight; each had forty days before they were forced into a battle and most of them waited until the last moment, preferring to enjoy their time in the higher ranks. Thad still kept his sword in its sheath, though he really wanted to try out his new blade. The only time the blade had seen action was when he and Jarrod reserved a private sparing room and practiced. So far, the blade didn’t show any power that Thad could see, but he knew that many magical weapons made in the dwarven fashion only worked when they wanted to and how they wanted to, unlike when he decided the enchantments himself, such as he did with his armor.

The last sword he had made in the dwarven fashion had used energy to strike at foes. It didn’t work through thought or action and sometimes he wished it didn’t. That was one of the downsides to the weapons; they had minds of their own though not as clear as the mind that Thuraman had. At least with the staff, he could talk to it and get it to do what he wanted most of the time.

Other than fighting, Thad spent his time wandering the city. He had found a small out of the way diner that had the best meat dishes he had eaten in a long time and found himself spending a lot of time there. They had a young daughter near marrying age who would talk to him whenever he visited. At first, Thad thought she had grown sweet on him, but he quickly learned that she just enjoyed watching the battles and enjoyed talking about them.

After their daughter took an interest in him, the owners also started coming around to talk to him and to make sure that he got double portions of whatever he ordered without paying a mark more for it. It was one such day that Thad found himself at now. He had just won his fifth fight in the arena and was hoping to have his rank battle soon, and had come to celebrate his achievement along with Jarrod, who had yet to take up his offer to eat here with him.

Shortly after they had started their meal, a ruckus started from the other side of the small diner. Turning around, Thad saw a large man wearing a two handed sword strapped to his back. Thad had paid close attention to the fighters he had come across in the training area and was sure he knew most, if not all, the rank four and five fighters who were allowed the privilege to carry their weapons with them. “Do you know who that is?” Thad asked Jarrod.

“That’s Galavez,” Jarrod said with a deep frown. “He is a champion, though it has been years since he has fought in anything. Most the time he just walks around bullying the townsfolk. He has more gold than nearly anyone, but he refuses to pay for anything.”

“You dare ask me to pay to eat at this pigsty,” Galavez’s voice said, almost to accent Jarrod’s point. “I should be asking you for compensation for insulting my pallet with food that I wouldn’t feed a beggar child for fear of poisoning him.”

“Don’t,” Jarrod said, grabbing Thad’s arm as he began to stand.

Thad pulled his arm back. “I won’t just stand by why this man acts like this,” Thad said, anger clear in his voice. Thad had known men like this before and until someone showed them they wouldn’t be allowed to get away with whatever they wished, they would continue to push others around. Thad wasn’t a rank five fighter so he didn’t have the right of challenge against a champion yet, but he cared little. If the man wanted to continue this action, Thad would cut him down in the street and curse the consequences.

Thad walked over to where the man was making his fuss to the very sternly looking Seria, who owed the diner with her husband Maerius. “Is there a problem Seria?” Thad asked, walking up beside the sturdy woman.

“Nothing I can’t handle master Thad,” she said in a huff, though she didn’t make a move or ask him to leave.

“Who is this?” Galavez asked, looking at Thad as if he were an urchin. Unlike the other man, Thad didn’t carry his sword around with him unless he was going to the arena to fight. It wasn’t that he didn’t like having his sword on him, but he found that when he carried it people tended to move carefully around him and he didn’t like the feel of the eyes that lingered on him. “I would suggest that you pay me for my time and leave before I cut you down.”

“You couldn’t cut down a tree with an axe,” Thad replied tauntingly.

“That is it,” The man said, his hand reaching back for his sword. “I challenge you, as is my right. You will follow me now to the arena and if you refuse, I will burn this place to the ground and kill any who try to flee.”

“Lead the way,” Thad said as Jarrod rushed up to him. “I need to retrieve my sword, but you can be assure that I will arrive at the arena within the hour,” Thad said, after remembering that his sword rested in his house.

“Go get your rusted blade, but I won’t wait for you,” the man said with disdain. “If you don’t show, I will return and I will slaughter everyone who is in that hellhole that you called a diner.”

Thad rushed off knowing that the man was well within his rights to do just that if his challenge was refused. Though there was a bright side, if he won, he would take the place of Galavez within the Champions. He felt bad that he had used Seria for his own purposes, but he didn’t want to wait any longer to move up in the ranks.

It didn’t take him long to reach the house at a full run. After pulling on his armor and belting on his sword, Thad rushed out before anyone could ask anything about what he was about. Once outside, he slowed a bit, not wanting to tire himself before the fight, but he still kept up a steady pace knowing that thanks to his link with Thuraman, his depleted energy reserves could be restored it needed.

As he neared the arena, he noticed people running about yelling about the coming fight. It would seem that Jarrod had made sure the organizers knew that it was Thad who was fighting against Galavez and people were eager to see the battle.

Thad found his friend waiting for him at the fighter’s entrance. “I hope you can win because Galavez has declared this a fight to the death,” Jarrod said frowning.

“I will,” Thad said with determination, though he wasn’t happy about the news. So far he had moved through his matches without having to kill or seriously injuring anyone.

Jarrod held Thad’s staff out to him and sighed. “My wife will kill me if you die today,” He said with a weak smile. “She has come to enjoy your fights and has won a nice sum betting on you.”

“I didn’t think she was the kind to bet,” Thad said, taken aback.

“She is not the kind to gamble, she bets on her favorites whether she thinks they will win or not,” he said shaking his head. “Luckily she never bets above a silver mark, otherwise we would have been broke years ago.”

“What are the odds running right now?” Thad asked, hoping it would give him a hint of what kind of fight he was going to be facing.

“Nine to one against you,” Jarrod said with a weak smile. “I think their fools, but it could be worse. You are jumping up two ranks from most people’s point of view.”

“Go bet this on me,” Thad said, digging into his pouch and pulling out twelve gold marks.

“Are you sure?” Jarrod asked looking down at the large sum now weighing down his hand.

“If I lose, it’s not as if I will need the coins,” Thad said with a nervous laugh.

“True enough,” Jarrod said, patting Thad on the back before leaving him to wait on his own.

After his friend left, Thad paced back and forth nervously as he waited for the door to open. He didn’t have to wait long as he heard the loud voice announcer even from where he waited, announcing the coming battle. Shortly after the crowd died down, the door opened and Thad steeped through to see his counterpart standing on the opposite side of the arena field.

Galavez stood, sword already in hand, his eyes locked onto Thad showing nothing but contempt. It had been a long time since Thad had seen such adulterated hatred in someone’s eyes focused on him. No having one thought or another about the other man, Thad simply smiled as he let his hand slip down to the hilt of his sword. His last few fights had been hard and more than once Thad had thought about using his sword, but so far he had won without it. He didn’t think this time would be the same and not going after the man with his full effort might be the death of him. He might not like the man, but no one made it to the rank of champion and kept it without a great deal of fighting skill.

Using his thumb, Thad pushed up slightly on the swords guard, bringing the sword an inch out of the sheath. Most swords could be easily drawn from their scabbards, but the curve in Thad’s sword was greater right before the point and sometimes caused it to hang when being pulled free. Now with the tip freed, Thad wrapped his hand around the hilt and pulled the sword in one swift movement. Galavez advanced as the ring of the sword leaving the scabbard filled the air.

The fight was joined as soon as the two men met in the center of the field. There was none of the usual packing and measuring. This was not one of enjoyable matches of skill he had so far; this was a battle, and it was a battle to the death.

Thad brought up the staff and the force of Galavez’s blow from the two handed sword sliced through the head of the staff as cleanly as a knife through fruit. Seeing the power of the sword, Thad danced out of its reach and took stock of the blade once again. It wasn’t hard to find what he was looking for. The sword was enchanted, though without being able to touch it and explore it Thad had no way to know to what measure and effect it had been enchanted. If it had been enchanted like his own sword, even that would yield little. In the end, it mattered little, it was enchanted and that meant that it was a danger.

Thad tossed his staff to the ground. With a foot cut from the top of the staff it had become useless… worse than useless, it had become a liability. With the staff discarded, Thad took an offensive stance with both hands on the long hilt of his sword and then moved in to attack.

Thad kept his movements simple. He had been taught long ago how to move to the best effect with the simplest effort. There were ten positions one could take and to move from one to the next only took the slightest of movements and pivots. The first position was the deadliest, as it was directly in front of the opponent. The second was slightly to the right and the third was slightly to the left. All the positions had a use, but if you could ever get to the ninth position then you have the best chance to win, as that was right behind the person you were fighting.

Just as he had been taught, Thad attacked not with his sword, but his leg, kicking at the other warriors exposed left shin. The kicks held no real power, but served their purpose of drawing the other man’s attention from his upper body.

As Thad expected, after the fourth kick, Galavez struck out with his sword and Thad pivoted on his left foot, which was situated behind him, and moved into the second position and struck a glancing blow on the other man’s side. The wound wasn’t deep, but Thad didn’t let that bother him; the man’s armor, though thin looking, was enchanted to be strong enough to turn most, though not all, of his strike aside.

Galavez was a talented fighter and didn’t put too much strength in his first blow to overbalance himself and quickly adjusted but when he moved he found that once again, Thad had moved. Again and again, Thad anticipated the other man’s movements and struck scoring hit after hit though, none of them were deep enough to cause lasting damage. Though not deep, the wounds Thad inflicted made Galavez mad and the man moved with more predictability.

Had the man kept a cool head, he might have stood a good chance against Thad. His armor was strong and his sword sharp and Thad was starting to think that was the whole of his ability. That was until he moved into the ninth position and went to make a finishing blow at Galavez’s exposed neck.

Thad almost didn’t notice the subtle change in movement until it was too late, but his armor and reflexes saved him. Just as his strike was about to land, Galavez swung around with more speed than Thad would have thought possible of the muscle bound man. Thad’s sword came up and the larger weapon skidded off the blade forcing it aside from its intended path and scoring a small hit on Thad left arm, drawing a thin line of blood.

What happened next surprised Thad as much as Galavez. The sword nearly ripped from his hand as it moved his arm back in an awkward position and found its way into the other man’s chest. Thad was pulled in front of Galavez by the weight of the man’s body as he dropped to his knees, blood escaping in strangled coughs to run down his mouth. Then his eyes faded and death claimed him in full.

Thad placed his foot on the man’s chest and pushed him off his blade and the crowd rose to their feet in an ear shattering roar of screams and applause.

It had been ages since Thad had been forced to take a life and it rekindled feelings that he never wished to have again. Pity and remorse for the necessity of the deed rolled over him as he made his way off the field. He tried to push the feelings aside, but he knew that it was a futile gesture. When he saw the look in Jarrod’s eyes, he was glad to call the man a friend. Most people would be happy that he had won, but Thad found something different when he looked at his friend. What he saw was happiness and sadness at the same time. It was almost a mirror image of his own feelings, so he found it fitting that Jarrod held the same thoughts.