Escana (40 page)

He lazily swiped at it and it
ducked underneath the claw, that swipe only took out those stricken
with terror. He wasn't overly concerned with the dodge and sent a
faster swipe with his other claw.

The thing leapt back with time to
spare and steadied itself once more. The reflexes on display were
impressive assuming they weren't entirely fortuitous luck.

He launched his second attack,
swinging both arms up at once and grimacing as he leant back on his
damaged hind legs. He anticipated the duck and should it jump forward
he would launch with it, there was little escape from such toying.

He felt a weight hit his left arm
and traverse up toward his face. He had to keep his sights on the
prey, otherwise the opportunity may...

Pain. A severe blow to the side
of his head delivered with some malice. There was no degree of luck
there, this one had managed to get under his guard and hurt him. No,
he had used his attack against him. Re'tak felt an interest surge up
within him, this could be an interesting game.

Hern couldn't feel his foot any
more, which was probably for the best. Kicking the lizard's head had
much the same effect as assaulting the arena wall. It was apparent
that this creature had no need for armour whatsoever, the skull was
reinforced by a thick carapace. He had heard of this lack of any weak
spot as well and had hoped it was exaggeration, it would seem he had
the perfect opportunity to discover that. Assuming that he wasn't
torn to pieces for the delight of Tub and the cheering spectators
that were traitors to their species.

He had never been much loved by
any group of people, it came with being the person prone to
exhumation of others. This creature had the look of one that was
quite happy to toy with him for its own amusement. Perhaps this was
penance for his previous occupation. Hern finally silenced his
wandering thoughts.

There were a series of swipes
now, the creature aiming to push him towards the wall where he would
inevitably run out of space to dodge. He struggled to face the thing
and retreat at a speed that wouldn't cause him to lose his balance.
It also appeared to be growing quicker with each passing moment, he
needed to do something.

Blinding the beast wasn't an
option, it would require perfect timing on his part and he couldn't
see it letting him get inside its guard without at least taking a
limb. He had heard tales from reputable men of the third lid of these
creatures deflecting axes, that route appeared to be futile.

Every other part of the beast
seemed armoured in the same manner as its skull. He found himself
with very few options.

Re'tak advanced on the silent
creature as it stared back at him unflinchingly. Had it been luck
that it had managed to land a kick to the open sore on his head?
Re'tak refused to believe in such a thing. He leapt forward and
closed the distance between himself and...

It had flung itself down upon the
sand and was lying face up as if dead, exposing itself to his mercy
yet still breathing.

He padded around it cautiously,
waiting for it to make a move. He nudged it with one of his claws and
it still made no motion. He couldn't recall landing a solid blow to
it, he would have known about it if he had. Re'tak wasn't old enough
to be venomous either, it was all most confusing.

He settled down on his haunches
beside it and waited.

The screaming of the pink could
be heard once more, then a small point dug at the sand and clattered
to a stop near the corpse. As if planned, the small yellow skin rose
into what must have been a fighting stance. Re'tak swept his tail at
it and it vaulted over it without much effort. No, it was going to
take more than that to bring this tricky one down.

He nearly yelped in surprise when
he felt the voice enter his mind.

Do
as
I
did
before
upon
my
striking
you
and
freedom
will
be
ours
.

Freedom. The voice intruding on
his own thoughts was a violation he had never felt before, it spoke
of something he yearned for so desperately. There was no reason not
to comply if freedom was the promised result.

He let the yellow skin in under
his guard again, making a show of trying to quell his assault. He
knew the thing was landing blows that he barely felt, yet couldn't
fathom why it would do so.

He collapsed as was demanded to
the sound of gasps from the pink skins.

Hern carefully set his foot on
the creature's head, much like he would a tame Urtaka kid. He hoped
that the gesture wouldn't go amiss.

Slowly he saw Dyson rise from his
prominent position, his face unreadable.

The solitary clapping began once
again, this time it was greeted with cautious applause from the
guards and slaves alike. Hern hoped that they'd never realise how
unwarranted it was. His stomach growled in protest at his exertions
and he felt sick.

Stay
there.
He
forced
it
out
as
loud
as
he
possibly
could,
not
knowing
whether
the
beast
would
hear
him
or
even
heed
his
words
a
second
time.

A number of guards had finally
been ordered onto the arena floor, each of them looking nervously at
the creature lying there in the sun.

Dyson finally made his
appearance, his still-clapping placid shadow joining him. 'Well
Yalem, have you ever seen such a victory before?'

Yalem seemed to be the man behind
him. 'Unorthodox.'

Hern froze.

'Why yes, the thought of a single
warrior surviving where so many others had perished is remarkable. To
bring the beast to heel? Marvellous fighting skill!'

This wasn't going to end well.

'Horseshit,' the man known as
Yalem muttered.

Dyson was thoroughly enjoying his
moment, turning with dramatic pause and overdone shock.

'Say it isn't so? You mean this
competitor didn't best the beast by arms?'

Yalem nodded. There was something
lethal in Dyson's eyes as he had asked that.

The guards were muttering in
confusion amongst themselves now, never taking their eyes from the
beast too long.

'Silence!' shrieked Dyson, before
snapping back into his previous tone in jarring fashion. 'My dear
Yalem, how could this competitor quell the beast without besting it
by strength alone?'

Yalem keeled over backward,
causing a number of men to jump. He picked himself up off the sand
without expression. The meaning wasn't lost upon Dyson or Hern.

Dyson turned to Hern now.

'Playing dead is it? You have
some way of talking to this thing? Very well then. I declare a
stalemate, neither competitor will have freedom.'

He gestured at the guards to take
him. 'Though you're quite welcome to share that lack of freedom in
captivity with each other.'

H
e had
thought about struggling to break free of his captors for a brief
moment. They may have appeared unaware of their surroundings but
their attentions seemed bent upon him to the exclusion of everything
else. As they shuffled forward with their iron grips and tortuously
slow pace he found that he had plenty of time to think things over.

Never did he believe that the
seaside resort of his childhood would be tarnished into a fleetingly
juvenile memory. It wasn't as if he was entirely ignorant of life
outside of Escana, he had heard many a tale about what a harsh and
unforgiving place the world outside that particular bubble was. In
spite of this he had never heard of any trouble from Urial and had
subsequently included it in his own little world. Certainly no place
was without its bad eggs but that was to be expected, was it not? A
utopia would get boring if you had to live there constantly, his own
restless spirit could attest to that.

He had really got himself mired
in something quite beyond him here.

Initially he had called out for
help to passers by, but they all knew better than to get involved in
the affairs of others. Jimmy wondered if he had been bleeding to
death in an alley whether any of them would have spared more than a
glance. It was all about who you were here, Gooseman was well-known
throughout the area and the people there had always seemed friendly
and eager to please him. Jimmy had been stupid enough to think that
the people cared about him too, when really it was just a further
extension of their false adoration of the man he followed.

Without his father to lead him
through life, Jimmy may as well have been another face in the crowd.
He was no noble born into a family of wealth, he came from common
stock and whilst he stood to inherit the inn upon his father's
passing it gave him no authority in the present. Back home he lived
the life of a son, he was Gooseman's son Jimmy. Never was he Jimmy
alone.

He felt a pang of guilt at that.
His father had done everything for him, had given him a quality
education, a place in life and had spent much of his time nurturing
him. Who was he to complain about living in his father's shadow when
there were people like Ella and Jakob with harsh and unloving
fathers? Even Solomon had been an orphan, as much as he had loathed
him, the man had worked tirelessly for everything he was given. What
had Jimmy done to merit living in The Chipped Flagon? How did he
deserve a father like Gooseman to provide and care for him?

He was jolted back into reality
and felt even worse for it, they had arrived at the Justice's
mansion.

The guards must have been
expecting him, for they offered no resistance or attention beyond
opening the doors. Slowly they progressed through a series of
corridors and small chambers, each one containing a solemn guard to
verify who they were. Ordinarily Jimmy would have marvelled at the
ornate detail and lavish construction of such an opulent place but
his sense of wonder at anything this city offered had been crushed.

Finally they halted, if only for
the man ahead to take note of who they were before opening the final
door. Jimmy was referred to as 'the prisoner' in the booming
introductions, his heart seemed to sink lower at finally being told
that.

At the end of a long wooden table
stood Kelgrimm, to his left were The Hermit and Jakob clasped in
manacles and with heads bowed. A number of guards surrounded them,
though they seemed entirely superfluous. The sight baffled Jimmy,
what had transpired that had bound The Hermit so? Was this an act on
his part that would lead to a daring rescue? He couldn't think of any
other way such a dangerous person could be restrained but by his own
will.

'At last. Guards, place manacles
on this one as well.'

The men shuffled forward with a
rattle of chains but Gadtor and Thom held Jimmy's arms to his sides
in their vice-like grips and refused to budge. Kelgrimm eventually
dismissed their efforts with a shrug, though Jimmy could tell there
was annoyance. Here was a man who needed to be in control of
everything, whatever El-Vador had done to Thom and Gadtor, Kelgrimm
seemed powerless to stop it.

'If you make noise we shall
silence you permanently boy. It would appear that we need to wait for
my last weapon to arrive home unscathed.'

Jimmy stood there with numb arms
as the time passed agonisingly. He thought of escape, of somehow
shaking free of his captors and grabbing a sword from the guard
and... it was entirely hopeless.

If The Hermit couldn't divine a
way out of this situation then no doubt it was foolishness for Jimmy
to try and extricate himself.

The air finally seemed to chill
around him, he knew that this spelt the imminent arrival of something
he had foolishly considered a bandit at one point, his nemesis.

It felt strange, using that word.
He saw himself as personable and found few that disagreed. There was
always the odd conflict but they, like those he conflicted with, were
few and far between. He could certainly find it within himself to
dislike someone, perhaps even loathe them like he had with Solomon.
Never could he think of someone as the enemy, it just seemed
unwarranted. Until now.

The doors opened and El-Vador
sauntered in. Kelgrimm somehow found the strength to berate such a
thing.

'You're intolerably late, release
these men from your spell so they can be put in proper custody.'

It shrugged at him, then feeling
surged back into Jimmy's arms as his captors fell to the floor.

They picked themselves up, dazed
and confused. Kelgrimm's glare seemed to grow worse in the face of
how stupefied they appeared.

'You have both failed me
miserably, the talents of El-Vador are all that prevented the escape
of your quarry. I need men that I can trust in my employment, men who
can get the job done. Your bumbling attempts at apprehension have
secured you a one way pass to Sah'kel, consider yourselves enlisted.'