Golm

Golm - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The day had finally arrived. The night before was horrible, sleeping wise, but I was full of energy that morning. Channdis was in the basement with all his other sages discussing my importance, very early that morning. The tournament started at 11 o’clock so I had a few hours to prepare. I decided to go downstairs and see how Channdis was doing, after I finished my breakfast.
When I was halfway down the stairs I saw a huge table, with at least 30 seats. Most of the seats had sages in them, but a few had some royal clerks and some commercial workers sitting in them. Channdis was reading the legend from the book he had read it to me, to everybody at the table. I finished my decline down the stairs and waited for Channdis to finish. He noticed I was behind him and stopped. He said, “Hello Herridan. I didn’t think you’d be up this early. Well come closer so the others can see you.” I did what I was told. He continued to the group, “This is Herridan. He is the man, who could be Narr and Kridden’s son.” The men studied my tail and me briefly and asked a few basic little questions, but that was it. Channdis turned to me when they were done, “That is all.” I gave a slight bow and said thank you. When I started to walk up the stairs, Channdis interrupted me, “Oh Herridan, good luck at the Golan Sword.” I thanked him again and walked upstairs.
The people at the tournament didn’t know I was a tail man and if they knew, I could get disqualified just for having a tail. So I tied my tail to my back and hid it under my shirt, the same shirt I ran away from the hospital in. I also wore my jeans from the hospital too. Tunics were too tight and I needed lots of room to move around in. I grabbed my holster, that Channdis gave me the night before, and I put my sword in it. The holster was like a belt, but with a loop to put my sword in. Unfortunately I didn’t get what I wanted. I wanted a strap that went over my shoulder, but oh well; at least I didn’t have to hold it the whole time.
I left home and headed to the carriage in town. All the fighters for each town got a carriage ride, which was good, because I didn’t feel like walking 50 km. I got to town and the carriage was still there, thankfully. It was bound to leave in a few minutes, so I relieved that I hadn’t missed it. It looked like a really big hayride, the ones that little kids would ride on at RV Parks. It had 10 beautifully groomed horses pulling it and it had 30 or so seats on it. I quickly grabbed one before the rest did. It was good that I did, because people had filled all the seats and lots were sitting along the edge.
We were off. We left town and were heading down the path to the coliseum. I looked at some of the people on the carriage; my fight didn’t look very easy. There were a few commercial citizens and a lot more industrial citizens. There were a few male maids who had four swords and there were lots of law enforcers. I only saw two other royal clerks (the people I was disguised as).
There was, however, one person who kept looking at me. I was guessing, she, had lots of loose clothes, like me, on. As if she was hiding something too. She had white skin, so I didn’t know what rank she was. I couldn’t help, but notice her constant glare into my eyes. I tried not to notice her, but I could tell she didn’t want me noticing her too. So we both stopped. Though I swear she was supposed to do something to me, her glare didn’t seem inviting.
The ride was long and boring. The only entertainment was listening to others’ conversations. I heard others’ game plans and they all were similar, “Be defensive and offensive.” There was also a person who was singing, but some one knocked him out with a club, that was pretty entertaining too. The mysterious girl didn’t talk though, so I guessed she was alone, but why was she looking at me?
After three hours we finally got there. I almost ripped the rope that was wrapped around my back when I saw the coliseum. It was huge! Like I said before, it could hold almost a million people in it. The outside had huge statues of past victors and flags to represent their towns were mounted along the top of the walls. You could hear people yelling and screaming for joy, as other carriages of warriors poured into the front gate. There were at least 50 people playing trumpets, flutes or drums to honor us. The funny thing was that anyone could join, so why was there so much honor?
The coliseum was about 40 stories high. The arena was shaped like an oval on the outside, because it was designed for horse races and other knight games as well. The structure was paved in marble, black and white marble; beautiful marble that you could use as a mirror. The outside had many windows for air and each one was trimmed with gold. The top was opened and the rim was filled with spotlights (movable mirrors and torches). It was truly magnificent at first glance.
Our carriage stopped and we all got off. Both my legs were asleep, so I rested and stretched a while before I went in. An old man told us all to put our protective padding on our weapons; the padding was there so no one got killed. There were two entrances: one for the spectators, which was huge and one for the warriors, which was bigger! After a few minutes of waiting in line to enter, my turn came to sign in. A royal clerk asked me my name and where I was from. I told him I was Herridan, from Vinna. He scrolled down his list and saw that I was there. He checked me off and let me enter.
As I was walking in through the main gates, I took a look at a few of the statues I happened to walk by. The statues were dated more recently and were well polished and well taken care of. I looked at the ranks and as I figured they were all soldiers. I had heard only the weakest and only a few soldiers are allowed in, because the tournament wouldn’t be as entertaining, because warrior battles happen in this coliseum all the time. I did, however, spot one sage and a couple dwarves, but the rest were soldiers and law enforcers. I planned to mix up the statues by adding some more variety.
The inside was even more catastrophic than the outside. People, all you could see was people. It wasn’t like a sports game, but more like the filling the world’s only bomb shelter during a nuclear war. The walls seemed to cave in; they were so high. The yelling and the cheering was so loud your ears would explode if you didn’t know they were cheering for you. The best part was that I finally was being cheered for instead of cheering myself. After a while, all the warriors were inside.
Then the musicians played a different song, one that sounded frightening and tyrannical. Then my mind became scarred for life, when I saw the Emperor for the first time. Emperor Runar stepped on his balcony (like a box seat) and took his front row seat. He was huge; he probably was 10 feet tall and weighed about 3 tons. His skin (or scales) was red with patches of black; he looked like magma pits from Hell. He wore a dark leather jacket with platinum chains around it. He had a tail too, but it wasn’t like mine. His wasn’t like a monkey’s, his was like a dinosaur’s and was probably as strong as a dinosaur’s too. His lower cheeks folded over a few times and his eyes were entirely yellow. His feet were like a bird’s; three toes extended out the front and one extended out the back. He also wore custom leather boots that were like gloves. Boy if he grabbed you with any appendage, you wouldn’t live to tell the tale. He was massive! All muscles bulged beyond normal anatomy and each step crunched and cracked the floor beneath. His breathing was extremely deep and it pierced your brain like when you turn on powerful speakers at full volume by accident. He had small horns and carnivorous teeth. He seemed to attract and eerie glow.
His voice was as scary as his bulky body, “Welcome warriors, to the 750th annual Golan Sword Tournament.” His voice was low, dark, loud and sent chills down my spine and through my tail. People were cheering and screaming at the reminder of that it was the Golan Sword’s 750th anniversary. Then at the opposite side of the arena, Elesia and a few other winged people stepped up to their seats on their balcony. People also cheered for them just as hard.
After a few more minutes, the crowding by the gates died. Every one was in the coliseum. Then Runar put up his hand; every one stopped and was quiet. Elesia spoke, “Welcome fellow Golans. As you can see before us on the field, 64 warriors, each holding their own weapon.” She pulled out a long piece of paper, she read, “When I call you, please step forward and bow. This year’s warriors are Inrin from Runbobway village, Shoran from Dalkus…” She went on for half an hour when she called my name. Then four people after me the mysterious white girl was called, “Maurna from… unknown,”
After a couple more minutes Elesia finished. So the person who was eyeballing me, her name was Maurna. She still had her extra clothes on. The first row of seats along the edge of the battlegrounds were for us, so I sat in a seat, but Maurna sat somewhere close, so she could see me. Runar shouted out the rules. “There is a circle in the center of the arena. If you leave the circle, you lose. If you give up, get seriously hurt or loose consciousness, you lose. If the 10 minute time limit expires, our judges will decide who wins. The rest is up to you.” He talked to one of his servants and then he yelled, “Lona and Hyte, you have the honor of starting first.”
A dwarf with red hair and two small daggers stepped out of his seat and walked to the circle. Another dwarf with grey hair with a short sword and a shield did the same. They both were in the circle, then Runar shouted begin. They charged at each other, the one with the daggers got an early jab, but the shield of the other hit him hard. Runar stood up all of a sudden to stop them. The fighters stopped as he laughed, evilly.
Guards appeared and surrounded the exits. Runar finished laughing and said, “All warriors, remove the protective padding from your weapons.” We all did. I wondered what he was trying to get at. Then I found out, as he explained, “To celebrate the rare occurrence of such a fine number as 750, there will be a new rule added.” We all wondered what it was as he paused. “The fights are now to the death!” People now screamed in fear of Runar’s addition to the rules. The fighters in the circle didn’t move; they didn’t want to kill each other. Runar noticed their lack of enthusiasm, so he reminded every one, “There will be only one person living and he will be the one who will kiss the Princess and claim 20 000 GC! So do you want to be the one who lives, or do you want to die? I am the Emperor, so do as I say or be thrown down in the dungeon and die to the rats!”
That was the motivation that the fighters needed. They hesitated a little, but they knew that they had to kill each other, nothing else mattered. The one with the duel daggers charged at the other and stabbed him twice. He fell down and died. Runar shouted, “Marvelous! The next fighters are Warnor and Vinner.” The tournament went like that for many fights, some longer than others, you either killed or got killed. I had already made my decision when I went up.
I was against an elf. He had a short sword like me. He also feared for the outcome. I told him before Runar shouted begin, that I had nothing against him, I just wanted to live. He put on his game face, as if to say the same. Runar shouted begin and we were off. The elf took a few slashes at me, but I blocked them. He noticed I wasn’t a push over so he went crazy. He jabbed and slashed and swiped, but I easily defended them and gave him a gesture afterwards. I yawned. He noticed my mockery, so he yelled as he charged at me. I countered by decapitating him right in his tracks. Runar said the match was over, so I went back to my seat. Runar clapped happily at my violent kill when I sat down.
32 deaths later the second round began. I was in the second match. I was facing a slave, one with four arms. Each had a saber. I had to be careful, I had four blades to defend against. He charged at me first, I could see that he was going to strike in four different places. So before he reached me, I kicked him in the face quickly. He fell and I swiped at him on the ground, he blocked my attack and swung at my legs. I jumped over it. I jumped back to get away. He got up and this time I charged at him. He tried to counter, but I cut off his left leg. I then cut his torso in two. I won again. I sat down again.
Elesia, at her seat, was admiring my talent. She didn’t like how Runar made the battles to the death, but she was relieved that I hadn’t died yet. One of her maidens asked her, “So who do you want to win?”
Elesia smiled and said, “I hope that young Herridan wins. He so far, has impressed me the most.” Luckily no one knew I was a tail man, so Elesia was safe for liking me. Runar above was enjoying the show. He loved to see blood spew out of people for his own pleasure. He was also favouring me, because I made the most blood appear, rightly or wrongly.
The other fights were intense; they were a little longer than the last ones. I noticed that Maurna was fighting, I had missed her first fight, but I remembered to watch her second. She was good, very good. She fought like me, no struggle at all. When she removed all the limbs of her opponent, she sat down again. She looked at me as soon as she sat down. I’d have to wait for the last match to go against her. All I could do was wait.
The sun was starting to set. We should have only had to do this round and then we could have gone home, but because of Runar’s new rules, we’ll be battling until the winner is decided. So both Maurna and I were in the top eight. The remaining contestants were tough and knew that they had to kill to win. The competition was now fierce, so I actually had to try now.

* * * * * *

While the tournament was happening, Channdis and his fellow sages were discussing about the possibility of my existence back home. Channdis spoke, “I believe the evidence is clear. My friend Herridan is the son of Narr and Kridden.”
One sage argued, “The evidence is hard, but not complete. How do you explain the gap of time? The boy is 22 years of age, but Kridden left Golm about 250 years ago.”
One sage suggested, “Maybe the gate between worlds has an effect on time?”
Another sage pointed out, “That could be true, Channdis you said that Herridan said that our technology was 500 years in his past. So it’s 500 years to the future here to there and 500 years to the past there to here.” The sages agreed on that hypothesis and accepted it.
Then the master sage spoke; his name was Dulahin, “Channdis, where did you say Herridan found the gate?”
Channdis answered, “On a very small island inside a boulder.”
Dulahin rubbed his chin and said, “We are only making the problem worse.” Then he concluded, “The evidence is clear enough. Herridan is the son of Narr and Kridden.” The sages looked at him in a funny way. He finished, “But, however, our discussion isn’t finished. For now we will confirm it, but there are too many missing pieces.”
Channdis asked, “So what are you saying?”
He answered, “I’m saying we’ll wait for more evidence to appear. You boy is on a journey, let’s let him finish it, then we’ll close his book.”
The sages agreed and in a few minutes they were gone. Dulahin stayed behind to talk to Channdis. Dulahin spoke to Channdis, “Now that they are gone I must speak to you.” Channdis stood there and listened. “Do not let that boy die. He is the one. He will save so many lives. Some of the story is untold, but we know how it starts and how it is supposed to end. Runar is a broken tree in a windy storm, he will snap any second and destroy us all.” Channdis understood.
Then Channdis remembered, “Herridan is in the Golan Sword. Can you check how he’s doing?” Dulahin nodded. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He saw images in his mind of the events of the tournament up until now. A few moments later, he opened his eyes and he became, pale. Channdis asked what was happening.
He answered, “He’s doing well; he’s in the final 16, but…”
Channdis asked, “What?”
Dulahin’s breath almost could be seen, “Runar made the battles to the death!”
Channdis gasped and then they both knew what they had to do. They both ran as fast as they could outside and jumped on their horses that were tied up just outside. They galloped away with not a moment to spare. They had to get me out of that tournament.

* * * * * *

My third match was fast. I disposed of him very quickly. Now I was in the top eight. An hour later, so was Maurna. We both had three more matches, assuming we won our next two. The sun was down and it was hard to see. Thankfully, everybody at the top row lit some torches and put mirrors behind them, as well the giant spotlights were lit, so it wasn’t that bad. We could see our battlefield like we could two hours before hand. The night did give the challenge I had been wanting.
My fourth match was against one of the few horned that were allowed in. Horned people were entrusted with sword skills by nature. He quickly slashed at me, but I blocked. I swung at him, but he jumped out of the way. Cling, clang, spark, flash, crash! The fight was crazy, but I had the momentum. He then, out of desperation, kicked sand into my eyes. Through what I could see, he was charging at me, ready to smash me senseless with his horns. At the last moment, I ducked down and flipped him with my foot. He came crashing down and with no hesitation I got up and managed to cut off his arm, before he got away.
They were trained to fight to the death, so he wasn’t going to die with out hurting me as much as I could. He picked up his sword again and charged at me. I swooped out of the way and slit his stomach in the process. With blood spewing from his chest, he still didn’t want to go down. He could hardly stand. I stabbed him in the chest. He still was up. I jabbed it into his throat. He still wouldn’t go down. He swung his sword at me, I dodged it. I decided to be nice and just kill him, so I cut off his head. Then I freaked when I saw the last nerves of his remaining body, swing his sword at me twice. He finally fell down and died.
The next two matches were emotionally driven. All four didn’t want to give up. They all got wounded badly, but two died. Maurna’s match was short like mine. She swiftly sliced the person in two. People in the audience didn’t cheer at all. They were devastated that 60 people had died so far, for their own entertainment.
Runar was loving it. It reminded him of wars or why he saw a village that he set fire to, burn to the ground. About a million people, in silence, watched two Golans, who were probably their friend, fight to the death. The loud sword crashes and the final scream, were all that was heard. And Runar loved it!
Finally the semifinals! I think it would be an easy win, because my opposite was practically dead from the previous match. He did put up a fight, but I put him out of his suffering, soon after we started. Maurna won as well.
Runar stood up after Maurna won, he declared, “Congratulations, Herridan and Maurna. You are the 750th annual Golan Sword finalists. Though only one of you will live to tell the tale! Ha ha ha ha ha ha.”
Maurna waited for me to step into the destroyed and blood filled circle. As I stepped in, it started to rain. It picked up fast and thunder and lightning followed soon afterwards. The spotlights flickered and the clouds covered the moon’s light. Runar shouted, begin. I took out my sword and Maurna took out, what seemed to be some sort of, scimitar. We didn’t want to start just then. I had had a few things to say to her first. “So you’re Maurna. You’ve been looking at me since I got on the carriage. Why is that?” She nodded. I yelled at her, “Speak to me! You can’t hide under your cloaks forever. I will unmask you.” She laughed. Her laugh was soft and cold, but it was the kind of laugh you wouldn’t want to hear in a dark alley.
She said to me, “I also plan on unmasking you.”
“What makes you think I’m hiding something?”
We were pacing around in circles when she answered, “Don’t think me as a fool. I know that you’re Channdis’ slave, the slave with a tail. The rain has tightened your loose clothing. I can see the rope you used.” Using her strategy, I still couldn’t see any features. She was wearing lots of thick clothing.
I wasn’t surprised that her first attack was to my shirt. She cut the rope. It fell to the ground and my tail popped out. I heard a huge gasp through out the coliseum. Now that they all knew, I put my tail through my tail hole in my jeans, so I could fight in comfort. Runar jumped out of his seat when he noticed it.
Runar said to himself, “A tail man, with a weapon. I haven’t seen that since…” Fear lit up his eyes, then he shook his head. “I’ll let this go for know. I don’t want to wreck the final match. He was my favourite after all.” Though he pretended to enjoy the match, each block I made, he got frustrated.
The rain poured and we paced in circles. The rain had eventually put out the torches, because it was so heavy and fierce, so it was a struggle to even see. I asked Maurna, “Why did you want me exposed so badly?”
She looked over at Runar. Then she told me, “Now even if you beat me, Runar will have you killed anyway.”
I got angry, “Who are you?”
She laughed, “That’s none of your business. I’m Maurna, the one who will triumph.”
I was really mad, she made a fool out of me. No one does that to me and gets away with it. I decided to cut off her clothes too, and find out what she was hiding. I wasted no time. I slashed at her clothes, but she knew what I was up to so she countered. We exchanged about ten blows, and then I kicked her. She was on the ground and I stepped on her arms, so she couldn’t use her sword.
I slipped my sword in her left sleeve and just about when started to cut it, she kicked me forward. I was now face first on the ground. She stepped on me and she took a big swing. I caught her hand with my tail, then I wrapped it around her wrist and I pulled her to the ground. I got up and I still was holding on to her wrist. I took her sword away and I put my sword in her sleeve again. She was determined to keep her identity a secret.
She grabbed my tail and pulled me down too. We both got up afterwards and she started attacking first. While we were fighting, I nimbly slipped my tail around her neck and I tightened really hard. She stopped moving and she dropped her sword. She fell to her knees. I stepped behind her, so I could remove her extra clothes. It turns out she was faking it and she elbowed me in the chin. She unwrapped my clutch from her neck and used it the strangle me.
Her grip on my tail was weak, so I broke free and kneed her in the stomach. I quickly ran behind her. I was able to hold her arms and legs together for a split second with my tail and in that time I slipped my sword up her cloak and ripped her clothes off until she had nothing on.
She was really trying to hide something. I thought first if it was the heavy rain, creating an illusion, but no. Apart from her entirely white scaled body, the thing that stunned me the most was her tail! She stood up and faced me. She was some sort of aquatic being. Her tail wasn’t really a tail, because it came out between her shoulder blades. It was very long and had a fin at the end. It looked much stronger than mine was. She had black eyes covered by a set of second eyelids that were transparent, to keep the water out. Her skin was so smooth, the rain trickled down her, as if she wasn’t there. Her feet were long and had three very long toes that were webbed. The back of her head had two tentacle-like things that went down to her neck. From her elbows down, her arms ended up like a tadpole’s tail, so they were also like tentacles, capable of grasping. No wonder she had a bad grip on my tail. She basically looked like a human, a frog, a dolphin and an octopus all rolled into one.
She asked me, “I hope you’re satisfied. I’m one of the few surviving Aquasians in Golm.”
I was still stunned to see a fish person talk to me, but I asked her, “If you are one of the last of your kind, why did you risk entering the Golan Sword?”
She crossed her arms and flung her head, “I was sent to kill you.”
My eyes popped. Some one wants me dead, I thought. “Who?” I asked.
She stared at me through her shielded eyes, “I’ll never tell you.”
I warned her, “Even if you are an endangered specie, I’m still going to kill you. I will win!”
“We’ll see about that, Herridan!”
While were talking, Elesia was watching in fear. “Oh no. Herridan has been exposed and so has Maurna. Why would an Aquasian be here? It doesn’t make any sense, they’re trying to live in peace and save their people. I Oh, I hope Runar doesn’t do anymore damage because of this.”
Runar was enraged. His vision of a final match was shattered. “A low class race which I banned from any enjoyable life, and now a race of aquatic people are fighting. They think they can just slip by me unnoticed? They will be severely punished after their fight. This is outrageous!”
So that was it. Two Golan races, who weren’t favoured in the Golan Sword, were enduring it in the final match. I was extremely vulnerable in this fight. Even though I was supposedly, magically entrusted with mystical sword skills. The heavy rain seemed to give power to Maurna, because she is an aquatic specie, she could also see clearer through the water and darkness, because of her eyes. She also had a powerful fin, which I should avoid.
She wrapped a good grip on her sword and I tightened my grip too. We both charged and then exchanged blows. We went back and forth for about 10 minutes, with the occasional punch, kick or tail attack; the battle consisted of many sword clashes. Then out of the sparks, I gave her a giant swipe cut her chest. But to my surprise, my sword passed right through her. I continued to slash right through her. I soon discovered, “You are a liquid being. My sword can’t hurt you, because I can’t cut you. You’re water…”
She laughed, “Like I’ve said before, there is no way you can win. You can’t hurt me physically. So just let me kill you.” But I was determined to live and kill her. The battle was hopeless. Any attack would just go right through her. There had to be a way, I just knew it. I continued on. We got back into a fray and I had determination that gave me the momentum.
Then, for some reason, she kept on hitting my sword to one direction and I wondered what se was up to. Then I found out as she swiped a huge cut across my chest. Blood gushed out of it. I clutched it and Maurna took advantage of that. She grabbed my neck and kneed my wound three times. She then picked me up again; I was dazed. She let out a shout and she spun around and smacked her tail across the face.
I spun in the air, doing flips and twists and then I crashed. Mud flew in the air and it burned my cut. She was in no hurry to walk over and deliver the final blow. I tried to sit up, but I was aching all over. I was on my knees, panting away and various liquids dripping from my body, blood, water, sweat and what ever Maurna was. I was looking at the rain make ripples in the puddles. Then looked back at Maurna, she was slowly getting closer.
I picked up some mud and squeezed it, to relieve the pain. I thought to myself, I’m too young to die. I can’t go now. Not when Elesia is waiting for me and Channdis needs me. Not now, not now. I released the mud and I noticed it was solid. Then it hit me. I quickly glanced back; she was almost here. I filled my hands with mud and covered my sword in it too. I put my sword in my tail for now and I hid my mud as she approached me.
She was right above me and she was readying her sword. I took a deep breath and summoned what energy I had. I jumped up, I rammed both handfuls of mud into her neck and before she could react, I had grabbed my sword and I cut off her head. I grabbed her head before it hit the ground and I threw it across the stadium.
My plan worked. The dirt made her neck solid enough for me to separate her cells. To make it official, her head 20 meters away from her body convinced Runar I had killed her. He stood up and declared, “My fellow Golans. Your champion, Herridan of Vinna!”
The audience was quiet. Then one person clapped and then another and another and soon all one million of them were cheering and chanting my name. Elesia was in tears; she was so happy that I wasn’t dead. She jumped out of her seat and flew over to me. I clutched my chest again and Elesia ran the rest of the way to me. She helped me back up.
She said, “Herridan. You won.” I still didn’t realize it, but what I did know, was that Elesia was holding my hands. I looked her in the eyes and she did the same.
I told her, “How about that kiss now?” She smiled. We came closer and closer. We shifted our heads and we opened our mouths. Then before it could happen, I was yanked away.
People were booing as I was carried off by a whole bunch of Runar’s guards. Runar stepped out of his chair and followed his guards through the exit. Soon after they left, everybody else was allowed to leave, so they did. They took away my sword and locked me up in a cage and they dragged me off on a buggy. Elesia ran up to me, but the guards told her to stay back. I was being taken to the Palace outside of the coliseum (it wasn’t Elesia’s Palace).
Dulahin and Channdis were riding and got to the coliseum, soon after I had left. A few people were still there. They asked if I was ok and where I was. The people told them that I had won, but I was carried off to the palace in a cage. Dulahin and Channdis wondered if the worst was over or was it yet to come. They did know that they had to get to the palace. They galloped east to the palace.
The rain continued to fall and it kept stinging my cut. I asked a guard in the buggy if he had anything I could use to seal it. He told me to be quiet. I sighed. I then rolled my shirt up and tied it around my chest. It helped to stop the intense bleeding, but I soon passed out due to the extreme day I had.