Chapter 4

When dawn broke, Josh was woken up by the sound of strange people moving around the hattl. He promptly did as he was trained and barked to wake up Tony. Tony felt like he had just gotten asleep and wasn't too happy about being woken up until he remembered that he had a fight ahead of him. His fears and self-doubt almost paralyzed him for a moment, but the worry on Terry's face was perhaps the worst part of facing the things to come.

Yana and Lissel had gotten up earlier and hearing the movement inside the hattl came in. Each was carrying pieces of armor Tony hadn't even know he had. With whispered comments to each other they quietly dressed him in soft leather undergarments and then placed boiled leather covered with horn scales over them. After Tony was dressed both helped Terry up and dressed her in a more formal matrimonial dress. They used kohl to darken around Terry's eyes and what looked like ground eggshells and rouge on her face. When they finished both girls turned and left the tent, leaving the two alone again.

"I'm scared, Tony. I can't live like the women here. I'd rather die."

Tony hid his fears when he heard Terry. "Terry, I promised to protect you to the best of my ability. I don't know what will happen out there but we can't win if we feel that we are beaten before we start. I'm scared too, but I'll fight to win."

When they emerged they were surprised to see that almost everyone was up. Only a few were in armor and Tony assumed that they were the ones who had a fight scheduled for today. The rest wore the same matrimonial clothes that they would wear on the trail. The man with whom Tony was to fight came out of his tent at that time, followed by three women. The women appeared lifeless and looked nowhere except toward the ground at their feet. The man looked at Terry and then at the goods around the tent and Tony could almost see him licking his chops at the idea of obtaining them. Arrogantly he came over and stood before Tony. "I am Michael Samuelson. We will see whose advice you need after today!"

Tony felt a rush of sudden rage overcome his fear. He spit at Michael's feet, a great insult on Ain, and responded, "You will need no advice from anyone. Dead men never do." With that he turned his back on Michael and walked to the fire. Yana handed him a cup of tea and he listened to the sputters coming from behind him. His back tensed wondering if he had pushed Michael into attacking him. He knew that this would have resulted in the attacker's immediate death from the archers around the camp. Apparently Michael knew this as well and he spat out an insult and left.

Tony felt himself grow calmer as he drank the tea. He might be going to his death, but he was damned if he would be dragged there. When he glanced at Terry he saw a reluctant admiration there, the first time she had shown anything other than lust. He saw that Yana and Lissel remained in view but out of earshot of their conversation. When Yana and Lissel saw they were no longer talking, they hesitantly asked Terry if she would give them permission to visit their parents. Absently she agreed and both girls left rapidly.

For a second Tony wondered if he would ever see them again, then 'remembered' that they were known to have been taken and were regarded as under his authority and protection. While their family could ransom them, this rarely happened, as daughters required a dowry, doubling the expense to their families. Only women of a high caste were ever ransomed and even that wasn't certain. Women under the protection of a renowned fighter had the possibility of being given to a follower as a concubine, which was sometimes more than they could look forward to if they had never been taken. Since Yana and Lissel had never said anything he assumed that they were not of a high caste. No man would ever have asked a woman about that in this culture. Women had no official caste other than that of their husband or their protector.

Looking around he noticed that the other armored men were also given room this morning. He relaxed around the fire for a while and then heard the noise of troops moving through the crowd. When they approached the official in front looked at the tokens he had and handed Tony's to his opponent and Michael's token to Tony. He directed the other man to the front of one column and Tony was sent to the back of the other. They must have been the last ones notified, because the official began to lead them toward the middle of Linnel. The wives of the fighters followed to the sides of the fighters. As they headed toward the city center the men in the camp began following.

There was a festive feeling in the city as they marched through, with men selling food and placing bets around them. Tony was surprised that no one carried any weapons until he 'remembered' that weapons were supplied at the arenas. When they arrived at one of the arenas they were met by a group of men including Tim Abrahamson around a large fire, an unusual occurrence in this land of small trees. Several men stood nearby dressed in strange garments. They were adorned with symbols and various pieces of animal and plant material were fastened on them in what looked like a random pattern to Tony.

When they approached the men began singing in a monotone voice. One stepped forward and made a sweeping gesture toward the fire. It flared up with a red tint and following another gesture re-flared with a yellowish-green color. The crowd ooh and ahhed at the display and Tony felt his interest rise up. Too many different things could create red flames for Tony to sure of what they were using but yellowish-green usually came from a solution of borax. The shamans apparently knew some chemistry even if it was only by trail and error that they achieved their results. Momentarily he wondered what else this despised group of men knew, but then Tim Abrahamson beginning to speak reclaimed his attention.

"The spirits have directed the mace as the weapon today to the shamans. Fighters will be given one before their bout. If the weapon breaks the fight will stop until the weapon is replaced. The fight will continue until the loser can no longer continue or dies. May the spirits of Ain support you."

With that two older men led each column the opposite way around the arena. The wives were stopped and directed toward a section of the arena while men crammed into the rest of the available area. Tony could see men wandering through the crowd taking bets and others selling what looked like drink of some sort. 'They act like they're at a football game!' Tony thought resentfully. He looked around and saw none of the other fighters appeared bothered by this. In fact, some like Michael, the man who had challenged Tony, appeared to swell up with pride from the attention.

As the first two men were being prepared, Tony returned his attention to what they were doing. The men were stretching while older men were checking their armor. A shaman came out and placed a bronze mace about six feet in front of each of the men and collected the tokens from them in exchange. Tony hadn't known what a mace would look like, but this looked like nothing more than the end of an arrow made for a giant. About 30 inches long, it consisted of a tapering wooden handle fitted to a heavy metal head with sharp blades set around it. Tony was reminded of a drum master's baton. He didn't feel like laughing after he saw what happened when men who knew what they were doing used them.

Both men grasped their maces and stood ready. A final prayer by the shaman and then a command to start was given. For a moment the men stood still. A flurry of quick blows ensued as the men swung their maces like clubs. Tony was surprised at how fast the maces were wielded. The clack, clack of the maces hitting each other was suddenly interrupted by a flat thud as one man managed to get by his opponent's blocking mace to hit the other a solid blow on his side, causing him to fall. Tony was surprised to see how quickly the armored shirts failed. The horn plates breaking away as a result of the blow surprised him since the only armor he was familiar with was a bulletproof vest. He had thought that the armor would have provided equivalent protection. He ran his hands over his chest to try and gauge the strength and protection he did have. He was not encouraged by the touch of the boiled leather and realized that he could not depend on standing up to a direct blow of any force. Meanwhile the fight continued.

His opponent continued to attack the man while he was down. He tried to get back up but the fight was quickly over as the standing man continued to land blows. The victor continued striking the dead man until the shaman called for him to stop. He stood still at the command; his chest heaving from his exertions while the shaman raised his voice in prayer. Ceremoniously he broke the token of the loser in half and presented half to the winner together with the winner's entire token.