CHAPTER XVII
A PLAY TO THE DEATH
Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From TheHigh Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator and abovethe babel of human discords rising from the crowded mass that filledthe seats of the stadium below. It called the players for the firstgame, and simultaneously there fluttered to the peaks of a thousandstaffs on tower and battlement and the great wall of the stadium therich, gay pennons of the fighting chiefs of Manator. Thus was markedthe opening of The Jeddak's Games, the most important of the year andsecond only to the Grand Decennial Games.
Gahan of Gathol watched every play with eagle eye. The match was anunimportant one, being but to settle some petty dispute between twochiefs, and was played with professional jetan players for points only.No one was killed and there was but little blood spilled. It lastedabout an hour and was terminated by the chief of the losing sidedeliberately permitting himself to be out-pointed, that the game mightbe called a draw.
Again the trumpet sounded, this time announcing the second and lastgame of the afternoon. While this was not considered an importantmatch, those being reserved for the fourth and fifth days of the games,it promised to afford sufficient excitement since it was a game to thedeath. The vital difference between the game played with living men andthat in which inanimate pieces are used, lies in the fact that while inthe latter the mere placing of a piece upon a square occupied by anopponent piece terminates the move, in the former the two pieces thusbrought together engage in a duel for possession of the square.Therefore there enters into the former game not only the strategy ofjetan but the personal prowess and bravery of each individual piece, sothat a knowledge not only of one's own men but of each player upon theopposing side is of vast value to a chief.
In this respect was Gahan handicapped, though the loyalty of hisplayers did much to offset his ignorance of them, since they aided himin arranging the board to the best advantage and told him honestly thefaults and virtues of each. One fought best in a losing game; anotherwas too slow; another too impetuous; this one had fire and a heart ofsteel, but lacked endurance. Of the opponents, though, they knew littleor nothing, and now as the two sides took their places upon the blackand orange squares of the great jetan board Gahan obtained, for thefirst time, a close view of those who opposed him. The Orange Chief hadnot yet entered the field, but his men were all in place. Val Dorturned to Gahan. "They are all criminals from the pits of Manator," hesaid. "There is no slave among them. We shall not have to fight againsta single fellow-countryman and every life we take will be the life ofan enemy."
"It is well," replied Gahan; "but where is their Chief, and where thetwo Princesses?"
"They are coming now, see?" and he pointed across the field to wheretwo women could be seen approaching under guard.
As they came nearer Gahan saw that one was indeed Tara of Helium, butthe other he did not recognize, and then they were brought to thecenter of the field midway between the two sides and there waited untilthe Orange Chief arrived.
Floran voiced an exclamation of surprise when he recognized him. "By myfirst ancestor if it is not one of their great chiefs," he said, "andwe were told that slaves and criminals were to play for the stake ofthis game."
His words were interrupted by the keeper of The Towers whose duty itwas not only to announce the games and the stakes, but to act asreferee as well.
"Of this, the second game of the first day of the Jeddak's Games in thefour hundred and thirty-third year of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator, thePrincesses of each side shall be the sole stakes and to the survivorsof the winning side shall belong both the Princesses, to do with asthey shall see fit. The Orange Princess is the slave woman Lan-O ofGathol; the Black Princess is the slave woman Tara, a princess ofHelium. The Black Chief is U-Kal of Manataj, a volunteer player; theOrange Chief is the dwar U-Dor of the 8th Utan of the jeddak ofManator, also a volunteer player. The squares shall be contested to thedeath. Just are the laws of Manator! I have spoken."
The initial move was won by U-Dor, following which the two Chiefsescorted their respective Princesses to the square each was to occupy.It was the first time Gahan had been alone with Tara since she had beenbrought upon the field. He saw her scrutinizing him closely as heapproached to lead her to her place and wondered if she recognized him:but if she did she gave no sign of it. He could not but remember herlast words--"I hate you!" and her desertion of him when he had beenlocked in the room beneath the palace by I-Gos, the taxidermist, and sohe did not seek to enlighten her as to his identity. He meant to fightfor her--to die for her, if necessary--and if he did not die to go onfighting to the end for her love. Gahan of Gathol was not easily to bediscouraged, but he was compelled to admit that his chances of winningthe love of Tara of Helium were remote. Already had she repulsed himtwice. Once as jed of Gathol and again as Turan the panthan. Before hislove, however, came her safety and the former must be relegated to thebackground until the latter had been achieved.
Passing among the players already at their stations the two took theirplaces upon their respective squares. At Tara's left was the BlackChief, Gahan of Gathol; directly in front of her the Princess' Panthan,Floran of Gathol; and at her right the Princess' Odwar, Val Dor ofHelium. And each of these knew the part that he was to play, win orlose, as did each of the other Black players. As Tara took her placeVal Dor bowed low. "My sword is at your feet, Tara of Helium," he said.
She turned and looked at him, an expression of surprise and incredulityupon her face. "Val Dor, the dwar!" she exclaimed. "Val Dor ofHelium--one of my father's trusted captains! Can it be possible that myeyes speak the truth?"
"It is Val Dor, Princess," the warrior replied, "and here to die foryou if need be, as is every wearer of the Black upon this field ofjetan today. Know Princess," he whispered, "that upon this side is noman of Manator, but each and every is an enemy of Manator."
She cast a quick, meaning glance toward Gahan. "But what of him?" shewhispered, and then she caught her breath quickly in surprise. "Shadeof the first jeddak!" she exclaimed. "I did but just recognize himthrough his disguise."
"And you trust him?" asked Val Dor. "I know him not; but he spokefairly, as an honorable warrior, and we have taken him at his word."
"You have made no mistake," replied Tara of Helium. "I would trust himwith my life--with my soul; and you, too, may trust him."
Happy indeed would have been Gahan of Gathol could he have heard thosewords; but Fate, who is usually unkind to the lover in such matters,ordained it otherwise, and then the game was on.
U-Dor moved his Princess' Odwar three squares diagonally to the right,which placed the piece upon the Black Chief's Odwar's seventh. The movewas indicative of the game that U-Dor intended playing--a game ofblood, rather than of science--and evidenced his contempt for hisopponents.
Gahan followed with his Odwar's Panthan one square straight forward, amore scientific move, which opened up an avenue for himself through hisline of Panthans, as well as announcing to the players and spectatorsthat he intended having a hand in the fighting himself even before theexigencies of the game forced it upon him. The move elicited a rippleof applause from those sections of seats reserved for the commonwarriors and their women, showing perhaps that U-Dor was none toopopular with these, and, too, it had its effect upon the morale ofGahan's pieces. A Chief may, and often does, play almost an entire gamewithout leaving his own square, where, mounted upon a thoat, he mayoverlook the entire field and direct each move, nor may he bereproached for lack of courage should he elect thus to play the gamesince, by the rules, were he to be slain or so badly wounded as to becompelled to withdraw, a game that might otherwise have been won by thescience of his play and the prowess of his men would be drawn. Toinvite personal combat, therefore, denotes confidence in his ownswordsmanship, and great courage, two attributes that were calculatedto fill the Black players with hope and valor when evinced by theirChief thus early in the game.
U-Dor's next move placed
Lan-O's Odwar upon Tara's Odwar'sfourth--within striking distance of the Black Princess.
Another move and the game would be lost to Gahan unless the OrangeOdwar was overthrown, or Tara moved to a position of safety; but tomove his Princess now would be to admit his belief in the superiorityof the Orange. In the three squares allowed him he could not placehimself squarely upon the square occupied by the Odwar of U-Dor'sPrincess. There was only one player upon the Black side that mightdispute the square with the enemy and that was the Chief's Odwar, whostood upon Gahan's left. Gahan turned upon his thoat and looked at theman. He was a splendid looking fellow, resplendent in the gorgeoustrappings of an Odwar, the five brilliant feathers which denoted hisposition rising defiantly erect from his thick, black hair. In commonwith every player upon the field and every spectator in the crowdedstands he knew what was passing in his Chief's mind. He dared notspeak, the ethics of the game forbade it, but what his lips might notvoice his eyes expressed in martial fire, and eloquently: "The honor ofthe Black and the safety of our Princess are secure with me!"
Gahan hesitated no longer. "Chief's Odwar to Princess' Odwar's fourth!"he commanded. It was the courageous move of a leader who had taken upthe gauntlet thrown down by his opponent.
The warrior sprang forward and leaped into the square occupied byU-Dor's piece. It was the first disputed square of the game. The eyesof the players were fastened upon the contestants, the spectatorsleaned forward in their seats after the first applause that had greetedthe move, and silence fell upon the vast assemblage. If the Black wentdown to defeat, U-Dor could move his victorious piece on to the squareoccupied by Tara of Helium and the game would be over--over in fourmoves and lost to Gahan of Gathol. If the Orange lost U-Dor would havesacrificed one of his most important pieces and more than lost whatadvantage the first move might have given him.
Physically the two men appeared perfectly matched and each was fightingfor his life, but from the first it was apparent that the Black Odwarwas the better swordsman, and Gahan knew that he had another andperhaps a greater advantage over his antagonist. The latter wasfighting for his life only, without the spur of chivalry or loyalty.The Black Odwar had these to strengthen his arm, and besides these theknowledge of the thing that Gahan had whispered into the ears of hisplayers before the game, and so he fought for what is more than life tothe man of honor.
It was a duel that held those who witnessed it in spellbound silence.The weaving blades gleamed in the brilliant sunlight, ringing to theparries of cut and thrust. The barbaric harness of the duelists lentsplendid color to the savage, martial scene. The Orange Odwar, forcedupon the defensive, was fighting madly for his life. The Black, withcool and terrible efficiency, was forcing him steadily, step by step,into a corner of the square--a position from which there could be noescape. To abandon the square was to lose it to his opponent and winfor himself ignoble and immediate death before the jeering populace.Spurred on by the seeming hopelessness of his plight, the Orange Odwarburst into a sudden fury of offense that forced the Black back a halfdozen steps, and then the sword of U-Dor's piece leaped in and drewfirst blood, from the shoulder of his merciless opponent. Anill-smothered cry of encouragement went up from U-Dor's men; the OrangeOdwar, encouraged by his single success, sought to bear down the Blackby the rapidity of his attack. There was a moment in which the swordsmoved with a rapidity that no man's eye might follow, and then theBlack Odwar made a lightning parry of a vicious thrust, leaned quicklyforward into the opening he had effected, and drove his sword throughthe heart of the Orange Odwar--to the hilt he drove it through the bodyof the Orange Odwar.
A shout arose from the stands, for wherever may have been the favor ofthe spectators, none there was who could say that it had not been apretty fight, or that the better man had not won. And from the Blackplayers came a sigh of relief as they relaxed from the tension of thepast moments.
I shall not weary you with the details of the game--only the highfeatures of it are necessary to your understanding of the outcome. Thefourth move after the victory of the Black Odwar found Gahan uponU-Dor's fourth; an Orange Panthan was on the adjoining squarediagonally to his right and the only opposing piece that could engagehim other than U-Dor himself.
It had been apparent to both players and spectators for the past twomoves, that Gahan was moving straight across the field into the enemy'scountry to seek personal combat with the Orange Chief--that he wasstaking all upon his belief in the superiority of his ownswordsmanship, since if the two Chiefs engage, the outcome decides thegame. U-Dor could move out and engage Gahan, or he could move hisPrincess' Panthan upon the square occupied by Gahan in the hope that theformer would defeat the Black Chief and thus draw the game, which isthe outcome if any other than a Chief slays the opposing Chief, or hecould move away and escape, temporarily, the necessity for personalcombat, or at least that is evidently what he had in mind as wasobvious to all who saw him scanning the board about him; and hisdisappointment was apparent when he finally discovered that Gahan hadso placed himself that there was no square to which U-Dor could movethat it was not within Gahan's power to reach at his own next move.
U-Dor had placed his own Princess four squares east of Gahan when herposition had been threatened, and he had hoped to lure the Black Chiefafter her and away from U-Dor; but in that he had failed. He nowdiscovered that he might play his own Odwar into personal combat withGahan; but he had already lost one Odwar and could ill spare the other.His position was a delicate one, since he did not wish to engage Gahanpersonally, while it appeared that there was little likelihood of hisbeing able to escape. There was just one hope and that lay in hisPrincess' Panthan, so, without more deliberation he ordered the pieceonto the square occupied by the Black Chief.
The sympathies of the spectators were all with Gahan now. If he lost,the game would be declared a draw, nor do they think better of drawngames upon Barsoom than do Earth men. If he won, it would doubtlessmean a duel between the two Chiefs, a development for which they allwere hoping. The game already bade fair to be a short one and it wouldbe an angry crowd should it be decided a draw with only two men slain.There were great, historic games on record where of the forty pieces onthe field when the game opened only three survived--the two Princessesand the victorious Chief.
They blamed U-Dor, though in fact he was well within his rights indirecting his play as he saw fit, nor was a refusal on his part toengage the Black Chief necessarily an imputation of cowardice. He was agreat chief who had conceived a notion to possess the slave Tara. Therewas no honor that could accrue to him from engaging in combat withslaves and criminals, or an unknown warrior from Manataj, nor was thestake of sufficient import to warrant the risk.
But now the duel between Gahan and the Orange Panthan was on and thedecision of the next move was no longer in other hands than theirs. Itwas the first time that these Manatorians had seen Gahan of Gatholfight, but Tara of Helium knew that he was master of his sword. Couldhe have seen the proud light in her eyes as he crossed blades with thewearer of the Orange, he might easily have wondered if they were thesame eyes that had flashed fire and hatred at him that time he hadcovered her lips with mad kisses, in the pits of the palace of O-Tar.As she watched him she could not but compare his swordplay with that ofthe greatest swordsman of two worlds--her father, John Carter, ofVirginia, a Prince of Helium, Warlord of Barsoom--and she knew that theskill of the Black Chief suffered little by the comparison.
Short and to the point was the duel that decided possession of theOrange Chief's fourth. The spectators had settled themselves for aninteresting engagement of at least average duration when they werebrought almost standing by a brilliant flash of rapid swordplay thatwas over ere one could catch his breath. They saw the Black Chief stepquickly back, his point upon the ground, while his opponent, his swordslipping from his fingers, clutched his breast, sank to his knees andthen lunged forward upon his face.
And then Gahan of Gathol turned his eyes directly upon U-Dor ofManator, three squares away. Three squa
res is a Chief's move--threesquares in any direction or combination of directions, only providedthat he does not cross the same square twice in a given move. Thepeople saw and guessed Gahan's intention. They rose and roared forththeir approval as he moved deliberately across the intervening squarestoward the Orange Chief.
O-Tar, in the royal enclosure, sat frowning upon the scene. O-Tar wasangry. He was angry with U-Dor for having entered this game forpossession of a slave, for whom it had been his wish only slaves andcriminals should strive. He was angry with the warrior from Manataj forhaving so far out-generaled and out-fought the men from Manator. He wasangry with the populace because of their open hostility toward one whohad basked in the sunshine of his favor for long years. O-Tar thejeddak had not enjoyed the afternoon. Those who surrounded him wereequally glum--they, too, scowled upon the field, the players, and thepeople. Among them was a bent and wrinkled old man who gazed throughweak and watery eyes upon the field and the players.
As Gahan entered his square, U-Dor leaped toward him with drawn swordwith such fury as might have overborne a less skilled and powerfulswordsman. For a minute the fighting was fast and furious and bycomparison reducing to insignificance all that had gone before. Hereindeed were two magnificent swordsmen, and here was to be a battle thatbade fair to make up for whatever the people felt they had beendefrauded of by the shortness of the game. Nor had it continued longbefore many there were who would have prophesied that they werewitnessing a duel that was to become historic in the annals of jetan atManator. Every trick, every subterfuge, known to the art of fence thesemen employed. Time and again each scored a point and brought blood tohis opponent's copper hide until both were red with gore; but neitherseemed able to administer the coup de grace.
From her position upon the opposite side of the field Tara of Heliumwatched the long-drawn battle. Always it seemed to her that the BlackChief fought upon the defensive, or when he assumed to push hisopponent, he neglected a thousand openings that her practiced eyebeheld. Never did he seem in real danger, nor never did he appear toexert himself to quite the pitch needful for victory. The duel alreadyhad been long contested and the day was drawing to a close. Presentlythe sudden transition from daylight to darkness which, owing to thetenuity of the air upon Barsoom, occurs almost without the warningtwilight of Earth, would occur. Would the fight never end? Would thegame be called a draw after all? What ailed the Black Chief?
Tara wished that she might answer at least the last of these questionsfor she was sure that Turan the panthan, as she knew him, whilefighting brilliantly, was not giving of himself all that he might. Shecould not believe that fear was restraining his hand, but that therewas something beside inability to push U-Dor more fiercely she wasconfident. What it was, however, she could not guess.
Once she saw Gahan glance quickly up toward the sinking sun. In thirtyminutes it would be dark. And then she saw and all those others saw astrange transition steal over the swordplay of the Black Chief. It wasas though he had been playing with the great dwar, U-Dor, all thesehours, and now he still played with him but there was a difference. Heplayed with him terribly as a carnivore plays with its victim in theinstant before the kill. The Orange Chief was helpless now in the handsof a swordsman so superior that there could be no comparison, and thepeople sat in open-mouthed wonder and awe as Gahan of Gathol cut hisfoe to ribbons and then struck him down with a blow that cleft him tothe chin.
In twenty minutes the sun would set. But what of that?