Araman

  Chapter Ten

  Verxia village was vast and Kassen considered it more of a town than a village. It was far greater than any place in Attashar and far more picturesque.

  Each house and street had its own decoration but the dominating colour was gold. There were golden flowers hanging in painted flower boxes by windows. Golden window frames with stained glass set in them, most depicting Unisayan and maidens in purple gowns. And most of the houses had front gardens marked off by little coloured fences, a highly unusual sight in the centre of a town that usually saved its space for more houses.

  There were many shops for food and cloth and medicine, and even more stalls outside on the cobbled street, where peddlers from all over Fardonmeria sold fish, spices and jewellery. Kassen was surprised at how clean the streets were also, not like in Attashar where you were ankle deep in filth; from people as well as horses.

  They asked for directions several times in order to navigate the many roads and walkways and dodge the massive amount of people who walked them. Eventually they reached the edge of the town where the forest began.

  There was a crowd gathered in the distance, and the sound of cheering grew louder as they neared it. It was not all men either, there were a few women stood watching and Kassen spotted a group of children that had climbed the closest tree to observe.

  Kassen and Derio pushed through the rowdy crowd as best they could till they were just one line behind the makeshift circle and able to look through the gaps between people’s heads at whom this mysterious warrior might be.

  Kassen watched a man fall to the ground and hold up his sword in defeat towards a competitor he could not yet see.

  “Looks like he’s from Dowe,” Derio yelled to Kassen over the cheers surrounding them. Money was now being exchanged from bets made before the fight.

  Kassen looked closer at the man who had submitted; now walking away dismayed at losing the fight. He was wearing the green overcoat and hat that was signature attire for the little fishing village to the east of Attashar. It appeared that people came from all over to fight this undefeated man, whether in town on business or simply to prove themselves. Either way, there was a large amount of trade coming into the Kingdom. There were so many different cultures here, many Kassen didn’t recognise.

  The crowd quieted and Kassen looked again to the clearing to see a man stood in the centre dressed all in black, wearing a mask that covered his whole head, so only his eyes were showing.

  The man rested his sword in the soil before him and held up a single elegant finger to the crowd, who started cheering again.

  “One more, one more!” Kassen heard them chant and decided to test this masked man.

  “This one’s mine,” he said to a disappointed Derio, who looked like a barman had just told him they were out of beer.

  Kassen pushed through the final line of people and stepped confidently into the makeshift ring.

  “I’ll take you on.” Kassen said.

  The man looked up at the General, a momentary look of surprise flitted across his eyes and everyone went silent as they slowly realised who the challenger was.

  The masked man said nothing and considered Kassen carefully, sizing up his possible opponent. Kassen was starting to feel unnerved by this, especially as the man was a considerable amount smaller than him, in both stature and muscle development.

  “Unless I’m too much of a challenge.” Kassen said, once he felt the scrutiny had gone on long enough.

  The General thought he saw the man roll his eyes as he picked up his sword and swung it in the air with finesse, then bent his small frame forward in a mock bow to the General.

  Kassen pulled out his sword and swung it round in a similar fashion, rallying the spectators into making new bets. Even some of the locals had bets on the General where they had not bet against the masked man before.

  The General smiled smugly as he locked eyes with the masked man. They stood staring at each other for a moment, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Kassen was usually the first one to break the connection during a fight, seeing it as an opportunity to strike while his opponent was distracted, but he found himself staring at the man for longer than necessary. Perhaps because his eyes were the same colour as Sa Raliena’s which reminded him of their meeting this morning and how evasive she had been.

  Kassen frowned at the thought and the masked man leapt forward, his sword diagonal, ready to catch the quick parry Kassen returned. As if he knew the General would have quick enough reactions to counter a first attack. He very nearly wasn’t quick enough and scolded himself for allowing such thoughts to distract him.

  After they exchanged a few parries, they broke apart to take stock of one another. They were of equal strength, which surprised the General, who prided himself on his prowess, especially against such a slight opponent.

  This time he didn’t allow himself to be distracted by thoughts of Raliena, lunging at his opponent, and was not caught off balance when the man twirled out of the way. Kassen’s adversary easily caught the sword that headed for his exposed back, with a lazy twist of the sword behind him.

  Kassen took up his starting position again. Once more both stepped forward with overstated force, wanting to prove themselves. Kassen struck with a downwards swipe but the masked man was there to catch it and force it back up. Kassen pulled his sword away and began to strike downwards again; the man spun to the side and caught it a second time.

  The General hit upwards, then down and up again, but the masked man was there to catch all of them in swift, quick movements.

  “Not bad.” Kassen taunted, trying to get his opponent’s left shoulder by spinning to the right and surprising him. The masked man’s slender body twisted without his feet, caught the blow and then spun himself and both swords on one leg.

  Clearly he did not take well to being patronised. The crowd however went wild, not used to seeing someone match the undefeated man for so long.

  Kassen relished the attention and jumped forward to catch the man’s defending sword in an attempt to throw him off the beat of the fight, but he had predicted the next step and spun in the other direction.

  There was a short breathing pause before Kassen lunged at his opponent’s side, moving without his feet and revealing his chest. The masked man took advantage of this and pushing Kassen’s sword out of the way, spun into his chest, and placed his sword at Kassen’s throat.

  There were moans and cheers from the crowd who began exchanging money but stopped when the masked man held his hand up before removing his sword from the General’s throat and held both hands out to the side in a gesture to continue.

  Kassen hesitated then rolled his shoulders and smiled. He had to admit, the man was a skilled swordsman, but he knew his tricks now and was warmed up for another bout.

  “I haven’t had a challenge like this in a while.” He said flexing his arm. His opponent bowed his head in acknowledgement.

  Once they were both in position again, they stepped forward simultaneously and met swords downwards in the middle. Kassen had the masked man on the defence a few times, but he would always block a winning move and did not seem to tire. The man pulled away from engagement and turned to reveal his back.

  Without thinking, Kassen took the opportunity and swung his sword, flat side ready to touch the man’s back and win, but inches away from him, the man turned on Kassen and stopped the sideward sword in front of them. The masked man pushed forward hard, making Kassen apply more force to keep the sword in place. Then suddenly, the man dropped his body, taking his sword with it, causing Kassen to off balance and turn a complete circle just to keep from falling.

  When he was back to where he started, the man was still on one knee and had his sword pointing directly towards Kassen’s crotch.

  Kassen looked down and the man winked at him.

  “Bad form!” Deri
o yelled light-heartedly from the sidelines. The man removed his sword and lazily swiped at Kassen as he stood. After that shock the General was ready and hit against the offending sword.

  Kassen winked back at him and twisted his sword a full circle till it was on the other side of his competitor’s, hit the sword hard, making him change hands or risk twisting round. Then, with this advantage, Kassen changed sword hand and grabbing the man’s shoulder with the other, almost succeeded in placing the sword against his neck; if it had not been for the masked man’s sword already waiting in front of his face, with which he pushed Kassen’s away, bucked himself backwards and had his sword at Kassen’s throat once more.

  The crowd went wild again and the masked man did not halt the money exchange but held his hand out to Kassen after sheathing his sword.

  Kassen nodded to him, accepting defeat, and took his opponent’s noticeably smaller hand. He could not compete against someone with such quick reflexes. The masked man let go first and wandered away, collecting a bag of money from a woman waiting at the side. Kassen looked down and saw the plain gold disk that had been given to him in the exchange when they shook.

  “It is a great honour to be given that, General of Attashar.” A man said beside him. “Only a few people have ever received it and it will get you much more than the coin is worth in the local shops.”

  Kassen flipped it over in his hand then stashed it in his pocket and joined Derio who was grinning wildly and holding a large bag of money.

  “You bet against me?” The General accused, offended.

  “He is undefeated.” Derio said indifferently.

  Kassen rolled his eyes.