A Sword for Kregen (29 page)

“Die, you rast!” he screamed. “Die!”

The attempt to rise and stand on my own two feet was too much for me. I was on one knee, the shield held up and the sword feebly pointing, and I gasped and wheezed and fought to clear the black demons in my head and see through the leaping whorls of light and shadow encompassing me.

His passion controlled him now, and he struck and struck as though hewing wood. He had had a scare and he could not understand the emotions that corroded within him like poisons — so I guessed, seeing that never had he met his master. But, for all that, I was nearly done for. The pathetic bits of shield still held together and kept out his thraxter; but that was all.

So I tried to stand up. I made a last convulsive effort.

He saw that. He saw the way I lurched and recovered and struggled my foot under me and so started to rise.

“Rast! Yetch! Die!”

Toppling, swaying, I struggled with a despairing savagery to stand up. And I knew I could not. Mefto saw the way I moved, saw my body begin to rise, and it was clear he imagined I was about to stand up. Zair knows what kind of demon he thought I must be, after the way he had chopped me, and the blood, and the punishment, and the state I was in. He thought I was going to stand up. That golden face contorted into a look of bestial unbelieving fury. He took three slow steps back, right to the very edge of the blue square, and then with a howl he launched himself at me.

And, then, Prince Mefto the Kazzur made his mistake.

The blows from his thraxter smashed down viciously on the chunk of shield I held aloft, twisted so that a remnant of bronze framing held against the blows. Mefto was a Kildoi. A Kildoi has been blessed by the gods with a tail hand. Mefto in his blind fury reached out with his tail hand and seized the rim of this infuriating frustrating chunk of shield, ready to tear it away and so leave me open for the last blow.

That hard brown hand gripped onto the bronze before my eyes. I saw the nails, trimmed and polished, the thin bristle of golden hair, the whiteness of constricting violence between the knuckles. The hand gripped and pulled. The shield moved.

With a final lurch I lifted halfway up, reached out with the sword, cut off that tail hand.

Prince Mefto the Kazzur screamed.

His golden body convulsed away, and he shrieked, a high howling screech of agony and fury, of humiliation and despair.

Somehow, do not ask me, for I cannot say, I was crouched over his body as he twitched and convulsed on the blue blood-spattered sand. He held the gory stump of his tail in all his four hands, and he screamed and slobbered and cried.

I said, “Mefto the Kleesh. I have cut Kataki tails off before this, and those yetches did not cry like you do.”

All that effort of speaking, of boasting, when I was bleeding to death, exhausted me, such is the stupidity of pride. There was little time. I lifted the thraxter, and it trembled. Mefto was wrapped up in his own horror and was not aware, not aware at all that the steel point hovered above his throat.

He was a master swordsman, he could hand out the punishment with a laugh; but he could not endure punishment, He was the best swordsman I had so far encountered; he was not the greatest by a very long way.

I raised the sword a last inch, grasping the hilt in both blood-stained hands. I took a ragged breath. I started to bring the sword down, to plunge it through Mefto’s throat and on to bury the point deeply in the blue sand — and hands grasped my shoulders and the thraxter was taken away as a nurse takes away a baby’s bottle and I was placed flat on the sand and there was noise and confusion and a needleman with his acupuncture needles and miles and miles of yellow bandages.

“Why—?” I tried to say.

Yasuri bent over me.

“Mefto’s people resigned the game to save his life.”

“Then,” I gasped out, “Then I have failed!”

A stupid game, and its rules, had saved the rast to bring horror to the Dawn Lands and to Vallia, when a straight and simple fight outside the rules of Kazz-Jikaida — why had I listened to brave Konec and Dav? I should have — I should have — but the words went away and there was blackness like the blackness of Notor Zan. I awoke to see Yasuri looking down on me with the strangest of expressions on her face.

I felt light-headed and empty and very very thirsty. She told a slave girl to fill a goblet with water, and this I drank straight down. Someone with a reedy voice said: “No more for now. He is weak but will mend with care.”

“I shall care for him,” said the lady Yasuri, and I could see no lines on her face at all.

A shadow moved at her side and the lady Jikaidasta stood there in what must be a private room in Yasuri’s suite at her hotel, The Star of Laybrites. Ling-li’s pale face glowed in the reflected radiance and her blue eyes were very bright upon me.

“I must leave Jikaida City now. I did not aid you in the fight — Jak.” She paused on the name. Then: “The Nine Masked Guardians maintain San Orien, who is a Wizard of Loh of great repute, to warn them of any sorcery practiced in the games. You fought your own fight — and won.”

I could not shake my head, for it would probably have fallen off; but I wondered if it was possible for me to agree with her, that she might be right. Had I won? The crucial factor was, it didn’t matter if I had won that fight or not.

Then there was a deeper rumble of voices, and shadows, and presently Kov Konec and Vad Dav Olmes stood by the bed. They were smiling with great broad smiles of triumph, for Prince Mefto the Kazzur had left Jikaida City, his stump tail bandaged, left it the very day after the fight, which was a sennight ago, and because there was no evidence against the people from Mandua they had been freed, and with an apology, too.

The words croaked from my throat. “And the rast from Hamal?”

“He remains. He plays in the Mediary Games, for there are always games of Jikaida going on in Jikaida City.”

He smiled down on me, and Dav, with a finger to his nose, said, “Yes, the Mediary Games begin, and the lady Yasuri is the Champion, reigning Champion.”

“And now the people of the Dawn Lands will take their own destiny into their hands.” Konec’s fist rested on his sword hilt. “The alliance between Hamal and Shanodrin never took place. I think, I hope, I pray, Prince Mefto is finished.”

Maybe I did not know what the Star Lords wanted with the lady Yasuri. But I did know that, for me, the work I had had to do in Jikaida City was finished. There was nothing to keep me here now. Vallia called. If the Star Lords brought me back here, then I would have to think again. But the Witch of Loh, Ling-li-Lwingling, also, knew more than she allowed. This was all tied up together; but I had fought a fight, and, by Krun! I knew I had been in a fight. I lay back on the yellow pillows.

My way home to Vallia still remained in Jikaida City.

As soon as I could move I would be off.

The Hamalese flier would speed me across the continent and take me home. Home to Delia.

“Let us praise Dromo the Benevolent,” said Konec. “We have won. It is all over now. The game is finished.”

As I drifted off to sleep I said to myself: “For you it may be finished. But the game is not finished for me, for plain Dray Prescot who happens to be the Emperor of Vallia.”

Appendix: Jikaida

The smallest form of Jikaida, known as Poron Jikaida, is here described. I should like to acknowledge the advice and interest of John Gollon of Geneva in the preparation of these rules for publication. I must also thank my son for his enthusiasm and expertise in playing Jikaida. He has helped to clarify game situations and contributed to the strategical shape of Poron Jikaida. As a matter of convenience the terminology of terrestrial chess is used when practical.

The board consists of six drins, arranged two by three, each drin containing thirty-six squares, arranged six by six. The dividing line between drins is called a front and is painted in more heavily than the other lines to facilitate demarcation.

The squares are almost always either black and white or blue and yellow, although other colors are known. On Kregen red and green are seldom used. The players have a yellow square on the right of the first rank.

Blue is usually north and Yellow south. Each player has two drins before him, his home drins, and the two wild drins in the center. From Yellow’s point of view each drin is lettered A to F from left to right, and numbered one to six from south to north. Each drin has a name.

In Poron Jikaida the six drins are named and arranged:

Wersting    Chavonth
 Neemu        Leem
  Mortil        Zhantil

By using the drin name followed by the coordinates any square is readily identifiable, and this system has been found to be quick, simple and efficient.

It is possible to place artificial features on the board — rivers, hills, woods, etc. — by prior arrangement between the players. Most often these are not employed, Jikaida purists contending that they interfere with the orthodox developments and powers of pieces in combination on the open board.

The object of the game is to capture the opposing King. This piece is variously called Princess, Aeilssa, Rokveil, and in Loh, Queen. When any piece is in a position enabling it to take the King the player calls: “Kaida.” When the King cannot evade capture, “Hyrkaida.” At any time he thinks he is in a winning position, a player may ask his opponent: “Do you bare the throat?” If his opponent does, he resigns.

Each player has thirty-six pieces, arrayed in his first three ranks. The pieces are: one King, one Pallan, two Kapts, two Chuktars, two Jiktars, two Hikdars, two Paktuns, twelve Deldars, twelve swods.

The King moves as in Terran chess. Notation: K.

The Pallan moves as Terran Queen plus Knight and may pass from one drin to the next, once only, during his move. The Pallan has the power of taking any friendly piece except the King. Notation: P.

The Kapt moves as Pallan, but may not take a friendly piece. When crossing drin front, must continue direction of travel. Notation: Ka.

The Chuktar moves as Terran Queen. May cross drin front once per move continuing direction of travel. Notation: C.

The Jiktar moves as Terran rook. Must halt at drin front and cross on next move. Notation: J.

The Hikdar moves as Terran Bishop. Must halt at drin front and cross on next move. Notation: H.

The Paktun moves as Terran Knight. Notation: Pk.

The Deldar moves and captures one or two squares in any direction, orthogonal or diagonal. A two square move may not involve a change of direction and is not a leap. Notation: D.

The swod moves one square, straight forward or to the two forward diagonals and captures only to the forward diagonals. Notation: S.

The Paktun may leap twice on his first move. The Deldar may move twice on his first move, being able to move one, two, three or four squares, but changing direction only after the second square. The swod may advance or capture one, two or three squares on his initial move.

In these initial moves of Paktun, Deldar or swod, and in the case of the two-square move of the Deldar under normal circumstances, the move of such a piece ends when he makes a capture. The Paktun, for example, cannot on his initial move leap and capture, then leap again.

After his initial move, the swod moves and captures one square only.

In some areas of Kregen, Dray Prescot notes, players contend that the Deldar may only move and capture for a two-square move. Other areas allow a single square move without capture. These variations are considered interesting, and frustrating, as the piece’s power cannot then extend to adjacent squares and would be limited to eight Squares at a straight two-square range diagonally and orthogonally.

The Paktun crosses drin fronts in the normal course of his move. The Jiktar, Hikdar, Deldar and swod must halt at a front and cross on the next move. If the Deldar’s normal two-square move is halted by a front after one square, he must halt and wait until a subsequent move to cross. The Chuktar and Kapt may cross a front once only during their move and must continue on in the same line of travel. The Pallan has this privilege; but also he may change direction at the front (like light through the surface of water.) When a Pallan comes up to a front orthogonally he may continue straight on or take either of the two diagonals ahead. If the square adjoining the front is yellow on the hither side of the front, the two diagonals he may follow will also be yellow. If the square is blue, the diagonals will be blue. If the Pallan comes up to a drin front diagonally he may continue on the same diagonal or take either of the two orthogonals enclosing the diagonal. One of these orthogonals will always lie alongside the front. He cannot turn at right angles to his line of advance. The paktun-leap of the Pallan is his move and cannot be taken as well as another move.

A move through an interior drin corner would allow the player to move into any one of the other three drins.

Unless halted by a piece in the way, the Jiktar and Hikdar may move the full distance of a drin up to the front. The Pallan, Kapt and Chuktar, unless halted by a piece, may move the full distance of one drin and the full distance of the next. To cross a front, all pieces with the exception of those with trans-front movement and the Paktun must stand on a square adjacent to the front in order to cross.

There is no
en passant
capture in Jikaida.

There is no castling as such in Jikaida, but a near-equivalent is employed. If the King is not under attack and the square on which he will land is not under attack, and if the King and the other piece involved are on their original squares (whether or not they have previously moved) once only during the game a player may switch the place of the King with that of a Kapt or a Chuktar. The King would then be moved to the square of the Kapt or Chuktar, and the other piece moved to the King’s square. It does not matter if there are, or are not, pieces in the way, nor if the intervening squares are under attack. This move is known as the King’s Fluttember. Because of zeunting, this rule is strategically less vital in Jikaida than the castling rule in chess, but nevertheless can be important tactically.