Death Or Fortune (15 page)

    
After that first victory, I don't think I walked down the steps.  I don't
remember touching a single one.  Hans healed any minor wounds I had once I
was at the bottom of the steps.  He told me that his friend Zackary was
fighting later in the day, he was going to stay around to watch and see how he
did.  I collected Jasmin and Pare from the stands and we met Hetaron
outside of the arena.  The walk back to the inn was quiet and easy.
 Most of the town was still inside the arena.  Blocks away, we could
still hear the people cheering on the fighters.  Once we were in sight of
the inn Pare told me he had something to do and ran off on his own.  I
looked towards Jasmin and asked her if she knew where he was going.

    
"He said he was going to see some girl."
She said it with a
light laugh in her voice.  I wasn't sure it was something to laugh about
though.  I had a feeling I knew who he was going to see and I couldn't
think of why he would be going to see Cynthia.  She had fought a match or
two before mine and won quite easily.  Hetaron reading the look on my face
said something I never expected.
"Halflings do have sex Kromwell, they
don't spring forth from the void."
I looked over at the mage and only
shook my head. When we entered the inn Hetaron went straight to his room.
 I told the inn keeper that we would be down for dinner in an hour if
everything was ready. She shook an old bar rag at me and I went to clean up.

     Once I
stripped off my armor and washed I felt like a new man.  I took my time
getting dressed again.  I was standing in front of a mirror when Jasmin
spoke,
"You don't have to keep going.  You have no idea how afraid
I was watching you today. I have lost both my parents, I could not stand to
lose you as well."
I turned and looked at her and said that I was just
having fun with the man I fought.  That he wasn't much of a challenge.
 It was in part the truth.  I was having fun during the bout.  I
think I enjoyed it a little too much.  I did not take things as serious as
I should have.  Salazar put up a good fight but if he was a better fighter
I might not have walked away as clean as I did. I needed to approach these
fights as something that could kill me. A lot of men died on that arena floor
the first day.  I could have been one of them.  I told myself and
Jasmin that I would be smarter about it.  Treat the fights just as I would
a fight in the field.

     We talked
a bit more about me taking things a bit more seriously after I got dressed and
then headed down stairs to eat. Just as I opened the door, there stood Pare
about to knock.  I asked him where he went off to.
"Oh just went
to see Cynthia. She told me to come find her after you fought. She wanted me to
tell you that the next guy you are going to fight is a bit crazy. Then I went
to place a bet for Hetaron, he gave me a bunch of gold. He thinks you will win
the next fight and after today the odds are against you."
Believe it
or not, I wasn't shocked to learn that the wizard was making bets on me.
 He was a rich man, all things being equal yet he craved gold. Even more
than I did in those days.  I told him we were going to eat dinner and he
said he would be down soon.  Pare never missed dinner if he could help it.

     The inn
keeper told us to take the back corner table, it was away from everything else
but it gave us a chance to dine in peace. That was when I saw him for the first
time. He was an older man, a slender frame but well built.  Close cropped
red hair and beard with a face that only a mother could love.  He looked
around the room a time or two, pausing on me each time.  He took a table
close to us and ordered a bottle of rum.  Sitting there with one foot on
the table, the other on the floor he watched Jasmin and I while drinking the
bottle down a mouth full at a time.  I figure he had half the bottle gone
by the time he started to talk.
"Enjoying your meal pup?"
I
swallowed the food in my mouth and set my fork down, the knife however stayed
in my hand.
"I hope it is as good as it looks. Being the last time you
will get a nice supper with your little tart there."
The grip on my
knife grew just a little tighter as he leaned backwards in his chair.
"I
figure by this time tomorrow you will be headed back north. Either dead or with
your tail between your legs. But don't you worry pup, I will take real good
care of your little tart. We are going to have a real good time, her and
I."

     Every word
out of his mouth made me a just a little bit hotter.  No weapon and no
armor other than my belt. I thought about picking up the table we were at and
beating him with it when I saw Pare had come up behind him.  Pare had
stopped just behind the man as he was talking.  When he at last understood
that he was talking about Jasmin, he could not be stopped.  He first
jumped into a chair and then to the table the red haired man was sitting at.
 Before the man could react, Pare jumped on his with both feet taking the
man and his chair the rest of the way over to the floor.  I jumped up over
the table to help my friend, as I was moving towards them I saw the flash of
steel. Pare was squatting down on the floor over the man’s head with his knife
pressed against the red haired man’s neck.
"You sheep loving pile of
cat puke, you are not fit to breath the same air as my friends. You even so
much as look at her cross again, it will be the last thing you see."

     I was
shocked at the anger in Pare's voice and yet at the same time oddly touched.
 I do not know what I did to ever earn such loyalty but it isn't something
you can buy.  No, you cannot buy Pare's respect or friendship.  It is
something you must earn.  I asked him once in passing a few years ago, why
he is still with me, why he still hangs around. "We have fun
together" was all he told me.  I could hear the inn keeper screaming,
heading for the front door of the inn, screaming for the guards.  I told
Pare to let him up and to take Jasmin back to our room.  As quick as it
came out, his knife was hidden again.  As he went over to Jasmin he said
"that’s
him Darmot, his name is Norris. He is the one you are fighting tomorrow."
I
looked down at the man on the floor and shook my head.  He started to lift
himself up and I pushed him back down with my foot.

     "You
have made a grave mistake here today my friend. Trying to goad me into a fight
or scare me off.  You were trying to get an early victory over a man with
no weapon or armor.  I killed a man today that had honor.  Something
you would not understand.  Tomorrow when I see you I will give you one
chance to walk away.  Pass that up and not only will I kill you, I will
make you will suffer."

     I woke up
early the next morning and headed to the arena with Hetaron.  My mood had
not improved at all during my night’s sleep.  I knew I had to get my anger
under control or it would get the best of me.  Hetaron on the other hand
seemed to be in a grand mood that day. When I asked him why he seemed so happy
he talked to me as he did when we first met.  Before the war and our
titles were granted.
"I had a good night. I have been doing research on
how to make a soul jar. Very powerful magic item, should anything ever happen
to me, my soul would be safe. I have found the perfect gem, large diamond that
cost me close to ten thousand gold. Some of the things I need are still beyond
my skill but soon I will have unlocked all the secrets. I have taken my first
step towards becoming immortal. Even if my body is destroyed, the gem will
protect my soul until a new body can be found or mine is restored. I cannot do
the magic today but one day, one day soon."
     I still get chills today thinking about the things he
told me that day.  Could he do it, would he become immortal? Was he ever
able to do such a thing, I do not know.  I just told him I was glad for
him.  Not knowing the darkness behind the creation of such an item.
 At the time I just figured it was a worthwhile pursuit for the dark mage.
"Long ago there was another wizard who lived in this area. Well settled
here is more like it. His name was Argon, he sought a way to lengthen his life
in order to live alongside his elf bride.  I was able to find some of his
work, not all of it and some of it is beyond me still. I looked for other
things of his but the trail ran cold. I assume he killed himself in the process
or ended up as a lich. Still, it was a good find."
Hetaron in these
days was less and less the man I knew and more of something else altogether.
 I just tried to enjoy the times he was his old self.  I was still
too young and foolish to see the signs hanging in front of my eyes.
     Outside of the arena entrance I saw Hans speaking with
another man. He was a bit taller than I with a full head of fire red hair
flying back in the wind.  I called out to Hans as we approached and he
waved,
"Good morning Darmot. I assume you are ready for today?"
I shook my head and embraced him as a brother.  This was not normal for us
but the mile wide grin on his face made me feel good.  I then turned
towards the man he was speaking with and held out my hand, introducing myself.
"So,
ye're tha one tha Hans tole me aboot. 'Elluva shoe ye poot on yestuhday, glahd
tah meet ye."
This was not the final time I had been assaulted by the
thick accent of Zackary Red Beard.  Zackary was a good man and a fine
warrior.  When it dawned on me that this is the man Hans had been talking
to me about since we had met, I was stunned.  I remembered back to the day
those heroes came home.  Seeing this man before me bringing home the
missing children.  The weight of it all came full circle on me.  This
man was a hero, not just in deed but in his soul.

     He made
another comment that if we were to meet up, he would take it easy on me.
 I stood there in stunned silence shaking his hand.  Did fate have
some hand in me meeting him on this day.  I do not know but I will say
this. I am a better man for knowing him.  Zackary had seen loss and pain
that I had never known yet he still carried on.  He not only carried on,
he did it with a smile on his face.  Not that he was the smartest man I
knew but there was hidden wisdom behind those green eyes. We stood and talked
for a while longer when he pulled out a small flask and asked me if I wanted a
nip.  I just shook my head and laughed. There are many days I will never forget
in this life, the day I came face to face with Zackary Red Beard is one of
them.
     When I arrived in the arena for my fight the house was
full. There was only one section that was empty, the private box set aside for
the king.  Darius would only attend the final day. The crowd was screaming
out to the two people up on the platform.  Myself and Hetaron climbed up
into the stands to see the action.  A pour soul who's name I do not
remember was fighting Cynthia.  She wore light, form fitting plate armor
with a short sword and shield.  She was fighting another man who I did not
know. She was quick, reflexes were very good. Yet she was much smaller than the
man she was fighting. She used her speed to keep out of his reach and then made
him pay for every opening he presented to her.  I was impressed but I
could tell she was not used to fighting with the shield.  She used it well
but it wasn't something she was accustomed to.  Soon the boos started to
rain down from the crowd in the arena as the poor man hobbled away.
 Cynthia had just made a man twice her size run from the ring.

     Hetaron
put his hand on my shoulder and said in my ear,
"It is time
."
We returned to the arena floor making our way to our side of the platform. We
passed Cynthia along the way, she tried to say something to me but I only
remember telling her, "not now." I started to block it all out.
 The people, the arena and everything else around me.  I remember
Hans being there just before I took to the steps, I remember a black shape next
to me, it was either Hetaron or the specter of death.  I don’t remember
having my name called.  I don’t remember hearing the roar of the crowd.
 All I saw was Norris.  He looked just the same as the night before.
 He gave me a half bow and a mock salute.  I called out to him,
"this is your chance. Run now, never set your path in front of mine again.
This is your only chance." Never let it be said that I do not do my best
to keep my word.  Even if sometimes the gods demand I fail, as Hans would
tell me, "it keeps me humble."

     I watched
his stone like face break into a sneer as he spit on the floor.
"Come
get yer whippin pup."
I recall laying in bed the night before this.
 My anger if given shape would have been a flame, red hot and out of
control.  Now as I stood before the man who caused it, I focused it all on
him. A single flame, controlled yet white hot.  Ready to do my bidding,
ready to obey my command.  Norris was a skilled fighter, I will give him
that much but it was not enough.  Not on that day.  I let him come to
me.  He tried to barrel in, in order to overpower me.  I stood my
ground, he could not move me. We stood there for some time, trading blows.
 Each tasting the others blood.  I felt no pain, only the flame of
hate.  Not wanting to waste any more time I made my move to push him
towards the center of the platform.
     Bashing my shield into his made him back up. I wanted
him in the center of the ring for one reason alone. So when he felt the heat
upon his skin, he would not be able to run. That was when I let him have a
taste of my full strength.  I feigned a blow in order to get him to raise
his shield, when he did I took it.  Not with my hands but with my sword I
struck it down the middle, cleaving it in two. The wooden shield held together
with six strips of banded iron fell to the floor now in a dozen pieces.
 That is the first time I saw it, that look on his face.  He knew
then that he had made a mistake.  Kicking aside what was left of his
shield he held up his sword and tried to continue.  Each time he attacked
from then on, I turned him away. I would not let him past my guard.  I
waited for the right moment.  I was waiting for that one wild lunge, every
desperate fighter tries. They all try to sink his blade into the gut of a man who
just won't stop.
     When it came I was ready, I had known what I was going
to do from the moment his shield shattered under my blow.  I watched as he
thrust his arm forward and saw the look on his face as I started to turn my
body away from the blade so it would just pass me by.  I then saw the look
of horror on his face as I dropped my own shield to grip his arm. Holding him
by the wrist, I brought the pommel of my sword down on his arm as Boris would
bring his hammer down on a bar of red hot steel.  Pare told me later that
night that everyone in the arena heard his arm break.  I then pushed
Norris over onto his side, watching as he once again got to his feet.  He
knew he was a beaten man yet he picked up his sword again with his other arm.
 A good warrior, a smart warrior will learn to fight with both hands.
 Force his self to master the blade with both sides of his body.
 Norris may have been a good fighter, but he was not a warrior and he was
most certainly not very smart.
     I never bothered to pick my shield up again.  He
was finished but could not accept it yet.  He kept trying to attack me.
 That was when I started to beat him.  Each time he would get close
to me I would punch him with my left hand.  Soon his face was swollen, bloody
and broken.  I could no longer stand the sight of him.  I gave him
one last swing at me which I easily turned aside.  That is when I took his
hand.  Just below the wrist, my blade sliced clean through the bone. There
was no disguising his agony as he fell to his knees.  Clutching at the
bloody stump where his hand once was, Norris tried to crawl to the edge of the
platform.  It was then that I ran up behind him, grabbed him from behind
and said these words to him. "You have until the sun sets to get as far
away from here as possible.  If you are still in town after dark, may the
gods have mercy on your soul because I will let my little friend have
you." I then pushed him away from me towards the stairs. I saw Norris once
more after that day, many months later, many miles away.  Had you asked me
that day in the arena why I had let him live I don’t know if I would have been
able to tell you.  Perhaps I hoped he would see the gift that I gave him
and be thankful for that.  If nothing else he should have been thankful
for one little thing.  That I was able to keep Pare drinking long enough
for him to get out of town.