Death Or Fortune (18 page)

     The
morning of the final fight against Rogar was no different than any other
morning.  I told myself that this was no different than any other fight.
 I would not think about what Pare had told me about him.  How he had
destroyed everyone he had fought to a man.  None of that mattered to me.
 I would face him as I had faced everyone before.  I just hoped that
he wouldn't do to me what he had done to everyone else.
     Jasmin asked me again to duck out of the fight.
 Not that her heart was in it but she had to try. I just tried to assure
her that everything would be all right.  I told her about what had
happened with my father the night before while we were laying in bed.  She
knew that nothing she said would stop me from fighting.  Hans had come by
first thing in the morning for a quick chat.  We made small talk over
breakfast, neither of us talking about what was coming that day.  After we
ate I clapped him on the back and told him that I would see him in the arena.
 I then went off to find Hetaron and Pare.  It wasn't like Pare to
miss breakfast.
     I found them in their room.  Pare was sitting on
the side of the bed and did not move when I opened the door.  He looked
like hell.  I asked him what the problem was and he just pointed towards
the wizard.
"He has been talking crazy all night long. Laying there,
talking in his sleep. Talking about dragons and obeying his master. At one
point I thought he was going to start casting spells in his sleep. I had to
stay awake just to see what he would do. I have not slept all night long."
I was sure the little halfling was going to fall over and pass out while
talking to me.  I told him Jasmin was awake and that he could sleep in my
room.  I watched him shuffle out of the room and head down the hall.
 I closed the door behind him.
     I had spent many nights alone with the dark mage.
 He had never in all the time I had known him spoke in his sleep.
 Perhaps it was a product of his powers growing, I did not know.  I
stood there at the end of his bed waiting and watching.  He did not move
or speak once.  Perhaps Pare was the one having nightmares and he had seen
it all in a dream.  I do not know, my time was growing short and we had to
get moving.  I said his name out loud to try to wake him and he did not
move or even shift.  I then gave the bed a little kick saying his name
again.  I knew this would draw his ire but I did not care. Not wanting to
waste any more time I walked to his side and started to shake him by his
shoulder saying his name even louder than before.
      As his body rolled over I saw his face. I
thought for sure he was dead for one small moment. His eyes were open wide and
had gone pure white.  His lips were moving yet no sound issued forth.
 I stood back from that face, feeling something that I had not felt since
fighting the undead in the crypt, where the red dragon had made her home.
 I wanted to scream out to him, try to jar him from whatever had a hold of
him.  I could not think of what else to do so I did the one thing that
seemed natural to me.  I smacked the wizard in the face as hard as I dared
to.  As this didn't seem to be working I lifted my hand up to try a second
time.
"Do not hit me again Kromwell if you want to live."
The
color had returned to his eyes and he was awake. I asked him what in the hell
had happened to him but he just insisted that I would not understand.  I
asked him if he would still come with me to the arena, not knowing what
condition had caused him to appear like that.
"I would not miss it if
my life depended on it."
I did not find out until much later that he
had bet on me once again.

     I thought
about pushing the issue, trying to find out just what had happened to him. I
knew he wouldn't talk about it by the look on his face and decided to just drop
it. He told me that he would be ready soon and to make myself ready. I returned
to my room and put on my armor. I did not want to risk waiting until I arrived
at the arena to put it all on. While nothing happened to me on the way to the
arena, I wouldn't have put it past my father to send one of his goons after me.
I gave my wife one last kiss and told her that she didn't have to come.  I
thought about insisting that she stay behind but after seeing the look in her
eye I knew she would be there no matter what I had to say.

     The trip
from the inn to the arena is a blur.  As if I walked out of the door to my
room and walked out onto the arena floor.  It is the clearest thing in my
mind. Seeing the platform looming ahead of me, Hans standing near the steps
waiting.  I stood there for a moment and took it all in. I looked around
the arena, seeing all the people waiting for the fight.  At the far end of
the arena was the royal box.  King Darius sat there, talking to the people
around him.  Two men in robes, one white the other black. Zackary Red
Beard who I had only met days before and a half dozen of the king’s personal
guard.
"Are you ready?"
Hetaron asked me from behind.  I
nodded my head and started towards Hans. The roar from the stands was incredible
yet I did all I could to block it out, even if part of me enjoyed it.

     As had
happened every time before Hans said a prayer for me but this time something
different happened.  I turned to Hetaron and gave him one last nod before
heading to the stairs.
"Wait!"
he told me. I looked at him and
asked what it was that he wanted.
"Give me your hand."
I did
as he said thinking this was him wishing me luck. When he started softly
speaking I felt his magic course through my body.  I asked him what he had
done and all he could say was that he was helping me. I shook my head and
started to make my way up the steps.  My sword in one hand with my shield
in the other I took to the platform and waited for Rogar.  I once again
looked up towards the king thinking I would much rather be up there with him
than where I was standing.

     They
called him Rogar the Terrible. He had a few nicknames but that is the one that
fit him best in my mind.  Closer to seven feet tall than six, he was a
massive man.  He held a massive claymore in his one hand, he wielded it
like Pare used one of his daggers. Yet Pare could not cleave a man in two with
a dagger no matter how hard he tired. Rogar had done that twice so far in the
past week. As was custom we both saluted the king before the fight and then
turned to face each other.  It was then that he said the only words I have
ever heard pass though his lips.
"I am going to rip your heart out and
eat it right here."
I have no doubt that he meant every word he said.

     As soon as
the fight started he took a great over handed swing at me. Perhaps he believed
I would back away and he could press me back.  I raised my shield to block
his swing.  As his sword came down on it, it sounded like a hammer hitting
an anvil.  At this the crowd erupted, soon they were the only sound I
could hear.  Not the beating of my heart, not the grunts and roars that
Rogar was letting out, just the crowd chanting for blood.  I was lost in
the moment, my heart pounding so hard I was sure if I looked down I would see
it beating under my breast plate. Not that I had time to look down.  For a
large man, Rogar was fast as a viper and his strength rivaled my own. While I
had managed to cut him, draw his blood he ignored it all. His anger kept him going,
adrenalin blocking out his pain.  He was also angry that he had not yet
gotten to me. Blow after blow I avoided or blocked.  The one or two hits
he had managed to land had caused me no harm.

     The longer
the fight went on, the more confident I became yet he showed no sign of slowing
down.  He was a pure killing machine, fueled by hate and anger. When his
anger got the best of him, he decided to change his tactics. He waited for me
to get close and stepped out with one of his large booted feet, smashing his
foot down onto mine.  I looked down for a single moment, trying to remove
my foot out from under him when he lashed out with his fist, striking me in the
head. He hit me hard enough to send me back, off balance. Before I could
recover he was after me. His sword arm was down, bringing it up he slashed
across my chest. The force of the blow knocked me from my feet and sent me
flying. I landed on my back a good ten feet away from where I had been
standing.  I knew from the pain I was in that whatever spell Hetaron had
cast on me, it had expired.

     As fast as
I could I got to my feet again. Rogar looked at me, looked at the blade of his
sword and then back at me. He did not understand why I was getting up. Why I
wasn't dead. He ran forwards towards me in a rage. I knew that if it wasn't
over soon, he very well may kill me. I set my feet and waited for him knowing
that I would only have one chance to slow him down. His sword arm reared back
as he approached, he intended to take my head off as he slashed through the
air. Had I moved any slower he may have done just that. I could hear him
cleaving the air as I ducked under his blade. It was the first real opening he
had given me and I wasn't going to miss it. As his body turned with the force
of his swing I moved to his side, I sliced as hard as I could into his stomach.
His armor was the only thing that kept me from gutting him on the spot.
 As it was you could still see his blood on my sword as I turned towards
his back for the return stroke. His armor could not stop my blade from cutting
deep into the back of his leg.

     As Rogar
tried to turn towards me once more he put his weight on his injured leg and
fell towards the platform floor.  Every instinct in my body was telling me
to hit him while he was down, to finish him as he had finished everyone he had
faced. Yet something held me back. The voices in the crowd were screaming for
his head, to finish him.  Even he expected it, he laid there for a moment
his eyes locked on mine. A voice inside my head told me to hold, told me to
wait just a moment more. So I stood there and watched, waiting for some kind of
sign. Rogar got up to his knees, the pain was visible on his face and in his
roar. He tried to get on his feet but his leg would no longer hold up his
massive frame. He crashed down once more, he was beaten. Using his one good leg
and his arms he crawled towards the edge of the platform.  As he reached
his side of the platform he started to make his way down the stairs as best he
could.  While I may not have liked the man beast, I did respect him as a
warrior and would not cut him down like some kind of lame dog.

     It did not
dawn on me right away what it was that I had just done.  I kept expecting
him to come back at me, to finish the fight.  I looked down at his sword
laying on the floor next to a pool of his blood.  A trail of blood lead
away from it to the stairs Rogar had used to get down. Without thought I
sheathed my blade and went towards it.  Picking up the claymore in one hand
I followed the trail of blood to the other side of the platform.  I looked
down on him and the healer who was fast at work trying to stop the bleeding in
his leg.  I tossed the blade down towards them and as it crashed onto the
ground Rogar took one final look up at me.  I nodded to him once and
walked away.  As I moved towards the center of the platform I drew my
blade once more.  I then looked towards King Darius and lifted it in a
salute to the king. The king of my home land nodded in return and began to clap
his hands for the lands new champion.

     
After the cheering had died down and we were leaving, an official from the
kingdom was waiting for us in the depths of the arena.  He was with two
other rather large men, guards for the chest he had I assume.  I was given
a prize of ten thousand gold, most of it in gems, for winning the tournament.
 We were also given an invitation to join King Darius for a dinner in my
honor.  I stood looking at the man, I could understand the words coming out
of his mouth but none of it made sense to me. My hands were shaking, the rush I
was feeling over winning the fight had not yet given up its hold on me.  I
thought for a moment about what to do with the chest and asked him to open it.
     I looked at the pile of odd gold coins and gem stones.
 It dawned on me for the first time that I did not need it.  I was a
wealthy man already, what did I need this for?  So I reached my hand in
and cherry picked out a few of the gems. Thinking to have something made for
Jasmin, I put them in a small pouch and tucked them away inside of my armor.
 I then turned to Hans and told him to find something worthwhile to spend
half the money on here in Eystlund.  The other half was to go home with
him to Arcadia.  The temple Hans called home was sheltering two dozen war
orphans.  They could use the money more than I could.  He started to
protest but knew I wouldn't be talked out of it.  I owed him more than
what was in the chest.  I would have died if not for him.
     With that business done I returned to the inn with my
wife and friends.  This would be our last night in the place and to be
honest I could not have been any happier about it.  I told Jasmin to put
on the best dress she had and to pack away everything that she wouldn't need.
 Even if I had to put up with two weeks in a wagon, I was looking forward
to getting back home.  Not that I needed to be there. Charles ran
everything so well it didn't matter if I was dead or alive.  He has this
habit of asking me, '
If you really think that is for the best
.' This is
how he tells me that he doesn't agree with something.  It doesn't happen
often but when it does, he lets me know.

     I didn't
have much packing to do so I went about the task of cleaning and putting some
polish on my armor.  When it wasn't covered in blood, grime and other
things it was very nice looking. I made quite the impression on the common folk
between that and my cloak made from red dragon skin.  Jasmin gave me an
odd look when I started to strap it all on.
Do you have to wear that?
I
told her no but I was going to wear it anyway.  It was still in my mind
that we could have been in some kind of danger from people who were not happy
about the outcome of the fight. Should anyone try anything I wanted to be ready,
truth be told I did not take the armor off very much until we were well away
from Eystlund.
     Just before sun down a carriage arrived to take us all
to the kings castle where the dinner was being held.  Hetaron was dressed
in his normal robes but Pare I had to look at twice.  I had never seen him
so clean or well dressed.  Not even for my wedding did he look so good.
 When I asked him about the outfit he had on he just pointed one stubby
finger at Jasmin.  ‘
She picked all this stuff out, she said I had to
look presentable.’
 I just smiled at Jasmin, took her hand and lead
her out of the inn.  Moving as fast as I could it was all I could do to
hold in my laughter.  During the ride to the castle, I thought he was
going to rip the collar off his shirt.  Every time I looked at him he was
pulling and tugging on something else.  It wasn't until later that I
learned that he had put his clothes and jacket on over his armor.  When I
asked him why he did that he only shrugged at me and said
'Hetaron told me
to. I don't know why, ask him.'
     We were ushered in quietly, this was not a formal
function but protocol was still to be followed.  This was the first time I
had met all of Hans friends from before he came to Arcadia. Zackary Red Beard
who I had met, was well into his second bottle of wine by the time we were
being show to our seats.  The wizard Lomark, another young and powerful
wizard. Who was the black robed figure I had seen at the final fight, he
carried a staff with a golden griffin claw holding some kind of gem at the top.
 When I saw Hetaron approach him, I feared there would be tension but they
seemed to know each other already.  The last was the man in white robes, a
cleric of Solarth and the man who mentored Hans, Zender.  He was not at
all what I expected.  I gave him a slight bow and extended my hand to him.
 He took my hand in a firm grip, very firm and told me something I had not
expected.
    
'My father speaks very well of you Darmot.'
I
looked at him with a bit of a lost look on my face.
'Windfall, he is my
father. I understand you two spent quite a bit of time together years ago. You
provided him with a distraction during that time. I had already decided on my
path and my brother was still too young to take to the road with him. He sends
his regards by the way.'
I knew Windfall had children but this was just too
much for my mind to take.  The odds of it all made my head spin a bit.
 The cleric gave me a quick laugh and slapped me on my shoulder.  I
shook it all off and turned to introduce him to my wife.  He lightly took
her hand, kissed it and said something about Solarth blessing our union.
 I honestly do not remember.
     I watched as he then turned towards Pare who had
listened to everything that was said.
'Ahhh, so you are the little trouble
maker. That potion belt you took is very dear to us at the temple, I am glad it
was returned. Hans tells me that you have redeemed yourself so I will agree to
honor the king’s pardon of you.'
I had known of the crime Pare had
committed but to see him standing there with his face as white as his shirt I
knew something scared him.  After the cleric had moved away to speak with
someone else I went over to my little friend and asked him what that was all
about.  He waved his hand at me asking me to kneel down so he could speak
without being heard.
    
'No mercy for thieves.'
I leaned back and
looked at him. I asked what he meant by that.
'Zender, he has a reputation
here. Not a good one if you live on the other side of the line. He gives no
mercy. Someone told me that he once put a curse on a woman who stole a loaf of
bread, her hand fell off. He hangs out in the sheriff’s office looking at
reward posters and tracks down people too stupid to hide. A bunch of guys tried
to take care of him once, he beat them all, tied them up and took them to jail.
He gives no mercy, he is worse than his father.'
Over the time I have known
him I have learned that most of what Pare was told was nothing but horror
stories. Yet I have seen some truth behind the lies.  He holds nothing
back when tasked with something and has no fear in his heart.  I did ask
him once how he met Hans and he just told me that they met outside of town.
 Just before they found all those missing children together.
     When it was time we were all shown to our seats. A
long table stood waiting for us, mounded with food. We all stood behind our
chairs until King Darius was announced and took his seat. He spoke to each of
us as he moved around the table. As I noticed before, he was very different
than Roderick.   Just in the way he carried himself.  As if he
would rather be at an inn chatting with his friends over a pint.  He took
his seat and invited us all to eat.  Never touching the food himself he
continued to speak with his guest.  I had a mouth full of roast beef when
one of the Red Falcon Guards came running into the room.  The king’s
guard, loyal to the throne of Eystlund.  He looked out of breath but that
did not stop him from shouting to the king.
'Sire, a flight of dragons has
attacked the royal armory.
' Every man at the table stood as one, each of us
ready to take action.  Lomark then said that they were after the Rod of
the Arcane.  Darius looked at Zender and Lomark telling them to go.
 I looked across the table into the face of Zackary Red Beard and he said
something I will never forget.
"Aye laddy, we'yill be havinna bih o'
fun now!"