The Saga Begins [Nuworld 1] (50 page)

Tara started her bike once she had pushed it into the field, away from the house, and then drove over the rough countryside, around the town, and toward the clansite.

Hundreds of bikes were parked in a lower field. After she left her motorcycle with the rest, Tara began to hike the incline to the arena. The clansite buzzed with activity, considering the early morning hour, and she pushed her way through Runner and Gothman until she reached a roped-off area. Four large poles had been shoved into the ground to form a square, and several ropes were wrapped around the area providing a fence for the arena. Stakes stuck into the ground created an opening for contestants. Outside this area, competitors were checking in at several tables. Tara headed straight toward them.

“And to think, we’ll be working together by tomorrow. You haven’t noticed any competitor that you think could beat me, have you?” The voice caught Tara off-guard.

“I don’t know all the Runners that are fighting, I don’t. I’ve only seen the written tests. Can’t really judge a person by what they write, you can’t.”

The second voice belonged to Darius, and Tara turned to see where he was. But that first voice, she knew that first voice. Who was it? She saw Darius a few yards away. His guards blocked her view of the man he was talking to. She continued to move through the crowd toward the tables.

“That’s true. Drink with me to victory, my lord.”

“It will definitely be a day to remember.”

To whom did that first voice belong? Tara turned again, and this time she saw him. The man talking to Darius was Kuro.

She’d almost forgotten him. Her heart fluttered, and her breath left her momentarily. Her eyes immediately devoured every inch of his body, checking the familiar muscles, the remembered physique.

Kuro…her first love.

They had met as teenagers, and at eighteen winters he’d pressured her to marry him. They were madly in love, completely inseparable. But she thought she was too young to marry. She wanted the
Age of Searching
. He wanted to rule the Blood Circle Clan by her side. She’d refused his proposal, and in anger and humiliation, he’d left the clan.

That was five winters ago.

Now, here he stood, talking to the papa of her children, the man who had claimed her, and the man whom she loved as a woman.

It made sense that he’d return now. Here was his chance to do what he’d always wanted to do: rule the clan.

How had he met Darius? Had they become friends? And what was Kuro saying? He obviously assumed he would win the Test of Wills.

If he still possessed the warrior skills she remembered, it would be a challenge fighting him. Darius must have known she would fight him. Why hadn’t he said something to her?

Suddenly she wondered what Kuro might have told Darius about her. Had he mentioned knowing her growing up? And if so, what else had he told Darius?

Suddenly, Kuro turned and caught sight of her. He gave her a distant look. Then, his eyes widened and he looked at her again.

Darius turned to see what he was looking at and both of them caught her eye.

She quickly turned and disappeared. Tara scanned the row of tables, and then approached a Runner she didn’t recognize.

“You here to check in for the Test of Wills?” he asked, as he grabbed an armband.

“Yes. I’m Leetha with the Blood Circle Clan.” Her heart pounded against her coat as she was given a white cloth to tie around her arm.

“Bordo, with the Kill Water clan.” A booming voice next to her announced his arrival.

Tara glanced at the man and shuddered. His arms were thicker than her waist.

“And he’s going to win!” A shrill female voice announced this information loudly, and several other Runners surrounding the large burly man began to cheer.

Tara was forgotten and shoved to the side, as Bordo’s supporters pushed their way to the tables.

“Oh Crator, I’m doing the right thing, aren’t I?” Tara mumbled, as she wrapped her coat around her tightly and began walking through the crowd.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Tara knew that as long as she lingered in the crowd, it was only a matter of time before someone recognized her. The best thing to do was to remain in earshot of the arena, but find an isolated spot to wait—and hopefully remain unnoticed. Tara moved to the edge of the clansite, doing her best to avoid any Runners she recognized. Once in the trees, she climbed to a large branch and got comfortable on her perch. She would wait here for the competition to start.

Tara realized she’d been dozing when she heard Patha’s voice boom through the loudspeaker. She’d dreamed about the old lady. Tara had sat next to her at the campfire in the desert. The old lady had kissed the white cloth tied around Tara’s arm.

“Crator will guide you to victory. Have faith in Him.”

Then she’d disappeared, and Tara found herself balancing on the large branch.

“Number eight and number three need to be at the side of the arena within ten minutes,” Patha said. “The Test of Wills is about to begin.”

The crowd screamed and cheered, and everyone began moving at once. All those who had been standing and visiting now hurried to obtain the best seat from which to watch the fights. Rows and rows of wooden benches were arranged stadium style, and the dull roar of people climbing to an available spot sounded like thunder.

Tara slid to the ground and headed to the arena. She was number three. She would be in the first fight. Was it good to be the first fighter? How had they determined who would fight first? “Quit worrying and have faith,” she muttered quietly.
Crator will guide you to victory. You have faith that He’ll do that, don’t you?
After thinking about it for a second, she knew that she did. He’d proven his abilities. Whatever He was, He wanted this for her, and she would not let Him down.

Tara had to fight her way to the arena. The crowd was thick, and no one seemed interested in letting her pass. Her toes had been stepped on, and more than one elbow had jammed her by the time she removed her coat and entered the arena.

A referee confirmed her armband number, and then grabbed her hand and the hand of the other contestant. “Round one of the Test of Wills shall begin.” The referee pulled her hand into the air.

Multitudes of bodies crammed the ropes at the outer edges of the arena and began screaming their encouragement at the referee’s words.

“Let the fighting begin.”

Tara looked at her opponent for the first time.

“I guess you’ll do for warm-up,” the tall, thin young man said. His pale green eyes appeared to mock her through his headscarf. The man lunged at Tara.

She responded with a hard blow to the side of his head, and he flew backwards, crashing to the ground.

His head fell back and hit a rock. He lay motionless.

Tara stood in the ring with her feet spread a foot or so apart and secured her gloved hands together behind her back. The crowd cheered, and she waited for the next contestant to enter the ring.

The next two fights were similar to the first. The fighters would aim one blow at Tara before she flattened them. A hard punch to the abdomen, a kick in the face, each caused the other fighter to fall, defeated. The third fight lasted for several punches.

A young, stocky woman came after her with full vengeance. She knocked Tara backward and punched her twice before Tara gained her balance.

Tara came back at her with several kidney punches, and the crowd groaned as they felt the woman’s pain. As her opponent struggled to regain control, she once again stood still with her hands behind her back. The crowd screamed for her to attack again, and Tara glanced around the arena. It was not a fight to the death, and she refused to hurt the woman any more than necessary.

The woman finally pulled the white cloth off her arm and threw it to the ground, indicating her surrender. Part of the crowd moaned. Obviously, she’d been a favorite of one of the clans.

Between the next several fights, Tara scanned the crowd. The Gothman were sitting on one side of the arena, and she spotted Darius easily enough.

One of his guards was talking, and he listened intently.

She caught his eye as he looked at her, and he smiled. She glanced away quickly and looked at the crowd of Runners.

For the first time, she laid her eyes on Patha. He was staring at her.

She couldn’t pull her gaze away.

Did he recognize her? How could he not, she decided. She shrugged. What could he do about it anyway? The competition was underway. As their eyes continued to meet through the crowd, she realized Reena was sitting next to him and also staring.

Suddenly Reena’s hands went to her mouth. Patha steadied her, putting his hand on her arm.

Tara watched as Reena looked at Patha and said something. He nodded and they both turned and looked at her again. Reena started to get up, but Patha pulled her back. He then leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest. His face wore no expression.

She finally succeeded in pulling her gaze away from Patha as she took on the next contestant. After several more fights, Tara’s adrenaline soared. She ignored the crowd now and focused on each contestant. By the tenth contestant, she began to feel more evenly matched. She and one fighter, a large burly man, fought for almost an hour.

There didn’t seem to be anything she could do to make him fall. He was thick as a tree trunk. His punches served only to increase her drive to fight. At one point, he grabbed her from behind and slowly began to squeeze the life out of her. In a mad rage, she managed to reach behind and grab him by the neck. A hush fell over the crowd as she slowly turned until his neck cracked and he slumped, lifeless, to the ground.

The sense of battle took over all of Tara’s thoughts. She no longer cared that Patha or Darius watched. She was a merciless machine, and each contestant who entered the arena felt her fury. At this point, she lost count of the contestants she’d eliminated. She was stunned back to reality when Patha’s voice came over the loudspeaker.

“There will be a ten minute recess. Several of the contestants have withdrawn their application for the Test of Wills. We’ll begin again shortly with the last ten contestants.”

There were only ten more contestants? Two large Runners entered the arena and escorted Tara through the crowd.

“Make way for the next leader of the Runners,” a young boy screamed not too far in front of Tara.

“You’ll defeat the others, don’t you worry,” came another voice from beside her.

“Never seen anyone fight like you, lady,” a man yelled.

Patha ordered her to be secluded in a white tent near the arena. She was given water as the two guards stood outside the tent preventing Runners and Gothman from entering to offer their allegiance.

Tara realized her hands shook as she sipped the water. The crowd outside pushed against the canvas, and guards yelled to step to the side. Tara exhaled and watched her breath appear as a puff of smoke in the chilly air. A Test of Wills hadn’t been called for in over a hundred winters, and Tara couldn’t recall from her history lessons if another warrior had successfully won every round. She felt exhilarated and nervous all at the same time.

“I’m meant to lead the Runners.”

* * * * *

The crowd outside the tent and throughout all the benches buzzed with the excitement of the day. The same words were repeated everywhere: Who was she? Could anyone defeat her? Which clan was she from?

The Blood Circle Clan members knew exactly who she was. What they wanted to know was, how could she possibly be Tara?

Kuro pushed his way toward Patha and begged permission to speak with the leader of the clans.

Patha ordered his guard, who stood next to Kuro, to inform the young man it would be inappropriate to speak to a contestant during the test.

“You know who that is out there.” Kuro looked past the guard and spoke to Patha anyway. “What are you going to do about it?”

Patha didn’t answer and the guard stood between Patha and Kuro, telling Kuro to leave.

Disgusted, Kuro walked to the other side of the arena. He searched through the Gothman, looking for Darius. The Gothman were whooping and hollering and faking punches at each other as they downed the Runner ale.

Darius was still sitting on the bench with several men around him, including his little brother.

Kuro pushed aggressively through the men and confronted Darius. “That’s Tara, isn’t it?”

Kuro had bellowed the question, and Darius looked annoyed at the rudeness. The other Gothman pushed back Kuro and grumbled something about showing respect to the Lord of Gothman.

“She’s supposed to be dead. What’s going on here?” Kuro ignored the other Gothman and demanded an answer.

“You know as well as I do that Gothman aren’t allowed to have anything to do with the Test of Wills, they aren’t.” Lord Darius showed no expression as he downed his cup of ale. “We’re just here to observe.”

“No one can fight like that,” Kuro snarled, “except maybe Tara.”

Darius stared blankly, and Kuro was furious. “I haven’t seen her in five winters, and I can tell you without any doubt that is Tara. If you aren’t so sure, than maybe your claim isn’t as strong as you think. After all, you weren’t able to keep her here the first time.”