By the Lust of Men
Chapter 8: Gladiator
It was a day of May when our heroes arrived to Praven. Trade led them to this town and, with the help of Marnid, Alissa went to the Goods' store to sell the different items bought along the way.
"It was a pleasure making business with you" - Marnid said, when Alissa interrupted - "There is a lot of people on the streets, what is going on?" - she asked to the shop keeper - "You don't know? It is the tournament! People from all places come here for fame and money" - the shop keeper said with great excitement - "Tournaments? You mean like arena fighting?" -Alissa asked with surprise - "YES! Isn't it great? It has been long since the last time a tournament was held in Praven" - the shop keeper said. "What is this, the 5th century? I thought that senseless bloodshed was a thing of the past" - Alissa exclaimed and, after a quick smile, the shop keeper replied - "Oh no, my lady. These torunaments are not held with real weapons. Yes, people gets hurt from time to time, but only wooden weapons are allowed" - and after thinking for a few seconds, Alissa exclaimed - "Well, this could be interesting..." - to what Marnid added somewhat disappointed - "Yes, but it must be already too late and we will never find a place to sit in the gallery" - "Oh don't worry! I never mentioned a gallery, did I?" - Alissa said while walking out of the shop.
"Wait, wait, wait! Were are you going?" - Marnid asked while trying to follow his rushing leader - "To the King's bathroom" - and after a short pause, she added - "What you mean where I'm going? To the tournament, you fool! We need the denars". After a few minutes of trying to stop her of performing her not so good idea, Marnid grabbed her arm and said - "My lady, please. Think about it for a second. It is not that you are not such a good fighter, but you will be facing mad veteran fighters over there. You don't want to get your beautiful body all bruised, do you?" - "You better worry about your own bruises Marnid. You are coming as well" - Alissa stated, and after walking a couple meters she stopped to ask - "Were you flirting with me back there?" - and with a flushed face, Marnid replied - "Fli-flirting? Of course not!" - "You don't like women?" - she asked with a jokingly face... and so, they continued arguing all the way down the arena.
Not even Marnid knows how he got convinced, but we all know it was by the lust of men that he agreed to participate in the tournament. Finally they were there, dressed in green, riding a horse, and with a big lance on their hands. In the first round, there were 4 teams with 2 participants each - luckily, Marnid was her teammate. "Make sure to stay close. We need to remain together" - Alissa said to Marnid when the signal to start the match was heard.
Alissa charged the red team, readying her lance to bring them down as they closed in. She hit one with her lance, throwing him down of his horse and, as his teammate tried to avoid trampling him, Marnid got lucky and brought the other one down. The red team was eliminated from the round quickly, but there were still blue and yellow, who were fighting fiercely on the other side of the arena. Alissa attacked both teams from the side, while they were concentrated in bringing each other down. She was able to eliminate one yellow, but Marnid rode into his counterpart's lance, getting hit right in the head. The crowd couldn't help but to express with their voice the painful scene they just saw. But Marnid stood up - "My god! Are you ok? That is indeed a good helmet!" - Alissa said while protecting him from the other participants - "I'm not sure the helmet was the one that took the hit, my lady!" - Marnid replied still stunned by the blow. Alissa managed to hold both blue opponents until Marnid recovered from the fall, but the remaining yellow man surprised Alissa, hitting her horse and throwing her to the ground. Alissa lost her horse, but she was still in the fight.
"Run!" - Alissa suggested - "Let me say I'm impressed by your creative tactics, my lady" - He said mockingly while running for his tournament life, but as soon as he finished the sentence a lance struck his butt, eliminating him from the tournament. A second of silence was heard before the crowd exploded in laughter.
It wasn't easy for Alissa to stay in the match, but soon, yellow eliminated one blue and the last blue eliminated yellow, leaving Alissa against blue in a 1 vs 1 fight. Her opponent, still on his horse, charged towards Alissa, but she waited until the perfect moment to strike with her wooden sword, hitting him in the chest as he rode by. The blow was so strong that the man lost consciousness, declaring her the winner of the first tier.
After the end of the round, Alissa went to talk with Marnid - "How is your..." - when he interrupted - "But... why did I listen to you? I should have never joined this tournament!" - "You will be just fine. Here, take 100 denars. Bet 50 on me and drink the rest to my health" - she said while lending the money to him.
Alissa fought fiercely during the following rounds and surprised by her own performance, she made it to the last round, where she would face Dranton - a bloodthirsty fighter and current champion of the tournament.
For the final round, the two participants are dressed in different colors from the worn during the previous tier and their helmets cover their head completely, so that it is difficult for the crowd to recognize the participants until the very end.
The finalists entered the arena, one dressed in red and one in green. Under the roaring of the crowd, both fighters were given the signal to start the match and raising a cloud of dust, their horses accelerated to full speed. The few seconds that it took both oponents to approach face to face, seemed like ages for the expectators and when they were finally in combat reach, the one wearing green armor hit the opponent's shield, breaking it in a thousand pieces. The crowd was lost in excitement.
Both participants stopped their horses at opposite ends of the arena and prepared for another pass. You could hear the voices of the expectators from miles away, some yelled "Alissa", but most supported Dranton. You could see the anxiety suffered by the one in red, while the green one stayed confident, but it would be the courage in their heart the one to grant the winner with victory.
Accompanied by the roaring of the crowd, the horses started to move towards its opponent. The one in green armor uttered a cry of war while riding in what could be the last pass. But suddenly, silence fell upon the arena - the red one fell stunned to the ground and valiantly attempted to stand up, but couldn't do it.
The silence remained until the one in green removed the helmet to reveal the new winner. With the helmet in the hand, the crowd couldn't stop saying her name, declaring Alissa the new champion.