by HP Mallory
As big as the Hecatoncheires were, none of them had the speed or reflexes of Gwydion. The ball bounced for the third time before the many-limbed giant in the center caught up to it. He swiftly made up for the lost time and lost points. After a quick kick upward with the instep of his right foot, the Hecatoncheire thudded the heavy ball against his chest, sending it over to the right. His Hundred-Handed brother then bounced it off his nearest forearm before smashing the ball back towards us with a twin head butt. Gwydion flew up into the air to intercept it again. His club wound up missing the ball by an inch or less. It bounced off the court hard enough to go over the heads of the rest of us before bouncing into the wall next to our gate.
When the ball ricocheted off that wall, we ran to catch up to it as much as our gear and energy would allow us. Curse our bastard luck when the ball managed to make three more bounces before we arrived. Even though the ball was too low to get a club under it, such a problem didnae stop the stookie angel. He went from pumping his little legs across the court to skidding across it on his knees. I winced as I thought of the pain he could have avoided with shin guards. Once he got himself under the ball, the wee fellow knocked it upwards with the back of his head. He put enough force behind the head smack for Besom to give it a one-handed whack back across the court.
I watched Asterion watch her with the same admiration in his gaze that I was sure was in mine. Aye, I had competition for the fair Besom. I was fully aware of it now.
Strong as her blow was, it couldnae hope to compare with the blows of the Hecatoncheires. The ball came back down halfway across the court. By then, Theseus had gotten back on his feet and after one bounce, he sent it back to us with his own club. Asterion, who ran ahead of us, got close enough to deflect the ball upwards with his left horn. Looking up, he drew back his club to bash it back towards our opponents.
But Theseus wasnae so obliging. He slammed his club into the Minotaur’s right thigh, making poor Asterion howl in pain as he went down on one knee.
Fending off another blow from the club of Theseus, our man-bull captain yelled out, “Keep it in the air!”
All of us ran after the ball, but the weight of our armor and the exhaustion in our limbs was slowing us down more than anyone expected.
The ball had enough time to come all the way back down on the Minotaur’s skull and bounce back our way. Asterion was too busy brawling with Theseus to do anything else, trading savage blows with club, forearm and the occasional head butt.
Lily pulled out just a bit ahead of me and dove for the ground while flipping onto her back. When she landed, she managed to keep the heavy ball aloft with a swing that put it at me eye level. Once it got close enough, I slammed both me clubs at it but Asterion stood back up at exactly the wrong moment. The heavy ball staggered him as it struck the middle of his back, sending the ball back to us again.
I could hear the stookie angel’s steps right behind me.
“Nips, four on the floor!”
I had no idea what he was going on about until I saw Besom dropping to her hands and knees in front of the ball. With an agility I didnae know the stookie angel had, he jumped onto her back, using her as a springboard to go higher still and smacked the ball away, just to Asterion’s right so it could finally land on the opposite end of the court. That development managed to make Theseus break off his blood feud so he could chase after it.
By then, the Welshman had caught up to us again. Though I’d nae seen him since the failed interception, he was just as out of breath as the rest of us.
“One quick update, good people, both sides are currently at a stalemate in terms of points,” he informed us.
The angel shrugged while watching the ball hit the ground for a third and then a fourth time, Theseus cursing it in Hellene the whole way. “Well, at least we ain’t losin’.”
The Hundred-Handed on the left literally stepped into the action, using his right foot to dribble the ball higher and higher. I was surprised that a top-heavy fella like that had such flexibility and balance but he was the proof. The king of Athens took advantage of the reckless bouncing and hit the ball our way again when it got close.
Asterion bunted it back to him, holding his club with one hand on the grip and the other on the tip as he shoved it away. It went over Theseus’s head but the giant behind him got it with his lowest forearms. Then he rolled the ball up his arms like a man rolls a coin across his fingers. His left most head knocked it back to us, but Besom was ready for him.
She adopted a strange sideways stance, both hands gripping her club in a peculiar way. Timing it exactly, she knocked the ball back across with a great swing that sent it soaring towards the Hundred-Handed’s center head. It knocked him right in the mouth, the crack of bone signaling a badly broken jaw. While he stumbled and screamed his pain, his brethren lumbered over to grab control of the ball. Too bad the ball kept bouncing off their chests and arms before any of them could seize control of it. Theseus tried getting it himself but wasted a lot of time dodging their big feet.
As all that was going on, Gwydion gave our Minotaur leader the side-eye. “Would you like to explain what happens in the event of a tie, or should I?”
Before Asterion could answer, the ball came barreling back at us, although I couldnae tell who swung it in all the confusion. It still ran out of force halfway to us, bouncing four or five times while somehow staying up near everyone’s head level. I caught it between me clubs, marveling at the heft of the orb. Then I lofted it up and got out of the way as Lily came up behind me and gave it another grand swing. Asterion took advantage of the slight break to finally explain what the Welshman was driving at.
“If the match ends in a tie, both sides are condemned to oblivion,” he announced.
The angel looked up at the rapidly depleting hourglass and appeared concerned. “An’ the non-clock up there is runnin’ out, yo.” He wasnae wrong; I counted the smallest smattering of sand left before the upper glass was dry.
When the ball was struck again, it didnae go our way. Instead, it sailed towards the raised disk’s hole. I saw Besom muttering “dammit” before she went flying after it herself.
Gwydion made a leap towards it too but I knew he’d nae get there in time. The ball thankfully bounced off the edge of the circle before falling back down. Lily got under it and struck it upwards towards the disk again. By the time it failed to hit the hole and came back down, Theseus and his goons were already on top of her and the ball alike.
“Lily!” I screamed.
With a bellowing roar, Asterion charged the enemy team, his head down and his club raised. Both horns on his head sank into the calf muscle of a Hecatoncheire, which made the monster topple on one knee.
But ‘twas nae Asterion I was paying attention to. ‘Twas Lily. She was pinned on the ground with Theseus above her. He had one hand wrapped around her throat as the other ripped open a small tear in her chainmail armor. As soon as he ripped it, he gripped her brassiere and pulled it so hard, the strap came apart and her breast was suddenly bared.
I screamed out my anger but ‘twas little I could do to come to her defense—I was far from her and battling one of the giants—nae an easy task.
“Asterion!” I screamed out, unable to see where the man-bull was.
Aye, but I could see Lily. She thrashed beneath Theseus but her usual strength was lacking, nae doubt owing to the fall she’d taken and the subsequent pile of men who had landed atop her.
Theseus glanced at Asterion who was just finishing his battle with the giant. Once the two made eye contact, Theseus smiled as he further tightened his hold around Lily’s neck and then kissed her with his filthy mouth.
“Go to her!” I screamed to Asterion.
I didnae believe he heard me but it mattered little. Asterion was already going to Lily’s aid. He threw himself into Theseus, throwing the smaller man away from Lily. She immediately inhaled deeply and pulled herself away from the two of them.
Theseus’s club slamme
d into Asterion’s side but this time, the man-bull barely seemed to notice the blow. The king of Athens scarcely managed to duck a swing from the man-bull before Lily got to her feet and hit him over the head. I didnae know how she did it, but she had managed to tie her brassiere in some way that it was covering her breast again.
I felt me heart rate calm down as soon as I realized Besom was okay. She offered me a small smile and I returned it. Then I faced the ball again and watched it being scooped up by the only uninjured Hecatoncheire, who looked like he could send it through the disk this time.
Everything took place in the space of second. I’d been running after them the entire time but was just too far away to make a difference. Me heart sank as the giant knocked the ball towards the dead center of the disk. But the still-flying Gwydion got in front of it at the last second, and the force of the ball smashed him hard against the stone circle.
While he slipped to the ground dazed, I got close enough to the action to do me own part. The ball bounced off the Welshman and back to the Hundred-Handed. The latter made another attempt of knocking it through with two of its heads. I threw me right club at the ball, catching it in the rear. While the throw didnae stop the flight, it deflected far enough to miss the center hole. It wound up bouncing off the top of the disk before slowly arcing its way to the other side.
While I dared not look at the hourglass, I couldnae imagine that time had gotten any shorter while we were struggling. Running past Gwydion, still scrambling to find both his breath and his feet, I caught up with the ball and smacked it straight up again with me remaining club. It arced backwards a wee bit, forcing me to keep me eye on it. The roar of more than a hundred throats made me look down again to see Theseus’s band nearly upon me. Me own crew were running just ahead of them but there was naething they could do about the ball as yet. So I knocked it up again to give them more time.
Asterion was huffing and puffing heavily but he had enough breath to talk. “We have to send the ball through the hole. Cripple the Hundred-Handed first!”
Naebody had time to respond. The Hecatoncheire who missed twice nearly trampled over the lot of us as the Minotaur gave those last words. While I sidestepped his charge, I smashed me club onto the exposed bones of his big feet. They broke like bird wings under the club, making fifty throats cry out in agony before the rest of the body fell straight down to the arena floor.
Meanwhile, Besom and Gwydion kept the ball aloft with alternating hits. Asterion again crossed clubs with Theseus as both also avoided the fairly blind punches of the giant the Minotaur crippled. The other Hecatoncheire, his broken-jawed head prominent in the center of his mass, moved on Lily and the Welshman, his two good legs pumping away.
The angel suddenly appeared at me side and pointed at the rapidly charging Hundred-Handed. “Hey, Tido, think ya can git me up there?”
I understood his plan in an instant. “The Welshman can!”
We both ran at me beloved and Gwydion, me club taking over for Gwydion in keeping the ball airborne. I nodded at our wee friend as I made me stroke. “Git the stookie angel oop that giant’s heads now!”
To his credit, the Welshman understood me words quickly. Seizing the angel under his armpits, Gwydion floated up into the air. Once slightly above the giant’s head level, he tossed Lily’s failed guardian angel right at the misshapen monster’s shoulders.
I’d have liked to see more of what followed but the ball was coming down again. With everyone distracted, I made sure me next stroke upward was less forceful before yelling at Besom. “Smack it right in the center, lass!”
Running around to the back of me, Besom got a swing off the ball, but I could tell her aim was poor. It bounced off the disk’s lower lip even though the broken-jawed Hecatoncheire was trying to avoid hitting its other heads while whacking at the angel. The ball came down between Theseus and Asterion, who both saw it coming. But the king of Athens looked up a little too long, failing to see the Minotaur’s head before it brained him. Asterion then used his head again to pop the ball up before smashing it back towards us.
A nervous glance at the hourglass revealed we only had a few grains left before the match was over. I got out of the way of the fast-moving ball while Besom took her peculiar stance. When she gave it another mighty swing, this time her aim was swift and true. The ball sank right through the center just as a fanfare of horns signaled the end of the match.
I only thought the crowds were enthusiastic before. Now they were on their feet, shoving each other aside, practically ecstatic at seeing our hard-fought victory. Leave it to the angel, fool that he was, to be just as excited as they were.
“We are the champiors, my friends!” He launched into a ridiculous ditty that would have sounded better if someone else were singing it.
I started to glower at the stookie angel for that when Gwydion got between us. “Now, now, Tallis… the little angel has the right idea. Raise that club, smile for the crowd and, if it keeps that smile going, just think how much you’d like to slaughter every last one of them.”
As the Welshman followed his own advice, I had to admit the sense behind it. But I was in nae mood for even a grin. So I kept me face stony and raised me club as I would have raised an axe on a battlefield of old. The roars of the crowd practically exploded at the sight. Lily came to me left side, a quiet laugh bubbling through her parted, smiling lips.
“Well, I guess scowling works too,” she said.
Gwydion kept facing different sides of the crowd. “Ah, but we have to admit the bladesmith does scowling so well. The same can’t be said of everyone.”
While we talked, Asterion played up to the delighted spectators. He bellowed a bull roar up to the stands, flexing his muscles to show off his strength and moved around in an attempt to make all eyes come to him. Mind you, seeing as he was the only nonhuman still standing, he had an advantage over us.
Then he moved towards Lily and to her surprise as much as mine, Asterion wrapped his hands around her waist and lifted her high into the air. The crowd cheered even more loudly as Lily raised her hands in triumph. When Asterion brought her back to the ground, he asked her how she was and she replied she was fine.
The tender display between them burned me to the depths of my being.
When Asterion drifted near me, he ceased his noisemaking so he could whisper into me ear. “I owe you, former Master of the Underground City, far more than I can ever repay.”
I made no sign that we were talking as I kept facing different parts of the crowd. I figured me beard could swallow up the movement of me lips. “Ah’d think ye would have found a way ta win without us.”
“And yet you did help me defeat and humiliate my most hated rival. And that is why I count guarding Minos’s gate as only partial repayment to you.”
I glanced up at Alaire. I was too far away to see his face but his posture told me that things hadnae worked out as he hoped. I wanted to appreciate Asterion’s words but I couldnae. Not when I realized his interest in Lily. “That’s decent o’ ye, Asterion, boot there’s still the small matter o’ gittin’ away from this place.”
He gave out another bull roar before speaking. “As you had confidence in my achieving victory without you, so too do I have faith that we will exit this place soon.”
He then went back to his pacing around the crowd. Theseus just watched him, seething with rage, down on his knees. I was curious as to why he didnae just swing that club he was leaning on at his hated enemy. Gwydion must have noticed the look on me face, going by what he said next.
“Oh, the king of Athens could, in theory, just make our Minotaur pay for his defeat. But what he’s got coming is bad enough. If he tries adding those sour grapes to the proceedings, Alaire will make the punishment much, much worse.”
I had considered giving Theseus the comeuppance he deserved for attacking Lily such as he had but I realized Alaire was watching me for any sign of a way he could punish me or us. And I realized now ‘twas nae the time. But
, Theseus would pay for the offense he paid her. Nae doubt of that in me mind. I just had to get me timing right.
Besom actually seemed to be enjoying the attention she was getting, pumping her club up and down in the air. “I still don’t trust your scheming ass, Gwydion, but I’ve got to admit that you saved our bacon a few times back there.”
Despite sharing me lovely’s distrust, I had to admit that it was a fair point. “Aye, we’re glad ye came tae be part o’ this match.”
True to form, the Welshman let out an infuriating chuckle that made some of me goodwill towards him die. “As flattering as such praise is, do you really think that’s why I’m here?” He moved closer to the angel, who was still singing his song as loud as his lungs would let him.
The double gates opened up, Pure legionnaires spilling out of them. Both sides were in the old Roman square formation, their shields locked together like a great human tortoise with rifles poking out between them. I tightened me grip on me club but neither square paid us any mind. They didnae stop marching until they were next to the vanquished giants and Theseus. The king of Athens was thoughtfully relieved of his club before being pushed towards the arena’s center. The other square did the same for the injured Hecatoncheires, prodding them to move towards their team captain.
Lily looked at this with some concern. “What’s going on?”
Asterion answered. “The penalty for failing to win the Ancient Game.”
The crowd slowly began to settle back down, making me look up at Alaire’s box. The blond conniver once more had his arms outstretched, which meant he had another speech ready.
“And so, in accordance with the will of the Blood Plains and the rules of the Ancient Game, I sacrifice these unworthy souls so that the Underground City may continue to prosper.”
Ye mean prosper for ye, surely, I thought with some bitterness. The only time he ever thought about another’s prosperity was when it benefited him.
