Chapter four
“You need to be careful, Shana and somebody is definitely out to get you. I was a little taken aback by your confession to Braden. I had no idea that the armor was using you to do its dirty work. I never even heard of such a thing, but it could be that your own DNA is causing it. We both know that you don’t come from around here. It’s also possible that somebody has been using a form of dark magic that has been prohibited. If this is the case, then things are going to change drastically and in a hurry. There’s a reason why black magic has been outlawed. It is hard to put that genie back in the bottle. The person uses it can look normal, but underneath there is evil.”
I was standing there on what looked like an ocean. The water was lapping at my ankles, but I was not sinking into the black and oily depths. “I don’t know why you’re here, Falla. Shari was there and then he wasn’t. I get this feeling like he was the one that was playing these games. I don’t know if he’s responsible for what happened to the bend or to those people that were waiting for us at the end of the hunt. I can only assume that it can’t be a coincidence.
“If Shari is still alive, Shana, then he’s going to want to make his point in a very profound way. He likes to be splashy. He has no need to hide in the shadows. If he truly is doing this, then you can expect some grand gesture on his part. I don’t know exactly what he’s planning, but it can’t be good. I’ll send out some feelers and see what they can find. If I find anything of use, I’ll be in touch. Just remember, keep a watchful eye and things are not always what they appear to be.” I’ve witnessed that for myself and I had no interest in going down that road again.
“Are you going to be there with me this time?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If Shari is using black magic, or if anybody is using black magic, then they will be able to determine that I’m there with you. It will give you an unfair advantage and Lord Vadam will have no choice. He’ll have to disqualify you from the competition. I don’t think that it would end there. With your affiliation to magic of any kind, things will look like you do all of this. Trust in yourself and I’m sure that everything will work out the way that it’s supposed to. I’m going to do what I can to find out who’s playing these games and what their true agenda is.” She was wearing this flowing white robe and the water had soaked through the material down at her ankles.
It wasn’t weighing her down and she seemed perfectly calm with the idea that we were walking along the surface of the ocean.
“Shana, you have to wake up. Shana…wake up for fuck sake.” I saw no reason why he had to use profanity, but then I opened my eyes to see that he was shaking me. “My god, I’ve been trying to wake you up for the past 10 minutes. I was starting to think that you were dead, but I saw that you were breathing. I don’t know what happened to you and I really don’t have time to get into it. We really do need to make tracks.”” Falla was in my dreams, but I had a feeling that she was really there and not just a product of my overactive imagination. This was a woman that choreographed everything that she did and made sure that her identity was hidden from those that were looking for any kind of magic.
“Um, I’ll be ready in a little while.” I looked at the red armor, grimaced and wondered if I was going to be able to put it back on. Then I remembered that I didn’t have to. This was the part of the competition where no unfair advantage could be taken by anybody. We only had our wits and those techniques that we had learned to protect ourselves. The Garrock was not for the light of heart. People were known to die. The rules stated that it had to be a full 5 minutes of somebody lying there and unable to get up before the victor would be declared.
We got dressed in a hurry and then we went outside to find that Rankin was right where he was supposed to be. There was no sign that he had gone anywhere. We looked at each other, but we knew that there was no way that we could take him with us. People were already on edge and once the rumor spread about the attack that had happened on two fronts, then none of those that were a pet would be safe. Lord Vadam would make a ruling. He had already said that he only tolerated the Dragos. Now that they were showing their true colors, he could turn his wrath on them without feeling any kind of backlash from the community.
I had no reason to let anybody keep guessing, unless of course I took into consideration that I was a tornado that had brought nothing but bad fortune to anybody that I’d come across. Braden was hiding who I was at great risk to himself, Landon was dead and Gemini was fighting for either her life or her sanity. I felt like all this way was on my shoulders, but then I realized that I couldn’t allow it to affect my performance.
We arrived at the Black castle and were immediately segregated by the black guardsmen. “Lord Vadam would like to have a few words with the both of you.” I knew that this was coming, but I had to show some kind of surprise. I’d already conjured up a believable story for my absence. I was meaning to come here to report what happened to Landon, but I got sidetracked by two young men that had decided to take a liking in my technique. “He’s very cross with you, Shana. You should have come to him immediately with any results. The fact that you didn’t makes him wonder what you might be hiding.” I didn’t want them to go digging. It would not be a good thing. So far, they had taken my word that I’d come from the other province.
All they would have to do was pull at that string and it would unravel before my eyes. We followed the black guardsmen into a room that was barren and had no discernible taste whatsoever. There were two hard chairs made of stone or something along those lines. We sat down and waited, until finally Lord Vadam had given us enough time to sweat it out.
He walked in and addressed me like a child that was being sent to the principal’s office. “Shana, I understand that there wasn’t much that you could do for Gemini. She did survive the night, but she has not yet regained consciousness. My medicine man tells me that the longer that she’s out the more likely that she’ll never wake up. Now, you stand in front of me without Landon by your side. I’m going to need some assurances before I decide to take some drastic action.” I could almost see the smirk on his face. He was itching for the chance to make my life miserable. He was just waiting for the right moment to act on the best interest of the people.
“I really don’t know what happened to Landon. We had just left the Black castle with Gemini in your care, when he disappeared. I suddenly found myself in this clearing, unaware of where was or how to find my way back. It took me most of the night, but I finally made it back to Braden’s place. He nursed me back to health and made sure that I was fully recovered from my ordeal. I was dehydrated and I could barely talk. I needed time to rest, even though I insisted that he call you immediately… I mean call for you immediately.” I had to stop mixing my words.
“Is this true, Braden?” He was using his very intimidating statue to make Braden uncomfortable in his own skin “I need you to tell me the truth, Braden and don’t leave anything out.” I’d learned a long time ago that there was always a semblance of truth in a good lie. If he could really sell it, then Lord Vadam wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
“It’s true. I spent the night with her making sure that she was OK. I even brought in a friend of mine to do an in depth examination.” He was obviously talking about Nicholas, but not in the way that Lord Vadam had taken it. “He was quite thorough and after he was done, he said that she was perfectly fine. I think he wanted her to remain lying down. Unfortunately, Shana really couldn’t keep still.” I almost burst out into laughter. There was a semblance of truth in what he was saying.
“I believe you, Braden. You can’t look me in the eyes like that and tell me something that wasn’t true. I just have to wonder what happened to Landon and why Shana was spared. I’m sure that he’ll turn up, but for now, we need to turn our attention towards the tournament. I have one from the Black castle that has decided to take over where Gemini left off. Since, she is no longer able to compete; I have every righ
t to put somebody else in her place. Instead of going for some new blood, I have decided to take one out of retirement.”
“You can’t do that.” Braden was beside himself and was trying to get up off the chair, only to have two of the guardsmen restrain him.
“I can and I have. Believe me, Daniel was not happy about it, but he understood the seriousness of losing the Black castle to Lord Russum or Lord Wallace. He believes like I do that I’m the rightful leader of Markham. He knows without me in power there will be only chaos. People will die and the balance of power would have a vacuum that needed to be filled by someone. Those loyal to me would lash out at either Lord Russum or Lord Wallace. It would be a full scale civil war unlike anything that we’ve seen before. It is the only reason why Daniel has decided to dust off his expertise and put them to good use.” I could see that Braden was seething and there had to be more to this than I realized.
“Do you get a sick thrill out of pitting brother against brother, Lord Bottom…I mean Lord Vadam?” I could see that Lord Vadam didn’t like this slip of the tongue. It must have been something people called him behind his back.
“Oh, that’s right; you are half brothers on your father’s side. I almost forgot about that.” I could tell that he was not somebody that forgot about much. He was purposely putting them in direct competition against one another. I had not heard Braden talk about Daniel and maybe there was a reason for that. There was definitely a story to be told and there was animosity that you could feel in the air. “He promises me that he’ll go easy on his little brother.” Once again, Braden could not control himself and he tried to reach his hands out to strangle Lord Vadam.
“I’ll kill you….” It was a good thing that it was not a crime to speak ones mind. I’m sure that if Lord Vadam wanted to make the case out of it, he could have him imprisoned and left for dead.
“You’re really going to have to rein in your temper, Braden. Take a lesson from Shana. She holds up to interrogation better than most. Her story never wavered, but I’m still not entirely convinced that what she said really happened. With that in mind, I believe that I’m going to send out one of my best to do a little bit of an investigation. I do hope that Shari has finally fallen. Oh maybe you haven’t heard. The bend where Shari was hiding has been destroyed.” My eyes went wide and my pupils grew, just so that I could put on the act of someone that had no idea. “My guardsmen told me that nobody survived, but one lone witness said that a person in red armor was seen at the site. I don’t suppose either one of you know anything about that?”
“We just finished telling you that we weren’t even near the bend. We were on our way there, but Landon disappeared and then I found myself lost.” I knew that he was just fishing for any sort of discrepancy to the story that I’d already told. He was good and I had to admit that that technique probably would’ve worked on most people. He was purposely trying to punch holes in my story, but wasn’t having any luck.
“That’s right… I must’ve forgotten. You can both leave now, but trust that my people will get to the bottom of this. I feel that these two attacks are a direct attack against me. If they think that this is going to make me abdicate my throne, then they have another thing coming.” We were forcibly ejected from the room, dragged down the hall and pushed back into the courtyard where everybody was getting ready for the Garrock.
Nicholas was doing sprints back and forth several times with people looking on and wondering when he was going to stop. Landon’s replacement was Devlin and I really didn’t know much about him. The other Black castle competitor along with Daniel was a man named Xavier. He was very quiet and he was having a quiet conversation with another man that Braden couldn’t take his eyes off of. I had to believe that was Daniel.
That man touched Xavier on the shoulder and then walked over to greet the both of us. “I’m sure that you haven’t heard of me. My name is Daniel. It’s nice to meet you and I’m glad to see that my brother has finally found somebody that is worthy to stand beside him. I never did like Gemini. She was always opinionated and liked to have her own way. My brother was always a bit of a coward in front of the ladies. I do hope that you have a short leash on him.” He was directing his comments to me, but I could also see that Braden was almost ready to strike him down where he stood.
“I should kill you.”
“Braden that is no way to talk to your brother. You really should rein in that temper. I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has mentioned that. I do hope that there are no hard feelings after I vanquish you and your girlfriend. As you know, only three can move on. I think you’ve already heard that Lord Vadam has made a decree that it does not have to be one from each castle. He has changed or more to the point twisted the rules in his favor. He can do that, because he is the Lord. You really should see somebody about that temper, Braden. I think we both can agree that it gets you into trouble from time to time. Sometimes I wonder why my father would give you the time of day. It’s not like you have anything in common. I’ve always been there for him and you’ve always shunned him and turned your back on the one person that showed you unconditional love.”
Chapter five
It was a good thing that I was able to pull them apart. If I didn’t, they would’ve come to blows. “Do I need to remind you that we want to stay under the radar, Braden? We can’t be causing waves. It will only come back and bite us and I think you know that.” He was now standing and doing these moves that I had taught him. Others were looking on and probably wondering what the hell he was doing. “Just concentrate on your opponent and let the rest go. We can’t afford the distractions. There are only six of us left and only three will remain after everything is said and done.” The opponents were picked at random and I was begging to their god or even mine to make it, so that Braden wouldn’t have to face his own brother or me.
It turned out Braden had to face Xavier. I was pitted up against Nicholas. He was the kind of man that would not go down without a fight. He had that mutation and I don’t know why that didn’t disqualify him from competition. I couldn’t think like that.
Daniel had to go up against Landon’s replacement, Devlin.
They fought like animals and there were no rules. The only rule was to incapacitate your opponent, so that they could not stand after 5 minutes. If they could do that without killing each other, the more the better. Unfortunately, death was part of the game. If neither opponent went down easily, then they would resort to more extreme measures to get their point across.
All of us watched as Daniel got the upper hand. He struck with a force of an anvil. His right cross was meant to do serious harm. Devlin was completely stunned and was rocking back and forth with his eyes unfocused and swinging widely back and forth with his hands in the air. He didn’t even know where he was. Daniel was stalking his prey and waiting for the right time to take him down like a lion does to its prey in the Serengeti.
“You could just drop down and not get up for 5 minutes. I know that you’re not going to, Devlin. It’s too bad, because I really did like you. I promise that I will not make you wait any longer.” Devlin was not even there anymore and just, as Daniel was preparing to take that final blow, Devlin dropped to his knees. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and then he fell face first into the sand. The clock began to tick off and everybody was silent for those initial 3 minutes.
Nobody moved or said anything and we all waited to see if Devlin was going to make a remarkable comeback. He finally stirred at the 00:04:15 mark. He began to lift himself off the ground, but he was barely able to get halfway up before he went back down. It was at the 00:04:50 mark that he finally was able to compose himself enough that he was able to stand. There was still 10 seconds to go. He could’ve stayed down, but he didn’t.
“You are a fool. That should have taken you out, Devlin. I have to give you credit for at least getting up before the 5 minute mark.” Devlin was still a little fuzzy around the edges and I could s
ee that one eye was bloodshot. It probably meant that he had blown something inside his eyeball. Either way, he was really in no shape to continue, but that wasn’t going to stop him.
“Daniel, you do your best…but don’t expect me to just lie down.” Devlin was pigheaded and had he any sense at all, he would’ve stayed down for those extra 10 seconds. It was his ego that was feeding his desire to stay in the fight for as long as possible. “I’ve taken better beatings from my father. Do your worst, Daniel.” Daniel circled him and when his fist came out, Devlin surprised everybody by dodging the attack and rolling back onto his feet. Those 5 minutes or almost 5 minutes had given him that moment to retrieve whatever reserve he had left inside of him.
“Devlin, you know that this can only end one way. I have been undefeated and I don’t plan to make you the first one that’s going to get the best of me.”
Braden said to me “Shannon, the only reason why he is undefeated is because he doesn’t take any prisoners. If a person doesn’t stay down for those 5 minutes, then he continues to pummel them, until there’s nothing left. He killed four competitors and not just in hand to hand combat. He doesn’t know the word lose and failure is never an option. He thinks that his father is doing what’s best for him, but essentially his father is just living vicariously through his son. He wasn’t able to become one of the guardsmen, but his son did and stayed in that position for the next six years.”
“What happened to make him leave the guardsmen, Braden?”
“He recently found that his talents were not being appreciated. He took his expertise and decided to retire from the game permanently. I knew that if ever the Lord wanted him to compete again, he would jump at the chance.” They were now circling each other and I had to admit that Devlin looked like he was ready to take the fight to Daniel.
Another Uoria Holiday: A Sci-Fi Alien Warrior Holiday Romance Page 72
