Trials of a Champion

by Thomas O'Gorman

  “After him, we can’t lose him in the city,” Sarah said.

  They ran after Winn and Jaunty as fast as they could, but Winn and Jaunty were running too, until they came upon a patrol of Menegar soldiers. There were twelve of the soldiers and Jaunty was sure that Winn in his state of weakness could not defeat twelve soldiers, or even ten if he got lucky and killed two.

  Winn didn’t hesitate. He jumped in the middle of the soldiers and started killing. Jaunty pulled his sword and attacked as well. Jaunty struck hard and took the first one down. Winn took three at once with a wicked swing of his sword. The remaining eight snapped to a formation and launched a coordinated attack at Winn and Jaunty. Fighting together they would be tough to beat, even for Winn. Winn considered for a moment and was about to make his move when screams and yells erupted from behind him and several people slammed into the patrol. This broke their formation and Winn and Jaunty attacked with abandon.

  When the Menegar were dead the people that attacked the patrol with Winn and Jaunty turned to stare at Winn. Except for one.

  “Jaunty!” Alana cried.

  “Alana!” Jaunty exclaimed as he ran to embrace Alana.

  A tall girl with short dark hair and a terrible complexion walked up to Winn.

  “Winn, I know it doesn’t look like me, but it is me, Sarah.”

  “Sarah my wife? No, it can’t be, she is up in a palace somewhere hoping I stay dead.”

  “Why would you say that Winn? I love you! I don’t want you dead.”

  “Wait a minute, your voice, it’s her voice.” He looked at her closely. “Your face, it’s hers, it’s yours. Your eyes. It is you.” His hands started trembling. “Get away from me bitch or I’ll kill you where you stand!” Winn shouted.

  “Winn what are you saying?” Sarah said. “It’s me, we are finally together. I know you love me. I know you have been faithful to me.”

  “How could you say that you sick bitch! You plotted with your father to kill my family. You conspired with my father to rape my sister. You slept with my half-brother to humiliate me. You slept with your cousin to cuckold me. You had the Prince of LaVore’s baby. You told the Menegars where I would be, so they could capture me before I could come home and see your betrayal of a pregnancy!”

  “Winn Vaux, I did none of these things!” Sarah said. “They must have brainwashed you somehow. Winn, I have only been completely faithful to you, I swear it!”

  “No,” Winn said. “I have seen it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears. I hate you!”

  “Winn, that is impossible. None of these things ever happened. Ask anyone.”

  “Bitch!” Winn yelled, and he lashed out with a blow to her face, but to his surprise she blocked him and put him on the ground. Winn hopped up quickly and launched a hard kick at Sarah’s side but she side stepped it and threw a punch at him. He caught her hand like a viper striking a rodent and snapped her wrist. She cried out in agony and by that time the men jumped on Winn and subdued him. They tied him up with the sashes of their cloaks.

  “Damn it Winn! We need to get off the street before we get caught,” Svae said.

  Winn turned on Svae. “Who are you and who put you in charge?”

  “Sir, I am Svae Norvesk, a Major under your command.”

  “You are one of my so-called soldiers who left me to die on Tolevo Rise. You are a coward and a traitor.”

  “Svae was the most heavily decorated soldier besides you for that battle which we won decisively,” said Alana looking up from tending to Sarah.

  “Lies. My command abandoned me in cowardice and Jaunty saved me from being captured. It was a disaster, like all my other battles.”

  Sarah was in tears. Svae sighed. Vant and the men stared at Winn like he lost his mind.

  “I am going to kill you Sarah Carrington,” Winn said and even though his hands were tied, he started rushing toward her. Everyone else in the party shouted “No!” and rushed Winn and tackled him. They had to gag him too because he kept yelling obscenities at Sarah.

  After they had Winn under control, they found an empty warehouse where they could sit a while and get their bearings.

  “I think my wrist is sprained and not broken,” Sarah said. “It is tender, but I can move it. We must get to sea so Allesca will come and heal him.

  “Yes, luckily the Lydia is still at port,” Svae said. “Bevy Nonce is a hell of a sailor and can get us out of here. We just need to reach the docks before the sun rises.”

  “How are we going to do that with all the patrols out looking for us?” Jaunty asked.

  “Ask the colonel if he could fly us to the ship.” Svae said.

  “It doesn’t work that way; he can only fly 25 span then he has to touch down. Plus, he wouldn’t take the princess anyway.”

  Sarah let out a cry. She was devastated by Winn’s reaction to her and didn’t know how to handle it.

  “I have an idea,” Alana said. “There is a fruitmonger stand and building beside this warehouse. I am betting there is a horse and buggy inside the building. We could have one person drive it while the rest hide in the fruit.”

  The idea was agreed upon by the party and they snuck over to the fruitmonger’s building and broke into it. Sure enough, there was a mule eating a stack of hay and a nice sized cart. The cart had just enough length and depth to fit six people and pile fruit on top. The problem was that they had nine. Svae was about to reach her wit’s end when Metto crawled under the cart, came back out, and said that three people could hold on under the cart. It would take a lot of strength because there was nowhere to rest the legs for the people riding underneath. Vant, Metto, and Ferris were the strongest men besides Winn, and Winn couldn’t ride underneath because he was tied up. Now they just needed a Menegar to drive the cart.

  Svae hoped the proprietor of the shop came in before dawn and didn’t have long to wait to see that was exactly what happened. He was an older Menegar who had a limp in his step and wore a hat and coat against the slight chill of the night. When he entered the shop and set his lamp down on a counter, he was met with swords on four sides. It scared him so he fell on the ground and Vant had to pull him up to his feet again.

  “Sir, we need your help,” Sarah said to the Menegar. “If it is freely given then you will remain unharmed. If not, there will be one less Menegar in the world this early morning.”

  “I’ll do what you want, except I won’t kill anyone,” said the Menegar.

  “What is your name?” Sarah asked.

  “Nevus.”

  “Nevus, all we want from you is to drive us to the port, to Pier 16, slip C, to be exact. Once you do that, you will never see us again. Now, did you hear anything about what happened last night?”

  “No, I go to bed at sunset and I rise early to open my shop and make deliveries. I always catch up on news during the day. People love to tell you what happened. Why? I know there was some kind of hubbub about the Avish Colonel, but that is a bunch of crazy talk to me. No Avish will ever best a Menegar! Ha!”

  “Good to know. Now cover us up with some small fruit and let’s get going.”

  Svae, Alana, Sarah, Jaunty, Peders, and Winn got in the back of the cart and Metto, Vant, and Ferris helped fill the rest of the space and cover them with fruit, then they crawled underneath the cart and held themselves above the ground. Nevus hitched the mule to the cart and climbed on and rode out into the darkness of the predawn morning.

  As they were riding Svae stuck her sword through the front wall of the wagon and stuck in hard up against the underside of Nevus’s cloth seat.

  “Ouch!” yelped Nevus.

  “Just in case you get any ideas that you will survive if this trip goes bad,” said Sarah in Menegar.

  It wasn’t long until they rode up to a patrol.

  “Morning young bucks, you are out mighty early,” Nevus said.

  “It’s Nevus the fruitmonger,” one of the patrolmen said. “He is always out this time of morning.”

  “
Nevus have you seen any humans running around?” Asked another patrolman.

  “Can’t say I have,” Nevus said. “I still can’t get over that they let the filthy things in the city. Ought to kill them all and ban them, I say.”

  “They are about to be our slaves once the war is over. Don’t you want a slave?”

  “Old Nevus could still wear one of those human girls out. Especially one with a pointy...” Nevus felt a jab in is rear end. “...um nails to scratch my back with.”

  The patrolmen laughed.

  “Ok, Nevus, let us know if you see anything suspicious. You can go.”

  “Thank you, boys. Hope you find who you’re looking for.”

  Nevus shook the reins and the mule started pulling the wagon again. Svae wanted to poke him again but she held back. They were stopped by a few more patrols before they got to the wharf, but all of them knew of Nevus. Evidently, he was a fixture in the city.

  They pulled up to Pier 16 and the wagon stopped. Svae heard horses, several horses, and realized this stop might be different.

  “What are you doing here old man?” yelled a gruff sounding Menegar.

  “I have some fruit for export I am delivering,” Nevus said.

  “Where are you sending this fruit?”

  “Slavesta.”

  “There are no Slavesta ships on this pier, only two Xi En and a LaVoran vessel. Before you try to switch your story foodstuff trade to both Xi En and LaVore is banned. All food shipments must be sent to the army in Skal. Get the hell out of here or I’ll confiscate your wagon.”

  “Attack!” Svae yelled. She jumped out of the food cart and she was relieved that there were only eight soldiers but panicked that they were all on horse. She jumped off the cart at the nearest horseman and landed behind him on his horse. She quickly stabbed him in the side with a short knife and threw him off the horse.

  The Menegar horses were huge but they maneuvered quite well. Svae had no trouble guiding the horse toward the next soldier to engage him. By that time the rest of her group were attacking. Even Sarah managed to pull a Menegar off his horse and was beating him senseless with what looked like Pho Ren moves. The most amazing thing she saw was that Winn, who was tied up, jumped up and kicked a Menegar off his horse then fought the armed soldier with only his feet and ended up killing the Menegar with a vicious kick to the back of the head.

  The rest of the men did well and between them they killed six of the mounted soldiers, but the other two rode off for reinforcements.

  “To the ship!” Svae yelled and everyone ran toward the Lydia, Alana guiding Jaunty and Winn.

  The Lydia seemed completely dark when they reached her, but they all started yelling and the man on watch ran down to the plank.

  “Sailor, tell Captain Nonce to get underway as fast as possible!” Svae said. “We are being pursued and we got what we came for.”

  In less than thirty seconds Bevy Nonce was on the deck shouting orders in her night dress. “Haul away the anchor! Away with the lines! Unfurl the main sail, topsails, and the mizzen sails. Beat to quarters! We are away!”

  Within a minute the Lydia was underway. Luckily there was a strong seaward breeze and the ship took off like it knew trouble was lurking. As they pulled away from the wharf arrows started landing on the ship forcing everyone to take cover, but soon they were out of range of the archers on land. It was still too dark for signals so none of the Menegar ships in the harbor gave chase to them. By the time dawn broke they were out of sight of land, but Bevy didn’t let up on the sails. They were running with the wind and running fast.

  Svae approached Bevy with Winn in tow.

  “Are we out of the woods yet?” she asked.

  “I doubt it,” Bevy said. “We won’t be safe until we reach Avish waters. Say, isn’t that Colonel Kide, the man you were sent to rescue?”

  “Yes, we got him, but not before they did some very strange things to his mind. We must keep him tied up for his safety and ours until we figure out how to fix him. Do you have any place we can keep him?”

  “Tie him to the foremast there. That way we can keep an eye on him and if we get sunk you can set him free and hopefully pull him onto the launch.”

  “Sunk?”

  “It’s the sea missy, and we are in a race to safety. If we get caught being sunk will be one of our better options.”

  Suddenly the boat lurched as the wind abruptly died, and they were becalmed. Bevy started cursing up a storm.

  “What the hell just happened? A tailwind just doesn’t peter out like that! That damned Sidean did this! He left us out here like sitting ducks. Lookout! Look to the south. What do you see?”

  “Sir, three Menegar vessels heading our way. Two galleons and a schooner. The schooner will be on us in an hour if we don’t get moving sir.”

  They sat there becalmed for twenty minutes. Sarah was pacing the quarter deck and Svae, Alana, and the men started sharpening their swords.

  “You have no hope without me,” Winn said. “Let me loose and I will cut them all down.”

  “And get stabbed in the back once they are dead?” Svae asked. “No thanks.”

  “You know, I remember you now,” Winn said. “Not much, except that you were begging to screw me. Yes, you were waiting for me naked in a bed.”

  “What is this?” Sarah asked indignantly, having approached the foremast where they were talking.

  “It’s true wife, I saw every inch of her. Ask her.”

  “Is this true or one of his wild stories?” Sarah asked.

  “Ma’am, I am ashamed to say it but it’s true,” said Svae. “If I would have known he was your husband…”

  Sarah slapped Svae in the face hard enough to make a mark. Then she stormed off below decks.

  “I deserved that,” Svae said. “But you are an evil bastard for bringing it up now.”

  “You killed my horse bitch. We aren’t even close.”

  “Winn, I didn’t kill your horse, I helped you bury him, and I held you while you cried over him. I am your friend, not your enemy.”

  Winn stared at her as she walked off.

  “You really are fucked up in the head, aren’t you?” Bevy asked.

  “I am the only sane one here.”

  Bevy laughed.

  “Maybe, but you sure believe a lot of lies. I have never seen someone so twisted up. I think you would kill me where I stand if I let you go.”

  “Probably,” admitted Winn.

  “Ha. I like a man tied up anyway.”

  “Ma’am, a southeastern wind is starting to pick up,” the lookout said.

  “Ha! That bastard Sidean can’t stop all the wind. Furl the topsail! Reef in the mainsail! Steer into it but not too much! There stop, we are in the groove. Reef the mizzen sail! Unfurl the lateen sails two span!”

  The ship started to move again. Not directly north but almost. She wasn’t making as much speed as before, but she wasn’t a sitting duck either.

  “Lookout, report,” yelled the captain after about thirty minutes.

  “We are almost keeping a pace with the Menegar schooner captain. Still she will be on us in two hours.”

  “Damn this slow rust bucket!” Bevy said. “We won’t be in Avish waters by then, so I suppose I will have to out sail this bastard! Unfurl the lateen sail another span!”

  As the minutes went by the schooner chasing them loomed larger and larger. The wind shifted to a headwind again, so they were stuck, watching helplessly as the schooner came even closer.

  Winn had an excellent view of the Menegar schooner approaching them. It was close enough that he could see soldiers leaning over the sides banging their shields against the hull. Winn noticed a slight breeze shift and he wondered if it was good or bad for the ship. He wanted the ship to escape so he wouldn’t be captured by the Menegars because he was sure Ajani would kill him for killing his son. He also didn’t want to be handed over to the Aviel officials like a trussed-up pig because he would end up sitting in a cell ther
e as well. His plan was to escape once they reached land. He had already loosened his bonds enough to get out of them, so he was ready. He just needed to get his butterfly knives.

  “Captain,” said Winn. “The wind...”

  “Shut up!” Bevy said. “You worry about something else; I’ll worry about the wind.”

  The schooner was almost on them, and it looked like it intended to ram the Lydia. When it was twenty span away, Bevy started spewing out orders faster than Winn could understand them. Suddenly the ship physically leapt out of the water entirely and flew for a few span before slamming hard back down into the ocean and zooming away from the schooner, which missed the Lydia by four span. They were headed north again and making top speed. It was twenty minutes before the schooner could come about in the tricky wind and by that time they were well over an hour a head of the schooner.

  Bevy turned to Winn. “Learned that maneuver from my father. Don’t tell him I used it.” She turned back toward the front of the ship. “Davies, how far out are we from Avish waters?” Bevy asked her first mate who manned the charts.

  “Twelve knots sir!”

  “We are making about 8 knots, so an hour and a half. Lookout, how long till she catches us?”

  “Three hours sir! If the wind holds.”

  “We have to hope there are friendlies around,” Bevy said. “I don’t think they will turn back because they are in our waters.”

  Two hours later and they had crossed into Avish waters, and the pursuing schooner was coming to that point. The lookout called out.

  “Sir the enemy schooner has passed into our waters by my estimation and is still in pursuit. I estimate she will catch us in forty-five minutes.”

  “Mr. Capps,” yelled Bevy. “Take us thirty-five degrees to port. Furl the topsail reef and the lateens.”

  “What are you doing?” Svae asked.

  “We have no chance to reach land, it’s another day’s sail away,” said Bevy. “Our best bet is to sail along a patrol route to try to find an Avish warship.”

  They turned to the west and sailed in a northwesterly direction. The schooner matched their course change. They kept going for thirty minutes.