Arc 6: Chapter 5: The Cymrinorean
My own breath filled the confines of my helm, loud and bestial where it escaped the lattice of small holes in the mask. My whole body quivered with energy, with the aftershock of countless blows, with my own suppressed desire to keep moving, keep swinging.
But there was nothing left to swing at. Only a young soldier who’d probably been a squire not long before the tourney kneeling at my feet, his sword held in slightly trembling hands.
“I yield, ser.” The boy was also breathing hard. “I yield.”
Coward, an ugly voice hissed in the back of my thoughts. You still have fight in you.
I fought my bloodlust down, straightened, and turned my gaze up to the Spire. I barely heard the herald announce my victory through the rush of blood in my ears.
Once I was back in the tunnel, the brawny marauder clapped a hand on my shoulder. He’d also surrendered, at the end, but only after I’d put steel against his neck and demanded it.
“That was well earned!” Harald laughed. “Ah, a disappointment though. I wanted to reach the second day. Now you’ll have to win, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Before I could ask from who? A high voice called out through the bustle of Coloss staff and defeated fighters. A young girl with brown hair and a peasant’s dress sprinted through the crowd, then all but leapt at the hairy warrior. By the resemblance, no doubt in my mind who she was.
“You’re not supposed to be down here!” He admonished her, and forgot his Alheider accent. There was no real bite in his voice, and she immediately began an excited chatter in a rural dialect I could barely make out. She didn’t seem displeased by her father’s loss.
That’s the kind of man who should be winning this, I thought. Probably best for him to return home and remember this as a passing adventure. Lifting my axe, I noted the jagged edge on both blades, the bits missing and cracks marring the good steel. I grimaced.
A figure lingering near one of the doors motioned me over. When I drew near Kaia Gorr lowered her voice so no one else could hear.