A Song of Silence

Chapter 95: A Challenge in the Dark

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I did not wait long until the trapdoors lowered from above. The ropes lowered down the platform and I stepped quickly upon it. The ropes heaved upwards and brings me along with it. My head crested the bright sunshine and the cheering of the crowd nearly deafened my ears. Clearing my head and shaking the noise from my skull, I survey my surroundings. The sand pit in which I was now in was just as I had imagined it. Spectators surrounded me and the sun glared heavily upon my brow. My weapons were heavy in my hands and they glinted off the rough sand at my feet. It looked especially sharp, as if one touch would lead to a cut down to the bone. Of course that was my imagination, but imagination is a powerful thing and even more so, fear.

I had king been conditioned to think outside my fear. The grand assassin knew me, just as I knew him, but my father also knew my fears just as I knew his. My fear surrounded me. The fear of failure. Of impressive crowds lusting for my blood to be spilled. His fears were much less magnified. The only one that would apply was him losing all his hard earned power if he lost. Even with centuries of conditioning, fear wore down a person. That animalistic thing inside compresses any confidence you might have into a tight little ball, making way for panic to take over. And with panic came mistakes and those weren't something I could afford right now.

My father stood facing me. His weapons also in hand with his form slightly shaded from the large shadow of the colosseum. It was a great strategic advantage. The sun would be on me and draining me while he stood shade covered. Not to mention I would be blinded by the sun until it eventually covered me in a few hours time. If I even lasted that long. One could only hope.

Another fae stepped into my sight exactly between my father and I. The referee? Indeed, the referee placed her hands to her throat and started to speak, her voice now magnified so the entire stadium could hear her , "Welcome one, welcome all to the official challenge for power between the current Grand Assassin, Kalissus Arnum NightWalker and his blood Aerilynn Maeve StormBringer! This challenge will consist of combat consisting of five weapons and no use of magics. Any use of magics will automatically disqualify the opponent and sentence them to death! The rounds will be timed to an hour and stopped until one opponent has been killed. Any fae found to be interfering with the matches will be brutally tortured and killed along with their extended family and anyone else associated. Crowd, are you in compliance with the rules?"

A resounding, "Yes," almost deafens my ears.

I straighten my shoulders as the referee turns to me and asks, "Lady Aerilynn, are you in compliance with the rules?"

"Yes," I speak simply and softly, yet with determination. The crowd seems disturbed my my lack of an enthusiastic, loud response, but that doesn't deter them from cheering at my response.

The referee turns to my father, "Lord Grand Assassin, are you in compliance with the rules?"

He rolls his eyes and scoffs at her question. This seems to displease her because her mouth thins into a line. She repeats her question. The entire colosseum seems to wait with bated breath. "Yes!" He says as he screams and beats his fist against his chest. This incites the crowd and they cheer and mimic him as they also beat their fists on their chests.

Smart. In one move, my father has turned the tide in his favor so that they will cheer for him, but also do that it will be much harder to rule over the crowd should I win the challenge. My chances are slim at winning, but my father wanted to make sure that I had no support and that it would be a short reign should I defeat him and rise to become the next Grand Assassin.

The referee nods at his response and gestures to the crowd surrounding us, "Are you ready to see one hell of a fight!!!" She says as she raises her arms in excitement. The crowd practically roars and seems to shake the stone walls surrounding us with the noise. No doubt another tactic to keep me me off balance and unfocused. I was determined to see that tactic fail, no matter my fear. The referee leaves the gritty sand if the pit that we now stand and goes to the safety of the outer walls of the pit. Now it is just my father and I that stand here on this hot, gritty sand. We study each other. Two predators look to the other, both waiting for the other to become prey.

"Aaaaaand begin!" The referee's voice rights out. The last syllables of her voice mix with the roars of the crowd, every gaze waiting and watching. Neither of us move. We stand and we watch. We study, but neither makes a move to attack. To kill. The wind ruffles my hair, taking a few strands out of the tight updo. His hair, cut short to the scalp, seems cool and easy to deal with. Lucky bastard.

I study the man in front of me, gripping the broadsword in my hand tight. His feet are placed shoulder width apart. He is in the shade, so sweat would not have loosened his grip as a mixture of sun and sweat had done to mine. His clothes are cool, but he lacks armor. His arms are bare, but he knows they are vulnerable with the lack of armor on them, so he will be protecting them especially. The rest of him is covered in thick, cumbersome armor. His agility and movement will be cut down significantly, but he will be leaning on his strengths of brute force and heavy armor to win this match. Not to say he will not be agile though, but no nearly as much as I.

In comparison, I was in lightweight, thin armor that would give me the ability to be easily agile, but it was not great protection against my fathers heavy blows. His strength would wear me down, even if I managed to dodge him. His strength far outmatched mine and he had taught me ever move I knew. He knew my strengths, he knew my weaknesses. Still, we watched each other. Both of us were patient beyond reason, so we had no problem with waiting and watching each other for the perfect chance to strike.

The crowd murmured around us. Confused and disgruntled at the lack of action and fighting. We had been standing here studying each other for minutes and it was killing their enthusiasm. Still, we waited. A voice interrupted us, "Alright, let me repeat it..." the referee says, trying to salvage the event that had so far been quite boring. "Lady Aerilynn and Lord Grand Assassin, you may begin!" A much less enthusiastic cheer follows her pronouncement as the crowd hopes for some action at least. We still stand and stare at each other. Doing nothing but waiting. Both of us too stubborn to make the first move and give the opponent the upper hand.

The crowd was getting agitated at this point. They were whistling and yelling at the both of us now. Insults and jabs meant to spur either of us into some kind of motion. Still, we did not move. I could tell though, the insults were getting to my father. I had heard them all my life and he had spent his life killing those who hurled those insults. It rankled on his pride that they were able to insult him so and that he could not end their lives. In short, he was losing their support with every minute that passed and no movement being made. He was being pressured to make the first move now and he knew it. From the stiffness of his shoulders, I knew he desperately wanted to get this duel started.

A quick shuffle of his feet was all I could notice before his broadsword descended on me, arching towards my neck.