Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 20 - A World of Kedra Story

zakludick (58)in #writing • 6 years ago

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Last time on Raiders of the Middle Seas Part 19

Kayden and the Drunken Warriors face off in the Marble Coliseum against another gladiator group...

“Gladiators! Get ready! And! Fight!” The commentator shouted again, his voice seemed to come from everywhere.

Raiders of the Middle Sea 20

“Gladiators! Get ready! And! Fight!” The commentator shouted again, his voice seemed to come from everywhere.

Kayden’s companions sprinted forward, some ran less straight than others. Kayden stayed where he was and kept tilting his head backwards. The cool ale fell into his mouth and throat.

The crowd was going wild for some reason.

In the center of the arena, the leader – Qubartu and one of his other men had engaged Rulaf. The giant wielded an axe in one hand, a mace in the other and was trading attacks and parries with the two men.

Shadi was dancing around another Skulltaker. Spear in hand, he was keeping the other man on the defensive, armed with a shield and a short sword. Torassh and one other Skulltaker were rolling on the ground end over end. There was no telling what was happening there.

The crowd’s shouting intensified.

Of course, that meant there was one more Skulltaker.

Kayden turned quickly to his right just in time to see the last Skulltaker sprinting towards him with a spear in both hands, ready to take his heart. Kayden’s spin nearly took him off his feet. Instead of stopping it, he went with the motion and kept spinning to the right.

The motion put the spear behind him and past him in the last moment. He spun full circle as the Skulltaker was just behind him and slowing his headlong charge. Kayden’s mug smacked into the back of the man’s unprotected head and shattered, spraying glass everywhere. The man sprawled on the ground, the spear flying from his nerveless grip.

There had been a lull in the crowd’s noise, for a heartbeat. Then they resumed with fervor. Kayden smiled and laughed, then bowed deeply. He looked at the remains of the mug in his hand, the handle with a bit of glass still attached.

He strode over to the plinth where they had been drinking and gabbed one of the other mugs. He dipped it into the barrel. “The others are going to have to catch up.” He muttered to himself.

He looked around to see the Skulltaker stagger to his feet. The man put his one hand behind his head. The hand came away shaky, covered in blood. Kayden threw what was left of his own mug at the man. The sharp piece of glass struck the man across his forearm, earning another cut.

“That’s for breaking my mug you bastard!” He shouted.

The man’s eyes were wide with fright, he edged back and held his hands up before him but there were many paces between the two of them. Kayden took a quick sip of the new mug. No need to obscure his vision from the man.
The Skulltaker was clean shaven, but his hair was a mad tangle that went down below his shoulders. His arms were covered in some sort of tribal tattoo and it contained symbols that Kayden didn’t recognize. The Skulltaker’s skin had been pale but he had burned it in the sun over time.

The Skulltaker made a lunge for his fallen spear and got up as if expecting Kayden to be right on top of him. Instead of being there to take his life, Kayden was watching him with one eye while drinking another long sip on his ale. The Skulltaker became infuriated, the crowd cheered.

In the center of the arena, the pile that was Torassh and the other Skulltaker had gone still, blood was pooling around the two of them. They could both be dead. Their weapons stuck into each other as they had fought right to the end.
Rulaf had brained the one Skulltaker that he had been fighting and was engaging Qubartu one on one. The Skulltaker leader was fighting with exceptional skill with a two handed sword. Rulaf’s clumsy two-weapon system did not seem sufficient to take the Skulltaker down but the brute’s sheer strength was enough to keep the savage leader at bay.

Shadi had disarmed the Skulltaker from his sword but had received a cut along his one shoulder and was now trying to fight with a one handed spear against a man with only a shield. It was hard to see who was more in trouble.

Kayden turned back towards his own little problem. His vision was swimming around a bit from the amount of ale that he had so quickly consumed. He liked it. The Skulltaker was advancing cautiously, not risking another headlong rush, but he was clearly furious.

Kayden turned around, tucking his mug under his arm he began running as fast as he could pump his legs. He yelled as he did so. He loved the way the world jarred with every step of his rush. He jumped over the Jhakarti and the Skulltaker on the ground and past where Shadi and the other man was fighting.

Used to drunken antics, Shadi’s eyes never left his adversary’s and the moment the man looked towards Kayden the dark man struck. The tip of the spear caught the Skulltaker neatly above his breastbone.

Kayden’s own adversary had not given up chase but as soon as Kayden stopped and turned around, standing on a wooden stage, the Skulltaker stopped. Not wishing to repeat his previous mistake. Kayden smiled at the man, the effect seemed to unnerve the savage. The Skulltaker jabbed with his spear.

Kayden began moving forward on the stage towards the Skulltaker who was beginning to walk backwards, fearful of this drunkard. The Skulltaker was getting ready for a proper attack, he was going to stab Kayden in the chest. He could see it in the man’s eyes.

A heartbeat before the attack could begin, Kayden flicked out his hand. Tilting the mug, a jet of strong ale hit the Skulltaker in the face and into his eyes. The Skulltaker screamed at the pain in his eyes, unable to see.

Kayden took two steps and grabbed the Skulltaker’s spear in both hands and kicked out with one foot. The Skulltaker fell screaming and Kayden stabbed the downed man. He whipped his head around and saw that Shadi was checking on Torassh. Kayden looked the other way and saw that Rulaf was still fighting Qubartu.

Kayden drew back his spear and cast it towards the two of them without any real plan in mind. The cast was true enough. The spear sailed straight through the air, but it was nowhere near its target. It cluttered to the floor near the dueling pair. Qubartu looked down for the briefest of moments.

That moment cost him his life. The axe in Rulaf’s hand chopped into the man’s double handed grip and pulled it down, the mace followed up and hit Qubartu directly into his face. Blood and bone sprayed through the air and the crowd screamed, howled and roared.

“The Drunken Warriors win! Five on four! All five dead and all four still living!” The announcer called out. “Bets! Settle all your bet tickets!”

The noise in the crowd was deafening. Kayden and Rulaf made their way back to the plinth with the drinks and the big man got himself another ale. Shadi had managed to disentangle the Jhakarti from the dead man. He was not dead after all and all the blood seemed to have come from the opponent. Torassh seemed to have mauled his opponent in the throat as they had fought and had not pulled away.

The Jhakarti looked terrifying with blood dripping down his chest, his sharp teeth visible with chunks of flesh still stuck in his teeth. The Jhakarti had come within a span of the plinth when he was hit in the face by a stream of liquid. He coughed and spluttered, growling in his throat.

Rulaf laughed. “Now Jhakarti man is cleaned up!”

Shadi had received a length of cloth that he tied around his bleeding arm. The dark man also requested another cup and the four Drunken Warriors shared a toast and drank deep under the eyes of all the spectators.

Shi’Caperrnel had entered the arena. It was uncommon for a Shi to be on arena grounds and the crowd responded to his appearance as if awed. The little Shi did not even have a bodyguard with him. The slave master hurried over on his short legs, his robe swaying with the motion.

Kayden and the others were too busy with their drink to care why the man was down amongst them. Kayden wasn’t inclined on finding out either. He took another pull on his ale and slapped Shadi on his good shoulder. “C’mon! You need to catch up three still!”

Shadi groaned but threw back the drink in his hand, draining the vessel.

“That was spectacular Rulaf!” The slave master was excited and grinning as he held the giant man’s hand. “We… uh… I’ve made a fortune just today on your tryouts! When the band’s next match comes up the seats are going to be packed! They have already sold out the bottom three rings!”

Rulaf raised his mug high over his head. “Drunken Warriors!”

Kayden raised his own mug and repeated the salute, then Shadi and Torassh. Soon they were all shouting and the Coliseum’s raised their voices in the same salute.

He was a slave. He was a prisoner with no rights, doomed to fight in a bloodsport till he dies. But Kayden was certain that he would die a legend.

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