Chapter two
I watched with trepidation and worry in my heart, but outside, the exterior was hardened steel to give him the strength and courage to go further than he had ever gone before. He stood there leveling his gaze on Camden and neither one was moving. It appeared that they were waiting for the other to strike. It was that awkward silence that was making it very difficult on everybody that was witnessing such a meeting of the minds.
“If you do not shoot an arrow in the next 5 minutes, both of you will be disqualified.” Lord Vadam had decided to take a stand and I knew that the rule book was now being force fed into every decision that he was making. He was reading it intently and he had no interest in being surprised again. This time, he would be prepared and I could see that I had rattled him slightly.
“You heard him, Braden and if you don’t take the shot, then I will.” Braden was waiting and I could tell that Camden was itchy to send that final arrow into his chest, as a warning to others that he could not be beaten.
When Camden reached for that final arrow, he was not the only one. Braden pulled his out at exactly the same time and they fired simultaneously. It was like watching a boxing match with two opponents that weren’t going to go down by a right jab or left hook that came their way. Once again, everybody was on their feet and that final arrow from both of their quivers was making the trajectory towards their intended target. It was mostly a flash of light, but somehow I had slowed it down in my mind and was able to perceive in vivid clarity each of the arrows.
I didn’t know quite how I was doing it, but it was fascinating to watch nonetheless. The arrows contacted each other and exploded with such a flash of light that everybody had to shield their eyes. When they turned around, both men were standing, but then Camden fell to his knees. A piece of the energy arrow had embedded itself in his shoulder. The rules stated that the arrow had to pierce a victim, but it did not say that the entire arrow had to be present. I knew that Braden had made the only decision that he could make. He had drawn first blood and now was waiting for the decision to be made from Lord Vadam.
I saw him panicked and going through the book with one page after the other. He finally stopped and I would say from the look on his face that he had seen the truth and it wasn’t pretty. This must’ve been the first time that they had ever used the rule book. I had set a precedent and I was hoping that that would follow from one tournament to the next. Everybody was waiting and Braden was now standing with his hand against his chest with his hand formed into a fist. I knew from reading the books that this was his salute to a fallen warrior and that once given the decision, he would raise it in honor of his own victory.
“The ruling states that the arrow has to be inside the opponent. It does not say if the arrow needs to be intact. Since this is a gray area, I have decided to judge in the name of the rule book. The victor is Braden. It does not mean that Camden has been usurped and his role as my guardsmen taken over by another. It only means that he is no longer eligible to fight for his position. He’ll have to wait like everybody else to find out if his position has been taken. I believe that there are two more opponents to take the stage. This will determine the final 12.
Braden came over and put his two hands on my shoulder. “I don’t know what you intend to do, Shana. I sense that you might be more than meets the eye. Do what you need to and I don’t want to come back here, unless you are victorious. I know that you can do it and I believe in you.” I did believe in me, but now standing a few feet away from a man that was hell bent on destroying me had seriously made my confidence wane. “I think that deep down I’ve always known that there was something different about you. We’re going to have to talk about that at some point. I’ve been hiding from it long enough and it’s about time that we shed some light on where you came from.” I should’ve known that my questions would raise some suspicion in his mind.
“Braden, I’ll tell you anything that you want to know, but not until after this tournament. I don’t want either one of us to be distracted and it might come down to the two of us.” The final 12 would fight till the final six and then those final six would move on to the feat of agility. I had no idea what that would entail, but I wasn’t sure if I was up to the challenge.
“I understand your need for secrecy, Shana. We both know that you don’t come from around here. Your interest in the looking glass only confirmed to me that you’re looking for a way to go home. We’ll talk about that later.” I felt a little sideswiped and I wasn’t expecting him to lower the boom in such a way. “You go out there and give him everything you can bring to bear. Show him that you are a woman and that you can fight any battle that comes your way. Be courageous, be true and don’t let him intimidate you like I almost did with Camden.” At least my opponent was not five times my size. He was only two times and he was looking at me and then at Lord Vadam like he was thinking that this was some kind of joke.
“You can’t be serious. This is not a test of my talents. I want real compet….” He didn’t get a chance to say anything else, before the arrow punctured his suit of armor. The rules did not state when the arrows had to fly and I decided to take a proactive stance. I fired before he could even finish his sentence and now he was looking at me dumbfounded, as he fell onto the ground. He was injured severely, but if I did my job right, he would live to fight another day.
There was a stunned silence and then they finally pulled themselves out of their shocked expressions to give me an applause that was worthy of a warrior going into battle. They were confused and I only had to shoot one arrow and I sensed that this was not common or even expected.
“As your lord, I decree that this flying of the arrows has been completed. Those 12 that stand ready will go now into the forest and complete the cycle of Offus. The first six to bring back one of these elusive animals will be declared the winner. The one that does it first will have an advantage over the final five. That advantage will be revealed to them before the next competition.” I knew all about the Offus and how fast it could be on its feet. It hid during the day and only came out when it was ready to feed. This meant, we were going to have to flush it from where it was hiding and hope that we could get a clean shot.
“Braden, there is nothing in the rules that say that competitors can’t work together.” He looked me incredulously and then he smiled with a bemused smirk on his face. “I think that between the two of us we can easily take down one of these things together. Then we can take down one more and walk back to the black castle as one of the six” I don’t think that he was expecting that answer.
“That has never been done before, Shana. You really have changed things around here. I am sure that Lord Vadam is now wondering how to get you out of the tournament, as fast as possible. He’ll reach into his dirty bag of tricks and come out with something that is suitable to throw at you. He’s hoping that he won’t have to, but I can see that he is ready and willing to make an example out of you to others.”
“As it is well known, after each competition, there is a resting period of one night. Tomorrow, at the crack of dawn, those competitors will embark on bringing in the Offus. We all know that it’s not easy and not a lot of people are prepared for how tricky this animal is. This will give the competitors a fair chance to ready themselves for going after a suitable prey. I will leave you with one thought. A woman has never won this thing and I don’t think this year is going to be any different.” He was obviously referring to me. He wanted to make sure that I was well aware of his displeasure over this latest turn of events.
“I do believe that you have got underneath his skin. That doesn’t happen very often and there’s a reason for that. I’m behind you, but I think it’s time that we finally talk about the Offus in the room.” that was not how I would put it, but once again, it was close enough to reality, as it was ever going to get. I sensed that there was somebody out there and they were looking out for my best interest. I didn’t know how I could possibly know that, but something was nagging at my consciousness. There was a feeling that there was a benefactor that was making sure that I was going to be a viable opponent. The arrow that I shot should have wounded him, but instead it killed him. My intention was to go for the shoulder and not 5 cm from where I intended. It could only mean that my arrow was knocked off it course. I had no idea how that was possible, but I had a feeling that whoever was my benefactor wasn’t going to remain a secret for long.
“I told you, Braden that we can talk about this after the tournament.” I knew that that was never going to hold water. He was determined to speak to me and the way that he was looking at me, only made me that much more aware of the fact that I didn’t come from this land. If questioned further, I would have no idea how to answer and I think that he was banking on that.
He pulled me by the elbow and I was tempted to smack him across his face to let him know that I was not cattle. He did not have any right to put his hands on me and he would find out in short order that I wasn’t the type of woman that was going to bow down to any man or woman for that matter.
“You can either take your hand off me willingly, Braden, or I can take it off by force. I would suggest that it would be better for you that you did it willingly.” He looked at me and then he realized that I was serious. I was not going to back down and I certainly had no interest in being pulled around like a puppet on a string. “I mean it and if you don’t let go, I’m seriously going to hamper the way that you conduct yourself in these competitions.” He reluctantly let me go. When I got behind him on Rankin, I felt this distance and cold icy feel that surrounded our relationship.
We had come a long way and I thought that we had gotten past a few of his misconceptions about me. I guess even he had his limits and apparently I had overstepped my bounds. He knew that something was different, but it took me standing up to the Lord to make him realize that what he suspected was probably right on the money.