***
A new day came and found Trance discussing how to use both a main weapon and a dagger at the same time with his fellow knights. At the knight class that day Neklon was to announce the results of the recommendations for team captain.
“There is a four-way tie for captain. The boys most thought should be captain are Gracer, Zam, Mandor, and Trance,” Neklon said. This was followed by the customary applause. “I applaud you four. You really did an excellent job. Now we need to decide which one of you will get to be captain this year. It has been quite a while since this school had more than two prospective captains. So even though Zam was captain last year, he’ll have to fight to be captain again this year. Since this is sort of a special occasion I’ve decided that we’ll use the Gladiator’s Circle Tournament to decide who will be this year’s captain.”
In the midst of the cheers Trance asked, “What’s a Gladiator’s Circle?”
“A Gladiator’s Circle is a twenty foot diameter circle where you and your opponent fight. On the outside of the circle there are one of each weapon, plus your weapons and his. It’s simple, you win by one of three ways; you either kill him three times, wrestling pin him three times, or push him out of the circle three times. But there is a catch. After you score a victory, whether kill, pin, or shove out, all of the weapons that were used leading up to that particular victory are removed and are no longer available for the rest of the match,” explained Gracer.
“Sounds easy,” said Trance, who was now excited that he would have to earn the title of captain like the other three. He knew that he was at a disadvantage. The other three candidates had competed in numerous Gladiators’ Circle matches. He was about to compete in his first.
“Now,” said Neklon, getting the class back in line, “there are four pieces of paper in this helmet.” He picked the helmet up and shook it. “Two of the papers have an ‘X’ on them and two are blank. Each of you four will reach in and take a piece of paper. The pair with the ‘X’ will compete and go first. Likewise the pair that gets the blank papers will compete second, and then the winners will battle for the position of captain. Alright, let’s go to the field and find out who will lead us this year.”
The class went outside and walked toward the painted circle on the far end of the sports field. Neklon led the way to the spot, had the class sit down and called the four candidates up and had them reach into the helmet and select a paper. Mandor and Trance drew the ‘X’ papers, and Gracer and Zam got the blank papers. With the drawing out of the way Neklon directed a couple of the other boys in class to place the weapons around the circle from a barrel of old used school weapons and then Trance and Mandor placed their own weapons outside the circle.
Neklon assigned three boys to be scorekeepers and had Trance and Mandor enter the circle and get ready to start the match. Neklon then signaled the match to start by jabbing his right arm forward.
Almost immediately the two boys went for a weapon, Trance took up a mace and Mandor grabbed his spear. They circled each other trying to find a good striking angle to start after the other with. Mandor finally jabbed forward at the unsuspecting Trance, who instantly made an attempt to block the blow. He was unsuccessful and the boy responsible for keeping track of the kill points awarded Mandor one point in that category.
The weapons were removed and they started again. This time Trance did not grab a weapon; instead he went straight after Mandor in a wrestling match. He won, and they went after each other a third time. With the extra spear Mandor forced Trance out of the circle, giving him a point in that category. Mandor, now with a slight edge over Trance, took his ax and came at him. Trance defended himself with the extra sword. Mandor won by killing Trance, one more point in that category. If Mandor killed Trance again then he would win. Trance knew this and that he had to prevent himself from being killed a third time. Mandor took up a dagger and went after Trance, victory in sight. But Trance took up his own sword and dagger and killed Mandor.
Now the excitement level went up a notch because there were not very many weapons left to work with, so if Mandor was to kill Trance a third time, it had to be now. In the next encounter both boys used up all the rest of the weapons, which ended with Trance being pushed out of the circle. Trance was in trouble now. If he went out of the circle once more he would lose.
The two boys went after each other again, wrestling with all of their strength. Trance made the pin but was starting to feel fatigued. Mandor was the same, but he had competed in many Gladiator Circle matches and knew how to conserve his energy. It was the last round and the pair wrestled again going full bore, Mandor trying to shove Trance out of the circle, and Trance trying to get Mandor down to pin him again. Trance knocked Mandor down and covered him for the pin and the victory.
Match two between Zam and Gracer started just as soon as Trance and Mandor shook hands and the weapons were put back in place. This battle was not as exciting. Zam won with three kills to Gracer’s two.
Zam and Trance shook hands before stepping back into the circle to finish the contest. Trance knew that he could not use might against his very strong and powerful friend, and that he didn’t have that much advanced knowledge of how each weapon could be used. He could use some of the trickery that had helped him in the past to defeat some of the girls in their trial match. Zam knew that Trance was a little tired after defeating Mandor and knew that Trance could not take his powerful blows with any weapon he chose, but he also knew that Trance had the tenacity to go after him with every trick he could think up. Trance was a little smarter than him but not quite as strong. Which would win brains or brawn?
Trance was pushed out of the circle almost instantly after the match started. Zam shoved Trance out again right after they went after each other the second time. On the third start though, Trance killed Zam with a lucky arrow shot from the extra bow and arrows. The next point went to Zam as he killed Trance with a mace. Now it was Trance’s turn to kill Zam with the extra sword. Back and forth it went as Zam used an ax to win the next point. At that point they were tied in the kill category and Trance knew that he needed to win one more time. The final start had everyone waiting on edge to see who was about to become the new team captain. Zam took up his mace and shield, and Trance took up his sword and dagger. They spun and twisted, lunged and parried around the circle for four minutes before Trance moved in and made the final kill.
The entire class cheered for the display that had decided their new captain for the coming year, and they congratulated the new captain, Trance. Trance and Zam shook hands with no regrets on how the event had turned out. Back they went to the classroom where Trance was told to tell the class what he wanted of them and what his expectations were.
“Well,” started Trance as it slowly dawned on him that he was now the leader of the team and that their success and failure was on his shoulders. “I have seen the strategy that you’re used to. It has obviously worked over time to have everybody on the castle wall to defend it. I want us to approach the castle defense and all of our strategies a little different. All of the other teams think they already know what we’re going to do. Let’s catch them off guard and do something different. My idea for starters is to only have the archers and those that have bows for a second weapon on the castle walls. They will be a smaller target and will have more freedom to move about and get the best shot at our opponents. I would like the spearmen to wait near the gates, the swordsmen along the right side wall, and the ax men along the left wall. I want the mace men along the back wall, the guys with the other weapons on the inside of the interior fort, and the dagger men in the escape tunnel,” said Trance, who at this time took a deep breath before answering questions.
“Trance, I have a question. Why is everybody being divided up and put in separate places, when we could all be in one large group and attack the other team at once? It’s worked for us before,” asked Mandor.
“The answer is ea
sy. First, when the archers see our opponents approaching they can pick off as many enemy knights as possible. When anyone gets through the wall they will encounter one of the four groups. Now as I see it, when there get to be too many enemy knights in one area or other then I want everybody to move to the area where they are and catch them by surprise. Finally, when they get to the interior fort the various weapon men and dagger men will come out and strike them down. This way they can’t get at all of us at once. They’ll be picked apart in one big group and we’ll just sweep up on them and hit them by one group after another.”
Trance watched everyone, including Neklon, to see their reactions. Some guys nodded with comprehension, while others looked like they didn’t think the idea would work. Trance noticed that some thought that the best way was the old way, wondering how this could work. Neklon even looked dubious. However, Trance thought that his idea was good, he’d been thinking about it for a while. Just think of how surprised their first opponents would be when they get stuck in their fort and had the defenders come from everywhere and keep coming to wipe them out.
Chapter 14
Test of a New Leader
At home life for Trance was what it had always been. Trance had chores to do, but when it was leisure time he watched television or read a book from his beloved collection. He could sit and read away the hours when he had the chance.
After school the day he had won the position of captain he walked home and after he did his homework he started reading a classic murder mystery from Earth. His brother and sister were home an hour before him and were watching a movie with the new movie disk player when their mother got home from shopping. Trance marked his place in his book with a bookmark and took his captain’s patch to show his mother.
“Mom, do you remember when I told you that I might be up for the captain’s position for the knight class?” Trance asked her.
“Yes, why?” she replied as she unpacked a paper bag of groceries. Then she saw the shield-shaped patch with a gray mountain behind a golden sword. She looked up at him and saw the grin on his face. “You got it. Oh honey that’s great,” she said with a little nervous excitement. Sure she was excited that he had a high position at school, but she didn’t necessarily like him being a knight.
Soon she had the patch sewn onto his warm blue and black plaid coat. After she was finished she asked, “When is your first battle?”
“Ottuthday (the Althorian equivalent to Earth’s Saturday) here against the Azarians,” he announced.
“Alright, what time do you need to be at the school?”
“Eight o’clock in the morning,” he said.
“You better call your grandmother, she will want to know.”
“Okay,” Trance replied just as Kyle came in the front door and sped up the stairs to find them in the kitchen. Kyle had just got home from being on duty at the castle.
“Did you get it?” asked Kyle excitedly when he saw Trance.
“Yep,” said Trance proudly as he showed the patch his mother had sewed on to his coat.
“Congratulations, I knew you could get the captain’s position!” Kyle said excitedly.
“Thanks Kyle. Thanks for recommending me in the first place. I’ve got to call gran’ma now to tell her about it and tell her when our first battle will take place,” Trance said as he went to the telephone. Phones on Althora, Trance had learned, were more like a small computer terminal. You used a small mouse to click on a couple of icons that would dial the number you wanted while you watched a small screen to see the person you want to talk to. Also there was a miniature camera that would film you and transmit your image to the other person’s screen. There was even a mini-microphone to speak into to transmit your voice over very fine fiber optic lines. Cables hadn’t been used for three hundred years. The fiber optic lines were as fine as spider silk.
As the day wore on the elation Trance felt for becoming the new captain on the Gray Mountain Warriors changed into the realization that whether the team succeeded or failed rested on his shoulders and his alone. Please God; help me to be a good captain and a good example to my team, he prayed.
***
School life had become a little easier for Trance as he stopped being just the new kid in school. He was now by far the most popular boy in school and the most easily recognized. He went out with a couple of girls, but none of them were quite right for him. Still he went along and tried to find the right girl.
In the classrooms his ability to continuously get good grades made him well liked by all of his teachers. He was very attentive in class and took good notes. He was not the best note taker by any means, yet he did his best to apply himself to learn the material his teachers presented and pass any quiz or test they gave.
As the time for the first battle drew closer everyone got anxious to know how Trance, a boy from Earth, was going to defeat the Azarians, their first opponents. Finally the day for the battle arrived and everyone was stunned.
Trance set everyone in place, and then went to stand on the wall with the archers and took up his own bow and arrows. He watched the approach of the Azarians much like he had when they had battled the girls. Trance knew ahead of time that they were going to be outnumbered one hundred against seventy. Twenty new boys had joined the team and fifteen more girls had joined. This is going to be tough he told himself. The battle started just then when the Azarians sent a fleet of arrows at the fort. Trance ducked and ordered the seven archers with long bows and the three archers with crossbows to return fire.
Both arrow and stone throwing catapults fired in both directions (both weapons threw stones made of a special foam rubber and arrows with rubber arrowheads). The Azarians dressed in armor that was like that of Roman soldiers, brought up their battering rams and began knocking down some holes in the outer fort.
With their large rectangular shields the Azarians grouped together in tortoise formations, approached the holes in the wall and prepared to enter the fort. In a few minutes holes were knocked through large enough for soldiers to go through.
Trance’s mind whirred to find a way to beat them out of their shells. An idea formed in his mind that might work. “I want the rock catapults to rain rocks on their formations. Archers, when you see an open man, shoot him down right away.” Trance watched with a little satisfaction as his plan went into effect and began to work. The satisfaction of his success evaporated when he heard that they were coming through the wall.
Quickly Trance went down the stairs to help the spearmen only to see that they were beating the Azarians. The spearmen were lined up as Trance had asked them and were surprised to find that they were rather successful this way. Trance joined with the spearmen and drew his sword as they drew their secondary weapons. They fought the Azarians in close quarters and pushed them back. Suddenly the Azarians broke another hole in the wall and came in and pushed the defenders back. As planned, a minute after the new breach in the wall, the swordsmen, ax men, and mace men came running to assist the spearmen. They swept through the Azarians on the inside of the outer fort, reducing their number dramatically.
The now furious leader of the Azarians, Orazior, a tall very tanned boy with dark brown hair, brown eyes and very broad shoulders roared with rage as he saw his men being reduced in number. He marched up the field from the back with his bodyguard toward the fort, trying to figure out this new strategy of the new captain of the Gray Mountain Warriors. He started directing his troops to regroup and reform their formations. He then called up his Gladiator group to head for the holes in the fort walls.
Trance kept his men going by shouting orders and calling for victory. By this time the dagger men and the men with alternate weapons had joined the battle. Trance kept changing orders and having his men reform to keep the Azarians on their toes. Suddenly he saw what was feared about the Azarians; they had an elite group of killers.
The Gladiators were the biggest
Azarian warriors and the best trained. They were strictly trained to kill with all of the weapons, especially their own. They had one goal, eliminate the enemy. This group of boys really wanted to get into the Golden Griffins. Some even had the ambition to be in the Royal Bronze Guard, an extremely dedicated and trained group of knights whose sole purpose was to defend the royal palace from invaders to the end. They got to the holes in the wall, entered with their weapons in hand and started changing the balance of the battle.
The battle raged on and on with no winner in sight. The Gladiators did their best to beat back the Gray Mountain Warriors; however, they became frustrated that Trance had prepared his men really well and were very difficult to knock off. Trance himself took on a couple of them and defeated them. His skill shocked everyone. The Azarians had been led to believe that he would be a pushover and wouldn’t be much competition. Orazior was convinced that he could beat Trance, no problem.
Orazior and his bodyguard reached the fort and entered. Now everyone was in the fort. Both sides were now about even and slowly diminishing. Orazior finally decided to demoralize the Gray Mountain Warriors by personally defeating Trance. He was very confident; after all two years ago he had won the ultimate prize. He had gone to the end of year tournaments and he had won the huge Gladiators Circle event. He was also one of only two guys to ever defeat Rex, the captain of the Royal White Knights and Princess Corena’s suitor. He raised his short sword and came toward Trance.
Trance had just found a small break and had quickly counted both sides. His team was ahead, thirty-nine to nineteen. He felt fairly confident, yet he knew that the battle wasn’t over yet. Then he saw the opposing captain approaching. In a way he had almost expected this to happen. Trance turned to meet his opponent, a showdown of captains.
Space Knights: The Arrival Page 15