The Student

by Darin Niemann

  Even though the fight had started, neither Feron nor I had rushed in. We slowly started circling each other, while at the same time moving closer. As soon as we came within striking distance, Feron pounced. He threw a fast punch at my face, which I weaved around, but didn’t notice the other punch coming in towards my mid section. Pain blossomed, but I didn’t stop. Dante had always said that, in battle, if you froze you died.

  I jumped back, out of range, attempting to distance myself. Feron immediately followed me, not wanting to let me recuperate. I focused solely on defense as I dodged and blocked his unrelenting attacks. It became a rhythm, his strikes. He was fast, that was certain, but as the fight went on I became aware of a pattern in his flurry of blows. After every punch that went low there was a slight delay in his next attack, and that is where I aimed.

  Only slightly behind Feron, I shifted to avoid his attack at nearly the exact moment he began his strike. His eyes widened in surprise as I was not where his punch was going. I had already avoided his attack while my own fist was moving fast towards his chin. He tried to pivot and avoid the blow but I timed it perfectly and it was a clean, hard hit. He dropped, instantly knocked out by the precise blow. The crowd was stunned into silence.

  One moment I had been on the defensive, scarcely dodging the flurry of punches, while the next moment showed Feron out cold on the ground. Slowly, I began to hear clapping and looked to find the ringleader with a smile on his face as he applauded me. A few of the crowd followed suit, but most of them had bet of Feron and lost their bets. I probably wouldn’t have cheered either.

  I approached the ringleader as coin was being exchanged throughout the crowd, and we watched Feron being carried out of the ring. The ringleader tipped his hat to me as he spoke.

  “Impressive. Here are your earnings.” As he attempted to hand me a pouch, I gesture for him to wait.

  “I would like to fight again.” I said.

  The ringleader smiled deviously at me.

  “And should you lose?” He asked.

  I paused to think it through. Quickly deciding, I spoke confidently.

  “If I lose, I forfeit my earnings. If I win, though, I earn the right to fight again.”

  He thought briefly before a wide grin stretched upon his face. “Agreed,” he said.

  The ringleader stuck out his hand, and I shook it.

  “Very well then,” he said, “I will find a suitable opponent for you. It won’t take long, so rest up while you can.”

  I nodded and made my way to the ring once more, kneeling on the dirt. It was stiff dirt, packed hard from countless fights before mine. Clearly this place had been operating for quite some time.

  I heard footsteps approaching from behind me. I ignored them, thinking it was just the the ringleader But, when I heard a familiar voice it shocked me.

  “What are you doing here, kid?” The voice asked. I turned to find none other than Dante standing there, looking quite angry, waiting for a response.

  I tried to explain quickly, “It’s not what you think.”

  Dante folded his arms across his chest, “It isn’t? Well it looks to me like you think to take on the world after getting a few lessons from me.”

  I shook my head, “No, trust me when I say that I realize my limits, but there is a reason that I am here.”

  Dantes glared a bit more before sighing, “I am listening.”

  I told him what I was doing here, beginning with the start of the day. I explained the young starving cat along with the shady merchant. I even mentioned how I had watched a few rounds before attempting anything myself. By the end of my tale, Dante was smirking and shaking his head.

  “Only you would put yourself in such a situation for a mere cat.” His face turned serious once more. “I will let you fight until I see an opponent you cannot beat. But you must listen when I tell you to stop.”

  I nodded reluctantly, “I would have quit myself after another two fights, that would earn me enough to buy the cat’s freedom.”

  The crowd cheered as the ringleader loudly announced that bets were on. An opponent had been found. I looked over to see a bald, muscular man step out onto the ring across from me. He was taller than me, bare-chested, his skin swirling with ink. By looks alone, he appeared tougher than my last opponent. His gaze was locked on me and filled with hatred. Promptly ignoring him, I turned to Dante and waited for his judgement while he analyzed my opponent.

  My instructor let out a harrumph before speaking, “That one is a berserker, he hits hard, and consistently, but he isn’t as fast as your last opponent. Speaking of which, we should examine these fights in detail later.”

  I agreed, having a master tell me the small mistakes made during these fights could help me improve greatly.

  Dante continued, “If you don’t slip up, you can defeat him. You will have to use speed this round as you most likely cannot match his brute force.” He made to leave the ring, but winked over his shoulder as he left, “Most importantly, don’t embarrass me.”

  I just shook my head at his folly, focusing my full attention on my opponent. A berserker. I had heard about them from Dante. He had said that they poured all of their hatred at their opponents. They never hesitated and would shrug off all but the most jarring of injuries. I would need to knock him out or win through attrition. As Dante had said, speed would be my advantage this round.

  The ringleader shouted out that betting was closed and began the countdown. As soon as he yelled to being the fight, my opponent charged at me. Not overly surprised by the berserker's straightforward tactics, I merely waited for him to get in range before hopping aside. He kept going for a few steps before gaining enough control to turn around again. I would again play defensively to feel out my opponent first. I could have landed a counter attack from behind him, but I didn’t want to rush. If he somehow managed to turn on me, it would only take a few of those powerful blows to take me down.

  I wasn’t sure it was possible, but my opponent seemed to be even angrier after being so easily dodged. I could almost physically feel his hatred as he charged at me again. I jumped aside once more, but he was prepared for it. His fist was already in motion towards my new position. I was midair so I did the only thing I could think to do. I kept going down, ducking as I went, barely skirting under the attack. As I landed, I tucked into a ball and rolled away. His fist had missed me by less than a hand’s width. This was a much tougher opponent than my last match.

  The berserker had adapted after only one charge. Apparently his rage didn’t make him thoughtless, which was what I had been hoping for. Although, I did notice a weakness during the last encounter. As he had thrown all his power into his punch, his entire left side had been open. If I could predict which side he would attack from, I could duck inside and land a blow to the head or body.

  My opponent continued charging me and I kept dodging. We did this for a few passes before I finally found a pattern in his attacks, and I knew that the next punch would be thrown left. As it came in, I ducked right, stepping inside his arm. His eyes widened at this unexpected change. There was little he could do, though, as his full momentum was behind his punch. I landed a quick, hard jab into his side, and quickly jumped back out of reach.

  The crowd quieted waiting to see the results of such a clean blow. The berserker, hunched over, stood up once more. He roared out his pain and frustration before charging me again. I had to be patient, as it would take a few more blows to take him down. On the other hand, it would probably only take one punch to bring me down.

  As I weaved around his attacks once more, I heard Dante’s voice from the crowd yell out, “The legs!”

  That was it! As soon as he put all his power into his punch, I could kick his legs out from under him. My plan formed, I waited until the berserker rushed at me again with his full power. When he did, I dodged while dropping low and spinning hard and fast. Combined with the berserker’s forward momentum, my kick caused him to collapse, face down. Not wanting to giv
e him a chance to get up again, I leaped on his back and snaked my arm around his neck. He tried to pull me off, but I held tight. He kept struggling but it was useless. Soon enough, he passed out from lack of air and I let go as I did not want to kill him.

  While I caught my breath, I noticed most of the crowd cheering this time. Apparently more than a few of them had bet on me. I wiped sweat from my forehead as I walked over to the ringleader. Some of his men carried off the berserker.

  “Another excellent fight,” he applauded, “Would you care for another? I have just the right opponent for you this time.”

  He gestured behind me, and I looked to already find the opponent in the ring. He had scars. Lots and lots of scars. They were wounds from real battle, not from mere brawls. He looked at me and it wasn’t with hatred, but a calm confident gaze. He would probably be my hardest match yet. I did need one more win though, in order to pay that greedy merchant. I turned back to the ringleader, about to accept his offer when a hand gripped my shoulder.

  “No, Kayne, this is a fight you cannot win.” I knew that Dante wouldn’t say that without believing it. I was about to speak when Dante waved his hand, “And I can cover the rest for the damn cat, if you don’t have enough. You’ll owe me though.”

  I nodded, turning to the ringleader, “I withdraw from the ring, and I wish to collect my winnings.”

  The leader sighed, then shrugged, “Very well then, here are your earnings.”

  He reached around his back to grab at a pouch of coins, and tossed it to me. I caught it and peered inside to find a lot of gold. More gold than I had ever seen, even on the prince. The ringleader’s attention was already focused on finding another fighter for the next match.

  Dante and I headed for the door and, as we walked, people gave me a much wider berth than they had before. In all the chaos of the fighting, I had forgotten one small detail. “Dante, why are you here? You were angry that I was here but never once did you mention your reason for being here.”

  He grinned at me, “Well, of course I have to be able to pay for all the ale I drink.” His face grew serious as he spoke, “I also come here to look for strong fighters, in order to test myself. It may not be the most noble of places, but money attracts those with strength.”

  We entered the alley and paused there. “You should not come here anymore, at least not for a while. You got lucky with your opponents, boy. If you had fought that last one, you would have been lucky to leave alive.”

  Frowning, I argued, “But he wouldn’t kill me because he would lose his earnings.” Dante laughed, “You are surprisingly naive for one so smart.” No longer smiling, he looked directly into my eyes. “Some men don’t care about coin, and some men don’t care about anything other than victory.”

  I frowned, not fully understanding what he meant. I was about to ask him to explain when he interrupted me.

  “Someday, you will understand,” he said gravely, “hopefully not for a long time... but in time you will. Now go get your damn cat and try not to do anything reckless without telling me first.”

  With that said he slapped a pouch of coins in my hand, then disappeared into one of the numerous alleyways nearby. I just sighed and shook my head. Sometimes Dante seemed to be a rowdy, mischievous kid playing around in a grown-up world, but other times he seemed... more. It was hard to grasp his true nature, but I did know one thing for sure. He would always fight with me if I needed it.

  I peered into the pouch Dante had given me with surprise. While not as much as the coin I had earned fighting, it was more than enough to cover the cost of the cat. The thought of having to pay Dante back made me wince. Who knows what troublesome thing he would ask me to do.

  Pushing those unpleasant thoughts aside, I maneuvered my way back to the shady merchant. He looked surprised to see me.

  “Back so soon?” He shook his head in fake regret, “I’m sorry boy, but even for a lad such as yourself there is nothing…” His voice sputtered off as I dropped my winnings on the table. As the bag hit, a few coins slipped out, gleaming gold in the fading daylight. At the sight of the coin, his eyes widened as he looked at me again. Now, though, there was something else in those shady eyes. There was fear. Apparently he noticed my contempt for him. He backed up slightly, away from his stand. Neither of us said anything as I grabbed the cage and carried it away. I did look back once though, before I was out of sight, and I saw the merchant hastily shoving coins back into the purse with greed in his eyes.

  I arrived at Enelo’s home as the sun was setting to find him making his afternoon meal. After a quick hello, I set the cage down on the table. Curious as to the presence of a cage, Enelo paused his dinner preparations to take a look. Pulling the cover off revealed the young cat still sprawled flat on the cage’s floor but was now wide awake. She, as with proper lighting I could tell that the cat was indeed a she, watched me with her bright, green eyes.

  I explained what had happened to Enelo, having to twist the story quite a bit to keep the fighting I had done a secret. Enelo knew just what to do and he helped me prepare some food and drink for the cat.

  “She will want to eat as much as possible, but we can’t let her. If she eats too much in too short of time, she will get sicker. You will have to feed her small portions multiple times a day for at least week….”

  As Enelo explained to me how to care for the cat, I noticed the cat’s eyes following me. Once the food was ready, Enelo opened the cage and tried to coax it out. The cat simply stared at me, unmoving.

  Noticing its stare, Enelo smiled slightly, “I see.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, not understanding.

  “Have you heard of the legend of the white diamond?” He inquired.

  I nodded, not seeing why such a legend was relevant.

  Enelo stared thoughtfully at the starving cat as he spoke, “I have always thought it a myth, but it seems like the legend has some merit.” He gestured to the cat. I had noticed that ever since we had removed the covering of the cage, the cat had been staring at me continuously.

  I glanced towards Enelo, “Do you actually think the rumors have some significance? About the haunting?”

  Enelo laughed, “Haunting? No, nothing of that sort exists, but this cat seems to fixate on you over everything else. Perhaps it feels connected to you, maybe some kind of natural bond.”

  I was unsure of what to think of the situation, if such a thing were true.

  Enelo continued, “In any case, it will take a good week or two, perhaps more, before she can survive alone in the wild. She is already old enough to know how to hunt, but she is much too weak from being in captivity. It takes a cruel and careless person to let a creature reach such a poor state.”

  I agreed wholeheartedly, somewhat wishing that I had been fighting against the shady merchant in the ring. Thinking of the ring reminded me to meet Dante sometime tomorrow and discuss the matches I had fought.

  I asked Enelo as I placed some food and water in the cage, “I have something to take care of tomorrow, would you watch the cat while I am away?”

  “Of course I can,” he replied, “but there is one thing you need to do before then.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, “What might that be?”

  Enelo’s mouth twitched upwards as he gestured at the young cat, “You cannot keep calling it cat.”

  I itched my cheek, “And what should I name it?”

  I had never given anything a name before. During my youth, I had no pets or even friends to give a nickname to. I knew that names had meaning, and defined a person or being for life, so I didn’t want to choose something unsuitable.

  Enelo chuckled at my sudden seriousness, “I am sure you will come up with something that befits her. Think it through tonight and let me know in the morning.”

  He gave my shoulder a grip before heading into his study. I watched as the cat ate. She watched me nearly as much as the food she was devouring. Sighing, I sat and pondered the various names that I thought fit
a mountain cat.

  Chapter 14

  I felt something rough and wet against my arm. I shifted away from whatever it was, I just wanted to keep my eyes closed for a bit longer. Again, I felt it and started to get angry when I finally regained some form of consciousness. I had apparently fallen asleep at the table. It had been quite a rough day. Thinking of yesterday, I jolted awake as I recalled the young cat.

  Sure enough, it had crept out of its cage and was sitting on its haunches, staring at me. It gave a short little roar, which sounded more like an infant than the vicious beast it would become. I laughed at the attempt.

  Once it grew stronger and a bit older it would have a fierce roar. Getting up, I gently rubbed the cat. It purred loudly and nuzzled its head against my hand. I laid out some food and water for the cat and checked on Enelo. He was already awake, studying something or other in his personal library.

  “How was your nap at the table?” Enelo smiled as he saw me.

  I rubbed my neck in an attempt to lessen the soreness, “I’m a bit sore. You could have woken me if you knew I had fallen asleep.”

  “Have you decided?” Enelo asked, not bothering to reply to my accusation.

  “On a name? I thought of many, but there was one that struck me. It is… an unusual name.” I paced back and forth as I talked.

  “Is that so? Well, what is the name?” He asked. I stopped pacing and faced him.

  “Shar.” I nearly whispered, “It is short for Avuara’Sharyn.”

  Enelo placed a hand on his chin, “Hm, an intriguing name. It roughly translates from the old tongue meaning ‘Flame’s Shadow’.” He thought for a moment before nodding and smiling. “It is a strong name, I agree. You must have thought hard on this matter, to come up with such a name.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, I know how it feels for someone to give you a name without much thought. I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen,” I jested.