The Rage of Dragons (Book of the Burning)

by Evan Winter

  "Five-thousand forty!" a new Maimed called out. The man was standing two fighting circles away and calling Tau's number. "Five-thousand forty and Five-thousand three hundred ten!"

  It was time to fight.

  Tau walked over, swinging his sword and twisting his neck back and forth to loosen it. His opponent arrived when he did and Tau tried to look like he wasn't on the cusp of throwing up. The Low-Common, across from Tau, had a bulbous nose, wore several heavy shirts in place of a gambeson, and was barefoot. He nodded to Tau and Tau returned the gesture. They stepped in the ring and raised their swords.

  "Goddess smile upon you," said the Low-Common.

  "Fight!" the Maimed said.

  Tau's opponent lurched into a looping attack. Tau blocked. His sword was inside the Low-Common's blade and Tau lifted up and away, moving the man's weapon out of position, leaving him unable to defend.

  Tau brought his sword down on the man's shoulder. The Low-Common cried out and darted back, but not before Tau smashed his blade into the Common's upper arm.

  The man yelped, dropping his sword, and Tau stabbed him in the gut. He doubled over, fell to the ground, and curled into a ball. Tau stepped back, waiting for the Maimed to call the match.

  "He has a twelve-count," the Maimed warned, encouraging Tau to batter the downed man.

  Tau didn't move and the Maimed began his silent count. The Low-Common wheezed his way to his knees and crawled to his sword.

  "He gets to his feet and the match continues to two-hundred," the Maimed said.

  "Then it does," Tau said.

  The Low-Common got to his sword, wrapped his fingers around its hilt, and looked at Tau. He must have seen something in Tau's face. He, and his sword, stayed in the dirt.

  "The winner is Five-thousand forty," shouted the Maimed.

  The Low-Common took his hand from his sword hilt and looked up at Tau, shame writ large across his broad face. Tau had nothing to offer him and left the circle, looking for water.

  It was a sun-span before Tau was called again. His opponent was a High-Harvester in a gambeson. The pitiable bastard bleated for the Goddess' mercy after taking the first two hits.

  Tau's fourth match was a war that lasted the entire two-hundred count. Tau and his opponent were drenched in sweat by the time it was over and Tau had lost count of the points long ago. He almost wept when the Maimed lifted his arm in victory.

  Fighting back tears and exhaustion, he tottered out of the fighting circle and collapsed. He knew, if he was called for another match, he would lose. He lay and sat, in turns, waiting for and dreading to hear his number. The sun was on its return journey to the earth when Tau heard someone beat the bronze gong that announced the end of the first day of testing.

  He'd survived. He'd fought four matches and won them. His first had been the most perilous. By all rights, the pock-marked Governor should be in his place.

  Tau tried to take off his gambeson. He couldn't raise his arms. He left the sweat-drenched padding on and shuffled away. He had to find something to eat, somewhere to sleep. The next day would be harder. Everyone would be a survivor of day one.

  BRAWL

  Day two was hotter. Tau hadn't slept much or eaten at all. His muscles ached, his head pounded from the blow he'd taken the day before, and he was walking with a limp from a cramp that wouldn't loosen. The Heroes' Circle was just as crowded, the failed competitors replaced with spectators, come to see the 'real' fighters. Many of the Umqondisi had come too, scouting for talent. Tau spotted Jayyed. He had to impress the man and hoped the one-time Guardian Council advisor would see him fight.

  "Five-thousand forty!"

  Tau stepped into his fighting circle and did not like what he saw. He was facing a stocky and bare-chested man with no shield. The man had raised welts over his chest, back, and arms, from his fights the day prior. He eyed Tau, looking him up and down, but said nothing. Tau tossed his shield outside the circle. It wasn't in some misguided attempt at fairness. He hated fighting with the damned things anyway.

  "Fight!" the Maimed ordered and they did.

  The topless man held back, so Tau attacked. He came fast, looking to finish the fight early. The topless man was faster. He shrugged off Tau's first and second strikes with the edge of his blade and sent a jab for Tau's stomach. Tau parried and their swords tangled. The stocky-man stepped in, grabbed the wrist of Tau's sword arm and bent it. Tau mirrored the move and they grappled, tripping and falling in the dirt. There was a scramble, a dropped sword, a headbutt, a curse, a retrieved sword, a heavy kick, and then both were back up, circling.

  Tau's left eye was swelling shut and the jagged cut Lekan had given him was bleeding through its scabs. The man's head had felt like a rock when he'd slammed it into Tau's face. At least, the stocky fighter wouldn't be as fast. Tau had kicked him in the thigh as hard as he could, and the bare-chested brawler was favoring the leg.

  Tau lifted his sword, keeping it parallel to the ground and aimed at his opponent's chest. The brawler slapped at it with his sword, doing his best to keep Tau focused on the meaningless contact, as he planned his next offensive. Tau didn't give him the chance. He came forward, sword point leading and punching through the air like a needle through cloth. Tau's opponent skipped backwards and Tau harried him, taking him to the fighting circle's boundary. With no more room for retreat, the swordplay began in earnest.

  The brawler yelled something unintelligible and attacked. Tau snarled and went for him. Blades connected, they repositioned, swung again, block, riposte, each looking for any advantage, any chance to bleed the other.

  The brawler gave Tau a sharp cut on the arm and Tau blasted him in the waist. The man moved back, hunching over his injured core. Tau came after him, smashing at his sword. The pressure forcing the brawler to his knees.

  Tau had the advantage, but couldn't feel his arms or legs. He roared, hammering at the kneeling man like he was an errant nail. Bang, bang, bang! The sword fell from the brawler's hand. Bang, bang, bang! Tau didn't stop. He hit him on his arms, shoulders, and clubbed him in the chest. The brawler fell over and Tau hit him and hit him, until he heard the Maimed's shouting over the blood booming in his ears.

  "Victory! Victory! Match over! The match is over!" the cripple screamed.

  Tau backed away. The brawler was mewling like a newborn. Five, Tau thought. Five more wins and he was guaranteed a place among the Ihashe.

  He wanted to laugh, didn't have the energy. He had just gotten the joke, the one that had tickled the Full-blood who had explained the rules. Tau couldn't win ten of these fights. Tau didn't think he could win two more.

  He made his way to the nearest bucket, cupped his hands and drank, the cut on his face dripping blood into the water.

  "Five-thousand and forty!" shouted a Maimed several fighting circles away. "Five-thousand and forty."

  Tau looked toward the shouting and saw the Maimed and the fighting circle. He could leave. He was so tired. He could leave.

  "Five-thousand and forty!"

  Tau left the blood-tainted bucket of water and walked over. He was joined by the huge Low-Common that he'd seen bludgeon a man on the first day.

  "Uduak," said the huge man, pointing a thick finger at himself.

  Tau looked up and into the muscular man's heavy-browed and bland face. "Tau," he told him.

  The giant shook his head. "Nine," he said, pointing at Tau's chest.

  "Nine?"

  "Ninth fight," he said, stepping into the same circle as Tau.

  NINE

  Uduak held a great sword almost as tall as Tau. On his other arm was a massive circular shield. He wore a full gambeson and was holding a bronze helm in the hand that was strapped to the shield. The brute stuffed the helm onto his sweat-slicked and shaven head. It covered him down to his neck and had a single piece of thick bronze down its centre, protecting his nose.

  "Shield, neh?" the attending Maimed asked, as if he doubted anything would make the slightest difference to this match's
outcome.

  "Yes," Tau said. He didn't like fighting with one, but he couldn't imagine surviving a blow from Uduak's great sword, no matter how much linen was wrapped around it. A crowd was forming and Tau knew they weren't here to watch him.

  "Fight!" the Maimed shouted and Uduak charged.

  Tau tried to get out of the way, but Uduak's great sword was too long to dodge, so he blocked with his shield. The contact spun him around, putting him on his ass, and the pain was instant. It vibrated up Tau's blocking arm, into his shoulder, and down his back.

  He jumped to his feet, scurrying away from Uduak, who came at him swinging. Tau blocked two thundering blows and could no longer lift his shield arm. He shrugged off the paltry protection, letting the shield slip to the hot sand. Behind him the onlookers gibbered, cheering and jeering in turns.

  "He's done," one of them said.

  "Take off his head," another shrieked.

  Uduak came on.

  Trying to shake some feeling back into his arm, Tau danced out of the way of the over-sized man's next swing, but had to use his sword to block Uduak's follow-up. The collision of swords came close to tearing his weapon from his hand.

  "By the Goddess!" chortled a faceless fool in the crowd, half-chewed food flying from his mouth.

  Tau had to attack. He sucked air into his lungs, bellowed, and ran for Uduak. The crowd cheered. Uduak didn't move. He stood there, tall as a mountain, and swung that great sword.

  Tau ducked beneath the linen-covered blade and thrust for the giant's gut. Uduak stepped off the line of the thrust and swiped at Tau with his shield. The shield belted Tau aside, lifting him off the ground and flinging him through the air. He hit the sand hard and the air was blasted from his lungs. Head spinning, chest burning, he rolled to his knees. Uduak was coming for him.

  Tau couldn't win, not against this. He thought to call for mercy, end the foolishness, before the brute killed him. Instead, he stood. The crowd went mad. They would get to see blood.

  Uduak slowed, stretching the moment. He pointed at Tau. "Nine," he said.

  Tau spat, tasting blood. "Cek your nine."

  Uduak swung his great sword hard enough to disembowel Tau, linen wrap or no. Tau leapt to the dirt, letting the swing spin the big man half-around. Tau came up and slammed his sword in the weak space below Uduak's ribs. His blade hit the brute square, punched into the gambeson, and bit flesh. The cut was superficial, but Tau had blooded the beast.

  The crowd howled, bloodlust at full frenzy. Uduak looked down, seeing the cut.

  "Point!" said the Maimed, flinging a hand in the air for emphasis.

  Uduak's eyes thinned to slits and his fingers danced over the hilt of that horrible sword. He banged the blade on the edge of his shield, pushing the circle of bronze further onto his arm, and he came for Tau.

  Tau gripped his sword with both hands. It wasn't meant to be swung that way, but Uduak was angry and strong enough to kill him if Tau blocked wrong with one hand. Tau thought about playing keep-away. He was a point up and, if he could stay out of reach for the rest of the match...

  Uduak must have understood Tau's thinking. He was angry, but smart enough to move forward with care. He cut off all angles of escape, giving Tau no room to dance. Then, he began to take Tau apart.

  The first strike that Tau blocked rattled his teeth. The next almost knocked him out of the circle. The third, he didn't time well enough and Uduak's linen-covered blade slapped him in the shoulder, cutting him and flinging him back to the dirt. The Maimed called a point for Uduak and the match was tied.

  Tau scrambled to his feet, but Uduak moved with the speed of a hurtling rockslide, his sword already swinging. Tau jumped towards Uduak, inside the heaviest part of the sword's arc, but when the blade hit him in the chest, it didn't matter.

  The blow sent him flying. He crashed into the packed clay of the fighting circle and tumbled head over heels, his helm popping up and off his head like a startled locust. Tau groaned and found he couldn't draw a full breath.

  "Point!" the Maimed called out. Tau was losing and the crowd was chanting something guttural and ugly.

  "Uduak! Uduak! Uduak!"

  On will alone, Tau got to his feet. The world was tilting, his chest was a web of agony, and he still hadn't caught his breath, but he lifted his sword and pointed it at the man for whom the crowd cheered.

  "Cek your nine," Tau said, sword arm quivering.

  Uduak sneered and came on. Tau let him come and, at the last moment, he darted to the right, away from Uduak's sword. Gripping his blade, Tau spun in a circle, hoping the momentum-powered strike would smash into Uduak's side, break something, and finish the man.

  Only, his sacrifice swing didn't hit flesh. It clanged against Uduak's blocking blade, jarring Tau to his seeds and making him stumble. Uduak jerked his weapon away, lifting his sword high and letting his shield drop. He meant to finish Tau.

  Tau stabbed out and over Uduak's lowered shield. He was too close for power and his sword nudged Uduak in the stomach, soft as a first kiss.

  "Point," the Maimed said, voice rising like it was a question.

  Uduak shot the Maimed a look, growled, grabbed Tau's sword and tore it from his hands. He tossed the weapon across the circle, snatched a fistful of Tau's gambeson, and yanked Tau close, lifting him off the ground, and bringing them face to face.

  Tau punched him. Uduak didn't seem to notice. Tau hit him again. Uduak smashed his forehead into Tau's face and let him drop to the ground. Blood gushed from Tau's cut. Uduak's brick-of-a-head had torn free all the scabbing.

  Uduak kicked Tau in the side and Tau cried out. For some reason, he could no longer hear the crowd, though he could see them all around him, screaming, demanding more violence. One person stood out. It was someone he recognized. Jayyed Ayim, ex-advisor to the Guardian Council and Umqondisi to the Ihashe Isikolo, was watching.

  "He has a twelve count to rise," the Maimed shouted over the crowd to Uduak. "Or, you can finish him."

  "He is finished," the big man said.

  Tau was weaponless and battered. He had no strength left and no chance to beat the man who stood over him. He was going to lose and wanted to lay there in the mix of blood, sand, and shame. He wanted to lay there and die, if he could.

  Uduak leaned over him. "Nine," he snarled, spitting in Tau's face, before turning away and lifting his arms in victory.

  The thick gob of phlegmy saliva clung to Tau's cheek and neck. He left it there, when he stood. He left it there, when he ran at Uduak and tackled him.

  The big man squawked as they went down. Tau got on top and rained down blows. Uduak still had his sword and shield but, from his back and in close combat, they were more a hindrance than help.

  "Nceku!" Tau screamed in Uduak's face. "Nceku! Nceku!"

  Uduak needed a free hand to deal with Tau, but couldn't shake his shield free. He dropped his sword and used that hand to grab Tau by the head. He squeezed and tossed Tau aside like he was a child.

  Tau landed beside the enormous sword, picked it up, and squared off with Uduak, who only had his shield. The crowd was silent.

  Uduak stared at Tau, like he was the only other being in existence. "I'm going to kill you."

  Tau could think of nothing to say. So, he attacked. Uduak opened his shield, giving Tau a perfect target. Tau stabbed him full in the chest.

  "Point!" screeched the Maimed. "That was a point!"

  Uduak took the blow, took hold of Tau's right wrist, the one holding the sword, and pulled Tau to him. If the blades had been uncovered, if they had been razor sharp, Uduak would have died. The blade was not sharp. The blade was not uncovered. It did not kill Uduak. It dug into his gambeson, cutting into his flesh a finger-span, and he bashed it away, still holding Tau's wrist. Tau struggled and Uduak lifted his bronze shield into the air, aiming its edge.

  Tau's eyes went wide, fear coursing through him. He fought Uduak's grip, but might as well have pulled on a mountain. Uduak brought the shield down and T
au was screaming before it smashed into his wrist. His screams grew louder when the bones there shattered.

  Uduak released Tau and he went down, clutching his mangled arm. Uduak lifted the shield again, aiming for Tau's chest.

  "Nine!" Uduak bellowed, but Tau did not hear him over the pain.

  "Two hundred! Two hundred! The match is over!" called the Maimed, hobbling over as fast as he could on one leg and crutches.

  Uduak turned to the Maimed in disbelief and then back to Tau. His lips were curled, teeth showing, and the muscles on his arms were flexed, tensed with the need to cave in Tau's chest.

  "Kill him and you forfeit!" said the Maimed.

  Uduak screamed in frustration, tossed the shield aside, and sent a boot flying for Tau's head, knocking him senseless.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  SCALE

  Tau woke on a raised straw pallet. It was night and he in a large room with several other beds. His head throbbed and his wrist was splinted. He moaned and two shadows approached.

  "Where am I?" Tau asked, his throat dry as a dead man's eyes.

  "The Ihashe barracks in Kigambe," answered the smaller of the two shadowed men. His style of speech reeked of High-Governor Caste. "We have been accepted as initiates, though the third day of trials is still to come."

  "Accepted?" asked Tau.

  "Yes, you're right to question it." The smaller man stepped into the light. He was a little taller than Tau, fit if wiry and, unusual for Lessers, had green eyes. "My name is Hadith and I won ten matches. You already know him."

  The second and much bigger man stepped into the light. It was Uduak. He looked like he wanted to finish the job he'd started in the fighting circle.

  "Uduak beat the piss out of you," Hadith said, "went on to win his next match, and the match after that. He also has ten wins... plus a tie. Which makes you a strange case." Hadith tapped his teeth with a long index finger. "I have ten wins. Uduak has ten wins. But you? You have five wins, a tie, and a broken arm. Yet, we three are Ihashe initiates together. The Goddess grows and reaps while mortals dream, does she not?"