Hilda - The Challenge

by Paul Kater

  49. Meeting Lamador

  The days that separated them from the first dark moon came and went. Fast. It felt as if magic was toying with time.

  Hilda and William had flown to Baba Yaga's hut a day early, so they could relax from the flight. As they arrived there, Babs told them that Lamador and quite a contingent of his followers had also arrived, and were camping somewhere not too far away, in a forest patch that did not act like her own piece of land did.

  "He's been a good neighbour," the ugly witch commented. The three were sitting in the sunshine that miraculously made its way down through the thick layers of branches and leaves. "He's stayed off my yard."

  "Has he come to see you?", Hilda asked. It would surprise her if the sorcerer had done that, but it never hurt to make sure.

  "No, he stuck to his own for now. I've seen his camp as I was messing about in the air a bit. Decided not to piss him off by making it rain there. Doesn't make things any better, and he'd stop it in a moment again." Babs looked at the couple. "So, what are you going to do now?"

  "We plan on going to see him," Hilda said, stumping Baba Yaga.

  "You WHAT?"

  "Just a courtesy call," grinned William.

  "So you are crazy, right? Did that happen lately, or have you always been like that and you just managed to hide it?" Baba Yaga shook her head. "Do you know how he is going to react?"

  "No, not really, but as it is our challenge," said Hilda, "he is honour bound not to harm us."

  "Lamador and honour." Baba Yaga made a sound that did not convey much respect. "Maybe I should go along, as I am your referee and judge on fair play."

  And so the trio mounted their brooms. William was wearing ordinary's clothes, and they made itlook as if Hilda was guiding his broom, so Lamador and his companions would not be alarmed. It was unthinkable that they would sense William's magic. If the two witches could not detect it, neither could the sorcerer. Magic was there or it was not.

  Lamador's camp lay in an open spot in a rather normal stretch of forest. There were giant tents, but William was certain they were a lot more sturdy and comfortable than your average camping utitily. There was much colour and abundance in the camp, colours like yellow, blue and green prevailed. In several spots there were fires burning, and everywhere in the camp there were people busy with things.

  Their approach had been spotted of course, so there was quite a reception committee waiting for them. Lamador was not in sight. That did not surprise them.

  It was a group of four, three men and a woman, all magical people. Hilda wondered if Lamador would have any non-magical folk with him. Two of the men wore the brown of Earth Mages, the woman was in blue, signifying her abilities in the air, and the last man was in plain grey. He could be anything.

  "You are the witch who challenged the Great Lamador." The words were spoken as an accusation, by one of the men in the long brown robes.

  "Yes," said Hilda. "That must have surprised him."

  The man disregarded her. "And you are the ordinary that has been seen around her."

  "You make it sound like a bad thing," said William. "My name is William Connoley. And who are you?"

  The man in brown clearly considered any further interaction with William below his dignity, as he turned to Baba Yaga. "And you?"

  "Your part-time neighbour and their judge. Baba Yaga."

  The man nodded and walked off.

  "Nice chap," William mumbled, "really would like to go out with him some evening and have a few beers." He had sensed a lot of magic around the man.

  "William. Shush." Hilda was not sure if it was a good thing to chat about like that.

  The three remaining people that made up their escort did not say a word. They didn't even seem to notice the three guests. Some commotion happened near one of the large tents. It was about the largest of them, with lots of magical marks on it. It had to be the tent of their adversary in the challenge. Lamador's.

  After a while the tent opened and someone strode out. This was really striding. The majesty beamed off this person. William would have believed that this was king Herald, had he not seen the paintings and statues of the king and his sorcerer in Heraldion.

  Lamador was followed by the man in brown, who kept a respectful distance. People moved to the side as the great sorcerer approached and passed by, as if they were driven aside by a bulldozer. The Great Lamador wore a deep blue robe with gold stitchwork on it. There were dragons and moons on it, and some strange creatures that William did not recognise. On the man's head lay some kind of square blue cloth with small white pompoms on the ends, making the sorcerer look quite ridiculous.

  The man that was so feared by everyone halted some five yards away from the three visitors, and looked them up and down. As was to be expected, he all but ignored William as there was no magic apparent around him.

  "You." Lamador looked at Hilda. He lay all the disdain he could muster in the one word, emphasising it with a magical surge of superiority.

  "Yeah. Me." Hilda stood up straight and proud, her arm touching William's. "I thought I'd come and see how you are. And make sure that you understand the rules of our challenge."

  Lamador let her wait for a response. Another sure sign of contempt. "Challenge," he finally said. "You call this a challenge." He looked around for a moment. "You make me come out here... to this... place. I have to bring valuable people along, people who have better things to do, to make life less cumbersome in this environment. And you expect me to play along in this game that is fit for ordinaries?"

  "Well, it looks to me that you consider this a proper challenge as well, your lordship," said William. It caused a wave of disturbance through the crowd that had gathered around them. An ordinary addressing the Great Lamador without being given permission to speak. That was unheard of, in the last fifty or so years.

  Lamador looked at William, who was half a head taller than the sorcerer. Magic sparkled around the man in blue for a moment, and then he was taller than William. "And you? Do you have a wish to die?" Lamador's voice was soft, silken and threatening. A black wand appeared in his hand, the tip red hot and pointing at William's chest.

  William's heartrate went up a few notches.

  "I would not do that, Lamador." Baba Yaga stepped between the wand and William. "You have agreed that Grimhilda can bring him along in the challenge you sent her. She has given you the free hand in bringing along someone to this one, so harming him would be harming one of the contestants. I am sure you do not want to deprive yourself the pleasure of your own challenge?"

  The tip of the wand slowly moved up until it was on the level of Babs' face. Then the sorcerer lowered it again. "I don't know what I have done wrong, that I have to waste my time with you."

  "We wonder too," said Hilda, taking courage. "And I am sure that Gerdundula, Fidelma and Calandra are shaking their heads over the same question."

  "These names mean nothing to me." Lamador's eyes however became slits for a few moments.

  "They will," William said, stepping next to Baba Yaga. "And just because you are so big, that does not mean you can just mock everyone. You were invited here the official way. You accepted it, since you are here. We'll see you tomorrow. On the battle field. And remember, no magic. Bare hands and brains, that's all. We play for points."

  Lamador focussed on William only a few seconds, but that was too long. Their eyes locked, then the great sorcerer turned and walked away without another word.

  "Come, guys, we'd better get back home," said Baba Yaga, "looks like we're done here."

  Hilda grinned as they walked to where they had left their brooms. The four people from their reception committee who had remained silent yet close, followed them, probably to see they would indeed go away.

  As their departure was watched, Hilda and William had to put on a little play in order to get him airborne as an ordinary. He exaggerated the wobbling on the broom a bit, hoping it would look like the real thing. As they lifted off, Babs looked ba
ck. "They're still staring, hold the pose." Only after they had gotten away a good distance from the camp, William took to normal flying again.

  "That feels better," he said. Hilda agreed. "Do you think we unnerved him?"

  Hilda frowned. "I think he is feeling a bit out of place there, which is definitely an advantage."

  Baba Yaga said: "The way he stared at you, William, bothered me a little. I am not sure if he will play by the rules tomorrow."

  "He did not look very happy, indeed. I share your feelings, Babs," said the wizard-to-be. "I think that it is time to go to the battle field and set up the spells that betray the use of magic. They really will hold until tomorrow after the challenge?"

  "When cast by professionals, yes."

  "Oh. Thank you."

  Hilda screamed with laughter.

  50. The first challenge

  It was the crack of dawn. Hilda, Babs and William were waiting at what was designated the entrance to the playing field. They had already calculated that Lamador would not show up on time, if only to annoy them. When finally the sorcerer arrived, it was in a spectacular way, floating down from his broom with no suppport of any kind. He then slowly let his broom descend also.

  With him were three other people. A man and a woman who would function as judges, together with the local witch, and a man who would be Lamador's assistant in the challenge.

  Lamador looked at William and Hilda, who for the occasion were both dressed in pants, simple shirts and good shoes. The shoes were the handiwork of William, who had done a lot of hiking in his previous world. He had experience with shoes for forests.

  "You two look preposterous," Lamador snorted. He handed his wide blue robe to one of his judges. Underneath it he wore what looked like a long sleeved babydoll. He had a belt tied round his waist so the fabric would not be in his way too much. His companion wore a similar outfit.

  "You look lovely," said William with a benevolent smile. It earnt him a very dirty look, but as the rule was that there was to be no magic, that was all Lamador could do.

  "Let's get this over with," the sorcerer grumbled. He felt humiliated.

  One of Lamador's judges, the woman, unfolded a piece of paper. "Very well. The rules for this challenge are as follows. The two contestants, or in this case their teams, will enter the forest in a place of their choice. The aim is to hit the other team with items found in the forest. For each hit on either member of a team, a point will be rewarded to the other team. The challenge will continue until one of the teams calls for an end, in which case the other team wins, or until the sun has reached its highest point. In that case the team with the highest number of points will win. If both teams have gained the same number of points at the end of the challenge, winner will be the team that first reached their highest score." She looked at everyone. "Is this clear?"

  "Yes," said Hilda.

  Lamador, his face a good match for bad weather, nodded. His companion nodded also.

  "It is, and thank you for being so thorough about it," said William politely. He knew that this would anger the sorcerer, which was exactly what he wanted to achieve.

  The woman smiled at him, but that was slammed away as Lamador threw an angry glance at her. "Oh, there is something more," she then said, "the part about the judges." Lamador's mood, already reaching freezing, became more glum.

  "The judges are allowed to travel through the forest on foot or on broomstick, but are not allowed to use magic for the benefit of the members belonging to either team."

  "Or to the disadvantage of the other team," Hilda added. "A small thing, but an interesting one."

  "Yes. Now, if all contestants have understood the rules, then please proceed to a place from where you prefer to enter the forest and then the challenge will start."

  The judges stood together and watched the two teams walk off.

  "Not too smart of Lamador to stick to his colours," whispered William to Hilda as they walked along, avoiding twigs grabbing at them. "Blue is quite easy to spot in a forest." The camouflage gear they were wearing would make them close to invisible in the forest. Hilda had tied a brown piece of cloth around her long grey hair, so it would not get caught in bushes and also would not be very visible.

  "Yes, that is true, but I have to agree with him that we look preposterous," Hilda whispered back.

  They reached the place from where they wanted to enter the battle field and looked at where the judges were. The judges waved at them, the signal that they could enter the forest and start the challenge.

  William and Hilda stepped into the forest and walked straight ahead for a while, until they found the small white mark they had left on one of the trees. That was, they knew, the exact centre of the 'field'.

  In silence they stood and waited, listening for sounds that would tell them where Lamador and his team mate were. Hilda sensed that overhead the judges were already patrolling the area.

  William then pointed. He had heard something, so they walked ahead.

  Lamador and his assistant, a man by the name of Tudris, stomped through the woods. They both hated the place and wanted to get away from it quickly. Despite that they knew that they had to compete in as fair a game as possible.

  "If I get my hands on them, they will mourn the moment they thought of this stupid challenge," said Lamador. "Now what are you doing?" He saw Tudris pick up a few pieces of wood.

  "We are supposed to hit them with something we find in the forest, great sorcerer," the man said. "And this is what I find in the forest."

  Lamador sighed. He looked at the smears Tudris had on his hands from the pieces of wood. Shaking his head, he magicked up a piece of wood and floated that behind him.

  "Great sorcerer, we are not-"

  "Shut up, I know that. But no one is going to-"

  "One point for the time of Grimhilda the witch, unauthorised use of magic by Lamador," a voice from above said. A cackling laughter accompanied the cursing of Lamador.

  Hilda heard Babs laughing and that made her grin. "This must mean something good."

  William winked at her and kneeled down. He picked a handful of small bits of bark from the ground and stuffed them in his pockets. A few more twigs and pebbles later, he was satisfied. He watched how Hilda also grabbed handsful of stuff from the floor. Her face was one big smile as she got up again.

  The sound of someone cursing reached them. "Another good thing," whispered William.

  They stood still, looking for signs of blue and listening for more sounds. Their waiting was rewarded quickly. Hilda saw the movement of their two adversaries first and hissed to William.

  "Right. Now do the thing we practiced," he whispered. They each went to another side of the trail they had been standing on. Lamador would probably come down this way, as it was the easiest passage. Hilda as well as her friend seemed to be devoured by the bushes and low trees.

  Lamador and Tudris came down the path. "I wonder where they are." Lamador actually kept his voice down as he had understood some of the game now. They did not move fast and tried to check every inch of green and black they encountered. There were however many of those inches, so it was easy to miss one or two.

  Hilda sensed the presence of all judges over them. She also heard the whispers of Lamador and Tudris. The two men did their best by now to be quiet, but did a lousy job. She saw them pass by, counted their steps and then slowly got up. Calmly she reached into her pockets and threw two hands full of bits and pieces against the two sorcerers.

  At the same time, William got up and started bombing the two with his collection of bits, twigs, bark and pebbles.

  Lamador turned to William, his eyes shooting fire. Never before had he been insulted in such a way by an ordinary. And here was one that stood grinning as he threw out a load of dirt from the floor over him, the Great Lamador.

  The magical shields that hung everywhere through the forest protected William from the fierce attack Lamador launched on him. Hilda held her breath as she saw the bright
amber shoot from Lamador, but it was neutralised by the screen far before it could get to her lover and friend. Still, her heart pounded in her throat as she saw that Lamador was not giving up and tried to pierce the shielding.

  The anger of the great sorcerer was so intense that he might actually have succeeded in that, were it not that all three judges dropped down to the floor and blocked his fire.

  "Lamador!!", Baba Yaga shrieked, scaring William. "Stop that!"

  The other two judges were not feeling competent to scold their master, but Babs did quite the job. She got off her broom and whacked Lamador in the behind, with force.

  This was enough of a shock to the great sorcerer to break of his attempt to kill William. The fire fell away as he jerked around to look at who had slammed him like that. "I should terminate you for that."

  "But you won't. There are too many witnesses, Lamador, and you cannot terminate us all. And you know that." Baba Yaga looked at the two other judges and at Hilda who had come out of her hiding place.

  Lamador was angry. Very angry. He knew they had him cornered.

  William also stepped out now and looked at the sorcerer. "You did not obey the rules, Lamador. I move that you be disqualified."

  A deadly silence fell.

  "You..." Lamador could hardly speak because of the shock and the inner rage that this ordinary's words had brought about.

  "William, perhaps you should stand behind Babs and me," Hilda said, tugging his sleeve.

  "I think he lost," said William. Somehow he did not feel afraid of this man in his blue dress, who had smudges of the wood and pebbles all over him. Everyone was aware however, that Lamador was volatile now, as the sorcerer was barely managing his frustration.

  Lamador pointed a finger at William. "You tricked me. You made a fool out of me."

  "I did not. We played the game by other standards. That is not trickery." William calmly stood before the fearsome great Lamador and looked him in the eye.