Spring Break
Chapter 17
By Rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

We fly to the southern hemisphere and cross the ocean that separates them. Soon we see a huge continent that comprises two kingdoms, Evenshard and Antarte. Tryllion Kingdom is a subcontinent on the east side of the larger one.

I see a beautiful continent. Forests, hills and mountains are everywhere. There are lakes of various sizes fed by the mountain streams. They become rivers by the time they reach the ocean. We start making our descent towards a large glittering white castle on the western half of the continent. I see a large sundial in the courtyard. We appear in the courtyard near it. As we look around the courtyard a group of knights come walking towards us from the castle. They break apart to reveal a group of royalty to greet us.

“Welcome to Evenshard Kingdom. We understand the press for time. You will be at Maranelle Kingdom in plenty of time. I am Duke Gerard, brother of King Beltrane. This is Sir Dolen, Legion Commander for Evenshard Kingdom. He will take it from here. Afterwards we’ll have our Regional Meeting. That should be done by the Fourth Mark here.”

“I received a request from Hikaru that he would like to test each of the Outside Helpers. This test is to see how well you can defend yourself when attacked.”

We all look at each other with some worried faces. Some of the women blanch at the idea.

“Are we going to get hurt in this exercise, Sir Dolen?”

“Some of us had no training in hand to hand combat.”

“Don’t worry, Ariella. We can teach you some moves that will fit your stance and stature.”

Sir Halgren and I look at each other.

I give a slight smile and a nod of my head.

He nods his head in response.

“Set it, Sir Halgren.”

“Are you up for it?”

“It will be just like my classes. Pick four knights with different sizes. I’ll do fine. They will be surprised when they’re on the ground writhing in pain.”

“I would like to see that. You’re going to keep your breast plate on?”

“Of course, their object is to do the same to me. Remember, I had to deal with four bullies and a captive. If they decide to use a weapon to threaten, I will disarm them as well. I will need to catch my breath after this demonstration.”

“All right, I’ll have a talk with Sir Dolen.” Sir Halgren walks over to Sir Dolen’s side and whispers into his ear.

Sir Dolen gets a little wide-eyed and looks at Sir Halgren. “You’re serious?” Sir Dolen then looks at me.

“I am.” Sir Halgren looks at me as well.

I nod my head up and down and smile.

Sir Halgren smiles as well.

“All right, I have the right to stop it any point.”

“That’s fine, Sir Dolen. I would do it as well.”

“I’ll go and pick some knights.” Sir Dolen turns around and walks towards a group of knights.

~~~000~~~

He talks to them to quietly.
“You’re not going to believe this, Sir Alden.”

“What is it Sir Dolen.”

“Richard Moore is requesting a four on one demonstration match.”

“Are you sure he can do it?”

“Sir Halgren vouches for him that he can do this.”

“What’s the object of the demonstration?”

“You will have a hostage held. He will try to rescue the hostage.”

“That takes some very advanced training.”

“What about Richard? Can we do any harm to him?”

“Just work on his arms and legs. He will have his breast plate on for safety.”

“That sounds fine, Sir Dolen.”

“Can we use weapons and sleep darts?”

“I don’t see why not. Don’t use the sleep darts unless you have to. Prolong the demonstration as long as possible. It is going to be recorded on the crystals.”

“Yes, Sir Dolen.”

“There is one more request. He requested four different types of knights in size.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I am not.”

“I’m game. I’m curious if he can do it.”

“So am I.”

“Count me in.”

“Who will be the fourth one? He needs to be big.”

“Get Sir Cargan. He’s always tough to bring down.”

“Yes he is, Sir Alden. Go ahead and contact Sir Cargan. We’ll save this demonstration for last.”

“Yes, Sir Dolen.”

Sir Dolen turns around and walks back Sir Halgren.

Sir Alden brings out his crystal to contact Sir Cargan.

~~~000~~~

Sir Dolen sees that Sir Halgren is now standing next to me. He walks up to us.

We both nod our heads at the same time.

“Are you sure you can do this? What kind of training have you had?”

“When I was younger, I was walking home with a neighborhood friend. Four bullies from school jumped out. I got beaten up in trying to protect my girl friend. Afterwards when the injuries healed, my father enrolled me in a martial art school. I was in it for about five years. I earned the sixth rank before the final two.”

“I see. I have the right to stop the match if it gets dangerous.”

“I understand. My intention is to have them writhing on the ground in pain and not be able to stand up.”

“What about weapons?”

“I have experience with knives, clubs and other objects. I will disarm them in the process.”

“We’ll save your demonstration for last. Right now we’ll do some one on one training with the ones who don’t know how. The others with experience like you can do some warm ups.”

“All right, that sounds fine.”

Sir Dolen, Sir Halgren and I bow our heads quickly. Sir Dolen then turns around to face the crowd.

“For the ones who have no knowledge of self-defense, we’ll take you aside to work on basic stances, positions and what you can do in certain situations. Please follow Sir Tarak.”

All four ladies and three of the male Outside Helpers follow several knights to one part of the courtyard, including their escorts. The rest of us followed Sir Dolen and some other knights to another area in the courtyard. Our escorts follow us.

Evrat and Hikaru look at me with wonderment. So do some of the others, especially some of the dwarfs.

“You have experience in self defense Richard?”

“I do Evrat. I had about four to five years of study.”

He looks at me and nods his head up and down.

“All right, we’ll do some stretch exercises to begin with. You may also do your own forms if you wish.”

“Thank you, Sir Dolen.”

We all start doing our own stretch routines. I extend myself in various positions slowly as do the others. I touch the ground with my finger tips easily. I twist my torso slowly while one arm is extended; I place my other hand on my upper arm and continue the stretch of the extended arm. I repeat the stretch by switching arms. I then sit on the ground and put the left leg in front of me while the other is bent at the knee. (This is doing the hurdle on the ground if you’re having trouble visualizing this.) I reach forward with hands and try to touch my toes. When in that position I flex the left knee. Then I leaned back still in that position and flex the right leg that is bent. That feels good. Now I need to switch the legs and do that again. I switch the leg positions and repeat the process. Once that is done I stand and start doing my forms.

I slowly go through the motions of hand and leg movements while keeping balanced. I raise my arms in self-defense then swing them in an arc as I step through the motion. I am not going to show them everything. I will keep my advanced moves hidden until I do the demonstration. Once that is done I take a deep breath and breathe the air out slowly as I bring my arms down my sides and stand straight up. I look around to see how everybody is doing.

The escorts who are with us do some slow sparring motions with each other. I see Hikaru doing some very advanced moves like high kicks and follow up movements with his hands and arms. Evrat is doing his own version of the moves because of his double joints, yet he keeps perfect balance while doing them. Geve is doing some boxing style moves and dodging along with some kicks as well. Brentann is almost doing the same thing as Geve, but his style has more flare movement with the legs.

I look around and see the other group going through the paces. They are shown certain stances and how to defend themselves. Then they are shown some pressure points on various parts of the body so that they can get free from an attacker.

I continue with my form movements slowly. After a half mark or so I start to feel my body warm up. Once I feel that I slow the heart beat down by doing my breathing exercises and concentrating on clearing my mind. I come to a standing a position with my eyes closed. After a moment I hear several footsteps approaching me. I listen carefully. One of them stops in front of me. I hear a breath drawn through the nose. Then I hear an arm movement from my left side towards my head. I immediately bring my left hand up and block his move by placing my hand onto his forearm.

I open my eyes and smile.

He smiles as well, “I’m just checking, Richard. You’re good. You will do well later.”

“Yes, you’re good.”

“Thank you, Hikaru and Evrat.”

“You didn’t show all of your form movements?”

“No I did not. I want to surprise them.”

“You will definitely do that. How far did you get in your ranks?”

“I earned the sixth rank with the Advanced Stripe in about five years. There are two more ranks each with several more degrees to go.”

“That’s impressive. Are you going to finish earning the rest of the ranks?”

“It is hard to say, Hikaru. My school studies had to be done first. After that I went to a school of higher learning. I am in the third year now. I’ll be done with that next year.”

“You really like to learn all you can?”

“Yes Evrat, I like to keep my mind active and thinking. If I see something I do not know and it looks very interesting I will take a class or two to get an understanding on it.”

Our escorts come to our sides.

“Look, Sir Dolen is getting ready to set up the demonstration area. We’ll be cheering you on.”

“Can we wager a bet on you?”

“Hmm… you can try, Telgon,” I smile. “But, I will settle for a drink of fruit juice and a chance to catch my breath afterwards. Plus get a rub down on my limbs with a healing spell or two.”

They all laugh together at the same time, “Hah, hah, hah...”

“I’m sure you will.”

“We saw you block that attack, Richard. We didn’t know what to expect when Hikaru stepped in front of you. That was good.”

“Thank you, my friends.”

We all walk over to the demonstration area. We see the others gather around a roped off square area near Evenshard’s training grounds for their knights.

Sir Dolen steps into the center of the square. “This is just for demonstration only. Let’s start with the beginners. Don’t worry about being apprehensive. We want to make sure you can defend yourself if you have to.”

All four ladies and three male Outside Helpers step into the square. One by one a knight comes forward and tries to make an attack. Some of the ladies do fairly well in avoiding a knife or someone trying to grab them. They apply the pressure points to get themselves free.

Ariella proved to be really adept at applying the pressure points. The knight is lying on the ground is holding onto his hand and wincing in pain, especially in the elbow. “I’m sorry. I happen to know the body better than most here.”

“Don’t be, Ariella. You did a good job in getting me off of you.” He tries to stand up. Another knight comes forward and helps him out of the area and brings him to wizard for a healing spell or a rub down.

Everyone cheers that the ladies learned how to defend themselves better.

This time three more knights come forward and attack the three male Outside Helpers. Belisar looks a little lost, but he tries to defend to himself. The knight has an arm around his throat and his other hand on his left arm. He struggles to break free. Everybody shouts encouragement to him and offer him advice. He hears one of the ideas and tries it on the knight.

“That’s it, Belisar, take his finger and bend it back.”

Belisar grabs the knight’s finger that is wrapped around his arm. He lifts it upward and backwards.

The knight screams and loosens the hold around his neck. “Arrgh!! My finger!”

Belisar slips his head through the arm around his neck quickly. Belisar keeps applying pressure onto the finger until the knight is on his knees on the ground.

“I give up, Belisar. You may release me.”

Belisar releases the knight.

Everyone cheers. Belisar smiles and cheers with them.

Tek and Chls are doing fairly well. They eventually break the hold of the knight that is attacking them. They grab their shoulders; soon the knights are on the ground tripped by the feet of Tek and Chls.

The knights start laughing. Everyone else around the area begin cheering.

Sir Dolen walks into the center of the area. “That’s very good. Let’s give everyone a round of applause and cheers. Hopefully when they go back home, they will learn some new moves.”

Everyone around the roped off area begin cheering and clapping for job well done. The knights who received the punishment also cheered as well.

Sir Dolen raises his hand to quiet the crowd. “All right, let’s get more serious. We are going to have the rematch between Evrat and Hikaru as promised.”

Everyone cheers at once.

“But first we’ll have Brentann and Geve come in and do a two on two demonstration match.”

Brentann, Geve and two knights enter in the ring. The two knights are armed. One knight has a short sword while the other has a club that is the length of his arm.

They face off each other and give a quick bow to each other. Everyone starts cheering. I see and hear some side bets being placed to see who will win first or who is on the ground first.

The four men start circling around each other as they measure up their opponent. The knight with the short sword makes a swing at Brentann. He quickly steps back to avoid the slice on his stomach. Once the sword reaches the end of the swing, he steps forward and grabs his forearm with all of his strength. He steps into him and gives him a hip toss and flips him over his back. The knight gives an ‘oof’ sound as he lands on his back. The knight releases the short sword as Brentann applies pressure to the wrist. He screams as the pressure is applied, “Aaggh!!” Brentann takes the sword and throws it so that it lands near one of the corners.

While this is going on, the knight with the club uses it for an over head swing on to Geve’s head. Geve steps aside quickly. The knight then swings the club horizontally. Geve steps back quickly again. Then the knight immediately brings the club for another over head hit. Geve immediately steps in and raises his hands and grabs his wrists. He then brings up his right knee and tries to hit his exposed lower stomach area. The knight dodges it by stepping backwards. But this causes him to lose his balance. Geve then turns to his side; he brings his hands downward and throws him to the ground by whipping him forward, he lands on his back. The knight screams “Aaggh!!” as Geve grabs the club and twists it out of his hands.

The knight tries to get up while lying on the ground and rolls. He is about to get on his knees, but Geve jumps onto his back and forces him back to the ground. He takes one of the knight’s arms and wraps it around the club. He applies pressure, “Do you give up?”

He struggles to break free, but he cannot. “I give up, Geve. That’s very good.”

Geve releases him and helps him up. The knight moves his twisted arm in a circle to get the circulation back into the arm. They smile at each other and clasp forearms. The crowd roars with approval. Geve and his opponent get out of the way to let Brentann continue with his fight.

Brentann is still battling with his opponent. The knight immediately rolls away from Brentann and gets to his feet. They stand facing each other ready for the next round.

Again everyone is cheering for their favorite opponent. Brentann and the knight continue to circle around each other looking for an opening. Brentann steps forward with his left foot and plants it. Then he brings his right foot around and tries to hit him on the knight’s left side of his torso. The knight catches his leg. He then tries to twist his foot to bring Brentann down. Brentann spins with the move and now faces the ground. Brentann places his hands on the ground for support. Brentann then places his left foot onto the knight’s chest. He flexes his knees to bring the knight in closer. Then with all of his strength he pushes with his legs to push him off. The knight holds his ground by readjusting his weight by moving his feet slightly forward. Now the knight’s feet are within Brentann’s arm reach. He immediately grabs his ankles and brings them towards him.

The knight’s feet are now together making it tougher for him to stay standing. He struggles to find the advantage now. Brentann then twists his body and brings down the knight to the ground.

“Arrgh!!” the knight shouts as he falls to the ground with Brentann.

Everyone is cheering wildly. Brentann then grabs one of the knight’s feet and begins to twist real hard.

The knight screams in pain, “Arrghh!! My ankle!!” He let’s go of
Brentann’s leg and tries to twist his body to relieve the pain.

Brentann continues with the pressure on the ankle.

The knight yells, “I give! I give up!! Stop it!”

Brentann let’s go of the ankle. Brentann gets off of the knight. He gets on his knees. “Hold still, I know I strained the ankle. I need some help here. We need to get some ice on the ankle quickly.”

Two knights come forward to help him up. The knight stands on his good leg and is helped off. Sir Dolen steps forward.

“I’m sorry Sir Dolen; I got caught up in the fight. I could have used the sword against him. All I wanted to do was …”

Sir Dolen raises his hand to quiet him, “Say no more, Brentann. You did well under the circumstances. You showed restraint where needed. Usually in a real battle there is loss of life or injuries that makes recovery slow. You have proven that you can take care of yourself.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Brentann bows his head towards Sir Dolen.

“Thank you, Brentann, and you’re welcome.” Sir Dolen bows his head as well.

Everyone cheers and claps for a great demonstration. Sir Brentann leaves the roped off area.

“All right, we now have two demonstrations left. Up next is the rematch between Evrat and Hikaru. Since Hikaru is now aware of Evrat’s abilities, this should be more interesting now.”

There is laughter and cheering heard in the crowd.

“It is still a submission match, but we will give a time limit of a half-mark only. It will be a two out of three match. If there is no clear winner, it is called a draw. Hikaru and Evrat, please come forward.”

Evrat and Hikaru step into the roped off area. They stand facing each other and stare at each other intensely.

Sir Dolen stands near them. “You know what the rules are this time. Your first impromptu match doesn't count because you didn't know each other then. You do now. You will get a breather break between each round. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Sir Dolen,” they both shout at the same time.

“You may begin!”

Sir Dolen turns around and walks out of the roped off area. Everybody starts yelling for their favorite fighter. Side bets are taking place among many people. Evrat and Hikaru start walking in circles facing each other looking for the first opening move.

“Why are you not talking Hikaru?”

“You’re right it wastes time.”

“So, let’s get this over with. I want to see Richard do his match.”

“That is fine by me.”

They smile at each other.

We hear some laughter in the crowd along with the yelling while this banter is going on.

Hikaru makes the first move by coming in closer. Hikaru comes in with a flurry of arm movements trying to strike a blow or to grab Evrat’s shoulder. Evrat responds in turn by blocking the arm and hand attacks just as fiercely. While Hikaru does that he swings up his right leg and tries to strike Evrat’s torso on the left side.

Evrat’s left knee comes up and blocks that move. Both legs move back down so that they can regain their balance. Hikaru comes in with a left arm movement and tries to grab Evrat’s right arm to pin it down, which he does. Evrat bends his knees to bring Hikaru forward and down to the ground. However, Hikaru senses this and proceeds to flip over Evrat and land on his feet. He lets go of Evrat’s arm at the last moment. Evrat then jumps into Hikaru’s back when he lands on his feet. Evrat then grabs him around the waist to bring him down.

Everyone is still yelling, they are seeing a great match. Hikaru then dives forward and tries to somersault forward on the ground. He almost gets out of Evrat’s grasp. Evrat finally grabs his ankles to prevent his escape. Hikaru rolls sideways around to face Evrat back side. He crouches and jumps forward to grab Evrat’s legs and feet. Evrat sensing what is going to happen next, immediately let’s go of Hikaru’s feet; he rolls sideways quickly and gets to his feet. Hikaru misses Evrat’s feet, he continues to roll forward, and he springs upward on his feet. Before he has a chance to turn around, Evrat dives forward and grabs his torso just like Hikaru did earlier. This time he is able to pin his arms, he twists sideways to bring Hikaru down.

Hikaru continues with the roll on the ground, he puts an arm into Evrat’s arm grasp to break his grasp. He finds it difficult to do so, but he eventually breaks the clasp. He escapes from Evrat’s grasp and turns around to face him. Hikaru wraps his legs around Evrat’s right leg he then puts his left arm around Evrat’s neck and squeezes hard. Hikaru then reaches with his right hand; he grabs Evrat’s left leg to complete the pin.

Evrat struggles to break free, but he cannot. Evrat then taps Hikaru’s back side. “You got me Hikaru, I can’t get free.”

They break apart and get to their feet slowly. Everyone cheers for the outcome. Hikaru and Evrat are breathing hard and trying to regain their composure. Wagers are paid to the winners of the bets. They talk about the second round and the possible outcome. Evrat and Hikaru nod their heads to each other and break apart.

Sir Dolen steps into the roped arena. “That was very good. Take a corner and take your break. We’ll resume in a moment. If this keeps up we’ll have time to determine who is the winner or not.”

They end up walking towards to the opposite corners. When they reach their respective corners they each receive a rub down.

Evrat gets a rub down from Dalgan and others who are near him.

“Do you need a small drink of water, Evrat?” asks Sir Hegarth

“Yes please. I appreciate that.” He pants hard and tries to slow his breathing down. “Thanks for the rub down friends.”

“You’re welcome, Evrat,” responds Dalgan.

Hikaru in the other corner is doing the same thing. Getting a drink of water, rub down and pep talk as well.

A small cup of water is produced from another knight. Evrat takes it and drinks it. He swishes it in his mouth before he swallows it. He hands it back to the knight, “Another cup for the face please.”

“Yes Evrat.” The knight fills the cup back up and hands it back.

Evrat takes the cup and splashes his face with the water. He rubs his hands over his face to cool it off. He hands the cup back to the knight. “Thanks, that helps a lot.”

“This is turning out to be a great fight, Evrat.”

“It certainly is, Sir Hegarth. He is very good as expected.”

“You will have to think of another tactic and be one step ahead.”

“Yes, he is very quick. I will have to do a move that I have not done in some time.”

“Keep it until you need it.”

“Yes, I need to win the second round. How much time has passed?”

“That took about a quarter-mark.”

“I’ll be glad to end this in a tie.”

“I agree. That is the way it should be. Here comes Sir Dolen.”

Sir Dolen walks back into the roped arena. “Let’s continue with the second round. Evrat and Hikaru please come forward.”

Hikaru and Evrat walk forward one more time. They stare at each other again.

“Hikaru is ahead one to zero. Begin the second round now!”

Evrat and Hikaru circle each other again. The yelling and cheering continue as before. Wagers are made again on the side. Evrat and Hikaru get closer with each circle pass. Evrat makes the first move this time. With his left foot in position on the ground he brings his right leg up towards Hikaru’s left side. Hikaru immediately dives and somersault roll to his right and stands up away from Evrat. Evrat turns slightly with his left leg still on the ground, in one motion he jumps forward and tries to grab Hikaru’s waist. Hikaru tries to break Evrat’s hold as he is dragged down. He gets his arm inside the hold and creates the leverage to break free.

Hikaru jumps up to get to his feet. Evrat rolls away and jumps to his feet as well. They circle each other again for another pass at each other. Hikaru then steps forward with his left foot and brings up his right foot for a high kick. Evrat dodges the kick just in time; Hikaru’s foot just misses his chest as Evrat does a reverse flip. Evrat lands on his feet.

Everyone is still screaming for their favorite fighter. Evrat and Hikaru circle each other again. Hikaru decides to do a daring dive towards Evrat’s waist again. Evrat does the same thing, but he aims higher and gets above Hikaru as they pass each other. As soon as Evrat’s arms reach Hikaru’s legs he wraps his arms and legs around Hikaru like a snake. They both fall to the ground with a ‘thud’ sound. The crowd gets quiet for a moment; you can hear some words being shouted when the cheering continues.

“Did you see that?”

“Wow! I didn’t expect that!”

“That’s incredible!”

“Come on Hikaru! Get free quickly!”

“You can do it, Evrat!”

“That’s it squeeze him tight!”

Hikaru struggles to break free. “What?” He finds that his arms are pinned very tight against his torso. Hikaru tries to get his legs free. He cannot because Evrat has done a figure eight hold on the legs with his arms and hands. His fingers are wrapped tightly around each lower leg.

Hikaru struggles some more. He realizes he can’t get free. “I give up Evrat, I can’t move.”

Evrat unwraps from Hikaru. They both get up and start laughing. They shake hands and raise their hands together. Everyone is cheering and clapping their hands.

Everyone cheers louder. Sir Dolen walks into the center of the roped area. “Well done, Evrat! That was an incredible move. That was totally unexpected.”

They bring their arms and hands down and break apart. “Well, that last round took up the allotted time. Are you happy that it is a tie?”

“I am, Sir Dolen. That is a well fought match. I did not expect that last maneuver.” Hikaru looks at Evrat with a smile. “You probably saved that one for last didn’t you?”

“I did Hikaru. I expected another dive at me to get me down. So I decided to wrap you up before you had a chance to do it to me.”

They smile at each other and start laughing again.

“Very good, now please step aside while we get the last match set up.”

“Yes, Sir.” They both leave the roped area. They are surrounded by friends. They are given encouragement, drinks of water, rub downs, etc.

“All right, we will have our last demonstration match. This will be unusual. It will be a four on one with a hostage. Normally I will not allow this type unless they had training. Richard said he has. I have the right to stop the fight at anytime if it gets dangerous. Please come forward who has agreed to be part of this match.”

I remove my jacket, my medallion and hand them to Sir Halgren. I walk into the roped area at one corner of the square. Four knights come in with a lady. I see four knights of various heights and builds. The largest knight I see is at least another foot taller than the rest of them. He is very broad shoulder and stout. Hopefully that big guy will be last.

The four knights arrange themselves into position. There is murmuring heard in the crowd of people.

“What is this?”

“There is no way he can defeat four knights. They’re all bigger than him.”

“I say he can defeat two of them before he falls.”

“You care to wager on that, dwarf?”

“Sure, how much do you want to wager?”

“How about two double silver, can you handle that?”

“I’ll cover it with a single gold coin.”

“That’s fair. I’ll be glad to take that.”

“Hah! I doubt it!”

“I say he will defeat all four of the knights. I wager a double silver piece on each knight that he defeats,” another dwarf speaks up.

“I’ll cover that.”

Another dwarf speaks, “Can you handle a gold coin on each knight?”

“Hmm… I’ll cover that wager. The knights will win handily.”

“How about double or nothing; that’s if Richard is still up and defeats the big knight?”

“No he won’t, dwarf. I accept that wager.” Another knight chimes in.

On and on it went. Sometimes the arguments get heated, some are laughing that I will fail miserably.

“Don’t be surprised that Richard wins.”

“No way, Telgon! The knights have more fighting experience than anyone else, especially the knights of Evenshard.”

“Don’t be so sure, Hikaru defeated many knights in Tryllion in hand to hand combat.”

“Well, that’s an exception, Durlond. Hikaru comes from a fighting world.”

“Don’t be surprised if your pockets have a hole in them.”

“They won’t be, dwarf. It is your pockets that will have the hole.”

“Explain that to your commander when you can’t purchase any meal for him today.”

“Grrr….”

The dwarfs walk away while laughing.

After awhile Sir Dolen gets everyone’s attention. “All right, let’s get started. Are you ready to fight, Richard?”

“Yes sir!”

“Are you ready knights and Lady Elena?”

“Yes, sir!”

“You may begin!”

Three of the knights step forward. Two of the knights have arm length clubs. The other one has a short sword. I see the large knight near the lady holding her back. He is armed with a bow and arrow, sleep darts and a long sword.

That’s interesting. I’ll need some protection before I take him down.

Everyone starts yelling. Some are telling me to be careful; some are telling me to take them all down.

The three knights start circling around me. Then they start taunting me.

“Look at this, Alden, how can this little guy take us all down?”

“That’s right. There is no way he can do it.”

“He just might be a dwarf or fairy in disguise.”

He smiles at me.

I smile back at him and shake my head side to side a little bit. “Not a good thing to say knights.”

This riles up the dwarfs and fairies in the crowd.

“Take them down, Richard!”

“That’s an insult to us!” Shout the fairies and dwarfs.

“Now!” shouts Sir Alden.

All three knights swing their weapons towards me at once.

Oh boy, I better jump now.

One of them swings his club just above my ankle. The one with the short sword aims towards my knees. The other one aims for my thighs.

I bend my knees quickly and jump straight up as high as I can. I bring up my legs and feet with me. I clear their weapons easily.

They stop their swing in the middle in bewilderment and look at me with a startled look, “huh?”

I land on top of the weapons when they stop swinging in the middle. The ends of the weapons are now touching the ground while they are still holding them. I smile while looking down at them. “One is going down soon!”

“That’s it Richard! Way to go!” The yells continue from the crowd.

“Grr… no way!!” Shouts one of the knights with a club.

They bring up their weapons at once giving me some momentum.
Thank you. I lean forward and hand spring over the knight with the short sword. As I do that, I do a quick kick with each of my legs and feet. The kicks land on the other two knights’ chests. They get pushed away and stagger off balance backwards. I land on my feet behind the knight that I am flipping over. I immediately crouch down and sweep my right leg to get him off balance while the other two are trying to recover. As the knight jumps up; I get up and grab the knight’s left leg and yank it real hard to get him down.

He falls with a loud ‘thud’ sound, “Ooof!

I give the leg a hard twist as well.

“Arrggh!! Why, you!” He reaches for his leg in pain.

I let go of it and give a real hard pull on the other leg to split the legs apart as I twist it.

“Arrggh!! He reaches for his legs in pain again.

I jump for the sword that he let go. I immediately toss it to one the roped corners. “That’s one down. There are three more to go!”

The fallen knight crawls away, this is to give his friends more room to fight. He sits up near the edge. “Get him! Make him pay!” He rubs his legs to bring life back to it.

Laughter is heard everywhere in the crowd. The other two knights look at each other. They get mad as they look at each other. “He is playing us for fools! Let’s take him down, Rance!”

“That’s right Alden!”

I take several steps forward. The two knights walk around to get on both sides of me. They are swinging their clubs and hitting the palm of their hands occasionally with it. They have some mean looking sneers on their faces.

“Alden, let’s go ahead and return the favor on the little dwarf here!”

“That’s sounds fine, Rance.”

The crowd yells again, especially the dwarfs.

“Take them down, Richard!” shouts Telgon and Dolina.

They drop their clubs and make a dive for my legs. I jump backwards, but they anticipate the maneuver this time and are able to grab my lower legs.

“We’ve got you now!”

Rance and Alden get on their feet and proceed to split my legs. I strain as hard as I can to keep them together. Not yet Richard, not yet. I slowly relax my legs. “Unnnh.. my legs!!”

“That’s it, Alden, we’ve got him now.”

Soon both of the knights have my legs fully split. I’m suspended in the air while they are standing on their feet.

“Oh no, Richard, come on get free!” shouts someone from the crowd.

“Groan… There is something I want to tell you Alden.”

With a sneer on his face, “What is it, Richard?”

“I just want to thank you for stretching my legs.”

“What?” shouts Alden!

Then the crowd gets quiet.

“My instructor had me do these exercises as well. Hikaru knows what I’m talking about.” Then I strain real hard to bring my legs back together. “unnnnhh…!” Slowly I bring my legs together. “Unnnnhh..aarrrghh..!”

The crowd starts to yell and cheer again. The knights are yelling to take me down.

“Come on Rance, you can do it!”

“Come on you can do it, Richard!”

“Yes that’s it. Take them down for that dwarf insult!”

The two knights try real hard to keep my legs split; soon they find themselves losing ground as I bring my legs together.

“Arrr…unnnh…!”

“That’s it, Richard you’ve got them now.”

“Come on Alden, keep his legs apart!”

“I can’t, Rance. He appears to be stronger than we expected.”

Soon the legs and feet are together. I look down at them. They look up at me with some astonishment. “Now it’s your turn to go down.”

The crowd screams and yells wildly with approval.

“Yeah! Way to go Richard!”

“Richard! Richard!” They chant together.

I bend my knees and quickly kick my feet into their chests.

“Oooof…” They both sound out at the same time. They let go as they stagger backwards.

I bring my legs back in quickly and land on my feet as I squat down to the ground. I stand erect and look at them as they recover. I shake each leg to ease the muscle strain in them a few times. They go over and pick up the clubs.

The crowd starts laughing again. The knights who bet against me are mad.

“Come on, Alden and Rance! Take him down!”

“We can still win this match!”

“For Evenshard’s honor!”

I look at the knight who yelled that statement. Fine, if that’s the way they want it. I then focus my attention on Rance and Alden.

The two knights approach me again; they swing the clubs again and hit their palms with it a few times again like last time.

“Grrr… You took us by surprise by your leg strength. We’re not going to be beat!”

“You think you’re so smart. There is no way you can beat us!”

“You’re nothing!”

“That’s funny. That’s the same thing was said to me when I got beat up by four bullies when I was a kid for being smarter than them.”

“What!”

“You heard me. After I’m done with you two, the big knight is going down next!”

“Hah! No way!”

“He’s the toughest knight to bring down in our legion.”

“There is always a weak spot. And I found yours!”

They get mad again, “Grrr…!”

“Now Alden, take the little fairy down!”

They both swing their clubs at once. One is aimed at my legs; the other is aimed at my chest. I dive between the swinging clubs and roll forward. They both miss me. Laughter is heard in the crowd again.

“If he’s a fairy, how come you missed him?” One of the fairies screams. A bunch of fairies laugh at the joke.

Other people join in the laughter as well. The ladies and the knights of Evenshard are getting real mad seeing their knights humiliated. However, Lady Elena has a smile on her face.

I roll forward and stand up again; I jump up and twirl around quickly. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sir Alden coming towards me first before I finish my twirl.

I hear people yelling, “Look out, Richard!”

Sir Alden swings his club again towards my chest. I duck down while twirling down as I land on my feet with about a one-quarter turn. He misses with his swing. I reach up and grab his wrists quickly. I get on my back and kick up my legs into his chest.

“What!” Sir Alden gets a surprise, “Ooof!” as he is kicked in the chest.

I launch him quickly into the other knight.

The other knight gets a surprise that his friend lands onto him. They both fall down, they try to untangle from each other. “Get off of me, Alden!”

“I’m trying, he’s too quick.”

I spring up quickly and go for Sir Alden’s leg. I grab his ankle and yank his leg like I did to the first knight.

He screams, “Arrrghh! My leg!”

“That’s not enough pain, Sir Alden; let’s see how the other one is.” I grab the other leg and yank it real hard as I twist it to split his legs.

“Not my other leg! Why you little fiend…Arrgggh!”

As he tries to roll over and get off of his friend; I grab the left leg of the third knight and do the same thing.

“My leg! Why you little monster! Wait until you meet Sir Cargan!” He tries to reach for me.

I grab his hand and wrist and twist his left arm while trying to pull it out of his socket.

“Arrggh, my arm!” He tries to hold on to it with the other arm.

There is cheering, laughter and yelling going like crazy. The two knights crawl to the edge of the roped area to make room for the last fight.

I get up, I’m panting to catch my breath. I look down at the three knights huddled together. “That’s three down.” I look towards Sir Cargan and smile. “There is one more to go.” I bring up my left hand and signal him with the hand gesture to taunt him, “Come and get some pain.”

There is more laughter and yelling in the crowd.

“That’s it, Richard. You’re on a roll now!”

“Give him some pain for me Richard!”

“Grrr…” He brings out an arrow from his quiver and notches it.

Then we see a barrier shield go up around the perimeter of the roped area.

I see Sir Cargan aiming his bow and arrow at me. I also see some sleep darts ready at his wrist bow. I’m going to need those clubs real quick.

He shoots the arrow and it flies towards me. I dodge it and roll towards the clubs and pick up both of them. The arrow hits the barrier shield and bounces to the ground. I put the clubs in front of me in a defensive position. I stay low to the ground in a crouched position to make a small target.

He starts shooting his sleep darts at me hoping to nick me. I move the clubs around to deflect the darts. I time it just right to hit them. Some of the darts bounce off of the clubs; some of them stick into the club. After awhile he stops shooting his sleep darts.

Thank you sensei for that lesson on arrows. I throw one of the clubs down to the ground nearby. I keep the other one in my hand just in case. I stand up as I grab two sleep darts stuck in the club and throw them on the ground near the other club with the darts sticking in it.

“That’s good, Richard. But you still won’t get me down.”

“I will still try, Cargan.”

Sir Cargan takes several steps in front of the lady. He takes out his long sword. He takes a swing at me. I duck down and roll forward to get behind him. I immediately give several hard kicks into his left and right calf muscles at the same time.

“That didn’t hurt one bit, Richard. You’re not strong enough to get me down.”

“We’ll see, Cargan.” I roll away to get away from him. He swings his sword again.

I dive again and roll away again.

~~~000~~~

“What is he up to, Alden?”

“I don’t know yet Rance. Let’s watch, Richard seems to be playing for an advantage later.”

“Perhaps, … mmmmm… he really did a number on our limbs. I haven’t experienced that pain in a long time.”

“Same here, Alden, same here. The last time I felt this pain was learning to ride a horse for the first time when I was younger.” Rance continues to rub his leg and arm.

~~~000~~~

Sir Cargan walks towards me again. He swings his sword again. I dodge it and roll to his right side. I get into position and kick both of his calf muscles again several times. I get out of the way as he turns around.

“That didn’t hurt again, Richard. You’re wasting your time.”

“We’ll see, Cargan.”

Sir Cargan swings his sword again as he turns around. I dodge it and roll away again. This time I do a real hard double kick on the left and right calf muscles again. I get away again and run to another position in the roped area. I approach Sir Cargan to get a little closer to him. Let’s see if that is enough.

People are yelling again to keep it up.

“You’re doing great, Richard! Wear him down!”

Sir Cargan turns around. He steps forward with his left foot to swing his sword at me. He screams, “Arrggh! My leg! What did you do?” He steps forward with his right leg and screams again, “Agghh!!!” He stares at me real mad as he crumples to the ground and lands on his knees and stays erect. His head is now about my chest level.

I smile at him while he is going down.

The dwarfs laugh out loud, “That’s right! He chopped you down a notch or two Cargan!”

~~~000~~~

Sir Dolen, Sir Aridian, Hikaru, Evrat and the other Outside Helpers smile as well with the other escort knights and dwarfs. Laughter is heard in the crowd again.

“I love it, Hikaru. They have been getting too confident lately.”

“I agree, Sir Dolen. Richard really has set a good example. I like what he did when they tried to split his legs.”

~~~000~~~

The crowd continues to cheer me on. “Richard! Richard!” as the chant continues.

“I decided to take you down to my size. Now for my own version of the sleep spell.”

“You can’t do magic.”

“No, but I know parts of the body like Ariella.”

The yelling and cheering continues from everyone.

“Finish him off, Richard!” screams Ariella.

I run around behind him. I toss the club to the ground and I take the sword from him as I twist it out of his hands.

“Why you little fairy! Arrggh!!” All of his concentration is still on his legs now. He still can’t stand up.

The fairies scream again, “Take him down, Richard!”

I toss the sword away. I get behind him and put my right arm around his neck and clasp my left elbow. I put the left upper arm around the side of his head with the hand on top of it. He struggles to break free. He can’t stand up because of the pain in his legs.

He mumbles, “What are you doing? That won’t work!” He stays on his knees, he tries to reach around me, but he cannot as I keep my body and legs away from his hands.

I squeeze real hard with my right arm. Come on now, fall asleep!

Everyone is yelling.

“Come on, Cargan; get that fairy off of you!”

“That’s it Richard; you got him now!” screams some of the fairies.

Soon his flailing arms get slower and slower. I continue to squeeze his neck. After some time his arms are hanging by his side without any movement.

“Sir Dolen, please lift his arms and see if he is truly asleep.”

“Yes, Richard.” Sir Dolen comes into the roped area. Everyone gets quiet. Sir Dolen comes near and picks up his arms and lets them fall. He gets real close and hear his breathing really shallow. He lifts up his arms and they fall back down to his side. He lifts them up again; the arms hang back down to his side. “He’s asleep, Richard.”

“Thank you, Sir Dolen.” I release the hold and lay him on the ground real easy. I stand up beside Sir Dolen and smile.

Sir Dolen smiles as he takes my right hand and raises it. “The winner is Richard Moore!” He lets go of it and claps his hands.

I give a few bows to the crowd and smile.

Everyone yells, claps their hands and screams with approval. I also see some knights and women upset that their own knights lost, including the money that they wagered.

The young lady comes forward and plants a kiss on my cheek. I smile at the gesture.

“Thank you, Richard. You did an excellent job. They’ve been a little too much for their own good lately.”

“You’re welcome my lady,” I bow my head to her and raise it up.

We smile at each other. She walks away back to her friends and talks to them how wonderful I was.

Some wizards come forward to tend to the ‘wounded’.

“Don’t give them the healing spells wizards. I want them to remember the pain until it heals by itself. They will receive some rub downs instead so that they can walk around.”

“Yes, Sir Dolen.”

The wizards give them some rub downs. Sir Cargan takes a little longer to come around. All four knights approach me with a slight limp or two and bow their heads quickly and raise them back up.

“That’s incredible, Richard. That sure taught us a lesson on not to judge a person on his size.”

“Thank you Sir Alden. I’m sure the dwarfs and fairies here are glad to hear that.”

Then the fairies and dwarfs in the crowd roar with laughter louder with everyone else.

“Richard, you said you discovered their weak spot. What is it?”

“It is arrogance and over confidence Sir Dolen. Former wizard Ruald displayed it as well. Most of the time bullies like to show off. That immediately puts it into my favor. They will be off balance in their attacks all the time. Plus, their anger got in the way.”

Sir Dolen raises his hands to quiet the crowd some more. “You hear that knights of Evenshard? When we get back to our training fields I want none of that talk who is superior. Richard defeated the four of you without magic and weapons, remember that. I’ll let the smallest dwarf warrior come in and knock some sense into you the next time! If that doesn’t work, I’ll request the fiercest fighting fairies, centaurs and dwarf dragons on Twainor!”

All of the Evenshard knights snap to attention. “Yes, sir!”

Everyone laughs, cheers and roars real loud at that announcement, especially the dwarfs, dragons, centaurs and fairies that are present.

“Call us when you need us, Sir Dolen!”

“Yes, we’ll be glad to train them to be better knights!”

Sir Dolen raises his hand to quiet them down again. “Besides it has been recorded on the crystal spheres. It will be shared with the other kingdoms as promised.”

~~~000~~~

The Evenshard knights moan when they hear that.

“Now we’re in for it!”

“Arrggh... we'll be laughed out of the legion.”

“Shut up Sir Thalin. We deserve it.”

~~~000~~~

“We will now proceed to the hall here and continue with our Regional Meeting here. Richard, you may take your rest. You can join us when you have recovered.” Sir Dolen looks around the crowd, “Plus, please pay off your bets as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you, Sir Dolen.”

Sir Halgren, Evrat, Sir Hegarth, Sir Chayton, Hikaru and others approach me.

“Well done, Richard!”

Some of them slap me on the back, put a hand onto my shoulder and laugh.

“That is great. You helped me recover my betting losses for the year and get ahead for the next year.”

“I did, Telgon? Well don’t spend it all in one place.”

“I won’t, Richard. Dolina made some money as well. That was great battling, we loved it!”

“You’re welcome.”

Some fairies fly in front of me thanking me as well.

“You have restored us with great respect from them, Richard. Thank you for fighting for us.”

“You’re welcome, fairies.”

The fairies then fly away; to be with the other fairies in the crowd that are gathered there.

“That was a beautiful display of fighting skills. You would have given me a challenge if we had fought.”

“Thanks, Hikaru. I think I need a glass of fruit juice now. That did make me thirsty.”

“Allow me, Richard,” Sir Halgren smiles as he pours a cup of fruit juice from his skin container hanging on his shoulder and hands it to me.

I drink it slowly. “Ah, that’s good. It is very refreshing.” When I finished drinking, I hand the cup back to Sir Halgren with a smile.

“Do you need a rub down, Richard?”

“Yes please, the legs, arms and hands. It took a lot of strength to pull their limbs and bring my legs back together.”

They start rubbing me down while we talk.

“How did you do some of those stunts Richard?”

“Well it takes practice for one thing. My instructor helped me slow down their movements in my mind. I just caught Sir Alden’s movement in the corner of my eye to get down quickly.”

“The rest is just doing the exercises to increase your stamina, strength, and timing, right?”

“That’s right, Durlond. It has been a couple of years since I was in those classes. This was a test to see if I remembered the lessons.”

“Well, you did real great. I think we all made some money on today’s matches.”

“Well, all it takes is someone with more experience and knowledge to take someone down.”

“That’s true; provided you don’t get overwhelmed by too many at once.”

“You always have to decide quickly what the situation is. Do you have the advantage or not? Thanks for the rub down, friends. I’m ready to join the Regional Meeting.”

“That’s well said, Richard. Come let’s go to Evenshard Castle.”

Croin approaches Sir Dolen.

“We’ll be outside with the other dragons, Sir Dolen.”

“That’s fine, Croin. You can have you own meeting as it were. We’ll let you know when they are leaving for the Maranelle Islands.”

“Thank you.” Croin takes flight with the other dragons towards the mountains.

Sir Halgren hands my jacket back to me. I put it on as we walk back. We all walk back with smiles on our faces and laughter in the wind from a lot of people around us.

We leave the roped area and walk towards the castle. We follow the crowd inside the main entrance. We walk through the foyer and into the throne room. It is a large hall with plenty enough room for about five hundred people. We see that tables and chairs are set up for each of the three kingdoms. Up on the dais are six thrones for the royalty. There is a forth area for the guests on the main floor to the right of the dais. We all have a view to see each other.

Sir Halgren directs me to a seat on the front row with the other Outside Helpers. We are grouped by nine kingdoms. Praxor, Drenan and the Dwarf Ambassadors are sitting near me. Renard and Trianna are sitting there as well. The Outside Helpers in this Region are sitting with their Kingdom respectively in their section.

The four kingdoms have representatives from King Lhokte Under Kingdom, Evenshard, Antarte and Tryllion.

The four kingdoms discuss many things in their region. They discussed the potential increase in food from the sea. Storage buildings for the surplus in food. Expanding the docks of the ports. Representation of the sea dragons within each kingdom when they meet once a month.

The also discuss which arenas and ports will be used when the Regional Festival comes. This includes where the inns are located and perhaps building a few more if needed. They also discuss the possibility of having open spaces for tents to be erected for the extra crowds and the contestants when they visit an arena.

The discussion includes the dwarfs and how they can benefit as well with the extra people coming to visit. They agreed it is a good idea to have the Regional festival on a rotating basis.

Someone even suggested of inviting the land and sea dragons to participate in the sea festivals. They agreed they need to be included as well.

By the fourth mark on the sun dial they finished the Regional Meeting. They agreed that they need to meet like this once a year at least to discuss the issues that affects them as a whole.

We all gather together outside the beautiful white castle by the sun dial. We see the three dwarf dragons flying in for a landing. We make room for them in the courtyard.

“How did your meeting go Croin, Agaroan, and Blacklaw?”

“It was great, Duke Gerard. We discussed a lot of things.”

“It was good to see our dragon brethren.”

“We liked the idea of the Regional Festivals. We even came up with ideas to have mock battles to keep our senses sharp.”

“That's good. We discussed that as well. We were thinking of some racing competition among yourselves for example. Plus some teamwork contests with some knights, dwarf warriors, fairies and centaurs. Of course the prizes are tubs of fish for you and plenty of recognition and honor from us.”

“That is greatly appreciated. We are ready for the next flight to the Maranelle Islands, Duke Gerard.”

“Then let's gather together for the flight westward, friends.”

We arrange ourselves like we did earlier this morning.

"Is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes!"

"Then let's fly to the Maranelle Islands!"

The wizards and sorceresses recite the transportation spell. We disappear in a flash of light one group at a time. We then fly westward to the Maranelle Islands.