Raiders of the Middle Sea
a World of Kedra Story
In the last episode Kayden and his new friends had been drinking...
Raiders of the Middle Sea Part 9
Kayden stumbled into the arena. The light was blinding and much too bright.
Why oh Lord am I here?
His head hurt and his throat was dry. All around him was a wall of sound and the clapping hands of hundreds of onlookers. He squinted at the stands. Men and women were waving pieces of paper, betting tickets at the men now entering the arena.
Kayden's attention shifted and he stared.
On the other side of the arena was a bear with a spiked metal collar around its neck. Its muzzle was red, dripping from the blood of the scrawny, unarmed man that the gaolers had pushed in front of it as an appetizer. It dropped it's snack and roared when it spied Kayden.
Next to Kayden it was answered by another roar and he was inclined to think that the second was more feral. Rulaf swung his maul in a circle above his head and continued to bellow as if the previous night's drink had no effect on him.
Kayden looked uncertainly at the sword and shield in his hands. He wished the world would stop spinning so much. He lurched forward on unsteady legs. The mead and ale and beer and… something else… wonderfully strong that had been fed to him yesterday swirled around in his head.
Shadi and Torassh were armed with long spears. The dark haired man had arrived as well. Bearing the same weapons that he had the previous day, the man looked quite annoyed that three of them looked so hung over. Rulaf of course seemed just fine, having consumed gratuitous amounts of alcohol the previous night, but nothing seemed to affect him.
The cheering around the arena stilled and Kayden looked up to the pulpit at the head of the arena. The mustachioed presenter was holding his hands up, palms facing the crowd.
“Welcome to the Sand Pit!” The presenter cried. “Ladies and Lords, today we have brought to you the most exotic north animal: The Darkwood Bear!”
There was a deafening reply from the crowd. Kayden could not even hear the beast over the audience. The noise dropped away again.
“Facing that dire beast are the five champions of the grand melee yesterday. Though I should say dear folk, that some of them seem a bit unsteady.” The crowd laughed and cheered. “And here we thought we needed to impose a handicap, but it is clear that all we need to do… is remove the two sober fighters! The Shi have agreed!”
Kayden looked around at the others. “Oh no.”
Rulaf was still trying to figure this out when the guards opened the gates. The dark haired man spat in the soil, glaring at the others and strode from the arena.
It was only when two men with spears menaced Rulaf that he started to object. “Oi! Rulaf drank as much as his friends! I want to play with the bear too!” He shouted this directly to the presenter. The crowd laughed and cheered.
The presenter looked quite annoyed. “Be that as it may… you look quiet hale slave!”
“A wager!” A voice sang out. The crowd stilled and Shi’Caperrnel stood up from the stands where the slave lords watched.
“Shi’Caperrnel! You have a condition?”
The little man grinned. “I do. Set in the arena a barrel of your strongest drink. When you release the bear, let Rulaf join the fight, once he has drained the barrel dry!”
The crowd roared and Rulaf raised his fists to the sky, cheering along with the crowd. The presenter looked pleased but raised his hands to still the crowd. “Do we have bets?”
Another slave lord stood up and spoke. “Aye! Five hundred gold that the three others will be dead before the giant finishes the barrel!”
Shi’Uzdu stood. “I’ll take that bet! One of them will survive at least by the time the barrel is empty!”
“But then the giant has to drink it all! The bear must die and at least one of the others must still live.” The first slaver countered.
“Deal!” Shi’Uzdu shouted.
“I favour!” Shi’Caperrnel concurred.
A clamor of voices followed, the slavers betting amongst themselves while the stands also erupted as men, women and other creatures also betted for and against Kayden.
“This is madness…” Kayden said.
Shadi glanced up at the sun. “This is Oratiga, where gambling is more important than anything to the slave lords.” The dark man’s face fell as if he had just realized something awful and turned. Shadi fell to his knees, vomiting into the sand. Kayden was nauseated by the sounds himself and he fought to keep his own revulsion down. Then it got worse.
Kayden smelt something familiar and yet vile at the same time, within a moment he saw what it was. Four slaves walked into the arena, carrying a large barrel of drink. The drink was so strong that the smell preluded the barrel’s progress and Kayden reeled away from it. Torassh hissed and retreated as well. This had brought them closer to the bear and it strained against it's chains, snapping its jaws.
Kayden’s vision swam for a moment and darkness pressed at the edges of his sight. Kayden couldn’t help himself as his stomach somersaulted. He dropped to his knees next to Shadi. Putting the sword aside, hurling down thick black and brown liquid from his gut. Within a moment a third figure kneeled beside them and added his contribution.
It seemed that at least the Jhakarti were the same as humans this way.
Kayden looked up as his heaving turned dry and saw that the bear had retreated uncertainly, its ears flicking forward and back as all three of its adversaries made a noisy and smelly mess before it. Shadi unsteadily gained his feet and took up his spear in shaky hands.
Kayden tried to stand.
“Are the contestants ready?” The presenter shouted the question. Kayden hated sarcasm in that moment, with all his heart.
“Aye! I am ready!” The giant boomed. “Rulaf is ready to drink this mighty mead! Ah, the sticky spicy smell of bliss!”
Kayden had heard enough, the thought of more mead was enough to make him hurl one last gob of stomach juice over his chest and shirt. The crowd howled with laughter, though there was an audible “oooh” that ran through the throng.
Kayden unsteadily got back on to his feet and collected his sword, nearly falling on his face as his balance sloshed around in his empty skull.
Time seemed to slow down and speed up all at once. He couldn’t remember exactly how he had gotten here, but he couldn’t really think of a reason why he should care. He blinked owlishly at the two companions on his right. One would have thought that the man with such dark skin would have been one of the strangest companions that someone could have, but beyond him stood the other that was even stranger. An earless, multi-toothed hissing horror… but it could drink and giggle if given enough. Torassh… that’s his name. And I am likely to die alongside him, here in this pit. Eaten by a big bastard of a bear… Hope he gets drunk on us.
He glanced behind him where Rulaf stood ready with a mug dipped deep into the barrel, poised to drink. Not Rulaf though… he’ll live through this.
“Right… Are you ALL ready now?” The presenter’s voice came again.
Kayden raised a hand and supposed the others did the same for the presenter barked a command and a gong was hit so hard that Kayden thought that his own head would split open from the impact.
The beast’s chain was released and the first mug of dark mead was drawn out of the barrel. The giant took his first long pull, making the draught disappear within a second. The bear did not rush forward as expected. Because it no longer strained against its chains it was not so aware of its sudden freedom.
A second mug left the barrel and the crowd’s screaming reached a fever pitch. The bear began moving, seeking to distance itself but not sure how or why. Then it discovered that it was no longer chained and looked at the men before it.
The beast did charge then. First it came at Torassh and the Jhakarti waved his spear point at it causing the bear to rear up on its hind legs. With a snarl it dove for Shadi but the dark man held his ground with his spear leveled at the bear’s chest. The bear sensed the danger maybe and veered out of the way and finally locked its eyes on Kayden.
“Oh crap.” He said just as he realized that he should have gone for a spear after all. What was he thinking? Picking a sword for the sake of swordsmanship?
The beast took a swipe at him with one massive paw and Kayden raised his shield taking the blow. The force of that strike was so hard it ripped the shield from Kayden’s arm. He lashed out with his sword but his aim was so wide that it barely touched the bear. It came forward with another swipe, low to the ground but Kayden back stepped quickly.
The next attack he would not be able to dodge. His vision swam as he spun through the air and landed on his back, his sword flying from his grasp. Somehow this brought him under the next swipe of those giant paws.
The bear lunged forward, its head as long as Kayden's whole chest, its mouth fully open. Teeth like knives bared and its gums pink. It came forward slow and torturous. The beast was going to rip him open, his blood spraying through the air. The pain was going to be incredible and shocking.
The world tumbled end over end but the beast still came nearer. I am going to die.
Suddenly the bear recoiled, the motion swift and sudden. It grunted and then snorted, shaking its head from side to side as if trying to get rid of something.
The smell. Not even the bear could tolerate it!
The arena erupted in laughter and howls. The bear raised a paw to strike down but cried out as it was pierced in the side by two spear heads.
The bear shuffled to the side and fled to the other side of the pit. Shadi stuck out a hand and Kayden took it. The dark man pulled but ended up overturning himself and losing his weapon. The dark man landed on Kayden, knocking him in the gut. Kayden cried out as pain lashed through his midriff.
The bear saw the opportunity and ran forward. Shadi and Kayden desperately disentangled themselves to stand. The bear was forestalled as Torassh came to stand before them, hissing and raising his spear. Shadi grabbed his spear and dove upright, nearly carrying on and falling on his face.
Kayden searched for his weapons, crawling on his hands and knees. Eventually he found his shield and he heard a scuffle behind him and a loud crack. He stood up, realizing that he had turned his back on the bear and the fight.
Briefly he caught a view of Rulaf leaning over the barrel, tilting his mug over his mouth, whatever didn’t go through his throat poured over the sides, through his scraggly beard and into the barrel again.
Turning he saw that the bear had struck Shadi down to the ground. Torassh was still standing but the front of his spear was snapped, the weapon reduced to a mere stick. The Jhakarti was going to die.
An irrational thought crossed into Kayden’s mind and without giving it any more deliberation he swung in a circle and released the shield, flinging it at the bear. His shot went slightly astray but managed to clip the bear on the side of the head. It roared and recoiled, gripping its left ear with its paw.
“Weapons!” The presenter was shouting. “A fifty gold per item! Arm your champions!”
Within moments items crashed into the arena. Kayden scrambled and found a length of chain while Shadi picked up the other end. Torassh grabbed himself a brace of javelin.
A rhythmic chanting tickled the back of Kayden's mind as he and the dark skinned warrior darted forward to fasten the chain on either side of the arena. Torassh covered them with the javelin. He menacing with a sharp point, keeping the beast at bay. Kayden leapt back to find another weapon.
He scratched around on his hands and knees and ended up pitching himself forward to sprawl face first in the dirt. Dully he was aware of a roar and the scream of men and beasts. The rhythmic chanting increased in volume and speed.
“Rulaf! Rulaf! Rulaf! Rulaf!” They chanted.
It could only mean that the giant was nearing the end of his drink.
Kayden picked himself up from the sand and looked around. There was blood. A lot of it. From beast and man. Shadi lay huddled in the corner of the arena with the Jhakarti standing over him, its chest cut open from a slash of one of those giant paws. But Torassh was defiant and in fact, completely fearless.
The bear circled the pair and Kayden was dimly aware that this would mean that the dark man still lived. He looked to where Rulaf was. The giant had forsaken his mug and had gripped the barrel on its sides to finish the final dregs of mead straight out the container. The crowd cheered him on. There was a skinny, scared looking guardsman standing with the giant’s maul, propping up the handle.
There were screams of excitement and possibly warning as Kayden whipped around just in time to see the bear charging at him again, its side leaking blood. He dove out of the way and threw his hand out as if to punch the beast.
There was not much chance it would do any good but he managed to hurl sand into its eyes.
The beast snarled and turned, lunging for Kayden to maul him. With desperate strength he threw himself upward and ended up above the bear’s dive. Coming down he fell on to its back, with his face near its arse. He clung to the bear with his hands and legs, gripping handfuls of hair. As the bear began to stand up he bit into its flank with his teeth but only managed to pinch a bit of skin and gain a mouthful of fur.
His position on the bear became that of a ship in a storm and somehow this reassured Kyden. He was a sailor, he had weathered storms all his life at sea. He clung on and rode out cresting waves and dipping swells in his mind. The ship listed to the side and he knew that if he fell off board that he would be eaten by the sharks that came to claim those that lost their grip on the ship.
The ride came to a halt and he was thrown from the bear’s backside. He landed on his backside on the sand and the bear raised itself up before him once more, ready to attack. There was nowhere to go anymore. The bear lunged forward and its head was intercepted by the massive steel head of a maul.
At the moment of impact there had been a distinct crunch with the shock of the blow going right through the beast’s skull, teeth, brain and eyes. Everything splintered and cracked a second before bursting open in a shower of blood and brain.
The big man raised the hammer for another blow but it slipped from Rulaf’s hands. The weapon nearly cleared the side of the arena and cracked the wall it struck. The giant himself staggered and fell on his face. It didn’t matter. The threat was neutralized.
After a moment Kayden stood and went over to where Rulaf lay, grinning at the sky with a blissful expression on his face. “Beautiful.” The big man whispered. Kayden nearly bit his tongue. The way the man had said it. Rulaf looked at him. “Rulaf happy… is beautiful!” He said in his usual tone.
Kayden grasped the big man’s one hand and guided more than helped him up. Torassh was helping Shadi walk over. The dark man had a deep gash along his right arm and he held it with the other hand, stemming the flow of blood.
The crowd was cheering ceaselessly. The presenter tried to speak or still the crowd but they would not listen. Favor cloths rained down on them.
Kayden smiled.
They would live another day.
Next time on Raiders of the Middle Sea
Last time on in Raiders of the Middle Sea 7
Mangled and lacerated, missing most of its skin…
It was Dieter’s arm. Just the hand up till the elbow. The greenery either side of the arm was bathed with so much blood that it looked as if Dieter had been juiced. One of the men began mumbling litanies of faith under his breath.
“Nich, what the hell did this?” Pox asked.
He shook his head. “I dunno. We need the Captain.”