Shadow's Rising {Wing 1} Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jarid walked over to arena four. It was a large circle of sand that had been cordoned off by a knee-high rope. When he arrived, Jarid noticed another boy approaching who he presumed would be his opponent.

He had an athletic build with jet-black hair and a cocky smile. His shirt looked like grey silk and had his family crest embroidered on it in gold. Jarid recognised him as the first one who ran the obstacle course.

The boy looked Jarid up and down with a smirk.

“Not a bad show on the obstacle course, peasant. I bet you think you can fight pretty good. But don’t get ahead of yourself. I would have made it to the end too if that hay bale had swung where it was supposed to. And while you were rolling in the mud as a child, I was honing my skills with the great Sir Horace,” He stated proudly with his hands on his hips.

Jarid had no idea who Sir Horace was, but he politely nodded anyway. “Good for you.”

The boy frowned, but before he could say anything the official referee walked up to them.

“Ok, boys. Your fight is about to begin. Once you have exchanged names and shaken hands, you will enter the arena and I will explain the rules.”

Both boys stepped forward and shook hands.

“My name is Jarid Drakoulis.”

“Mine is Dominic Ramlock, son of Dorian Ramlock, lord of Delbont,” Dominic replied pridefully.

Jarid had seen Delbont on a map once. It was a large city much farther inland and probably one of the biggest in the country. Most people might have been impressed by the son of such a powerful lord but, to Jarid, he was just another prideful noble flaunting his power.

As they stepped into the arena, Jarid noticed Dominic wiping off the hand he had used to shake Jarid's using his shirt. This slightly irritated him, but he was more concerned by the ramifications of hurting the bratty noble. If he accidentally broke Dominic’s arm or gave him a black eye, the nobility might punish his whole family.

As Jarid thought this, he could picture Shadow rolling his eyes at such a comment.

“You must be pretty confident if you’re worried about hurting them more than about getting hurt yourself,” he would say.

Jarid frowned. It’s not like he was arrogant. He just couldn’t help it. Targets and thick-skinned dragons were one thing. But an ordinary human was very different.

The crowds in the stands quieted as the officials for each of the four arenas started explaining the structure of the event.

“The rules are as follows. You will fight until one of you either concedes defeat, leaves the arena or I feel that sufficient damage has been delt. It will be the first to win three rounds. No magic or dirty tricks, such as kicking sand in your opponent’s face, are permitted.” The referee glanced meaningfully at Jarid as he said the last part.

“Are you ready?”

Dominic nodded with a smirk, but Jarid raised his hand.

“Yes?” the referee asked, with a hint of annoyance.

“Will there be any repercussions if one of us seriously harms our opponent?”

Dominic burst out laughing at this. “Are you really that scared to face me? Don’t worry. I would never fight a peasant like you seriously.”

The referee glared disapprovingly at Dominic. Then he turned to Jarid.

“You will not face any repercussions. We have medical teams ready in case anyone is seriously injured.”

Jarid nodded.

“Any more questions?”

“No sir.”

“Good.” The referee raised a hand to each fighter. “Ready?”

Jarid and Dominic both gave their affirmation. The referee dropped both his hands.

“Fight!”

Jarid immediately sank into his ready stance. Low and on his toes with his hands up in front of him, palms facing his opponent. Dominic smirked.

“What’s with that stance peasant? Are you trying to copy an actual fighter? Your pathetic stance means nothing if no one taught you how to use it!”

Dominic rushed forward and started throwing punches like a boxer. He threw three jabs with his right, then faked a left hook, before throwing a right hook with a big, condescending smile.

Jarid deflected the first three jabs with his hands. Knocking them just far enough to the side that they would miss. His right hand raised to block the left hook, but something in Dominic’s eyes made him suspicious. As soon as the right hook started Jarid could tell Dominic was putting all his strength behind this attack.

Now was the time to counter.

Using his left hand Jarid blocked with the back of his hand before grabbing Dominic’s wrist on the inside. Then, using his momentum, Jarid turned and threw Dominic over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground on his back.

“Ack!” Dominic cried in pain as the air was driven from his lungs. Jarid hesitated for a second to see if the ref would call it, but hearing nothing he raised his fist.

“Halt! The first round is over. Return to your side of the arena.”

Jarid barely stopped himself in time. Then he got up and stepped back cautiously in case Dominic tried to attack him from the ground. But Dominic merely laid there wheezing.

Jarid returned to his side and, after a minute to catch his breath, Dominic returned to his.

Jarid could see the rage in his face after being humiliated like that. Jarid took a deep breath and shook out his arms and legs. The nerves were making his skin tingle.

That was intense! It was over so quickly. I barely had time to think! I can’t let my guard down. He probably just underestimated me. I doubt he’s going to play around this time.

The referee looked at both combatants then raised his hand. “Second round… begin!”

Dominic rushed at him again, but this time his first two jabs were followed by a kick. Jarid barely dodged the kick but had to step back. Dominic continued to throw short, fast punches and the occasional kick. Jarid continued retreating slowly as he deflected or dodged the attacks.

Jarid’s style had always been focused on avoiding hits while waiting for his opponent to leave a clear opening. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen a single one so far, but his opponent couldn’t last forever. Soon Dominic started to tire. His punches came slower, and his stance was starting to waver. He was growing more frustrated as time went on, but recognised Jarid’s strategy and stepped back to recover.

“Ha! Not so… proud now… are you? Is dodging… all you can do?” Dominic taunted between breaths.

Jarid didn’t react to the taunt. His face showed nothing but focus and determination. He walked steadily towards his opponent. Not giving him space to recover.

“Rrrrrgh. Stop being so dauntless, fool!” Dominic growled before launching into another attack.

This time Jarid caught his kick and held his foot in the air. Jarid felt the corners of his mouth twitch upward slightly. When Jarid caught Shadow’s hind leg he still had to worry about his tail, but against a human…

Dominic jumped and twisted to try and kick Jarid while freeing his caught leg, but Jarid was able to dodge the kick and catch his other leg. Now with both of Dominic’s legs securely in his grip Jarid began dragging Dominic to the edge of the arena.

Dominic tried to reach Jarid or break his grip. Twisting and flopping about like a fish while growling curses at him. Jarid brought him to the edge of the arena then swung him around. After gaining sufficient momentum, Jarid tossed him out of the arena.

“Second round, over!”

Dominic got up, trembling with rage, and stomped back to his side of the arena. This time he didn’t say a word. He simply waited until the referee started the third round.

“Do you need a break before we start the third round?” The referee asked.

“Just start the stupid round already! I want to crush this peasant.” Dominic hissed, wiping his sweat covered forehead with the hem of his shirt. The once pristine grey silk was now closer to dark brown from sand and sweat.

“Very well. Third round… begin!”

This time Dominic came at Jarid slowly. His aura of anger was making Jarid slightly nervous. If Dominic was able to get past his defenses, it was going to hurt.

Dominic walked up to Jarid shaking out his arm. For some reason it looked like his arm was loose. Relaxed even. Then he drew back his arm and stepped forward. Jarid tensed up, ready to block.

Suddenly he was falling backward, his mouth sore. Only now did Dominic’s punch register in his mind. It had been like a whip. His fist only moved at the last second. Jarid didn’t even have time to realise it had started moving, much less block it.

As Jarid’s back hit the sand he heard gasps from the crowd. They were all muttering about something called a viper’s blow, but he couldn’t make out the details.

“Halt! Round three, over!”

Jarid looked up to see Dominic’s disdainful look as he turned his back on Jarid and retreated to his side.

Jarid pulled himself to his feet and rubbed his chin. Most people might have been scared or angry after receiving such a blow, but Jarid was feeling excited. He had never seen a technique like that before! He wanted to know how it worked so he could try it himself. Just thinking about using such a technique made him want to grin, but now was not the time. Jarid quickly got up and readied himself for the next round.

“Fourth round! Ready… begin!”

Dominic walked forward again. Jarid backed away until he was right at the edge of the arena. The instant his back was against the arena edge, Dominic stepped in and drew back his arm. Jarid knew he couldn’t react fast enough to block. All he could do was predict where he was going to strike.

Jarid could see in his eyes that Dominic was going to strike him in the face again. This time Jarid put his arms together and blocked rather than trying to deflect the blow.

“Ah!” Dominic cried, as his blow connected with Jarid’s toughened forearms. Dominic instinctively shook out his hand to relieve the pain and Jarid seized the opportunity to grab Dominic’s other hand. Then he rolled onto his back pulling Dominic down with him. Taken by surprise Dominic fell forward. Jarid planted his foot in Dominic’s gut and catapulted him over his head and out of the arena.

“Round four over! The match goes to Jarid Drakoulis!” the referee announced.

Jarid stood and breathed a sigh of relief while wiping the sweat from his brow. His legs were a little shaky from nervousness, but he had done it! He did feel a little bad for his opponent though. Losing to him probably lessened Dominic’s chances of going to the academy. Jarid quickly walked over to him.

“Good fight! That punch you used was amazing! Could you show me how you did that sometime?” Jarid said, offering him a hand up.

Dominic slapped the hand aside and glared at Jarid.

“Certainly. I’ll show it to you when I use it to break your nose,” He muttered sarcastically. “Get out of my way.” He shoved Jarid aside as he stormed off.

Jarid shrugged inwardly. He should have guessed this would be Dominic’s response, but he still felt bad about humiliating him. Maybe he could try to apologize next time they met, but for now there wasn’t much he could do.

Jarid walked back to the side of the arena and sat down to watch the end of Steven’s fight.

His opponent was a bit taller and much more muscular. Steven seemed to be using his speed to keep away from his opponent’s attempts to grapple him, while delivering quick jabs whenever he could.

Jarid could see the frustration evident on the sweat covered face of Steven’s opponent. Finally, Steven stopped evading and stood in place waiting for his opponent. Seeing his chance, the more muscular fighter launched at Steven to grab him. Steven calmly stepped to the side, then jabbed his opponent in the side so fast Jarid barely saw his hand connect.

His opponent’s body twisted like he’d been stung, arms instinctively dropping to his side to stop the pain. This left him wide open for Steven’s left hook, which connected solidly with his jaw. Steven followed up with a right hook, but his opponent was already slumping to the ground.

The referee of the match proclaimed Steven the winner. Steven helped his opponent to his feet and they both shook hands. As Steven exited the arena, he noticed Jarid and jogged over to see him.

“Hey Jarid! That guy was pretty good, am I right? We were going even on wins, but I pulled it off in the end. Just barely though. Could have gone either way honestly. I suppose I was just lucky, ha, ha.” Steven sat down next to Jarid with a proud smile.

Jarid couldn’t tell if Steven was trying to be humble or exaggerating his opponent’s strength, but it hadn’t looked like Steven was ever in trouble during his fight. In fact, he wasn’t even sweating at all. Jarid nodded and tried to force a smile, but quickly looked away to hide how obviously fake it was.

Why do nobles always have to make it seem like they’re so great? All they ever seem to care about is their own image. Nobody else matters. They wouldn’t even think to ask-

“So how did your fight go? Did you win any rounds?”

Jarid was pulled from his ruminations by Steven’s words. Jarid glanced over in surprise and found Steven’s eyes alight with genuine curiosity.

First, Jarid felt a deep sense of confusion as his thoughts from just a moment before were contradicted. It was such perfect timing that Jarid wondered if Steven had mind reading powers like Shadow, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

Secondly, he was crushed by guilt as he remembered Airel’s words from the night before. He thought that he had changed after realising that he couldn’t judge someone just because they were nobility. But in reality, it wasn’t that easy. Maybe that’s why it was so hard for humans and dragons to change what they believed about each other.

Then Jarid realised he had neglected to respond to Steven’s question.

“Oh, yeah. I won.” Jarid replied flatly. On the outside his face was blank but inside his mind was in turmoil.

What kind of an answer was that? I don’t know. I was still processing how embarrassing it was to think about Steven that way after believing I was such an open-minded person. Didn’t have time to figure out how to word it. Well, it’s too late to fix it now! I bet he thinks I’m stupid now.

Jarid’s embarrassment grew as he continued to berate himself for his awkwardness. Thankfully Steven didn’t seem to notice.

“You won?! That’s amazing! I must admit, I never imagined a commoner would have that kind of skill. You certainly know how to impress my friend! I can’t wait to get to know you. I have a feeling there is a lot more to you than meets the eye.”

Jarid couldn’t help but look down shyly at the compliment. “Thank you.”

Then the announcer called everyone’s attention once more.

“Well done everyone! We will now be moving on to our final test. This will test your ability to use magic. An essential part of being a dragon rider. I wish you all good luck.”

Jarid stood and pushed aside his feelings. He needed to focus. This was his last chance to impress the instructors from the academy. His last chance to prove he was worthy of becoming a dragon rider.