Sauragia

Chapter 11

The sword talent display was the most exciting and often quickest of all the events. It was the one everyone wanted to excel at, and thus the one with the toughest competition. The idea was very simple. Apples or pears, depending on which one was more abundant, were set atop and between wooden poles, and the quicker one could slice through them all without nicking the wood, the better. Many had tried, and very few ever did it perfectly. At any rate, there were always ample fruit slices to give to the audience afterward.

Astron was last in a line of nine, the sixth of whom was Alf. The confident young guard looked on with boredom at the competitors as they stepped up, even yawning as the third took a turn. This was a younger female member of the Force who had shown some talent for the blade early on. She chopped the first apple positioned atop a post flawlessly, as most did. The second was a little trickier, being wedged between two posts. She gave it a perfect upward slice. Then came the hardest obstacle: the obfuscator.

The obfuscator was so called because it was a truly odd structure. Three narrow wooden shelves, each a little above the other, held a fruit through which to cut in only three strokes. The difficulty was that each shelf was only open at one end, and so one had to slice hard enough to sever the apple—which was placed directly in the centre—without cutting into the wooden side. It was a seemingly simple right-left-right movement, but it had to be done quickly and precisely, and hard as some practised, they could not master it. Thus, though they were quick, the first three all made several nicks in the wood. Nevertheless, the third was the best yet.

Two more went and made several errors. One even hit the post on the first swing and became a source of laughter for the onlookers. Then came Alfred’s turn. There were many things he was called, and many things he was thought to be, but one thing everyone had to admit was that Alfred Redding was a master swordfighter. It was partly raw talent and partly dedicated practice, but most agreed it was his one redeeming quality. Few could equal him and none could yet surpass him, even among the officers.

With unparalleled ease and confidence he drew his sword and stepped up. He absent-mindedly twirled his balanced blade as the monitor collected the previous apple pieces and distributed them to the crowd, then set up more in their places. When he was out of the way, Alf paused momentarily. Then, with five keen strokes, the fruits fell apart with only a single error made on the last stroke. He stepped away with arrogant satisfaction, sure that none could best him. As it turned out, neither of the next two could.

Finally came Astron’s turn. All eyes were fixed on the newcomer, that exquisite weapon, and his peculiar left-clawed grip. He did not seem in the least bit tense or excited. He simply stood there quietly wielding the sword as everything was set up. He nodded toward the monitor as he stepped out of the way, then focused all his energy on the task before him. He looked from the targets to the sword point as though calculating the precise movements needed.

In a flash, it was all over. Five apples had been neatly severed by the blade without a single mark applied to the wood. The blade was wiped and sheathed before the audience knew quite what had occurred. The second they did, however, there arose a great hurrah and many congratulations to the undisputed winner of the contest. There were many clawshakes all around and Rob patted his friend on the back.

“Nice going, old chap!” he exclaimed. “How did you do it?”

“I hardly know myself,” said Astron modestly. “I doubt I could repeat it.”

Alfred, on the other claw, was not so easily impressed. He was sure he could not be bested, and was not willing to give up his position so easily. Therefore he strode deliberately up to Astron and spoke:

“Nice going there, newcomer. But defenceless fruit are too easy. I’ll bet you couldn’t do as well on something that fought back.”

“I’d be willing to try,” said Astron.

“Right then. I challenge you to a duel!”

Captain Torilis, hearing this, stood between the two.

“Now, young Alfred,” he admonished, “you know that duelling is not permitted without express permission from the king.”

“Then by all means, please put it forward, Captain,” urged Astron. “Personally, I feel as inclined to know who is really better myself. It’s all good sport.”

Richard paused, looking Astron over for a moment. Perhaps the young fellow was right. So, reluctantly, he walked over to King Henrik, who had witnessed everything.

“Your Majesty,” he spoke. “These two young dinosaurs formally request permission to duel one another. What say you to their wish?”

King Henrik thought about it. Astron, whom he had just seen win the sword talent display, against Alfred, the troublesome but skilled young guard. He hated to risk the son of his friend in combat with the wretch, but Astron was a strong lad in whom he had supreme confidence. It was high time the overly proud Alfred was taught a real lesson, and this might be just the way to go about teaching it. The king nodded.

“Permission granted,” he said. “It is all good sport, after all.” He winked at the captain.

“Very well,” said Captain Torilis. “Stand back all. Astron and Alfred over here.” He drew a rough circle in the ground around them. Alfred drew his weapon. “Right. First one to be disarmed or knocked down loses. No tricks or thrusts, got it?”

The two nodded.

“Any who step outside of the ring lose instantly. Now then, go to it.” Captain Torilis stepped wisely out of the way, leaving the two duelists to sort the rest out themselves.

Alfred attacked with vigour, forcing Astron to defend himself, which he easily managed. Astron saw no need to pull out all he had on his fellow Alvarosaurus just yet. He chose to simply let the aggressive fellow wear himself out first. For his part, Alf was falling right into Astron’s trap, though he failed to see it that way. He struck out with everything he had, nearly hitting Astron several times, but never quite. This frustrated him and only made him lash out harder. He tried tripping Astron a couple times with his hind claws, but the taller dinosaur simply stepped out of the way. It was absolutely maddening.

No one had ever seen Alfred tire out in a duel before, but he was slowly doing so now. Though he seemed to possess a boundless supply of energy, the flustered guard was growing short of breath. Astron was hard put to ward off so many fearsome blows, but he did, and remained in better shape than his opponent. Now, as Alfred’s lack of energy began to show, Astron made his move.

Switching from defence to offence, Astron pressed his foe back toward the edge of the circle. But Alf was fleet of hind claw, and side-stepped every time he was near the line. Seeing this tactic fail, Astron attempted to trip Alfred up with the flat of his blade, but the nimble young guard danced right around it. Left with no other choice, Astron fought Alfred in an attempt to disarm him. The lad had a tight grip on his sword, but was fast tiring, and so was more inclined to make an error. This he did, and Astron seized upon it. With a massive swing he knocked Alfred’s blade aside, then gave a mighty shove. Alfred fell flat on his rear just outside the circle much to the amusement of the crowd, and found Astron’s blade pointed at his chest.

“Well done, lad,” Captain Torilis stepped up. “Astron has won without a single wound inflicted.”

More cheers arose for the sword master of the day. Astron sheathed his sword and offered to help his opponent up.

“Nice one, Alf,” he said, holding out his claw. “You’re a worthy opponent.”

But Alf simply brushed him aside and stood up, slamming his blade into its sheath and storming off without a word. Astron looked on, perplexed until Rob came up beside him.

“Good show there!” he said. “Really gave him a what for.”

“I suppose that ought to teach him a lesson, eh?” spoke Astron.

“I don’t know about that,” replied Rob, watching his nemesis disappear into the crowds. “But I’m sure he’ll think twice about challenging you again. Still, you’d best watch your back. You never can tell with his sort.”