Dwarfslayer

14

Damon’s father had been allowed to come down and watch the rest of the tournament from the sidelines, as per Damon’s request.

Damon was beginning to regret doing that.

His father stood beside him, a few minutes before his next match was set to start, criticizing everything Damon had done wrong in his last duel, and telling him what he should do different in the next.

His father was in the middle of pointing out a how Damon’s stance should have been different, when Damon snapped. “Father!” he said. “I’ve won every match without a scratch! Do I really need to listen to your advice?”

His father glared at him, annoyed at having been interrupted. “Yes, son, because the man you’re facing is faster than you.”

Damon opened his mouth to retort, but his father held up a finger.

“No!” his father said, “He’s lighter than you. That means he faster. It also means you’re stronger than him. Play defensively, and make sure your parries are strong.”

Damon nodded. “Fine. I guess that makes sense.”

Damon wasn’t lying when he said that. He’d seen his opponent, Theodore Falconer, fight. His father was right. Damon would take the advice.

The king stood up, and waved for the two swordsmen to step up.

In the middle, they shook hands. Up close, Damon noticed that Theodore wasn’t as scrawny as he’d thought. He was still thin, but not as much as the men in the Amateur League. It made sense, though. After all, he was in the Guardian’s Tournament.

The two made their way to opposite sides of the arena, and prepared themselves.

The king yelled for the match to start. Damon and Theodore inched towards each other.

Theodore attacked.

Damon parried.

Theodore attacked again and again.

Damon continued to parry as they circled around the arena. Damon visualized himself back in the courtyard, with the old rope and post. All he needed to worry about was concise swipes.

He was conserving energy. Theodore’s strikes weren’t strong at all, but Damon had to struggle to keep up with the constant movement of his sword.

Damon realized that their shuffling around the arena was backing him up into a corner. Damon tried to move more to the left, but Theodore knew he had a chance coming. Damon’s path was blocked by an incoming sword.

Damon parried it, and continued backing up to avoid getting overrun.

The two edged ever closer to the corner.

Damon and Theodore locked blades for a moment. Damon pushed Theodore back a couple feet.

Damon had no more space to back up.

Theodore readied himself.

Damon planted his feet, and gripped his sword.

Theodore swung.

Damon did the same, putting all the weight of the rocks he had once heaved, behind his sword. The blades clashed.

Damon completed his swing, and watched as Theodore’s sword flew through the air, and onto the hardpack floor.

Before he could grab it, Damon ran his shoulder into Theodore, knocking him down, and placing the tip of his sword to his neck.

He was on to the semi-finals