Elemental Witch: Child of the Earth (Part I)

Dignity

Shelby glanced up at the sun, which was past its zenith, as he dropped down from the arena fence to land lightly in the sand and walk into the centre of the fighting space. The crowds were  beginning to swell once more around the fences and he spent the last moments before the tournament resumed from its break walking over the dirt, tracing the last fight with his footsteps. He tried to replay the contest in his mind, seeing the blood, now dry, staining the earth in a haphazard spray of violence around him.

He glanced up upon hearing a hush coming to the crowd, looking to the end of the area where the fighters gathered, seeing Kavenay leaning against the fence in armour, clearly anticipating the opportunity to fight despite his loss the day before. 

For a moment, Shelby wished for it, wanted so badly for the Feysha to change their minds, so he could fight the man who was smirking at him. His whole body shook with the anger that charged through his veins at the thought of being able to hurt Kavenay, make him pay for his underhanded, deceitful stunts throughout the tournament.

Shelby blinked as Kavenay's expression turned to surprise then anger, pulling his attention to where Shaktay climbed through the middle part of the fence and into the arena. Shelby searched for sign of the injury but couldn't see the limp in the slow, controlled steps of the Feyshan man. Considering it for a moment, he supposed that the gait, almost human in its speed and cadence, was enough of a signal that things weren't normal. Shaktay was moving slow enough that the limp was hidden, his movements losing some of their smoothness in the effort to not show the injury, his face a mask of serenity that focused completely on Shelby.

"You reek of anger." Shaktay said lowly, his voice the only thing giving away his pain, laced through the musical tones of the Clairvalan he was speaking. 

He was unmoved, as he always was before a fight, eyes finally moving to where Lord Kavenay glared at the two of them in barely restrained fury. Shelby thought he saw a flicker of amusement from the Feysha, though it was gone so quickly he dismissed it as his own imagination.

"He expected to fight." Shelby said lowly, saying the words in a low growl, his jaw cracking as he forced it to unclench, "he knew exactly what happened to you, because he wanted it to happen."

Shaktay nodded, looking up at the sky for a long moment. "I shouldn't take it personally though. I think he is the kind of man who always has that as his back up plan. His men know that if he loses, they're to make sure that his opponent is injured, so he can still continue. I just don't understand why they did it when everyone was watching, why risk their lives for a game?"

Shelby didn't have an answer for that, but it distracted him enough that he was able to breathe through his anger and roll the tension out of his shoulders to prepare for the fight. Shaktay made a good point, why would Kavenay not have attacked Shaktay out of view of the arena? Unless the cocky lord had actually been aware of the danger of fighting the Feysha without an audience to temper their violence.

As the first set of announcements were made, the two of them turned and looked towards the viewing platform where Cavin sat to observe. The expression on his friend's face was foreboding, a dangerous look on the face of his Regent. Cavin had not received this plan well, and clearly wanted to stop it. 

Only a very blunt argument from Verana and Shelby had dissuaded Cavin from doing just that earlier. Shelby didn't doubt for a moment that if Shaktay looked pained in the least, Cavin would call the fight himself. Oliver feigned a casual posture, though his expression belied curiousity, probably about what was developing.

Shelby drew his sword and pulled his mind away from the crowd and his friends, settling his mind as he saluted alongside Shaktay, signalling their readiness to fight. There was a pause as the crowd erupted into murmurs of speculation before they turned towards one another, saluting easily. Still, Shelby hesitated, watching the small Feyshan with a careful expression on his face.

"Fight. Lord Shelby." Shaktay said softly, watching him, expression schooled and calm. "We will fight and we will see who wins."

Shelby had argued for this and didn't know what else to do, merely nodding to the other man and launching into an attack, beginning the fight. It was slow and slightly unenthusiastic, two blades against one. But it was a battle, Shelby found himself being pulled more and more into the challenge when he realized Shaktay's injury wasn't as much of a handicap as he had assumed it would be.

Shelby was impressed, noticing that even with minimal movement of his feet, Shaktay was a formidable opponent. And Shelby had to allow that not having to move great distances or at extreme speeds to keep up to Shaktay was a relief in the heavy armour Shelby wore.

What ended up felling Shaktay, was a momentary lapse in the man's tight control, stepping back onto his injured leg which refused to hold him up, bringing him to one knee and providing Shelby the opportunity to get under Shaktay's controlled defences. Shelby didn't hesitate knocking Shaktay's two blades wide and bringing the tip of his own sword to the other man's throat. 

 The crowd still cheered as Shaktay watched him along six feet of metal and nodded ever so slightly, sheathing his blades. The horn sounded and Shelby sheathed his own before reaching down to help the injured fighter to his feet, providing support to him as they bowed to the King, then started off the arena floor.

Even with how tame it was, Shelby was still soaked with sweat and breathing heavier than he'd like to admit as they made their way to the fence together, Kavenay long gone.