Mason Armstrong: Secret Agent

Chapter 6: Captured!

The tribe leader began his speech with an animalistic howl. What followed can only be described as grunts, growls and gibberish. To try and write it would be... ill advised. Mason whispered to his watch,
"Can you translate this into English?"
"Already on it, but the only link I can get is a small relation to Athabaskan, a native dialect of a tribe from the Americas that died out in 1895. It will take a while."

The leader had begun to stamp his feet and thump his chest while making gutteral sounds, and the tribe followed suite. The resulting cacophony was menacing, torturous to the ear and made the ground itself tremble. After almost a minute they stopped, leaving the clearing in dead silence. The watch then chose this time to chime "I've got it! A rough translation is 'I am Bear Killer, leader of the Tsetsaut tribe! You are an intruder, have white demon-skin, and have disturbed the sanctity of our home. For these crimes, you shall be boiled alive and eaten for tomorrow's feast.'"
"What?!"
"Oh dear. That's not good."

That was, of course, the understatement of the century. Mason was cut free with bone knives, and carried by tall, strong men into a cage made of hardwood. The cage was locked, and the key was stashed in Bear Killer's... rucksack... thing... bag. The tribe began to march away, Mason on the shoulders of the strongmen. Mason asked "Is there any way we can escape?"
"The hardwood is coated in crude oil, so is inflammable, and its composition is unusually strong and will be difficult to break through. It seems almost as if it is custom-made... still, there is no way we can break out, and a fight against so many warriors would not be in our favour."

Mason sat in thought for a few seconds. Then, a smile began to spread across his face. The smile of someone with a plan equally brilliant and utterly mad.
"Translate this, please"
"Yes?"
"I challenge your leader, Bear Killer, to a battle!"
"What?!"
"Just do it!"

The march stopped. Silence echoed through the clearing. A bone knife fell, making a clean cut through the tension. Then Bear Killer began to laugh. Not a pretty laugh, more a 'I'm gonna rip your head off purely for enjoyment' laugh. His reply was,
"What are your terms?"
Mason thought quickly, then replied "A fight until one surrenders, not to the death. If I win, I go free. If you win... I will become your slave."
An ugly smile broke out on Bear Killer's face. "Challenge accepted!"

The cage swung open, and Mason stepped out into an arena, barricaded in by the tribe. A tribe elder stepped out, and hollered "Let the battle commence!"