The Fort: Lions first roar

Chapter Six

To make the story a little bit shorter, here's what has happened; the knights and prentices had all been joking and fighting for fun at the yard, like they always did, when Gimlon and General, together with the ladies Sherlyn and Adela, decide it was a good idea to show up. He hoped for a scolding, but instead of following the rulebook, the dear lord arranged a small tournament, in his, the General and the ladies' names. Well, from this point, his day couldn't get any worse.

They all got to pick their representatives. Adela chose, of course, Talroze and Cae. A centaur and a dragon born. Safe bet. Sherlyn wanted to have fun and picked Owena, the comedian, and Hal, who needed to read the rulebook again. Lizzie and Aeric paired up and the General said she would buy Lizzie a bucket of ale if she gave Cae a black eye. Lizzie screamed of laughter and accepted the deal in an instance. Left to Gimlon was the boy Bruno, and as his second championship, the lord picked himself. He smiled and the knights groaned. This was going to be an epic defeat.

So, that's why Talroze is galloping around the yard with Lizzie hanging from his tail, aggressively trying to cut it off, while Gimolon is wrestling with Cae, Hal, and Bruno. Owena passed out when Talroze (on accident) kicked her in the head and Aeric had got his arm disjointed by Cae. And why the whole town is out and cheering on them.

His focus landed on the match again when Talroze crashed into a wagon. Lizzie had probably succeeded to cut his Achilles tendon. She howled high pitched and did a victory dance before joining the wrestling. She wasn't interested in winning, she just wanted to beat up Cae as bad as she could. Which meant that Cae had to leave the wrestling to handle the angry pixie on his back. Now Gimlon decided to end this and heaved away Hal and Bruno. Hal was quick on his feet, but the dwarf was already over him. A nasty crack was heard when Gimlon demolished his knee-cap. Left was only Bruno, standing upright, holding his sword with both hands. Gimlon smiled when he stood up.

He started to make Bruno run, which was easiest done by swinging his ax in a wide arc. So Bruno ran, and he excited the crowd. They were wild, screaming, and clapping. Bruno went on with the show and did lunges against Gimlon. He blocked them, all of them. Bruno was good, but he hadn't sixty years of experience. Then Gimlon grew tired of the game and gave Bruno a box on the ear with the flat side of his ax. Bruno did an excellent pirouette before passing out.

The lord was now free to alone meet the crowd's ovation. He grinned and held up his ax, showing his strength. He smiled from his place behind the chimney and gave a small applaud to his friend. Even though he was diva, he earned it. Who could defeat the mighty dwarf lord, Gimlon the Great?

As an answer to his thought, the gates burst open. In, on a wolf big as a smaller barn, came the biggest orc he had ever seen.

The crowd immediately got quiet. The lord was on his own, all of his knights were down and out, the General didn't have her crossbow, and arrows wouldn't hurt this beast. She was at least three meters tall and had skin like leather.

"Is the challenge still open, milord?" he decided to get going. Gimlon was good, but that didn't really matter; he had met this orc lady before, and if she sat down on him, he would turn flat.

"I asked you, are the challenge..."

"I heard the first time" Gimlon sounded serious now. Anton couldn't know Gimlon's eyes were twinkling with recognition for the white orc.

"Is that a yes?"

He wielded the ax and held it steady. "Show me what you got". This time the crowd was filled with suspense. What would happen now? What could this orc do?

He did the first lunge, more for testing her than an actual attack. She understood that and did nothing. The only way he could win this is if he always moved or found her blind spot.

She started to tease him, trying to make him attack, which was he did. He gave her scratch along the calf and went for her Achilles tendons, but her halberd was in his ass and he had to roll around to getaway. If he could get her on the ground...

She started to hand out jabs, which he blocked, but she hit hard and fast so he hadn't a chance to be offensive. But in a badly applied jab, he found a way to use her own power against her. The strike hit her right in the chest and made her falter. Now was the time, fast as a...

"You aren't too rough on him, right?" a female voice said. He lost focus and looked up, and to his surprise, the orc did too. It was the witch, Medea, wearing her purple hat and walking towards them without any hesitation.

"They're battling, witch! Get of the yard!" the General shouted. Medea smirked, and out of nowhere, a white handkerchief appeared in her hand. The orc smiled and looked at the General.

"I believe I just yield." He stared at them when Medea laughed and jumped into Neva's arms.