Tested (The Life of Uktesh Book 1) (15 page)

“Yeah, we should.”

Tournament of Murderers

Uktesh and Laurilli both continued to train and take their hero for hire jobs on the side, for the next three months until, true to their word, Tylor and his friends came to get Uktesh and Laurilli for the tournament.  Heathyr stated that she would have to come as it would be unseemly to let two unmarried children stay together unsupervised.  Uktesh knew that the real reason she wanted to go was to see if there was any word of Thulmann.  There was a rumor going around that the best warriors in the army were no longer in the actual fight, but had started to train people to master a weapon of choice, and that one of them was going to be at the tournament.

After going another three months with no news from Thulmann, the three of them had started to get very worried that something terrible had happened to him.  For the last two months Laurilli had been able to easily beat Heathyr and had started to spar with Uktesh.  Uktesh started to have Laurilli do more and more of the lead roles when they worked their hero for hire jobs. He still reined her in when she wanted to take the lead on something she wasn’t ready for.  After three months they had enough money that they felt they could live like kings for years and only make a dent in their funds. So they decided to do what anyone with a pile of money would do, they planned to make some wise bets with it in the upcoming tournament.  It was while the three of them rode into town and passed a few townsfolk without getting a greeting from them that Uktesh realized they were still outsiders.  He thought that perhaps because they had nothing to harvest during this festival and even despite the fact Laurilli and Uktesh had worked the last month of their Hero of Hire for the price those they chose to help suggested, he still felt like an outsider.  Uktesh looked towards Li, he had started to call Laurilli “Li,” and thought,
Next year we’ll help with the harvest, because it’s an easy way to bond.
He’d started to call her Li first because of the stories she told, and second because he knew it bugged her a bit, and it allowed him to save the name “Laurilli,” for something important.

They were all on their way into town, each on their horses, with the fourth that they’d captured used as a pack horse. Uktesh and Laurilli wore their customary black coats, a gift from a grateful leather worker whose daughter they’d saved, to meet up with Tylor Taylor and his friends. They noticed Baloce and Dekan as they stood in the shade of the tree they seemed to enjoy, as it was between Manori and their home, “Well if it isn’t the heroes for hire,” said Dekan, “hey Laurilli I got something you can do for me!  I’ll pay you real good too,” he brayed out a laugh that annoyed Uktesh to no end. 

Uktesh hopped off his horse and moved to stand in front of Dekan, who had grown another three or four inches, but Uktesh had hit a growth spurt as well and was now five feet four inches, and finally the same height as Laurilli.  Even with his growth Dekan still towered over him by nearly eight inches, but Uktesh said, “Now what did I tell you would happen if you said one more thing about Laurilli?”

“You’d beat me.”

“I’d beat you. Did you think I was kidding?”

“Nope, I just don’t think you can back it up.”

Uktesh laughed, and stuck his chin out, “Look I’ll even give you the first punch.”  When Dekan didn’t do anything Uktesh shut his eyes and said, “Fine I won’t even watch, although I can practically smell your long greasy brown hair from here.” 

He heard Baloce mutter, “Dekan,” a clear warning for him to not do whatever he wanted to do.

Uktesh opened his eyes and said, “That’s what I thought, you’re a coward.”  Uktesh vaulted back onto his horse and said, “You’re not even worth my time, all those muscles and no willpower to use them.” He quickly caught up to the women.

Heathyr was furious, “Why didn’t you hurt that pissant!”

Laurilli answered for Uktesh, “They’ve been verbally abusing me in the hopes that Uktesh will throw the first punch in a fight, because it’ll give them cause to call us before the mayor, Baloce’s uncle, and get us in trouble.  Fortunately the first time they’d set it up to happen with an adult witness Uktesh caught on to what was happening, since then they’ve escalated their word choices.”

“I’ll string them up by their ass hairs, before I let them talk about you that way!”

“Momma bear shows her claws with a strange word choice,” Uktesh said to Laurilli who giggled.  “Don’t worry Heathyr, we’ve got a plan.  You see they’re both participating in the tournament this year, in sword, unarmed, and any weapon combat.  I’m going to enter all three in the hopes of meeting one of them in a ‘fair,’ fight,” Uktesh knew that his smile was predatory and if Dekan or Baloce saw it, it would cause more than a little a fear, but it matched Heathyr and Laurilli’s.  “Anyway Li have you decided if you want to participate in sword?”

“I don’t know if I’m up to it yet.”

“Well you’re pretty good, plus I doubt the men will attack you with their full strength until the later rounds, if you make it that far. So the first few rounds will be a great chance to test your skill level.”

“I guess I can try it if you think I’m ready.”

“I think you’re ready, so it’s settled.”

A whistle interrupted the rest of their conversation, “Who’s the beautiful woman with my two best customers?” shouted Tylor Taylor as he sat on his red mare, to “match my hair,” he would say. Next to him was Larut the six feet eight inches muscular fighter, who shaved his head bald. Next to him was Repus a six feet four inches tall, willowy man with long brown hair. Next was Esolc a five feet eleven inches tall wiry man, with a brown Mohawk, that the tip of was dyed blond. The last of Tylor’s four best friends was Myrtin a six feet even tall man who, Uktesh felt could have once had defined muscles but a few years of marriage had soften him. He was still strong looking, but he had a small gut and with his black hair that had started to gray, he looked more scholarly than military.

Uktesh shouted back, “A married mother you lecher!”

“Married women get lonely boy,” he said and lowered his voice as they got closer, “but knowing her daughter, I’d be too afraid to make an advance at her, injury would surely follow that course of action.”

Heathyr’s face had turned a fierce shade of red, “I’ve been told the story a dozen times about how you helped these two fight off the spider wolves, then later the whole thing with the pack of centaurs.” A pack of four half horse half men had started to raid the outlying homes. Uktesh and Laurilli had been hired by the mayor to stop them, and they’d finally caught up to them at Tylor’s house.  Heathyr added, “Your skills with the sword would probably disarm me just as quickly with a sword as with your words.”  Tylor smiled, but before he could comment Heathyr continued, “of course my husband is one of the best fighters in Sinai and he does have a temper.”

“Madam you cut me to the quick!  Surely one as quick witted as you would never be caught by the likes of me.  However, the hour is early, but the trip is long, it’s a two day trip, with plenty of time to continue this conversation, shall we head out?”

“Yes lets!” said Larut.

“Larut! I didn’t see your mountainous form there, care to make any more wagers?” said Uktesh excitedly.

Larut’s face lost some color, “I should’ve learned my lesson after the arrows, or after the river jump, but after the tree climb I’m done betting against you.  Which competitions do you want to be in so I can choose something else.”

Uktesh smiled happily, “Sword, archery, unarmed, and any weapon.”

“Dang boy that only leaves pole weapons, axe, and jousting for the rest of us!”

“Wait they do pole weapon and axe too!” Uktesh said in mock excitement.

“Boy, you can only sign up for four things, it’s a rule,” said Larut.

“I hadn’t heard that,” said Tylor.

“I’m making it a rule,” roared Larut, “I got to win one, just to get back to even after my ‘friendly’ bets with Uktesh.”

“Just bet on me whenever I fight, that’s what we’re going to do.”

“That does seem like the safe bet.”

They travelled in silence for a while, before Tylor asked, “How’s your hero for hire job going? I keep hearing some of the stuff you guys have done, but not how much money you made from them.  I know you cut me in on the centaur bounty, but that was a town bounty and was bound to be better priced than some of the ones you get from random people.”

“Oh it’s going great. We have more money than we know what to do with really. We live simply, so we never really need much money. Plus with some of the jobs we’ve done, we’ve bargained into the price some of the things we want, or like in the White Bridge job, we came by weapons and horses instead of having to buy them.”

“I’ve been curious, how much did you make for that minotaur job?”

“That was a very tough one that Uktesh didn’t allow me to help out and I wasn’t even allowed to watch, he said it was because it was so dangerous.  Uktesh said it was half man, half bull, but all dense muscle and nearly impenetrable hide! It hadn’t gone down easily, even though Uktesh said the actual fight wasn’t too dangerous, just exhausting.  It had been mating with some of the local female cows and local women, though both female species rarely survived the encounter. I heard that the women that did survive all but two of them were too traumatized by it and ended their lives.  The mayor had waited till the human body count was at nine, counting the suicides, before he asked us to take the bounty.  Once Uktesh found out what it’d been doing, he told me in no uncertain terms I had to stay home and lock the doors.  Uktesh had found it quick enough, it didn’t hide its trail in the slightest, and to be honest I don’t know if a four hundred pound eight feet tall bull could.”

“His first encounter didn’t go so well, but after he found that his sword was barely effective, even in perfect form, he ran to get something bigger.  Twelve gold pieces and forty minutes later he caught up to it as it was chasing a little girl who was terrified and clearly too panicked to run towards him, even though he shouted out to the girl.  The bull was quickly catching up to the girl, each step caused the ground to shake, and naked as it was Uktesh said he couldn’t imagine how any woman could survive an encounter with the beast.  Uktesh Rushed, then Soared after the two of them, and caught up to them right as the minotaur caught and lifted the girl.”

“Thinking about the little girl and not killing the beast at this point, Uktesh stopped the beast the best and quickest way he could think of, he used the perfect Cat Pounces a two footed version of the one footed Serpent Strikes, and slashed his sword into the space between its legs.”  The men cringed as they continued to listen, “it threw the girl away and reached down to grasp it’s manhood in pain.  ‘Even a vulnerable spot like that, even with a perfect strike it didn’t cut it off, though I did cut it, and from the blood pretty badly’ Uktesh had thought about that strike, and the pain in his wrists that it caused
.
”

“Uktesh quickly threw his sword to the girl and yelled, ‘if it comes at you plant that in the ground and point the sharp end at the beast!’  He then Rushed back towards the minotaur that was clearly enraged, but Uktesh had come prepared this time, and moved out of Bull Rushes Down into the imperfect spinning low attack of Leaf Falls and with a crunch the twenty pound mace he’d bought shattered the left kneecap, and with a second pained cry the minotaur fell to the ground holding both his manhood and now his destroyed kneecap.  Uktesh quickly moved into a perfect adaptation of Woodman’s Work, and slammed the mace into the back of its skull.”

“This is an attack that had cut deep into our tree stump out back, but it only managed to enrage the minotaur. Uktesh had cursed then in rage,” and the men laughed at her impassioned embellishment, “and quickly attacked in another adaptation of an axe attack Crescent Moon, and hit it in the back of it knee, but didn’t hear the crunch of its kneecap, so he again adapted an axe attack, the imperfect Matador Sways and this time he heard the crunch and moan of pain that followed.  Uktesh quickly attacked again with Woodman’s Work on the back of its skull and heard a dull crack.” 

She gestured slowly with her hands, “It struggled to rise and took a swipe at Uktesh’s legs, that he jumped back from just in time with an ironic, balanced form Dances with Bull.  He flowed into a two handed imperfect mace attack, one of the few he’d mastered,” she said.

Tylor interrupted, “How many times did you tell her this story?”

She ignored the question and the nine fingers Uktesh raised, “And he swung his mace horizontally into the back of its head again knocking it to the ground. He spun into another perfect Woodman’s Work, missed, and took off its left horn.  ‘Damn it!’ he shouted in rage!  He leapt back and avoided another swipe with Dances with Bull and attacked again, and again until it stopped moving and the grass was red with its blood.  It had continued to fight even after Uktesh had clearly cracked its skull open.  Uktesh grabbed the broken horn and saw that the girl had run off, how long ago he didn’t know, but he was glad she’d left his sword.  He cleaned it off, and put it back in its sheath and walked to the mayors’ office and collected the forty gold pieces bounty and told the mayor where he could find the rest of the body, and left the horn on the mayors’ desk.” 

“He had then walked home and when he had tried to open the jar of healing cream we’d bought from Mother Esrun, his blistered bloody hands kept slipping on the lid. So I lovingly opened it and gently massaged it into his palms.  He’d told me about the hunt while I worked, and I could tell that it felt so good that he tried to stretch out the story. But before he knew it, it was morning and he must’ve sat up from the couch, pushing the blanket, that I’d thoughtfully provided, off of him.”  They all applauded her ability to weave story.