The Gift From Poseidon: When Gods Walked Among Us (Volume 2) (36 page)

Zacharias shook his mane as if to brush off this comment.  “You are by far the best young archer in Atagartis!  What would be the point of any other Mermaid participating?  These Centaurs here,” he pointed in the direction of the five of them, “they are just wasting their time!”

“
Or
maybe
Mother and the other nobles just don’t want to see their Gift from Poseidon lose to another Mermaid.”

“No,” Zacharias said dryly, “that’s not it.  I am right, you are wrong.”

He turned his head and Evagoria caught a slight grin from the side of his beak.  She giggled and hugged him tight.

Many events would take place over the next three days, but Evagoria cared for just a handful of them.  Wrestling because only Gryphons participated; chariot racing because Perseos and Penelope would be competing; ax throwing because of Persepolis; and, of course, the competition she looked forward to most: roving field archery.  That Adamarcus would compete in this event as well only made it sweeter.  Aside for the short race, Evagoria could not care less for the other running races because only Centaurs – including the Centauress she cared for least – had the speed and stamina to run in them.

Her eyes wandering about, Adamarcus gazed in her direction and waved.  Evagoria winked back.  She then directed Zacharias to pull up alongside him.  As Gryphons high above began to raise the great bronze gates, she unhitched her bow and proudly showed it to Adamarcus.

“Look familiar?”

“Penelope’s bow,” Adamarcus answered with a smile that appeared more forced than not.  Perhaps reliving the moment the Yeturi had slammed its claw into him, he rubbed his lower chest.  “She is letting you borrow it?”

“
Borrow it?
” Evagoria gasped.  She and Zacharias glanced at each other and shared a good chuckle.  “Goodness no, Adamarcus!  Mermaid princesses do not borrow from others.  Because it means so much more to me than it ever will to her – Penelope gave it to me.  And I have trained with it since.”

“
I
too have something that means a great deal to me!” Adamarcus said smugly.  He pointed to her gift he now wore across his back.  “And
I
have trained with these for a good while as well!”

“A pretty quiver filled with even prettier silver arrows,” Evagoria taunted playfully, “not even those will help you beat me.”  She reached deep inside and found her mother’s voice she someday hoped to make her own.  “Hear me now, Centaur – I will bury you!”

“HA!” Adamarcus crowed.  “In a sea of roses that will rain down on me from above when I win!”

Evagoria pulled her head back and laughed at this.  Next, she noticed another Aeropid watching them.  The horrid image of this one’s father accidently killing Penelope’s brother, Eumelus, during Harpastum last year shook her for a moment, but she did her best to push this from her thoughts.  A fourth-year student, Orion was a somewhat shy Centaur all in their world knew of for two reasons: Many considered him the best archer in Terra Australis and
everyone
thought he was the most handsome Centaur alive.  Often teased during studies that he was ‘prettier’ than most Centauresses, from what Evagoria had seen, Orion took the jibes rather well.

But this princess was now quite the archer herself and she would soon show their world just how skilled she had become.  The growls of the Yeturi still haunting her mind, she needed an escape.  A bow and arrows – the weapon Adamarcus used to free her – did the trick and she had trained relentlessly since.

As the participants marched through the lifted gates, Evagoria thought back to last summer: She had come through these same gates.  Zacharias even pranced in much the same way.  Evagoria, however, felt much different than she did a year ago.  This grand scene had left her dumbstruck then, but simply amused her now.  With one hand on Zacharias’ saddle, she raised the other and waved to the cheering crowd.  Her eyes were not wide with wonder, but focused and in command.  Evagoria wore not the drooling, jaw dropped gape of the summer before, but a confident grin.  Her head did not swivel wildly from side to side, but did so in a smooth, steady manner.  In short, she had been here before and it was time she acted the part.

Tucked inside the arena, the delegations now presented themselves to the crowd.  Great pride coursed through every part of Evagoria as cheers and chants rocked the stadium.  A nice touch, soaring Gryphons dropped dried flowers from the sky.  The morning in full swing and the brilliant sun watching as well, the regents of each nation made their way to the center of the stadium.  With a wave from Queen Marseea, those who would take part in the first series of events – dueling – began to make their way toward the colorful oversized tents on the southern part of the pitch.  Flags waving, horns blaring, drums banging ––

The Summer Games their world would see a new Evagoria through were about to begin.

I have never seen Fu Xi so nervous.  Duels are dangerous, this is true, but he has already beaten two others to become the Centaur champion.  One might suffer a good pummeling in a duel, but the wooden weapons and limited time to fight make the chance of death unlikely.  But then I think of the one he will fight next.  She is ancient, yet looks our age.  Pale white as if a ghost, this one moves like one as well.  Now that I think of it, maybe Fu Xi SHOULD be more nervous than he already is.

– Adamarcus, Aeropid Centaur

– Mid-Summer, Year 4,254 KT
[37]

Adamarcus galloped to the goldenrod tent, swept away the hanging door, and stepped inside.  Taharqa fetching food and drinks, he would soon join them.

“You have barely broken a sweat!” Adamarcus crowed the moment he laid eyes on Fu Xi, now kneeling on a handsome blanket.

In truth, Fu Xi looked just the opposite – a dunking in the sea could not have soaked him more.  His mother, Nüwa, did what she could to wash away the sand from the dueling pit now stuck to every bead of sweat on his chest, arms, and face.

“You’re a terrible liar, Adamarcus,” Fu Xi drawled wearily.  Luckily, he had a good full turn or so to rest before this afternoon’s final match to determine the dueling champion.

“It all would have been much easier,” Nüwa added, “if he listened to his mother.”  To soothe the sting of this soft scolding, she kissed his grimy hair.  “The first duel you did fine, but why you chose the twin swords
again
against that Arachna I have no idea.  The staff, Fu Xi, the staff!  That is what you fight battle axes with.”  Nüwa easily the most skilled warrior of any Centauress, she knew well of what she spoke.

“I know, Mother,
I know
.  I just don’t feel comfortable with the staff.  Whether I use it or have to defend against it – I hate that thing.”

Adamarcus was going to say something more about the staff as a weapon, but kept his mouth shut.

Fu Xi would find out soon enough.

Perhaps the silence was too much, perhaps she realized they would not say another word with her present, Nüwa finished doting on her son and exited the tent.  The two friends were now alone.

“Taharqa should be here soon with some ––”

“Have you seen my father?” Fu Xi blurted.  His eyes appeared sadder than a Centaur champion deserved.  “I have fought in and won both duels, yet have barely seen him.  It’s not as if we hold these games all the time or I am embarrassing my family.  Do you know where he is?”

“I saw Buzhou just before the first match,” Adamarcus began slowly.  “Maybe he is busy gathering bets?”

Fu Xi snickered at this and rightly so.  “Or busy gathering whatever gold he can to
make
them.”

Adamarcus had not prepared himself for a discussion about the Huaxia treasurer.  Fu Xi probably had not either, but for your own father not to be there the moment you become the Centaur dueling champion had to be unnerving at the least.  A long silence passed.

“Melanippe … Melanippe …
Melanippe
,” Fu Xi whispered repeatedly, his eyes pointed to the ground.  Finally, he looked up at Adamarcus.  “Mother always brags about Melanippe when she trains her, but I have never seen her for more than a glance here and there.  Is she really as good as they say?”

Adamarcus nodded his head.  “She is, um, well – she is tough.  No other Sapien even entered so she is the Sapien champion by default.  I watched her victory over the Mermaid champion – some arrogant rube named Kurrerien.  If he touched her once, I didn’t see it.  She just makes it look so easy.”  Adamarcus took in a deep breath.  “I will tell you this, my friend: You are going to have to focus like never before to beat her.”

If only this was all Fu Xi would have to do!

Her younger twin the witch, Melanippe was the warrior.  Having sparred with her once before and beaten like a fleshy drum, Adamarcus was well aware of Melanippe’s prowess.  A prowess that at first glimpse seemed almost impossible.  With dark hair, blue eyes, and a short, but muscular build, Penthesilea looked as though she should be the better warrior of the two.

Tall and lanky, Melanippe moved as elegantly as the wind, but with the speed of a striking snake.  Flowing caramel hair, hazel eyes, and a sweet voice were the perfect cover for the bitter blades she wielded.  That Melanippe favored two of the most frightening weapons Adamarcus had ever seen made her even more of an oddity.  About to raise your sword for her throat, she would suddenly be behind you with a dagger laid across yours – she was that good.

But a duel in these games did not allow just any weapons one wished.  A battler had to choose two weapons (a staff counted as two) from a selection of
wooden
ones.  For protection, the rules commanded that each dueler use an oaken shield along with whatever armor he or she deemed necessary.

“So, tell it to me straight,” Fu Xi said as he stood and began to stretch.  “What are they saying about my chances to beat her?”

“Nothing you could not have already guessed,” Adamarcus answered.  “Speaking of bets – odds are 4 to 1.”

Fu Xi whistled as if impressed.  “Wow,
4 to 1
!  Do they think a scorpion will sting me again or that maybe Marseea will curse me on my way into the pit?”

“There is no need to worry about the old queen; Penthesilea her favorite, Marseea won’t go out of her way to help Melanippe.  And Penthesilea will not cheat either – she has too much confidence in her sister.”  Adamarcus stepped close to Fu Xi.  He then pulled out a handful of gold pieces and jingled them in his hand.  “I don’t usually think about betting, but these are just begging me to do so?  Any ideas on what or who I should bet on?”

Fu Xi sighed.  Adamarcus had hoped to cheer him up, but seemed to have done just the opposite.  Their eyes met and Fu Xi forced out a smile that looked painful enough to leave a lesser Centaur writhing on the ground in anguish.

“If you bet on her, don’t worry about it.  I won’t be ––”

“HA!” Adamarcus crowed.  “Are you kidding?  If the bet makers are going to be stupid enough to give me 4 to 1 odds on the most cunning Centaur I know, then
I
am going to be smart enough to take them!”

“Me too!”  They turned to see the handsome dreadlocked head of Taharqa peeking past the cloth door.  The joyful Nubian stepped in with a large basket of food and drinks and set them on top of a chest.  Next, he pulled out a few gold pieces of his own and shoved them into Adamarcus’ free hand. “Here are five more!”

His sixteenth birthday having just passed, a hunt lasting nearly a week with his father was Taharqa’s reward.  Since he had returned, his shoulders appeared broader and his voice sounded deeper.  Even the dreadlocks his father loathed looked longer. 

The three now all smiles, they dug into their food and drinks –
just maybe the laughs and belches they shared would make the beating Fu Xi was about to endure a little less horrid!

“Did you hear about Yishuo?” Taharqa asked.  Adamarcus and Fu Xi just shook their heads.  “I heard that she is running not against the females in the short race, but against the males.”

This stunned Adamarcus, but Fu Xi just nodded his head and kept stuffing his face.

“I’m not surprised,” Fu Xi said dryly after he swallowed a whole roll in one gulp.  “I mean, come on, she is so much faster than any Centauress – everyone already knows this.  The longer races she cannot win, but because she is so fast from the start, I can see her doing well in the short race.  Only a third of a league from start to finish,” he gulped down another roll, “she just might win.”

A proud look overtook Fu Xi as they continued to talk about Yishuo.  Adamarcus was well aware that Fu Xi fancied his sister’s lady-in-waiting, but he had seen them together less and less lately.  Maybe it had something to do with her new duties or maybe something else; Adamarcus resisted the urge to pry.

When it came to females, Taharqa was the expert.

After more laughs and a bit of rest, the gong of the clepsydra close to the dueling pit announced that the fifteenth full turn of the day had arrived.  The trio exited the tent and made their way toward the hundreds already gathered around the pit.  Once in sight, cheers rang out for Fu Xi.  He raised a hand high and turned to Adamarcus.

“If I do beat her,” their champion shouted over the sudden noise around them, “how bad do you think the curse Penthesilea puts on me will be?”

*****

As Nüwa helped Fu Xi put his armor on over a brilliant red caparison – crimson like a medic’s cloak, maybe not a good omen – Melanippe approached.  Her arm wrapped in that of her sister and their mother, Komnena, trailing them, the Sapien champion dressed in nothing but silver and gold.  Fu Xi marched in place as his mother continued to help.  Melanippe was as still as a log and simply stalked him with her eyes as Penthesilea and Komnena helped with her armor.  Finished and with their helmets in hand, Queen Marseea bid them to approach.

Standing beside Nüwa, Adamarcus could hear but faint whispers as Melanippe took her weapon and shield.  Fu Xi groaned as the warrior twin walked away and he shot them a disbelieving look.

“By his surprised look, I take it you did not tell him she would choose the staff?” Nüwa asked as she leaned into Adamarcus.

“Not a word.  As he is already scared half to death just by the thought of facing her, I thought it good manners not to scare him the rest of the way.”  Taharqa and Persepolis nodded their agreement.

Fu Xi took the favored weapon of the Huaxia – thin twin swords – and his shield.  He sheathed one of the swords and then made his way back toward them.

“I can’t believe she took the staff!” he fumed.

“Then do something about it!” Nüwa lectured.  She then lowered her voice.  “Do you have your forearm guards?”

“Yes, Mother.”

The only shields a Huaxia used in real battle were thick bronze plates lacquered in black and strapped around the forearms.  Under these bronze plates were threaded many thin layers of Arachna silk to absorb the shock of a weapon.  Years of training needed before a warrior trusted this armor to keep his arm from shattering upon the direct strike of a sword or ax
––

Had Fu Xi learned to trust these forearm guards?  And not just halfheartedly, did he UNQUESTIONABLY trust them?

“You have mastered the most crucial elements of the art of war, my son.  Now go get her!”

Fu Xi strapped on his helmet and took his place at one end of the dueling pit.  Melanippe stood across from him.  A rope across her body much like a tight sash would keep her shield pinned to her back until she needed it.  The wispy warrior now began to twirl her staff to show off.

“He was supposed to choose the staff too, wasn’t he?” Adamarcus whispered.  Nüwa nodded and rolled her eyes.

Having told Adamarcus and Taharqa earlier this morning that she would be in the stands with her family for today’s events, Evagoria was not with them.  And just as he was about to turn in the direction of the southern stands to look for her.…

“She is going to make him pay for it,” a cheery voice chimed from below.  Adamarcus’ sister, Ixchelene, now stood next to him.

“Sneaking up on me again?” Adamarcus asked as he leaned down.  Ixchelene’s proud smile was his answer.  “I know the twins are your new best friends and that you want Melanippe to win, but try not to make it so obvious.  You are still a Centauress after all.”

Ixchelene just gave him her typical smirk.  “Well,
duh
!  I may not be as smart as you, but I’m not stupid.”

The best part of being the son and daughter of the Chiron was the many journeys they took with their father as he travelled around Terra Australis.  These journeys included many stops at the Sapien palace.  Ixchelene almost thirteen and creeping ever closer to the twins’ ‘Centaur age’, the three had become closer with each visit.

Marseea now stepped into the middle of the pit.  “You both know the only two rules,” she announced, “but I will repeat them.  No magic and, if more than a single hoof leaves the ground at any one time,” she looked directly at Fu Xi, “you will exit the dueling pit with four defeated ones.  For as long as you are still
able
to stand, of course.  Aside from these rules,” she smiled wide, “there are no others.”

Marseea stepped out.  With the sudden blow of a horn, the final duel began.

A bloodcurdling screech shot out of Melanippe’s mouth and she exploded toward Fu Xi.  Her staff spun so fast, Adamarcus could not even see it.

Just how would Fu Xi?

It struck his shield hard and he stumbled back a bit.  The extra sword sheathed behind his back, Fu Xi chose to fight with a single sword and shield.

A smack, and then another, then another, Melanippe attacked furiously.  Fu Xi just did what he could to keep her at bay.  Finally, he rushed her.  She dipped out of the way – with an ease that was just not fair – and he sped right past her.  Once he swung around, her staff again sought to pound away at him.  Fu Xi on defense once more, Melanippe began to make some headway.  This headway then turned into a full-fledged beating.

“Someone needs to do something before she kills him!”  Nüwa and Taharqa shot Persepolis the dirtiest of looks.  “I mean, I meant before
he
kills
her
.  Come on, Fu Xi!”  He leaned into Adamarcus.  “We need our friend to kick it up a notch here.  I didn’t come to these games to spin funerary wrappings.”

“We are halfway through the duel, but on the threshold of victory!” Komnena shouted proudly from across the pit.

Those watching both on the field and in the stands cheered loudly – they seemed to love it all just as much as Komnena did.  Wide-eyed and open-mouthed every time Adamarcus glanced down at her, Ixchelene just seemed enthralled by it all.