Aphrodite's Acolyte (19 page)

Fidel watched as Captain Sizod gave his own reports over a magical ring, similar to his own but containing a different design, a design of a lightning bolt. “Yes, he is detained sir. However, I do not wish to hold him long.” Fidel heard the captain whispering into the enchanted ring. “Superstes Deorum sir? Yes, I believe it necessary.” Fidel's eyes showed the captain that the name was not foreign to the elf.

One day later, the captain entered the tent and sat down next to Fidel. “You know of Superstes Deorum?”

Fidel, unable to vocalize his response, squirmed.

Captain Sizod stared at Fidel. "Blink twice for no, once for yes.”

Fidel blinked once.

Captain Sizod shifted in his seat. “Lord Fineal informed you of the fellowship?”

Fidel blinked once.

The captain leaned back in his seat. “Okay, then I will inform you of our plans.”

Captain Sizod filled Fidel in on the events set in motion. The towns of Marides and Marisali were assembling several legions to join in the assault on Pravas Medeis. Marides will approach from the north within three days, as will Marisali. The armies of Harlow's Hovel were due to arrive in two days and the Puldechran armies were already en route to their western outpost.

The captain leaned forward in  his seat. “We will win this battle, Fidel. And we will do it intelligently. The assault on Pravas will take place within four days. I want to trust that you will be willing to wait for that day to come.”

Fidel blinked once.

Captain Sizod smiled. “So I have your word that if I release you from your bonds, no matter what may occur, you will be bound by your honor to remain within this camp until our day of battle arrives?”

Fidel paused for a few seconds, then blinked once.

Captain Sizod rose from his chair. “I will fetch the wizard.”  Captain Sizod exited the tent and returned with Felius.

The wizard's voice was apprehensive, “You are sure about this?”

“He gave his word,” Captain Sizod responded.

The wizard laughed. “You warriors, all alike. Very well then.” The wizard waved his hands and the magical bindings disintegrated. The fire returned to the elf's eyes as he slowly rose to his feet.

Captain Sizod reached for his sword, showing Fidel he was not afraid to face off with the elf. “Fidel, you are honor bound to your word.”

The elf snapped his fingers and the binding rope fell freely behind him. Fidel's voice was low, bordering on growling. “I am bound by my honor. Now it's your turn to make a promise, Sir.” The captain's black eyes narrowed.

Fidel's voice remained low and threatening. “When this battle starts, I do what I want, when I want. Do not involve me in any small details. I want this evil witch to feel my wrath, unhindered!”

The captain grinned wryly, “Fidel, I anxiously desire to witness your prowess in battle. I will not hold you back from any plans of your design. But I do ask that you be focused on two things. The first is to save your friend, the second is to destroy the evil sorceress.”

Fidel's glare softened at the request and he extended his arm, “So we're agreed then?”

The captain grabbed Fidel's forearm. “Agreed.”

Fidel hastily departed the tent and made way to the practice field, where several straw filled dummies lined the perimeter. The captain followed from a distance, watching the elf's actions. Fidel pulled out his staff and started to practice his attack routines.

Fidel's anger grew with every swing of the staff, striking high and then low on the dummies. He spun his staff high, slamming one of the dummies so hard the wooden helmet cracked in two. He envisioned Cap's jailers with every hit, his muscles tensing and exploding with every strike. His anger grew more and more.

Soon, his strikes incorporated blasts of fire, the flames attaching themselves to the straw and wood. Fidel crouched as he performed a sidelong strike, bashing the dummy at the kneecaps and releasing a bolt of lightning with the hit, sending the remains of the dummy soaring high above the camp. As the dummy fell to the land, Fidel grabbed his staff like a baseball bat and smashed the remains into thousands of splinters. With every hit, Fidel's anger grew, feeding his next magically enhanced assault.

Before long, Fidel had an audience of several soldiers cheering on the distressed and heated elf. Captain Sizod stood in the distance, smirking at the power of this elf...thinking about how he could best leverage this elf's skills in the midst of battle.

Noxater approached the field, watching and admiring the elf with the rest of the onlookers. As he witnessed the last dummy fall to the magical and blunted blow, he called out to Fidel. “Aye! I needed a bit of practice too and here ye felled all the wood!”

Fidel stared at the dwarf, an empty look in his eyes. Noxater slammed his axe against his shield. “Elf, I believe ye an' I have some unfinished business! Ye keep yer durned human at bay, keep yer magic in check, an' let's fight like true warriors!”

Fidel felt his anger subside at the challenge from his friend. He placed his staff out in front with both hands, accepting the challenge.

Noxater slammed his helmet on his head and placed pads on each blade of his axe. He called out as he approached the elf.  “Don't want ye gettin' hurt!”

The crowd on the sides of the ring cheered louder. Within minutes, the spectators called out bets with each other. One of the human onlookers called out, “With no magic, the elf is doomed! I call the mighty dwarf!”

The retort came quickly. “Are you kidding? The speed of this bantam elf will keep the dwarf on his heels!”

Captain Sizod made his way to the open arena and stopped short of entering, watching the event with great interest from the sideline.

Noxater stood as tall as a dwarf could stand in front of Fidel, offering a friendly smile and a nod. Fidel stared back coldly. Noxater's voice trembled slightly as he eyed the elf, “Now Fidel, tis' me. Noxater. Save yer anger for thee real battle. We are friends here. Friends betterin' our skills.”

Fidel fought hard to return from his rage, rolling his head, and taking a few circular strides. He shook his head, remembering the bond of friendship with the dwarf. Fidel stopped abruptly and stared back at the dwarf, all hatred withdrawn and a grin on his face. His voice carried a playful tone. “And so we meet again, Noxater of Deeder's Pass”

The dwarf smiled wide and slammed his axe on his shield, the padded ring not quite as threatening as he would have liked. Fidel started spinning his staff with both hands. The dwarf and the elf circled each other, each waiting for the first strike and first opportunity.

Noxater complied with the invitation, leading with a forward jab of his double-headed axe. Fidel quickly swiped the axe and attacked with a sidelong stroke, easily blocked by the dwarf's shield. Noxater swiped at the elf's calves. Fidel placed his pole vertically, stopping the axe, then slammed the staff forward toward the dwarf's head. The shield raised and blocked, again. Noxater spun around, bringing his axe up toward the midsection of the elf.

Another vertical block by the elf, but this time he did not plant the staff. When the dwarf connected with the staff, Fidel did a spin of his own using the dwarf's momentum to aid in his acceleration. Fidel set his staff on his hip halfway through his spin and aimed the remainder at the dwarf's head. Yet again, the clang of metal as the staff connected with the shield. And so the duo continued their bout, each attacking and countering.

Neither got their moment. These were seasoned warriors. They both knew patience in battle was the key to success. Fidel worked the dwarf with high shots, trying to get the dwarf in a position to remove his footing. Noxater worked the elf low, trying to set up for a midsection swing and the quick kill. They battled for many minutes, each trying to outsmart each other.

Noxater taunted,  “We stubby ones are hard ter trip!”

Fidel retorted, “And us elves are too fast for that clumsy weapon you carry!”

The crowd kept cheering as the duo continued to square off. Fidel went in for a jab with his staff, expecting Noxater to block with his shield. When the dwarf blocked with his axe, Fidel saw his opening. As the dwarf's axe handle made contact with the staff, Fidel dropped to one knee and raised his staff, catching the head of the axe and raising it high. The stubborn dwarf wasn't about to let go and attempted to gain footing for a shield rush, but he was too slow and lost his stable footing. The dwarf let go of the axe and watched it fly over Fidel's head. Fidel looked to the dwarf, giving a fake devilish grin, now standing between the dwarf and his axe.

Noxater argued as he came back down to his feet, gaining solid ground. “Silly elf, I have two weapons.”

Fidel came on fast, spinning his staff and slamming from every direction he could think of. He worked high and low. He jabbed. He executed amazing downward and upward strikes. But the dwarf's pesky shield was always there to meet his assault.

The dwarf smiled as the frustration grew on Fidel's face. “What's wrong elf? A simple shield deflatin' all yer efforts?!”

Fidel struck harder, hoping the dwarf's arms would finally give into the blows. But this dwarf fought a dragon and a minotaur. There was no way an elf's strength could match that of the dwarf's. Fidel reminded himself of the staunch soldier before him, changing his tactics.

Instead of being fully on offense, Fidel started to act tired and let Noxater start to gain momentum in the direction of his lost axe. Noxater took the bait and used his shield more offensively, using short bursts of bashes with some sidelong slashes. Fidel placed a fake expression of worry on his face. It was Noxater's turn to give the devilish grin.

Fidel retreated more and more, spinning his staff more of a distraction than anything else. The dwarf came on until they were within a couple of feet of the axe. Fidel feigned an overhead bash, Noxater's shield rising to meet the blow. The dwarf took the bait and continued into a forward roll, having to give up some grip on his shield to continue through the roll and retrieve his axe. Fidel slipped his staff into the straps on the shield as the dwarf rolled over. He planted the staff firmly into the ground and the dwarf's momentum snapped the straps on the shield, releasing it from his hold. The dwarf successfully retrieved his axe and came to his feet. Half the crowd cheered as the dwarf rose back to his feet, axe in hand. Noxater looked up at Fidel, who was standing over his shield laying on the ground.

Fidel grinned wickedly. “Did you lose something?”

Noxater smiled back at the elf. “Aye, so I 'ave. Yer kind 'as always been quite clever.”

Fidel smiled at the compliment and quickly picked up the shield with his staff. He tossed it over his shoulder as far from the dwarf as possible. “Now we see how Noxater does without this pesky disc.”

Noxater came on fast, faster than Fidel thought was possible from this muscular and staunch dwarf. Fidel worked hard to parry the blows, knocking the axe wide when possible and scoring minor hits on the dwarf. The hits only appeared to anger the dwarf, as the next blows had even more power.

Fidel knew there was no way he was going to go toe to toe with this dwarf in such exchanges. Fidel spun his staff over and over. Instead of directly blocking the dwarf's mighty blows, he focused on redirecting the attacks, forcing the dwarf to spend twice the energy to bring the axe back in line for defense. Fidel never struck. He let the dwarf swing away as much as possible. He could tell Noxater was getting tired.

Fidel back stepped over and over, turning strong direct hits into glancing misses. He spun his staff end over end, waiting. The opportunity arose. Noxater started a downward chop, expecting the elf to back up. The dwarf intended to keep the momentum and perform a second and third chop using the centrifugal force created by his axe. Instead, Fidel rolled to the side, letting the dwarf continue his momentum.

When the dwarf started his upswing with his back to the elf, Fidel locked the staff under the axe head, quickly stripping the axe from the dwarf's grasp. The dwarf finished his spin and stopped abruptly, looking down at his hands. Fidel kicked Noxater in the back, sending him forward, then followed with a low swipe to the knees, tripping the dwarf into the dirt, face first. Noxater attempted to pull himself up but the elf was all over him, slamming his staff into the dwarf's back and finally pinning the dwarf face first into the dirt with the staff positioned across the dwarf's neck.

Fidel applied half pressure to the dwarf's neck. “Do you yield?”

“No!” Noxater hollered as he tried to find a way out of the predicament.

The crowd cheered on with hoots and hollers.

After a few moments, Noxater finally accepted the defeat. “I yield! I yield! Well done!”

Fidel quickly rose to his feet and Noxater turned over on his back, taking a deep breath and looking at Fidel with a newly found respect. Fidel offered a hand to help the dwarf back to his feet.

Noxater gladly accepted and smiled wide. “Very well done, Fidel o' Harlow's Hovel.”

Half the crowd cheered at their winnings while the other half grumbled at their losses. Captain Sizod smiled wide at the pair of fighters, taking note of both of their battle prowess. He contemplated how to best use these demilitarized soldiers in the forthcoming battle.

As Fidel and Noxater walked past the smiling captain, he heard Fidel thank the dwarf for bringing him back from the depths of his hate. The captain nodded his head, recognizing the strong bond such a comment indicated.