0 comments/ 9152 views/ 1 favorites The Battle Of A Lifetime Ch. 1 By: Ariakan As the trumpeter’s call split the early morning silence, it found Dakkoth moving through the intricate practice maneuvers that his craft demanded. Clear on the other side of the arena, Silvaeya was just waking up. She rolled out of her meager bed, and reached for her weapons and armor and began to suit up. One of the unspoken rules of the arena was never to be without a weapon of some kind at all times. Accidents happened all the time, and the more prepared that you were, the better your chance of survival was. Many gladiators went so far as to sleep in their armor, and clutching their weapons. Silvaeya had just finished lacing up her leather battle armor, when there was a knock at her door. Cracking it just a little, she noticed that it was just the arena master with the list of the battles to take place that afternoon. Passing the sheet of paper through the crack in the door, he immediately moved on to the next door to continue on with his work. After the arena master left, she quickly scanned the list of fights. Two leapt out and grabbed her attention. The first one was her paired against one of the many novice fighters. The steady crime rate insured that there was always a supply of gladiators ready to fight in the arena. The other fight that caught her eye was with Dakkoth facing off against one of the many veteran fighters of the arena for the final fight of the evening. Silvaeya felt a moment sense of pity for the fighter. It would be a waste of another great fighter, for all fights in the arena were to the death. The winning gladiator was not allowed out of the ring unless his or her opponent was lying dead at their feet. Dakkoth’s opponent didn’t stand a chance. A few weeks ago she had happened upon one of Dakkoth’s fights and she was struck by the sheer grace and style of his sword craft. His movements were smooth, quick, and small. Designed to use the least amount of energy, but yet inflict the most damage possible. She had been going to watch his fights ever since. Silvaeya snapped out of her thoughts and reached for her sword. Strapping that across her back, she then reached for her long dagger and attached that to her right thigh. Finally, she slid on a pair of specially designed leather bracers that she had created. Each bracer held five, thin little throwing daggers, which by a flick of her wrist could be released to drop into her waiting hands and thrown. One of Silvaeya’s favorite tactics was to launch a barrage of daggers at her opponents, and as they were recovering charge in and try to finish the fight quickly, while they were off guard. Thus armed, Silvaeya walked out onto the arena floor and into the blaring sun. Even though it was still early morning, it was blazingly hot out. Walking across the arena, Silvaeya headed for the Weapon smith. The arena boasted one of the best forges and weapon smith anywhere. After dropping off her bastard sword and long dagger to be sharpened, she walked around for a while, allowing her muscles to loosen and warm up. As she walked around she eventually found herself at the sidelines of the battle ring, where the first fight of the afternoon was taking place. It was a fight between and slender, dark-haired woman; and a tall, fair-skinned man. The fight was quite even Silvaeya realized after watching for a few minutes. They would both throw themselves at each other with a clash of ringing steel, then separate and glare at one another for a while and then start the whole process over again. This had gone on for quite sometime when, out of the corner of her eye, Silvaeya caught the slight movement as the female’s hand crept down her leg to grasp a dagger hidden there. Suddenly her hand made contact, and with a look of glee; hurled the dagger hidden there. It was all done with such grace and speed, that the man never saw it coming. He tried to bring his blade up to block the incoming missile, but to no avail. It struck the side of his head with a wet, sodden, bone-crunching thud and stuck there. Turning about to the crowed, she offered a smooth bow of her head and calmly walked off the stage. As she walked past Silvaeya, she allowed a quick smile to come to her face, and then swept past, and Silvaeya thought no more of it. Silvaeya turned and left to go retrieve her blades from the weapon smith, and get a little bit of practice in before her big fight. After rearming herself she headed for the gym. When she arrived at the practice gym she noticed Dakkoth there still practicing, and her body came to an abrupt stop at being so close to the arena legend himself. At her approach Dakkoth momentarily looked up from his sword routine. However, without a break in stride, he finished the exercise, threw his blades into the air, and let them drop home into the waiting sheaths at his side. Finished, he turned to face her fully and then spoke, ”can I help you?” Realizing finally that he was speaking to her, Silvaeya at last found her voice. “I, I was looking for someone to practice with.” With a kind smile Dakkoth responded, “I would be honored to practice with you.” “No, no. I mean, you’re busy with your own routine. I don’t wish to interrupt…” “Nonsense, it is no interruption at all. After all, practicing by oneself becomes tedious and boring after time. A flesh and blood opponent would do me good as well,” he finished. “Well, as long as you’re sure…” she asked. “Believe me, I’m sure. It would be a welcome break,” he explained. Silvaeya nodded her acceptance as Dakkoth drew out his blades. They were beautiful pieces of craftsmanship, with etchings and runes all along the length of the blades, much more than the common mans blade. Many would never see the amount of money needed to purchase such a masterwork. With a barely perceptible movement, Dakkoth motioned her forward with the tip of his lead blade. Signifying that he was ready, he dropped into a battle crouch and awaited the first attack. Without blinking, Silvaeya launched the barrage of throwing daggers at Dakkoth, drew her other blades, and rushed in to attack on the heels of her maelstrom of daggers. With shock, Silvaeya watched Dakkoth’s blades sweep to and fro, knocking all of her daggers to the floor. Brought up short by the stunning display of swordsmanship, she was almost cleaved in two by the downswing of Dakkoth’s blade. Sensing it just in time, she swung her bastard sword up to parry the attack. Sensing the parry Dakkoth flew into a whirlwind of attacks. Coming at Silvaeya from every side and every angle. At first it was all that she could do to stay out of harms way. In most cases she would have been, dead had Dakkoth not been pulling his attacks. Soon she fell into a more easy rhythm as she observed and began to mimic Dakkoth’s unusual fighting stances and moves. After a while she even began to hold her own as her blades came to understand the unique patters of Dakkoth’s style. Before she knew it the sun had reached it’s zenith, and it was time for her fight. As she packed away her things and got ready to leave Dakkoth grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Now don’t go and die on me, you have more skill and promise than I have seen in anyone for quite some time. I look forward to more practice sessions. Be careful out there. Remember the things you have learned today and they will hold you in good stead,” he lectured. Releasing her arm, she gave him a quick smile and then was out the door and off to her fight. *** Later, as Silvaeya stood, facing her opponent and waiting for the battle to start; she allowed herself to drop into one of the meditative trances that he had taught her to use at the start of each battle. Silvaeya’s eyes flicked open as the announcer read off their names and the battle began in earnest. She took stock of her opponent. The woman that stood before her was little more than a girl, and willow thin. She wielded a great two-handed sword that was way to big and awkward for someone of her size. Silvaeya was brought out of her contemplations by the line of fiery agony that erupted along her side, and the feel of her warm blood as it coursed down her leg. She screamed as the flash of hot pain hit her, and doubled her up at the waist. The little wretch jumped back into a guard position, and struggled to bring her sword back up. By the gods she’s fast, Silvaeya thought to herself. Mastering her pain, Silvaeya gave a strangled cry of as she straightened. The next time the little vixen came darting in, Silvaeya was ready. Drawing her sword, she swung it around in a great two-handed stroke meant to decapitate the girl and end the fight right there. The girl somehow brought up her sword in time to parry, but the force of Silvaeya’s swing ripped the blade from the little girl’s hands and sent it spinning across the arena floor. The crowd instantly went nuts screaming for the kill. Silvaeya looked to the sidelines briefly and saw Dakkoth standing there, watching. He gave her a small smile of encouragement that quickly turned to a frown when he realized the extent of the wound in her side. Silvaeya turned back to the fight and the arena became blurry and spun within her vision. She realized that she was loosing a lot of blood, and that she needed to end this fight quickly or she would be done for. As the girl dove towards her sword, Silvaeya’s thoughts strayed to the daggers in her wrist sheaths. The girl came up with her sword just in time to see two of Silvaeya’s daggers come flashing in at her. Dropping the sword she back flipped away from the first dagger and tried to dive away from the second. Maybe she was off balance, or tired, but the second dagger lodged itself in the girls left forearm as she came out of her dive. Clutching at the damaged arm she still ran back for her sword. Once again, Silvaeya became aware of the crowds yelling for more blood. I must end this fight now, she thought to herself. The loss of blood was beginning to take its’ toll on her, and she started to sway on her feet. The little girl, seeing what was probably her last chance, darted in with her sword leading, in one last, ditch attempt at killing Silvaeya. Silvaeya, coming out of her feint, brought her sword across and gutted her opponent. The girl slowly sunk towards the arena floor, feeling her life fluids soak away into the earth, and ceased to move. The crowd erupted into wild cheering at the young girls death, and for a moment Silvaeya felt nothing but sorrow; for her opponent, for the crowd, for everyone. The brutality of the gladiatorial life was horrid, and for people to take such a perverse pleasure in it brought tears to her eyes. Silvaeya thrust the tip of her sword into the sandy arena floor, and allowed her weight to sag against it, as a new wave of agony ripped through her, and her adrenaline rush left her. She made a small, half-bow to the crowd and began a slow shuffle out of the arena ring. She limped down the last few steps that lead out of the arena, and saw Dakkoth coming towards her. Stumbling on one of the last steps she would have fallen, had Dakkoth, not been there to catch her. Sweeping her up into his muscular arms, she allowed for her head to come to rest against his strong chest, and for the first time in many months allowed herself to relax and be comforted by the presence of another. Executing a crisp military turn, he began the walk back to his room. Upon his return, he spoke the words to release the magic holding his room locked, and kicked the door open. Gently laying the unconscious girl down on his bed. At some point during the walk back to his room, she had slipped into unconsciousness. When his hands left her she started to thrash and moan, and Dakkoth, fearing for her safety, removed her weapons and placed them across the room, where she couldn’t hurt herself with them. Turning to a cabinet in the corner of his room, he opened it, removing the things that he would need to care for Silvaeya’s wound. Pulling out a needle and thread, he placed these at the side of her bed, and then turned to fill a basin with water, and to retrieve a cloth on the other side of the room. Returning to here side, he realized that her armor was going to have to come off. Removing her armor proved to be the tricky part. Several times while in the process of pulling it off, she would began to thrash or moan and he was forced to stop for a minute while it ran its’ course. Once he had her armor off, he reached behind his back a retrieved the dagger hidden in the secret sheath in his belt, and making a small cut in her pants, he was able to peel them away from the wound and get down to work. He washed the wound and then quickly stitched it up with tender care, and with hands like that of a veteran surgeon. He had seen his fare share of battle wounds, and stitching came as second nature to him now. After the cut was cleaned Dakkoth turned to another cabinet and removed a bowl and some herbs which he mashed into a paste and then spread over the stitching, so as to help the wound heal faster, and with a little bit of luck, leave no scar. He made sure that she was resting comfortably and then grabbed his battle gear and rushed out the door to get to his fight. Dakkoth’s mind was in utter turmoil as he walked to his fight. Never, in all the years that he had been here had he ever stopped to help anyone, nor taught them anything of his long forgotten craft. But for some reason he had done both for this woman. The rules of the arena were quite clear on this point, look after yourself, and yourself alone. Yet, he had just saved the life of someone who, could in the future, become an opponent. With a start he realized he had arrived at the arena and was brought out of his private reverie. The announcer was calling his name, and he stepped into the ring of the arena, all thoughts of the beautiful, young gladiator asleep on his bed were put out of his mind and he turned fully to the fight. *** When Silvaeya awoke she had no clue where she was. The next sensation to hit her was the dull throb in her hip. She gingerly reached down and felt the sticky paste that covered the stitching. Her brow wrinkled up in thought, and then it all came crashing back to her. The memories of Dakkoth catching her as she stumbled and passed out, and small parts of the journey back to his room. She carefully eased her way out of the bed. It was then that she realized that her armor and weapons were missing. She started to get frantic, until she noticed them resting up against the wall on the other side of the room. She reached out for her armor and weapons to rearm herself. After accomplishing this she felt much better. The feel of her trusted companions was a welcome and familiar thing. She hastily made the bed up and left the room, slowly, staggering towards the battle arena. The trip was made difficult because of the pain in her side, and the dizziness in her head from the lack of blood. She was forced to stop by her room and grab a walking stick to make the rest of the trip, and then continued on her way. It was mid fight by the time Silvaeya finally made it to the gladiatorial arena, and she noticed that Dakkoth’s opponent bled from many numerous sword slashes. She also saw a nasty slice on Dakkoth’s leg that was bleeding profusely, but was being ignored as Dakkoth circled his opponent wearily. The man facing Dakkoth suddenly let out a ringing battle cry, and charged in with his sword leading, and got it battered aside by a series of ringing blows from Dakkoth’s swords. The man rolled with the blows and came back up to his feet and then charged again. Apparently Dakkoth had tired of the game, though, because at the mans next pass Dakkoth battered the man’s sword out of the way, and then gutted him with a splattering of blood, and let him fall to the arena floor. As he walked off of the platform to thunderous cheers, his eyes lit up as he saw Silvaeya standing at the sidelines. He sheathed his blades and then walked to her side. As they walked away to go someplace a little more private Dakkoth made small talk. “So I see you’re up and about. Feeling better I hop?” “Yes, I suppose I have you to thank for it too,” she replied. “Think nothing of it,” he replied gruffly. Stopping, Silvaeya turned to face him and asked, “Why did you save?” “As I told you when we first met in the gym, you fascinate me. I haven’t meet anyone with your skill and potential in a long time,” he explained. “Obviously my skill was not great enough,” she replied wryly, with a glance at her injured side. She suddenly started to sway on her feet and would have fallen, had Dakkoth not moved to her side and slipped an arm around her, allowing her to fall against him. Dakkoth grunted with the impact, and then swept her up into his arms. Silvaeya’s eyes rolled back in their sockets and her head slipped down against his chest, as her body went limp, and she lapsed into unconsciousness once again. Dakkoth suddenly became very aware of the beautiful young woman he held in his arms. The feel and smell of her long, black hair, as it cascaded along his arm and shoulder was intoxicating. The heat of his desire arose within him and his breathing became deep and heavy. It was a good thing she was unconscious he thought to himself with a smirk. This would be a fun one to try and explain. Dakkoth whispered the command word to open his door once he had gotten them back to his room. He opened the door and gently laid Silvaeya back on his bed again. Dakkoth walked over to his cabinet with all of hi medical supplies and got some creams to put on Silvaeya’s wound to help keep it clean. After that was completed, he slipped out of his sweaty battle armor and into some more comfortable clothing, and stitched up his own slice. It was a stupid wound he thought, a mistake that never should have happened. When he was done taking care of himself he dropped into a chair across from Silvaeya and waited for her to regain consciousness. As he waited, his thoughts turned inward towards Silvaeya, and the growing feelings that she evoked in him. He had never fallen for anyone like this before, and even though he had just met her, he realized that that’s what it was. He had fallen for her. For he realized that there was something special about this woman before him, and that something sparked an interest in him that few things in this world could. He had been born to fight. He held a blade before he could walk, and his swords down through the years had been his constant companion, and the only thing that he could truly count on. He had been betrayed so many times in his young life, that he now found it hard to trust anyone. He slowly came back from his reverie, looked out the window and noticed that night had descended upon the arena. The twinkling of the stars reminded him of the eyes of the young woman on his bed. She is so beautiful he thought to himself. Such fire, such spirit. All of these thoughts were tumbling through his mind, when Silvaeya started to thrash and moan on the bed, as her body fought the infection that was slowly spreading through her body. Dakkoth was out of his chair and at her side in an instant. He brushed her hair off to the side and bathed her sweat-covered brow with a cool, damp cloth. Her terror-filled eyes fluttered open, and she sucked in a ragged gasp of air as she clutched his hand and struggled to sit up. Dakkoth slipped an arm around her back and helped her up. Once he had her up he realized that her whole body shook from infection, as her body tried valiantly to fight back. Dakkoth tightened his arm around her and drew her closer to him. Silvaeya’s head came to rest at his chest, and he could feel the tremor that ran through her body. The Battle Of A Lifetime Ch. 1 Dakkoth reached into a bedside table with one hand and drew out a pouch of herbs. Holding Silvaeya with one hand he dumped the packet into a cup of water on the table, and brought the drink up to her mouth so that she could drink it down. The effects were immediate and astonishing. Silvaeya stopped shivering and much of her color came back to her face, as a fresh rush of energy came back to her. Dakkoth sat the now empty cup back on the table and brought his hand back up to hold her once more. They remained like that for quite sometime, with Dakkoth just holding her, but eventually Dakkoth could no longer control himself, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead and stroked her long, silky black hair. Silvaeya’s body shook, but this time from passion, not the fever, and she lifter her face up to Dakkoth’s and the lips met in a wild, passionate kiss. Dakkoth dragged Silvaeya down onto the bed beside him, and the passion that had been kept locked up inside was released in a frenzy of kissing. Later, as they lay on Dakkoth’s bed, resting in the circle of each others arms, Silvaeya finally spoke. “Why are you here Dakkoth? What did you do that warranted you being sent to the gladiatorial pits?” Dakkoth took a long to time to gather his thoughts, and for a moment Silvaeya thought that she had crossed into forbidden territory, but then Dakkoth began to spin his tale. “When I was ten, a traveling weapons master stayed at my house while hiding from assassins and recovering from wounds he had received while on the road. While he stayed with me I was fortunate enough that he noticed my talent early on, and in exchange for hiding him, he began to teach me of his ways while he recovered. After he got better and left, I closed down my house and took to traveling to broaden my horizons and to gain experience. My skill with the sword continued to grow rapidly and soon my skills had become legendary. Many assassination attempts were made on my life, and from fending them off it made me the cold, calculating fighter you see before you today. The nobles of the city began to get nervous of my skill, and so together with the help of some of the high city officials they hatched a plot to frame me, for they knew that they could never kill me, so they framed me instead, and it succeeded.” Silvaeya was silent for a while as she tried to absorb all that she had just been told, but then finally spoke. “I hope this doesn’t seem sudden or strange to you Dakkoth, but I think I love you.” “I know, silly,” he said, “I feel the same way. Felt it since the moment we practiced together in the gym. You’re a very special woman. I just never thought that I would find love. I have shut that emotion out for so long it may take me a while to get used to it again. I hope you can understand this.” Silvaeya snuggled up close to him and said, “Don’t worry Dakkoth, you’ll never be alone again, I promise.” Silvaeya leaned over and dropped kiss after kiss on Dakkoths lips, and then with a coy look moved under the sheets and Dakkoth felt an electric shock go through him as her lips wrapped around his thick cock and began to suck. Having never received a blowjob before, he didn’t last long and when Silvaeya came back up from under the sheets, all he could do was laugh at her cum covered face. Looking like the cat who has just ate the cream, she methodically cleaned her face with her hands and then licked them clean. Dakkoth got a wicked thought and gently took her by the shoulders and rolled her onto her back and moved down to return the favor. However unknown to Silvaeya he reached into the bowl of ice that he kept at the side of his bed and slipped an ice cube into his mouth and when his lips made contact with her pussy, he pushed the ice into her. Her response was immediate and violent. Arching her hips and back off the bed, she began to scream and moan. Taking his finger he rubbed her clit while he licked her and soon she was bucking his face and covered it with her feminine juices. After she had recovered she resumed control of their lovemaking and sat astride him taking him into her. As they came to be in tune with each others bodies they brought themselves to newer heights of pleasure, and soon both were moaning out load that they were cumming. They rolled into each others arms and resumed their kissing that had begun earlier and eventually fell asleep in each others arms. *** Dakkoth awoke, for the first time in his life, with an unaccustomed warmth at his side. The memories of the previous night came crashing back in a vivid rush. He lay there for a while, just watching the rise and fall of Silvaeya’s chest and he thought again how beautiful she was, and a little while later the form next to him began to stir. Silvaeya reached over to kiss Dakkoth, and he gathered her into a fierce hug. “It’s time we got up love,” he said, “The trumpeters played quite some time ago and it’s now mid morning. Silvaeya got up and clothed herself and prepared to go to her room for a change of fresh clothes. Before she left, though, Dakkoth made her sit down so he could take a look at the wound in her side. Pronouncing it on the mend, and past the worse, much of that due to the herbs that had helped speed the healing process, he allowed her to go. Silvaeya grabbed a quick kiss on her way out the door, and returned to her room to change. Once Silvaeya had clothed herself in a fresh change of clothes and donned her armor and weapons, she took a look at the list of the days fights that had been tacked to her door. Looking down the list she spotted Dakkoth’s fight, predictably enough, as one of the final fights of the day. What did surprise her however, was that her name didn’t appear on the list of the days fights. Even when someone was injured they were still expected to fight. She folded up the paper and slipped it in the pocket of her tunic, and began to walk to Dakkoth’s room. As she walked she tried to figure out how her life had been somehow turned up on end in the last two days. Months ago when she had been falsely accused of murder and been torn away from the only life that she had ever known she had swore never to become attached to anyone or anything, so as to be spared the pain of loss again. She came back from her thoughts when she realized that she had been standing in front of Dakkoth’s door for some time and her face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly looked around to make sure that no one had seen her in her foolish looking state, and reached up and knocked on his door. After a few seconds, the door opened and a very pale Dakkoth looked out. He opened the door the rest of the way to let Silvaeya in, and she ran into his arms. Looking up into his face she saw the fear that radiated from his eyes, and her heart constricted in cold terror. Her arms tightened around him and she asked what was wrong. Dakkoth cleared his throat and responded. “I fight Claemon today. He is one of the oldest gladiators still remaining at the arena, and the one person I could never began to predict an outcome to our fight. When we have been forced to practice together before, I win about fifty percent of the time and he wins the others. It is a fight I cannot predict the outcome of, nor do I wish to contemplate it.” Silvaeya’s face went chalk white, “NO,” she screamed, “You can’t get killed on me now, I’ve just found you. I won’t loose you now.” Her fist weakly pounded on his chest, and he tightened his arms around her even more. “Don’t worry love, I have no intention of going to my grave yet, but you must understand how things stand,” he explained as he gently stroked her hair, and tried to calm her down. She silently disengaged herself from Dakkoth and waked across the room to face the other wall. Dakkoth watched her for a few moments as her shoulders shook and she silently cried, letting her emotions run their course. Dakkoth walked up behind her, slipped his arms under hers and around her waist, and let his chin come to rest in her silky, smooth hair. Silvaeya turned in the circle of Dakkoth’s arms and snuggled into his chest, as she wept openly now. “What are we to do Dakkoth,” Silvaeya murmured. “We must escape, there has to be a way to do it. I can’t loose you. I just can’t. We shouldn’t be here. We are innocent. I couldn’t bear it if something was to happen to one of us, not after we have discovered this.” “I know dear one, I know, but it isn’t as easy as you think,” he said taking her small hands into his large ones. “It just isn’t that easy.” “But we have to escape,” she cried, her voice rising hysterically. “There must be some way out.” “Oh I agree completely my dear, but I have yet to figure out what that one way is,” he explained. After a while Silvaeya stopped her sobbing and began to calm down. Dakkoth led her over to the bed and sat down behind her and started to work the tension out of her shoulders and neck with his gentle hands. He felt the tension that had been there bleed away, and when it was gone he spun her around to face him and made her look directly into his eyes. “I want you listen very closely now Silvaeya,” he said,” Our lives will depend on how well you can do this. I need you to say nothing of what we are going to try to do. Do you hear me? We cannot breath one word of this to anyone or we are finished. The arena master can smell an escape plot a mile away. I have seen more escape plans fail in my life than I would ever want to, and the consequences are not pleasant when they catch you. Do you think that you can do this? Can you keep quiet about what we plan to do? “Yes Dakkoth, I can,” she responded meekly. Astonished at the change of tone that had come over him. “Good, see that you remember and we will get out of this just fine,” Dakkoth said. “Now get your things and lets go to the gym. You need to practice and I need to go through my morning devotions and drills to prepare for my fight tonight. Fear blossomed in the pit of Silvaeya’s stomach as she remembered the fight he had to go through that night. “Alright, lets go,” she replied as she readjusted her armor and weapons into their respective places once more. *** Dakkoth and Silvaeya received many a sidelong glance as they walked arm in arm with each other to the gym. When they got there Dakkoth dropped to his knees in the middle of the floor and began to meditate and relax. Silvaeya looked on in confusion, wondering what she should do. She stared for a minute, and then, her mind made up, she walked over next to his prone form and dropped to her knees, imitating what he was doing. Without opening his eyes, he whispered,” It is not enough just to walk through the motions, you must truly relax and feel the changes the relaxation brings to you.” Silvaeya forced her body and mind to relax, and stretched out her mind, and suddenly her consciousness melding with that of Dakkoth’s. She “felt” his smile, even though her eyes were closed and she clearly could not see him. “This is the true power that can be achieved when there is discipline and serenity within you, and your mind and body are working in concert with each other. One cannot exist without the other,” he lectured. “This is the one thing that sets the weapon master apart from all others is this ability to achieve a perfect calm, where all of the senses are augmented by each other, and in effect, we become the perfect fighter. The mind is a powerful tool and with both mind and body working in concert together we can do many things which no other mortal can do. I knew the first time that I saw you, and saw you fight, that you had the talent to become one of us, if only you would dedicate yourself to the path of weapons master. The way will not be easy, it never is. You will always be hounded by those who fear you or those who want to control you for their own ends, but in the end it will all be worth it, I promise you. You have all of the necessary talents to become one of us. All that remains is for you to choose this path and to dedicate yourself to it always. If you should choose this path I would consider it the highest honor if you would allow me to be your mentor in our ways, but if you decide not to, feel no shame for it is a hard life and not all are cut for it.” “Yes,” Silvaeya whispered back to him through their mind link, “Oh, yes let me be one of you, I will follow the path to the end of my days.” “Good,” Dakkoth responded. “That was what I had hoped to hear from you. You have many unique gifts to bring with you, which will benefit our order.” Dakkoth suddenly severed the mental link between them and rose quickly to his feet, drew his blades and came in hard and quick. Silvaeya’s swords appeared in her hands as if by magic and flicked through one of the defensive patterns that Dakkoth had taught her the other day. “One thing that you must always remember, Silvaeya, is always to have that peaceful state with you. That is what gives us weapons masters our edge, we always fight calm and with a clear head. You must achieve this state to become a smart fighter. Never loose that edge or you loose the weapon masters greatest advantage,” he lectured. Silvaeya nodded and then they continued. Over the next several hours Dakkoth taught her drill after drill to improve her sword work, both offensively and defensively. He also showed her several meditations that were useful when used before, during, and after a battle. Among these were one to banish pain, force out infections, and a host of others. After running through the drills until he was sure that Silvaeya had learned them all to his satisfaction, he decided that the sparring should begin in earnest. Dakkoth and Silvaeya drew their blades, faced off, and the intricate dance began. This time as she attacked and parried, Silvaeya began to understand how all of the drills fit together and all built on the others and how each move was the springboard for another. It was just a matter of figuring out which move should follow which. At first it was all that Silvaeya could do to keep up with Dakkoth. He hounded her on all sides and she was confused about which attack and counter to use and when, but as the hours rolled on the drills came more naturally to her, and her instincts began to take over. It was during this time that Silvaeya had her revelation about swordplay. It was then that Silvaeya finally understood what it truly was, and why weapons masters devoted their life to such a dangerous thing. It was an art, as beautiful as any other form of art. Their dance of blades became more than just a bunch of attacks and parries, it became a long dance of flashing blades and it was beautiful. All of a sudden Dakkoth broke off one of his attacks and flipped both of his blades into the air and let them fall into their respective sheaths. Suspecting some kind of trick, Silvaeya backed away cautiously, all the while letting her blades flick through defensive maneuvers, waiting for the sudden attack. “That’s enough, Silvaeya,” Dakkoth said. “You now have another lesson which to learn. Let us go watch some of the other fights for the day. Much can be learned of a future opponent by watching him fight now.” Silvaeya slammed her blades home in their sheaths, grabbed her equipment, and they left. When they reached the arena, a raven-haired woman was just leaving the battle area, and with a start Silvaeya realized it was the woman from yesterdays match that had given her the smile as she passed, only now their was no smile on her face. Instead it was contorted in pain, and Dakkoth whispered to her that the lady would not live out the night. After the clean up crew had removed the hacked up, headless body, the next fighters walked into the arena. The first was announced as Caitlin, and she fought with a slender rapier. The second was introduced as Seiatha and she wielded a huge broadsword. When the fight began the two women took turns trading blow for a minute to gain an idea of the skills that the other possessed. This was a common practice at the arena. After satisfying their curiosity, they threw themselves into the fight, letting loose with all of their skills. Dakkoth turned away from the fight to face Silvaeya and said, ”Now remember how these two women fight. One you never will have to fight, but the other could someday become an opponent. You should be here watching every fight that you can, so as to learn the ways the other gladiators fight. When I first arrived here I spent the first six months just practicing and watching the other fighters. You must adapt your style to counter theirs and capitalize on the weaknesses and shortcomings of the way that they fight.” Silvaeya nodded that she understood, but kept watching the fight. Dakkoth turned back to watched the fight unfold. Seiatha was pressing her broadsword against Caitlin’s rapier, and was forcing the smaller weapon to the arena floor. Dakkoth watched the scene unfold on the stage with a hint of mirth in his eyes, especially when he noticed Caitlin’s foot shift under her and into position. Dakkoth glanced at Silvaeya to see if she had caught what was about to happen. Seeing in her eyes that she did not, he turned back to the arena to see if the move played out the way that he thought it would. Sure enough, Caitlin let her sword arm relax and she sprang into a sidelong roll. Having no resistance there, Seiatha’s broadsword chopped hard into the arena floor. Caitlin twisted out of her roll, and slashed out with her rapier at Sieatha’s legs. Seiatha let go of her sword and clutched at her ruined hamstrings, and sunk to the floor. The crowd was on its’ feet yelling for the kill, and Caitlin obliged them. Walking towards her downed opponent, a silent prayer on her lips, she let the rapier fall, beheading her opponent, who never saw it coming. After the clean up crew came out to clean up the mess left in the ring, Dakkoth turned to Silvaeya to discuss the fight. “Silvaeya, what was Sieatha’s mortal flaw in this fight?” Silvaeya thought it over for a minute and the asked, “Was it that she turned her back on her opponent?” “That was part of it,” he replied, “but her greatest mistake was that she allowed her pain to cripple her. You are always the master of your pain, not it of you. If you give in to your pain, you are done for. Much as this young lady was here.” “Ok, I understand,” she responded. “I will mark it, and remember it well.” “Good,” Dakkoth said. “See that you do. Now I want you to stay here and watch the rest of the fights for the day. I have to go practice and to prepare for my fight tonight.” “All right, love,” Silvaeya replied, and then leaned in for a quick kiss. As their kiss broke apart Dakkoth whispered in her ear, ”Let us also try to think of a way to break free of this prison. I have yet to think of a way. I need for you to be thinking as well.” Dakkoth left with a quick smile and a wave, and Silvaeya turned back to watch the fights. *** Over the next several months Dakkoth and Silvaeya fell into a common routine. They would get up early and go to the gym were they would practice and meditate, while Dakkoth taught her the ways of the weapons master. After their morning practices they would go watch the fights of the day, and ponder over how they were going to escape. Slowly, though, as the months progressed Silvaeya became a creditable fighter who could hold her own in most fights. The one thing that they didn’t do, however, was to move in together. Although many couples lived together as lovers, it was not smart, but hardly a forbidden thing. When Silvaeya had first broached the subject to Dakkoth, standing next to the battle arena, he had opposed it so vehemently, that at first Silvaeya had done something wrong, but as Dakkoth saw the frightened look in her eyes, he explained his reasoning at it all made sense. The Battle Of A Lifetime Ch. 1 “We don’t wan to draw any more attention to ourselves than we already have by our being together. Moving in together would open everything up and look very suspicious and we would have a lot of questions that we are not prepared to deal with right now,” he explained. “Oh, I never thought about it that way,” Silvaeya said. “You must always think about what your actions will cause. You cannot simply just act, or you will make mistakes, and mistakes mean death,” he finished with a sidelong look at Silvaeya. Suddenly placing a hand to his head, Dakkoth took a wobbly step to the side, and the clutched at his sides as a grimace of pain flashed across his face. Silvaeya was at his side in an instant, slipping an arm around his waist to support his weight and keep him from falling. “Silvaeya,” he said with a whisper, “Take me back to my room please. I need to rest.” “What’s wrong with you Dakkoth?” “It is nothing, I am just tired, that’s all. Let me have a little rest and I’ll be good as new.” He smiled weakly at Silvaeya, trying to convince her that it was nothing, but he could see in her eyes that his ploy wasn’t very successful. However, with an arm around Dakkoth’s waist she steadily guided him back to his room, and got him into bed. Retrieving a cool cloth, she went about bathing his forehead to cool him, and as her hand made contact she could feel the fever coursing through him. Getting the cloth wet again she put it to his head and left it there. Slipping out of his room she began to wander the arena trying desperately to figure out what she could do for him. She walked around the arena for several hours. She could remember nothing from the training that Dakkoth had given her that would be of help to him. As she was walking back to check on Dakkoth she saw a man kneeling over the body of another, and at first thinking nothing of it, she suddenly realized that she knew both of the men. The one was leaning over the body of his brother! With a cry of rage at whoever would listen, he drew his sword and charged into the stands hacking through whomever he could get to. Be they man, woman, or child they fell to his blade and as he made his way through the chaos. “What is the meaning of this,” the arena master thundered! “Today I will have my freedom or die trying,” he said with a scream at the arena master who had just made an appearance with a compliment of his arena troops. The man pointed his sword at the arena master and cursed him for taking everything in his life, and that he would have freedom or he would die, he didn’t care witch. As the man finished yelling at the arena master, one of the guards had come up behind the man and as he finished his speech, the guards sword burst through the man’s chest, spraying all around them with his crimson blood. The man gagged as he felt the cold steel slide through his gut and then collapsed into the seats. Shaking herself out of her shock, Silvaeya noticed that many others, including many of the veteran gladiators, had risen up and were all pressing the attack as well. It seemed the whole world had gone mad, but this just might be what her and Dakkoth needed she thought. Running back towards Dakkoth’s quarters, she frequently was forced to take detours because of how wide spread the fighting had become. Eventually she found herself at Dakkoth’s house and as she opened the door, she was meet by the sight of Dakkoth struggling to get himself into his armor and belt up his weapons. “Dakkoth,” she yelled. “Yes, I hear it to love,” he answered before he could say anymore. Running into the room she finished adjusting Dakkoth’s armor on him and handed him his swords. “Dakkoth,’ she panted, breathless from her run through the streets, “the gladiators are revolting. This may be the chance we have been hoping for.” She pulled on his arm trying to get him moving. He pulled his arm out of her grasp and spun to face her. He was obviously still weak form whatever was wrong with him, but she could see that inner fire in him that now was flaring would not be quenched easily. He raked his hands through his hair to push the sweaty mass away from his eyes, gathered his thoughts and then began to speak in earnest. “Silvaeya, if we become separated, I want you to get clear of the city gates and wait for me in the forest on the outskirts. Do not try to come find me, get clear. Do you understand me?” “Yes”, Dakkoth, I do,” she answered him. “And more importantly, Silvaeya, if I fall in battle on the way out of here, you must go on. I could never live with myself if you died in here trying to stay with me, or follow me into the underworld. Life is precious, you must live it to the fullest. That does not include following me to the realm of the dead so that you can be with me. Can you do this?” “Yes,” Dakkoth,” she answered. Near to tears, she wiped her runny nose on the sleeve of her tunic. Dakkoth playfully swatted at her arm. “Stop that,” he said, “how many times do I have to tell you that that isn’t what clothes are made for?” “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “Alright,” he said. Feeling better after lifting the somber mood that had settled after he had told her she had to go on no matter what. Dakkoth and Silvaeya took off towards the gates, but as they did, unbeknownst to them, the arena master had spotted them making their run for it. Not wanting to loose two of his finest gladiators, he took a small company of his soldiers and ran through the back passages to head them off at the gates. As Dakkoth and Silvaeya neared the gates, Dakkoth had the sixth sense that something wasn’t quite right. As he skidded to a stop at the gates, the arena master stepped out with his men, and cut Dakkoth and Silvaeya off form their escape. Drawing his swords Dakkoth charged into the mass melee of bodies and arms, trying to clear a path through. Opponent after opponent fell to the whirling furry that was Dakkoth’s blades. Never had they wet their appetite in so much blood at one time before. As rank and rank fell, Silvaeya followed close behind her love and dispatched anyone that he failed to finish off. Soon it was just Dakkoth, Silvaeya, and the arena master left. He gave them a smile of contempt and wove his blade through a flashy display of swordsmanship, that a few months ago would have had Silvaeya trembling, but now she understood what he did was just a hollow imitation of what Dakkoth could do with their blades. Silvaeya and Dakkoth split to opposite sides hoping to flank the arena master and make it a quick fight, but seeing what was happening, the arena master feinted at Dakkoth, who tired from his illness already, was a little too slow. The arena master slipped a leg behind Dakkoth tripping him to the ground. Reversing his feint, he attacked Silvaeya with a viciousness that surprised her and drover her back on her feet. In the background she could see Dakkoth getting to his feet, but the way the arena master was pressing his surprise attack, Silvaeya knew that he would be too late. Soon enough, Silvaeya’s guard slipped up enough, and the arena master drove his blade through her guard to slice a nasty gash open on her arm. Clutching the wound closed she braced for the impact of another thrust, but instead saw Dakkoth take a flying leap at the arena master, and in horror watched as he spun around and opened up her loves stomach. He dropped to the ground with a groan, but it was enough of an opening for Silvaeya and she ran her sword and dagger into the arena master’s chest and gave a vicious twist. When the arena master dropped to the ground it was too much weight for her to bear, and it ripped her blades out of her hands. The arena master tried feebly to remove the swords from his chest, and as he did so, he tried to curse at Silvaeya, but the blood fast filling his lungs and mouth made such things impossible. Running over to the side of her beloved, she buried her face in his chest and sobbed until her eyes were red and she had no more tears left. Dakkoth lifted a hand to Silvaeya’s face and made her face him. As he gazed upon her beautiful face one last time, he thought of all that had happened between them, but he knew what his duty must be now. She had to be made to leave. “Love,” he croaked, ”Silvaeya. You must leave now. This is what I spoke of earlier, you must grab your blades and leave. Forget about me. What is done is done, and nothing will change it. Give me one last kiss and get yourself gone.” Silvaeya thought to argue what he was saying, but then she saw the look in his eyes, and she knew he meant what he said. Silvaeya lowered her face to his and gazed at it as if to lock it away in memory forever, and kissed him. She kissed him with all of the passion of her being and as her lips lifted from his, the last thing she heard from him was, “Run love, I will be with you forever. Never forget who you are and what you mean to me. Now GO!” Getting to her feet she retrieved her weapons from the body of the dead weapons master, and also relieved him of most of his coins, seeing as he was no longer going to be needing it. She ran through the gates of the arena, and for one last instant looked back for one final look at her Dakkoth, and she felt as though a book had slammed closed on this chapter of her life. Turning back she walked out the gates into the world, once again a free woman with the wind in her hair, and the sunset at her back. Let me know what you guys think. This is a piece that I have been working on off and on for months. If there is enough response for there to be a continuation of it I will. I apologize for the lack eroticism in the first part. Much of this is just setting the stage. Of course feedback is always welcome, and please vote. It just takes a second. As well as feedback, this also lets me know how my writing is doing. Thanks all. Ariakan.