On the way back to the Inn from the palace, William pondered everything that King Bravos told him. When they reached the inn, he called both Rodrick and Gjörn to the living area.

“The upcoming fight, is going to be our last.” He declared.

Gjörn just nodded his head.

“I don’t understand.” Rodrick whined. He just started getting decent at fighting, and was loving the publicity. “The people here love us. The bards sing songs about us in the taverns.”

“Exactly. I came here to turn you into a fighter, as well as make a name for ourselves. You’ve become a decent enough fighter that we can move on, and we now have enough publicity, that the tales of our victories are making it to the other kingdoms.”

Rodrick stared at him blankly. “I still fail to see the problem.”

“Reiner has just made his move on us.” Gjörn chimed in. “If we defeat his champion, do you honestly think he’ll stop?”

“Oh.” Rodrick said embarrassed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“We are going to kill his champion to send a message to him.” William said as he threw his dagger up and caught it by the blade. “But after that we need to move on. As much as I love it here, I aim to be a king; and I don’t want to make it easy on his assassins by staying in one city.”

“King Bravos wouldn’t let any assassins here, would he?” Rodrick asked in disbelief.

“If Reiner did manage to have us killed, it’s not something Bravos would risk going to war over and upsetting the Counsel of Kings.” William answered. “Our adventure would end as nothing but a small paragraph in the history books.”

Rodrick gave an annoyed look when he heard William mention his far fetched dream of becoming king.

“So we’ll move on, and initiate phase two of my plan.”

“You actually have a plan?” Rodrick asked. “I honestly thought we were all winging it.”

“You were.” William smiled. “Just as I planned.”

Gjörn cracked a smile and let out a snort.

“Very well.” He groaned as he got up from his seat. “I’m going to hit the hay. You should rest up too Rodrick, we have a busy week of training.”

“For one man? Are you even sure you’re going to need me for this one?”

“Never underestimate your opponent Squire!” William yelled at him from his bed. “I thought you’d learn that by now.”

___________________________________________

The week came fairly quickly for the trio, who were eager to beat Reiner’s champion and let him know they weren’t to be trifled with. The three walked into the arena with the utmost confidence. Rodrick was especially anxious. His training with Gjörn had proved fruitful, as he was now able to transition between defense and offense much easier than he used to. He even bested Gjörn a few times during their sparring, although Gjörn was holding back. With the money he earned fighting, he was able to buy himself a new set of armor. He didn’t go for a full plate set like his former knight master, Sir Reed. He just took a helmet, a breastplate and boots. With the new armor, he felt unstoppable.

When they stepped foot on the sand, one thing about the arena stood out. There was a large cage that reached over the entire arena. The crowd was safely behind it and they were just as curious as the the trio was.

“Are we to fight an animal?” Rodrick asked.

“Whatever we are fighting.” William started. “It is clear it’s dangerous enough to cause collateral damage. Which this cage must have been put to prevent.”

King Bravos had to sit a little higher today since the cage obstructed his old seat. But he gladly sacrificed that for the monumental match that was to be had today.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” He announced, much to the fighter’s surprise. He usually just motioned for the fight to begin. ”No matter the victor of this battle, today will go down in Ramo history, as the single greatest fight to ever be viewed at this arena!”

The crowd grew wild. Their screams of excitement rumbled through the arena like thunder.

“I present to you, the three fighters standing to my left, who need no introduction; The Boy, The Orc, and the squire!

The three stood motionless as the anxiety was starting to creep up on them. The crowd however gave a loud applause. Some praising each of them personally.

“And now their challenger!” King Bravos yelled. Barely able to contain his excitement. “He’s a huge sickly creature! Of unexplainable size that is doubled by his monstrous strength! I present to you! Sir Reed!”

Both Gjörn and William gave a face of confusion followed by a sigh of relief.

“Are we to carry out his execution?” William joked.

“I don’t understand the cage.” Gjörn chuckled. “Is it so his ugly head doesn’t fly and hit one of the fine spectators?”

Rodrick’s face turned serious when he heard the name. Ever since he got better at fighting, he began dreaming of the day he met Reed again. Usually it was a battle that Rodrick would win. “Before you die…” Rodrick said in an angry and shaky voice that caught William and Gjörn’s attention. “You are going to knight me.”

“Bring him out!” King Bravos said impatiently. The crowd silenced in curiosity, as they didn’t want to miss the opponent’s entrance.

The silence unmasked the sound of terrified screams that came from the other entrance. The screams were followed by the sound of loud banging, and then steady footsteps that sounded like they came from a giant. Slowly but surely, the footsteps grew closer as they caused small tremors with each stomp. Gjörn and Rodrick readied their weapons as they looked at each other with confusion. William just caressed the handle of his blade with his right hand.

Koom!

The entrance door exploded open, taking an entire chunk of the wall surrounding it. The resulting dust clouded the area, making it hard for anybody to see what was over there. As the dust cleared, screams of terror rang from the stands followed by mass evacuation of half of the audience.

“What…” Gjörn gasped in disbelief.

“The…” William said, with his eyes widened with curiosity.

“Hell?” Rodrick screamed in fear.

@cbishop

@mikesterman: Nice chapter. :)