SL Huang - Up and Coming - Stories by the 2016 Campbell-Eligible Authors

I could try to surprise Hwarl and his bodyguards in an alley, but what if Hwarl just goes straight between the Coliseum and his quarters for the next week? thought Jadie. Or I could try to pick off his bodyguards. But then he’d just get more, and he’d be alerted. I need some way to isolate him from them. Does he go anywhere without them?

And then it hit her. The Coliseum. Duels are one on one. He can’t bring his bodyguards into the arena with him. And I could sign up, challenge him…

She’d still have to beat a trained fighter in a fair fight, but at least she wouldn’t be outnumbered. And she did have some advantages. He might underestimate her, for one. She had magic, for another.

A rose curled around her hand, the thorns nestling between her fingers like a gauntlet, and she allowed herself to smile. She could make it work, she thought. Do her Guild proud, and her community too.

And score a great victory while she was at it.

“And now, a warrior who needs no introduction!” roared the announcer. “He’s won his last seven matches and is considered to be one of the strongest rookies we’ve had in months! I present to you—Hwarl, of Warus!”

Peaking out from her archway, Jadie watched as Hwarl strode onto the arena floor. Despite the general apprehension that Atalathans felt towards gnolls, the crowd seemed to love him. The cheering and clapping was deafening as Hwarl twirled a long halberd in front of him and flexed.

“And challenging him, a newcomer from Viscosa! Please, give a big welcome to—Lady Thorn of Raleigh!”

Jadie smiled. Lady Thorn might not be the most inventive name for someone with her powers, but she liked it. Maybe, she thought, she might find a need to keep this secret identity longer. Having a persona that fought in duels could certainly be a useful cover in particular situations…

The crowd’s cheering ushered her out into the sunlight, and Jadie took a moment to absorb the scene around her. She stood on a field of sand. Around her were marble walls, carved in intricate detail at what had to be exorbitant expense, and above them sat thousands of cheering and clapping people. Tourists and locals, commoners and merchants, soldiers, mercenaries, and even some nobles were packed into the stands. A great crowd, she thought, for what she hoped would be a great victory. Jadie gripped the dagger shoved haphazardly into her belt and strode towards Hwarl.

She had already, she thought, gotten everything set up. She had forged the paperwork declaring herself to be ‘Lady Thorn,’ inexperienced but skilled warrior from Viscosa, and had filed it with the Coliseum. She had broken into the Coliseum offices and reordered the matches to make sure that she would be dueling Hwarl. She had come up with her costume. And, of course, she had bet all the money she’d stolen at the party on herself. If she lost the duel, it wouldn’t matter, and if she won, she’d get a nice windfall. Since it’s money I’m sort of earning and not stealing , I wonder if the Guild will let me keep my winnings? She chuckled. I hope so.

Hwarl laughed at her as she approached him. “What are you wearing?” he barked. “This isn’t the theatre, girl. Maybe you should run along home.”

Jadie made a show of looking over herself. She was dressed in bright greens and dark browns, looking more like a jester than a trained warrior, and wore a mask over most of her face so he wouldn’t recognize her. Flowers, bright daisies and chrysanthemums, were woven into the shoulders and arms of her shirt, and vines were wrapped around her wrists. She knew she looked ridiculous, but she squared her shoulders and called, “Run home? I’m a trained graduate of the Dueling Academy of Viscosa. When I’m done with you, you’ll be running all the way back to Warus!”

The crowd roared its approval, but Hwarl’s smirk just grew, and when she saw it Jadie smiled behind her mask as well. There were many fine venues for learning the art of combat in Viscosa; the Dueling Academy was not one of them. A school for the children of merchants and nobles, it taught how to ‘duel’ with style and panache. The students learned flashy moves to show off at balls and parties, they felt like they were becoming mighty warriors, and since nobody would ever be so foolish as to attack the heir of a feudal lord in a dark alley, they would never know how useless their sword-dancing was in a real fight. But Jadie knew—and so did gladiators like Hwarl. He’d never take a graduate of that school seriously, and that was just what she wanted.

A cannon blast started the match. Hwarl swung his halberd at Jadie in a few lazy arcs, forcing her back as she parried with her dagger, and his blade clanged off of hers with no real weight behind it. He was testing her, Jadie thought, or maybe just toying with her for the benefit of his fans. She let him swing a few more times, then ducked under a blow and dashed up close to him. When she reached him she slashed at his arm.

He shifted to one side and kicked her legs out from under her before the blow connected, sending her sprawling in the sand. She managed to roll out of the way before he struck his halberd down where her neck had been a moment ago. She got to her feet and managed to get her blade up in time to deflect another swing, but found herself forced back again, overpowered by his superior strength. Hwarl trotted after her, probing at her defenses with his halberd, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Jadie dodged and retreated halfway across the Coliseum floor before attacking again. She deflected his blade, using all her strength to push it up, and then ran at him. This time, she didn’t strike at him directly, but grabbed at his arms as if trying to grapple. The vines wrapped around her wrist began to writhe as she mentally prodded them, but before they could do anything, he swung his halberd around and struck her with its shaft. She stumbled, and by the time she recovered he had twisted the blade straight up and was stabbing it down at her.

Jadie instead jumped towards Hwarl, allowing him to push her down so she fell directly in front of him and inside the range of his halberd. She leapt to her feet faster than he seemed to be expecting and grabbed at his hands again. At the same time, she called to the vines around her wrists, Grab his halberd! Come on, let’s do it!

The vines twisted and writhed, seeming to relish a chance to release some of their energy. Hwarl shifted his halberd to one hand and curled the other into a fist to attack the enemy four inches from his face. Jadie made a show of grabbing at him as the vines snapped at the weapon, and suddenly his blade was flying clear across the Coliseum.

She grinned to herself, and then Hwarl decked her.

Jadie’s vision flashed red for a moment, and she felt her dagger slipping out of her hands. She managed to stay conscious, however—she had learned how to take hits as part of her training—and instead grabbed at his arms. He pulled out of her grasp, then moved in close—like she wanted—and seized her around the neck with one large hand.

Spray him! she urged her flowers, but seconds ticked by and nothing happened. There was an inertia in them; she had picked the flowers hours ago and they had already started to fade. She cursed in her mind as she gave it everything she had. Come on!

“Victory number eight!” Hwarl roared to the crowd as he began choking Jadie. She choked, but even when she strained she couldn’t break away from his grasp. He grinned and hefted her into the air by her neck. “Just like I said!”

Jadie continued pushing at the flowers. She could feel them sluggishly moving and starting to open, but her vision was starting to turn red again. She strained, fixing wonderful images in her head—of saving the nation, of returning to Westwick a hero, of the pile of gold she stood to win in the match—and used them to motivate her as she forced all her magical power into the flowers on her shoulders.