Ginn Hale - Lord of the White Hell Book One

Most of the other Sagrada students were already armored and standing ready. With the added bulk of enameled steel and chainmail Elezar's large body had transformed into an immense scarlet fortress. Unlike Javier, Elezar shifted, rolling his shoulders and moving his armor as if its weight meant nothing.

"Kiram, you better get your jupon on." Javier's low voice sounded almost hollow from within the armor.

"Sorry." Kiram quickly pulled the jupon over his head and smoothed the yellow silk out over his byrnie. The Tornesal black sun over his chest matched the one enameled across Javier's breastplate perfectly. He hefted up Javier's long sword and his shield the way the other underclassmen held their upperclassmen's weapons.

High in the stands, trumpeters blew out a sharp melody, announcing Prince Sevanyo. By the time the notes stilled, the entire pavilion had gone quiet. In the shaded comfort of his box seat, Sevanyo rose and raised a hand. The large jewels adorning his fingers flashed. "Chosen sons of Cadeleon's great academies, stand before me!"

Kiram followed Javier onto the fighting ground. He held his head up high and looked as proud and confident as he could, though, in truth he was concerned for Javier. Between the muerate and the weight of all this armor Kiram wasn't sure how well Javier would fare. His precise and unusually careful motions were exactly the same as when Kiram had discovered him lying, nearly poisoned to death, in the chapel garden.

In comparison, Elezar seemed comfortable and eager. And across the grounds, Hierro Fueres stood like a golden monument, his breastplate and helmet decorated with white swan motifs. Kiram recognized his squire's auburn hair and plain face. Ariz Plunado walked with the blank expression of a mannequin, though for a moment Kiram thought he might have caught the flicker of a scowl as the young man caught sight of him. Clearly he had not forgotten their duel.

Once they'd taken their places, Prince Sevanyo continued, "Though you gather today to test your strength against one another, never forget that you are sons of one nation and brothers in arms. Any man you stand against here today you may proudly stand beside tomorrow. Fight with honor and pride, blessed sons of Cadeleon."

With that the prince returned to his seat and the combatants were assigned their dueling rings. Javier's first opponent was a Yllar student whose squire kept peering at Kiram as if he'd never seen a Haldiim before. Javier only took his short sword, leaving both his long blade and his shield with Kiram.

"They're too heavy just now," Javier whispered when Kiram offered them.

Javier moved with none of his normal grace. His opponent scored several hard strikes against him and twice Javier barely managed to block fatal blows. This emboldened the Yillar student.

"How^ you even get this far, Rauma? Bribed your opponents?" The Yllar student laughed. His squire looked amused.

Kiram wanted to hurl Javier's shield at the man, but all he could do was watch the Yllar student jab a loose and lazy thrust for Javier's heart. Javier blocked the blow with a resounding crash of steel and then suddenly charged. Taken off guard, the Yllar student retreated but not quickly enough. Javier drove his blade up with such force that the Yllar student's visor snapped from its hinge. With a second fast strike Javier knocked the Yllar student to the ground and pounced on top of him. Javier held his blade just inches above the other man's exposed face. The Yillar student gaped at Javier, white faced with shock.

As the judge raised a blue flag signifying the first Sagrada victory, cheers and hoots rose from the stands. The Yillar student stalked from the ring and Kiram rushed past him to Javier's side. Javier lifted his visor. Sweat beaded his face but only a little color had returned to his cheeks.

"I'm fine," Javier said before Kiram could ask. "But it's a damn oven in this armor and the sun doesn't look like it's going to let up."

He was right. The sun had just risen to the open ceiling of the pavilion and was well below its zenith, but already temperatures were rising inside. In the lower stands, men and women fanned themselves and boys in red jackets hawked cups of cider.

"Get me some water before my next duel," Javier said.

Kiram wove through the circles of dueling students. Dust and wood shavings hung in the air, as did the pungent smell of sweat. Elezar's loud roar carried over even the noise of the crowd and the grunts and curses of other, closer combatants. Kiram looked over his shoulder just in time to see Elezar hurl his opponent from the dueling ring.

For a moment, Kiram was too stunned by the sight to do more than stare. He'd witnessed demonstrations of Elezar's strength during practice, but Kiram had never seen Elezar fighting with unrestrained force. His opponent lay on the ground like a broken toy. Even the judge seemed stunned as he raised the blue Sagrada flag.

Kiram prayed that Javier wouldn't have to fight Elezar next. He simply was not strong enough. He raced back to Javier's side with a skin of cool water. Javier drank a little but then his next opponent arrived. Again, Javier went without his shield and only wielded a short sword.

But where he had previously stood still, Javier now prowled. He circled his new opponent slowly and then lunged in with brilliant speed to score a strike before bounding back out of reach. Light flared off the shining surface of his silver armor. Javier took a hit across his shoulder, but landed his own strike directly across the enamel emblem over his opponent's heart. The enamel shattered and the judge again raised the blue flag again.

Kiram distinctly recognized Fedeles' joyous crow rising over the cheers and boos from the stands. Javier shoved his visor back and Kiram hurried forward with the water skin. Javier drank, dropped the empty water skin back into Kiram's hands, and closed his eyes.

"Javier?" Kiram asked.

"I'm good." Javier remained exactly as he was, eyes closed, arms hanging so limply that Kiram thought he might drop his short sword. After a moment he opened his eyes. "Have you been watching any of the other duels?"

"A little, but mostly just yours."

"Take a look around for me." Javier's tone was stronger than it had been earlier. "Watch Elezar for any injuries. And if you can, keep an eye on Hierro Fueres too."

A third Yllar student trudged up to Javier's dueling ring and gave a salute, which Javier returned. The man's armor was enameled with golden leaves. Kiram made a mental note to learn more about Cadeleonian crests so that next year he could take an educated guess about the occupants of the armor.

"Can you carry your shield yet?" Kiram whispered.

"I can but I don't think I'm going to need it just yet." He flipped his visor closed and strode out to the center of the dueling ring. He tossed his short sword from hand to hand as his opponent chose his own sword and shield from his squire.

The judge signaled the start of the duel and immediately Javier attacked. His movements were smooth, and while they seemed a little slow to Kiram they obviously were too fast for Javier's opponent. Kiram felt assured enough of Javier's wellbeing to investigate how Elezar and Hierro were faring.

Elezar fought like a battering ram, crumpling shields and shattering blades with the power of his strikes. If he took any injuries he hardly noticed them. His only disadvantage seemed to be the sheer number of times his squire, Ollivar, had to rush to bring him a new blade after he cracked one against his opponent's defenses.

In the time that both Elezar and Javier fought a single duel, Hierro finished two. The first he won through a simple concession. A Yllar student entered Hierro's dueling ring, knelt, and allowed Hierro to take the win with a gentle tap of his blade.