Cedric the Demonic Knight (The Cedric Series Book 1)

Chapter Three: The Tournament

"Hear ye! Hear ye!" Trumpets sounded and the bustling of the noblemen and peasants filled the arena. "Clear the arena! Your King, King Frederick the Fair, approaches! The tournament will be starting!"

Yelps, whistles, and gasps rang out. The arena for the tournament emptied quickly as the King and Queen stood before their chairs. Noblemen and their daughters rushed to get seats as close to the king as they could. Ladies of the Court had chairs below the royal family so that the men competing in the tournament could see every Lady of his majesty's court. One by one, knights and mercenaries of high skills came out when announced. A knight gave his Lady a flower; another gave a napkin with their family seal, while the others simply took a chance to kiss a soft hand. Lastly, they called out the man in whose honor the tournament was being held.

"Now enters our champion against the demons and the dark in this world, Lord Cedric of the House of Romulus, last of the Romulus line. We gather today to witness your skills and talents first hand! First King of the Germans, King Frederick, wishes for you to take the hand of one of his Ladies of the Court! Upon the chance that you defeat our own kingdom's finest warriors and knights, this shall be your prize!"

The crowd roared with delight as Cedric bowed, one knee to the ground, towards the King, and more importantly, to the Ladies who watched, blushing. All the Ladies, but one, were red cheeked from his stare. His grin faltered as his green eyes locked onto the frightened brown ones. The sweat on her brow and paling complexion told him all he needed to know. For some reason, she remembered him. It was the first time in over a hundred years that he had seen anyone break from the spell and its memory-altering effects. He would have no time to toy with his competitors. It was unclear if she thought of last night's events as a vivid nightmare or reality. Sighing a curse under his breath, he managed to grin again as he stood.

Out of the five total fighters, he and the ogre-sized brute were the only ones without a helmet and ensemble of metal. Thought unlike his giant cohort, he depended heavily on his agility and dexterity to win his battles. He was far stronger than the men next to him, but he was partial to the dance of swordplay. The smallest knight was wearing more armor than necessary for his size and with the array of daggers in his belt it was clear he favored close combat. On the opposite end of the lineup was the oldest competitor in brightly reflective armor. He dismissed the old man and shifted his attention to the mountain of flesh next to him. Sweat poured from the mildly obese brute, he would prove harder to take down without exposing his true strength to the observing audience. The last knight was a mercenary knight of average appeal. He war his family seal with pride, but the armor he wore looked poorly maintained and ill-fitting for this tournament.

Again, his smirk failed him as his eyes fell back to the girl. She visibly flinched as their eyes met and his jaw twitched in annoyance. While he was distracted by the Lady's fearful stare, the ogre-of-a-man took advantage and swung his two-handed mace and slammed it into Cedric's shield. Thrown like a doll, he landed on the arena floor in a cloud of dust. The onlookers shouted and laughed at the feat. They cheered on the larger man for taking the first strike in the game and on Lord Cedric! Cedric huffed, tossing the bent shield to the ground as he brushed the dust from his pants. He would have to abandon his shield far sooner than he had initially planned.

"Whoa!" Cedric shouted. A shorter opponent made a swing and he simply sidestepped for the miss. "I haven't drawn my sword yet. What dishonorable twits you all are."

The smaller knight retreated to give his larger companion another chance to challenge Cedric. Yanking his sword from its sheath, he blocked another blow from the massive mace with his blade. Cedric's feet slid, pushed back by the sheer force. This man clearly had some experience in small demon hunting. A shimmer came to Cedric's green eyes and his grin grew wide. He flawlessly back flipped to gain some distance in order to catch a better glimpse of the four men, two of them clearly braver than the others. The audience whistled and clapped at the acrobatic stunt.