Bloodsword: War of the Leaf

Chapter 4: First Blood

Tev sighed softly as the trio of Mardish guards led him to a small preparation area.

"And what am I supposed to do in here?"  He sarcastically asked as one of the guards gave him a shove between his shoulder blades in an attempt to push him into the thickly walled room, only moving because he allowed the guard to push him.  Taking a few staggered steps towards the center, he turned to face the three guards as they began to back out of the room, their swords held ready.

"Well?"  He pressed.

"Prepare to die!"  One of them growled and all three burst into loud, raucous laughter before slamming an equally thick door closed, sealing the human in.

"Idiots."  Tev muttered softly, staring hard at the door for a long moment.

Well-versed in pit fighting, Tev knew exactly where he was and what he was supposed to do there.  It was called 'the small room', the place where fighters picked out their gear and weapons before entering the pit itself.  'And I best be about it, before these fools try to surprise me with something dire.'  He darkly mused before turning away from the door to quickly take in the room by the light of the torches that burned in sconces set high up on the wall.

Two other walls, the one opposite the way he came in and the one just to the right of the first both had thick doors set into their centers, both currently closed.  It was the third wall however that really caught Tev's attention.

"Hello, what do we have here?"  He asked out loud, focusing his attention on the wall with a frown.  It held two large, rectangular cabinets, each approximately a man's height plus half again, and as much as that wide.  Stepping to them, he gave each a quick once over.  And in doing so, he discovered the front panel was a door of some kind, with small wooden knobs set into them about shoulder height.

Taking hold of the knob on the left hand box, he gave it a light tug.  And he smiled thinly in satisfaction when the door swung back on silent, oiled hinges to reveal a rack of all manner of armor, both leather and metal, hung carefully on wooden pegs.  The metal gleamed in the light of the torches and the leather was immaculate, dark with seasoning and oil, both speaking of a great deal of care and maintenance to keep it in top condition.

A look to his left revealed that the inside of the door was also covered with pieces of protective gear, including helmets, forearm guards and mailed gloves.  A step over to tug on the second cabinet's door swung it back to reveal a rack of swords and daggers of all kinds.

Tev's eyebrow climbed upward at catching sight of the broad assortment of deadly weaponry.  Well, that would explain why his escort was in such a hurry to get him in here, then get out themselves.  They didn't want to find themselves on the business end of any of the weapons he was now looking at, each looking as equally well-cared for as the armor did.

His smile abruptly became wolfish.  Not that it would matter in the end.  Those guards may have survived this encounter with him.  But eventually all Mardish, and all Solavar for that matter, would die at his hand when he discovered the Sword of Blood and used it to end the War of the Leaf and save his people.

The smile vanished and he heaved a sigh.  Yes, they would all die but first things first.  First he had to fight this blood duel and win.  Then he would see what the future beyond would hold for him.  With that thought firmly in mind, he tugged his shirt free of his breeches and began pulling it over his head.

Just as the light garment completely covered his head, the door directly behind him swung silently open and Kora stepped through.  Closing it carefully behind her, she then looked up at the taller human.  And at the sight of his broad, powerful shoulders, narrow waist and muscular back, all naked before her, Kora found her eyes widening appreciatively.