The gamekeeper called out loudly, “One.” But then quickly moved to strike Valentin.
Valentin rolled just out of another thrust down by the gamekeeper and then willed his legs to pop him up as fast as he could, which was barely fast enough. Next inspired by his first blood point, he lunged forward risking a blow to himself, but managed to hit the game keeper again. However, he was hit too. “One,” Valentin also called out loudly enough for the nearby drone to hear him.
At the same time the gamekeeper called out, “Two.”
Now it was serious. They were locked again in a fast frenzy of sword play just as they had been at the beginning of the duel.
Valentin was tired his legs were giving out. Finally, he was pushed back by the gamekeeper, who managed to strike him in his arm and draw blood and he needed to concede, “Two.” But as he spit out the word, he realized he was just going to rush the game keeper, that it was now or never. Before the other man even realized what was happening, Valentin ran as fast and as strong as he could, blue eyes blazing into shocked grey ones and the gamekeeper was hit deeply in his shoulder, red blood began gushing out. A medic drone flew in.
“Three. Val the Outcast may move on. May the gods light your path,” the gamekeeper then turned his attention towards the medic drone.
Valentin dropped the sword as was a requirement and moved forward into the grasslands without looking back. He passed a few other men dueling with other gamekeepers as he passed through the tall grass. When he began to see other men in front of him already entering the lake as the sun set, he wondered if they would meet their gamekeepers for a duel on the other side or if they had just been more proficient in dueling.
Regardless, Valentin was not a good swimmer. His plan was to spend the night, which would only be a few hours of darkness given the location of the race on the planet and the season, hidden in the brush on the beach and then swim in the daylight. He was worried that if he tried to cross alone in the darkness, he would lose his way and drown of exhaustion. Every year it happened that competitors died swimming in the darkness. One thing that Valentin always accepted about himself were his limitations.
He found a secluded place on the beach and watched the purple sky turn to black and the Capital Planet become a brighter light in the night sky. Then he closed his eyes and slept lightly.
Valentin awoke a few hours later when the first light hit the beach. He immediately got up and stretched. His muscles were sore but not nearly as sore as he thought they would be, then he took a piss in a nearby bush, drank some clean lake water and began his swim across the lake. He didn’t see anyone else. He reckoned it would take him close to five hours to swim across.
He began his swim leisurely, not wanting to tire himself out. He switched between freestyle and backstroke for variety and to keep an eye on where he might be heading. Once he reached the middle of the lake and could not see beach on either side, he willed himself to be calm and to keep swimming straight.
Valentin’s heart leapt when he spotted the beach on the other side 40 minutes later and he sprinted in. Some men who had been behind him had inevitably caught up. But he wasn’t surprised by this. Swimming was not his strong suit. And he had already passed his duel which they may or may not have done.
Once he was out of the water, he ran into the forest and focused on paying attention to moving in a straight line and not thinking about the pain on his feet from the hard and sharp bushy plants on the forest floor. He told himself that after a while, his brain would simply stop telling his body it was painful. All around him, Valentin heard gamekeepers surprising other competitors and he was grateful that he had already completed his duel. Now he just needed to get through the forest, the dagger throwing and then make it to the end.
He was grateful that the forest was cool and as he kept pushing himself, spurred on by other competitors having to stop to duel, he realized that he was alone again. He wished he knew what place he was in overall, but that was part of the game too. He kept thinking about the human woman and the smile. He decided regardless of where he ended in this race, he would seek her out. She was too beautiful and mysterious to at least not exchange a few words with.
Valentin reached the edge of the forest and found himself at the base of the mountain. He decided that since he was a good climber that he would continue. His original plan had been to spend the night at the base of the mountain, but he felt surprisingly good and so he began climbing. Halfway up, he ran into another competitor. A maximum class man who had heard him climbing up.
“Turn back Val the Outcast. I’ll not let you pass,” the man yelled down.
Valentin looked at the yellow rock in his hands. He was not in a good position to yell back or defend himself, so he replied calmly, “Well, as you can see the only way for me to go is up. Let’s settle this face to face in the next clearing.”
The maximum class man grunted which Valentin took as a sign of agreement.
All the while Valentin climbed, he thought, Have I come this far to be killed by a racist on a mountain? No. I will kill him before I let him throw me off the mountain. So, Valentin climbed slowly imagining every scenario so he would be prepared. By the time he reached the top and stood in front of the other man, he realized that all his worries were for nothing, this man was not strong. He was tall but weak. Valentin quickly summarized he was fast and most likely a cheat.
Valentin didn’t wait before he punched the man in the face with everything he had, sending the man almost over the edge. Valentin grabbed his wrist tightly before he fell off, though. The man didn’t take kindly to that and punched Valentin in the face hard with his other fist. Valentin didn’t let go of the maximum class man though or move, “Are you done now?”
The maximum class man struck Valentin again and he moved them both away from the edge. Pulling so roughly on the man he was sure he might have dislocated something in the man’s shoulder. Once they were both in the clear, Valentin let go of the man’s arm and struck him down to the ground a couple of times with his fist. He could hear the drones buzzing around them now and knew that this incident was being played out for the Empire. The man wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t going to be moving soon either. Then Valentin asked, “Is there anyone else up there?”
“I’m not telling you,” spat the man with blood coming out of his mouth as he spoke.
Valentin kicked him hard, “I’m the future. Soon the Empire will be riddled with half-Alliance and half-human people. Get used to it.” Then he wiped his bloody hand on a nearby plant and walked away to begin climbing up to the next clearing, but now he was going to be as quiet as he could. However, throughout the next few hours he heard nothing. As he climbed the sky turned from dark blue, to purple and then it was dark and night. Valentin kept climbing. There was nowhere to stop.
By morning, Valentin had reached the top of the mountain and while he thought he would sleep up there, he saw many competitors climbing up behind him. Rather than trying to ward them off by throwing rocks at them, he decided to just descend the mountain on the other side and run as fast as he could to the dagger throwing area of the competition. He was in the home stretch now. He had no idea what place he was in, but he felt like he had to be close to the top five. He kept telling himself, I must be in the top five. I must keep going.
Valentin descended the mountain as fast as he could with shaky legs and arms. By mid-morning, he was surrounded by a cool forest again. His feet only hurt momentarily when he began running through the rough forest floor before they became accustomed to the hurt again. His feet were bloody and injured beyond belief, but he knew when he finished the race, he would receive the best medical treatment in the galaxy and all the pain, cuts, bruises and blisters would disappear in seconds. By midday he could see the clearing for the dagger throwing. The spectators from the start of the race were also here. He could hear them talking in the echo of the valley and the smell of food hung in the air, making his stomach growl.