Bludgeon attacked first, feigning a grappling hold, and then throwing a looping right handed punch. The Westland Lion leaned back, letting the huge fist pass a hair’s breadth in front of his determined face. Then he ducked under with his head down, throwing a thundering flurry of blows to the bigger man’s gut. It sounded like a butcher’s tenderizing hammer, smashing into a thick slab of fresh meat. The Seaward Monster roared and flexed his body. He growled at the crowd, as he took each and every punch without faltering. Then, he brought both his fists down like war hammers into Lord Gregory spine, and sent the Lion Lord to his knees.
Gerard jumped to his feet, shouting his approval with thousands of others. At the moment, Hyden thought that his brother might have made a good bet. He only hoped that the steadily rocking scaffold they were perched on would hold until the fight was over. Already, it was rumbling and swaying more than he would’ve liked.
Lord Gregory seemed stunned, but only for a heartbeat. He lunged forward from his lower position, into Bludgeon’s knees, and lifted the big man’s feet clear of the ground. The thump of the Seawardsman’s body when he slammed flat onto his back, into the trampled grass, caused an audible gasp from the crowd. The onlooker’s collective intake of breath sounded in perfect unison with the whooshing exhale from the Monster. Since Bludgeon was still moving around on the ground, the Lion Lord didn’t hesitate to pounce. He leapt to the big man’s waist, straddled him, and began throwing violent hammer blows at his opponent’s head. Left and right, left and right, over and over, he pounded, to the cheers of the Westlanders in the crowd. Lord Gregory’s shoulders rolled with the force of his blows, and soon his hands were slinging blood.
Just when it began to look hopeless, Bludgeon somehow managed to heave, and bring a knee up into the Lion Lords back. With a scream of fury, he took advantage of the moment of imbalance, twisted, and rolled out from under the Lion, then staggered to his feet.
His face was a bloody mess. Already, one of his eyes was swollen closed. The white of his other eye was as red as the blood pouring out of the gaping gash above his brow. His nose and lips were battered flat, and a tooth was missing from his jaw. A triumphant cheer exploded from the groups of Westland spectators when they saw him.
“Come on Bludgeon!” Gerard yelled down at his fighter. His voice was but one of thousands urging the big man on. He glanced nervously at Hyden, who was already looking at him worriedly. They both cringed in unison and shared that old excited, anything can happen, look. Hyden turned back to the fight and yelled for Bludgeon to “Stomp the Lion!” Gerard joined in the call as the Seawardsman attempted another attack.
Bludgeon stepped in, just like he had the first time, throwing that same looping right handed punch that had missed. This time, when Lord Gregory leaned back to slip the blow, the Monster took another step forward and kicked out hard. His heavy boot hit the Lion Lord square in the chest, with such force, that the Westlander’s hands slapped his boot tips in midair as he was launched backwards. A cheer and a sympathetic “Oooh!” swept through the mass of people simultaneously when Lord Gregory crashed into the ground in a heap. He tried to roll to his feet, but ended up clutching his chest and yelling out in anguish. Bludgeon saw his chance and dove in at him.
Momentarily satisfied that his wager was safe, Gerard scanned the edges of the fighting circle for Shaella. If Bludgeon went on to win the fight, there would surely be a celebration. He wanted to be there to see her, to taste her lips again. He wanted to tell her that he was going to go with them to the Dragon’s Tooth Spire. In his mind’s eye, he had seen her betray him there, while the old crone had been telling him his future, but he knew in his heart that he could change that outcome. If he could make her love him, then there would be no betrayal. And if that didn’t work, he knew he could always use the ring to keep her from it. The other things he’d seen happen in that black rocky cavern were dark and grand, and far too tempting to resist. He pondered those vexing thoughts while he searched for Shaella. He looked at the faces, but didn’t see her again. He did, however, see a face that commanded his full attention.
“There Hyden! There!” Gerard pointed down at a person standing between the farthest two Redwolf guards that formed the pike rail.
“What are you pointing at?” Hyden was fully focused on the Brawl and glad that his brother seemed to be winning his bet. He saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“The witch that bought our eggs!” Gerard yelled, as he shook his finger towards the fighters below. “That woman, over there, with the whistle! She’s the one that tricked father and I this morning!”
Hyden looked around, and found her at the very edge of the pike rail. His focus zoomed in on her unexpectedly, causing his head to spin. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before. She looked close enough to touch now. The wild visual shift was unnerving, but he didn’t let it distract his mind. He wanted to know what this woman was about. It wasn’t a whistle she held to her mouth. Was it a flute? A strange kind of smoking pipe maybe? What was it?