The crowd cheered. My knees went weak. Did I hear right? Were these guys going to go after one another’s heads?
I wanted to scream. I wanted to jump down, grab Loor, and pull her out of there. This was insane! I felt totally, absolutely helpless. As impossible as this sounds, I started to sweat some more.
The Ghee announcer shouted, “To the brave, we salute you!”
He saluted the first trio, then Loor and her team. The crowd cheered again. My stomach twisted. There was every possibility that in a few minutes, Loor would be dead. And for what? A drink of water? The announcer walked quickly out of the killing box. Once he was clear, the two groups of warriors faced each other, and saluted again with their swords.
I wanted to shout out, “Stop!” but that would have been about as stupid as this whole spectacle. The two trios of warriors backed off from each other, while keeping their eyes on their opponents. The crowd quieted. It was eerie. There must have been a thousand people lining the balconies of that square, but for that one moment, all I could hear was the wind from the desert blowing through the arid streets of Xhaxhu.
The trumpet sounded again. The battle was on.
JOURNAL #20
(CONTINUED)
ZADAA
Thetwo trios of warriors faced off against each other in the dry, dusty square. They all looked pretty scary, wearing the black leather armor of the Ghee. They were definitely pros…all muscle with short lethal swords and cold eyes fixed on their opponents. I saw no difference between the group loyal to the royal family of Xhaxhu, and the rebels who wanted to start a war with the Rokador. They all just looked like…warriors. And Loor’s being the only girl among them didn’t mean she was at a disadvantage. No way. I’d seen her level guys who towered over her. But when you had six fierce warriors mixing it up with swords, anything could happen.
I stole a quick glance up to the mysterious guy who was watching from above. He was hidden beneath his purple cloak, so I couldn’t get a good look at his face. I wondered if he was a Rokador trying to blend in, like I was. Seeing him stand there made me realize that wearing a heavy cloak in this kind of heat probably made us stand out more than if we were walking around with our white skin gleaming in the sun. The truth was, it didn’t matter. Nobody cared about us. All eyes were focused down into the square, waiting for the carnage.
The warriors didn’t move. I wondered if there was going to be some kind of signal to start the fight. Would there be a whistle? Was a referee going to come in and drop his hand? Or maybe this was more like a quick draw, where the action would begin as soon as somebody twitched. My stomach turned at the thought that I would see these warriors going at it until two of their heads were lopped off. I never even thought I could stomach one of those bullfights where the poor bull was skewered at the end. That was bad enough. The idea of people being decapitated went way past gross and into the land of gruesome. Even worse, the idea that one of them was Loor made me go numb. It was like a dream. A really bad dream.
The two groups stood that way for what seemed like forever. I was dying. When was this going to start? The answer came a moment later. What happened wasn’t at all what I expected. In some ways, it was worse.
The silence was torn by a hideous sound such as I had never heard before. It was like an angry screech that came from some vicious animal. In fact, that’s exactly what it was. A gasp went up from the crowd when two doors were flung open at the base of one of the buildings, and a black zhou beast charged into the square.
Yikes.
The danger just got dialed up. The beast looked pretty much like the statue in the center of the square. It was a giant cat, way bigger than the klees of Eelong, which were pretty much human-size. If it was up on its hind legs, this thing would be taller than Loor by five feet. Its paws were immense, with six curved claws-I could tell because those lethal claws were out and ready for action. The beast was mostly black, but its sleek fur had shiny spots of red blood oozing from small wounds everywhere. I guessed that somebody must have stabbed at it a bunch of times so it would be PO’d enough to fight, like with a bullfight. It was a logical guess, because this monster definitely wanted a piece of somebody. It leaped from the open doorway, ready to roll. Instantly the door was slammed shut behind it. Whoever was inside didn’t want this bad boy to turn around and jump back in, looking for the guy who punched it full of holes. The monster crouched on all fours, looking around for something to chew. It snarled viciously revealing razorlike fangs. My mouth went dry.
Oh yeah, in case you forgot, the zhou beast had two heads, both with equally long, sharp fangs. The two heads acted separately, peering around with keen eyes. I wondered which head was the one that controlled the rest of the body. If one wanted to go right and the other left, well, that would be interesting. This whole event would have been interesting, if Loor hadn’t been down there about to be eaten.
The two teams of warriors went into action. They held their swords and shields out defensively. I quickly realized that they weren’t interested in fighting one another. This was all about the zhou beast. Two heads had to be severed. That’s what the announcer had said. I had to guess that the two heads he was talking about belonged to the zhou thingy. The contest was really about which team would get the heads. At first I was relieved that Loor wasn’t in danger of being killed by a fellow Ghee. But it was quickly replaced by the fear she would be killed by a two-headed cat monster. Dead is dead.
The two trios of warriors circled the beast. The monster whipped its heads back and forth, watching them. After a few seconds of this size-up, the beast stopped snarling and crouched low, its tail whipping back and forth like, well, like an angry cat. I wasn’t sure if it was afraid, or surrendering, or getting ready to spring.
Loor’s team struck first. One warrior had a rope and lassoed the zhou like a rodeo cowboy, snaring one of its heads. The crowd roared its approval. But before Loor or her other teammate could make the next move, the rival team took advantage. One of the warriors leaped onto the back of the zhou and raised his sword, ready to plunge it into the back of the two-headed cat. Bad move. Only one of the zhou’s heads was being controlled by Loor’s teammate. The other head was free and looking for trouble. Before the warrior could attack, the zhou’s free head twisted around at an angle that I didn’t think was possible. I guess the warrior on its back didn’t think it was possible either, or he wouldn’t have been dumb enough to be there. The zhou clamped its mouth around the legs of its tormentor, making the warrior scream in agony. He was so surprised that he didn’t even use his sword. The zhou yanked the warrior off its back and started snapping its head back and forth…with the warrior’s leg still in its mouth, the owner along for the ride.
It was gruesome to see this guy being whipped around like a toy, but I didn’t want to miss anything, so I sort of squinted. I know, what a wuss, but my words can’t describe how horrible it was. After a few seconds the zhou spit the warrior out, sending him crashing down to the dusty ground. His armor was torn and there was blood everywhere, but he was alive. Loor and her team grabbed the rope and worked together to pull the zhou away from the fallen warrior. The zhou fought back, but Loor and the others managed to drag it far enough away from the injured warrior so that his teammates could run in to rescue him. I thought that was a pretty good show of sportsmanship. They had saved their opponent’s life.
As it turned out, the injured guy’s teammates weren’t as caring. Nobody went to his rescue. They let him lie there, dying. I didn’t know which was worse, seeing this guy nearly bitten in half, or knowing that his friends didn’t care about saving his life. That told me a lot about the Ghee warriors who favored war against the Rokador. They were cold-blooded…just the kind of guys Saint Dane loves to hang with. Note to self: Keep an eye on the rebel Ghee warriors.
Things got worse. The zhou suddenly sprang into the air so quickly that the crowd gasped. I did too. This beast got some serious vertical. It moved so quickly that it took Loor’s team by surprise. It yanked the rope away from Loor and one other warrior. The third warrior wasn’t so lucky. He got his arm wrapped up in the rope. The zhou whipped its head back, pulling the helpless warrior off his feet. The zhou’s next move was to pounce on the fallen Ghee. The poor guy tried to roll away, but he was so tangled in his own rope he couldn’t move fast enough. Unlike Loor’s team, the rival warriors weren’t about to try and save him either. No big surprise.
But Loor tried. Without hesitation she leaped at the zhou, shield first. With one arm she slammed her shield
