Playing God

Jarek was waiting outside.

I had to give him my answer, and there was only one answer to give.

It felt like facing Drakos again. Hopelessly outmatched, no alternatives. But I was damned if I was going to let him have Senna without a fight.

Wait … to the victor go the spoils … but neither Senna nor Lira were my wives. Did that mean Jarek could claim both of them?

Fuck that for a game of tag. I had to fight, and I had to win.

I pulled the door open, and he was still standing there, his powerful arms folded over his massive chest. A few villagers were watching from across the street, blatant in their rubber-necking. Nothing like free entertainment in the form of drama.

“I accept,” I said. “Tomorrow morning—”

“No, now.” He slapped one large fist into his palm. “You come out ’ere now. The women too. Both of ’em. I want ’em to watch when I pummel the living crap out of yer.”

“Uh huh.” He’d just answered my question of whether Lira’s freedom was at stake.

This world needed some changes made, and I knew just the person to make sure they were implemented.

But one step at a time.

I glanced over my shoulder at Lira. “Who usually chooses the time and venue?”

“The challenger.”

Crap.

“Well, then. I suppose we better get on with it.”

We all walked out of the house, only a couple of hours after I’d walked into it. I wondered if it would still be mine roughly six minutes from now.

Jarek was leading our little party, and I followed in no hurry. Lira walked by my side. Senna was tagging along behind, but I couldn’t spare the girl too much thought. I needed to focus. The villagers I’d seen were following too, but then Lira had said the challenge was contested publicly. I wondered if Rolf was around somewhere.

He was. His forge had a good view of the square, in as much as the wide patch of road near the village well was the ‘square’. He put down his tools and wandered over.

“Trouble?” he asked me.

“Jarek interrupted dinner,” I said lightly.

“I challenge the newcomer!” Jarek yelled, lifting both arms as he preened around the road. “Come watch me smash ’is face in!”

Rolf glanced at me, concerned. “Jarek’s no pushover, Kaelan.”

“Mmm.” But an inkling of a plan was forming. “Three rounds of two minutes, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s how we do it.”

“A break between rounds?”

“Yep.”

“For how long?”

“Not long. A minute, no more.”

Five minutes between the start of round one and the end of round two. Perfect.

“And the winner is decided by…?”

“Last man standing.”

Alright, I had a plan ... of sorts. If I could survive long enough to pull it off.

Many of the villagers had gathered while Rolf and I had been talking, drawn by Jarek’s shouts and the growing crowd. Bjorn was there, and so was Therin. I didn’t know any of the rest.

“Who keeps time?”

“Me, usually. I stand around with my hammer, too, just to make sure folks play by the rules.” He shrugged. “Even Jarek will respect that.”

I could imagine he would. Jarek might be a big fellow, but Bjorn was as strong as an ox.

While we were waiting, I pulled up Jarek’s card:

Jarek the Brute		Class	Peasant	Race	Human
Primary		Secondary		Skills
Level	6	NF/NI		Attraction*	6
Strength	17			Attraction**	8
Health	48
Armor Class	10
Notes: *Attraction applies only to Senna **Attraction applies only to Lira

 

Oh, he so wasn’t making eyes at my girl. He’d only taken a single glance at Lira, through the door of my fucking house.

Strength 17. It wasn’t a surprise, but fuck. He’d flatten me in a straight brawl. I needed to stay smart, stay quick, and hope I could survive long enough to pull off my plan. I didn’t care that I couldn’t see his unarmed skill. Frankly, I didn’t want to. I only knew I couldn’t afford to lose this match—there was too much at stake.

Across the road, Jarek was taking his shirt off, passing it to another man who was giving him words of encouragement. I made a mental note of that fellow, too.

“Any rules?” I asked Rolf, as I pulled off my jacket, handing it to Lira.

“No weapons.” Rolf turned his eyes skyward, as if trying to remember if he’d forgotten something. “Yeah, that’s about it. No weapons. Oh, and no help. Knew I’d forgotten something. It has to be just the two of you.”

In other words, teeth, gouging, going for the eyes, and strikes below the belt were all perfectly legal. Got it.

“How do the rounds start and end?”

“I yell ‘begin’ or ‘stop’.”

That made a certain sense. “And timing?”

“Count my own heartbeats, usually.”

That wasn’t the best news. “I don’t mean any offence, my friend, but is that accurate?”

Rolf shrugged. “Do you want it to be?”

“If you don’t mind, on this occasion.” Timing was everything if my plan was to work.

Rolf glanced around. “Nira, be a dear and grab my timer, would you please?”

A woman walked off toward Rolf’s forge, returning a moment later with an hourglass filled with fine gray sand.

“Hourglass?” I said, one eyebrow raised. That didn’t sound too accurate.

Rolf shrugged again. “It’ll measure two minutes just fine.”

It would have to suffice.

“Are we doin’ this?” Jarek growled from across the road.

Pulling off my shirt, I gave that to Lira too, and stepped forward.

Jarek walked out to meet me, grinning as he came. “Y’know, yer gone and done me a favor.”

“Oh?” I said, not really interested.

Jarek swung his large arms, loosening up. “If yer hadn’t gone an’ taken that house an’ those girls, I’d’ve had to have done it the ol’ fashioned way.” He grinned again. “Now I’ll be in bed with both of ‘em by sunset.”

I turned to Rolf. “I’ve had enough of this guy. Let’s get this party started, eh?”

Rolf grinned. “Ready, Jarek?”

“Ready to smash his fuckin’ face in.”

“Ready, Kaelan?”

“Yep.”

“Begin!”

Activate God Power.

God Power Activated. 5 minutes remaining.

Jarek charged in like an ox, head down and arms spread wide. I knew what would happen if he got a hold of me.

He was a hell of a lot stronger than me, and probably more skilled. For now. We’d see how long that remained true, if I could survive the first two rounds.

I dived to my side, rolling under his out-stretched arm, gaining my feet as he lumbered past. He spun, far faster than I would’ve liked to have seen, a fist coming around in a haymaker that would’ve ended the fight right then if it had connected. I barely ducked under it, throwing a punch that landed just beneath his arm. He didn’t even flinch.

I might not have an unarmed combat skill, but I did have my dodge at rank seven, speed at nine. Would it be enough?

Jarek backhanded his fist at me, and I caught his forearm with both hands. That proved to be a mistake; it was like catching a baseball bat, swung by someone who really hated me. His raw strength pushed me back, and then his other fist slammed into my stomach.

I folded, gasping for air, barely able to dodge the elbow strike he followed up with. It clipped me above the eye, knocking me sideways. I rolled with the momentum and regained my feet just in time to spin away from his next charge. A quick kick to his foot as he passed sent him sprawling.

That wouldn’t have been a fair move in the boxing ring back at school, but here it earned a titter of laughter from the crowd. It seemed they weren’t rooting for Jarek. He pushed himself up, his grin replaced with a scowl. Oops, I pissed him off.

Whether that was a good or bad thing, I wasn’t sure.

He charged again, and once more I ducked under his arm. But too late, I saw the gleam of cunning in his eye. He knew my tactics now, and while he might not be the sharpest tool in the box, he was no stranger to brawling. He stopped his headlong charge far more abruptly than I’d expected, and his fist came down toward my ribs. I barely blocked in time, his blow striking my arm, yet there was enough strength behind it to knock me to the ground.

He was on me before I could recover, his foot lashing out as I tried desperately to roll away. He caught me in my thigh, then again on my arm. I scooped a handful of the sandy earth and flung it in his face, using the fleeting distraction to scramble to my feet.

Jarek shook his head, brushing an arm over his face, then growled. “Gonna fuck you up, Kaelan, and then I’m gonna fuck your girls. Both of ’em.”

He came in again, no lumbering charge this time. His fists were swinging like Rolf’s hammer. I’d felt his strength and knew I couldn’t afford to take a single hit, barely managing to stay out of his way. I did land a couple of punches of my own, but they had little effect. I’d have to land a strike on something vulnerable or important to stop this guy.

So that ruled out his brain.

He threw another punch, and I ducked beneath it. But again his eyes glinted as I fell into his trap, and his large hand landed on my head, grabbing my hair. He held me still and pulled his other fist back, and the only thing I could do was raise both arms.

The punch crashed into my forearms, slamming them into my face. His next punch caught me in my side, my ribs bruised with the impact and the breath knocked out of me.

“Stop.” Rolf called, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

But Jarek still held my hair, and I wasn’t about to drop my guard. His fist came at me again. I saw it at the last moment, jerking my head to the side, but still caught a glancing blow on my already bruised eye. The skin split above my eyebrow, and blood ran into my eye and down my cheek. I blinked through the stinging.

“Stop!” Rolf shouted, lifting his hammer as he took a step toward us.

Jarek threw me down, then raised his hands as he turned to Rolf and grinned. “I’ve stopped, blacksmith, I’ve stopped.”

Rolf spat on the ground at his feet. “Free punch to Kaelan,” Rolf said. “Jarek, if you move, he’ll have another.”

“I know t’ rules,” Jarek grunted.

I pushed myself up. Jarek knew he could take my strikes; he’d shrugged off every one so far. But what he didn’t know was that I’d mostly dodged up to this point, and landing another punch would really help. I stepped up to him, pulled my fist back, and punched him right in the nose.

“Fucker!” Jarek howled, clutching his face as his eyes teared up and blood spurted from between his fingers. I probably hadn’t hit him that hard, relative to his ox-like constitution, but if it made it more difficult for him to see, I’d take the advantage.

“A minute break,” Rolf said.

I staggered away, getting some space, letting my God Power know there was a lull in combat, hoping to see …

Attack has gained 2 ranks.

Defense has gained 3 ranks.

Speed has gained 3 ranks.

Dodge has gained 4 ranks.

You have gained a new skill: Unarmed Combat. Unarmed Combat is now level 1.

Unarmed Combat has gained 5 ranks.

… that.

I fucking loved my God Power.

And I had about three minutes left.

Lira watched me, her eyes full of concern, fingers twitching as though ready to cast Restoration. I gave her a slight shake of the head, and she clenched her hands behind her back.

Senna stood beside her, hand covering her mouth, eyes wide with fear. I wanted to tell her it would be okay, but I was on the wrong side of the road from them.

Jarek was closer. He stepped up to Senna, snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her in against him. She’d been staring at me and hadn’t noticed until it was too late. She beat her fists on his chest, but he didn’t even flinch.

“Not long now, yer lit’l thing,” he said. “You’ll have me inside you tonight.”

Then one large hand came up, groping her breast through her shift.