All That Glitters Ch. 30

The Speaker slammed his staff of office again. "Regardless of Kit-Zur's true motive, challenge has been made, and the stakes of the challenge have been set.

"However, Kit-Zur, you have failed to state what you would do should you be defeated. You must state your side of the claim on your defeat," the Speaker once more slammed his staff onto the deck.

"I, Kit-Zur, will become Kirlen to this human, should I be defeated, and surrender my house to this Raymond Ro," Kit-Zur stated formally, the word 'Ro' spoken with icy contempt.

"I accept," Raymond said, surprising all before him.

"Raymond," the Speaker said, intervening. "The stakes have been made greater than you are aware. Not only will you have to break off the negotiations but you will have to submit yourself and your household to this Rai, should you be defeated."

"Yes," Raymond agreed. "However, should I walk away, then there will be war between our people, a war you cannot win, Speaker. I have no choice but to accept the challenge, this Yudha-Seypec.

"Yudha-Seypec Kayl!" Kit-Zur shouted, bumping the forms of combat up yet again.

Shouting broke out between the members of the Emperor's negotiating team and Kit-Zur and her supporters that ended when the Speaker slammed his staff against the deck.

"Challenge has been made and accepted," the Speaker roared over the din. "What say you, Raymond of the Union? Do you accept the modified challenge?"

"This Rai wants to fight me to the death," Raymond stated. "That puts me at a distinct disadvantage, as I do not wish to kill this Pindar. Doing so is not a challenge to me.

"It is apparent to me that she is trying to get me to quit the challenge in order that humans will cease their negotiations with her people. She is hoping that increasing the severity of the challenge will make me walk away from it, from these negotiations, and from your people. I will not do that, Speaker. I will accept the challenge but on the caveat that I will not kill this Pindar," Raymond finished. There was an instant roar at the implied mockery of Kit-Zur Rai from her entourage.

Sha-Ret came to speak with Raymond.

"Raymond, she is a skilled warrior and a long time rival of mine," Sha-Ret explained. "Her attack is meant as an assault against me, as she cannot legally lay challenge to me.

"Are you sure you want to go against her? She could easily kill you. What would your people do if she succeeds? Will they hold us responsible and go to war against us, Raymond? That would be something that we do not want," Sha-Ret ended.

"I understand, Sha-Ret," Raymond stated. "I cannot tell you what our people will do should she succeed. However, I can say what they will do should I walk away. War would be inevitable and very costly to your people, Sha-Ret," Raymond stated.

"You will lose your ship to her, Raymond, and all those on your ship will be hers to control," Sha-Ret reminded him.

"Sha-Ret, Liea is my business partner, not my mate," Raymond reminded her. "As such, she has full control over the ship should something happen to me, as I have should something happen to her.

"The only thing that Kit-Zur would gain should she win, is my body," Raymond explained.

"Raymond, I did not think you so devious," Sha-Ret said with a smile that showed teeth.

The Speaker moved over to a painted ring on the deck. He placed himself at the center of the ring and slammed his staff against the deck.

"Challenge has been made and accepted," he called out. "Challengers enter the ring."

Raymond moved to the ring but was stopped when the Speaker pointed his staff at him. "Challengers must enter the ring naked, Raymond of the Union," he said stiffly.

"Afraid to show your body to me, human?" Kit-Zur laughed, sending a ripple of delight through her entourage. She pulled the knot of her Ga-Den at her right hip and the larger knot at her left shoulder, removing her Ga-Den and giving it to one of her Kirlen to hold. She lifted her baldric, belt and sword away from her body, drawing the Kaldar and passing the leather to another of her Kirlen to hold.

She stood naked, save for her deck shoes, and holding her Kaldar. She was tall for a Pod-Drran. She was at least 10cm taller than Raymond, though slimmer. The Pod-Drran had four breasts and no hair on their bodies, the only hair being the quill like hollow white hairs on their head.

There were a few scars on her body, though none of them marred her beauty in the eyes of the watching Pod-Drran males.

Raymond removed his jumpsuit having to temporarily removed his deck shoes to do so. The deck was cold on his feet. His underwear followed as did his body armour.

For the first time, the Pod-Drran got to see a live human naked. They were impressed. His muscle definition was incredible. The Pod-Drran did not have squares of muscles on their abdomen. Instead, they had sheets of muscle that bound around their midriff to provide support and power to their frames. It also acted as a kind of armour, making it difficult to allow the impacts of blows through to the organs beneath.

Though Raymond was slightly smaller than Kit-Zur, his shoulders were broader and his arms and legs powerfully muscled.

Despite the small anatomical differences, and the odd pinkish colour of his skin, this male was well put together, the females in attendance thought.

Like Kit-Zur, Raymond had scars, impressive scars, lots of scars. They showed that this male had seen action and survived. As well, there was some kind of permanent marks on his left chest.

For the first time, Kit-Zur and those with her, wondered if she had perhaps bitten off a little more than her teeth could handle...

The Speaker pointed his staff at Raymond. "The laws of Yudha-Seypec mean that once you enter the ring, only one can leave it undefeated. Should you step out of the ring while in combat, you will be declared defeated. As Kit-Zur Rai has declared for Yudha-Seypec Kayl, that will mean you will be executed. Do you understand, Raymond of the Union?"

"I do, Speaker," Raymond replied.

"Raymond of the Union, you do not have a weapon?" the Speaker asked.

"I am a weapon, Speaker," Raymond replied calmly, the words ringing in the silence.

He came to stand in all his naked glory before the Speaker, waiting patiently for Kit-Zur to enter the ring. Kit-Zur roared to her people outside the ring, a roar that was returned from them. She stepped into the circle, coming to a place not far from the Speaker.

The speaker slammed his staff of office on the deck then roared for all to hear..

"The challenge of Yudha-Seypec Kayl has been made by Kit-Zur Rai and accepted conditionally by Raymond Clark of the Union. He does not wish to kill the Rai if he can avoid it.

"Kit-Zur Rai, state your name and your achievements..."

"I am Kit of the House Zur, Rai," Kit stated, holding her Kaldar in her two hands to show the symbol of her house and her name etched on the weapon. "I am the victorious conqueror of nine Laduq-Saq (combat tournaments), and many challenges. I have killed eight warriors and defeated fourteen others, all in single combat!

"I stand before you in this ring in open contempt of this human, who has come to challenge the might of the Empire and the Emperor himself. I cannot allow this affront to our people; thus I challenge him and his people to keep them away from the Pod-Drran.

"His defeat will mean his death and the end of negotiations between our people and theirs!" At the end, she raised her Kaldar high and roared to her entourage who roared with her.

Raymond waited for the excitement to die down, then nodded to the Speaker, who slammed his staff on the deck.

"Raymond Clark of the Union, state your name and achievements..."

"I am Raymond of the House Clark, my own house. I was once a captain in the Union Navy Combat Engineers and have seen much combat and death for which I have received many decorations from the Union Navy. I have survived fourteen years of war, all of it at the front lines.

"On my last mission, I was sent onto the home world of our enemies with thirty-five other Combat Engineers of the Black Lightning Combat Engineer Brigade. Between us, we destroyed the planet's ability to make war, bringing its people to their knees and forcing them to surrender.

"That is what Combat Engineers do, we prepare the way, which is the motto of the Black Lightning Brigade, 'Parate Viam'," he told them as he pointed out the symbol on his chest. "Thirty-six of us went in, eight came out. The remainder died, killed by the people of the planet we assaulted.

"I stopped counting the number of opponents I killed when the count reached one thousand. I do not know how many others I have killed but the number is many time larger than those I counted.

"Kit-Zur has a weapon. Her Kaldar. Combat Engineers are trained to be able to kill with all they have at hand, even if it is just, their hand. I am a weapon. I need not a weapon of steel to defeat Kit-Zur.

"Now that you know who and what I am, do you wish to withdraw your challenge, Kit-Zur Rai?" he asked.

The question shocked all the Pod-Drran watching for its audacity. Never before had a challenged asked if the challenger wished to withdraw. It angered the crowd that supported Kit-Zur who urged her to kill the pale skinned human. Kit-Zur snarled her answer and raised her sword, adopting a fighting stance. But the words had touched Kit-Zur's mind, a niggling doubt placed there.

The Speaker slammed his staff into the deck and shouted, "Begin!"

Amid a roar from those watching, Kit-Zur made the first move. She used her superior height and reach, stepping forward to thrust her Kaldar at Raymond.

Raymond dropped into a crouch and spun away from the weapon, turning to slam the palm of his hand against the flat of the blade as it passed him, the sharp blow forcing the Kaldar to move away from him. He then twisted around and slammed his foot into Kit-Zur's right knee or tried to. However, Kit had stepped slightly in the direction her blade had been forced, so Raymond connect with the large muscle below the knee instead of the knee itself.

Kit snarled in pain as Raymond's foot hit her leg. She spun back against the flow of her current direction, bringing the Kaldar around in a wide loop meant to decapitate Raymond.

Raymond had anticipated this move and stepped backwards, the tip of the sword swooping by not far from his face. Raymond stepped in once again and grabbed at Kit's hands as she brought her weapon back toward him, pulling her in faster and bringing her hands downwards. He twisted through the movement, stepping behind her and brought her hands down to below the level of his own knees. The taller Rai was forced to make a roll to avoid slamming into the deck face first. She came back up, her sword pointed at Raymond, or where she thought he was. However, he wasn't there.

Raymond had taken several large steps to his right, following the rolling Kit to be in place as she came up. He reached out with his left foot to kick her in the head. Kit saw his move and raised her arm taking his foot on her shoulder.

Once again Kit went flying, this time rolling to the right. She came up ready for Raymond to repeat his move, the flat of her weapon parallel to the deck, ready to impale the treacherous human as he moved towards her.

Raymond was moving forward to close the gap when he saw her move. He clicked his heels together in the manner that activated his magnetic soles and they stopped him dead in his tracks, just before the point of the Kaldar. He broke the magnetic lock on one of his shoes by rotating his foot forward and brought the foot back to click his heels together to deactivate the magnets.

Kit now had to step forward to bring her blade into play.

Raymond jumped high and clicked his heels again activating the magnets. His right foot came down on the flat of the Kaldar, sticking magnetically to it, his body bearing it down until the tip hit the deck, his weight now causing the sword to flex.

Kaldar's are well made. The sword flexed and then rebounded. Raymond clicked his heels shutting off the magnets and used the rebounding sword to propel him upwards a little faster. He lashed out with his right foot, catching Kit-Zur hard in the chin shattering the bones there.

Kit fell backwards, blinded by pain. She widely swung the sword hoping to catch Raymond but felt nothing as she spun around. She rolled on her shoulder and came up looking around for her opponent, who was right where he been when he kicked her, not having moved. He smiled sweetly at her, a Pod-Drran smile, and gave her a little wave of his fingers, the kind of wave a child made to friends.

Forgetting that her chin was shattered, Kit-Zur roared at the implied insult, or tried to. Pain exploded in her face and suddenly more pain exploded in her left temple region, as Raymond ran forward and connected the heel of his shoe with her head during her momentary distraction with the pain in her chin.

The blow might have killed a human. Would certainly have knocked them unconscious, however, the Pod-Drran were a warrior race, their bodies adopted to war, including their skulls. The brain was well protected inside the hard case of the extra thick skull. A blow that would have killed a human knocked Kit down and caused her to shake her head a little, not something she should have done as her broken chin let her know with a blaze of pain...

The pain in her chin was beginning to recede some, forced back thanks to her combat training showing her how to ignore pain until the end of the combat. Kit growled and rose, turning toward Raymond, sword extended...only Raymond wasn't there.

Raymond was behind her and slipped forward to tap the back of her left knee hard with his right foot, overbalancing her and causing her to fall in that direction. Kit turned it into a roll. She came back up sputtering and looking furious, her chin flaring in pain yet again. Once again, Raymond was not in front of her.

Kit stepped to the left and swung her sword in an arc but Raymond was directly behind her and inside the arc of her sword, following her turn. Once again he tapped the back of a knee, this time her right knee, sending her sprawling.

Kit tried to roll but wound up flat on her face. Raymond did an elbow drop to the middle of her back sending an unbelievable shot of pain racing up her spine. She dropped her Kaldar.

Kit's Pod-Drran heritage saved her yet again, as an extra thick cord of muscle surrounded her spine. A blow that would have seriously injured a human only managed to irritate the now extremely pissed Pod-Drran. Once more Raymond rose up and dropped down on her back, this time closer to her shoulders. While it did no damage to her back, it did result in pushing her already injured face into the deck.

Pain exploded from her chin, causing Kit to cry out. The movement of her chin just caused her more pain.

Blinded by pain, her eyes tearing up, her grip on her Kaldar momentarily lost, she tried to roll out from under him. Raymond grabbed an arm and forced an arm lock on the Rai. Human/Pod-Drran physiology being fairly similar, the arm block was successful, though Raymond had to put extra force on it to be effective.

Kit saw and reached out with her free hand to her Kaldar, not far from her body. She grabbed it and swung it over her shoulder at Raymond's legs.

Raymond saw it coming and rolled away, the Kaldar slamming harmlessly into the deck. Both came up looking at each other with wariness in their eyes.

Kit was angry, her entourage silent, as Raymond had been the aggressor from the beginning. Empty handed, he had landed the first serious blow of the combat, breaking her jaw. Kit felt liquid filling her mouth and tried, unsuccessfully, to spit it out, the broken jaw not letting her do it, giving her more pain for the attempt.

She let the liquid drool from the corner of her lip, finally emptying her mouth. She reached up and wiped the drool from her sore lip looking down to note a combination of drool and blood on the back of her hand. She wiped it against her shoulder and took the beginning stance of one of her sword forms.

Her entourage noted the move and began to encourage her from the sidelines. Two steps forward, thrust, swing through half an arc, turn the feet and swing through the full circle coming back from the other side. Drop down into a half crouch, end of form one, begin form two, don't think, keep moving.

Raymond saw the determination in Kit-Zur's eyes and knew she had figured things out. He saw her move and swing, move and swing, the blade moving through a deadly arc on each swing.

Raymond stayed where he was, letting her come to him, stepping back only when she swung. The swings were long arcs of destruction but the Pod-Drran swords were long and heavy. Once an arc started, they could not be easily stopped, only redirected.

Raymond let the tip of the sword move through the space in front of him then stepped into Kit's body and landed several telling blows with his hands, then simply step away as she moved to bring her sword around.

This human did not fight like anyone Kit had ever fought before! He was quick, strong, intelligent in how he fought, and his blows hurt! Each time she tried to move to place him in the arc of her sword, he simply stepped away, leaving her unbalanced because of lack of expected contact that missed. He was still playing her, even when he was on the defensive!

Pod-Drran never went on the defensive, the only defensive move they new was the parry. If they started defensive combat, they were at a disadvantage, so all Pod-Drran did was attack. This human was going on the defensive to block, redirect, or avoid her strikes, then counterattacking with several debilitating blows and stepping away before she could attack again. His movements were infuriating. Worse, she could not see a pattern in them.

Raymond let the sword move through an arc and stepped into Kit again. He aimed a foot against her left knee, this time kicking her from the side rather than from behind, his intent to damage the knee. The blow missed the knee by centimeters but was still telling in its affects.

Kit screamed at the sudden pain in her leg, then screamed again as pain exploded in her jaw from the scream. Kherd! This human, weaponless, was the hardest challenge she had every been involved in!

The impacts Kit was taking were beginning to affect her bodies efficiency. Blows to her head, middle, back, and legs were leaving weakened muscles and bruises on her. She had to do something soon, as her entourage was silenced for a second time.

Kit decided to take a page from the human, and simply do something unexpected. She watched as he prepared to move and shifted her strike from an arc to a thrust as she moved past him.

Success!! She felt the tip of her Kaldar penetrate his abdomen! She had finally drawn blood on this human.

Raymond saw her change her swing pattern and jumped back but not fast enough. The tip of her Kaldar made it through and hit him in the stomach. It penetrated maybe two centimeters, fortunately not hitting anything vital, however, red blood flowed.

Kit stepped back and swung her weapon in an arc that was designed to take Raymond's head off. Raymond saw the move and ducked under her blade, running in fast and kicked her hard in the groin. Pod-Drran physiology being what it was, the move hurt Kit, bad! Even females could be hurt by such a kick.

Kit doubled over in surprise and tried to step back, but Raymond was there yet again. He threw a hard blow to the back of her head at the base of her skull. A move that, had it been directed to a human would have ended this fight, only wound up hurting Raymond's hand as it connected with the hard Pod-Drran skull.

Even so, this time it hurt Kit more than she realized. She stumbled forward, momentarily dizzy from the blow, her blade's tip dropping down almost to the deck. She caught herself quickly but not quickly enough.