The Battle Of A Lifetime Ch. 1

Dakkoth reached into a bedside table with one hand and drew out a pouch of herbs. Holding Silvaeya with one hand he dumped the packet into a cup of water on the table, and brought the drink up to her mouth so that she could drink it down. The effects were immediate and astonishing. Silvaeya stopped shivering and much of her color came back to her face, as a fresh rush of energy came back to her. Dakkoth sat the now empty cup back on the table and brought his hand back up to hold her once more.

They remained like that for quite sometime, with Dakkoth just holding her, but eventually Dakkoth could no longer control himself, and he leaned down and kissed her forehead and stroked her long, silky black hair.

Silvaeya’s body shook, but this time from passion, not the fever, and she lifter her face up to Dakkoth’s and the lips met in a wild, passionate kiss. Dakkoth dragged Silvaeya down onto the bed beside him, and the passion that had been kept locked up inside was released in a frenzy of kissing.

Later, as they lay on Dakkoth’s bed, resting in the circle of each others arms, Silvaeya finally spoke. “Why are you here Dakkoth? What did you do that warranted you being sent to the gladiatorial pits?”

Dakkoth took a long to time to gather his thoughts, and for a moment Silvaeya thought that she had crossed into forbidden territory, but then Dakkoth began to spin his tale.

“When I was ten, a traveling weapons master stayed at my house while hiding from assassins and recovering from wounds he had received while on the road. While he stayed with me I was fortunate enough that he noticed my talent early on, and in exchange for hiding him, he began to teach me of his ways while he recovered. After he got better and left, I closed down my house and took to traveling to broaden my horizons and to gain experience. My skill with the sword continued to grow rapidly and soon my skills had become legendary. Many assassination attempts were made on my life, and from fending them off it made me the cold, calculating fighter you see before you today. The nobles of the city began to get nervous of my skill, and so together with the help of some of the high city officials they hatched a plot to frame me, for they knew that they could never kill me, so they framed me instead, and it succeeded.”

Silvaeya was silent for a while as she tried to absorb all that she had just been told, but then finally spoke. “I hope this doesn’t seem sudden or strange to you Dakkoth, but I think I love you.”

“I know, silly,” he said, “I feel the same way. Felt it since the moment we practiced together in the gym. You’re a very special woman. I just never thought that I would find love. I have shut that emotion out for so long it may take me a while to get used to it again. I hope you can understand this.”

Silvaeya snuggled up close to him and said, “Don’t worry Dakkoth, you’ll never be alone again, I promise.”

Silvaeya leaned over and dropped kiss after kiss on Dakkoths lips, and then with a coy look moved under the sheets and Dakkoth felt an electric shock go through him as her lips wrapped around his thick cock and began to suck. Having never received a blowjob before, he didn’t last long and when Silvaeya came back up from under the sheets, all he could do was laugh at her cum covered face. Looking like the cat who has just ate the cream, she methodically cleaned her face with her hands and then licked them clean.

Dakkoth got a wicked thought and gently took her by the shoulders and rolled her onto her back and moved down to return the favor. However unknown to Silvaeya he reached into the bowl of ice that he kept at the side of his bed and slipped an ice cube into his mouth and when his lips made contact with her pussy, he pushed the ice into her. Her response was immediate and violent. Arching her hips and back off the bed, she began to scream and moan. Taking his finger he rubbed her clit while he licked her and soon she was bucking his face and covered it with her feminine juices.

After she had recovered she resumed control of their lovemaking and sat astride him taking him into her. As they came to be in tune with each others bodies they brought themselves to newer heights of pleasure, and soon both were moaning out load that they were cumming.

They rolled into each others arms and resumed their kissing that had begun earlier and eventually fell asleep in each others arms.

***

Dakkoth awoke, for the first time in his life, with an unaccustomed warmth at his side. The memories of the previous night came crashing back in a vivid rush. He lay there for a while, just watching the rise and fall of Silvaeya’s chest and he thought again how beautiful she was, and a little while later the form next to him began to stir.

Silvaeya reached over to kiss Dakkoth, and he gathered her into a fierce hug.

“It’s time we got up love,” he said, “The trumpeters played quite some time ago and it’s now mid morning.

Silvaeya got up and clothed herself and prepared to go to her room for a change of fresh clothes. Before she left, though, Dakkoth made her sit down so he could take a look at the wound in her side. Pronouncing it on the mend, and past the worse, much of that due to the herbs that had helped speed the healing process, he allowed her to go. Silvaeya grabbed a quick kiss on her way out the door, and returned to her room to change.

Once Silvaeya had clothed herself in a fresh change of clothes and donned her armor and weapons, she took a look at the list of the days fights that had been tacked to her door. Looking down the list she spotted Dakkoth’s fight, predictably enough, as one of the final fights of the day. What did surprise her however, was that her name didn’t appear on the list of the days fights. Even when someone was injured they were still expected to fight. She folded up the paper and slipped it in the pocket of her tunic, and began to walk to Dakkoth’s room.

As she walked she tried to figure out how her life had been somehow turned up on end in the last two days. Months ago when she had been falsely accused of murder and been torn away from the only life that she had ever known she had swore never to become attached to anyone or anything, so as to be spared the pain of loss again.

She came back from her thoughts when she realized that she had been standing in front of Dakkoth’s door for some time and her face flushed with embarrassment. She quickly looked around to make sure that no one had seen her in her foolish looking state, and reached up and knocked on his door.

After a few seconds, the door opened and a very pale Dakkoth looked out. He opened the door the rest of the way to let Silvaeya in, and she ran into his arms. Looking up into his face she saw the fear that radiated from his eyes, and her heart constricted in cold terror. Her arms tightened around him and she asked what was wrong.

Dakkoth cleared his throat and responded. “I fight Claemon today. He is one of the oldest gladiators still remaining at the arena, and the one person I could never began to predict an outcome to our fight. When we have been forced to practice together before, I win about fifty percent of the time and he wins the others. It is a fight I cannot predict the outcome of, nor do I wish to contemplate it.”

Silvaeya’s face went chalk white, “NO,” she screamed, “You can’t get killed on me now, I’ve just found you. I won’t loose you now.” Her fist weakly pounded on his chest, and he tightened his arms around her even more.

“Don’t worry love, I have no intention of going to my grave yet, but you must understand how things stand,” he explained as he gently stroked her hair, and tried to calm her down. She silently disengaged herself from Dakkoth and waked across the room to face the other wall. Dakkoth watched her for a few moments as her shoulders shook and she silently cried, letting her emotions run their course.

Dakkoth walked up behind her, slipped his arms under hers and around her waist, and let his chin come to rest in her silky, smooth hair. Silvaeya turned in the circle of Dakkoth’s arms and snuggled into his chest, as she wept openly now.

“What are we to do Dakkoth,” Silvaeya murmured. “We must escape, there has to be a way to do it. I can’t loose you. I just can’t. We shouldn’t be here. We are innocent. I couldn’t bear it if something was to happen to one of us, not after we have discovered this.”

“I know dear one, I know, but it isn’t as easy as you think,” he said taking her small hands into his large ones. “It just isn’t that easy.”

“But we have to escape,” she cried, her voice rising hysterically. “There must be some way out.”

“Oh I agree completely my dear, but I have yet to figure out what that one way is,” he explained.

After a while Silvaeya stopped her sobbing and began to calm down. Dakkoth led her over to the bed and sat down behind her and started to work the tension out of her shoulders and neck with his gentle hands.

He felt the tension that had been there bleed away, and when it was gone he spun her around to face him and made her look directly into his eyes. “I want you listen very closely now Silvaeya,” he said,” Our lives will depend on how well you can do this. I need you to say nothing of what we are going to try to do. Do you hear me? We cannot breath one word of this to anyone or we are finished. The arena master can smell an escape plot a mile away. I have seen more escape plans fail in my life than I would ever want to, and the consequences are not pleasant when they catch you. Do you think that you can do this? Can you keep quiet about what we plan to do?

“Yes Dakkoth, I can,” she responded meekly. Astonished at the change of tone that had come over him.

“Good, see that you remember and we will get out of this just fine,” Dakkoth said. “Now get your things and lets go to the gym. You need to practice and I need to go through my morning devotions and drills to prepare for my fight tonight.

Fear blossomed in the pit of Silvaeya’s stomach as she remembered the fight he had to go through that night. “Alright, lets go,” she replied as she readjusted her armor and weapons into their respective places once more.

***

Dakkoth and Silvaeya received many a sidelong glance as they walked arm in arm with each other to the gym.

When they got there Dakkoth dropped to his knees in the middle of the floor and began to meditate and relax. Silvaeya looked on in confusion, wondering what she should do. She stared for a minute, and then, her mind made up, she walked over next to his prone form and dropped to her knees, imitating what he was doing.

Without opening his eyes, he whispered,” It is not enough just to walk through the motions, you must truly relax and feel the changes the relaxation brings to you.”

Silvaeya forced her body and mind to relax, and stretched out her mind, and suddenly her consciousness melding with that of Dakkoth’s. She “felt” his smile, even though her eyes were closed and she clearly could not see him.

“This is the true power that can be achieved when there is discipline and serenity within you, and your mind and body are working in concert with each other. One cannot exist without the other,” he lectured. “This is the one thing that sets the weapon master apart from all others is this ability to achieve a perfect calm, where all of the senses are augmented by each other, and in effect, we become the perfect fighter. The mind is a powerful tool and with both mind and body working in concert together we can do many things which no other mortal can do. I knew the first time that I saw you, and saw you fight, that you had the talent to become one of us, if only you would dedicate yourself to the path of weapons master. The way will not be easy, it never is. You will always be hounded by those who fear you or those who want to control you for their own ends, but in the end it will all be worth it, I promise you. You have all of the necessary talents to become one of us. All that remains is for you to choose this path and to dedicate yourself to it always. If you should choose this path I would consider it the highest honor if you would allow me to be your mentor in our ways, but if you decide not to, feel no shame for it is a hard life and not all are cut for it.”

“Yes,” Silvaeya whispered back to him through their mind link, “Oh, yes let me be one of you, I will follow the path to the end of my days.”

“Good,” Dakkoth responded. “That was what I had hoped to hear from you. You have many unique gifts to bring with you, which will benefit our order.”

Dakkoth suddenly severed the mental link between them and rose quickly to his feet, drew his blades and came in hard and quick. Silvaeya’s swords appeared in her hands as if by magic and flicked through one of the defensive patterns that Dakkoth had taught her the other day.

“One thing that you must always remember, Silvaeya, is always to have that peaceful state with you. That is what gives us weapons masters our edge, we always fight calm and with a clear head. You must achieve this state to become a smart fighter. Never loose that edge or you loose the weapon masters greatest advantage,” he lectured.

Silvaeya nodded and then they continued. Over the next several hours Dakkoth taught her drill after drill to improve her sword work, both offensively and defensively. He also showed her several meditations that were useful when used before, during, and after a battle. Among these were one to banish pain, force out infections, and a host of others.

After running through the drills until he was sure that Silvaeya had learned them all to his satisfaction, he decided that the sparring should begin in earnest. Dakkoth and Silvaeya drew their blades, faced off, and the intricate dance began. This time as she attacked and parried, Silvaeya began to understand how all of the drills fit together and all built on the others and how each move was the springboard for another. It was just a matter of figuring out which move should follow which.

At first it was all that Silvaeya could do to keep up with Dakkoth. He hounded her on all sides and she was confused about which attack and counter to use and when, but as the hours rolled on the drills came more naturally to her, and her instincts began to take over.

It was during this time that Silvaeya had her revelation about swordplay. It was then that Silvaeya finally understood what it truly was, and why weapons masters devoted their life to such a dangerous thing. It was an art, as beautiful as any other form of art. Their dance of blades became more than just a bunch of attacks and parries, it became a long dance of flashing blades and it was beautiful.

All of a sudden Dakkoth broke off one of his attacks and flipped both of his blades into the air and let them fall into their respective sheaths. Suspecting some kind of trick, Silvaeya backed away cautiously, all the while letting her blades flick through defensive maneuvers, waiting for the sudden attack.

“That’s enough, Silvaeya,” Dakkoth said. “You now have another lesson which to learn. Let us go watch some of the other fights for the day. Much can be learned of a future opponent by watching him fight now.”

Silvaeya slammed her blades home in their sheaths, grabbed her equipment, and they left.

When they reached the arena, a raven-haired woman was just leaving the battle area, and with a start Silvaeya realized it was the woman from yesterdays match that had given her the smile as she passed, only now their was no smile on her face. Instead it was contorted in pain, and Dakkoth whispered to her that the lady would not live out the night.

After the clean up crew had removed the hacked up, headless body, the next fighters walked into the arena. The first was announced as Caitlin, and she fought with a slender rapier. The second was introduced as Seiatha and she wielded a huge broadsword.

When the fight began the two women took turns trading blow for a minute to gain an idea of the skills that the other possessed. This was a common practice at the arena. After satisfying their curiosity, they threw themselves into the fight, letting loose with all of their skills.

Dakkoth turned away from the fight to face Silvaeya and said, ”Now remember how these two women fight. One you never will have to fight, but the other could someday become an opponent. You should be here watching every fight that you can, so as to learn the ways the other gladiators fight. When I first arrived here I spent the first six months just practicing and watching the other fighters. You must adapt your style to counter theirs and capitalize on the weaknesses and shortcomings of the way that they fight.”

Silvaeya nodded that she understood, but kept watching the fight.

Dakkoth turned back to watched the fight unfold. Seiatha was pressing her broadsword against Caitlin’s rapier, and was forcing the smaller weapon to the arena floor. Dakkoth watched the scene unfold on the stage with a hint of mirth in his eyes, especially when he noticed Caitlin’s foot shift under her and into position.

Dakkoth glanced at Silvaeya to see if she had caught what was about to happen. Seeing in her eyes that she did not, he turned back to the arena to see if the move played out the way that he thought it would.

Sure enough, Caitlin let her sword arm relax and she sprang into a sidelong roll. Having no resistance there, Seiatha’s broadsword chopped hard into the arena floor. Caitlin twisted out of her roll, and slashed out with her rapier at Sieatha’s legs.

Seiatha let go of her sword and clutched at her ruined hamstrings, and sunk to the floor. The crowd was on its’ feet yelling for the kill, and Caitlin obliged them. Walking towards her downed opponent, a silent prayer on her lips, she let the rapier fall, beheading her opponent, who never saw it coming.

After the clean up crew came out to clean up the mess left in the ring, Dakkoth turned to Silvaeya to discuss the fight.

“Silvaeya, what was Sieatha’s mortal flaw in this fight?”

Silvaeya thought it over for a minute and the asked, “Was it that she turned her back on her opponent?”

“That was part of it,” he replied, “but her greatest mistake was that she allowed her pain to cripple her. You are always the master of your pain, not it of you. If you give in to your pain, you are done for. Much as this young lady was here.”

“Ok, I understand,” she responded. “I will mark it, and remember it well.”

“Good,” Dakkoth said. “See that you do. Now I want you to stay here and watch the rest of the fights for the day. I have to go practice and to prepare for my fight tonight.”

“All right, love,” Silvaeya replied, and then leaned in for a quick kiss.

As their kiss broke apart Dakkoth whispered in her ear, ”Let us also try to think of a way to break free of this prison. I have yet to think of a way. I need for you to be thinking as well.”

Dakkoth left with a quick smile and a wave, and Silvaeya turned back to watch the fights.

***

Over the next several months Dakkoth and Silvaeya fell into a common routine. They would get up early and go to the gym were they would practice and meditate, while Dakkoth taught her the ways of the weapons master. After their morning practices they would go watch the fights of the day, and ponder over how they were going to escape. Slowly, though, as the months progressed Silvaeya became a creditable fighter who could hold her own in most fights.

The one thing that they didn’t do, however, was to move in together. Although many couples lived together as lovers, it was not smart, but hardly a forbidden thing. When Silvaeya had first broached the subject to Dakkoth, standing next to the battle arena, he had opposed it so vehemently, that at first Silvaeya had done something wrong, but as Dakkoth saw the frightened look in her eyes, he explained his reasoning at it all made sense.