Kah had not yet added his voice to the cacophony. However, the wizened elder didn’t seem particularly interested in stopping it, either. His eyes were closed to mere slits, and he sat with hands clenched, as though in a trance.
“Rip him apart! Rip him!”
The crowd was hungry for blood.
“Kill, kill, kill!”
No good, thought Guin, giving up on any hope of a rescue from Kah. It was beginning to look like his only way out might be to fight his way to freedom. He took stock of the crowd. To his dismay, the numbers had grown since he arrived. There might well be a thousand Lagon around him, each one of them near his height if not considerably larger.
Another strategy suggested itself. If I can take Kah the Wise as a hostage… Guin tensed every muscle, preparing to duck past the stone-tipped spears of the guards and charge the leaders’ chairs.
“But he said he could defeat Dodok the Brave!” came a sharp high voice from the crowd.
“Rhana!” came the hushing of a parent. “Mind your tongue.”
“But the leopard-head said he was strong!” the child Rhana went on, undaunted. “Stronger than Dodok the Brave. He said he came to show to everyone, he is the true Brave. Why do they not fight?”
A complete silence settled suddenly over the crowd, different from the one Kah the Wise had called for earlier. It was a silence rigid with fear, and apprehension.
“Rhana!” the Lagon that must have been Rhana’s mother shouted in a horrified voice. Guin scanned the crowd, finally spotting his little friend standing amidst a group of Lagon to the left of Dodok. Her round eyes stared at Guin unblinking.
“He is short,” she said. “How can he be stronger than Dodok? Why will Dodok not fight him?”
“It is because Dodok is afraid of me!” Guin declared, seizing the opportunity. “Lagon! Braves of Lagon! Dodok would kill me without a fair trial, without even a fair fight!”
“Silence, demon!” Dodok roared, leaping down from his chair with a spasm of rage. His face was flushed with fury. “Who is afraid of a runt such as you? The Lagon are fair! You are a demon! You were brought here to explain yourself, not to fight. The Lagon will not fight demons!”
“The Lagon will not fight, or Dodok will not fight?” Guin challenged. “The Lagon are a brave, true people. But their leader Dodok is a coward. He is afraid to fight me. Why? It is because he knows that if he fights me, he will no longer be the strongest!”
A communal gasp rose from the crowd. The air stank of fear and sweat.
Dodok took a slow step forward. He was no longer shouting, though the rage boiled behind his clenched teeth, a far more terrifying sight than his outburst a moment before. He loomed, nearly three taal high, looking down at the leopard-headed warrior before him.
“Now you would shame me, lagon with the head of a beast?” Dodok asked, his voice trembling with the eerie quiet that comes just before an explosion. “Shame me without a challenge, and I may kill you. Or adhere to the code, and challenge me, for the chance to prove your words are true.”
It was an easy choice. “I challenge Dodok the Brave,” Guin replied immediately. As one, the Lagon held their breath. Before them all, Guin had challenged Dodok the Brave, strongest of all the braves, twice as formidable as himself. Many shook their heads, assuming that, in his fear, their strange captive had gone mad. Guin continued. “However, I do not know the rules of combat among your people. I would have you teach me. I would challenge Dodok.”
“Good!” Dodok howled.” I accept your challenge! On the honor of Dodok the Brave, I will rend you to pieces!”
Then abruptly he fell silent and turned to Kah the Wise, as though awaiting a final permission. Guin made note that of the two chiefs, the Wise stood above the Brave.
Kah the Wise was lost in thought behind half-lowered lids, yet after a moment he widened his eyes and spoke to the silent crowd.
“Very well. Our purpose here is changed. Dodok the Brave will fight the Warrior with the Head of a Beast. If Dodok wins, Guin shall die. Should Guin prevail, we will consider his claim to be true, that he is a messenger from Aqrra.”
Guin was impressed. It was a keen political move. With those words, Kah the Wise had managed to ensure that even if Dodok should lose, the Lagon would lose nothing.
“Are there any objections?” Kah asked, slowly turning his head to scan the crowd. Dodok and Guin eyed each other silently.
All at once the angry energy of the Lagon rushed away like a tide, replaced by excitement for the spectacle that was to come. It was clear that the giant wildlings loved nothing more than watching a good fight, and tonight would be a show to remember.
“Prepare yourselves,” Kah the Wise ordered. “This ground will know combat before the rising of the sun.”
Dodok the Brave stretched to his full height and sauntered into the clearing, where he turned to look again at his challenger. His eyes were filled with anger and disdain, shot through with a cruel joy at the slaughter to come.
Guin wordlessly returned his gaze. At last—for the time being, at least—things were going as he had hoped. Now all he had to do was defeat Dodok and convince the Lagon to listen to him.
Above his head, the moon shone with a cold light, illuminating the stone buildings and the ample-haired creatures that filled the streets between them. Only three or four twists of the sand-clock remained until dawn.