WAR, BLOOD AND DRAGONS

Chapter 6: The tournament

The tournament hosted by the king in celebration of his son's forthcoming union was held in the amphitheatre, just beside the castle, a large circular structure with descending rows of seats surrounding a small flat field and it was packed with peasants and nobles alike, many knights had arrived earlier on from places far and near like Sir hallsworth from Cheston up in the North and sir Farriston from Derwick here in the West to Sir Beckett from Hillstead in the mid East, even the knight of the waxing moon; Sir Campbell from Redhall was present but none from the South nor even from the 400 men that had accompanied Lady Hearst to the capital as she had declared that spearhounds don't fight in melees only battlefields or at training grounds.

The king was present and flanked by many Lords and Ladies but most importantly, his own family, Greynor and Greyson sat at his right with their sheathed swords resting on their chairs, wine and grape set before them whilst Marilyn sat in front of him with Leah standing by her side, Jet; the King's squire, Yadrick Dover; his chief adviser and Evan larr; Commander of the King's guard were at his left, further right was where Lady Hearst and the master of the spear hounds Jakar Wenrros sat but not under the canopy the king and his family and court had for shade, sitting beside Jakar was young Oscar, bastard of an unknown house, he was Commander of the spear hounds, the gold plate, he wore golden vambraces on both arms and a golden chest plate with a black cloak worn bearing the white mountain goat sigil of house Hearst, his pants however was boiled leather and this, with a solid shield and double-edged spear is how the spear hounds dress for war.

"So how do you like the Prince, my Lady?" Jakar began

"He's greener than I had imagined" Matar responded with no fear of being heard as the place was loud with cheer and the King's family were at a considerable distance.

"Do we get dragons at least?" Oscar pitched in

"Unfortunately no, the king is not yet convinced" She answered

"Hardly seems fair, we're offering 200 men in good spirit" Oscar said

"Well, as long as he's in Stoneworth we won't have much to worry much about a dragon attack" Matar said and just then, a loud roar could be heard in the distant, the crowd went silent and a flapping noise rebounded across, growing louder and louder, then they all appeared from behind, large winged lizards, blood curdling by all account, they flew upward meeting in a single assembly, like a flamingo murmuration, all seven of them, it was a dragon parade and the cheer resumed as did applause, the dragons flew above in choreographied patterns, making different formations as they danced beneath the warm golden sun, then came the fire they poured from their mouths; one by one they showcase so smoothly yet so frightening, the power of these beasts, each dragon had a rider on it's back, the biggest amongst the dragons was the silvery grey one named Ash, the red one amongst them is redbone, the bigger black one is Tharon whilst the smaller black is hardclaw the other 3 are namely, steel-scale, long tail and apocalon, the performance brought awe to the faces of everyone present, even Oscar was marvelled, he had never even seen a dragon up close until today but Lady Hearst was all the more reminded of the power all 4 kingdoms possess that she may yet never wield.

The melee began shortly after with heated clashes between knights and soldiers, the Dragonsfort's own owl knight Sir Darkin had unseated 4 different opponents as did Sir Campbell his last 3 opponents but the fourth being Joben, a towering beast of a man gave him a proper hard time, Leah watched on from beside the princess whom had become an entirely different individual after her time outside, someone even Lady malorie Dover, her childhood friend barely recognized, she hadn't used the word 'worm' ever since and had referred to Leah by her actual name twice with no insults whatsoever, Leah on the other hand had discovered her sixth admirer from amongst the crowd who could hardly keep his eyes off her, it was Oscar, the Commander of the hounds.

"The princess has a glamour on" Oscar said to Matar and Jakar, Oscar wasn't like everyone else and neither was Jakar or Matar, every spear hound undergoes extensive training on witch hunting to develop a sixth sense that enables them the rare ability to identify a mage or their craft, both Matar and Jakar could see the glamour spell cast all over the princess.

"She's probably overweight and the Dragonsbane fixed it" Matar guessed.

Meanwhile the King's tourney had gone awry, sir Campbell in his third bout with Joben had struck Joben's horse sending the big man tumbling down, Joben in a fit of rage took his sword from his squire and went after Sir Campbell whom equally fetched himself a sword and a shield, they clashed sword and sir Campbell for a moment stood his own against the behemoth but even with a shield and full armor, his blood was spilled on the battlefield as Joben's sword found it's way through and damaged an artery in his left thigh and as if that wasn't enough, Joben threw Sir Campbell around the battlefield as if he were a little boy, took his helmet off and bashed his head in with his fist, people cheered on whilst the king looked on in horror, Greynor having had much wine to drink was enjoying himself.

"That man deserves the 700 gold coin prize" Greynor roared and people hailed in agreement.

"But in all seriousness, is there any knight present who would battle Joben in a contest of arms for the prize?" Greynor querried but nobody came forward, Joben then took his helmet off revealing a stern square face with a stiff neck and a sharp jawline, he was a man built like a wall whose palm could wrap around a man's neck.

"What about our scar-ridden Lady Hearst, would you like to testify to your unyielding strength and do us the honor of fighting Joben?" Greynor bellowed

"Have you gone mad?" The king who also drank some wine but kept his grasp on common sense whispered to Greynor

"Don't worry father, I can handle this" he answered.

"Greynor!" Greyson cautioned but his brother gave no ear

"Are you scared machioness?" Greynor continued, Matar was sizzling with fury, she wasn't scared of Joben but she loathed the idea of fighting for their entertainment.

"I'll face your champion" Oscar voiced as he stood up and Greynor gave a hearty laugh as the crowd corused in woe, now Oscar, no older than Greynor himself was not as large as Joben but he had a firm build, tall and had a few scars to attest to his experience, Jakar gave a look of caution as the boy took his cloak off, the gold plate title signified by a small round golden disk on his chest is given to a hound who hasn't lost a proper duel, even if Joben doesn't kill him, defeating him would rid him of the title, yet Oscar walked down the steps and unto the field with no care in the world, as if he had nothing to loose, this is how the spear hounds are trained to be, to treat pain and fear like a casual friend.

A fellow hound provided the gold plate warrior with a steel double-edged spear, sharpened for maximum bloodshed.

Joben wore his helmet as Oscar approached with no helmet or greaves, just a chest plate, vambraces and a spear as opposed to Joben's full armor.

The big man charged towards him and swung his sword but Oscar pulled out of his reach, he swung once more but Oscar slipped past underneath with brilliant alacrity, the crowd booed at him relying on his agility, "be a man, stand and fight" One voiced out, so when Joben attacked yet again Oscar met the strike with his spear and the sheer strength rattled his footing, he was then sent tumbling to the ground by Joben's foot and Joben pressed on with a big swing hoping to end the battle but Oscar parried to his left and struck Joben at a spot in his ankle where the greaves didn't cover, this was a crucial blow to Joben as he began limping and blood dripped out, he however got more aggressive, his swings became faster and he roared with every effort but Oscar proved evasive and when Joben showed signs of fatigue, Oscar deflected one of his strikes and got close enough to remove his helmet, Joben then opted to let Oscar make his strike for a change, he smiled as he limped towards Oscar towering above him with his arms wide apart, so Oscar obliged with a quick swing of his spear's end across Joben's bare face, the cut almost took Joben's left eye off but the big man laughed as if he enjoyed it then all of a sudden he swung his sword mightily and Oscar parried it off in a twinkling and buried his spear's end in Joben's throat, blood splushed out as the man struggled to draw breath, nevertheless, the big man fell to his death and his blood dyed the sands red.