No one knew how long that they stood there facing each other with blades drawn. No one knew who they were or where they came from, however they knew they both were good swords men by their stance and patience. Both looked at each other trying to find the other weakness. Rumors spread throughout the crowd. Why were they fighting? One of the many rumors reached me; they were fighting over a girl. I thought “that was queer because they should let the girl decide whom she liked more.” But no one, beside me, thought that the girl opinion did matter.
Everyone thought that the king was responsible to blame for these dark ages. We all knew that he sat on his throne eating meat and drinking wine at every meal; whilst the rest of his kingdom had to rely on stealing and eating whatever they could find. Famine stalked the land; nobody knew when or where their next meal was coming from. Also, the king seemed to elude the grasp of death for he had been in rule for over 200 years, yet he looked like he was in his forties.
The first fighter was a man that was over 6 feet tall and had the skin of someone who was used to spending him time in the sun all day and had the strength like he had been in a lot of fights. On his face he had a thin and faded scare that stretched from the corner of his eye to just below the ear. Also, he had a stern face that showed compassion in it. He looked like he had been in a lot of fights.
The second was a shorter man was just below 6 feet. This one was not as strong built as the first one, yet had a face determined to win. He was not as good looking as the other or nearly as tough, although he looked as if he had been outside in the sun but not as much as the other. On his face was a smile yet looks as if he had something inside that he couldn’t let out. Also, this man had been in a lot of fight thought it look like not against well trained opponents. He looked younger but way more determined to win the fight.
Someone screamed in the arena. Unknowing where the scream came from, one of them looked up. That was when the other striked. He cleared the gap between them in a split second. Just when I thought that one was going to be slaughtered, he pared the blow. The battle had begun. He crowd roared with excitement as they sparred. As the fight went on the crowd became quiet. The only sounds that could be heard was metal smashing metal as they seemed to blur through the air and spark from where the two blades crossed. The two swords men barely missed one another by mere inches.
After about a half-hour the fighting started to slow down to where you could see the blades, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating. At first I thought that I was imagining that one of them had gotten cut just below the eye and as a watch, a bead of blood started to form. Then things started to get interesting. First the man who had gotten cut made a large gash in the others calf. At that point I knew that one of them was going to not make it to see another fight or another day after the fight. When I thought that the fighting had gotten slower, the fighting picked up again with more vigor. The blades went back to a blur. And the crowd erupted again with anew cheer. When another hour passed I realized that the king was also watching the battle. I loathed that he was here and thought this was stranger than the fact that they couldn’t let the girl choose. For the king had never left his home for a long time, even before I was even conceived. The king watched with what looked like he had been there the entire time. Then I realized that his daughter was standing next to him and was almost to tears. I now knew that is wasn’t over one petty little girl, but the princess. I figure that the king himself had made the two fight each other so that he could have the better of the two for a son-in-law. As this slowly stared to slow down again, one of them flipped his wrist and the other lost his sword.
Then crowd knew then that this fight was over. I looked over at the king who seem please with himself and almost happy that that the one had won. The one that was defeated look stunned and almost surprised, for it look as if he had never lost a battle. He slowly knelt on the ground and faced his victorious counterpart and the winner stood over him.