The Grey Tower

It was an unseasonably hot day. A yellow sun beat down from a cloudless sky. By Wetlander standards, the air would been considered dry. In Terric’s opinion, there couldn’t have been a more beautiful day this side of the Dragon Wall. He had a song in his heart as he trotted from his morning classes to the Warder Yards. He had managed to book the Sparring Arena for an unarmed match with the Ji'alantin, Danos al’Sheen. He had yet to meet the man in person, but he’d heard from other Drin’far’ji that was a skilled hand to hand combatant, extremely strong, and as large as an Aielman. Terric wasn’t completely convinced on that last count.

He arrived at the Sparring Arena several minutes early, but there were already a small number of watchers. Not quite as many as there might have been for a spar between full Gaidin, but people had turned out to see the Aielman and the new Ji’alantin go toe to toe. He peeled off his cursed Wetlander boots and placed them by the side of the Arena. He wished he had proper Aiel booths instead of these heavy black monstrosities, he always felt loud and sluggish when he wore them. Next, his uniform coat and shirt came off. He folded them neatly next to the boots. He climbed into the ring, basking in the sunlight on his scarred chest. He began a series of warm ups and stretches.

Danos had been curious to receive word that a relatively new arrival to the tower had been asking after him. He knew that as a Ji’alantin he would be expected to lead some classes and help with the Drin’far’ji, it had been something he had often pondered while learning himself. As a new arrival and one with little formal training, that had been intimidating, but after passing through the crucible of the Test, he felt more secure in his own measure. A blade does not question it’s edge, and I have been through the first forging, thought Danos as he walked to the Warder Yard.

The sun was warm, and for a native of Andor who had always lived near the cool waters of a river, he felt the heat beating down on him. As such when he arrived for the spar he was surprised to see a small number of watchers already gathering. He even spotted a few Accepted in their banded dresses and a couple of Aes Sedai, the women cool and composed despite the heat.

Danos knew he could use the void to ignore the worst of the heat, allowing it to simply not affect him but it was not something he had mastered quite yet. And he knew his opponent would still be feeling the heat and sun. Although for an Aiel that probably will not matter as much, Danos thought to himself, recalling the lessons on Aiel culture he had received.

Danos could see the other man was already warming up, and he was surprised to see the man was shirtless and had removed his boots as well. Still as Danos entered the circle, he could see the scars and well toned muscles that moved with a smoothness as the Aielman went from exercise to exercise. Danos in deference to the fact his opponent was shirtless and would have less to grapple, removed his Ji’alantin jacket, but kept the shirt underneath on. He then laid his jacket across the fence besides the Drin’s uniform and warmed his body up with some quick stretches.

“I see you Terric, and looks like the crowd is hoping for a good show,” Danos said with a laugh, gesturing to the watchers as he approached the other man. After offering his greeting, he went to the center of the ring, settling his feet in a balanced stance, his larger bulk leaned and honed by the lessons he had learned to earn his current rank. He was looking forward to the spar, and with an opponent of similar height he knew the contest ahead would be a chance to refine his skills.

The rumors had been right. Terric was displeased to see that the Wetlander, was at least his height, if not an inch taller. “I see you Terric, and looks like the crowd is hoping for a good show,” the man said with a good natured laugh.

“I see you, Danos al’Sheen. Let us give them that show,” he took a swig from his water skin and placed it with his coat before joining him. He assumed is own stance, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent. He settled his weight lightly on his ear legs, and raised his arms to a middle guard position. Terric assessed his opponent. The Wetlander was indeed much larger than him. If the fight became a grapple, Terric would be finished. Unless, he managed to force a surrender. Terric was certain that he could match the man’s size and physical prowess with his speed and years of hard won experience.

“I issued the challenge, Danos al’Sheen. You may set the terms.” Terric kept his breathing steady, this was the kind of challenge he had been waiting for. While, he wasn’t a man who sought out battle for the sake of battle itself, his honor demanded that he become the best warrior he could. Here on the hot sands of the Sparing Arena, with the bright sun beating down on him, and an opponent in front of him, he felt like he was home.

"I issued the challenge, Danos al’Sheen. You may set the terms.” Terric stated as the two men prepared. Danos could see he kept his breathing steady, and moved well.

"As we are both students of the Grey Tower, I suppose terms will be the same for a class. Till bones break or one waves off the fight. Fortunately I know there's a Yellow Sister or two in the crowd," said Danos as he settled into motion.

Danos circled Terric, the man moving with the grace as each kept their guard towards the other. Danos darted forward, his hands snapping a quick two punch combo. As he expected the other man responded with sudden and adept deflections, using his arms and hands to sweep the jabs away.

A split second of thought confirmed what Danos had expected, and so he knew that testing the Aielman before him was needless. Remembering what Dax Gaidan had told him, he fed the heat, the smells, and the crowd watching to the Whirlwind following its flows to the centre where he found the Void.

Within the Void he found the focus he needed to try and deal with the other man's speed and grace. As he moved he sunk into the rhythm of the fight, and darted forward.

Danos' feet carried him in the centre of balance he had spent so long achieving, and he felt the sands beneath his feet. A powerful punch, his fist darting out straight and true for Terric's shoulder, while his other hand came in a follow up punch, curving to strike at Terric's midriff.

Terric felt like he was striking iron bars as he knocked away the big Wetlander’s “probing blows.” Before he could bring his hands back to a defensive position, Danos al’Sheen was launching a series of powerful punches towards his shoulder and midriff. Instincts honed from countless back alley brawls and battle fields allowed him to react instead of think. He pivoted out of the way, but not quick enough to totally avoid the punch aimed at his shoulder.

He grimaced as the blow landed and unbalanced him. Luckily he was out of the way of the second blow, but he realized something, if the Wetlander managed to corner him, the fight would be over in a heartbeat. Terric managed to turn his awkward pivot into a spin and launched a round house aimed at Danos al’Sheen’s knee. He snapped the foot back before the larger man could grab it and take him to the sand. Once both feet were squarely planted, he lunged forward in a spray of sand placing himself within the Wetlander’s guard aiming a short, winding blow towards the man’s solar plexus and a left cross at the inside of his right arm, hoping to deaden the muscles. Something about the man’s attacks rubbing him the wrong way, he couldn’t place it and digging for answers now would just end in pain.

Danos could feel his opponents strength and speed, and admiration for the man’s grit flickered across the Void as the blows were blocked.

Terric then managed to turn his awkward pivot into a spin and launched a round house aimed at Danos’ knee. And Danos could feel the other man’s experience when he snapped his foot back to prevent Danos from being able to copy the move Dax Gaidin had used on him, trapping his thigh and tossing him off balance.

Danos could see the man plant both feet like strong, the Ko’di giving him just enough warning to prepare as Terric lunged forward in a spray of sand. Light he’s fast , Danos thought to himself, the thought floating across the surface of the Void as he prepared his defence.

Terric’s speed got through Danos’ guard, and he tightened his abdomen as strong as he could, accepting the blow, but using the momentum to twist slightly. This allowed the left cross to strike his arm, but with less force than Danos had feared. Still even in the centre of the Void he could feel the muscles tense and the sting of the blow. Terric was an Aiel, with all the strength and prowess the physique of one forged in the Three fold land could provide, and Danos knew his right arm would need a moment to recover.

His teeth bared in a grimace, Danos responded with the only move instinct seemed to demand. His left elbow struck forward, hoping to catch the other man in the throat and force some separation. His hand on the same arm, was flat and held stiff like a spear’s head, hoping for a secondary grapple on the tall Aielman or a strike to the eyes or nose. Always strike to bloody, remember the soft targets, the nose hurts like fire when struck, Dax Gaidin’s voice echoed back to Danos from the lessons learned in blood and sweat on these very sands.

The elbow came out of nowhere. Terric twisted throwing his shoulder up just in time to stop his throat from being smashed. Pain exploded down his arm on impact. Light Danos al’Sheen was strong. Terric wasn’t out of the fight yet, he aimed a left hook at the big man’s left bicep. He’d deaden that one like the right. His left knee shot out like a piston striking the man in the hip.

Terric knew, he wouldn’t be able to take too many hits from this man, but he also knew that he would have to take a few if he wanted to win. Constantly dancing back out of his reach would give him too much time to recover. He was already well within Danos al’Sheen’s reach so he went for it. He danced to his opponent’s right trusting that the man’s arm was still stunned. Letting out a bestial roar, he threw a savage combination of punches at his face. Both shoulder’s ached and he knew the next blow would be worse but he had to keep this juggernaut unbalanced. He couldn’t keep a manic grin from his face. Despite, or maybe because of, the pain in his shoulders and very real risk of Danos al’Sheen landing a solid blow, Terric was enjoying himself.

Danos could feel his elbow connect with the other man’s shoulder with a satisfying impact. The twist of the shoulder prevented Danos from being able to continue his secondary slashing blow and prevented a blow to Terric’s throat. In the Void, Danos could see the left hook aimed for his bicep, and he had no wish to lose the precious seconds that would cost him on the left. So he advanced into the other man’s blow, locking their arms together and robbing the hook of its strength.

When Terric’s knee shot out like an iron bar, Danos felt the connection deep into his hip, and braced himself heavily to prevent the attack from knocking him off balance. As such he was unable to gain the separation he would have preferred from the Aielman.

Danos could see Terric’s determination, and with his feet planted to absorb the powerful hip strike, Danos knew there was little chance of beating Terric’s speed.

As the other man darted to his right side, Danos grunted with exertion, trying to force the arm to awaken, but it was still stiff and so came into the guard position to slow. Pain blossomed in the Void, bright red clouding his vision as the sequence of quick attacks struck his nose. The Danos’ eyes immediately closed and in the split second of sightlessness Danos was unable to block the second attack. Twisting on instinct he was able to keep the blow from striking his eyes, but he could feel the punch land as it snapped his neck sideways. The Void, that calm blackness in which he had floated, lending him sharper instincts and understanding vanished as he was unable to maintain the focus needed. As such the crowd’s intake of breath, and the shuffling of feet on the sand all seemed louder to his ears as they reacted to Terric’s success.

Danos knew he could not withstand a repeated assault, and so he forced himself to resort to a tactic he rarely used. He preferred to fight with his hands, elbows and knees, trusting their strength and power, for now he knew he needed to get out of the way.

Dropping into a squat, Danos swept his leg out wide and with all the force he could muster, a brushing attack meant to either strike Terric’s legs and knock him down, or at least force the other man to separate. Through the sunlit glare from the water in his eyes, Danos could vaguely make out the other man. As he sunk lower he could feel the third punch in the sequence brush his shirt, sliding over the shoulder. Get him to back off, recenter yourself and then assess Danos thought to himself as he focused on getting the most power into his kick.

Well that just happened, Terric thought as his legs were knocked out from under him. He twisted his body into a proper breakfall and hit the ground his shoulder’s flaring on impact. The fall could have been much worse. At this point he had two options: roll to safety and stand up which was logical, or he could continue his assault from the ground which was foolish but would also be unexpected.

He went with the second option. Sitting up, he grabbed the Wetander’s nearest leg, and torqueing his body with all of his might. With a great heave, he yanked one of Davos al’Sheen’s tree trunk legs out from under him. As the big man fell, he scrambled to jump on top of him, aware that a miss step could leave him in a dreaded grabble.

Terric could tell the fight was nearing a decisive moment. If he could hurt the man enough before he could be grappled and pinned, he might just be able to win. With a mighty roar, he throw a punch aimed at Danos al’Sheen’s jaw. It was time to find out what happened when the unstoppable force met the immovable object. Either way, it had been an excellent fight.

Danos could see his sight clearing, the rapid blinking removing the tears that had welled up when his nose broke.

Through the haze of sunlight in his eyes, he could see Terric falling after he felt his sweeping leg strike connect.

Burn me he went for it, bloody Aiel are crazy thought Danos as he felt the other man strike out and grasp his leg. Terric heaved with all his might, and Danos could make out the other man's muscles straining as he used his leverage against Danos.

With his attack and the poor balance inflicted by the repeated blows to the face, Danos had no recourse but to brace himself as best he could for the fall.

Danos tucked his head forwards, and twisted his body as much as he was able. As such his shoulders struck the sun bleached sands but he was able to prevent a further blow to the head.

Terric had scrambled up after he had swept the leg out from under Danos, and was half sitting when he struck a powerful blow at Danos's jaw. A mighty roar escaped the other man's lips and Danos knew the next few heartbeats might well decide the fight.

On the ground, his body still twisting back to centre, Danos knew he had little options. Can't be the water, might as well be the rock he thought to himself as he decided to match Terric's agressive gambit with one of his own.

He knew he would never twist out of the way in time, and so gritting his teeth, he tucked his chin and raised his right shoulder as much as he could. Terric's punch landed with a terrible force, the meat of his shoulder causing much of the punch to strike against his shoulder and ear rather than his jawline. Through the ringing pain in his ear, and with his left arm, Danos grabbed Terric's wrist and with a mighty roar of his own pulled the arm as hard upwards as he could. The scrapping of knees on sand told Danos the other man was reacting to the twist and pressure this put on the shoulder. Now this was a spar for the crowd Danos thought grimly as he tongued a tooth loosened by the blows.

He knew Terric would need to break his hold, and hoped it would buy him some time as he attempted to stand.