“Don’t wait on him Braddock, use your strength!” Taskmaster Bollars commanded. The burly Sheldon boy shot forward with unexpected speed, hoping to back Tolund up. Tolund ran to meet him and then, stabbing his spear into the ground just to his left, he used it to vault to the side of his opponent’s charge. Upon landing, Tolund spun the haft of his spear backward and down, looking to catch Braddock’s back crest by surprise. Crack! A solid hit just on the rim of the glass circle. The crowd howled its approval. It was a maneuver worthy of a warrior-class fighter.

“Lucky hit runt!” Braddock mocked. “Try it again and see what happens!” Tolund assumed his odd stance again. Braddock charged in a second time, only this time he weaved from side to side to keep his opponent confused. Tolund simply waited until the last instant and used his quickness to dodge the larger boy. Now, Tolund pressed the matter by darting to the side of Braddock and thrusting his spear tip in, trying to find either the front or back crest. The Sheldon fighter rolled his shield deftly to deflect the strikes. Around and around, again and again this continued. The horn ending the first battle sounded. Braddock breathed heavily and gulped down water as his taskmaster chided him.

“Good battle Tol!” encouraged Mr. Kessing. “Keep him reacting to you, keep him moving back and you’ll have him!”

“I’ll try sir.” Tolund replied quietly. Even after a good first battle, he could not shake the queasiness in his stomach. As planned, Heather gave him his broadsword for the second battle and whispered her own advice. The horn blew.

Tolund dashed forward so quickly that Braddock had scarcely taken a step into the arena. With both hands on his broadsword, he lashed the Sheldon fighter’s shield with a flurry of angled strikes. As Heather predicted, the larger boy dug in and brought his shield up to cover his front crest. Before Braddock could grasp what was happening, Tolund threw his body sideways upon the shield and rolled over the crouching boy like he was rolling down a grassy hill in summer. Instantly, he was behind the lad’s wide shoulders and, with the hilt of his sword, he smashed down on Braddock’s back crest. Shards flew from the Sheldon crest as the crowd roared again.