Tenaka Khan smiled as his riposte broke through the defenses of his
opponent. Raising his sword to the man's throat, he looked him in the eye
with a questioning glance. 'Do you yield?' the glance asked. The man threw
down his sword and raised his hands in defeat. The crowd cheered as Tenaka
raised his sword in victory and then he shook the gauntleted hand of the
man he had just beaten. Returning to the infirmary, he removed his armour
and lay down his weapon, the green Longsword and Tower Shield gleaming in
the light of the lantern on the nearest wall. Allowing the medics to use
their magic on him – only a few bruises – he looked over at the chart on
the wall.

The steward was fixing his name in the first of the final slots. His
opponent was as yet undetermined, and the man's body was in the way of the
other semi-final so he could not even see who was fighting for the chance
to fight with him. The man moved away from the board, towards the exit so
he could officiate the battle, and Tenaka started as he saw who were
pairing off now. Dentar Vanshoone held the favourites slot, and below him
was the name Kriella Khan. Despite the fact that Dentar held the position
of favourite for the tournament, Tenaka was happy. He knew that Kriella
could beat Dentar, and he seriously hoped that he could defeat Kriella. It
was important to Tenaka that he win. This tournament was held only once
every fifteen years. Having only been a Dreadknight for ten years, it was
his first. He longed to win his first.

Replacing his armour he took a long drink from the barrel of water nearby.
Normally he would take ale, but if there was a chance of fighting against
Kriella, he would need to be completely sober. Picking up his sword and
shield he walked out to Arena. He looked at the two opponents circling,
getting the measure of each other. He knew that Dentar had once been a
Battlemage, but magic was not permitted before the Final – to that effect,
the Breath of Heaven was held by the steward. The man would have to resort
to more corporeal methods. He knew that Kriella also had powerful magic,
but as an assassin, she was also adept at mundane combat.

Abruptly, the once-Battlemage ran forward, sword held low. Tenaka watched
the move closely. There were two ways he could end this maneuver, but
against someone the size of Kriella, one would be foolhardy. Kriella would
know this – of that he had no doubt. So why was the man doing this? As
expected, at the last moment he swerved to his left, allowing his right arm
which held his sword to swing along behind him and hammer into Kriella's
shield which was carefully placed in anticipation of the move. The clash of
the Orcish metal sounded out over the arena and the audience cheered at the
first blow.

Kriella, expecting her foe to stop spinning and turn to face her again,
rushed in while his shield was on the wrong side. Reversing her sword, she
released the small dagger blade that was held in the hilt for close
quarters combat. As she raised the small blade towards Dentar's neck,
Tenaka smiled. It was just like her to move close in for the 'kill'. But
the small blade never made contact. The favourite continued to spin, and by
the time that Kriella's blade was in position, his shield was back between
them. With Kriella so close to him, he surged forward, knocking her to the
ground with his great Tower Shield. Kriella fell, the breath knocked from
her. Dentar stood on her wrist, forcing her to release her weapon and then
held his sword to her throat. Releasing her wrist, he allowed her to raise
her hands in defeat and the once-Battlemage raised his sword in triumph.
The crowd cheered. Tenaka was speechless. He had seriously underestimated
the abilities of this man. The victor walked over to the infirmary to have
his strength returned to him – it appeared that he had taken no wounds –
and Tenaka walked over to Kriella.

He offered her his hand and she took it, allowing him to pull her to her
feet. She could see through the eye slots in her visor that she was
embarrassed at her defeat. She knew that it she had kept her distance, he
would not have beaten her. She knew that he had known that she would go in
close because she had with everybody else. She knew that her loss had been
through predictability. She knew that it would not happen again.

"Did you let him win, my love?" Tenaka asked quietly, smiling all the
while. "It seemed awfully easy for him."

Kriella seemed about to flare up, but then recognised the humour. "Let us
see how well you fare, my love. He is better than you think."

"He is a genius, no? I have never seen that move done so, but it is so
simple. I shall have to be careful. I shall have to expect the unexpected.
Are you injured?"

"Come. Let me see to that. We have a few minutes before the Final starts.
The steward must return the Breath."

The steward walked out into the arena. The two Dreadknights were standing
in the centre, seemingly at ease. Each had sword drawn, tip to the floor
with his shield hanging from his relaxed arm. This contest would be a good
one, he knew. Dentar had never lost, but this new man, Tenaka, had great
potential. Here was the possibility of a great upset. If the man won his
first tournament, it would be a day to remember for a long while. It should
also be an interesting battle of magic. Dark Elf Spellsword versus Nord
Battlemage. Youth (relatively speaking) versus experience.

He stood between the two combatants and touched their shields and said,
"The Great Lord guide your blade and make firm your shield," in the ritual
blessing. The two men nodded and the steward stepped back out of their
reach. He raised his hand and the crowd suddenly went quiet as the two
Dreadknights raised their swords and hefted their shields. The steward
dropped his arm and the crowd erupted into cheering as Tenaka charged
straight for his foe. In his other battle he had been careful. In this one
he must be unpredictable. Dentar was clearly surprised. He leapt back,
raising his shield to block the relentless attack. He prepared his own
assault, waiting only for the moment when the Dark Elf would tire as soon
he must.

Tenaka stumbled and the Nord engaged his attack. But before he could make
contact, the Dark Elf swept to the side, sending the favourite to run past
him. The once-Spellsword raised his left arm, the great Tower Shield
hanging from it as he pointed his fist at his opponent. As Dentar ran back
towards him, he unleashed a magical fireball. Hastily, Dentar threw up a
spell shield to send it deflected into the air. As he dropped the shield,
Tenaka ran forward again. The audience cheered as they heard the clang of
sword on shield. The voices were a blur as the cheers got louder,
eventually drowning out the sound that caused them. Some cheered on the
favourite, but many had taken a liking to Tenaka in the last ten years and
had placed bets on him winning. If he did win, they stood to make a lot of
money, for he was far from favourite.

Again, Tenaka slid around the Nord and prepared a spell. Ice flew towards
his adversary this time. Again, the once-Battlemage managed to deflect the
bolts with a shield, but this time Tenaka continued his magical onslaught.
Spell after spell he fired off, each deflected into the air. He could feel
himself running out of mana and fired his next spell at the floor. As the
spell hit the ground near his feet, it caused an explosion – far more
powerful than the spell alone. Trembling, Tenaka absorbed the energy from
the blast, changing it into mana. He saw his adversary's expression darken
at this and ran forward to take the battle to mundane levels again.

This time, Dentar was ready for him. He swept at the Dark Elf's feet as
Tenaka ran towards him, but he easily jumped. As he was in the air, he saw
the Nord bring his shield before him and push against him. He was trying a
similar trick to his last battle. As he pushed, Tenaka could not help but
fall onto his back. Landing hard, he watched as the favourite stood on his
wrist, forcing him to drop his Orcish blade. The crowd were now silent. The
Nord moved his own blade to the Dark Elf's throat and Tenaka grinned. He
muttered one word to activate his recall spell that he anchored before the
battle began and appeared above the Nord. Falling on his opponent, Tenaka
reached out and took back his blade. The Nord was lying face down and
Tenaka placed the point of his sword to the small of his opponent's back,
already weaving magic to counteract anything the favourite might try to do.

He did not try to do anything. He simply released his sword and, as was the
custom, stood to raise the victor's hand. The crowd cheered anew and people
moved to collect their winnings. The steward came and attached the prize to
his helmet. A Crimson red Eagle. Tenaka would wear it on his helmet until
the next tournament in fifteen years time. Tenaka simply smiled. He saw his
wife, Kriella looking at him from the shadows of the doorway to the
infirmary. She was smiling. As Dentar had used her own tactic against her,
Tenaka had used his against him. He saw his Dreadmaster walk out from the
crowds towards him. Strangely, both finalists were members of the same
Fist, and Dreadmaster Contor would want to congratulate both men, winner
and runner up. He did so and then whispered to the two men, "You are free
for an hour. After that, meet me at the barracks. And bring Kriella." The
two combatants nodded and the Dreadmaster walked away.

Tenaka walked into the barracks of Fist Contor in silence, Kriella close
behind him. As he entered he saw that Dentar had already arrived. As was
everything in Geddon, the room was completely made from ebony, magically
hardened to be useful. The flame given off by the couple of lanterns around
the room only just managed to illuminate the whole chamber where the
Dreadmaster and Fist would live during times of siege or where they would
simply congregate for meetings. Tenaka had never seen it so quiet. He
nodded to Dentar in greeting and Kriella smiled. The Dreadknight returned
both and then looked behind them. The two Khans turned around to see
Dreadmaster Contor standing in the doorway.

"No. You are permitted to know the nature of the mission. Now listen
carefully. I hate to repeat myself.

"Long ago a great Daedra was summoned into the world by a foolish mage. It
was trapped within a Soul Gem by a group of three Dreadknights and their
Dreadmaster. Since then, every twenty five years, three Dreadknights and
their Dreadmaster have journeyed to report on the status of the Soul Gem.
Once, some other Daedra almost managed to release the thing inside and we
seek to stop that from happening.

"We leave tomorrow morning, for Tamriel. Please be ready. I hate waiting as
much as I do repeating myself."

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