The Way of Renegades (1) by Steve D. Wall

Author:Steve D. Wall [Wall, Steve D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Andrastos was favored in his first match of the night by a decent margin, and neither Lyrrun nor Telua could find anyone to agree to a wager.

He fought a dark-skinned Renyan who stood almost an entire hand taller than him. Andrastos was faster, of course, but the Renyan had a significant reach advantage. They danced about the pit for almost the entire round, the crowd growing more and more excited.

“Unleash the Fury!” someone cried from the benches to Ulric’s right, and those around the man cheered.

“The Fury!” someone else shouted.

Andrastos ducked under a haymaker, slipped inside the other man’s guard, and unleashed a barrage of body blows that buckled him. He tried to backpaddle, but Andrastos grabbed him by the top of his hair and smashed an elbow into his face.

By the time the man flopped onto his back, blood gushing from his nose, Andrastos was already walking the other way. And the crowd loved it, applauding with great enthusiasm.

Several other men fought, most of whom Ulric didn’t know. Gustav was first paired against a hairy bull of a man, fully his equal in size and strength, but not his equal in fighting ability or brutality. Gustav batted the other man around like a punching bag, toying with him for the entire round before crunching his face in with an unnecessary number of punches in the round’s final moments.

Andrastos fought again, and Lyrrun was able to win a sizable bet. Devo fought again, and was again first heralded into the pit by Dellioph.

But this time, as soon as the fight started, Devo rushed forward, caught the other man by the inside of the arm and began to pummel him with punches. His opponent went limp right away, and after Gustav’s behavior, the announcer was quick into the ring, clanging the bell. To his credit, Devo dropped the attack instantly and walked away.

Curiously, as he approached Dellioph sitting on the edge of the pit, the bard held up his hands as if he was confused and Devo growled something back at him. Ulric shared a look with Lyrrun, the tense interaction hadn’t been lost on him, either, and the old man slowly shrugged.

A gruff voice erupted out of the crowd on the other side from them. “I want to fight that bastard!”

Ulric looked to the sound, recognizing that voice. Out from between two makeshift bleachers strode Gustav, his face red with drink, one hand pointing at Devo.

“He ain’t special.” Gustav waved dismissively toward Devo, but he was speaking to Dellioph. “And I’m tired of your mouth, boy.”

The bard hopped to his feet, smiling wickedly. “Oh, but my mouth can go all night long!” He pointed at a woman in the front row and winked. “Madam.”

The woman huffed indignantly and looked away as many people laughed. Lyrrun had been drinking from his flask, and began to choke with laughter until Edwell clapped him on the back a couple times.

Dellioph took a few steps toward the center of the pit and held a hand out.

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