The Challenger by Taran Matharu

Author:Taran Matharu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

CHAPTER

35

Of all of them, Quintus seemed to enjoy the food the most. But then, he had spent much of the past year eating dinosaur jerky and little else. Quintus was skinniest, but his appetite more than made up for it.

With their bellies overfull—and Amber’s face taking on a faint shade of green—they now stared at the weapons arrayed on the sand in front of them. Cade wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

Tsuru stepped in front of the first pile and hefted one, balancing it on the palm of her hand. Spears, and long ones at that—seven feet in length by his estimation.

“They call this a bear spear,” Tsuru said. “Used across the ages to hunt animals far larger than ourselves.”

She tapped the tip with her cane, where a leaf-shaped blade was affixed to the dark-wood pole.

“A wide blade to cut through the large organs and arteries,” she said, then rapped her cane against a sharp spike on the weapon’s tail. “And a point to brace the weapon against the ground when the beast charges.”

A third of the way down the shaft was an iron crosspiece, and Tsuru slid her fingers from the tip down to the point where the metal cross jutted out.

“The spear will impale up to this length, then the wings of the crosspiece will stop it penetrating farther and the beast getting close enough to maul you.”

She smiled and spun the weapon, hefting it overhand above her head.

“And, like the Spartans of old, we shall fight with spear and shield. A phalanx of five.”

Tsuru jabbed down, both to demonstrate the weapon’s use and to point at the shields she had selected, stacked like crockery in the sand.

These were the body-length, concave rectangles favored by the Roman legions, and now the soldiers of New Rome.

“Pick one up,” Tsuru commanded, and Cade did as she bid, slotting his wrist through the leather strap of the topmost shield.

To his surprise, it was lighter than he expected, a touch heavier than a large bowling ball, though still heavy enough that he couldn’t imagine holding it off the ground for long.

“Why this kind of shield?” Cade asked.

“From what we know of the first battle, we must fight defensively, until the other teams have wiped one another out,” Tsuru said. “This serves the benefit of protecting you from shoulder to ankle, and lets you rest its bottom against the ground in between the action.”

She pointed at Quintus. “You, legionary. Demonstrate.”

Quintus must have been reading her lips or listening intently, for he snatched up a shield and crouched, his eyeline just above the shield’s rim.

“A round shield requires long training in how to protect yourself, and the fellow to your left. We have no time for such things. This shall prove adequate, and Quintus shall help me train you. Right, Quintus?”

“Right,” Quintus replied.

“Cade, try to knock Quintus back with your shield,” Tsuru said.

“Seriously?” Cade asked.

Tsuru raised a brow, and Cade shook his head with a sigh.

“Sorry, Quintus,” Cade said, raising his shield.

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