Uncovered Secrets Ch. 1

Uncovered Secrets

"Okay. Who's next?" the gold-eyed boy asked. Brackish Tactikous was in the middle of the arena, laughing and waiting for his next challenger. He was wearing leather armor over his bare, upper body and a few greaves on his legs. His forhead was gleaming with sweat.

The others pestered him into fighting them. They wanted to see what skills he earned inside the gladiator arena of Caralis.

He smiled deviously at the others sitting at the benches. Brackish managed to defeat Snotlout and Tuffnut in a two on one match. They weren't too hard to beat-they were completely overconfident. He fought Treya and Astrid individually and managed to use their tempers against them. They were also new to his fighting style. Hiccup was still trying to get used to fighting but Brackish learned that his forte was using a sword just like him. Fishlegs and Ruffnut stayed on the sidelines, laughing at how some of the best(and maybe worst) fighters were trying to defeat him.

"I'll try." Brackish turned around and saw Aaron stripping his coat off and unsheathing his sword. He hefted it up and said, "Why don't we make this a bit fair? Drop your shield and use only your sword."

The viking crowd that surrounded the arena looked at Brackish. He smiled at the one person he was looking for.

"I accept the challenge." He hefted his gladius up and went into a defensive stance. Aaron looked at his movements and saw what type of fighter he was. Brackish was a few inches shorter than Aaron. He was two years younger and maybe not as strong. But what Aaron saw was that he was fast and evens his offensive and defensive style. What he also observed was that Brackish knew how to analyze his opponents well. It was better to attack now than never. Then he charged.

As the first stroke fell sparks flew when both sword met. They locked swords together and tried to gain dominance over each other. Aaron had a closer look on the gladius. Its hilt was carefully decorated with runic symbols and the letters SPQR. The blade had carefully carved in lines that looked like vines intertwining with each other and fire-like drawings at the base. The one thing that it was supposed to portray was the pride of Brackish's two families that were both Roman and Nordic. But like Aaron's own katana, it was just as deadly.

Aaron was caught by surprise as Brackish broke away from the sword lock and kicked him in the stomach. He regained his balance and started to make fast paced strikes on his younger opponent. Brackish's disadvantage to this was that his sword was shorter than that of Aaron's katana. He dodged  each one but grunted as he felt his Aaron's elbow connect with his stomach.

Brackish ran towards the wall in a fast pace. Aaron grinned triumphantly and followed. "Giving up already?"

But the boy answered saying, "Far from it."

He pushed himself off the wall with a great leap and pointed his sword towards Aaron's head. The older viking grunted and barely dodged it. It was a dirty trick but also a very smart one. Now it was the Roman's turn to turn the tide.

The Tactikous made a large side swipe at Aaron. Aaron ducked and pushed his arm away. Brackish turned and kicked him in the chest into a few nearby barrels. Aaron was surprised to find a small sword at his neck.

"I win," Brackish said but he frowned when he felt a sharp point near his stomach.

"Actually, I think it's a tie," Aaron laughed. Brackish grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "You okay?"

"Been better."

The crowd cheered and the other viking teens went up to congratulate them. This was a good start.