Spectating Anxiety

JP with Alexis, Tarmen and Gonyaul:

Gonyaul could hear the hollars and cheers from deeper inside the tunnels. It was a curiously different sound than the previous combat noises. Had something changed?

He finished up helping Nicolaus and made his way back to the mine entrance. He was surprised at what he was witnessing. Tarmen and a large Odenine warrior were dueling ferociously. And Voah was out there! Why was everyone just standing around and watching?

He looked to Alexis, who was radiating frustration so strongly he felt like it would sun burn him. “What happening?” He asked clueless to the current proceedings.

“He challenged Tarmen to a duel.“

Alexis explained curtly, tensely watching the deadly confrontation.

“Why?”

It did not make sense to him that they went through all that slaughter to suddenly have both sides take what looked to be a break to spectate two fighters. Was this this process for all large scale combat?

Alexis exhaled slowly, pushing down her aggravation. She didn’t want to lash out at her friend.

“He wins, we are to surrender. Tarmen wins, they walk away. Or so he claims. Easier than to besiege the mine, and he probably relishes in humiliating Tarmen.“

Gonyaul looked back to the fighting with a new sense of observational urgency. Everything apparently was riding on this duel. A part of him was curious why the enemy just didn’t start the whole battle this way. It would have saved so many lives if they had. While he wanted to inquire, he could tell now was not the time to go into many questions mode with Alexis.

He mumbled to himself gravely, “I hope he wins.” There was a part of him that wasn’t so sure. He had taken Tarmen to the back of the tunnel to get patched up earlier and the man was sporting some concerning injures.

“Yeah. So do I.”
Alexis whispered.

‘Come on Tarmen. Show them they should stop to underestimate their animals.’

She thought, as she remembered her own, less deadly duel back at their first meeting with the Aghul.

Horses can kick. And dogs can tear your throat out.

Tarmen couldn’t move quick enough to avoid the charge, K’ol knocking him to the ground and straddling him.
Every fiber of Tarmen’s being was on fire, now having to deal with an enraged foe. The Odonine had tossed his weapons aside, sending hammering blows down onto the dog that had ruined his already blighted face.
The scuffle that the duel had devolved into started out decently for Tarmen, able to win a few lucky hits to the bloody jaw of his foe. He kicked, he swung, he even got a lucky bit on a finger when K’ol tried to grab his face. This turned for the worst when K’ol finally thought to aim at the spear still embedded in his adversary.
A solid punch awoke the searing pain of the wound, draining what little strength Tarmen still had as his eyes were dazed by the shock.
Suddenly having to use his good arm to deflect and block the following blows, he couldn’t find any new opening in his foes assault. Whenever he tried to retaliate, K’ol would thunder down on his wounded shoulder, blinding Tarmen in pain. This would earn him several blows to his face before he could bring up his guard again.
He vision began to dim from the pain and blood; he could feel a numb tingling in his legs and hand. Tarmen truly realized he would die here and sentence his crew to slavery and worse. Yet he could do nothing but blindly defend himself and try to stave off the oblivion trying to claim him.

Gonyaul’s facial expressions echoed every pain Tarmen was experiencing. It was excruciating watching the beating and the giant of a man failing. He looked left and right to the other soldiers and especially Alexis, wondering when they would advance and put a stop to it; however, no one made any such movements.

He clenched his fists and pre visualized charging into the duel and doing a double footed barrel dive into the man’s chest for starters. He took a few steps forward without realizing it as he thought of the many ways he could turn the Odenine’s body into a pretzel.

Likewise Alexis had instinctively taken several steps towards the brutal beat down the duel had devolved into, before she remembered there was nothing she could do.

She was physically shaking with the desire to get in there and give that craven bastard a bit of his own medicine, but if there was to be a point to Tarmen putting his life on the line out there at all, she couldn’t.

“Tarmen…. Pillars, please…”