Dokeshi March: Chapter 35 (Patreon)

Chapter 35

“I don’t see anything.”  Suki was standing on Grant’s shoulders, peeking through a small gap in the thorny hedges.  “I can see a stand with a piece of paper on it by the exit on the other side, but it’s pretty much just an empty circle.”

“Is it surrounded by thorns, or walls?”  Grant grunted as Suki shifted.  The Wielder was heavier than she looked.  “Because if it has walls, they could be hiding enemies.”

“The side we are on is thorns, but the far side is just one big curved wall.”  She shifted again, causing Grant to stumble away from the thorns.  Suki did a backflip off of his shoulders and landed gracefully behind him.  “It’s obviously a trap.  I just don’t know how big of a trap it really is, or if we can beat whatever comes out of it.”

“Well, there is only one way to find out.”  He stretched out his back, trying to relieve the pressure from having a whole extra person standing on him.  “I’ll go in first, and you wait to come out until we know what we’re facing.”

“Fine, but don’t come crying to me if you end up getting killed the moment you walk in there.”  Suki took a moment to re-tie her hair up into a ponytail.  When she realized Grant was just standing there staring at her, she waved her hand toward the small opening that led to the center of the maze.  “Well, what are you waiting for?  Let’s go.”

Grant sighed, not knowing what to say.  He was tired of arguing with her, but he wasn’t sure what to do to fix their situation.  The two of them had such different views that he had no idea what they could do to see each other’s perspective.

<Time and experience, Grant.  That’s the only way to truly learn how to see the world through another’s eyes.>  It was exactly what he expected to hear.  <Now, stop delaying, and get in there!>

Putting action to words, the young Wielder stepped through the gap in the hedge.  It was almost exactly as Suki had described, except she forgot to mention the white marble-paved depression in the center of the circular-shaped room.  It was surrounded by a low ring of solid metal.  It looked like either brass or copper, and Grant could tell by the dried water marks that it was supposed to be some kind of pool or fountain.  While Grant was inspecting it, a camouflaged door hidden in the center of the stone wall rolled to the side, and a rather rotund man wearing plate armor painted to look like a clown stepped out.

“I was beginning to wonder when you would finally show up!”  The tinny voice of the terrifying knight-clown seemed to echo as he stepped to the opposite side of the fountain, and hefted an oversized sword shaped like a cleaver in one hand, the familiar scepter of the Dokeshi’s Vassals in the other.  His stone was glowing a sinister red, making it seem as if he was covered in gore.  The enemy Vassal’s face was covered by a faceplate painted to look like a grinning clown, with a bulbous red nose that somehow managed to look scary instead of silly.  A colorful rainbow-dyed wig was poorly glued to the top of his helm, and the armor was rusted in places where the clown paint was scraped off.  At least, Grant hoped it was rust, and not dried blood.  “I have been waiting here for you since that fiasco in the casino.  In this place, you either gamble with your time, or with your life.  I’m glad you came to me.  It means you want to bet your life.”

“Um… who are you?”  Grant was man enough to admit that this might be the most intimidating foe he had ever seen.  His grip on the hilt of his sword was tight enough that it made his knuckles ache.  “I haven’t heard anyone talk about the Dokeshi having an armored Vassal like you.”

“That’s because most people don’t live to talk about me.”  The giant chuckled, the faceplate unable to hide the obvious joy he felt at the idea.  “I’m the second most powerful Vassal, behind only Cuddles.  You can know me as…”  He waved his scepter, causing another hidden door to open.  “Dangerous Dade!”  The sound of hooves clopping on paving stones came through the second door.  “And this is my loyal pet, Minamino!”

<Huh.  Well, that’s a new one, even for me.>

Minamino was something straight out of the realm of nightmares.  A massive bull, weighing in at over four thousand pounds, plodded into the makeshift arena.  Unfortunately for Grant’s future dreams, it didn’t have a normal bull head.  That would have been much more preferable to the completely normal human head that sat on the monstrously thick neck of the creature.  It made eye contact with Grant, and dropped it’s head so they were at the same level.  It opened its mouth, and he expected it to speak.  Instead, it just squinted, and made a sound that was far more horrifying.

“Moo.”

“What in all that is holy is that thing?”  Grant unconsciously backed up a few steps, making sure to keep the dry fountain between him and the two opponents.

“Who, Minamino?”  Dade rested his sword on the rim of the fountain so he could give the giant man-headed bull a pat on the back.  “Well, let’s just say, the Dokeshi’s father had some very… unique breeding programs.”  Grant shuddered at the terrifying image his mind came up with.

<I’d be shuddering too, if I had a body to do it with.  That’s disgusting.>

“How does that even work?”  Grant shook his head sharply.  “Nevermind, I don’t even want to know.  What I would rather know is what you want me to put on your tombstone?”

“Ha!  You have spirit.  This should be fun!”  The clown knight pulled a massively horned silver helm from behind the edge of the fountain and buckled it on the man-head.  “Let’s make this more interesting, shall we?”  He laid a heavy slap on Minamino’s rear, and it snorted in anger.  The fact it came from the nostrils of a human-sized nose instead of a bull-sized nose didn’t make it any less intimidating.

<Whatever you do, don’t let that thing hit you.>  The four thousand pound creature started to trot around the rim of the dry fountain, crushing small pebbles to dust with its prodigious weight.  <And don’t let it step on you, either.>

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”  Grant backed up along the rim, trying to keep as much of the fountain between himself and Minamino as possible.  The obvious side-effect was he had to get closer to the stationary figure of the clown wearing plate armor.  Considering the two enemies he was facing, Grant decided to try and focus on the Vassal first.  At least he knew how to fight against a man with a sword.

“Oh, you think I am the easier option to fight, do you?”  Dangerous Dade lifted the heavy cleaver off the ground to rest it on his shoulder.  “Good luck getting through this armor with that little toothpick you call a sword!”

<Did he just call me a toothpick?>  Sarge growled in anger.  <We’ll just have to see about that!  Aim for his joints, Grant!  Take this creepy clown out at the knees!>

Not having a better idea, that’s exactly what he tried to do.  Grant sprinted around the curve of the fountain, and rolled under the downward strike of the cleaver aimed for his head.  The explosion of rock chips that echoed out behind him when it impacted the ground threw off his aim, and Grant’s Uchigatana bounced off the greave covering the monstrous clown’s shin.

Combat initiated

Action: Defend: Without weapon.

Result: Dodged primary attack.  Secondary effect, ‘Ground Breaker,’ causes Disorientation for 3 seconds.

Actions: Please select one option from the following list.

Attack: Lethal, Non-lethal, Spell.

Defend: With weapon, Without weapon.

Run: Attempt escape.

Action: Attack: With weapon

Result: Disorientation results in inaccurate strike.  No damage to opponent.

Actions: Please select one option from the following list.

Attack: Lethal, Non-lethal, Spell.

Defend: With weapon, Without weapon.

Run: Attempt escape.

The cleaver was stuck in the ground, leaving an opening for Grant to capitalize on Dangerous Dade’s vulnerability.  He could even see the bloodshot eyes of the evil clown through the holes in his metal mask.  Before he could select ‘Attack,’ the rumbling of the ground warned him of Minamino’s rapid approach.

<Look out!>  Grant selected ‘Defend: Without weapon,’ and dove backwards inside the ring.  The screaming sound of the horned helm scraping against the metal rim ran shivers up his spine.  The man-bull rumbled the ground as it charged pass, barely missing the Vassal standing in the way.

Action: Defend: Without weapon.

Result: Dodged primary attack.  Secondary effect, ‘Ground Shaker,’ causes unstable footing for 3 seconds.

Actions: Please select one option from the following list.

Attack: Lethal, Non-lethal, Spell.

Defend: With weapon, Without weapon.

Run: Attempt escape.

<Good job.  Now, do it again.>  Confused for a moment, he almost didn’t see another smashing swing from the clown.  He was forced to select ‘Defend’ again, and rolled toward the center of the fountain.

“It looks like I was right!”  Dangerous Dade pried his cleaver free of the ground.  “You are fun!”

Action: Defend: Without weapon.

Result: Dodged primary attack.  Secondary effect, ‘Ground Breaker,’ causes Disorientation for 3 seconds.

Actions: Please select one option from the following list.

Attack: Lethal, Non-lethal, Spell.

Defend: With weapon, Without weapon.

Run: Attempt escape.

“I see how this works.”  Grant climbed to his feet.  “I’m not playing this game, bouncing back and forth between the two of you.”

“Oh, really?  Then do something about it!”  The Vassal used his scepter for the first time, tapping it on the edge of the fountain.  Almost instantly, water started bubbling up from the cracks in the tile.  “It looks like you won’t be able to hide in this ring much longer.”  It was already almost to Grant’s knees.  It would reach to his waist before long, and he would be easy pickings for the much-larger Vassal.  Another very human-sounding snort came from behind him, telling Grant that Minamino was ready and waiting for him to try and climb out of the fountain.  “Time to come play my game, little Wielder.”

“We’ll see about that.”  Grant couldn’t help but smile when the familiar shock of pink hair started sneaking up behind the unsuspecting clown.  Instead of giving her away, he spun around to face the monster waiting behind him.  “I’ll just have to take care of your pet first, and then you and I can settle things.”

“Ha!  You think it will be easy to-”  The gong of metal against metal shut him up, and when Grant glanced back he saw Dade stumbling forward to lean on the rim of the fountain.  “Oh, two of you?  Now this isn’t just fun.  You are making this interesting.”

The Vassal climbed to his feet, but Grant was too busy to notice what happened next.  His attention was taken up by the sharp pain he felt when he tried to lever himself over the edge of the fountain.  Grant was shocked to see the man-bull had bitten him on the hand.

Action: Defend: Without weapon.

Result: Attack successful.  Completely normal bite does 5 damage (58 mitigated).

Actions: Please select one option from the following list.

Attack: Lethal, Non-lethal, Spell.

Defend: With weapon, Without weapon.

Run: Attempt escape.

<Look on the bright side.>  The sword spirit seemed to think Grant’s pain was funny, and he jerked his hand out of the creature’s mouth.  <At least you were bit by something without sharp teeth.>  Minamino snorted in Grant’s face, spraying him with a fine mist of snot.

“I’m having a hard time finding any side of this that is bright, Sarge.”