Champion against Champion

With all explained to him, Falco found Minos holding out his sword and coif. The coif was of leather just as the doublet was, even with cut marks and cases of rust of its own, while the sword was a rusty thing of bronze with a broken blade and a missing pommel. Both had belonged to Falco's great-grandfather.

"There is to be a battle of champions to end the war and Acinonyx is fighting for Hyperion." Stated Minos. "You may face him, defeat the abductor of your wife, free Rowena from him, avenge your father Tigris, avenge your friend Frumentius."

"Have you my shield as well?" inquired Falco, knowing fully well that he would need more than just a sword. His shield alone was something that had been new, a round thing that had to have been a twelvemonth old now.

"I've kept it safe, Falco, and Frumentius' bow!" exclaimed Minos with a laugh.

Taking his sword and coif, Falco commented: "You know very well that bows can't be used in a battle of champions."

"Aye, I do." Said Minos with a shrug. "But we can't expect Acinonyx to play by the rules."

Thus, did Falco, Minos and Kenneth all set out from the forest. When they emerged, Falco saw so great a camp that the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether believed that the joint forces of the Ulgen Khanate and the Cambyses Empire formed the greatest host from the east. The surrounding towns, villages and cities they had left unmolested and for that Hyperion's neighbours would provide the Great Eastern Host with food and supplies, eager to see the fall of the its royal house who had plagued them for many a twelvemonth.

From cavalry clad in either leather of bronze armour to foot soldiers, archers and charioteers in bronze, Falco never could have conceived a host of such number. The cavalry was nothing that was any wonder to the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether. He had heard of them from Buri and even from Pardus when the latter had been an ambassador to Aether. They were what the less-learned would call "centaurs", people who rode upon horses rather that ride in the chariots. Early cavalry had come from mountain valleys, clad in bronze armour, riding bareback with trousers of horsehide the same colour as that of their mount, causing the illusion from a distance that these were some fabulous creatures that were half-man and half-horse.

Amongst those from the Ulgen Khanate, Falco could see as many women as soldiers as there were men. That was the way in the khanates and even in Aether it had been the policy that women could serve as well as men in the military.

"What's this, Minos?" asked a woman from the Ulgen Khanate. "Is this some new recruit from one of the villages?"

"He is the one with the foremost right to fight Acinonyx." Minos replied.

The woman merely laughed and returned to cleaning her steed. After that Minos led Falco out past the camp where there was a great assembly with most of the leaders of both sides present. Never before had Falco seen so many wearing headgear in the likeness of the bull. Taurus Minor, that treacherous High Priest of the Earth Bull was there, wearing his golden bull mask, but every Hyperionite soldier was wearing a bronze helmet in the likeness of a bull's head, even including a nose ring. What manner of evil was this? Was Leo Rex now dead and Taurus Minor the King of Hyperion? No, that couldn't have been the case. Minos had said that Acinonyx was fighting for Hyperion as champion, if Leo had been dead, it would be Acinonyx, Leo's son, rather than Taurus, his brother-in-law, who would be king. Those helmets must have always been worn by the soldiers of Hyperion. There was nothing to differentiate any of the Hyperionite soldiers and the only reason Falco could tell which of them were the princes Pardus and Acinonyx was due to the presence of their animal companions, the black leopard Hector and the cheetah Paris. That only caused Falco to wonder where Taurus' ally Elephas was, he who wore the skull of some one-eyed beast as a helmet.

Taurus Minor was nine and thirty twelvemonths old and stood at a height of six feet, ten inches and three quarters. Twice Falco's weight, he was a muscular man that had belonged to Aether's native populace. He was bare-chested, wearing a brown pair of trousers with furry boots that slightly resembled hooves and his arms were covered in leather armour with a pair of furry bracelets. Overall, he looked more like a bandit or a rebel than a soldier, appropriate considering the Earth Bull was the Patron God of Bandits, Rebels, Torturers and Crown Princes. The horns of his mask caused him to look taller than he actually was and the eyes were made of curved crystal. In his right hand was a double-bladed stone axe that required the use of both hands to properly wield.

When Minos brought Falco to the front of the crowd, Lupus Khan and Shah Shahbaz both stared with raised eyebrow at the Son of Tigris. Buri, he who had been ambassador the Ulgen Khanate's ambassador to Aether, merely smiled while amongst the Hyperionites, Acinonyx began to flee only to be stopped by his elder, stepped over brother Pardus as Taurus uttered in that coarse arrogant voice of his, sounding hollow, muffled and booming: "So you did survive."

"Here now, who is this?" inquired Shah Shahbaz. He was a man of eight and thirty twelvemonths, light of skin and dark of hair with a bearded face.

Clearing his throat, Minos said: "Lupus Khan, Shah Shahbaz, I present to you Deucalion Falco, husband of Rowena of Aether."

"Rowena of Hyperion!" Acinonyx snarled, taking a step forward with a raised fist. He had a pleasant voice, but aside from his appearance there was nothing else about him that was pleasant.

Ignoring the Crown Prince of Hyperion, Minos continued with: "Falco has the foremost right to face Acinonyx. Besides having abducted his wife Rowena of Aether..." Pausing, Minos stared as Acinonyx drew his sword. He doubted the Crown Prince of Hyperion would dare try anything, but since when had there been any honour amongst the House of Hyperion? "Acinonyx slew Falco's father and predecessor Tigris as well as his friend Frumentius. Let the Divine Deucalion of Aether face the Crown Prince of Hyperion!"

Shah Shahbaz gave a nod and said: "His right is acknowledged. What say you, Lupus?"

The six and forty-twelvemonth old man of the Steppes could do naught but smile. Stroking his red beard with a twinkle in his green eyes, he uttered: "May victory be yours, Falco!"

Thus did Falco step forward with his sword and his shield ready. While there was laughter from the Hyperionite ranks, Falco knew that none came from Taurus, who merely stood there with his right hand tightly gripping the shaft of his axe.

Then did Acinonyx step forward. He was two and twenty twelvemonths of age and stood at a height of five feet, ten inches and three quarters. He was fair with beautiful brown eyes, soft blond hair and a charming mouth, but Falco thought that bull-headed helmet of his suited Acinonyx's soul more than his actual face did. Clad in bronze scale armour that ended in a type of kilt at the knees and left the arms unprotected and wearing white trousers of horsehide, the Crown Prince of Hyperion seemed to be better equipped compared to Falco with his old leather doublet and coif and a fine sword that was not broken and rusty... But if Acinonyx was better equipped, then why did he try to run the moment he saw Falco?

Immediately a grin spread across the countenance of the Son of Tigris. Acinonyx may have been better equipped, but outside of archery, he was a poor combatant.

Taking a moment to breathe, Falco watched as Acinonyx charged forward. Quick to move himself, the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether hurled his shield towards the feet of the Hyperionite Prince. Predictably, Acinonyx tripped over the shield and his helmet went flying from his cranium. The moment that the Abductor rose to his feet, Falco proceeded to study his opponent's clumsy movements. Acinonyx seemed almost to be disoriented, like he didn't know what he was even doing. If he truly was a poor combatant outside of archery, then he most likely didn't. Once more, the Crown Prince of Hyperion charged with both sword and shield raised to the sky. Rolling his eyes, Falco placed his sword in his left hand and then gave Acinonyx a good punch to the face, sending his opponent reeling back. It did not take long for Acinonyx to reorient himself and to attempt to ram into Falco with his shield, but alas, completely reoriented he was not. Kneeling down to place his sword upon the ground, Falco rose back up and grabbed his adversary's shield with both hands and proceeded to throw the Hyperionite Prince to the ground. Quickly did the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether remove his opponent's shield and then hurl it aside. Picking up his sword, Falco waited for Acinonyx's next attack.

What happened next completely caught Falco by surprise.

The moment Acinonyx got back to his feet, he gave Falco a good punch to the face. Feeling blood in his mouth, the Son of Tigris spat it out. Perhaps Acinonyx was better a boxer than he was a swordsman.

Seeing a sinister grin appear upon Acinonyx's countenance, Falco quickly moved aside as his opponent charged forward with raised sword. Equally as quick did the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether retaliate, making a quick swipe with his rusty, broken sword and cutting into Acinonyx's left leg. Again, Acinonyx tried to attack, but Falco was quick to knock his enemy's sword from his grasp and even quicker to give the Hyperionite Prince another punch to the face.

After that, Falco expected Acinonyx to get back up again, but to his surprise, the Evil-Hearted Hyperionite Prince merely began to return to his side, half-crawling and half-running. Was that it then? Falco doubted it. This was not over, not by a longshot. It was known throughout the world that Leo's father and predecessor never kept his word, why should his son and grandsons have been any different?

Noticing Pardus drawing his own sword, the Last Divine Deucalion of Aether began to grow worried. He could not defeat Pardus, there was no denying that.

"Acinonyx..." Pardus growled, his voice deep and rasping. "Turn back and face Falco or I thhall thlay you mythelf."

Acinonyx stared at his elder bother. The Lisping Prince, the Impotent Prince, their paterfamilias' favourite. Wherefore? Wherefore was he their father's favourite? After that injury, Pardus couldn't have children! He was a dead end and Leo acknowledged that by naming Acinonyx, his second son, the son he had ordered to be exposed, the Crown Prince of Hyperion, and yet despite all of that Pardus continued to be their father's favourite. Wherefore? Only because that Lisping, Impotent Prince was always victorious and brought glory to Hyperion.

How Acinonyx abominated his elder brother! How often had he heard his father say "Pardus could so better" in regards to his accomplishments! After the quintuple wedding, Leo outright said to Acinonyx that Leo would have come back to Hyperion with three times the number of women he had brought back and would have slain Falco as well during the commotion of Taurus' attempted coup on Aether two twelvemonths prior. His father, his brother, Acinonyx hated them both, but especially his paterfamilias, who would refer to him as "the disappointment" and "the annoyance" and had outright claimed to have been ill when he had fathered Acinonyx, but the thing that caused Acinonyx to despise his father most was the declaration of how long he had to live. To Taurus, Leo had promised Rowena upon Acinonyx's death, even saying that once Acinonyx had fathered three sons by Rowena then would the Crown Prince of Hyperion be executed so Rowena could be forced into marriage with Taurus, just as she had been forced into marriage with him. It was a declaration that made Acinonyx reluctant to try and bed Rowena. That Rowena slept with a dagger only served to further discourage him.

"Pardus, be silent!" uttered Taurus, not even turning to face the Elder Hyperionite Prince. "As much as I would like to see my nephew, your paternal half-brother, as crown prince, the fact remains he is an infant. Acinonyx must live... At least until he has fathered three sons by Rowena." From the Hyperionite ranks, laughter could be heard.

"Acinonyx has forfeited." Stated Lupus Khan, kneeling down at stroking the head of his wolf. "By the terms of the agreement, you must release all the women you abducted as well as the surviving man that has been imprisoned."

"My sister Pasiphae and Falco's sister Eithne are quite happy with their current arrangements." Looking over to Falco, he said: "She married Ascanius, cousin to Pardus and Acinonyx, and has given birth to a son named Aeneas. Congratulations, Falco. You are an uncle." An uncle? Falco could only wonder if Aeneas was truly Ascanius' son, for back on Aether, Eithne's façade had been one of untrustworthiness and looseness. Taurus then added: "There is no doubt that he is Ascanius' son. Besides my sister and Leo, your parents, your grandparents and you and Rowena, I have never seen a happier marriage."

"That is five marriages!" exclaimed Acinonyx.

"Yes, and your marriage to Rowena isn't one of them." Taurus commented dryly. Once more addressing Lupus Khan and the rest, the High Priest of the Earth Bull said: "Hyperion will not be returning anyone, we never had any intentions to honour the terms of the agreement."

So did battle begin again with the treacherous Hyperionite forces charging forward while Acinonyx was helped into the city. Though with only old armour, a broken, half-rusted old sword and a new shield, Falco fought valiantly with Kenneth by his side.