"Honorable" Duel (Part 1)

Through the night flew a single bird of prey. Its wings were silent as the forest. It navigated past trees and through branches. With its night vision, it could see everything. Wrapped around its leg was a small note. When it neared the base, it found the one who it had always delivered the notes to. It landed on the man's arm and held out its leg. After the man read the note, he attached another note to its leg and sent the bird away.

There was no direction or words on where the bird should go. It had only been trained to go from target A to target B. It flapped away from the base, speeding into the night. As the cool wind sped past its face its head twitched. Its eyes grew wide and it stiffened. Glancing down, there was an arrow through its stomach and left wing. It panicked, flinging itself into the shrubbery. Another arrow whistled through the air and pinned it down.

"Finally got it," A voice called out. The bird screeched and pecked at the arrow. It had been doing its duty for a month now. What had it done to deserve this treatment? Its fighting only sped up the bleeding process. "Now we have a hint on the spy," were the last words it ever heard.

…

Doevm woke up at the same time as always. He got up from his comfy sheets, then yawned and stretched. After making his bed, he took out his clothes and frowned. They were breaking down after a month of constant usage. Even his shoes were coming apart. Resolving to steal a new set of clothes and shoes from an enemy, he put on the rags. Throughout the month of constant battle and the intense heat of the forest, his traces of fat had vanished. His life essence had grown from a faded nearly pink color to a dark red.

He put on his armor, wincing at both their state and smell. No matter how much he cleaned the set, spots of dirt and rust had embedded themselves along with a faint smell of death. When he equipped his throwing knives, dagger, and spear he realized that they were beginning to dull. 'Metal needs to be maintained. Since I've never taken care of my training equipment, I didn't realize that I should have learned to perform proper maintenance once and a while. Each weapon or armor has to be cleaned and taken care of, like books in a library.

He locked the front door and noticed the note attached to the outside. Looking around the chaotic base, he could infer the contents. Squad leaders were grouped up at the training field with Marcus informing them of events Doevm already knew of. Various squad members were hurrying every which way. He spotted Ashtehar, who was on his knees praying with Oliver. He sighed and read the note. It only had a few words, and not the ones he was expecting. He dropped it and ran off towards his squad's barracks.

The one advantage from his small stature was that he could easily swim through the waves of squad members in the busy base. He ducked and crawled through the elbows and knees. After making his way through, he found his squad already getting ready for the day. He hurried them up anyway, going so far as to even help some of them.

"What gives squad leader?" One of the new soldiers asked. "I know we're leaving but this is too fast. We have two hours before we send off. That's what I heard from my friends in the other squads."

"There are different departure times for every squad." Doevm made sure to speak loud enough so everyone could hear him. "We leave in thirty minutes. Get rations, get your equipment, get water, and anything else. Go go go!" Before anyone could ask any more questions, they were all hurrying to the mess hall, where they received their rations and water. While thirty minutes sounded like a lot, they all had to carry a lot of equipment and have it packed and ready. They barely made it outside the base in time.

"Why are we leaving early in the morning?" Hopi asked. Even he was a little upset as he marched with the half-awake squad. Doevm handed him the note. As the Elf read its contents, his eyes went wide. "He…Why did the captain assign this duty to us? Why does he think we're the strongest squad and why would he put you up against that guy? We've been through enough already!"

"This is a chance Hopi," Doevm spoke slowly in-between breaths. They had a long march ahead and he needed to conserve his stamina. "Marcus trusts us to carry out this mission. He made us go early so we could set up traps beforehand. I need this win under my belt so I can get promoted to captain."

He turned to everyone: "Listen up, this battle is going to be fair. Compared to our previous battles where we fought a Manticore, Ghouls, or Elven squads, these people are humans. They are not nearly as scary but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Our mission today is to engage the enemy squad and win. We will not be outnumbered but this is going to be a tough fight. Just remember that you are not alone. Look at the men who you've trained with. They will have your back. We are one. If we lose this battle, Marcus and everyone under him will get flanked and overwhelmed. The outcome of our skirmish affects the entire battle. That's why we need to leave early. We have to set up traps and claim the point for ourselves."

The men weren't without complaints, but that little speech helped quiet them. They marched for three hours until they arrived at the assigned spot. Unlike the rest of the forest, this place's density of trees was significantly less. While Doevm had adopted the Elven tactics for moving around, every other human preferred to fight like they were in a wide-open field. While Doevm could identify some routes and places he use for hiding traps or the like, his options were limited. He couldn't rely on most of his usual tricks.

"Spread out and scout the area," Doevm ordered. "I want three scouts up top and for the signal for enemies to be the bird whistle I taught you. The rest will examine the land with me. When the enemy gets here, I want…"

Hopi turned around and gave a signal to Doevm, who couldn't resist looking ahead. This turned out to be a good thing because it allowed him to duck under an arrow and take out his spear. "Ambush! Enemy attack!" Doevm yelled as the enemy appeared.

The enemy had beat them to the spot. They had covered themselves in mud and shrubbery as to not be noticed. They all stood up with swords at the ready. Luckily, Hopi had noticed them before they had walked too far in the trap. "Formation four!" Doevm and the rest of squad six grouped up in a line, ready to engage. From the men dressed in bushes, one stood out amongst them, the one Doevm had been warned about.

The man stood at a normal six feet tall but still towered over the fourteen-year-old Doevm. He wore little armor as their tribe believed wearing it was the sign of a coward. His dark skin was a result of spending most of his time in one of Chaflo's many deserts. Red life essence poured out of him like a heartbeat, retracting and expanding. In his blistered hands was a simple bone mace. He pointed at Doevm, having immediately identified the strongest of the group, and bellowed out a challenge and insult in a tongue native to the Savages: "Brat, I only need my pinky to rip your head off."

Doevm, resisting the urge to laugh, responded in the same language: "After I'm done with you, your pinky won't be the only thing that I've ripped off."

The Savage smiled with its sharpened teeth and said in rough English, "Oh, the little one can bark. Now let's find out if you have bite to match. My name is Boro, let's have an honorable fight." He charged with the rest of his squad.