The Roar of a Dragon Read Free Page B

direction.
    Oh, Gods. What did I do?
    Worse, he was walking much straighter than he was the previous time, and with more purpose.
    As he stood in front of me this time, he drew his sword (for some reason, I took a mental note that he was right-handed), which was almost enough to make me squeal in terror. But, as I stared at the tip that hovered just inches from my nose, I kept my lips tightly sealed, though I couldn’t stop trembling.
    ‘Do you not value your life, boy?’ The knight asked, and the fact that he didn’t slur his words this time wasn’t lost on me. It seemed that he was sobering up in a hurry, which wasn’t good news for me.
    Again, I remained silent, and he got even angrier.
    ‘I suggest you get back down on the ground, plant your nose in the dirt, and remain there until I have departed. If you do not, then I will smile as your body lies limp, impaled, at the end of my sword.’
    I shuddered as the image firmly entrenched itself in my mind — but even as I did, my blood burned even hotter in anger. Suddenly, I found myself in an internal struggle — my brain (which was screaming at me to just obey already, and get on with my life) against my heart (which was tired of the pain and humiliation, and was actually, to my chagrin, contemplating fighting back). It felt like I battled with this decision forever, though it was only a few seconds.
    Unfortunately, the knight took those few seconds as another act of defiance. ‘So be it,’ he muttered, before he hit me in the face with the steel-plated glove of his left hand. I staggered before I fell on my back, clutching my face from the sharp pain which was suddenly piercing my skull. The blow opened a cut on my forehead, and I could immediately feel the blood trickling down my face. My vision became fuzzy and I was having trouble focusing on anything. The blinding sun suddenly made my head pound harder.
    Roughly, the knight reached down and grabbed me by my dirty cotton shirt, hauling me to my feet. He set me down so aggressively that I almost fell back down to the ground.
    ‘Now…’ he growled in my face, and the overwhelming smell of alcohol made my eyes water severely. ‘You will do exactly as I tell you this time, or I will gut you right here. Do you understand me?’ Once again, his sword was pointed at me.
    This time, blind rage completely overruled my fear. True, I hadn’t had much experience with soldiers and knights, but I believed in the stories that I had read, the tales that had been engraved into my heart.
    This man is a disgrace to his own title .
    The knight had finally had enough of my insolence. Without warning, he tried to strike me with the hilt of his sword, and instinctively, I dodged the blow. I had no clue where the idea came from to dodge the attack — perhaps from avoiding the donkey’s hooves as they tried to kick me, or from dodging chickens as they attacked me when I entered their pens.
    At any rate, the fact that I was no longer where I was an instant ago when the knight tried to strike me — apparently coupled with the lingering effects of the alcohol — caused the knight to stumble. If he had fallen, he would have landed where I had been laying only moments earlier, but instead he caught himself and spun around. My thoughts a blur, I snatched up the nearby gardening hoe and held it in front of me defensively.
    I could hear the knight’s friends, on their horses, exchanging murmurs of surprise.
    Seeing me with a weapon (such as it was) and ready to fight back, the knight’s expression was surprised at first, then turned mocking.
    ‘Are you in your right mind, boy?’ he asked, arrogantly sauntering toward me. ‘Fighting a knight? Do you even know what you are about to get yourself into?’
    I didn’t, clearly, but I stood steadfast anyway. ‘Judging by the amount of ale you’ve apparently consumed, I’m more in my right mind than you.’
    One of the knights behind me chuckled, then was stifled into