A/N: I've decided to put Crimson Tiger on a monthly update schedule, so expect at least one chapter every month.


Chapter 10: Armor and Daggers

Q'Wasim stood on the battlefield and let himself look at Priyansi one last time. Even with her new appendages, it was her aspect that truly made her seem like a divine being. Q'Wasim knew Priyansi had to be horrified by the results of the deathmatch just fought in her honor, but the High Priestess sat on her Crimson Tiger as serene as a lotus flower in a pool.

Q'Wasim tried to absorb some of that impenetrable peace into his own being as he faced his opponent, Nayan of the Saanp Tribe.

Nayan squatted into a fighting stance. The hunter held a katar knife in each hand. Q'Wasim eyed the fang-like weapons as they gleamed in the sunlight. The Snaap tribe was named after the snake of D'Vati. As such those white mosan blades were coated in snake venom.

Q'Wasim settled into his own fighting stance. He was ready.

As Q'Wasim's focus was off of Priyansi, the sound of her voice surprised him when she suddenly shouted, "Let the battle begin!"

Nayan sprang forward, quickly cutting the distance between him and Q'Wasim.

When the blow came, Q'Wasim let the Nayan hit him.

The hunter's blade made contact with Q'Wasim's armor. There was a short ringing sound before the blade bounced off the armor scales. The force of the recoil caused Nayan to stumble and fall back.

Unfortunately, Q'Wasim was too slow to take advantage of Nayan's fumble.

The hunter recovered and thrust his knife upward to try the catch the underbelly of the scales. Q'Wasim once again did not evade the strike. He instead grabbed the attacking arm and pulled, using Nayan's own acceleration to force his blade up in the air.

Nayan was not deterred. He attacked with the other arm only to lead to the same result. Now Q'Wasim was holding up both of Nayan's arms in the air like a toddler.

Q'Wasim brought his hands together, hoping to hold Nayan's with one so that Q'Wasim could use the other to grab the knife blades.

However, the instant Q'Wasim's grip loosened, Nayan kicked off of Q'Wasim's armor.

Q'Wasim held tight, but the hunter was counting on it. The little man swung up and then over Q'Wasim's head, forcing Q'Wasim's arms to stretch back.

Still, he did not release Nayan. Q'Wasim did not want to give the hunter access to his vulnerable neck.

This handed Nayan the opportunity to use the last of his momentum to crash into Q'Wasim's back. The impact was the last straw.

Q'Wasim let go of Nayan and toppled forward. Countless hours of training came back to Q'Wasim in that moment. A big guy like him was not meant to be on the ground. Q'Wasim twisted and rolled so that he landed on his back. It was a good thing because Nayan was on him and there was not enough space for Q'Wasim to get up.

Nayan went to plunge his knives into Q'Wasim's legs, but Q'Wasim was not having it. He fought back, kicking with all his might. One of the knives flew out of Nayan's hands and a couple kicks later, Q'Wasim had managed to strike Nayan and drive him away.

Q'Wasim wasted no time leaping back into a standing position. He planted his feet just in time to see the end of Nayan backflipping back into his own neutral stance.

"You are faster than you look, flowerchild," Nayan called. He was breathing hard and there was the beginning of a bruise on his chin, but the hunter was grinning.

Q'Wasim did not respond.

"What is this?" Nayan taunted as he slowly backed away from Q'Wasim. "I finally get to hunt something that is not an animal and I still do not get a decent conversation?"

He was stalling. Q'Wasim scanned the battlefield.

"Eyes on me, flowerchild," Nayan said, but it was too late. Q'Wasim had spotted the knife.

It was equidistant from them.

Q'Wasim said, "How come you never trained with the rest of us? I would have liked to have seen you try some of those moves on Prince Gaven."

Nayan barked out a laugh. "I bet you would, but the prince was too proud for that. We were far more circumspect in our bouts."

"You two fought in the jungle then?" Q'Wasim asked.

As they talked, Q'Wasim and Nayan were both moving closer to the spare knife.

"In the jungle, in the palace, out on the city streets," Nayan said with false easiness, "wherever he was alone, there was a chance I would be there with my knives. It was great fun."

"I never knew. When did that all start?" Q'Wasim asked.

Nayan opened his mouth to answer and that was when Q'Wasim lunged for the knife.

Nayan fell for the bait and reacted to Q'Wasim's faint, throwing himself at the knife and leaving himself vulnerable to Q'Wasim's true attack.

Q'Wasim pounced on the hunter and over 150 kilos landed on Nayan's back. The hunter cried out in pain.

Q'Wasim ignored him and reached for the knife, not the one that was underneath them both, but the other knife that was in Nayan's outstretched hand. Because of the awkward angle, Q'Wasim had to twist his body and wrestle Nayan for it, but before long, Q'Wasim had the knife in hand and was kneeling over Nayan while Nayan now lay on his back. The hunter's arms were pinned and his dark eyes were looking sardonically up at Q'Wasim.

"Going to kill me with my own knife, flowerchild?" Nayan asked.

Q'Wasim stared down at Nayan. That was exactly what he was going to do. That was what he had to do. Q'Wasim's gaze flicked upward. He expected to see the crowd, but he must have been turned around because his eyes met Priyansi's. He could actually sense the tension underneath her façade. She was waiting for him up there.

"Yes," Q'Wasim said to her. "Yes," he repeated to Nayan. "For Takanda and for her." He would do much worse than this.

Nayan barked out another laugh. "Try it then."

Q'Wasim raised the knife up in the air. It wobbled slightly in his grip. Q'Wasim tried to take a steadying breath but it did not help the sick feeling in his gut. He had never killed someone before.

Nayan smiled up at him. The hunter's white teeth looked like stars in the morning light. The shine of them compounded Q'Wasim's nausea.

He just had to do it.

Q'Wasim brought the knife down but it seemed to move in slow motion and that was not the only thing. His whole body began to fall forward. Q'Wasim could not stop it.

He fell on top of Nayan with a dull thud and the knife fell from his hand.

From underneath him, he heard Nayan chuckle, "Your legs were open, flowerchild. Victory is mine."

Q'Wasim wanted to argue, even as he finally noticed the dull pain coming from his right calf. The small cut should be nothing, but Q'Wasim could not even open his mouth. The world was going black and he was so very tired.