Chapter 5: Zatana, Master of the Ring Blade

Tira and Toren were getting closer to home with every passing second, but Tira still couldn't accept that Liv had to be left behind. Toren tried to comfort his sister, but all attempts failed.

Hours passed and Denmark seemed no closer until a village was reached in which some of the locals spoke Danish. "We're almost there," said Toren optimistically. Tira remained pessimistic, knowing that they were both hungry and penniless. As the twins explored the town, they came across what appeared to be an arena with a sign reading:

Come and challenge the great Zatana! Last five minutes in the ring and be awarded with 5000 gold pieces and a buffet feast!

"A challenge," said Toren. "I guess this is my lucky day." The twins rushed into the arena to see a man, obviously nowhere near wealthy, step into a ropeless ring opposite a tall, beautiful woman wearing an obviously expensive dress and holding a blunt ring blade.

"Ohhhh," said Tira in awe, "I've never seen a weapon like that. It looks powerful." Toren didn't reply. Tira looked back at the ring and saw that the ring had been elevated about ten feet.

"This won't last long," said Toren, seeing the woman get into fighting position. "She's obviously been trained."

The crowd suddenly focused on two been stepping out of a door. The men were obviously rich. The one on the left with the goatee stepped forward and said, "Hello everyone! As you know, I'm Alpha and this is my brother Beta. This man here is one of the many people who have foolishly challenged Zatana and will join all the rest who walk the path shame." Alpha turned to his brother and said, "Beta, will you do the honors?"

"Certainly, Alpha." He responded, taking out a bell. Beta rang the bell and the man rushed Zatana. Zatana idly dodged the attack and used the blunt ring blade to knock the man right off the edge."

"And that's all, folks," said Alpha, "Zatana takes down another challenger in record time! Anyone brave enough to take on Zatana?" The crowd suddenly fell silent for a long time before Alpha began to speak again saying, "Last call!"

Toren leapt up and yelled, "Zatana! You're winning streak is over!"

The crowd began to cheer as Zatana walked over to Toren and said, "Another street urchin? This fight will be too fast."

Toren didn't respond and walked over to the ring. Zatana soon followed. Tira rushed over to Toren and began yelling words of encouragement, but her words were engulfed by the cheers for Zatana. The platform elevated and Beta rang the bell. Toren remained motionless as he analyzed Zatana's brief movements. Zatana motioned her ring blade in front of her and rushed Toren, who successfully leapt up and landed on the edge of the ring blade. The audience was in awe at Toren's accomplishment, but the cheers for Toren were evenly matched for the cheers for Zatana.

"Clever," complimented Zatana, "I guess I underestimated you, but what's going to bring your downfall is that you overestimated yourself!" Zatana launched the ring blade in the air along with Toren, and Toren landed face first at Zatana's feet. Zatana subsequently caught her ring blade and swung it directly at Toren. Toren rolled to the side and hopped up to see that he was stuck between Zatana and the edge.

"You know," said Zatana, readying for her attack, "You're a lot more skilled in fighting than your street clothing would lead one to believe, but your skill is still no match for me." Zatana swung and Toren back flipped away from the ring blade directly off the platform. Zatana thought she had won until she heard Toren's voice saying, "Maybe it's you who's overestimating yourself!" Zatana rushed over to see Toren barely hanging to the edge. Toren's eyes lit up as he launched himself at Zatana and back on the platform.

Meanwhile Tira noticed that Alpha and Beta were getting nervous. Tira was able to overhear Alpha saying, "That urchin's been in the ring for over four minutes. One more minute and he gets the prize that we don't have!"

"Relax," assured Beta. "Zatana won't lose." Alpha didn't calm down and even seemed to get more nervous with each passing second, which filled Tira with glee.

Back at the battle, Zatana impaled the ring blade into the ground and maneuvered herself through the ring blade and kicked Toren in the stomach and knocked him out of the ring with only ten seconds left.

A mixed review of cheers came from the audience after Toren's loss, which seemed to greatly upset Alpha and Beta. The platform lowered and Beta took Zatana by the arm and pulled her to the doorway where Tira stood in wait saying, "I came here for a fight and a fight I'm going to get." Alpha and Beta stared at Tira unimpressed.

Beta didn't seem the least bit interested in arguing as he said, "Out of our way little girl." Tira didn't move. Alpha stepped in front of Beta saying angrily, "Are you going to make me mad, because I'm not usually this pleasant."

"Neither am I," said Tira as she punched Alpha in the stomach. Alpha went down and Beta readied his arm for a punch, but Toren pulled his arm back before Beta got the chance.

Beta got more frustrated by the second and yelled, "Listen twerps, come back tomorrow and you can have your match, right now-"

"Right now," interrupted Tira, "I want my chance to fight."

Before Beta could respond, Zatana whispered to Beta, "What's the harm? It's not like I'll lose to a street urchin like her."

"That's what you said about her brother."

"I beat him, didn't I?"

"Barely."

Zatana didn't respond. Instead, she strode over to the platform and yelled to Tira, "If it's a fight you want, a fight you'll get." Tira gleefully ran over and the platform elevated as Alpha awoke from his unconscious state.

Beta refused to ring the bell so the battle begun without it. Zatana immediately sidestepped Tira initial attack and attempted to knock her off as she did the man she fought earlier, but Tira paid attention and subsequently back flipped behind Zatana, which left her at the edge. Zatana skipped back and impaled the ring blade into the ground, mimicking her move in her battle against Toren, and launched herself at Tira. Tira expected the attack and caught Zatana's legs mid-kick. Tira took advantage of her attentive situation and flung Zatana far away from the ring blade.

Tira ignored Zatana and could stop herself from staring at the ring blade thinking, "Such a versatile weapon. I must have one!"

Tira immediately picked up the ring blade and swung it at the fallen Zatana as if she had used it for years. Zatana successfully caught the ring blade before it hit her face, but face a new trouble when Tira used it to launch Zatana into the air. Tira then charged all her energy into the ring blade and engulfed it in flames as she threw it at the airborne Zatana. Zatana subsequently fell off the platform and cheers from all parts of the stadium praised Tira for her accomplishment.

The platform lowered as Tira stepped off to see an array of expressions in front of her. Tira was ahappy to see a surprised Zatana and a jealous Toren, but wasn't so thrilled to see the angered expressions on Alpha and Beta's faces.

Alpha immediately began yelling at Zatana. "You lost! No, you didn't just lose, you lost in under a minute!"

"So," insisted Zatana. "Just give them their prize."

The crowd grew silent just in time to hear Alpha proclaim, "We don't have any money!"

As soon as the audience head the confession, a recognizable face to all the citizens of Denmark stepped out of the shadows and said, "I've seen some low down scams, but none as bad as you two."

Toren stepped over to the man who was accompanied by a young woman asking, "And what, pray tell, is the powerful King Christian II doing here?"

"Some questions don't need answers," responded Christian. "But two businessmen owe me—no, owe the people of Denmark an explanation."

Meanwhile, Tira confronted the young woman and asked, "Aren't you Dyveke Sigbritsdatter?" The woman nodded as Tira continued, "You know you're very famous here, and being the king mistess doesn't make you very popular with the nobles."

"What they think is their business," she snapped. Tira smirked and said, "A woman who know what she wants. You my kind of girl."

Meanwhile, King Christian II continued to embarrass Alpha and Beta in front of at least 50 of the Danish population until Alpha proclaimed, "Okay! Okay! They'll get their prize!"

Christian was silent as the stadium began to empty. Alpha and Beta slunk away, but not before hearing Christian yelled, "and I'll be staying the night, just to make sure you keep your promise.

"Come," said Zatana to the King and his mistress, "I'll show you to the guest room." The stadium was almost empty by the time Tira and Toren followed the group into the lower levels. Upon entering their rooms, Tira and Toren were met with Alpha who said in a monotone, "Your grand feast will be ready soon. You'll get your money tomorrow and then I want you out."

"He seemed nice," said Tira sarcastically. Tira hopped on her bed and exclaimed, "Wow! Back home, all we ever had was a blanket."

Toren didn't share Tira's enthusiasm, simply warning her not to get used to the lap of luxury. Time went by fast and in a couple of hours, Dyveke called the twins for dinner.

Alpha and Bata were absent at the start of dinner. King Christian sat at the foot of the table with Dyveke on his left side. To the left of Dyveke sat Zatana and to the right of King Christian sat Toren and Tira.

The feast was brought in and Tira and Toren began to stuff their faces immediately. Zatana soon followed and the King and Dyveke joined in. Only a couple minutes in, one of the waiters whispered something King Christian's ear. He nodded in response and stayed silent through the rest of the feast.

Meanwhile, Alpha and Beta were brooding over their loss outside the stadium. "Get that sign," commanded Alpha. "We won't need it anymore." Beta nodded, but hesitated. Alpha walked over and asked what was taking him so long and Beta responded, "Take a close look at what the sign says."

Although it took him a while, Alpha chuckled and Beta soon joined him.

Back inside the stadium, dinner was finished and Christian and Dyveke had already retired for the night. Toren left for bed, but before Tira could follow, Zatana interrupted her.

"You know," she started, "you showed some remarkable skill with that ring blade earlier today. Have you ever used one before?"

"Never," Tira responded. "I don't know what came over be today. The second I grabbed that ring blade it was like I was a master."

Zatana though long and hard until she said, "Tira, you have some real potential. Follow me to the training room. We'll train all night until you're as skilled as me."

Tira immediately accepted Zatana's generous proposal and soon followed her to a large training room. Zatana spun around, throwing the ring blade to Tira yelled, "Catch." Tira successfully caught the ring blade and was happy with herself until she saw Zatana shaking her head."

"What?" she asked. "Did I make a mistake already?"

Zatana nodded as she continued, "If that were a real ring blade, you would have impaled your hand with the blade." Tira was soon disappointed in herself for making such a foolish mistake until Zatana cheered her up saying, Relax. You're learning." Tira nodded and the training began.

Hours passed seemingly without end to Tira. Her endurance was seriously being tested and so was her skill. Zatana was relentless in her training and Tira expected no less from the master.

Zatana decided to go for a quick break at about 2:00 A.M. and Tira wasted no time in asking, "When did you learn to wield a ring blade like that?"

Well," started Zatana, "It was standard issue back in my assassins guild before it was dissolved. It was called The Swarm of Shadows." Tira's complexion turned instantly white as Zatana asked, "What's wrong? Have you heard of them?" Tira shook her head, but that was a lie.

The Bird of Passage and Swarm of Shadows were rival assassin guilds. A war between the two guilds erupted not to long ago. The battles were fierce and bloodshed was everywhere, but the Bird of Passage narrowly won the war only 10 years ago. Although Tira was never present at any of the battles, she was taught that the Swarm of Shadows' members were ruthless and that all remaining members should be killed if any member of the Bird of Passage were to ever come across one. Were the Bird of Passage to find out that Tira let a member of the Swarm of Shadows live, Tira would be charged with treason and with every assassins guild in the world, the penalty for treason was death.

"Anyways," continued Zatana, "After the Bird of Passage ruthlessly tore apart my guild, I found myself wandering the streets until Alpha and Beta found me and decided to utilize my skills for profit." Tira didn't respond and Zatana said, "That's enough chatting, let's get back to training." Tira nodded and the rest of the night, Tira and Zatana training in total silence.

Morning came as Tira and Zatana completed their training. "Well," started Zatana, "you're not as good as me but you're defiantly skilled. Tira smiled as the two walked up to see Alpha and Beta grinning ear to ear as they ate their gourmet breakfast.

"Oh Tira," said Alpha. "Could you go get your brother? I want you both here when I tell you something." Tira nodded, but was suspicious. Minutes later, a sleep-deprived Tira and a still half-asleep Toren stumbled out of the hallway."

"Now that you're both here, I'd like to present you with your prize from the match the other day." Beta tossed a small bag over to Tira. Tira opened it expectantly, but was shocked to see only 50 gold.

"WHAT IS THIS?" barked Tira.

"That?" said Alpha sarcastically. "That's you prize money! You see, you knocked Zatana off the platform in less than one minute and the sign out front clearly states that you have to survive five minutes in the ring."

"This is just one of your dirty tricks," stated Toren. "I'm sure King Christian will agree with us."

"I'm sure he would," interrupted Beta. "Too bad he had to leave for the capital on 'important issues'." Alpha and Beta snickered as Tira and Toren began getting infuriated.

Now," since King Christian shut us down, all three of you are trespassing on private property, so leave!"

Tira, Toren, and Zatana were shoved off the property. Toren stared at the 50 gold as Tira asked Zatana, "So, what do you plan to do now?"

Well, I'll enter tournaments. With my skill, I'll be rich in no time." Tira nodded and wished Zatana the best as Tira and Toren neared their destination.

The twins were happy to turn the familiar corner that lead to the Bird of Passage headquarters, but their glee turned into shock unto witnessing what had conspired at the headquarters.