Suddenly someone yelled out rather loudly, and somewhat drunkenly, "SHIELDS!" A second voice, echoed the yell, then three more. Suddenly it seemed everyone was yelling the same word. Elena and Birman both laughed loudly, then Birman suddenly stood up and held his mug high. "SHIELDS!" Finally Elena did the same, her voice ringing clear and loud over the throng. Chance and Jake looked about them at the sudden commotion, clearly confused. Elena's yell had triggered a rapid response. A large area was cleared and several dozen strong soldiers were making a circle, each holding up a wooden shield on his left arm and shoulder. Everyone was cheering and yelling.

Chance looked up at Elena. "What the heck is going on?"

She laughed. "Shields!"

"What is 'Shields'?"

"A game!"

Before she could answer further, a chant went up. Just one voice at first, then a few, then a dozen. Finally the whole army was chanting. "Elena! Elena! Elena!"

Elena kneeled and slammed down her mug, spilling some of the mead onto the dirt, then made her way quickly to the center of the circle, causing the chant to ignite again with yells and cheers.

"Okay, can somebody please explain what is going on here?" Chance was still quite confused, as was Jake though he remained quiet for the moment.

General Birman laughed. "Ha! It's the game of Shields A test of agility, balance and skill! Two opponents balance themselves upon the shields at opposite ends of the circle. They must mirror each others movements, each trying to outdo the other. The first to fall loses.

Jake looked back to the circle, with Elena in the center. "Huh. Sounds like a good workout."

Back in the circle, Elena's voice rang out over the din. "Who will challenge me this night? Who among you thinks they can best me?"

Now the crowd went almost silent, only soft murmuring now audible.

Jake looked around at the silence. "I take it she's that good?"

The General burst out with a deep laugh. "She's unbeatable! Even Cymric hasn't been able to defeat her, and he's good!"

The she-kat's voice rang out again. "Well? Who will challenge?"

Jake thought about it for a moment. She had to be good since no-one wanted to challenge her. Suddenly he stood up, much to Chance's surprise. "I'll challenge!"

Everything went to dead silence as everyone turned to look at the kat. Suddenly there was an explosion of cheering and laughter.

Chance stood and slapped his friend on the back. "This oughtta be good! Don't let me down, buddy!"

Jake made his way to the circle and the cheering turned to chanting again. "Razor! Razor! Razor!"

When he stepped inside the circle, he saw that two stools had been placed there. One was near him and the other was at the opposite end, where Elena now stood. "You know how this works?"

"I think so."

"Alright then, let's see what you've got!" At this Elena stepped onto the stool, then carefully up onto two shields, the soldiers holding it being very careful to balance them so she could stand with her weight even, one foot on each shield.

Jake did the same.

Everyone stood watching. Even Cymric could be seen at the edge of the throng. He was leaning against a tent pole with arms folded over his chest, a slight grin on his face as he watched.

"Ready?" Almost a hint of venom in her voice. She definitely enjoyed this "game".

"Ready!"

Elena took a step, then another, then another. At a fast walk, she carefully made her way counter-clockwise around the circle. Jake followed in the same direction, keeping his pace even with hers. It wasn't nearly as easy as he first thought. The kats holding the shields were obviously quite experienced at this, but still, it was difficult holding someone else's weight balanced on their arms and shoulders. Even for as lightly built and Jake and Elena both were. Suddenly Elena stopped dead on a single shield. Jake quickly came to a stop and almost lost his balance. He held his arms out and was leaning very far forward, almost losing his balance. He finally managed to right himself and stood straight again.

General Birman burst out laughing and turned to Chance. "Your friend's good! Very few can make that quick stop without falling flat on their faces!"

Chance couldn't help but laugh too, then yelled to Jake. "Keep it up, bud! Your doing great!"

The cheering was loud, everyone enjoying the spectacle in front of them. Some were cheering for Elena, others for Jake.

"Not bad. But that was just the warm-up!" She then moved again, at almost a run, quickly around the shields. Jake did the same, matching her pace. They made a complete circuit before Elena changed it up again. Still keeping the pace, she motioned to someone just outside the circle in front of her. As she came up to the kat, she reached down and snatched up the mug of mead he held out for her. Not slowing her pace, she upped the mug, taking several big gulps, but spilling most of it down the front of her shirt. Knowing he had to copy her, Razor looked to see that another kat was holding up a mug of mead for him. Carefully he snatched it and also gulped, but

spilled far more than she did, and again almost lost his balance, but he kept going. Everyone, even Chance, burst out laughing.

Elena then came to another sudden stop, this time balancing on two shields. Ready for it this time, Jake managed to stop without loosing his balance as badly, and recovered quickly.

"You are good! But try this!" She looked along the line in front of her and pointed to a pair of soldiers about a quarter of the circle away from her. They took their shields and overlapped them, using their combined strength to make the shields a bit more stable. Jake soon saw why. Elena took off at a run. Then, about 4 shields away from her target, she jumped into the air, flipped, and landed on the pair of shields.

"Aw crud..."

Birman glanced to Chance. "It's over."

"Not yet." 'I hope.' "C'mon Jake! I know you can do something that simple!" It wasn't the maneuver he was concerned about. He knew that was nothing for his athletic friend. It was the landing that would be the tricky part.

Jake took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, then looked ahead of him. Already, about a quarter of the circle away two shields had been overlapped, ready for him. He took off at a run, then lept. The jump and the flip were simple, he could do far more than that. Sure enough, it was the landing he was worried about. Everyone went silent for a brief moment when he landed. He kept his balance. There was an explosion of cheering. Elena couldn't believe it. No-one had ever succeeded in that move before. Jake looked at her and smiled. "Well? What's next?"

"I told you he could do it!" Chance yelled to Birman, who likewise was shocked.

"Unbelievable!"

Elena paused a moment, catching her breath, and thinking of what to do next. Then that dark grin appeared on her once more. "Alright." She ran, four steps, then jumped. She handspringed three times before doing a double flip, and again landing on a pair of overlapped shields, taking her almost halfway around the circle to where Jake was. He watched carefully, then copied the movement. His landing was as perfect as hers and he looked back with that same smirk. Then the smirk faded, something was wrong. Chance saw it too. "Uh oh."

There was a loud crack. The shields, after all, where made of wood. And they weren't designed for this kind of use. Jake and Elena had each made several laps around the circle, their acrobatics putting a lot of strain on the wooden shields. Too much strain. Before Jake could move onto the next shield, the one he stood on cracked, and he fell, crashing down on the kat holding it as well as those to each side. Everyone burst out laughing again.

Elena jumped down easily and walked over to him. "Not bad", she said as she held out her hand. He took her hand and she helped him up. "Not bad at all."

Everyone crowded around them, laughing, cheering, congratulating. Never before has anyone lasted so long against Elena or showed such extreme skill and agility. Jake's martial arts talents had certainly paid off, and he made a mental note to set up a similar "circle" when they get back home to keep his skills sharp.

Note: For those of you who may be wondering, yes this chapter was inspired from one of my favorite scenes from the movie "Outlander". Said movie was my original inspiration for this fan-fic.