The Elders constructed a crude stone ring to serve as the battle ground. On one side of the ring was Janus and his family, a sheet covering the weapon he would use in the upcoming match. And on the other side, was Kata. His family watched in the crowd, he’d ask to be alone. He didn’t want to hear their encouragements, to worry if they were genuine or not. He didn’t want to slink back to them when he lost, and see their pitying eyes. He had a black sheet to cover his own weapons.

Elder Garkis stood in the ring’s center, sweating under the hot sun. “The spectre of war hangs over our clan,”

Great start, Kata remarked. “I don’t wish to frighten you, but it is possible we might be at war in the next few months.” The audience murmured among themselves, shifting on their feet, unsettled. Garkis, Kata thought, was quite adept at soothing the fears of his people.

Kata met Janus eyes across the ring, he could see Janus was thinking the same. Janus smiled at Kata, amusement tinged with anxiety. Kata glanced away.

“But you need not fear.” Garkis continued. “We are strong, as strong as we have ever been, possibly ever will be. Words are not always enough to move the heart, so we will let actions be the proof...” He raised is hands. The crowd leaned in. “These two young men, shall fight today with the ferocity and spirit of our clan. They will fight until unconsciousness, for we must not rob ourselves of future warriors,” he took a breath. Even Kata found himself engaged. “And we must never surrender.” Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Elder Garkis retreated back to his seat, under a shade the elders had prepared for themselves to watch the match. Perhaps it wasn’t fair to expect them to stand under the sun in their age. But Kata felt no sympathy for them, they were glaring daggers at him.

With haste, Kata and Janus stepped into the ring. Both of their weapons were still under the sheets, they would take them off when the battle commenced. For drama, an elder had explained to Kata before the match. Kata didn’t mind, It might keep Janus from figuring out what his boon was.

Janus hadn’t asked on the way back, being mindful of Kata’s woozy state, although he’d made good on his promise too tech Kata how to read the stars. Now, Kata’s advantages were the simplicity of his weapons and the fact Janus would be distracted, trying to figure out what his boon was and if it posed a serious threat to him. As much as the elders declared this a show of might, it was also a battle of the mind.

“Good luck.” Kata choked out.

“Yeah.” Janus said, worry lines clear on his face. “you too.”

The clan chief, a rotund women of great height, stepped forth from the shade and placed a metal bowl beneath her. She showed the crowd the metal bead in her hand. She raised lifted it. The crowd hushed, the sun bore down on them. Sweat dripped off Kata’s hands, soaking the wood and leather. Kata locked eyes Janus, who did the same. They tightened the grips on their sheets…

Ping.

They ripped the sheets off. In Janus’ hand was a blade as tall as he was and maybe half as wide. In Kata’s hands, he held a simple wooden club and a thin dagger. Remembering their talk from last night, Janus arched an eyebrow. Kata shrugged.

Janus drew the sword back, his muscles tensing and bulging, then pulled, bringing it forward in an upward wing. Kata hopped backwards, narrowly missing being bludgeoned. Air flew off the blade battering Kata. He held his ground.

The sword finished its arc, Janus brought it around for another swing, a diagonal cut. Kata timed the blade, ducked under it and rushed Janus. Kata swung his dagger, Janus stepped back, but didn’t give himself enough room to strike with his sword or stop its momentum.

Kata lashed out with the club at Janus’s head, it connected and Janus blinked. He didn’t step back or give any other indication the blow even hurt. Kata put what felt like all his strength into that blow. Damn.

He was still close, Janus hadn’t readied his sword. Kata sliced the dagger at him. It cut his friend’s chest.

Janus took a hand off his sword and pushed Kata away. Kata heard him hiss in pain as he did.

Kata reeled backwards, the unfocused blow had sent him reeling. Kata regained his balance, but now there was space for Janus to swing his sword. Janus loosed a flurry of thrusts at Kata. They came with a ferocity that made Kata feel he dodged death every time one came near him. Kata stepped between the thrusts, not getting hit but being pushed to the edge of the stone rings.

Janus feinted, Kata stepped back from a blow that never came. Janus brought the sword towards him, holding the blade horizontally in front of him. He charged at Kata determined to push him out.

No room to jump to the side. Kata steeled himself and counter charged, trying to slip around Janus. He ducked under and to Janus’s side. Janus took his hand off the flat of the blade, and brought it down on Kata’s shoulder.

The blow was imprecise but it sent a jolt down Kata’s entire left side. His fingers loosed and he dropped the dagger to the ground. He forced himself to ignore the pain, regained his footing, and turned to face Janus. Kata glanced down at the dagger. He needed it to win, his boon was only useful if he had the blade.

Janus braced himself for Kata to charge, to try and push him out. Instead, Kata stepped backwards. Janus tightened his grip on his sword and took a testing step forward. Kata took another step back. He allowed Janus to advance on him, to the shock and jeers of the crowd. They didn’t hate him but they thought he was being hesitant or surrendering ground he shouldn’t have.

Janus stepped forward, then ducked and charged again. Moving backwards opened up more space to the side for Kata to use. Kata leapt to the side, rolled to his feet, then dashed forward and retrieved the dagger.

Janus turned back and squinted, Kata was in the sun. Kata advanced and swung the club at Janus’s head again, and sliced at the arm that held the blade.

Janus brought the blade upwards to block. The club deflected off the blade, but because of Janus readjusting the sword, Kata cut the hand holding the blade.

Janus hissed again, then thrust his face into Kata’s and roared. Kata yelped and backed off, startled. Janus was breathing heavy, panting from the strain of wielding his heavy sword. Kata’s own arms felt dead, the strike from the club thudding up his arms, sending waves of pain down his shoulders. If this went on longer, Kata might not even be able to hold his weapons.

Janus met Kata’s eyes, the hand holding his blade was slick with blood. Janus smirked.

He dropped the blade.

Janus sprinted towards Kata, his fist drawn all the way back. Kata knew that wasn’t the most efficient way to throw a punch, but it was still going to hurt if it connected. Kata kept the dagger low to his chest and swung with the club when Janus came within range. Kata realized his mistake, Janus tried this and failed. Janus slammed his arm into Kata’s side, ribs cracked and Kata screamed. He was lifted off his feet, knocked into the air before crashing against the ring of stones. They stabbed through the thin layer of protective clothing Kata wore, cutting Kata as he rolled along the ground.

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The crowd cheered, the sound buffeted Kata’s mind, he thought Janus had stuck him again. Kata got on his hands and knees, it was all he felt capable of. He raised his head and knew despair.

Janus had knocked him out of the ring.

One of the elders came forward and began announcing Janus's victory. Kata didn’t listen.

He’d fought for this chance and lost. He’d tried to face his limits, to overcome them. And failed. Why couldn’t he win? After all his work was he undeserving?

The thought struck him like a knife, What work? You’ve done nothing. You wouldn’t have that chance without Janus. You wouldn’t have anything without him, and when he leaves, you’ll have nothing.

You’ll be nothing.

Kata got to his feet and locked eyes with his friend. In that moment Janus looked more powerful than ever, blood streaming down his hands, skin glinting in the sunlight, he was the image of a true Kerz warrior. How did he view Kata, now? Probably the same as everyone else, a failure.

“...a great victory. A testament to the will of the gods, and the strength of the Kerz.” Janus stared at Kata. “Alas, not all can be victors. Still it was a worthy-”

“We’re not done.” Janus rolled his shoulders.

“-battle and, wuh?” The elder looked at Janus in surprise. He brushed them aside and advanced on Kata.

“The bastard’s still conscious.”

Janus snapped a punch at Kata, he managed to lift the club to deflect it. Janus swung another at Kata’s head, he dodged back but it glanced him, his vision going black. He stumbled backwards, still awake but not seeing, barely able to keep his footing. When his vision cleared he found Janus pushing against some elders to get at Kata.

“Its over.” One cried, even as they were forced back under Janus’ pressure. “You’ve won.”

“No.” Janus screamed. “Is not over until he’s lying on the ground.” he shoved aside. “It’s not over until I say so.” The elders got out of his way, some stepping deftly to the side, others scurrying.

There were tears in Janus’s eyes as he approached. “Its not over until you show me what you’re made of.”

He’s doing this for me, Kata realized. So that I can have another chance.

Something within him sparked. Energy came into his arms and legs. He felt an over flowing power. Enough to last the fight. He’s defying the elders for me.

You can’t do this, a part of Kata’s mind screamed. Why rob Janus of the victory he earned. You wouldn’t even have this chance without Janus.

And, Kata thought, he would never show how thankful he was for that chance if he didn’t face his friend now. He wouldn’t demean his friend’s sacrifice. Fuck his limits.

Janus charged like a bull, raining a flurry of blows unto Kata. Those he didn’t dodge or deflect left dead spots, places he could no longer feel. He wouldn’t let those stop him.

He grabbed hold of whatever energy coursed through his body, whatever he did now would be his last move. Kata swung the knife into Janus’s face, at the same time he thrust his club into Janus chest, adjacent to the heart. He activated his boon.

The knife halted, caught in Janus hands. He raised his face, looking down on Kata with a pitying frown. The club knocked against Janus’s chest.

And then cut through it.

"Whoomf." Janus gasped at the sudden pain in his chest, he looked down. He club was bloodied and cut a hole into Janus side, the club protruded out.

Janus collapsed against Kata, who brought him gently unto the floor. The crowd and the elders were silent. The crowd, because they couldn't believe the spectacle they were seeing. The elders, because they knew exactly what they were seeing and they had not authorized it.

Kata laid his friend down unto his back. Janus smiled up at him as Kata made the club blunt and slammed it down onto Janus’s head.

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Kata stood at the edge of the village, holding a small pack. There was tension in the crowd, the Elders and the clan chief feared they might riot or someone would start a fight. Kata and Janus were taken to the archive building, by the elders and the chief, where they could discuss the results of the match and what would happen.

The elders had tried to have Kata’s win overruled, saying Janus had won the match when he knocked Kata out of the ring, and what happened after that didn’t matter. Kata argued that since the match was supposed to show off the clan’s battle prowess, declaring the person who was unconscious the winner would be a bad omen. Kata felt slimy, like he was betraying Janus, but his friend was awake by then, and vouched for Kata. With Janus’s help, Kata was declared the winner, despite the Elder’s grumbles.

Kata went home to pack, his family wasn’t back yet, which was good. He wanted to slip away without having to go through the awkward and teary good byes. They’d understand, surely.

In the middle of packing, Janus visited.

He tossed a bag to Kata. In it were two pairs of boots, two water sacs, a bundle of rope, and what seemed like two weeks worth of food, and other supplies for a long journey.

“That was supposed to be for the both of us, but now I suppose its a gift to you.” Janus’s chest as wrapped in gauze that was soaked through bit with blood. Kata, a wave of shame washing over him.

“If you want, I can talk to the elders, or the chief.”Kata said, a lump in his throat. “I could have my win-”

“Oh shut up.” Janus said. “You beat me, you stuck to the rules.”

“But I knocked you out when we were outside the ring, it shouldn’t count.”

“I took the fight outside the ring in the first place, you were just defending yourself against some battle craved thug.” Janus shrugged.” What else were you meant to do.”

Kata clenched the bag tight to his chest. “Why did you do that anyway. If you had let things end there you would get to go. You could have seen the world, like you dreamed.”

“I did it because...” Janus paused. “Because I wanted to see if I could beat you. In our sparring matches, we were always confined to the ring. I was testing if I could beat you when there were no restrictions placed on us, when it was just you and me, and the weapons in our hands.. I lost.” He shrugged. “How did I lose, whats your boon?”

Kata grabbed his club and reached into his pocket for his dagger. There were small indentations where Janus had grabbed it. “I can swap the properties of my weapons. This knife is sharp, it cuts things.. My boon allows me to transfer that cutting power to my club. So I can cut a branch with it or,” he winced “stab people.”

“Ah.” Janus sad, not sounding mad. “What about the knife, can it still cut or does it do whatever a club does? Can you bash someones head open with it?”

Kata frowned at the knife. When he asked for this boon, he'd only been thinking of giving the club cutting properties. He wasn’t thinking of what the knife would then be capable of in response. As a test he activated his boon, it was like flipping mental switch. He dragged the blade across his palm. No wound, no blood. He waved the knife around, it didn’t feel any heavier. “I think the club gets more out of the boon then the knife does.” He said sheepishly.

“Still, nice to have a trick up your sleeve.” Janus replied.

“Yes.” Kata steeled himself. “Janus?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. For everything. Everything you’ve done for me since we became friends. I don’t think I’ve been as much of a good friend as I could have been to you these last few days, but I promise you, I’m going to work on that. I’m going to be a better person, and a better friend to you when I get back.”

He didn’t fight the tears that came to his eyes, and felt no guilt. Janus was crying too.

“You’ve helped me so much. You pushed me to my limits and helped me overcome them. You’ve always done that, and I love you for it.” Before Kata knew it, Janus leapt on him, wrapping him in a hug.

“Promise me,” Janus said. “That you’ll make the best of this opportunity. That you’ll help the clan, and adventure just like you said you will. And I’ll promise you, you’ll have a better clan, and a better home to come back to.”

“I promise.”

Kata turned away from the village. He wiped a tear from his eye, and started walking. The road he walked would take him to a mountain, on the other side of that mountain was another road. The clans never walked on that road, as it led only to the stone rings, and there was nothing else for miles. But there was a legend that said the road went through the rings, and led to the outside world. Kata would walk that road. He wasn’t sure where to go, but he would have a question to guide him. During the match he felt a surge of energy he had never felt before, it was only after he realized it wasn’t natural. It felt different to the god’s boon.

He had never heard anyone in the clan talk about it before, perhaps they didn’t know. For all his trepidation, Kata knew the answer to his question lay in the outside world.

End.