Illi’s mallet was carved like the head of a great fish—curling tail giving rise to spikes on the back end, gaping jaws full of jagged teeth on the front. Sabit could see every carved scale upon its surface as the weapon whistled within a finger length of her face.
Before the massive warrior could adjust his grip for the backswing, Sabit struck. Charging in close, she smashed the shaft of her spear into the back of Illi’s thick right arm. A bright red welt bloomed in stark contrast against the man’s pale skin as he roared in pain. Illi’s backswing was slow and Sabit dodged out of the way without difficulty.
The delegation from Chegwin cheered. Sabit thrust her spear point toward her opponent’s face. Illi brushed it aside with a single, meaty hand. He stepped toward Sabit while the spear woman was off-balance, causing Sabit to fall back to stay out of the range of his deadly mallet.
They repeated this pattern several times. Every time Illi tried to get close, Sabit gave ground. She faded back and back, until she was at the wall at the arena’s edge. Illi’s lips parted in a gap-toothed grin. Raising his mallet high, he swung it over his head and down toward Sabit with terrifying speed. The force of the blow would surely cripple her.
It would have, had Sabit still been there when the blow landed. However, she had planted her spear as soon as Illi raised his mallet. Pushing against the ground, Sabit used the spear to vault herself partway up the wall. Kicking off the sandstone surface with her feet, Sabit landed on Illi’s broad shoulders just as the mallet was striking the ground where she had stood.
From this high perch, the top of the wall was an easy leap. In moments, Sabit stood atop the arena wall, looking eye-to-eye with the Magistrate and his attendants.
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Wayfarings of Sabit: Isle of the Wicked is copyright (c) 2016 by Michael S. Miller. All rights reserved. New chapters post every weekday. You can support this and other stories on Patreon: https://patreon.com/michaelsmiller or http://ipressgames.com/fiction/