Space Knights: The Arrival by Gregory Samuelson (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

making sure the armor fit and was fastened correctly. His wooden sword and dagger were sheathed, and the ax was hanging from a loop his mother had attached to his sword belt. The round shield was on his left arm and in a protective position, and his bow was set nearby with his arrows. Finally he checked the small electronic box on his belt, currently with a blue light glowing.

The small electronic box was three inches long by two inches wide and an inch deep. There was a row of lights running down the center of the box, starting with blue, then green, then yellow, orange, purple, and red. Each light indicated how much damage the knight had received during the battle. Everyone started out with blue, meaning you were in good shape, and then as the combatant was hit during the battle judges in a large encased booth would watch closely and determine the damage done. They would push a button and remotely change the box’s color. Each knight could continue in the mock battle until the light went red, red meant dead. When the red light appeared on a knight’s box he or she must leave the battlefield immediately.

The game or battle started. The girls set about firing catapults and bows. Arrows with padded heads made of foam rubber and rocks made of the same material flew toward the fort. The boys retaliated in the same manner. Trance got down behind a bastion, keeping his shield in a protective position. He watched the girl’s army march forward in their armor, carrying their weapons, and brining up a battering ram to knock down part of the fort’s wall. Setting his shield down Trance took up his bow and joined the archers as they started to keep the girls at bay. Soon, he told himself, the real fun would begin as the first wave of female combatants came up to the wall. He dropped his bow and grabbed his shield as several lady knights with a tower approached where he stood.

The fort’s walls were made of blocks that were made out of specially formulated foam plastic and held together with what looked to Trance like Velcro. There was a crew of ten former knights that had come up with the plans and who had built the fort for it to be used in the contest. Trance watched fascinated as the lady knights used the battering ram to knock down a small section of wall and some ladies broke in. The boys put up a good fight keeping the girls back. And then the first bunch of girls reached him. He took his sword and battled the first girl. He defeated her and proceeded to defeat each girl in her turn. After defeating this first group of girls he had a small reprieve. He quickly estimated how many boys and girls were left. From fifty boys they were down to thirty-two boys, and from forty-five girls they were down to twenty-nine.

Suddenly a band of female archers led by Princess Corena charged in and reduced the number of boys in a big hurry. Seeing that he was now one of the few boys left he assumed leadership, raised his sword high and set a plan into action.

“Spearmen get in front of the archers and form a barrier to protect them. Everybody else get behind the archers!” Trance shouted in a commanding voice that drew the attention of all of the knights in the stands.

In seconds the remainder of the male knights did what he ordered. What had begun as the boys outnumbering the girls had switched, so that now the girls had twenty-two and the boys sixteen. Trance set the boys to attack with deadly efficiently, dropping the number of girls while keeping the number of boy deaths at a minimum. However, just as he had gotten the better of one group of girls, a bigger group of girls attacked him from the rear and in moments Trance found he was fighting to stay in the battle.

Trance struggled against a press of four girls when all of a sudden his shield was knocked off of his arm. He remembered what Neklon had said about situations like this. “In battle conditions when you lose your shield you should use both hands on your weapon until you can regain your shield.” Trance didn’t like the idea because it limited him to what he could do. He decided to pull his dagger out with his left hand.

Amazingly he found that he fought just as well this way. He could block incoming blows with his dagger and then use it to strike blows at his opponents. He found that he could even take on two opponents at the same time. He beat another girl and quickly glanced around to see how many players were left. There were seven girls to five boys; among them were Zam and Gracer. Trance battled another girl and watched her light go red. She snorted in exasperation and left. He looked again and saw that it was now down to him, Gracer, and another boy. Zam had been eliminated by Corena just moments ago. He was confronted by another girl and dueled with her. This girl proved to be more difficult for him to defeat. But he eventually won.

Suddenly a new opponent approached, ready to beat him. It was Corena herself to take him on with her long sword. They were the only two left. Their swords came together like lovers at first and then met more forcefully and brutally. They clashed so often that everyone watching was amazed at both their skills. It appeared that neither could defeat the other. They fought for eight solid minutes; at ten the match would be called a draw. Each kept after the other and was determined to win.

Just before the fight between them was declared a draw, Trance used his sword and flipped Corena’s sword out of her hand. Before she could reach