Inquisitor's Promise (Act One, Chapter Seven)

The opening of the ancient gate had been ominous. Down on Earth, young Inquisitor Aeneas Aquilanus was blissfully unaware that his life was going to change forever.

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Chapter Seven: The Duel

“Young Master, your father had just arrived.”

“Papa’s here? Where?” Aeneas perked up in response to the news that the servant had given.

Aeneas rushed to the front gates of the Castle Aquila and saw his father Anchises. The older man barely had time to react to his son’s presence before he was enveloped in an embrace. Father and son were of a similar stature, with Aeneas being slightly taller than Anchises.

“Welcome back, Papa,” Aeneas greeted.

The two broke off their embrace.

“I suppose it has been a while since we last see each other,” Anchises commented nonchalantly. In fact, the last time Anchises was at home was before he left for his mission on the Moon.

“Indeed,” Aeneas nodded in agreement. “Why don’t you tell me all about what happened with the Moon and the Lektros?”

Anchises raised his eyes in confusion. “Surely, I told of them to you over the brick. And messages too.”

“Yes, I know that,” Aeneas said defensively. “But I want to hear it from you in person.”

“Some other time. You have a duel to prepare for.”

“Excuse me, papa?” Aeneas said in puzzlement.

“Do you remember what I wrote to you about the Lektros and their abilities?” Anchises asked.

Aeneas nodded. “Yes, of course. They have the ability to manipulate electricity and use them as weapons.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but yes.” Anchises said. “It is important for us to demonstrate our fighting abilities to the Lektros and I believe they feel the same way themselves.”

Aeneas shook his head. “I don’t quite understand, papa.”

“You will in time, Aeneas,” Anchises said as he gently tapped his hand on his son’s shoulder.

Moments later, Aeneas was on the training grounds of Castle Aquila. With nighttime coming soon, he did not have much time to practice. Instead of his formal wear, he wore his suit of armor which covered him from his chest to his legs. The metal of his armor covered most of his body; the exception being his joints which were covered by chainmail to allow his body to move freely. For the moment, his helmet was put to the side.

But the most important part of his gear was a small generator attached to his chest: the energy shield. This item generated a protective aura around his person which would absorb attacks, especially projectiles. This all-important device was responsible for increasing the survival rate of soldiers in the 74^th century.

Aeneas held his weapon of choice, a testudo shield. It was a strange weapon. While shields were ordinarily one-handed as to allow the other hand to hold a real weapon, testudo shields were two-handed. A mostly defensive weapon, a testudo shield-bearer bashed his enemies when in melee.

Aeneas inspected his weapon to make sure that it was working properly. The young Inquisitor held down the shield and pressed a button on top, transforming the shield into a shielded turret. Aeneas absent-mindedly moved the gun of his turret side to side, as if looking for an enemy.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to be shooting the Lektros. What if you hit a spectator?” a feminine voice was heard, one familiar to Aeneas.

“Vinia!” Aeneas called. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking up on you,” Lavinia said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I still think it’s a little unfair that you can’t use all of your arsenal.”

“Eh.” Aeneas shrugged. “Pep said that he will restrain from using his full powers too.”

“His name is Pep, huh,” Lavinia said. “Look at you, Aeneas, making friends.”

Aeneas rolled his eyes; he knew how patronizing Lavinia could get at times. It could be hard to believe that she was actually a year younger than him.

“Please just let me practice in peace, Lavinia,” Aeneas pleaded.

“You know, I wish I can fight alongside you,” Lavinia said as she suddenly brandished a kitchen knife to her cousin. “This was the same weapon that Matriarch Simona had used when she fought alongside her beloved.”

“Put that thing away, Vinia!” Aeneas said sternly. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

Lavinia shook her head in response. “I wish you’d give me more credit, Aeneas. Papa’s been training me in both knife combat and swarm command. You of all people should know of our House’s history of martial women.”

Aeneas said nothing other than an acknowledgement of his cousin’s point. He did not want to get involved in an argument, not when he had to practice.

One hour later…

Aeneas was in the middle of the Great Hall of Castle Aquila. It was the biggest room in all of Castle Aquila, a perfect stage for a duel. In front of him was his newfound friend Pep Siman.

All around the young Inquisitor was a large crowd, so large that the people spilled out of the room. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the duel was being broadcasted on the Domain like a game of professional calcio.

Aeneas felt nervous, in all honesty. A one-on-one duel did not suit him at all. He was never the center of attention. He had always preferred to watch on the side and make his decisions accordingly. That was what he did when he helped the Knights of San Felipe raid the stronghold of Sir Raul de Cambrai. The testudo shield worked perfectly for it; it kept him protected while allowing him to get a good look of the battlefield.

“May the best of men win,” Pep told Aeneas, he was holding out his hand to his opponent.

Aeneas shook the Lektros’ hand and the two of them returned to their side of the court.

Scanning the crowd once more, Aeneas could see his father watching nervously. He saw all of the faction leaders and the faction princesses. He then found the person he was looking for: his beloved Galatea.

The niece of San Felipe’s Grand Knight looked as beautiful as Aeneas had remembered. She was sitting next to her uncle. For a brief moment, she and Aeneas shared a look; it was so quick that no one else would notice, or so he thought.

“Ready, Go,” the referee said.

As soon as Pep heard the referee’s declaration, he shot a bolt of lightning at Aeneas.

Having realized that Pep was a very aggressive fighter, Aeneas charged at the Lektros. The testudo shield was able to deflect much of the lightning while the rest was absorbed by Aeneas’ energy shield. Aeneas was able to charge past his opponent’s attack and struck him with his shield, knocking Pep down.

Aeneas’ gambit had paid off. Counterattacking a very aggressive opponent was the oldest trick in the book, one that Aeneas had pulled off to perfection.

The young Inquisitor pressed and charged once more, but the Lektros generated an electric field in his defense. The electricity burst out, stopping Aeneas in his tracks. Aeneas planted his shield down. The young Inquisitor was about to activate his turret but stopped himself short, realizing the fight rules.

Pep took advantage of Aeneas’ mistake by generating a bolt of lightning and directing it at his opponent. Aeneas was able to block the attack with his testudo shield. Pep followed up his attack as he lunged towards Aeneas. The hands of the Lektros were glowing as it was charged with electric power. Pep then launched punch after punch at Aeneas.

Aeneas was able to block the punches with his testudo shield, but he found himself being pushed back. To make things worse, the punches were doing significant damage on his energy shield.

The Lektros charged up his fist and launched one more punch at his opponent. The punch was so hard that Aeneas’ testudo shield was thrown off, disarming him. For a brief moment, it appeared as if Pep had won the duel.

But Aeneas threw a punch of his own, launching Pep a few feet away.

Taking advantage of the situation, Aeneas ran back and reclaimed his shield while Pep was getting back to his feet.

The two fighters were now sizing each other up. Both of them were utterly exhausted.

Aeneas watched Pep, waiting for a move. The young Inquisitor felt cornered; with his energy shield depleted, he was not sure if he could take any of more of the Lektros’ electrical attacks. Not when Pep was strong enough to land a punch strong enough to disarm.

But then Pep held his hands up.

“I have conceded.”

“Excuse me?” Aeneas asked in shock.

The audience shared Aeneas’ confusion. Some gasped in disbelief, others muttered amongst one another.

“You heard of me, Aeneas. I recognize you to be better warrior,” Pep said.

The Lektros then extended his hand. Despite the befuddling situation, Aeneas shook his opponent’s hand. This gesture between the two men elicited an applause from the audience.

Aeneas could see that despite how the duel had ended, the crowd had thoroughly enjoyed the show. That included Galatea, who clapped her hands joyfully. Once again, their eyes were locked with one another’s. This time, Galatea acknowledged the moment as she smiled sweetly at Aeneas and raised two fingers at him in a V-shape, the sign of approval in San Felipe. Unprepared for such gestures from his beloved, Aeneas couldn’t help but look away in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Anchises stepped forward to the center, also clapping his hands. The older Inquisitor was beaming with pride. “Well done, Aeneas. You put up a great show and you showed the Lektros what we Inquisitors are made of.”

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