Sheathing the sword - not a move to be recommended

The first time I saw Fortu fight was that final pit fight for freedom, I'd been commissioned to provide entertainment for some of the richer patrons up in the galleries, so had a clear if distant view.

The four surviving fighters entered together, the three others were the current 'gods' of the arena;

Roth, a 7' berzerker who wielded two long handled hammers as easily as I used a knife and fork.

Koil, the current prime gladiator who with his two longswords was as quick as a serpent and just as poisonous.

Rigea, a boastful youth with long wavy hair tied back - adept at the net and trident.

The odds were flowing up in the gallery and never once did I hear anyone back the unknown Fortu.

Koil and Rigea were from the same house and immediately joined to attack Fortu, but waiting wasn't the style of Roth who charged at his closest target -Koil.

Faced again with a net fighter, Fortu slowly edged them away from the wild swings of Roth. They exchanged a few blows before Fortu saw the slight dropping of Rigea's net hand, he remembered this from his last encounter and knowing what to expect rolled down to his right - the engulfing net safely passing over him. Rigea was already extending to thrust an expected tangled opponent. Off balance and caught by surprise he had no time to avoid Fortu's blade as it glanced across the top of his shoulder guard and buried itself into his neck.

The crowd erupted into cheers and for the first time Fortu's name was chanted.

Roth was bellowing in pain and anger, blood was flowing freely from numerous cuts and he was now using one hammer two handed. Koil seemed total unconcerned, stepping neatly in to inflict another minor cut before stepping back as Roth wildly swung at where he had been standing.

The big man was tiring, the loss of blood causing him to stagger occasionally. Seeing that Fortu had finished Rigea, Koil nodded to the crowd and lunged in, both longswords pierced into Roth's stomach and with a negligent twist both ripped sideways. The big man took two more steps before realising the entrails he was treading on were his own. The thud as he hit ground was the prelude to even more cheers from the blood thirsty crowd.

It was only later on the ship, as Fortu explained, that I fully understood what had then happened.

Fortu knew who Koil was, knew he played to the crowd and was so arrogant he always wanted to humble his opponent.

Fortu told me he believed that Koil's first blow would be to hurt, draw blood and draw the adulation of the crowd. So Fortu stepped into it, he parried the obvious high feint and took the other longsword into his side, releasing his two handed grip on his own sword he trapped Koil's weapon, reversed his parry and stepped back.

The crowd's cheering for Koil continued a moment before he fell to his knees. The reversed parry had drawn the edge of Fortu's sword across the throat of Koil. As his eyes dimmed his normal disdainful sneer changed to one of immense surprise.

After a short time, while the bodies were cleared and the blood sanded over, the freedom ceremony was carried out. The emperors representative, Yorgos Mihalis, presented Fortu with the silver disc on which was dated the year of his freedom - 1990 in the year of Emperor Major.

Part three - I'm going home, to be continued