The Angkhora Warriors

Part 13: Serpent Arts

The cheers of the crowd filled the den every time something exciting happened in the arena, but Uma took no interest in it. She only focused on one thing. To make her father proud. A daughter of the Snake Order. A worthy descendant of the Snake Clan.

Her next opponent was nicknamed Fat Bear. She started the fight off more defensively, trying to see where the fat boy's weak spots were. Other than being a little slower than her, she found it hard to cause any useful damage to him. He was big, fat and thick. Her punches didn't seem to cause any pain. He just took them like mosquito bites. She dodged his massive fist, knowing that if she took one to the face, it would put her down and break her jaw.

The more she ducked and weaved, the more the fat boy started to tire and strained with each swing. She still couldn't make out a weak point, but she decided that his head was the most vulnerable. She used his own weight to knock him off balance then lunged and kneed him in the head. The crack was so loud that everyone heard it and fell silent. Her opponent slammed face-first onto the ground. There was no further movement from him. The healers raced into the arena and picked up the fat boy. The judge declared Uma the winner and the crowd stood up and roared.

She vanished back into the den, which was almost empty. She saw her next opponent sitting in the dark at the other end and knew who he was. The defending champion, nicknamed Stinging Dragon. Uma had seen him train. She knew he would be faster, and his kicks were deadly.

"Don't worry about him," Oja said.

Oja passed Uma the waterskin and she gulped down the water like a duck. Oja dabbed the sweat from Uma's forehead, rubbing her knuckles that were now a little swollen.

"Keep focused," Oja said. "You're almost there."

The bell rang. Both Uma and her opponent stood up.

Oja patted Uma several times as she walked into the ring "Go get him, girl!"

Both opponents charged into the middle and danced around each other, checking each other out, waited for an opening.

Uma punched. He punched at the same time. Their punches clashed in the middle with a crack! They both took a step back as the pain bit through their knuckle bones. Their strength was matched, but the Stinging Dragon seemed one step ahead of her. He attempted to sweep her off her feet. Before his feet reached her, she flipped a backward cartwheel.

They looked at each other sharply, trying to distract each other from the next move. Then she moved in. Two solid jabs into his ribs which staggered him enough to get a knee into the gut. He wobbled. Then she moved in again.

He gave a flying kick to Uma's face but she managed to grab his leg and threw him with all her might over her shoulder. A move that Oja had taught her. He crashed onto the floor. She fell on top of him and held him in a headlock which he couldn't break away from. For a moment, they struggled together on the floor, until the Stinging Dragon gave up the fight. Uma let go and the judge lifted her hand into the air.

"We have a new Champion!" the judge shouted.

The crowd went wild.

The judge lifted a golden belt to Uma, but the organizer of the tournament stepped up into the ring, "I was informed that this... isn't a boy, but a girl. Uma Chea, you are disqualified from the tournament and the winner is Bora, the Stinging Dragon."

When Uma searched the crowd for her father, she found his back as he walked away from the arena. Disappointed. Disappointed again.

The young man with bow and arrows was still standing there. He smiled at Uma.

She wasn't upset for not receiving the championship belt but seeing her father walking away filled her eyes full of tears as she ran into the den to gather her things. She walked home slowly and found that her father was waiting for her in his training outfit.

"You seem to think that I don't see your strength," Kai said. "Do not be fooled. I know you're strong, cunning, and swift, but until you can master the summoning arts, you won't truly be a descendant of the Snake Clan."

Her father did not speak to her for many days.

The next few days, she continued training. Alone.

She practiced for hours as she went over the steps it took and where to pull the right energy from, but every attempt to summon a snake to her had failed. They continued until the sun went down.

"You lack the spiritual connection to the serpents," Kai said. He scooped his daughter up and started walking with her as she struggled to free herself.

"Dad! Put me down," she said. "Where are you taking me?"

"Tonight, you will sleep in the Pit," Kai said, "and you won't come out until the sun rises."

"No, Dad," she pleaded as she started to kick at his chest and punch at his back. "Please don't, I beg you. I'll try harder, anything, please!"

Kai was silent as he approached a small hut. Inside was a dark well. Uma thrashed harder but Kai tossed her in without a second glance down. She fell and tried to grab at the walls, but they were made of mossed stones. She landed on something soft. Lots of them. They slithered around her, embracing her warmth. Some of them took little bites.

She could hear Kai's footsteps as he walked away. She was left in the pit of snakes. At first, the snakes took an interest in her. They smelled her and licked her with their forked tongues. Her skin crawled and she wanted nothing more than to push them away, but she knew that it was pointless. There were too many of them.

None of them harmed her, they moved around her. She started to notice that the snakes were positioning themselves next to her to get her warmth. As the snakes became more comfortable, so too did Uma. Her heartbeat silenced as she went into meditation. The snakes started crawling up her arms and body, constantly hissing and whispering a secret into her ears.

When Kai returned in the early morning light, he tossed down a rope and she held on. Some of the snakes clung to her, which she shook off. Her leaving the pit caused the snakes to go into a writhing frenzy.

"Are you ready to try again?" Kai asked when Uma was completely out of the pit.

Out of anger, Uma didn't respond to him. She ignored him as she walked by and went back to their house. She darkened her room and fell back asleep for a few hours. When she rose, her father was out in the sun, meditating.

"I'm ready," Uma said.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. From her left hand, two black cobras emerged around her left arm. They crawled up her shoulder and raised their heads with fanned necks and flickering tongues.

Kai's eyebrows raised. "The twin black cobras. Even I fear to look these creatures in the eyes."

Kai nodded to Uma, then went inside. She'd expected a hug, feeling an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. She thought it would mean that she wouldn't feel so much pressure about training.

But her training only intensified from there.