DisPLACEd: Beginnings

Chapter Fifteen

The crowd roared and stamped their feet on the wooden floorboards. The tournament official clambered up the wooden ladder to the leaderboard. He removed a bright red emblem emblazoned with a gold crescent, and elevated a green one with a stag. Ryan fiddled with his armour, feeling the rare sunshine warming his back. They were moved to the side as the loser was carried out by his attendants. His helmet had fallen during the bout, and was brought out after him. Ryan licked his lips for the hundredth time, suddenly realising how dry his mouth was. He was moments away from stepping onto the field. In truth he was feeling more confident than at the start of the tournament. His previous win and celebration had lifted his spirits. Harley had accompanied him to the jousting track to help him get ready while the others waited back.

"Now, you can't take this armour off like you did in the hand to hand," Harley explained to Ryan as she made sure it was on properly. "This one is here to save your life."

"I gathered," Ryan said.

A man brought Ryan his horse. The stallion was a beautiful golden palomino standing eighteen hands high. Ryan took the reigns and looked up at the beast dressed in King Louis VII's house colours.

"Do you know how to ride?" Harley asked.

"It's probably the one thing I actually know how to do," Ryan told her.

"Well at least you have that."

Ryan jumped up into the saddle. He looked like something out of a dream; a real knight in shining armour. An official motioned to Ryan to move to the starting point. He could see his opponent at the other end of the field. A long wooden divider split the track in two. Ryan lined up on one side while his competitor was on the other. He was a larger man, his onyx horse draped with the house colours of red, white and black. Harley grabbed the lance and Ryan's helmet and walked over to him. She climbed a step that had been laid out for her and passed the lance up to him. Ryan looked down at the object and a flash of fear hit him. He had no idea what he was doing.

Harley noticed and took Ryan's elbow and the lance into her hands. She positioned them so that it was tucked close to his body. "You need to keep this close and tight," she began. "And aim for the guy's chest or shoulder." She patted Ryan where he needed to hit. Ryan nodded. "The aim of the game essentially is to knock your opponent from their horse. So hold on tight when the lance hits you," Harley cautioned.

"How do computer games teach you these things?" Ryan asked.

"I also watch a lot of TV." Harley joked.

The official gave Ryan a time warning. Ryan nodded and looked back to Harley. She smiled a confident smile and placed Ryan's helmet on him.

"You're gonna kill it," she said.

Ryan laughed and before he could say another word Harley closed his metal visor and tapped him on the top of the head.

Jake and the others found Harley to the side of the jousting track. They were excitedly chatting amongst themselves, greeting Harley with a smile.

"How's he feeling?" Eric asked, shielding his eyes from the sun glistening off the shiny armour.

"Good." Harley's tone was uneven and high-pitched, betraying her words.

They had a clear view of the event. With the wave of a flag and sounding of a horn, the two opponents took off towards one another. Mud flew out from under the horse's hooves. The galloping was just audible over the crowd's cheers. Ryan kept his lance tucked tight to his body. He was in a good position. He could win. Within seconds Ryan and his opponent had made it to the middle of the field. The competitor's lance impacted Ryan's shoulder. He dropped his weapon, falling back but managing to stay on his horse. The officials motioned for the riders to go back to their posts. Harley picked up his second lance and rushed to meet him. He slouched over his horse, holding his shoulder. Aadita joined Harley and jumped up on the stool to get a better look at him. She took off his helmet.

"That hurt way more than I was expecting!" Ryan exclaimed, sucking in deep breaths.

"How's your shoulder?" Aadita asked, gently moving the arm.

"Sore." Ryan grimaced.

"Well at least you can move it. I won't be able to tell you much until the armour comes off," Aadita stepped back.

"Will you be okay to keep going?" Harley asked.

"I've played with way worse injuries than this." Ryan smiled.

Harley grinned back and handed him his lance. He gripped it tightly and turned to his opponent. The girls hustled out of the way. The horns blared and the two riders were once again charging. The man's lance struck Ryan again, this time in the chest. The lance shattered into splinters, leaving an indent in his armour. Ryan flew from his horse, the shock of the blow causing him to lose his grip of the reigns. He landed on the ground with a loud thud. The group gasped.

"Damn, I really thought he had this," Eric said.

"He's a twenty-one-year-old from the twenty-first century, how good did you think he was going to be?" Reb asked.

"Better than that!" Jake exclaimed.

Once the coast was clear, Harley and Aadita raced over to their fallen friend. Aadita was the first to get to him. She removed his helmet carefully and asked Harley to hold his head still. Ryan was in pain, groaning as he tried to fill his lungs.

Two men from the tournament came over with a stretcher. They pushed the girls out of the way. One of them began to remove Ryan's armour.

"What are you doing?" Aadita held out her hand to block them. "If he's broken his spine the armour could be the only thing that's holding it together."

"Woman, ye have no right to be makin' orders. Leave us be." The men shooed her away.

"I'm not going to let you hurt my friend!" Aadita exclaimed.

One of the men looked over his shoulder and pointed to Aadita. Aadita turned in the direction of the man's stare and saw a large guard storming towards them.

"You can't just have me taken away. I'm trying to help." Aadita's eyes blazed with fury.

"We dinna need yer help," the man said.

The guard took Aadita and Harley by their arms and began to haul them away. The girls struggled and yelled. Aadita looked down at Ryan, who attempted to smile through the pain.

"I'll be fine, don't worry," he told them.

The others came rushing to the girls' defence.

Eric stood in front of the guard. "Look, you don't have to take them away. We'll look after them."

Without a word the man tossed the girls at Eric. He caught Aadita but wasn't able to hold onto Harley and she fell hard.

"Hey!" Reb yelled as she and Jake lifted Harley from the ground.

"We promise they won't be any more trouble," Eric said.

The guard turned and left, returning to his post.

"Trouble?" Aadita exclaimed. "We weren't the ones not doing their jobs."

"How can they treat women with such disrespect? I can't believe it!" Reb yelled.

"We need to find where they were taking Ryan," Aadita said.

"Corbin will know," Jake said as he led them off the field.

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