The heat was so intense it was already seeping into the cavern. Sweat trickled down my forehead, making me squint for a moment.
A sharp blow to my jaw, as if someone were trying to rip my head off, made my jaw clench against my will from the impact, and my neck stretched toward the sky.
"What the hell! I didn't see that coming." I hadn't even finished processing my last thought when a fist slammed into my stomach, followed by an intense pain that made me spit.
"He's fast, very fast." A third fist hurtled toward my face at great speed. Instinctively, I tried to raise my hands to shield myself, but the pain prevented me from getting there in time.
"Damn it," was the last thing I thought before the blow knocked me back an elbow's length, my head dislodging from its socket and dragging the rest of my body along with it.
My arms lost their strength and fell limply, my body collapsing to the floor again. "Fucking monster" was the last thing that crossed my mind before I collapsed onto the sand.
"Is it always like this?" a familiar voice asked with concern.
"No, before it wasn't even capable of trying to cover itself," said Tool, who had been watching us train since that morning, standing in a corner near the entrance.
A hand reached out in front of me before I heard Yak say, "Come on, again," as had become his custom since yesterday.
"We don't have time to rest, kid. Tomorrow's the ritual. We'll only do it one more time, and the rest of the time we'll rest so we're fresh for tomorrow," Yak said, pulling me to my feet.
"Is it as bad as it seems?" asked Waax, whom I could finally make out, standing in the entrance to the main hall (the cavern with the statue of the rain god). "No, your brother is simply on another level," Tool said, swirling his pulque in his mouth.
"There shouldn't be a single person in the entire desert capable of beating him in combat," he added before taking a sip of his drink.
"A bit of an exaggeration, but it's true. I've never met a guy that good at fighting." We settled back into position facing each other, and I assumed a fighting stance when Yak, standing erect, asked me, "Why do you think you've wasted all this time?"
"What do you expect me to say, that you're better than me?"
"I don't know, that you're stronger," I replied somewhat apathetically.
"But why am I stronger? Think about it, and maybe you'll survive tomorrow." He proceeded to assume his characteristic fighting stance, both feet planted firmly in the sand, his right hand in front of him in a closed fist, while his left hand remained behind him, palm open, just like in every fight since morning, like the first time, but without the dagger.
"He's so superior he doesn't need a dagger to humiliate me."
Only during the first fight did we both use a training dagger, but since yesterday afternoon's training session after the walk in the garden, he's only fought with his bare hands, while I've used a real dagger, the one he ordered from Tool.
"Have you gotten used to the weight of the dagger yet?" Yak asked me.
"I'd prefer to use my mace; I feel more comfortable with it."
"Now!" Tool shouted. I took the initiative and charged at Yak, quickly throwing a stab at his side, but he blocked it with his left arm and then struck my forearm with the closed fist of his right hand.
My hand dropped the dagger in pain, while he caught it in midair with his left hand, proceeding to try to stab my left thigh, which I had used for support when launching my attack, but I used both hands to cross-block his stab. With a swift movement, he retracted the dagger and pointed it toward my face, but I dodged it with a flick of my hips, causing it to only graze my cheek. I proceeded to strike, using the momentum of the dodge to counterattack. I thought I would land my left fist with all my might in his abdomen, but instead, I struck his forearm.
A second stab came toward my abdomen, so I jumped back. He turned the dagger around, grabbing it by the blade and throwing it. I caught it, and with a movement of his left hand, he signaled for me to approach.
I charged toward him, and instead of stabbing him with the dagger, I grabbed his hair and slammed a knee into his face—or at least that's what I thought I did. He stopped my knee with both hands, then grabbed my leg tightly and, with a step forward, threw me to the sand.
"That's all for today," he said, looking at me with his cold expression.
"That's all for today," he said, his face icy. "Let me help you," he said as he helped me to my feet.
"You have speed, but not strength. You're resourceful, and maybe that's what helped you survive," he said as he walked toward the cavern's exit. "That won't be enough in tomorrow's fight. Rest." That was the last thing he said before leaving through that door into the crevices.
"What kind of monster have I been fighting?"
"You learn fast," Tool added once Yak had left, "but you don't have time to learn what you need to defeat Kitam." He slapped me on the head.
I mbroed and followed Yak.
"That Kitam is truly terrifying." I sighed and dusted myself off.
"Look inside yourself," Waax said with a cheerful face. "I bet a barrel of pulque you've survived worse out there in the desert," he said, grabbing my arm. "Come on, I'm hungry," he said, dragging me through the cracks.
"She was right. Somehow, I survived the desert for years—the hunger, the heat, the savages, even though I was one." I glanced back at the main hall (the Cave). "Why is she so kind and friendly to me? It's not like we've known each other before."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I murmured.
She stopped abruptly, looked me in the face, and said, "Because I hate Katim," her eyes losing their luster. "Besides, you're quite adorable, Koh," she added with her usual expression.
"Besides, you're quite adorable, Koh." "That's a very imposing name, Koh," he said, squeezing my arm tighter.
"It's said that lions were great predators in the past, capable of hunting animals larger than a deer, but they usually ate wild boar... you must be a really cute little lion cub."