The same great cavern, the same androgynous statue. "What exactly are we doing here?" I asked Yak as I touched the thighs of the stone statue.
"I'm going to prepare you. You're a savage, and we're warriors," he said, turning to face me.
"And what exactly does that mean? You're warriors, but I survived out there… in the desert… fighting for my life every day. You're hiding in these crevices and pretend to fight each other every two months."
"Come on," he said, pulling two bone daggers from beneath his fur cloak, "and fight!" before throwing one of the daggers at my feet. I bent down to pick it up, and he planted his feet firmly in the sand, placing his right arm across his chest and holding the dagger at his hip with his left. "Come on! Come on!"
I clenched the dagger tightly in my right fist and charged at him, aiming for his stomach. He stepped to the side, and when I tried to stop and change direction, he struck the back of my leg with his unarmed arm, forcing me to my knee in the sand before pressing his dagger to my throat.
"Don't worry, neither of them are sharp," he said before withdrawing the dagger from my throat. "You're very careless," he added as he backed away, turning his back on me.
"Don't get cocky!" I yelled, charging forward. He whirled around, striking me with the fist that held the dagger, his right forearm pushing me away from the neck. I collapsed in the sand, gasping for breath from the blow to my throat, trying to endure the pain in my stomach from his fist just after he stood up.
"You look like a savage, you talk like a savage, you move like a savage, and you attack like a savage," he said while I was still trying to catch my breath. "If you don't use your head in the fight, you'll die in the battle against Kitam," he continued, taking a step back. He sighed. "Get up. Your rest is over," he said, throwing his dagger to the sand. "You're going to charge at me with all your might," he said, assuming the stance I'd seen him in earlier.
Feeling a little calmer, I stood up and took a deep breath, trying to steady my breathing. Maybe he was skilled, but I'd fought guys bigger than him. I could knock him to the ground with one charge, I thought. I took a step back, trying to get my footing on the sand as best I could while he just watched me calmly.
"Come on!" he yelled before I charged at him with all my might. I grabbed him from behind, interlacing my arms, and with all my weight, I pushed forward, but he met my charge like a child clinging tightly to their father... he didn't move an inch. We struggled for a moment before I pulled away.
"I grabbed you wrong. I should have interlaced my arms around your hips, not your back, but your right arm was in the way," I stammered. He looked at me skeptically.
"Try again, but stand back a little."
I walked three steps further back than where I had stood the first time. "More!" he said, getting back into fighting stance, this time with his arms extended at shoulder height, palms open. I took five steps back, and he nodded in approval.
"Come on, kid!" he yelled furiously. I gritted my teeth and tensed my stomach before charging at him with all my might. When I was two steps away, I prepared to wrap my arms around his hips and put all my weight on one point, intending to slam him to the ground... he didn't move, leaving only a few small marks in the sand, maybe as long as a thumb.
"You're weak, kid," he whispered in my ear, holding me tightly before slamming my head to the ground.
He stood up. "You're too thin, malnourished, and you don't know how to fight." He walked beside me and continued, "You won't win, not like this. Look inside yourself for what made you survive so long in the desert." He took a few steps toward the crevices while I still remained on the ground. "I'll see you after midday. Maybe I can still teach you something before it's too late," I managed to hear. "And one more thing, don't forget to bring the daggers, both of them," he said before leaving the cavern and disappearing into the darkness of the crevices.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" I muttered to myself. "It's obvious I can't beat him. I'm weak... I always knew it." I continued muttering as I stood up and brushed the sand off my body.
"He likes you, and he wants you to survive," I heard someone say from the entrance of the cavern.
"Is that you? Did you also come to tell me I'm weak, or did you come to humiliate me in combat like Yak?" I grumbled, already tired of the whole situation. "He's tough on you because it's the only way you'll understand that you need to prepare seriously," Tool said. "Here," he said, tossing me an object wrapped in cloth.
"What's this?" "A gift from Yak." "That will be your weapon for the marriage ritual. I made it, so don't lose it, and don't break it either, though I doubt you can." I unwrapped it slowly and carefully. What he had wrapped was a dagger made from a single piece of black stone that shimmered in the light entering the cavern, a purple and perhaps pinkish hue.
"Come on, let's get something to eat before you get another beating," Tool said, smiling. I walked behind him toward the cracks leading out of the cavern. "Have they taken you outside yet?" I shook my head. "I don't know if you'll like it, but it's going to surprise you," he said with a hint of malice in his voice.