Young and old competitors kept coming. The centaurs and the 6 new order knights would watch a lot of the matches. They were pretty confused as to how we were able to do this. They had never considered they would be brothers in arms with nonhumans like this. We also were so strong and fast. When a couple of them wanted to join in on the long line of challengers, I smiled. "I think that Betan and I will take you on. It's always been a fantasy of ours to dismount a cavalry knight." Betan's face went wild with glee. "Really? Okay then! Let me get my favorite sword!" he said before turning to run off. I grabbed him by the shoulder. "No! These are the knights sworn directly to the king, remember? We can't actually risk killing them or the horses. We have plenty of practice blades here." I said firmly. He was a grown man. Sir Betan still pouted. "Well, it won't be as fun, but we can still do it." he said. The 2 young knights were flabbergasted. "You seriously think you can dismount us with dull practice blades at our full gallop?" one asked. Betan and I shared a look. We both nodded at him.
I went first. I looked directly at Sir Betan "I'm going first because I intercepted their challenge. If I do go down, you better not have fun fighting over my lifeless body. Carry me back to my house so I can be healed there. I'll do the same for you." He looked at me with a wry smile. "I wouldn't dream of it." he said. I know it was a fucking lie. He would not do it now though. Sir Sewale and Sir Tedric were their names. Sewale was up first. He had a full gallop from the opposite end of the centaur training grounds. I took a deep breath and waited for the perfect moment. I did a tuck and roll towards him to dodge his practice blade's slash. I got up and ran after him. He had to wheel his horse around to face me again. I did not let him when I caught up, I leapt up to the saddle and tackled him to the ground. I had one of my blunt bladed tonfas at his neck. His whole order was stunned. Even the centaurs were saying I was crazy to try that move in a battle. I won. It was then time for Betan to face Tedric. Betan pulled off a perfect roll. He did not chase. He did it twice more before countering. He won it too.
Zipping forward a month, all the haughty knights and nobles were defeated. Leonardo and the other hybrids got an invitation back to the capitol. There was another tournament coming up. Due to the performance of my children, they were already seeded for the main draw. There would also be an archery competition. I told Molly to join the competition. Her husband was not too keen about facing the strong knights of the capitol. This would be a good compromise. He wanted to come with her. I already promised Betan and Alane would be coming. Betan was so happy that he would be able to fight in the qualifiers. "You must join them too, Collin. It's going to be amazing." I thought about it. "You know what? I think I will. I love my children dearly, but I still have some fight in me. I've never gotten past the semifinals before." Alane looked unsure of the plan. "What if we face off against each other. It's going to be a big hassle." I smirked. "I don't think so. I used to compete with the conditions we had to yield to get Anthony and Fabien as far along as possible. If I win, I'll win on my merits."
