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Short Story: Two Sides

Edward Jackowski, son of Nelek Jackowski, a man who lived in the shadow of his father until he earned his rank in the Rangers Union through effort, loss, and blood. He looked like a hardened warrior, with his brown ranger jacket standing out, as he also wore his ranger hat with the rank of general shining at the front. Standing across from him is whom he considered his rival, for the two have battled within these mountains many times before when the Bloodaxes and Rangers fought for the control of the Bloody Mountains.

Jacob Oberon, Warchief of the Bloodaxe Confederacy, his legacy as great as Nelek, the uniter of a hundred tribes that all serve him and the Bloodaxe Tribe. He wore the cowl of the first chieftain he slain when he was a boy, a white and blue cowl made of feathers rested on his large and muscular shoulders. His body was half covered in padded leather that protected his chest, and a tunic that was wrapped around his waist that held small trinkets, obviously trophies from his victories from warriors he deemed as worthy fighters.

Edward knew all too well long ago in this exact field, Oberon made a pact, that he will defeat Edward by any means, and when he was brash and young, accepted this pact, foolishly believing he himself was invincible. Time, loss, and a few good whacks from his father made him realise his error. But even so, he was a man of his word and he would not refuse the duel that Jacob requested from him a week ago to meet here in this valley.

Jacob thought back to his time when he thought in his prime he couldn’t be defeated, and yet the Rangers, and Edward showed him he is not the god the tribes of the Confederacy made him out to be. In his moments of honesty, Jacob loved it, he felt Edward is one of the few people on his terraformed moon that could truly understand him. He smiled at Edward, causing the old ranger to grimace at what the Warchief had planned.

“Jacob, I don’t know how you did it, but here I am.” Edward said, trying to sound stoic.

“And you made sure none of your kin are here.” Jacob said.

Edward nodded. “I’m sure you know me by now I would keep my promise.” Jacob smiled again. “Indeed I do. And I am glad after all this time, we can meet like this. Since you have kept your end, none of my people, not even my children are here. We are alone.”

The air, once there was a steady and calm breeze, turned silent and still. Edward never believed in the story of Jacob Oberon being a god, but he can sense that the Warchief does have some kind of power. Fortunately, Edward had the same.

Both men of warriors stared at one another, time itself stood silent in the valley of mountains, they remained staring until Jacob made the first move. He reached for a pouch attached to his kilt and took out a stone coin, he than slowly approached Edward.

Edward tried to think what the Warchief was planning. Was he making a wager? Was the stone coin in his hand some kind of token, and omen? Edward did not know, but what Jacob said next almost caused Edward’s mind to crack.

“This coin is our symbol of our greatest duel.” Jacob then placed the coin flatly in the centre of his hand. “Call it. Heads or tales.”

Jacob, for the longest time, pondered what he could do to get the win he desired from Edward. He could challenge the Ranger to a fight, but he did not want to risk breaking relations with the Rangers Union. He certainly did not want to start a war with the Union, fearing they could likely destoruy his armies or worse, encourage rebellions from the Simonist lords that he annexed. No, he had to find one fight where no lives are risked, no one has advantage over the other, and above all be fair. It was watching his two children, Sanura and Otto, playing heads and tails with the same stone coin in his hand that inspired him the idea.

Edward stood in silence. After everything the two experienced in their duels during the Bloody Mountains War, both of them enduring hardships and becoming better men, this was the pact duel the Warchief wanted?

“Are you serious?” Edward was able to say. “This is how you want to settle it?”

“Indeed it is. You’re right, this coin is just used for a fun little child’s game. And that’s the beauty of it, a pure innocent game, not on power, not on intelligence. Pure luck. This will settle the pact once and for all.” Jacob proclaimed.

Edward tried to find a reason for rejecting this game, but then he realised the Warchief was far more cunning than he usually acted, that was something Edward saw long ago, and to his surprise, he was still the same young warrior back then. The two fighters certainly had their own unique skills, but in the end whoever would win will depend on outside forces, just like luck.

Edward thought it over, then he nodded in accepting the choice of duel. “How should we do this, best two out of three?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Jacob answered. He then showed the two symbols on the coin to Edward. One symbol shaped like an ‘O’, which Jacob called ‘heads’. He then showed the other symbol an ‘X’, telling his rival it is ‘tails’.

“I will let you choose the side.” Jacob said.

“Then I will choose. Tails.” Edward said.

As Edward made his choice, Jacob placed the coin in the palm of his hand, then threw the coin up as high as he could. Both of the warriors kept their eyes on the stone coin from the sky and eventually its impact into the ground. Edward and Jacob kneel down to look at the symbol on the coin facing up. ‘O’.

Jacob bellowed, “The mistress of luck favoured me for now.”

Edward kept his face neutral, but inside, he was annoyed at losing the first round. “Alright, well. I guess it’s your turn to choose.”

“Well since you said tails before, perhaps I should take head. Although. If I know the Mistress of Luck, I will take tails then.” Jacob said. He then threw the coin in the air once again, though he threw it too far high this time, if it weren’t for the clear sunny sky above the two warriors, neither of them would have been able to notice the shiny surface of the stone coin. Eventually, the coin plummeted from the sky, and landed between the two men.

‘O’

“Now we’re even.” Edward said, not hiding his smugness.

Jacob wanted to frown for losing, he over guessed the coin flip. But, it was a fair defeat for this round. Now the final coin toss will decide the winner and complete the pact between the two old warriors for good.

“I hope you will be prepared for the consequences of our pact.” Jacob reminded.

“I am prepared Warchief, I hope you are as well .” Edward remarked. Edward waited for Jacob to pick up the coin and place it flat on his open hand once again. “This time, I will say tails.”

“Seems we both want to get some tail, don’t we.” Jaccob said. He and Edward suddenly began to laugh at the joke, the tension and the pact duel being forgotten between the two men for a moment, sharing a dirty joke.

Eventually, both of them calmed down and made sure they were both ready for the coin toss. Jacob threw the coin up once again, this time controlling his strength. The coin spun countless times in the air, while the two warriors kept their eyes locked on the stone coin until it hit the ground.

Both of them nodded at one another and moved towards the coin, they both looked down at the same time to make sure neither of them mistaken the symbol. ‘X’

Jacob sighed, he then laughed then gave a hard slap on the Ranger general’s old back. “Edward Jackowski, son of Nelek Jackowski. You are truly the greatest warrior I have ever fought, and with my final act of our pact, I will admit my defeat.” Jacob stood straight with a serious expression on his face, he then unsheathed a dagger that was resting in a scabbard on the front of his vest and with a quick thirst stabbed the knife through his right hand.

Edward’s feeling of enjoyment went away quickly from seeing the act. He knew from long ago that the hand Jacob just stabbed was the hand of the warrior, for the bloodaxes, to wound your own warrior hand is to admit you have surrendered to your foe.

“May you tell of your deeds to your people of your victory, as I have failed myself and my people.” Jacob said in a serious tone, the joyful old warrior was suddenly gone, much to the disappointment for both Jacob and Edward.

Edward stood in silence, what he said next, he was truly shocked. “I cannot accept your surrender. For I have surrendered as well.” He said.

Jacob was confused by the Ranger’s words, but his confusion shifted to shock when he saw the ranger pull out a pistol from his belt then shot his left hand.

“Kurwa, jebany skurwysyn!” Edward shouted as he clutched his wounded and bleeding left hand.

After both of them calmed down from the shock of wounding themselves, they tended to their wounds, and wrapped their wounded hands.

“I do appreciate the gesture, Edward. But you still won in the end. I have surrendered to you.”

Edward smiled. “As far as you, I, and the mountains know. The true winner of our epic battle will never be own. Better this way, it will make our battle sound far more cooler.”

Jacob chuckled at the idea, respecting the unorthodox but interesting outcome in the end. “I guess there is no shame to keep the secret of our fight from the world. It was an honour to be your rival and friend after all these years.”

“Same to you, Jacob. Look after yourself and your people.”

“Same to you.”

The two warriors said their goodbyes and turned away, returning to their people. The winds of the Bloody mountains return, the story of the final battle between Edward Jackowski, and Jacob Oberon is a story shared between the Rangers Union, and the Bloodaxe Confederacy. People share what happened in that faithful event, both sides claiming their own won, and how. And Yet the only evidence that was left behind the two were the stains of blood on the mountain ground, and the stone coin that remained, slowly eaten up by the mountains themselves, wanting to keep the secret from the denizens of the mining world forever.

#after prime #scifi #western #coin toss #dueling

(Just like the famous joke...)

The Libertas Americana is set to take center stage at this Sunday’s Super Bowl LX and this ceremonial “coin” is anything but ordinary.

#super bowl lx #coin toss #benjamin franklin #libertas americana

Trump Can't Even Toss a Coin Like a Normal Person

Donald Trump's pattern of weird, fucked up, off-putting behavior continued on Saturday at the annual Army/Navy football game when he failed in doing the pre-game coin toss. Instead of doing coin flip like anyone else in history, Trump instead released the coin like he was setting a bird free and the coin fell to the ground without flipping over at all. If anyone else had done a coin toss like that, they would have made them re-do it, but because Trump is such a thin-skinned bitch baby, everyone acted like he did a great job. It was yet another example of how he can't do anything right and fails to do the simplest tasks like a normal human being.

#donald trump #college football #coin toss