The Time Travelers' Club -- Chapter 94: The Duel

The clock read 11:11 p.m.  Sam couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning.  Finally, he got up and turned on his desk lamp.  Thumbing the corner of the stack of paper about the Club’s history, he sat down and flipped through the first half.   An illustration caught his eye.

Leafing back to the page, it was a black and white illustration of two shields.  Each had strange emblems on them -- a sleigh bell shape, a crown, a bear, a snake, a symbol in the shape of a P with two lines through the lower part.  The caption read “A rendering of the two legendary shields from the duel in Northern Castile.”   An extra note was written in pencil at the end “Now Spain.”

Sam scanned the page looking for more information about the duel, turning back to the previous page.  Mrs. Steers’ handwritten notes were scribbled in the margins and within the text.

The Duel in Northern Castile (now Spain) decided the leader of group.  Before this time, The Tempos Servos consisted of small groups of time travelers, who didn’t know each other existed.  It was shortly before this duel that they had discovered (or rediscovered according to Merton’s notes) each other.  This duel is considered only a legend because no one has ever had any success in actually seeing it. Many attempts have been made over the years to go back and witness the duel.

As the story goes, Ranulfus of Rugen and Iordanus of the Southern Rhine met on a hill to duel for leadership.  Over one hundred spectators gathered from all of Europe to witness the fight.  There was to be no death or injury from the duel.  The winner would be based on how well he used the dueling incantation.  (Note in the book: “Never found.  LA?  FC?”)  Highwood’s research claimed that the incantation was actually for making orbs and that one of the duelists died.   The duel lasted for twenty minutes according to one unnamed source.  (See Wilper’s note in file drawer 8a.)

“LA?  FC?” mumbled Sam.  “Los Angeles?”   Sam pondered what “LA” and “FC” and wondered what they might mean. He shook his head and continued reading.

The Tempos Servos organized after the duel ended.   Ranulfus won.  (Iordanus apparently went on to live in Switzerland – somewhere in the mountains) Much research has been done over the duel incantation, but to date no information has been found.  (Not listed in Namvelt’s book) The time and location of the duel has been determined, but there is nothing to see.  There are unsubstantiated rumors that the exact time frame of the duel has been blocked by an incantation to prevent from anyone from seeing the event.  (Best approximate date – August 10, 1204 AD)

“Hmmm…” Sam sat back in his chair and looked out the window.  In the light of the lamppost across the street, Sam could see snow falling. He rubbed his chin then leaned forward to rest his elbow on the desk with his chin in his left palm.

“Could I go see it?  Would I be able to see the duel?”  Sam pondered.  He knew that if he traveled without another Club member, he could get into real trouble.  Maybe even risk being told he was out of the Club.

From his travel bag, Sam pulled out his notebook, opening it to the time travel incantation.  He spoke the words and added “the duel between Ranulfus and Iordanus.”  He closed his eyes.  Without moving, Sam could feel his body shift into a standing position.   A warm breeze blew across his face.

Slowly, Sam opened one eye, then the other.  He was no longer in his room sitting at his desk.  Inches in front of him, was a man in dark rough woolen clothes. The man smelled awful.  Sam scrunched his nose at the smell and stepped away quickly.  Sam then looked behind him.  There was an open field of tall grass.  Mountains rose in the far distance.  The sun was almost overhead in the clear sky.

Moving further away from the foul-smelling man, Sam realized that he was standing at the back of a crowd.  Some were dressed in peasant clothes of dirty browns and pitch blacks while others looked regal in rich clothing of deep purple, bright reds, and sky blues.  They all were watching something, but Sam was too short to see what.

Weaving his way through the crowd, avoiding any contact with anyone, Sam made his way to the front where he was standing at the bottom of a hill.  Everyone was staring up at two men facing each other.  Standing next two Sam were two distinguished, almost queen-like, women who were quietly talking.  Sam didn’t understand the language, but he did hear the word “Iordanus” as one pointed to the man on the left.

Sam looked up at the men.  “Iordanus,” pointing at the one on the left.  “Then you must be Ranulfus,” pointing at the other.

Iordanus stood proud and muscular.  His red beard was well trimmed.  He wore a yellow tunic, brown leggings, and a purple cape.  On his left arm, he had a silver rectangular shield with gold crest in the shape of a bear.

Ranulfus was gallant and majestic.  His blond hair stood out against his indigo tunic and rust-colored cape.  His round silver shield was painted blue and had a silver crest of a snake in the shape of a sideways figure eight.

The duel began.  The men stood their ground as each quickly shot lightning bolts at each other.  When one held up his shield to protect himself from being struck, the bolt would be absorbed into the center of the shield.  The bear or the snake would glow bright white when it absorbed the energy from the bolt.  The force of each hit would cause the opponent to stumble backward then brace himself as if leaning into a strong wind.

Sam watched Ranulfus and Iordanus throw lightning bolts like javelins at each other, one after another.  With each throw, they began to slow but eventually Iordanus seemed to get tired more quickly.  His knees buckled and sweat ran down his face into his beard.  The whole duel lasted about ten minutes, before Iordanus stopped and fell to his knees.  He leaned against his shield which sank into the soft grass.  Ranulfus stopped and ran over to aid his opponent to his feet.

The crowd cheered and applauded as Iordanus shook his opponent’s hand.  Ranulfus held his shield up and everyone cheered louder.  He turned it for all to see.  With Iordanus by his side, Ranulfus began to speak in what Sam thought sounded like German or a something like it.  When he concluded, once again the crowd cheered.

Wrapped up in the crowd's excitement, Sam applauded as well, glancing around at the spectators and back up at the two men.  Ranulfus and Iordanus were looking down at the crowd with puzzled looks on their faces.   Slowly taking a few steps down the hill, they stared in the same direction.  The crowd stopped cheering and turned to look at each other.  Iordanus mumbled a few words that Sam didn't understand but were clearly meant for him.  Sam realized that they were looking right at him.

Freaked out, Sam looked up at them, both still moving towards him.  Drawing near, Ranulfus reached out to touch Sam.  Panicked, Sam said 'Domum me."  He was back in his desk chair in his chilly room.  Outside it was still dark and heavy snow was falling.  The clock read 12:17 a.m.  Sam looked down at the book.  He placed a bookmark on the page and neatly restacked the loose pages.

Crawling back into bed, Sam couldn’t believe what had just happened.  He had seen the famous duel.   The one that would unite the time travelers.  The Club’s beginnings.