Inside the Circus Tent…
Essik smiled broadly as the different patrons rose to their feet throughout the audience. At least the ones that wanted to be seen. Essik was fairly certain that there were a few others in the room who were of importance that wanted to stay hidden. Still, as the groups stood up, Essik called out to the crowd, “Let’s have a hand for our generous benefactors for, not only the circus being here, but the entire festival that they put on for us.” To ensure that the applause rose, Essik was the first to start the clapping to let the audience follow him if they didn’t want to start. He also carefully watched to see if anyone in the room wasn’t clapping, carefully picking out those who didn’t have “favorable” attitudes toward the leaders of the city. Or at least the ones who wouldn’t be swayed by their peers to join in the praise.
But after a few moments, the applause settled down once more as everyone took their seats once more. Essik, looked around again, “Now, without further adieu, Let us start the show!” Essik turned quickly, heading back to the middle of the ring. He drew two more blades with his hands as he stopped in the center, looking around at the different targets arrayed around him, concentrating on them, focusing his mind for a few moments. Absent mindedly, his fingers flicked the blades between them, his hands getting their feel down carefully. He waited for a few moments while the music started to play, letting the tones build up for a few seconds before he set to work. Once the perfect note was reached, Essik lifted his hands up from his sides and over his head before pushing them downward once more, his finger holding just enough pressure on the blades so that they slipped from his grasp without even having to let go. The two blades flashed through the air, glinting brightly in the light of the stage lanterns as they sped through the air, embedding themselves into two targets at either side of where Essik stood. They weren’t exactly center, but still good clean hits.
Before the audience could respond, Essik ran forward a few steps, building up some momentum before he planted his hands onto one of the crates that was set before him, carrying himself upward into a handstand facing where he had just been standing. Carefully, he focused himself once more, fighting carefully to hold himself upright. Slowly, he shifted his weight to his left arm before inch by inch bringing his right hand up to his vest once more. He gritted his teeth under tight lips as his arm started to protest from the strain from holding himself there. But his finger carefully wrapped around the handle of one more knife before lashing forward in te blink of an eye to release the blade toward another target. Granted, the motion of the throw threw off his balance, forcing Essik to let his body flip down to a standing position once more. He looked over his shoulder quickly to see the blade embedded in the target, just north of bull’s eye.
The performance went much like this for the first twenty minutes, Essik moving between obstacles, careful to keep his hood in place as he went, as he put the knifes into the targets. They were never true center, most of them would miss the bull’s eyes by a bit, but they always stuck and held firm in the wooden targets and there were no mishaps at all, thank the gods. But after the first portion of his performance, Essik moved back into the center of the ring, stopping for a moment and taking a quick bow, accepting any applause that was given to him for a few seconds. Once he righted himself again, he ushered for silence with his hands before speaking, “For the next portion of my act, I would ask for a volunteer from the audience. Just one right now, if you will.” Essik searched for a quick volunteer. Someone taller and sturdy for now. A male would do nicely. He picked out a man from the crowd, walking over to him, still smiling, “You, Sir. Please, come over here with me. And let the people know your name if you don’t mind.”
The man introduced himself as Warren as he walked over to where Essik stood. Essik patted the man on the back as he walked up, picking up a small plank of wood from one of the crates next to him, “Well, Warren, would you be a friend and hold this for me?” The plank had two different targets painted onto it at each end. Warren took the plank and Essik took a second to position the man to one side of the ring, joking with him a little for the crowd. But after a moment, Warren was standing with the plank held out before him, one target held in front of his face and the other over his chest. Essik walked a few paces away before turning to face the targets. His knifes were already in his hand after collecting them from the targets at the end of the first portion. He stood there for a moment, focusing his mind once more, meditating on the two targets before him. He smiled under the hood, letting his eyes burrow into the wood for a second as the music built once more. As it built to a crescendo once more, He raised his hand over his head and released the blade, letting it sail into the wood, sticking into the higher target. Warren started a bit, but held fast, and with that, Essik let off a rapid fire throw of knife after knife. The second knife went to the lower target and the rest went back and forth in the same pattern of high and low until each target had five knives sticking out from it. Once the last one landed, Essik walked over to the plank, letting Warren know that it was done.
Essik put the man through a few more tricks, holding the target lower, or out to the side, or across his chest. Each time Warren would flinch with the first knife, but hold steady after that. This lasted for about ten minutes before Essik walked over to Warren, placing his hand on the volunteers shoulder and looked out to the crowd, “Let’s hear it for Warren; A good sport and a brave man!” Essik let Warren take a bow before ushering him off to his seat once more. ”Now, one more volunteer for my final trick of the show. Please, someone very brave if you don’t mind.” |