“Prepare to fire!” The centurion behind him yelled, at that moment Oliver Pine was having second thoughts. He thought back to the words the recruiting sergeant had said to him in that inn on his seventeenth birthday.
“Oliver, you're a fine young man,” he said, “would you like to march along behind a military band, with a scarlet coat and a fine cocked hat, and a musket at your shoulder?”
If I ever see that man again, I’ll skin him alive. He thought grimly as the first wave of orcs neared the six hundred-yard line. I was promised valor and glory in battle, instead, I gotta share a tent with ten men and carry a hundred pounds of gear for eight hours every day.
“Ready!” the man screamed, Oliver hefted the twenty-pound musket to his shoulder. His arms shook slightly from the weight of the weapon.
“Aim!” he took a deep breath in and exhaled.
“Fire!” he pulled the trigger and the world shook, fire erupted and the grass in front of the line caught on fire. He felt the scorching heat singe his hair as he lowered his musket and started loading again. On the other side of the field, several dozen orcs dropped. If they had been arrows piercing their skin, it wouldn’t have mattered. But instead, it was one-inch steel balls that blew gaping holes into them. Still, they charged with little regard for their wounded.
“Fire at will!” the centurion called and started counting the seconds before they would be forced to pull back. Some of the more experienced men quickly loaded a second round and individual blooms of fire lit up the rapidly darkening sky. Oliver scrambled to load another round, fumbling around with his loading rod. He cursed, during drills he was able to load within ten seconds but with several hundred orcs screaming for blood just a few hundred yards away. He was having some trouble. After nearly double the normal time, he raised his musket and fired off a second round. Oliver didn’t even watch as he loaded a third.
The Centurion counted to a minute, “Withdraw you bastards.” he roared and the line of men quickly scrambled behind the heavier infantry. He looked on with a grim expression, fighting orcs was always difficult. Their incredible strength and speed mixed in with unbreakable morale was a combination that terrified the average man.
“Oh thank God.” Oliver panted as he tried to steady his shaking hands. His squadmates nodded in agreement, none of them calm enough to say much. He looked down at his arms, they had once been covered in a rich scarlet, but that had quickly changed after the first volley. Behind him, he heard their squad leader Kevin Gibbs snorted, “that was nothing,” he said in his gruff voice. “You’re lucky to be in Iroh’s legion.”
“Kevin,” said another squad leader, “give ‘em a break, that was the first time they’ve seen combat.”
“That ain’t combat Harry, you know that,” he said with a distant expression. The third squad leader walked over, “quit fucking around, we got orders.”
Oliver groaned and got into formation, three lines of thirty-three men with a centurion at the front. Their centurion was a handsome young nobleman from an unimportant house. Oliver couldn’t remember his name but it was no matter as the men only called him sir.
“Command wants First, Third, and Fifth centuries to move to the left flank and engage the enemy, move!” they marched behind the main lines of legionaries where the wounded were being treated. Men screamed as surgeons healed them, Oliver silently prayed that he wouldn’t find himself on one of those tables. A spear soared over the line and went straight through the man in front of him. It pinned him to the ground as he screamed. It was followed shortly by several dozen others as the orcs realized that there were unshielded men behind the mainline.
“Maintain formation!” the centurion demanded as spears rained down. Eight more men went down and the rest of the century was starting to panic.
“Any man who breaks formation will be hanged!” Kevin roared and kept marching with determination. Oliver quaked in his boots as he replayed the moment that one of his squadmates became just another corpse on the field.
The second line of orcs crashed into the legionaries and the men buckled for a moment. In several places, orcs crashed through the first rank but were quickly put down by the second. If they had been any other race, they would have broken. But orcs had very little in the way of self-preservation. They charged shield walls with reckless abandon. First-century made it to the left flank, a small clearing that was on the edge of the plains.
“Prepare to fire!” Oliver unshouldered his weapon as he felt adrenaline pump through his body. He started to understand why so many men spent so much on drink.
“Aim!" behind them a group of orcs charged out of the treeline. The sergeants caught on immediately and called for their sections to turn to face the enemy.
“Adjust fire!” Oliver snapped his body around, he was now in the third rank of men and would have to wait until those in front of him knelt to fire. The orcs were so close that there was no retreat from this.
“Fire!” Harry called and the first line fired, then Mason; the other sergeant fired and knelt. Kevin screamed, “fire!” and they discharged their guns. Nearly two-thirds of the orcs had fallen but the rest kept coming.
“Fix bayonets!” the centurion screamed hysterically, Oliver groped his uniform for the foot-long knife and slammed it onto his weapon. His brain told him to run and he could feel his entire body shake from the thundering of the charging orcs. To either side of him, men started to back up.
“Hold the line you cowards!!!!” their section leader called, “at the ready!” The orcs were only a few yards away.
“BRACE!” Oliver clenched onto his musket and the orcs slammed into the line of bayonets. Men went flying as three dozen orcs hit the century. The first man in front of him was knocked aside and trampled by another orc. The second man’s head turned to paste by the orc’s war hammer. It eyed Oliver with a thirst in its eyes. Oliver howled with insanity in his voice and lunged at it. To his surprise, he hit the orc straight in the neck. His bayonet severing the spinal cord and the orc dropped dead. To his side, men panicked and broke. Leaving fewer and fewer soldiers to fight the fifteen remaining orcs. Oliver felt the urge to run as well but he knew that if he did, he would face execution.
He barely ducked under the club that came at his head, he speared the orc through the stomach and twisted his bayonet. It roared in pain and dropped its weapon, Oliver stabbed at it in a frenzy until it sunk to its knees, he stabbed it right in the eye one last time and it stopped moving. To his left, one of the men cried out in pain and fell to his knees. The orc punched him so hard in the chest that it caved in. Then it turned to Oliver with a crazed expression.
He backed up as fast as he could but lost his balance when he slipped in a pool of blood. He landed on his ass and started scooting away from it. The orc ran over and tried to stomp on him. Oliver screamed lifting his musket to block it. The orc’s foot snapped it like a twig but lost its balance in the process. Instead of landing on his chest, it crushed his arm. He cried out in pain as he felt his hand go limp. He looked on in horror as the orc lifted its foot again with a sick grin on its face. The look of satisfaction and glee turned to shock as a flaming sword erupted from its chest. The blade cut up and split the orc’s head in two. It dropped to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut.
Behind it, a man stood over Oliver wearing full plate and a black billowing cape. In his hands was a flaming sword, another orc charged him and Oliver tried to warn him but no words came out of his mouth. The orc swung a battle axe at the man but he raised an armor-covered arm and the blow glanced off. In the same motion, he swung the flaming sword to cut the orc’s head off. The orc dropped to his feet and its head flew and hit Oliver’s arm. He groaned in pain and cursed.
The man looked around and turned back to Oliver. He knelt on the ground and looked over his arm. The knight fished out a leather strap and placed it in his mouth. Oliver’s eyes widened in panic as the knight started chanting.
“Oh, God! Is he going to steal my soul?” he wondered, but instead, a searing pain rose from his arm. He clamped down as hard as he could on the strap and felt himself passing out from the pain but the healing magic kept him awake the entire time. For what felt like eons, all he could think about was the burning pain in his arm. It was the worst experience of his life, far more painful than the injury he had first sustained.
He cried and thrashed but the knight kept him still. Several men placed him on a stretcher and tied him in leather straps. He begged for it to stop and after half an hour, the pain stopped. Oliver moaned and whimpered as he felt hands lift him up. A medic walked over to him and inspected the arm, then the medic gave him a cup.
“Drink this,” he said and forced it into his mouth, “It will replenish what you have lost.”
Oliver downed the whole thing in one go, it was the foulest tasting substance he had ever drunk. He gagged and tried to heave it out but it clung to his throat. Quickly his urge to vomit left him and he started feeling much better. The medic looked over him, then nodded.
The hands stood him up from the stretcher and sent him on his way. He numbly looked around, nearly a thousand men were laid out on the ground in varying levels of pain. Oliver groaned and rubbed his healed arm, the skin was as smooth as a baby’s and a very light pink. Not knowing where to go, he headed back to his old sub-squad tent.
The path was lit by torchlight, men sat around fires eating and talking. Some looked depressed while others were jovial. Such was the way of life. He arrived to find their campfire burnt out and the seats empty. He frowned, usually Kevin would have someone keep it lit at all times.
“Sarge?” he called and peaked his head into the tent. It was usually cramped, with ten people in uncomfortably close proximity to each other. Oliver looked around the empty tent and his voice quivered, “Bart? Dylan?” he started calling out his squadmates' names in the hopes that one of them would respond.
“They’re gone.” called a gruff voice, Oliver turned around to face the man. It was Sergeant Kevin Jenkins, “We’re the last of the century.”
“W-w-what” Oliver stuttered.
“THEY’RE DEAD!” he roared and took a swig from a bottle, “every fucking one of them.” he croaked and started sobbing. Oliver sat down in shock, “Dead, how could they be dead? I saw them run, they got away.”
Kevin downed half of the bottle, “the ones that run are as good as dead.” he said bitterly, “you know how Varus treats deserters.”
“Who hangs tomorrow?” he asked depressedly, one of the first things Varus men learned was the price of desertion.
“Everyone except for you, me, and that fucking noble brat.” he slurred, “little shit was the first to break,” he shook his head and spat on the ground, “but he was born better.”
Oliver closed his eyes and didn’t say another word.
I woke up to the sound of snoring, I rolled over and opened my pad. It was 7:00 in the morning and probably a good time to wake up. I sighed and got dressed in my school uniform. It was a bland black blazer over white button-downs that was rather tight across the chest. The Leviathan seal was emblazoned on the breast pocket. I wondered how Sam was going to fit his body into it. I went downstairs and made breakfast. Val was asleep on one of the couches with a blanket over her and a book on her face.
Cassie was nursing a coffee with Noah and they raised their mugs when they saw me, “good morning.”
Good morning.” I said and poured myself a cup, opened the fridge, and started making breakfast.
“You two are up early.” I noted, cracking an egg, “Morning people I take it?”
“Living on a farm doesn’t give you much choice,” Noah said and hungrily eyed the pancake batter I was mixing.
“I for one can’t stand late wakers,” Cassie sniffed, “there is so much potential in the early hours of the day.”
I raised a brow and gestured at the coffee, “so you drink that for the taste?” she glared at me, “what just asking.” I said and poured the mix into an impressively large pan.
There was a massive thud that shook the building and woke Val up, “what was that?”
“Arrrghhh!!!” Sam groaned.
“Oh.”
“Is he alright?” Noah asked with concern, “or should we be more worried about the structural integrity of this building.”
“This happens all the time,” Cassie said with a sigh. “I swear he does it on purpose.”
“Noah?” Val asked in a quiet voice, Noah quickly walked over to her.
“I’m here.”
“Aww, how sweet.” I snorted, drizzling syrup, and started eating. Sam stumbled down the stairs and tripped on the last few, landing on his face.
“And he wonders why he doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Cassie said with derision. I glanced at her, “there’s that elf on your team, they seem pretty close. Speaking of which, where is she?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug, “apparently elves don’t sleep, she was up all night reading.”
“Is it weird that you’re the only team with an elf on it?”
“She is a strange one, but that is to be expected with a member of a different race,” she said, Illia chose that moment to float through the ceiling and land on top of Sam.
“Strange indeed,” I muttered to myself.
“Good Morning!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, Sam groaned and Val glared at her.
“Good morning Illia,” Cassie said, “please lower your voice, Arya is still sleeping.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” she said and looked down at Sam, “Sammy, are you ok?”
I snorted, “Hah Sammy.”
Cassie gave me a stern look, “well I think it’s cute.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Ppppfft, next thing you know Arya's going to start calling Alex ‘babe.’” I shook my head.
“Get away from me woman,” Sam muttered and gave a half-hearted attempt at getting up. He collapsed back onto the ground, sending another tremor through the building. Cassie rubbed her temples and walked over, she stood over him and looked at Illia, “Illia watch closely when Sam is being difficult,” she said and raised a foot, “give him the boot.”
She stomped down on his rear and he leaped up in pain, “What the hell?”
“You take far too long to wake up,” she said with hands on her hips, “and not only that but you are also not in uniform. I demand that y-”
Sam put one giant hand over her face and covered her mouth, “Nuh-uh, you ain’t the boss of me.”
“Well, I am.” I said and put my plate in the sink, “and I’m telling you to, one let go of your sister’s face. That’s just weird, and two go get dressed in uniform.”
Sam let go and Cassie’s eyes glowed an angry shade of red. Sam crossed his arms, “first of all she’s my baby sister, and secondly didn’t we decide that we would vote on things?”
“Well then,” I said and straightened my uniform, “We shall put it to a vote, I vote that Prince Samuel Bright should wear a uniform.”
Sam countered, “I vote that I shouldn’t wear a death trap, or as Ryze finely put it a uniform.”
We turned to Noah, he tapped his chin for effect, “I have considered both sides and believe that Ryze Varus is correct. Samuel Bright will be wearing a uniform to class.”
“Ah-ha! That’s two on one!” I shouted triumphantly and Val glared at me, “whoops, sorry Val.”
“Bah! Alex hasn’t voted,” Sam said with a wave, “and I know he will side with me.”
“What’s up?” Alex asked as he walked downstairs, his hair was a mess and he had a purple and red mark on his neck.
“We are voting on whether Sam should wear a uniform to class.” I said, “what say you, Mr. Taylor? Will you side with law and order or will you side with chaos and anarchy?”
Cassie shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose, “I can’t believe this is really up for debate.”
Alex stood there for a moment, “I see, after carefully analyzing the options, I believe that Prince Bright should wear a uniform to class as we must make a good first impression.”
I slapped the table, “Very well, the court has ruled in favor of Samuel Bright wearing a uniform. This meeting is adjourned.”
Sam groaned and walked upstairs, Alex sniffed the air, “did someone make pancakes?”
“Nope,” I said at the same time as Noah.
“Ryze did.” Noah and I glared at each other, “that’s what you get for not sharing.”
“You already ate this morning,” I said with exasperation. “And you could have just asked you know.”
“Whatever,” Alex said and poured himself some coffee as well. Cassie looked around, “Alex what did you do to Arya?”
“Nothing much,” he responded and downed the rest of his drink in one go. “Anyways, don’t you need to put a uniform on as well?” he asked and pointed at her. They walked up the stairs and I looked at my pad, thirty minutes till first-period class. I sighed, I had not missed school one bit.
“Hey Noah,” he turned to me, “what’s your first class?”
“Demon studies with Professor Patch.” he responded, “we all have it.”
“Stupid neck trap,” Sam grunted as he stomped downstairs, he was wearing his uniform, and as expected it barely fit. The buttons looked about ready to pop off and the shirt was almost skin tight. He had completely given up on the belt and it hung loosely around his waist. The tie was wrapped around his neck like a noose and he slowly turned red trying to loosen it.
“Wow.” I blinked, “how’d you even get into that?”
He looked up at us. “Oh, I had Illia press it on using magic, doesn’t fit very well though.”
“Did it never occur to you,” Noah asked exasperated, “that you could ask her to make it fit better?”
Sam didn’t say another word as he turned around on his heel and walked back upstairs.
“I don’t understand how he’s the prince.”
“Insulting the royal family is treason you know.” Cassie glided down the stairs, unlike her brother she looked beautiful in the outfit. On her face were a pair of glasses that made her look quite stunning.
“I didn’t know you wore glasses,” Noah said, my mouth hung open as I stared at her.
“I don’t,” she glanced at me and sniffed, “quit staring Ryze, it is not proper.”
“Gah,” I shook my head, “I wasn’t staring at you.”
“Of course not,” she said smoothly and Noah elbowed me with a smirk. A few minutes later everyone else was in uniform and we gathered around the center table. Together the eight of us stood in silence and took in the moment. The next three years of our lives would be spent together.
“Well ladies and gentlemen, this is it, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.”
We walked into the lecture hall, rows of raised seats radiated out in a half-circle. Several students were already sitting in their seats and a man I assumed to be our teacher sat in a chair drinking out of a mug. He was a middle-aged portly sporting the manliest beard I had ever seen. His hair was going grey in areas but was mostly brown. He wore a rust-colored button-down shirt that barely held his pot belly in.
“Ah,” he said in a deep voice, “I take it you are the teams led by Ryze Varus and Cassandra Bright?”
“Yes professor, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Cassie curtsied and I rolled my eyes, “brownnoser.” I whispered under my breath, she glared at me and subtly stepped on my foot. I winced.
“Yeah, I’m Ryze.” and pointed behind me, “and that’s the sorry lot I call my team.”
“Hey!”
“Very well take a seat, class will begin shortly,” he said and we walked up the stairs. Once we got about halfway up I grabbed one of the aisle seats. The rest of the class entered in pairs and teams. Thankfully Tourel and his band of assholes didn’t share this class. A bell rang and Patch cleared his throat, the room quieted down.
“The creatures of darkness, monsters, the hateful, nightcrawlers.” he said, “Demons have many names and come in even more shapes and sizes. They are the most direct threat to humanity.” he said and started pacing, “Though people may argue that the other four great races of this world, or that humans ourselves are the greatest threat, I humbly disagree. I would ask you to leave the major cities and take a walk to a small village away from the armies and protections of the lords.”
Noah nodded, he knew first hand the horrors that demons were too small towns and villages.
“If you were to go to such a place you will find that many towns are surrounded by walls and that many men are armed to the teeth with weapons. They form militias and guards, but they are not there to ward off bandits or skirmish other towns. Instead, they form the only line of defense against demon assaults. That is where we come in, Guardians. We are the protectors of the people, be it from demons or other threats. We go where the lords won’t and solve the problems that plague the common folk.” he ended the speech and I clapped respectfully.
From there the class got a lot more boring, Patch started to drone on about respect, honor, and the like. He sidetracked himself several times and started stories about his youth. I sighed and closed my eyes, “This is why I hated school.”
I looked around, Sam was passed out at his desk not even pretending to be paying attention. Noah had started scribbling in his notebook and occasionally showing it to Val who was as reading a book as always. Illia floated with her legs crossed and eyes closed at desk level. Cassie and surprisingly Alex were both paying rapt attention and writing notes, the latter was however being bugged by Arya. I felt dead inside as I listened to Patch talk about his grandfather's cabbage problem and how it was caused by a flock of blood ravens; a type of eagle-like demon with razor-sharp talons and feathers that could be shot like darts.
I wondered if I was really going to spend the next three years of my life sitting at a desk listening to old people lecture me. Then I thought about my father’s sneering face and I decided that I was in fact going to do just that.
“And that is how I saved the town from starving,” he said proudly as the bell rang for second period. People got up and filed out of the room, I shook Sam’s shoulder and he shot up.
“Gah!” I yelped and took several steps back, he looked around and settled down.
“Oh is class over?”
“Yep, you missed all of it didn’t you?” I asked, he shrugged and we walked out of Patch’s class. I pulled out my pad and looked at my schedule, “Math?”
“What was that?” Noah asked and tried to peek over my shoulder. His eyes didn’t go over it and he sighed in annoyance. I shifted and showed him my pad.
“Oh yeah I have that one too,” he said as Sam and Alex pulled out their pads as well.
“Ha losers I got survival training,” Alex said and Sam nodded, “Same here.”
“Why would you even need to know math in a profession that’s about killing monsters?” I asked, “that doesn’t even make sense.”
“Perhaps you should go to class,” Cassie said, “maybe your professor will tell you.”
“Shut up.”
The mathematics lecture hall was very similar in layout to the demon studies one. But the boards were covered in different math equations and functions. A mousy woman sat on her desk flipping through a book at speeds I thought weren’t possible. She wore large circular spectacles and a white button-up with green pants. I walked into the room with Noah, Cassie, and Val. The three of us looked around the room taking in the scenery, while Val read her book.
“I assume you are taking my class?” she asked in a high-pitched voice, we turned to her.
“That’s right.” I said, Cassie rolled her eyes, “yes Mrs. Fletcher, I am Cassandra Bright and this is my teammate Vivian Valentine.”
Val looked up from her book and gave a small nod to the woman, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Bright.” Mrs. Fletcher said and turned to us, “and you would be Ryze Varus then?”
I blinked, “Yes ma’am, how did you know?”
“I met your father and uncle during the war, you’ve got all the Varus looks to a tee.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, “err, that’s nice.” I said and Noah coughed, “Oh right, this is my teammate Noah Nixon.”
She looked him up and down eyeing the leather trench coat and Varus style military issue boots, “commoner from the south I take it?”
“Yes professor, Varus born and raised.” he said, she nodded, “I see, anywho I suggest you take your seats. Class will begin shortly.”
Math had always been one of my strong suits, I don’t know why but the numbers just clicked with me. Still, I didn’t understand why we needed to take it. I took one look at the board and stopped paying attention. If that was what we were going to be learning in this class. I didn’t see the point in me being there. I spaced out and slowly felt my head lowering to the desk. A few moments later I fell soundly asleep.
People talk about how they meet God in their dreams or come to some kind of epiphany when they sleep. I never really got that, most of the time I don’t remember my dreams and the times I do. I usually wished I didn’t. I was awakened from my dream of being chased by bipedal bananas when someone kicked me in the shin.
“Mr. Varus.” Mrs. Fletcher repeated, “could you please answer problem four?”
I looked at the board where the problems were written down, I thought for a few moments then answered, “42.927”
She looked down at her answer key then back at me, “that is correct, could you answer the next problem as well.”
I did some quick calculations in my notebook and answered. She looked simultaneously impressed and annoyed. “Correct again Mr. Varus, however, please remain focused during class.”
“Of course,” I said nonchalantly and looked at the clock, it was almost 12:30. I had slept through most of math and I was starving. When the bell rang I was the first one out the door and I walked to the cafeteria. The food was quite bland but I really couldn’t have cared less.
“What’s with the hurry?” Sam asked as he sat down, Alex laughed, “Really, you’re asking that?”
Noah sat down, “so how was class?”
Alex shook his head, “Same shit as school was at Byrum,”
Sam grunted, “I had tutors for everything, this is brand new to me and I gotta say. Not a fan so far.”
We nodded in agreement as the girls joined us, “Hey how was second period?”
Arya shook her head, “I don’t understand a word that comes out of that man’s mouth.”
“What class do you have?” Alex asked.
“We’re in Biology with Gatsby,” Illia said happily and wrapped her arms around Sam’s right bicep. He paled as blood rushed away from his face.
“What’s that like?”
“I swear that guy doesn’t breath,” Arya grumbled and sat down. Illia hummed happily and looked over Sam’s shoulder.
“So how’s your day going?”
“Crowley’s a lunatic.” he declared and Alex nodded in agreement, “the first thing he does when we entire his class is shoot an arrow at us.”
“Yeah! And the worst part is that he shoots it at your nuts.” Alex exclaimed. Arya gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“We wouldn’t want anything to happen to them now would we,” she said with a smile. The rest of us gave a collective shudder and Alex smiled widely.
“Arya, next time the two of you decide to,” Cassie said with a gesture, “You know.”
“Bludgeon the beefsteak?”
“Go to pound town?”
“Do the no-pants dance?”
“Attempt two-person push-ups?” we each added one after another and grinned.
She shook her head, “yes that, perhaps you could have your fun on the first floor. It does get quite loud.”
Arya blushed and looked away while Alex stood up and flexed. I patted him on the shoulder as a round of, “hell yeah.” went up.
We heard a commotion behind us, “Get the fuck out of my way you filthy fucking commoner.” someone said and shoved a kid out of the way.
“There he is,” I said with a sigh and turned around. William Tourel stood over a student with a look of disgust.
“Plebeians like you don’t deserve a place at this academy.” he declared and kicked the guy. The rest of his team got up and one of them shoved Will away. Will’s team stepped up beside him and they glared at each other in a standoff.
“Hasn’t even been a full day and you’re already picking fights with strangers,” I said and shook my head, he turned towards me.
“Well, if it isn't my favorite red-eyed prick.” William snarked and I stood up. He walked towards me and my team started standing up as well.
I put a handout, “No need for you guys to get involved in this as well, just don’t let me get ganged up on.”
Grudgingly they sat back down, I cracked my knuckles and popped my neck. “You just never know when to stop do you?”
“You made my life a living hell Varus.” he spat and put both hands in front of his body. They started to emanate a harsh green light as he pulled them apart and the light hardened into a solid, the shape of a spear. He twirled it around in his hands a few times. I reached for my sword but then remembered I was wearing the school uniform and sighed.
“Not exactly fair to use Hard Light now is it?” I asked in a carefree tone and closed the distance between us. He lunged at me with his spear and I twisted out of the way. He flicked it to the side and caught me on the head with it. I grunted as I heard a crack and my vision blurred for a moment.
We backed up and started circling each other as he gave me a smile. A crowd had gathered around us to watch. I knew that I needed to get inside the reach of his weapon to have any chance of fighting back. He rushed me and let loose with a flurry of jabs and slashes. I turned my body and slapped the spear away and got in close. Just before I had my footing he hit me with the butt of the spear. Will slashed vertically and I leaped backwards. In the same motion, he shot forwards and nicked my arm with the tip. I latched onto the spear and did an aerial, trying to wrench the weapon from his hands.
It didn’t work, he held on and slammed me to the ground. I twisted again and landed on my feet. He yanked his spear back and we continued to circle each other. Three more times we closed in, got a few hits, and backed out again. I could feel him catching up to me and I decided it was time to slow things down for a bit.
I pried the spear out of Will’s hands, throwing it in the air, and walked behind him placing a foot on his back. I exhaled and kicked him, he hit the ground rolling and quickly spun around to face me. He grinned, “that’s one of three Ryze.”
“Don’t be so sure of yourself.” I spat and threw a left hook. He waved his hand and materialized a small shield that floated a few inches off his hand. My fist made contact with it and a small crack formed on the surface. His other hand was coated in hard light and it came screaming at my face. I bobbed under it and jabbed him in the side right under the ribs.
He grunted and with a flash, another spear appeared in his hands. He spun it in a circle and lifted it over his head and stabbed down at me. I wasn’t expecting that and it caught me off guard. It slowed less than six inches away from my face. I took hold of it and leaped up into the air. As my foot gained momentum, time returned to normal and I slammed it into his side. An audible crack emanated from his ribs and he grunted in pain.
“That was two,” he said and I kicked at him again. He lifted the spear and blocked my strike. He dropped the spear and nailed me in the face with a hard light covered fist. It felt like getting hit with a mace and I stumbled back several steps. I just ducked under his next punch and felt my legs get swept from under me. As I felt myself go airborne I grabbed Will’s leg to steady myself and placed a foot on the side of his kneecap.
I yanked on his leg and felt my foot connect with his knee. I heard a crack and a scream. I hit the ground and felt the wind get knocked out of me. I looked up and saw Will falling on top of me with a green knife in his hands. As he fell he pointed it and I felt it sink into my stomach. I gasped and punched him in the side of the head with everything I had left.
“STUDENTS!” a voice rang out, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!” I felt myself go weightless and I wondered if I was dying. I looked around and saw I was floating in the air. I placed a hand on my wound and felt the blood seeping out. I was gently put on a table and felt a hand on my stomach. A few verses of some chant and then pain.