Chapter 48
The First Main Event
When fight day rolls around the next morning I find myself oddly excited. It works like a charm to get my thoughts off the vanished children when you are mere hours away from stepping out into that place under the torches to risk everything on the sands. Little things like your friend’s conspiracy that might get you killed have a tendency to seem very far away indeed.
The only thing I care about from the moment I wake up is finding out who I’m fighting this evening. Despite my better-than-usual mood, I'm still not willing to risk eating today. Not a chance this far into the tournament.
I do some of my normal stuff, I stretch, I go for a run and I train with Xael and Kalon before the sun is up. That is where today and my usual schedule diverge. I want to talk to Muraab and as soon as possible. Yes, I resolved to myself not to do anything unusual until I think the sun has set on the recent escape but seeking out master of guards is something I’m known to do from time to time.
It takes me a while to find the man which is no surprise. His work takes him all over the compound, all over the city sometimes. I eventually catch him speaking to a pair of men dressed in red with the little pyramid made of real rubes sewn into the breast of their tunics. If I had to guess they are coordinating efforts to find the missing pit-slaves so I keep a wide berth till they are not only done but long gone.
“Hey!” I call to the master of the guards once he is free. “ Can we talk?”
Nervous about the more important parts of this interaction I stall for a little while, asking the older man questions about the remainder of the tournament I am in. For one thing, the number of teams left doesn’t make sense for a bracket.
The former king on the sands thinks it is an effort by the BlackMists to seem more local. They are using an older Far Mantyian tournament setup where there are no brackets. Just randomly selected matchups until there is one House left. I have to say it is a pretty stupid system, but at least I won’t have to fight Kalon and Tota. The rest of what I want to know isn’t nearly so simple to explain.
That evening I’m pacing around the viewing cage in Prime Arena Two which is starting to feel like my second home. My feeling of anxious excitement did not fade once I found out who I'm was fighting. In fact, it only grows and I think I know why. I want this fight.
It isn’t something I’ve really been thinking about until now but I cannot wait to get my hands on these two. If our plan works this match will do wonders for my reputation. It will also mean I can finally stop drilling the type one light axe so hard. There is nothing wrong with the weapon but I miss the weight of my type two medium.
Maybe more important than any of that I am finally finally fighting in the main event. Now granted this late into the Storm Herald there is only one match per evening but it still feels nice to know I’m closing the show.
Below the tournament of prisoner teams is heating up. There are still a lot more of them than there are of us but it's been whittled down to the real fighters. The prisoners who in their lives before had been soldiers, or I guess are just good at it for whatever reason. I’m not going to have to fight them and they will all be dead before this tournament is over. So it isn’t like I pay the matches all that much attention.
While I pace and convicts die Xael and I go over the plan for what feels like a hundred times. We have been preparing for this fight since we became aware of the possibility. Somehow having a plan and having drilled it dozens of times with Xael fills me with a weird sort of confidence. Not the momentum-based surety I sometimes feel after I’ve won a few fights in quick succession. I don’t feel unstoppable, I feel prepared.
Truth be told I’m expecting the One Directioners to make an appearance before the match but if the pack of kids are here today they leave me be. I wonder if maybe I scared them too much last time.
‘Ehh who cares?’ They will either get over it or they won’t. I’m not going to go out of my way to act nice every time I have to interact with these people. It is just too much to ask.
I give the pit floor a bit more attention when I hear the roar of the crowd intensify. While I may be a little bit of a stranger to the Prime Arenas like this one. It doesn’t change that I have spent my entire life in one pit or another. I know what a crowd sounds like when a fight ends.
Glancing down I can’t hide the surprise on my face. One side is all dead or down, the other hasn’t taken a single casualty.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Now that is dominance,” I mutter to myself.
It won’t be long before Xael and I descend to the pit floor so we both begin what will be our final stretches and warm-ups for the day. I’ve been walking around and jogging on the spot to keep my muscles loose but one last one hurt. Besides, it's a part of my pre-fight ritual and everyone knows you don’t mess with those.
Of course, I’m hungry to the point of nausea but otherwise, I feel really good. Xael, despite claiming he would has not offered an explanation for the missing children. Now seeing the utterly insane risk for everyone involved I can’t blame him, and don’t bring it up.
When Muraab lets me out I confirm with him that the arena is arming me the way I want. Reassured that it isn’t my type two medium axe waiting for me I make my way down to the place beneath the torches. I’m in such a good mood I don’t even mind roaring and capering for the crowd as I do it.
Feeling the still-warm sand under my feet snaps my mind into focus. I might feel good and even have a plan but these two are still dangerous opponents by any measure. I paw at the sands and internally go over the plan one final time. Like most good tactics it’s fairly simple while still coming from an unexpected angle. At least I hope they won’t be expecting it.
“Intro-ducing first, the pair that reminds us you don’t need magic to be scary!”
I think I’m going to miss the high-pitched announcer lady when I go back to fighting elsewhere. Not that I really have time to appreciate the energy pouring from her voice into the crowd. I’m far too busy trying to look as intimidating as I can to the pair across the pit floor from us.
“from House BloodRock, The Monster of monsters who can’t seem to go a single match without taking a life!”
‘These people really do think I enjoy killing don't they?’
“THE BEAST OF BLOODROCK!!! NOOoooOOOORTH!!!!!”
There are cheers, even more than last time. I almost wish there weren't as the goofy smile that crosses my face completely ruins my attempts to look scary.
“Standing with the beast is the one boy who can control him, brought all the way from the GodsRing for just that purpose.”
‘Maybe I won’t miss the announcer that much after all.’
“The boy as beautiful as he is devout, the Divine blade XAAAAEEEEEELLLLLL DEEBBBBOOOORRRAAAANT.”
Even when the cheers for Xael utterly eclipse the ones I got I can’t help but feel happy. He deserves the love he gets, and more importantly, I have never been more popular than I am partnered with the foreign boy.
“And their opposition, fighting on behalf of House Tariff, The Stone and The Storm! The master of the duel hammer, with the master of the air”
I sort of assume they get a more combined introduction because they are famous as a pair, more than they are individually. Maybe it just hurts the lady’s throat less, I don’t know. I do know that master is far too strong of a term for either of them.
“Arium The Breeeeaaaaakkkkkkkkkeeeeerrrr, and Corlin THE WHIIIIIRRRRRrrrrrrLLLLLLWIIINNNDD!”
Across the pit, the other duo are set up like they usually are. The bulky pig-cursed armed with a pair of war hammers and standing a few steps in front, the green-haired sky-blessed with horns that look like feathers well behind with his long spear.
Xael and I talked about mirroring their formation but ended up deciding to simply stand side by side which we do. So long as I can keep a clear path to the sky-blessed boy this will work better.
The call to begin comes and all four of us burst into action. The pair from Tariff predictably start the same as they did last time. I can’t really blame them, everyone knows predicting your enemy and using that information to defeat them are very different things. So if it works it works and you work it.
I feel the air around me begin to rush towards the other pair as Arium charges forward hammer-wielding arms pumping. I can see the pig-boy though I’m not really paying him attention. My eyes are locked on the green-haired sky-blessed. I’ve always had a good sense of timing but this…This is going to require it to be perfect.
As Corlin slams the but of his spear into the ground I let fly with my type one light axe. He leaps forward attempting to vault upwards like he did last time I saw them fight. The difference is my axe flies right at his head. My aim is true, and my timing is immaculate. So naturally it's the back of the axe that hits him, not the blade.
I might not be lucky enough to take Corlin out of the fight immediately. The plan still works pretty well, cracking the boy's skull open and sending him tumbling to the ground instead of soaring into the air.
He’s tough enough that the sky-blessed is trying to get to his feet almost as soon as he hits the sand. Here’s the thing though, without his air-walk ability Corlin is just a long spear-wielding pitter who is kind of fast. Xael on the other hand is a lot faster than ‘kind of’.
The dark-haired boy surges forward with the kind of speed that makes me question his human heritage. Just as we have planned he is all over Corlin immediately not giving the sky-blessed a chance to recover and try and his leap again.
That just leaves me dealing with a charging pig-boy after having just thrown my axe a dozen feet across the pit. On the sands unarmed is usually synonymous with dead, which is precisely why I made sure they armed me with two of the smaller axes.