Chapter 20

The Sun was high in the sky by the time they made it back to the more well-off part of Coastall. When they walked through the city, Roden naturally took the lead, the expectation being this was his hometown. However, as soon as they reached familiar roads, Riakon and Errrkkkk took a detour down a side street.

When Roden caught up, he saw the Coastall Arena in the distance and figured it had caught their eye. Roden knew this was bound to happen and even was aware of which fight they were in line for this time. He sighed to himself, and started mentally preparing for the near death experience that was most likely coming.

While they waited in line to register for their fight they got to witness a prime time fight between a combatant in heavily embellished plate armor and a massive greatsword against two massive bear-like creatures.

The creatures had to be undead in nature as bones protruded from all over the things making them look like two macabre pincushions. The fighter deftly flipped and twisted between his foes delivering brutal chops to their limbs, heads, and bodies.

The creatures were clearly outmatched, but the way the fighter dispatched his targets made for a thrilling fight.

The armored combatant would narrowly avoid a strike with a twist or duck. At times, they would toss a small wicked looking knife from their belt and teleport to its new location. They would reappear with a thunderous boom, rocking the arena, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

As the creatures began to slow from their various wounds, he managed to leap off of one’s back and soar through the air. The move created more spectacle than force, but they used the motion to slice the other in half, severing its spine in a falling slash.

The other was quickly done in by a strike that let off a thunderous boom on impact that turned the undead monstrosity into fragments of bone and muscle. The climax brought about an equally thunderous applause from the crowd.

Not long after the fight ended the men made it to the front of the line. They went about the usual process of checking in, but when Riakon placed his hand on the small crystal ball it produced a reddish glow.

“What’s that about? Is something wrong?”

“Oh no, everything is fine.” the younger elf woman behind the counter said as she hastily swiped at her stone tablet. “It appears there is a special note placed in here for your next fight.”

“Does that mean it's a main event, cacaw!?”

“Well not quite, but if you were to accept it would be a main card on our pay to view event. The rules are a little different and the stakes are higher, but the payout is quite large.”

She spun the tablet around and used her finger to direct their gaze to the base payout, a number listed in myrtium pieces instead of gold to save on the number of zeros that would need to be used.

Roden asked the question on his friends' faces, “Just to be clear, myrtium to gold is one hundred to one, correct?”

“That is correct, if you were to accept this fight your payout would be well into five figures of gold pieces. Our standard is to use myrtium when payouts get above four figures as no one wants to carry thousands of gold coins.”

“Why do you keep saying, if we take the fight, cacaw?”

“Well it looks like you are being given an exotic opponent in addition to them being given an accommodation.”

All three men stared at the woman blankly.

“If I am reading the note here correctly, the creatures are going to be incredibly dangerous on their own and they are going to be given a magical advantage to make them even more dangerous to create a more thrilling fight.”

“Any idea what that might be?” Roden said, his mind raced with all of the things he imagined he would do in this scenario with the creatures he had used.

“Well the last time I saw one of these fights, they had an air elemental equipped with an item that let them throw full grown sharks at the adventurers.”

Roden put his face in his palm in utter embarrassment, that looked more like distress to everyone else given their context.

“What do you say boys, do we take the fight? I think we can handle it.”

“I’m in, cacaw.” Errrkkkk’s determination nearly crackled off of him in an aura.

“Let’s do it.” Roden did his best to keep his reluctance at bay, but a tiny bit leaked into his words.

The men had a few hours to wait for their fight and used that time to prepare in their room at the arena. Riakon spent time with Grok, he would make a show of swinging his meaty dragonkin claw at the dummy in the room and try to get Grok to do the same.

Grok was a fast learner and had gotten the gist of what Riakon wanted. He was determined to make Grok a fighter, but wanted him to do it safely and Grok lived to please Riakon.

Errrkkkk took a different approach than usual. He meditated for the entirety of the time they had, but instead of sitting on the ground he perched atop his staff and balanced. Ever since the incident with the treant Errrkkkk had been a little different. He was evermore driven to get stronger.

Roden was not nearly as calm as the others. He paced the room and pondered what could happen. He frantically tried to imagine what could happen and how the fight would be different. Eventually, he gave up on trying to guess the outcomes.

As the time drew near he got the idea to pray. He figured it couldn’t hurt so he reached out to his Goddess, Era.

“Lady Era, please give me strength in this fight to come. I shall make you proud and shine a good light on your name and church.” There was a moment where he paused and considered what to do next.

So he made up a prayer “Hail Era, full of light, You are with me, blessed art thou amongst all who thrive under your light, Holy Era, Mother of Stars, Lady of Life, the Fairest Fire. Guide me.”

A soft feminine voice whispered in his ear “Your prayer is under review.”

“What the fuck.” Roden said at the sudden intrusion to his private moment, the realization of what had just transpired was like a cold shower. This was the first time he received confirmation of a prayer.

Sure, it was the first time he invoked the Goddess through a bastardized Hail Mary, but was that really all he had done diff…His line of thought was interrupted when it occurred to him what made this prayer different. This prayer was one made on faith.

Until now his prayers were made with knowing, not faith. He knew the Goddess existed in whatever capacity the Goddess permeated the Magi-Sphere, when they weren’t manifesting on Mir. This prayer was made on the pure hope that Era would protect them in some capacity.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

He was pretty sure what he just had was considered a religious experience usually reserved for psychedelics, so he figured the best thing he could do was soak in the moment and examine all aspects of his faith. It wasn’t long after, when their representative knocked and escorted them to the arena floor.

“Innnnnnnn the Red Corner, we have a group of rising stars with an undefeated record. They have dominated everything we have thrown at them. They are the strong, the powerful, the faithful, Sons. of. Era-rchy!!!!”

With their introduction made, their flame like auras giving a flickering glow in the darkness of the tunnel, they strode out to their mark on the arena floor. Errrkkkk waved at the crowd and made various gestures to rouse their cheers.

Riakon raised his hammer high when they reached their place. Roden clad in his Grove Armor, surrounded in his Basking Embrace and Blessed Traveler activated his Moment of Ignition. His cloak of flames erupted from his shoulders and swirled behind him as if blown by a slight breeze.

“Innnnnnnnn the Blue Corner, we have a treat for everyone this evening. We have a special rules match to up the stakes of this one. Tonight, we have a pack of creatures captured from the island of Eisil. These creatures are voracious hunters in their own right, but they have been supplied with bands of intelligence.”

“Oh. fuck.” Roden said under his breath because he knew what was coming.

“Does that mean they are going to be smart?”

“Wicked smart. They’ve got raptors.”

“Raptors, cacaw?”

“No not the bird kind, these are warmblooded pack hunting reptiles. Think five foot tall, scaly wolves with scythes on their feet.”

“Sounds like we are in for a fight, cacaw.”

“And then some, they are going to be smarter than us with those headbands.”

“Sounds like a challenge, cacaw.”

Out of the blue corner tunnel came three raptor each one nearly five feet tall and eight feet long. They were covered in a mixture of colorful feathers and scales. Their arms were adorned in feathers in what appeared like a poor attempt at wings.

On their head was a large plumage that stuck straight up in a powerful display of defiance. Just beneath was a thin band of silver colored metal, each held a tiny blue gem in the center. They walked out and lined up as if they were no different than their humanoid opponents. Roden had a bad feeling about this.

“Ready!!! Set!!!! Fight!!!!”

Errrkkkk launched into the air and immediately began charging up a Soul Sphere, the orb of chi formed between his raised hands. Riakon readied his hammer and charged toward the center of the arena.

Roden had a strong feeling this was going to be a close quarters fight and with a raptor for each of them. He was going to have to get his hands dirty. He fired off an Ignition Bolt, hoping to get in some chip damage before his raptor could close the distance, but the reptiles were much too fast.

They darted in a V- formation straight for Riakon. When Roden’s spell neared, they changed into an inverted V, their focus intent on Riakon, who wasted no time and swung his sanctified hammer towards the raptor to his left. His blow connected with a boom and sent the raptor sprawling, but he was immediately set upon by the others.

The one on his right leapt onto his back. Riakon ducked and backed into the creature’s attack causing the beast to tumble over him and land in the dirt of the arena floor. The center most raptor barreled into Riakon snapping with its razor-like teeth.

Riakon managed to get the shaft of his hammer between its jaws avoiding the bite, but the raptor used the leverage to lift its powerful legs and slash at his midsection with its sickle claw, leaving twin gashes across him.

The two downed raptors were enveloped in an explosion of golden energy as Errrkkkk’s Soul Sphere crashed into the space between them.

Seeing Riakon in trouble Roden shouted “To arms!!”, summoned his holy flamberge and rushed the raptor attacking Riakon. He allowed the spell to guide him, when he practiced his flame blade at Bo’s he had come to think of the spell’s knowledge as flowing into him through the blade, this spell was no different.

He gripped the hilt and let his attacks flow. His first strike pierced the creature’s side through, when he withdrew, he spun and slashed across the raptor horizontally. The wounds popped and sizzled with all of Roden’s buffs adding extra fire damage to his attacks.

The raptor released the hammer’s shaft and danced away, regrouping with its pack. Errrkkkk from his high vantage launched a barrage of chi blasts towards the creatures, who responded by moving in a seemingly random spiraling pattern. Then they burst from their tactic and sprinted towards Errrkkkk. Before he could react they all leapt into the air, soaring, their infantile arm wings stretched out.

There was nothing Riakon or Roden could do as the raptors latched on to Errrkkkk and dragged him to the ground, their combined weight too much for him to keep aloft. Riakon and Roden rushed to their friend’s aid as the raptors ripped at the monk with their claws.

Riakon made it first, his upward swing connected and sent his target flying through the air. Roden wasn’t far behind and lashed out with his vine. It wrapped around the raptors neck only to be slashed through by its pack mate. The distraction was enough for Errrkkkk to roll out from under the beasts and propel himself backwards while shouting,

““Caaaaaaaaa, Caaaaaaawwwwwww!!!!!!”

The blast was perfect, and point blank, except the raptors saw it coming. One darted to its right, away from the beam. It regrouped with the other who had been sent flying by Riakon, and they continued to pursue the resilient birdman. The center raptor renewed its attack on Riakon, who defended himself with swift side steps and kept his hammer between himself and the raptor.

The flow of this fight had Roden sweating both figuratively and literally. The pace the raptors kept was unlike anything they had seen up to this point. The decisions he needed to make were dire and there was no time to think.

Roden knew Errrkkkk needed help, his wings were cut and he was bleeding from his arms and legs. His white feathers were speckled with red, but he was moving fast. Roden couldn’t keep up with the raptors or Errrkkkk.

He was already running when the solution came to him. He veered towards Errrkkkk and cast his last Initiate spell for the day, Instant Destination. He appeared in front of Errrkkkk, putting himself between the raptors and his ally.

When they were within range Roden slammed his blade down and activated his Pilgrim’s Rebuke, sending a shockwave of magical energy.

The lead raptor took the brunt of it and was sent wheeling back. The other avoided the pushback, and lashed out at Roden. Before he could react the beast’s jaw was firmly wrapped around his bark clad forearm.

He could see his aura was burning the raptor’s plumage, turning it into a slow smoldering ember.. The crunch of wood filled his ears, followed by the sound and vibration of the dino’s claws ripping into the armor at his belly.

Just as he was about to lose his balance and fall back, Errrkkkk slammed into his attacker with a wing powered flying side kick. Errrkkkk spun and flapped his wings, throwing a combination of whirling kicks, with no success, the raptor’s reaction was too fast.

Errrkkkk and Roden could see the other raptors had teamed up and were tearing at Riakon from two sides.

“Go help him!”

“Cacaw!” Errrkkkk shot high into the air, before plummeting towards the two on one fight.

Roden gripped his blade in two hands and charged his raptor with a battlecry. “Ahhhhhhhhh!!!”

His target all, but ignored him and took off towards the others. Figuring he had a clear shot at its back Roden threw out his hand, his battle cry turning into the incantation, “Ignite!!!”

The explosion at the spell’s impact with the creature was amplified with Roden’s Blaze ability giving the flames a brighter color. The raptor emerged from the flames scorched, its feathers singed and burning.

Errrkkkk and Riakon were fending off their two raptors back to back with some success when the third joined the fray. From Roden’s perspective Errrkkkk was the clear target. One raptor would engaged Riakon, then two would attack Errrkkkk simultaneously.

He was forced to take a defensive stance and focus on dodging their attacks rather than attacking himself. He was managing to avoid the majority, but some were still slipping through.

Roden joined the attack by using his leaping ability to send him high into the air; he figured the raptors weren’t expecting him to come crashing down from above. He brought his sword down mimicking the strike from the earlier bout.

He slashed into the raptor’s neck, but failed to score a killing blow. The party had finally managed to regroup and formed up back to back to back. As the raptors slowly circled their prey.

“I think this is going well.” Riakon quipped, his dragonkin blood running in rivulets down his body.

“Caa…caw…” Errrkkkk response was filled with a mixture of exhaustion and determination.

“Jeez , Errrkkkk you look rough. Here.” Roden placed a hand on Errrkkkk’s wing and cast Triage, healing some of his wounds and giving him a faint shimmer over his body. Riakon began to glow as well, healing himself with a touch.

The raptors continued their attack by increasing the speed of their circling into a frenzy. They whipped by in a blur.

“Guys, I’ve taken no damage, I’m going to pull aggro, cover me.”

Roden rushed into the raptors’ formation swinging his blade like a baseball bat. He felt his blade just nick his target before they broke formation and swung around focusing on Riakon. Just when it seemed Riakon was their sole target, the center and left most raptors pivoted towards Errrkkkk.

His only option to avoid their attacks was to launch himself into the air. Roden saw it play out in slow motion, Errrkkkk’s wings spread wide as the two predators crashed into him. Teeth and claws ripped into Errrkkkk. Feathers and blood littered the air about them in a cloud of carnage.

“Nooooooooo!!!!!!”

“Brother!!!!” Riakon’s concern distracting him from the claws and teeth sunk into his dragonkin hide.

The collection of feathered figures crashed to the ground in a heap. Errrkkkk unmoving under the claws of his assailants.

In a blind fury Riakon threw his raptor off and gave everything he had to reach his fallen comrade. Roden felt a rage like no other. To him, it wasn’t Errrkkkk on the ground, it was his friend, his chosen brother, Lee. It was his friend Jo’s shouts of anguish at the sight.

With reckless abandon, the two threw themselves at the raptors. The fight became a brawl as they tore into them. Wild swings and an unrelenting push forward was met with teeth and claws. Both men gave it their all, defense and their own safety far from their minds. Roden’s armor was savaged in the flurry.

The sound of wood cracking and snapping filled his ears. He barely felt the cuts and rake of claws as the raptors ripped into him. His sole focus was saving his friend. Riakon’s wounds were reopened and made all the worse by the time they made it to Errrkkkk’s lifeless form.

The raptors gave them no chance as they continuously snapped and punished them for the briefest moment of inattention. There was no circling or reprieve. Errrkkkk was at their feet, but there was no time for anything, but staying alive. Riakon roared in unbridled emotion that sent shivers through Roden.

A powerful wind rushed through the arena whipping up dust and debris. The force of it nearly knocked Roden and Riakon off their feet, both having to dig their weapons in the ground to stay upright. The gale was like a tsunami and tossed the raptors back.

Around the party, the air began to crackle with small sparks of lightning. A powerful aura surrounded the three as the wind rushed in and lifted the body of Errrkkkk high above the others. Errrkkkk’s head snapped forward and the aura coalesced around him in a torrent of wind and golden energy.

A massive grin spread across Roden’s face as tears of joy welled up in his eyes. Errrkkkk was alive. With a deafening avian screech, Errrkkkk rocketed toward the raptors. His blinding speed was too much for them as he unleashed a deluge of strikes.

Claw and talon ripped into the raptors as they tried to close in on him. He flipped over them in a move Obi-wan would be proud of and unleashed a blast of epic proportion with an ear splitting,

““Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

In the aftermath of the blast, all that remained was three silver bands with blue gems in the center.