The Circle of Scales
PART 1
THE EMERALD WYRM
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It didn’t matter how strong you were. How tough your skin was or how sturdy your resolve. Getting punched in the face, still, hurt. A lot. Auren dabbed at his lip with two fingers as the world slowly came back into perspective around him. They came away bloody. Soaring bastard had split his lip.
Auren looked up at the bastard in question as he sauntered around the ring. His arms were in the air as the crowd around them cheered. Well some of them were cheering. A good number of them were jeering instead, booing Auren and shouting at him to get off his tail and fight back. He probably should do just that. Auren didn’t give a damn about the bettors and gamblers who’d put their chips down on Auren to win the bout. They didn’t give a damn about him and the feeling was mutual. These were the Eastside Fighting Pits. Not the professional bouts that took place in domes near the surface.
But he did get paid more when he won. Auren cared very much about that. He took hold of the cage that surrounded the ring and used it to lever himself to his feet. The jeers turned into cheers and shouts of encouragement. He had to admit he was flattered. They’d likely seen his other fights and knew how usually managed to snare a victory. Which was why he was letting the sharp-chinned fool who’d decked him strut around the ring like that. He clearly hadn’t seen Auren’s other fights and assumed that being a Garnet gave him an advantage. Who’d be so stupid as to bet on an Emerald like Auren, when he was up against a fire breather. If one focused, one could just make out the red sheen to the man’s skin. He was the favorite to win this bout and he knew it. Which would make the pay out for Auron’s victory that much sweeter.
He grinned, and his sharp-chinned opponent finally seemed to realize that Auren was back on his feet. The Garnet turned to face the Emerald, raising his fists and gesturing for him to approach. “Well come on if you’re coming, lad.” Sharp-chin said. Auren didn’t know his name. “I’ll make it quick so that we don’t waste all these good people’s time. They came to watch two scaleskins duke it out in the cage. Not to watch one take a beating.”
“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing,” Auren said. “But don’t worry. I’ll make it a gentle beating.”
Sharp-chin grinned and shook his head, as if he felt sorry for Auren.
Then he opened his mouth and shot a gout of flame at Auren that could melt iron. Auren dove to the side, narrowly avoiding getting singed by the attack. The cage behind him took the flame much better than he would’ve. The flames were reduced to hot air and cinders as they passed through the lattice work. Which saved that section of the audience from a very unwelcome warming of their flesh. A little arc metal in the steel went a long way.
Sharp-chin fired another gout of fire at Auren, just as he was rolling to his feet. This one landed, grazing his shoulder and sending him bouncing off the cage behind him. Auren winced, feeling the skin beneath his barely perceptible emerald scales crack and blister. Before he could get his bearings, sharp-chin threw a right hook that nearly took Auren’s head off. Suddenly it was raining punches, and Auren’s arms made for poor umbrellas. He blocked all the strikes aimed at his head, but let most of the body shots through. It would hasten the process each time it forced him to empty his lungs.
Sharp-chin however seemed unconcerned with Auren’s plans, and had decided to slip a hook past Auren’s guard. The punch sent Auren stumbling back into the cage and left his head ringing. Sharp-chin however, didn’t follow through. He remained where he’d been when he’d struck Auren, bent over with his hands on his knees, panting.
Auren smiled. “That hurt.”
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“Kinda the point, lad,” Sharp-chin replied.
“Well, lucky for you,” he poked and prodded at his charred shoulder. “You’ll be too numb to feel most of what I do to you.”
“That a fact?”
“Depends on whether I got the mixture right this time.”
“Mixture, what in the blazes are ya…” sharp-chin trailed off, blinking several times. He got a far off look in his eyes as he began to glance about the room. It was difficult to make out, what with the scent of sweat and cigars in the air but yes. There was a pungent, almost tangy aroma to the air. And that smoke was a little on the green side to be made up entirely of tobacco. Sharp-chin's eyes widened with realization and Auren responded with a punch. Gone was the sharp-chinned garnet’s speed and agility, replaced by confusion and ineptitude.
Auren laid into the man, peppering his head and body with swift jabs meant more to debilitate, then incapacitate. His finisher would be something flashy, ensuring that his next bout would bring in an even bigger payout. Sharp-chin cursed as he once again failed to deflect one of Auren’s jabs to his left eye. It was starting to swell. “Soaring Emerald coward. Blazing poison all over the ring! Really?!”
“What did you expect?” Auren asked while delivering another punch to sharp-chin’s gut. The Garnet would’ve simply dodged Auren’s breath weapon if he’d tried firing off huge bursts. And he would’ve run out before Auren could finish you. “This way you get the full dose.”
Auren let a tiny puff of greenish gas seep from his lips as he spoke, punctuating his point.
“So tell me, lad. Did those last few punches hurt? Or do I need to adjust my mixture more?”
Sharp-chin roared and came at Auren again with a sudden lucidity brought on by pure rage. He dodged the lazy swing with little effort and opened his mouth wide as sharp-chin stumbled by him. His head went straight through a sudden cloud of thick green poison and he came out the other end hacking and choking. He leaned forward, then back, then forward again. Then fell face first to the floor like a felled tree. The loud thud he made when he landed was accompanied by an uproarious cheer by those who’d bet on Auren or hadn’t bet at all. Those who’d bet on sharp-chin were less enthused, shouting obscenities and throwing shreds of their betting slips towards the ring in front of them.
Auren just grinned and used the toe of his boot to prod his unconscious opponent. The man was still stirring slightly, but gave no sign that he’d even felt the nudge.
“Guess I don’t need to adjust my mixture after all.”
*****
From the crowd, a taciturn-looking woman with a bluish sheen to her skin watched on in shock, dropping her now worthless betting slip to the ground. Strands of her tightly bound blonde hair had slipped free of its ponytail. And her form fitting, but tasteful, pants suit was slightly ruffled from all the excitement.
“Well, well,” she said with a rueful grin. “Looks like we have ourselves a clever one, Rem.”
Rem, the scruffy looking man at her side, scowled in exasperation. “Thalia, you must be joking,” he said in a rasp of a voice that had breathed in more than its fair share of smoke over the years.
“Afraid, I’m only half joking this time.”
“You’ve put up thirteen solid applicants this session. Don’t stir up trouble with another one of your… personal projects.”
“C,mon, Rem,” she said with a smirk and a toss of her long dirty blonde hair. “You have to admit there’s something there.”
“When you suggested trying to fill the Watch’s mandate by looking in the pits, I thought maybe you might find one or two decent prospects. But an Emerald? From the upper levels? His already ruddy complexion furrowed even deeper and his bald pate began to shine with sweat. “Have you lost your mind? The other candidates will roast him alive. And the proctors?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “They won’t even look at him.”
“Oh they’ll look,” she said with a straight face. “When they see my sponsor's seal and your recommendation. They’ll at least have to give him a fair shake after that.”
“M-m-my… recommendation,” he sputtered.
“But let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Thalia said, quickly. “Let’s at least meet the man first. For all we know, he’d turn tail at the first sight of a Drake. Doubt anyone who can take a beating like and still come out on top could be a coward. But you never really know what someone’s made of until they’ve spent a day on the surface.” She sighed. “C’mon, let’s head to the back before he leaves.
Auren, the Emerald, was already making his way out of the ring.