CHAPTER 2
DUEL
The two green dragons were upon them. One of their dragon riders put a white funnel to his mouth. It looked like a handheld megaphone. “Talon, it’s over. Land now, and hand them over. We have no wish to kill you or Firesoul.”
Lillus tugged on Ajax’s armored arm, her lips moving, but no words were coming out. She looked small and afraid, nothing like the woman he had first met all those weeks ago. The uncertain nature of their future had really shaken her. The Oracle had told her they would head east to end the Imperium’s invasion, but that had all changed when the Imperator had betrayed them.
“What do we do?” Ajax asked Talon who watched the other dragons over his shoulder. The dragon rider had yet to draw his sword, and Firesoul hadn’t shown any sign he meant to land.
Talon’s eyes were half closed, as if he were looking at someone’s stat information panel. Maybe his own, maybe the enemies, or perhaps… Ajax felt rising fear. Mine.
“Turn them over, Talon, and you and your mount will live. They mean nothing to you. Why lose your first life and have to start over again for them?”
Ajax drummed his fingers on his sword hilt. The man speaking on the megaphone spoke the truth. Lillus and Ajax meant nothing to Talon. Why should he die for them?
No, we mean everything to him. The whole human race is at stake, and if I really am the Chosen One who can save us, then I must live to see my destiny through.
Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Ajax stood in the saddle. He cupped his hands around his mouth. The enemies eyes were on him now. What do I do?
Make a bluff, and buy some time. Perhaps they could prolong the confrontation long enough for Firesoul’s mate to arrive. Or…
A brilliant idea came to him. Get the enemies on the ground, and grouped up, then Lillus could blast the lot of them with her power. “I challenge your leader Sejanus to a duel. If he is as honorable as the legends make him out to be, he will accept my challenge. If I am victorious, you will let us go. If I fall—”
“Ajax!” Lillus hissed, clutching at him.
The enemy dragon riders laughed. “Why would he want to fight a traitor? You aren’t worthy of dying by his blade.”
Ajax held his head high. “I’m no traitor. Though I have no wish to see Sejanus dead, I will fight him so that my companions and I can live.” Ajax squared his shoulders. “The true threat to the Imperium is far to the west. Its name is the void, and it means to destroy us all.”
The two dragon riders watched him, as their mounts moved to glide on either side of Firesoul. “Fine, if Talon lands, we will wait for Supreme Commander Sejanus and the rest of our brethren to arrive. Then we’ll see if he will defile himself to face you in battle.” The dragon rider pointed at him. “But be warned, when you fall, your Demon Mage consort will soon follow.”
Ajax nodded once, then glanced at Talon. The other man had paled, but he directed Firesoul toward the ground.
Dutifully, the dragon obeyed.
*********
“Why did you offer him a duel?” Lillus cried, as she watched the six red dragons land in the dead tree forest clearing, their riders leaping to the ground. He and Lillus stood near Firesoul and Talon, both of whom were busy glaring at their brethren.
“Anything can happen.” Lillus sobbed. “You might die!”
Ajax watched the six riders approach. The other two who had ridden the green dragons stood beside their mounts, weapons drawn. The green dragons watched Firesoul warily, as if ready to unleash their fire breaths if the bigger dragon so much as moved.
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“It was the only thing I could think of.” Ajax turned to her, his legs feeling like jelly. “When they’re all together, use your powers against them.”
Before she could say anything, Talon walked up to them. “None of us are getting out of this. The only reason we are still alive is because you demanded a duel.”
Ajax snapped his head around. “They said they’d let you live.”
“They say a lot of things. Sejanus has had it in for me for a long time. I’m… a free spirit. Always have been, and I don’t get on well with people telling me what to do.”
“But you’re a dragon rider, an elite of the elite.”
Talon waved dismissively. “I fight well, though that won’t save me here.”
Lillus moved in front of Ajax as the riders stopped thirty feet from them. Five were Martial Warriors, the sixth a Poacher. The female Poacher wore leather armor, the Martial Warriors, shining heavy plate, their helmets gleaming in the midday sun.
As one, the warriors removed their helms, and stared coldly at Ajax. Draped in a purple cape, the largest man among them had a long silver chain around his neck. Ajax didn’t have to see the man’s stat panel to know him to be Sejanus.
Glancing over the man’s equipment, Ajax’s legs almost gave out from shock. Everything the Supreme Commander wore, had magical properties to increase Might, HP, DEF, and Luck. And that was only the equipment Ajax had the Intellect to identify…
A Shield spec’d Martial Warrior, Sejanus had a buttload of hit points. Far more than Ajax.
Lillus, unless you blast them with your powers soon, I’m fu—
“Talon.” Sejanus pointed at the young dragon rider. “You have drawn the blood of your fellows. The punishment is death.”
The other seven dragon riders hefted their weapons, all but one of their dragon mounts letting out angry hisses.
“You saw what I did to the Imperator.” Lillus raised her arms in the air threateningly. “I can summon my power and kill all of you where you stand.” She inclined her head toward Ajax. “He must reach the Oracle, the computer array that is the heart of this world. The void approaches, and only Ajax can stop it.”
Sejanus glowered at her. “Your powers may kill us, but they will not slay our dragons before they can incinerate you all.”
“You underestimate me.” Lillus tossed her hair back over her pointed ears. Ajax expected the angelic wings to sprout from her back as she readied to unleash her game master powers.
But nothing happened.
Perhaps she was still too weak from her injuries. What if she couldn’t gather enough strength to summon the power? What if she tried, and it killed her? She’d slept for days after using it against the Imperator. Then she had only hurt Ithilda; here she would have to take out the riders and eight dragons, all spread out, each one ready to strike her down at a moment’s notice.
Making a fist, Ajax came to stand beside Lillus and pointed at Sejanus. “I challenge you to a duel. Man versus man.”
A blood-drenched, tattered banner dropped to the ground between them as an invisible war drum beat. A relic of the old days, when Visaria had only been a game, the dueling system still functioned much the same as it had then. A player could refuse the offer of a duel with no loss other than to their sense of pride. But if they accepted the challenge, then the duel would commence.
The fight would be to the death, but unlike in the past, there’d be no resurrecting at the nearest graveyard. No more lives either. If the computers controlling Visaria truly had lost the ability to resurrect dead players for their next Visarian life, then this duel would be to digital death, the loser returning to the prison of their own minds to spend out the rest of humanities exile. Or extinction…
Lillus reached for him. “No, Ajax—”
He silenced her with a look. Defeated, she lowered her arms and whispered, “Please don’t do this, I can kill them. I just need a few minutes to gather my strength.”
So, she had been struggling to harness her powerful magic. “No, Lillus. This is the only way.” If I live long enough, maybe Firesoul’s mate will reach us and descend upon them unaware. If she managed to take out most of the enemy dragons before they could react… The scales might tip in our favor.
One of the dragon riders let out a deep-throated laugh. “A lowly level eight against a level fifteen? This boy’s got some walnuts, that’s for sure.”
Sejanus stepped forward, his eyes hard as iron. “Normally, I wouldn’t sully my blade on a traitor like you. But my lady Imperator personally gave me the quest to return with your head—so for you, I’ll make an exception.”
Quest
Objective: Defeat Supreme Commander Sejanus in honorable combat.
Secondary objective: Kick butt and take names.
Rewards: You won’t be dead. 500xp. +20hp Augment. You get to loot his corpse if there is anything left of it by the time you’re done. You will anger the Imperator and put the fear of god into her Imperium Guard.
Warning: Sir, the probability of successfully navigating this duel is approximately 3720 to 1!
Never tell me the odds! Ajax raged at the quest notification.
Supreme Commander Sejanus
Race: Human
Class: Martial Warrior
Skill Focus: Shield Warrior
Level: 15
Allegiance: The Sinjharian Imperium
Origin: The Dragon Keep
Player Kills: 84
Might: 20
Dexterity: 14 (1 Dexterity increases base avoidance by 1%)
Intellect: 3
Spirit: 2
Luck: 5
HP: 540
EN: 100/100 (EN=ENERGY)
AP: 285
DEF: 310
Active Abilities
Battle Resolve (BR): Increases all defenses by 10%
Drawing his sword and hefting his shield, the Supreme Commander accepted the duel, and the banner disappeared. “Time to die, traitor.”