Trails - Chapter 17

Kiara couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t keep the bloodlust down for much longer.

The longer she fought against it, the more muddled her thoughts became and the more exhausted she became.

It took all that she had to even remain standing.

Even though she was in no position to fight and, worse still, in no position to properly control her powers, Kiara refused to step out of the competition.

She had to win it, no matter the cost to those in the Tournament and to herself.

“Just…a little…bit…longer,” She told herself, struggling to speak through her laboured breath.

Eleanor, wait for me, She thought through the thick darkness in her mind. I’m almost there.

***

On the East Side, we have the Spartan mech himself who has constantly surpassed expectations in this competition time and again, it’s the legendary hero himself; Ajax Amory! On the West Side, we have-

When Kasmine stopped her heated introductions, the crowd slowly turned silent and all eyes gazed at Kiara.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Connor asked, standing up to try and see her better.

“Maybe it’s a technical problem,” Alexa suggested. “They’ve had them in the past, so it wouldn’t be surprising.”

Out of the five of them in the booth, only Kaida and Eric seemed to understand what was going on.

Kiara was wobbling, almost unable to remain standing on her own two feet. Her head was drooping downwards, her nails had traces of blood over them, and she seemed to be struggling to breathe.

She’s struggling to keep control, huh? Lucifer mused. Perhaps she used more Mana than we thought.

I don’t think it’s that what’s caused it, Eric replied.

Oh?

It’s what Ashar said earlier. He triggered something within Kiara that she can’t properly control.

That’s why she attacked him in such a manner, then?

Eric nodded. Remember when she was bandaging my cut and almost seemed hypnotised by it? I imagine it’s something like that except rather than blood being the trigger, it was her emotional state.

Lucifer let out a weary sigh. Vampires are annoyingly sensitive creatures, aren’t they?

Kasmine tapped on the microphone loudly and then coughed into it. Ah, it’s back on! She exclaimed. Good. Now, apologies for the delay, but contestants, on my mark, begin!

“See, told you it was a maintenance problem?” Alexa cried.

“You should’ve bet on it,” Laila said. “There’s no way Connor would’ve been able to resist.”

“She’s right,” Connor confessed, lowering his head.

If Kiara goes out of control again, will Kas stop the fight? Eric wondered.

Hmm, most likely, Lucifer said. I believe that the technical problems thing was a lie and she was just surprised by seeing Kiara like that. I imagine that if Kiara goes down easily, then the Headmistress will twist it so that she ran out of Mana or overexerted herself earlier.

Even though it doesn’t work like that?

Lucifer chuckled slyly. If that woman says that’s the truth, then the general populace will believe it.

3.

2.

1.

Begin!

As Kiara seemed unable to move, Ajax took the initiative and ran right at her, deploying his spear.

He thrust it at her heart, but she managed to dodge it, although the tip of the spear still cut through her arm. She cried out in pain and averted her eyes from the blood dripping down her arm, but that meant she was looking away from Ajax as well. He swept the spear at her skull and bashed it against her cheek, sending her spinning onto the floor. Kiara shook her head and flew out of the way of Ajax’s follow up stab and threw several black balls at him. Ajax rolled beneath them and threw his spear at her, launching it through her thigh and slowing her down. Kiara screamed louder than before and inadvertently looked down at her leg and she felt her heart beat speed up.

No! She yelled in her mind, closing her eyes and trying to remove the spear by her sense of touch alone. I can’t…lose…to it…here!

Even though she told herself that, Ajax had already deployed his sword and, without even a moment’s hesitation, cut her throat, killing her.

Winner, Ajax Amory! Kasmine proclaimed.

“Huh? That’s it?”

“I thought for sure the girl would win.”

“Maybe she was just tired?”

“Did you see how unfocused she was? Maybe something bad happened between matches.”

Ahem, everyone, please listen for a moment, Teeq said, stepping up to the microphone. As I’m sure you are all confused by this, allow me to explain why Miss Morrigan seemed exhausted and staggered. The simple truth is that she was simply too drained from her previous encounter with Ashar, both physically and mentally. Fear not, we will make sure that she is properly treated, but please understand that this result still stands and Mr Amory’s victory is not falsified as a result.

Please, show the winner the proper celebration that he deserves.

There was a low murmur amongst the crowd and a quiet, brief clap soon followed as the two left the arena.

See? Lucifer mused.

Well, what they said had some truth to it, Eric thought.

And that’s what makes the lie even more convincing.

“…You know, I don’t think this whole betting between friends thing is really a good idea,” Connor said, laughing nervously. “Why don’t we just call the whole thing off?”

“Hmm, tempting offer,” Alexa noted, nodding her head. “However.” She stared at him, an evil smirk on her face, and said, “I refuse!”

“Please, have mercy on me!” Connor fell onto his knees and began to beg to Alexa. Kaida took out her phone and quickly snapped a photo of them. “Hey! Don’t take photos!”

Kaida giggled and locked her phone. “It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s not every day that we get to see that, so we need to make sure we properly record it.”

“Please delete that photo,” Connor requested, shuffling on his knees over to her.

“Tell you what? I’ll let you delete the photo.” She pushed it down her cleavage and smiled at him. “If you can get your hands on it.”

Connor sighed, a dejected look on his face, and collapsed onto his seat, almost sliding off it. “Whose dumb idea was this whole betting thing anyway?”

“Probably yours,” Laila interjected.

“Hey, guys, look!” Alexa yelled, leaping from her chair and pointing down at the arena. “The next competitors are already coming out.”

“Eh, seriously?” Kaida asked, looking to confirm it for herself. “But it hasn’t even been a minute since Kiara was defeated.”

Eric, it seems that the Headmistress knows a great deal about Kiara, given the length she’s gone to cover up her instability, Lucifer said. Perhaps it would be wise to ask her about it.

No, Eric immediately answered, shooting the idea down. If…When I feel the time is right, I’ll ask Kiara about it myself.

On the East Side, he impressed you when he instantly defeated Herne the Hunter and he’s continued to surprise us with his skills with a rifle; it’s Kellan ‘Dead Eye’ Bowen! On the West Side, he’s just as fast if not faster than his opponent and he’s yet to even take an ounce of damage; it’s Arian Rajneesh!

“Well, Dead Eye’s dead in the water, right?” Alexa asked, smiling sadly.

“I’d have to agree,” Connor mumbled. “He’s good, but I don’t think even he can beat Arian.”

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Kaida said. “I mean, we didn’t expect him to defeat Herne and look how that turned out.”

“Yeah, but Herne wasn’t as fast as Arian is. Eric, what about you?”

Eric frowned. “Dead Eye can’t win.”

Contestants, on my mark begin! Kasmine snickered. Well, not like it’ll last for long.

The crowd couldn’t help but laugh as well.

3.

2.

1.

Begin!

The battle had been decided in an instant.

They had both fired a single shot at one another.

A bolt landed in Dead Eye’s eye, piercing through it and into his brain.

A bullet had smashed into Arian’s stomach, causing the boy to fall onto his knees and hiss through gritted teeth.

Winner: Arian Rajneesh!

“Wow, that was disappointing.”

“Did he shoot that kid in his working eye?”

“That’s just messed up.”

A few people began to shout insults into the arena but the contestants never heard them.

“Oh, the crowd seems to have turned on Arian a bit,” Connor mused, smiling a bit. “Well, I guess he brought it on himself.”

“Can you blame them?” Alexa asked shrugging her shoulders. “These people paid good money to come here and all of Arian’s matches end just as quickly as that.”

“Good thing Eric didn’t-”

“Hey, what’s going on down there?” Kaida asked, pointing at Arian.

She wasn’t the only one who had noticed.

The rest of the crowd slowly began to quieten down upon seeing Arian curled over in pain, his fingers digging into the wound in his stomach. The battle had ended and Teeq’s virtual reality had been collapsed meaning that everything should have been reset to how it had been before the match began and yet Arian was still in pain and the wound in his stomach hadn’t faded.

That was unheard of before.

Somehow, Dead Eye’s attack had broken through T’s ironclad virtual reality and inflicted real damage on Arian.

The crowd were all whispering to one another, wondering what had happened as Arian slowly lifted his head up, a terrifying scowl on his face, his eyes glaring daggers at Dead Eye.

“How did you know?” Arian whispered. He stood up, his fingers still in his wound and screamed, “How did you know, Dead Eye?”

Arian pulled out the bullet from his wound and threw it at Dead Eye’s feet.

It wasn’t his usual bullet which was a golden brown colour.

This bullet was silver.

Dead Eye, alive and well thanks to Teeq’s ability, stood up and glared back at him.

“Arian Rajneesh, descendant of Prak Rajneesh. If you were going to hide your identity as a Silverback Werewolf, then you might have wanted to change your name.”

“Prak Rajneesh? As in…?”

“The one who fought to make Lamia?”

“Seriously? He’s a Werewolf?”

The murmurs among the crowd quickly turned to panic, then outrage, and then cries of insults and boos all thrown at Arian.

During the war for the creation of the Vampire Nation of Lamia, the Blood Moon War, the Vampires had been assisted by a large clan of Werewolves from Germany who were led by Prak Rajneesh. In the war, England had sent many soldiers from its empire to support France and the vast majority of them had been killed by the Werewolves, turning public opinion of them in Britain against them.

To this day, Werewolves were still hated by a large number of the public but not just for what they had done three hundred years ago, but because of the terrifying abilities and powers that they possessed. Prak Rajneesh was a Silverback Werewolf, the strongest of their kind whose fur was as tough as titanium unless hit with silver and they were incredibly quick and strong and, if Arian was a descendant of him, that meant he was just as strong.

In other words, one of the reasons people were so angry with him was that he was far stronger than everyone else who had made it into the final sixteen.

“This…could be bad,” Alexa whispered, laughing nervously.

“The Headmistress wouldn’t let a riot break out here, so at least we don’t have to worry about that,” Connor said.

“You know, all things considered, aren’t we all kind of dumb for not noticing it sooner?” Kaida asked. “I mean, the last name alone should’ve been a big enough clue.”

“Remember whose name was said right after his?” Eric asked back. “Izellah’s was. The crimes that the Rose Knight committed are still recent memories for some people, whereas there are few alive who were there for Prak’s.”

“Do you think the Headmistress did that on purpose?” Alexa wondered.

“I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“Dead Eye still managed to figure it out though.”

In his head, Eric heard a deep, Luciferic laugh which made him jump out of his seat.

Don’t laugh in other people’s heads! Eric chided him.

Apologies, but I just realised Dead Eye’s intentions with this match, Lucifer replied.

Which were?

Think about it logically, Eric. If Dead Eye knew that Arian was a Werewolf, then it makes sense for him to load silver bullets into his rifle. It’s only natural. However, why do you think that he didn’t try to go for a headshot? If he had landed the shot, then he would’ve won, in theory, and yet he didn’t. Why do you think he did that?

Because he knew he couldn’t win?

Partially. Why aim for the stomach and cause such a heavy injury?

To wound him for Ajax? No, a healer would patch him up for the next round. His speed?

Indeed. Dead Eye is quick on the draw, but based on what I’ve observed, Arian is far, far faster than Dead Eye, and I think he knew that too. So, Eric Agrim, why did Dead Eye go through the trouble of wounding Arian with a silver bullet rather than bet it all on a headshot that would never come?

Then, it dawned on Eric.

To inform Ajax of his true identity, Eric thought.

Correct, Lucifer replied. While it is difficult for Ajax to make any changes to his equipment at this, the fact that Ajax knows what he’s up against gives him a bit of an advantage.

How?

He now knows that Arian has armour-like fur which can only be penetrated by powerful attacks or silver, he knows that he’s physically stronger than an average human, and that he’s far faster than Ajax. While all of that information could be interpreted as reasons why Ajax could lose, you can also look at it as he’s just gained a lot of information on his opponent.

Eric smiled at Dead Eye in the arena as he and Arian continued their staring contest.

He gave Ajax a bit of a fighting chance, even if it was a tiny one, Eric thought.

It is far better that a friend wins than a stranger, Lucifer added.

***

“Why?” Arian demanded, his body shaking with anger. “Why did you do this?”

He started to storm out of the arena.

“Why did you go through the trouble of trying to hide your identity?” Dead Eye called to him, making Arian stop in his tracks. “If you wanted to hide it, why use your real na -?”

In an instant, Arian rushed in front of Dead Eye, grasping his throat tightly with his left hand and lifting him into the air. The crowd went silent and a few members of staff ran out into the arena.

Arian lowered Dead Eye close to his face and whispered sinisterly, “You shouldn’t go poking your nose into other’s people’s business when you don’t know them.”

He threw Dead Eye roughly onto the ground and marched off as the crowd booed and yelled at him. The staff members that had emerged to handle the situation quickly retreated from him and, even from where Eric and the others were, they could tell that Arian looked like he was about to kill someone.

“All of you should fuck off and mind your own business,” Arian hissed. “None of you have a right to judge me. None of you understand a thing.”

Dead Eye got back up onto his feet, rubbing his neck and pushed the medics approaching him away.

He watched Arian until he was out of sight and narrowed his eye.

If he’s that sensitive about this, then why not use a fake name? Dead Eye wondered.