Lottery King 2, page 27
“Your majesty,” Firo said in a voice more worried than I’d ever heard before from the stoic man. “The gorgon’s binding enchantments will have to be removed for the fight.”
“Okay.” I nodded simply.
“Your majesty,” Firo repeated with more worry. “He will have full access to his stonification powers.”
“Right.” I muttered as the implications of that occurred to me.
“You must not look into his eyes,” Firo insisted.
“Avoid looking at his face at all,” Helena added.
I nodded in agreement as the weight of what I’d agreed to sank into my heart. But I could also still feel the solid churning red mass that was the gorgon’s mind right now, and I knew I could connect with him.
“Can gorgons be turned to stone?” I asked.
Even if the answer was no, I felt like I could best the gorgon with the other skills I had, especially with the help of Poppy’s mind-enchantment powers, but I definitely heaved a sigh of relief at Helena’s reply.
“Yes,” the Grecian harpy said.
“He’ll probably try to piss you off to get you to look at him,” Rune said.
“Yes,” Firo agreed. “You must remain focused, your majesty. Do not let him distract you, no matter what he says.”
“I won’t,” I assured them.
“Your majesty?” Lord Oba’s voice called from outside the tent.
“Yes, Lord Oba?” I called back.
The older harpy stuck his bald head around the corner and smiled a bit nervously.
“I have your combat attire for you, your majesty.” Lord Oba walked in with a pile of brown leather in his hands.
A satyr appeared behind the harpy’s light-gray wings, and he struggled to hold a circular bronze shield and a shortsword that reminded me of Bilbo’s sword from The Lord of the Rings. It was fairly narrow at the base and had a wider curve closer to its lethal point. Firo accepted the sword and shield from the half-goat man and inspected them quickly.
“Tradition?” I asked as I pushed down my shock and a bit of fear.
“Quite right, your majesty,” Lord Oba said in a pleased voice as he handed the leather items to Poppy. “I’m sure you will look very dashing in these.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Good luck, your majesty,” Lord Oba said, and he lingered for a moment as if there was more he wanted to say.
But the balding harpy pressed his lips into a thin line, shook his head, and led the satyr out of the tent.
I swallowed hard as Poppy gestured to the changing area of the tent, and the two of us headed over before she opened a curtain and passed the outfit to me.
“I’ll be right out here,” she murmured, and I nodded before she closed the divider.
The outfit I was meant to wear was basically a leather skirt constructed of several flaps, and I was pleased to find there were little leather briefs to go with them. There was no shirt or top armor, so my chest was left bare, and I was again grateful for the way Firo’s training sessions had given me more muscle definition over the last month. There were also a pair of leather sandals that fit the whole vibe of everything I’d seen in Greece. They were just a series of leather straps attached to a flat sole, and they hooked comfortably around the top of my foot and up my ankles to my shins. They wouldn’t give me a whole lot of protection, but they were wildly comfortable, and all the straps made them feel very secure on my feet.
I walked back out to where my fiancée, advisors, and Helena waited for me. Both ladies’ eyes went a little bit hazy at how much of my skin was exposed.
“Pteruges look good on you, your majesty,” Helena said in a voice that was just a little husky.
“What?” I asked with confusion.
“That piece of leather armor is called a pteruges,” Helena said, and she pointed at my hips.
“Oh,” I chuckled. “Good to know. I like that better than ‘skirt’ at least.”
“I thought you might,” Helena teased.
“Your majesty,” Firo said as he handed me the sword. “The gorgon will not fight fairly.”
“I wasn’t expecting him to, Firo,” I said.
I tested the weight of the sword, and I found it well-balanced and astoundingly sharp. It felt good in my hands, considering I’d never used a sword like it before.
“Watch his hips to anticipate his moves,” Firo advised. “Keep his arms in the edges of your vision, but avoid his shoulders. They are too near to his most dangerous weapon.”
“Right.” I nodded and took the shield.
To my surprise, the bronze was just a plate across a wooden structure. The metal plate was thick enough to be good protection, and the wood kept the overall weight to a manageable level. It was much lighter than I’d anticipated, and I was glad for that.
“I do not know if he has any combat training,” Firo continued. “But he looks fairly fit, so do not underestimate his strength.”
“I won’t,” I said, and I turned to Rune and Poppy. “Keep yourselves open to me so I can connect with you quickly if I need to.”
“Yes, your majesty,” Rune said. “I’ll make sure not to go full zen on you.”
“Thanks,” I chuckled and looked at Poppy.
“I am always open to you, Michael,” Poppy whispered. “And I know you will win this.”
Love flooded in my chest at Poppy’s confidence in me, and I felt my own worries edge away.
“The crowds will be getting restless,” Helena said. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.” I nodded firmly and raised my shield to a defensive position.
Firo gave me a few quick pointers on how and where to hold my shield to give me the most protection without obstructing the reach of my sword, and then we all filed back out to the stadium.
The wooden stage had been hurriedly deconstructed, and there was a wide oval-shaped field of dirt in its place now. My opponent stood to the far side of the oval, and he was dressed in pteruges in a darker shade of brown. He also held a sword like mine, but his shield had been left on the outside of the ring like he was confident he wouldn’t need it. He paced back and forth across a four-foot path as he waited for me.
The crowds started to chant something in Greek when they saw me, but I couldn’t tell by their collective tone if it was for or against me. The sour look on the gorgon’s face made me think it was probably in support of their king.
Lord Oba began to announce something to the crowds, and I thought it was the rules of the fight, or maybe the charges against Alexander again, but I could barely hear him over the pounding in my ears.
“We will be watching and cheering for you,” Poppy murmured in my ear. “I love you.”
I nodded slowly, but I couldn’t make any words come out of my mouth as I stared at my opponent.
“May the Goddess be with you,” Helena said, and then she must have taken my fiancée by the arm. “Come on, Poppy.”
The two walked away and Firo and Rune stood behind me like the coach and support team of a pro boxer about to fight for the championship.
“He has a weak knee,” Firo whispered through tight lips.
“What?” I gasped softly.
“His left knee,” Firo clarified. “He’s favoring it just a tiny bit. Use it if you must.”
“There are no rules against it.” Rune smirked.
A quick study of the gorgon’s pacing identified the tiny bit of favor he gave to his left leg, and I spotted a long scar on the outer edge of his knee.
“Right.” I gritted my teeth.
“May the Goddess be with you,” Rune mumbled.
Then the dragon-man and the fae fell back, and Alexander grimaced with delight as he took two steps toward me.
“May the Goddess bless this day,” Lord Oba said in conclusion to his announcements, and he scurried out of the middle of the dirt oval. “The fighters may begin!”
“Holy hell,” I muttered.
Chapter 16
The next two seconds passed all in a single flash of chaotic movement.
The crowd erupted into explosive levels of cheers and applause as they bolted to their feet on every side of the stadium.
The rush of my heartbeat suddenly faded from my ears as adrenaline dumped into my system, and everything moved into slow-motion. I clenched my shield in one hand, and I raised my sword with the other as the gorgon dug his heels into the dirt.
“Kaloúpi!” Alexander roared at the top of his lungs.
He bolted right at me with his sword raised, and I prepared to block the strike with my shield. I kept my eyes focused solely on the movement of his legs, and I spotted the exact second he started to crouch.
The gorgon’s movements were practiced and skillful as he skidded across the dirt with the momentum of his dash. He tried to slice his sword through the air right where my knees had been, but I pivoted out of the way just in time.
Alexander launched himself back to his feet, and he struck at me with his sword in a series of blindingly fast attacks. I blocked the first two with the circular shield, and the clanging of steel on bronze rang out through the stadium.
The gorgon’s white-and-red snakes hissed and lunged at me, but their reach was short. They weren’t a real threat, so I ignored them, and I focused instead on Alexander’s feet and sword hand.
He was fast, and I raced back through the hundreds of pages I’d read about the various species of the Eternal Realm. I couldn’t remember gorgons being among the species with super speed, so I could only assume Alexander was an exceptional fighter.
“You worthless cunt,” Alexander hissed through his teeth, and his snakes hissed with him. “You human sack of shit! You think you can even stand a chance against the likes of me?”
I ignored his words as best I could, but anger bubbled deep in my gut. The blazing-hot rage started to rise in me, and I directed it to my muscles. The rage fueled my movements, and I blocked the gorgon’s strike.
But I knew I couldn’t defend myself forever, and I knew it wouldn’t end this contest.
The rules required me to kill him.
Or he’d kill me.
“Fuck no,” I growled under my breath.
I allowed my body to go into a mode of muscle memory, and I knew I’d have to give Firo a big bonus for all his hard training. My arms and legs blocked and evaded as I reached out to try and connect with Alexander’s mind.
“You pathetic skatá,” the gorgon growled.
I knew he was trying to bait me as his insults grew colorful and creative, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. There was no fucking way in hell I was going to make the mistake of looking at his face.
“You’re lower than the vermin on a centaur’s asshole!” Alexander spat.
Alexander swung his sword hand in a blinding strike that curved at the last second, and I ducked my head behind my shield. The blow slammed hard into the bronze edge just above my head, and the metal plate split like a banana peel.
I didn’t know if he’d been holding back, or if I was getting tired, but I needed to do something besides defend myself.
“Why won’t you just lay down and die?” Alexander roared at me. “Like the beast that you are.”
I gritted my teeth as the gorgon’s voice became frustrated on top of his rage, and I knew he’d thought I’d be easy to kill. He attacked with a renewed vigor, and I managed to get a strike in between two blocks. I felt the resistance as my blade connected with flesh, and I heard the sharp hiss of Alexander’s breath.
“Gamóto!” the gorgon growled.
I risked a slow glance above Alexander’s hips, and I caught sight of dark red blood trickling down his fingers from the edge of my vision. It wasn’t his sword hand, though, so it didn’t help me a whole lot, but I smirked at the knowledge that he was probably regretting not using his shield.
Cocky bastard.
Alexander didn’t hesitate for long, and in a second he was on the attack once more. I leaned into a bit of autopilot defense as I refocused my mind on the swirling black cloud of the gorgon’s angry mind.
It was easy to connect with, and I pushed myself through the dark and foggy essence of his mind to the solid churning mass of red deeper in. I tried to urge the churning red into myself like I’d done with Poppy and Rune’s abilities, but the gorgon’s mind was as obstinate as he was.
The inner part of Alexander’s mind was in constant motion, but it was solid and firm like a mountain. I continued to block, evade, and attempt a few strikes with my body as my mind struggled to open the churning mass to my use.
The roar of the crowd was weirdly muffled behind everything else I was focused on, but I could hear they were becoming impatient with the lack of bodily harm.
I was so focused on trying to coax the red mass of Alexander’s mind to mold under my will that I almost missed a sweeping arc of his sword. The blade glinted in the sunlight, and it caught my attention just in time.
“Fuck!” I grunted with the exertion of rotating the bronze-plated shield around to protect myself.
The safety of my head and the vital organs in my chest consumed so much of my mind that I almost fell off-balance. My left leg landed wide, and Alexander used the misstep to his advantage.
The gorgon redirected the angle of his sword’s follow-through at the last possible moment, and it was just enough to cut a shallow slice along the length of my left thigh right above my knee.
“Aaaahh!” I screamed as the blazing pain seared through my leg like a red-hot poker.
The agony of cut flesh flared behind my eyes in a blinding wave of white, and I sucked in a harsh breath through clenched teeth. I risked a quick glance at my leg, and I was relieved to see the wound wasn’t especially deep, but it still burned like hell as I limped a few steps away, and I knew I needed to finish this quickly.
Otherwise I risked a dangerous level of weakness from blood loss. Thankfully it didn’t feel deep enough to completely incapacitate my knee.
I planted myself, prepared to block the gorgon’s next attacks, and threw all of my mental energy into pulling the churning red mass of his mind to my will.
The solid mass finally gave way, and it was like a floodgate of sand had broken loose into my mind. The weight of the sand-like essence poured around my brain, and I felt the tension around the edges of my eyelids.
My eyeballs felt like they were swelling with the surge of power, and I knew I could blast it right out. Now came the tricky part, though, of having to look into Alexander’s eyes and turn him to stone before he could turn me. I held the sand-like strength in my eyes so it would be ready the instant I needed it, and then I shifted my feet along the dirt.
Searing pain shot through my left leg with every movement I made, and I was careful to keep my right leg steady so I wouldn’t lose my balance. I let my eyes creep up the length of Alexander’s body until my eyes were locked on his collarbone.
“Getting ballsy!” Alexander growled in an overly cocky tone.
Then, at the exact same instant that he squatted down to put my eyes directly in his line of sight, I looked up to where his face had been, and I blasted out the energy from my eyes.
An unlucky bird who’d gotten too close to the fight let out a sharp and short screech as its body turned into stone.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath as I saw the effects of my strike wasted on a bird.
“Gamiméno skatá!” Alexander gasped, and he hurled himself as far to the side as he could manage.
The gorgon tumbled head over heels until he reached his unused shield, and he immediately hid his entire head behind it.
“Who did that?” Alexander screamed with outrage. “I demand a mistrial! No one is allowed to interfere! This is just like the chariot race! Someone has interfered to protect this filthy human! Disqualified! This trial by combat is forfeit!”
I smirked as I realized this guy didn’t know I’d been the one to throw up the shield between us during the race, and a smug satisfaction rippled through me.
He’d thoroughly underestimated who he was dealing with.
“No one interfered then, and no one is interfering now, Alexander,” I growled with renewed confidence. “That was all me.”
“Lies!” the gorgon hissed. “You are a lowly human! A gorgon has interfered and attacked me in this most honored tradition!”
“Oh, I promise you,” I assured the bronzed side of his shield. “It was me. I might be mostly human, but that doesn’t stop the magic of my ancestors from coming through.”
“Mistrial!” Alexander shouted again, and his tone had turned desperate.
The crowd was shocked by my use of magic, but no one interfered.
“Mistrial!” Alexander screamed again, and his voice cracked with horror.
“There will be no mistrial,” Lord Oba announced. “No rules have been broken.”
The gorgon spluttered and stumbled over a string of nonsensical syllables, but no coherent words escaped his lips.
Not in English, at least.
I wondered what would happen if he refused to fight me. The rule was clear, one of us had to die to end the battle, but I didn’t like the idea of killing the gorgon as he cowered behind his shield.
No, I wanted a good clean win.
“Will you give up your honor now?” I taunted. “Or will you stand and fight me?”
“Mistrial,” Alexander protested, but his voice had lost most of its vigor. “Someone has interfered. Humans don’t have magic!”
“Ever heard of dormant genes?” I scoffed. “No, I guess not. You’d have to have some kind of intelligence for that.”
It felt strange to mock someone so completely, but I had a feeling digging at his pride would get Alexander to get back up and fight me.
A moment later, the gorgon proved me right, and he slowly stood back up. This time he took his shield with him, and I prepared to have to make him drop it in order to finish this.
I reached out to find the bouncing golden light of Rune’s mind, and I was grateful to find my advisor had taken my instructions to heart. The golden light flooded around my body in an instant, and I urged it down the length of my sword arm. The energy buzzed in my arm like static electricity as I shifted into a better position, and then I envisioned my arm stretching out and around the gorgon’s shield. My forearm grew to a bizarre length, and I swung my sword down to slice into the meat of Alexander’s bicep.
