Dragons Descended Upon the Wicked (14 page)

Phillip and Thomas got into their fighting stance and prepared for the setar wolves to attack. Moments slowly passed as the red eyed wolves stalked and sized up their prey. Snow fell slowly and the crowd cheered mercilessly. Suddenly, the two wolves simultaneously sprinted at the two men. Within a split second the setar leaped in the air towards them.

Phillip and Thomas used their blades and skill to avoid the attack. Thomas was able to leave a small gash on the leaping wolf. They turned around and the setar wolves were coming right back. Attack after attack, the two men avoided the lunges and deathly bites of the wolves. The third setar wolf was still sitting back and observing. Finally, it joined the attack, going after Thomas. As Thomas avoided one attack, the second wolf was easily able to bite him.

Thomas was bit from three consecutive attacks by the two wolves. They were too fast and he could not defend himself that fast. His attacks were useless as he was too worried about where the next wolf was going to attack him from. Thomas was going in circles trying to defend himself.

A shriek was heard from behind him. Phillip had killed his attacker by thrusting his blade through the setar wolf’s head. The two wolves backed up from Thomas and split up to prepare for an individual attack on the two men. The setar wolves came rushing at them but the two men now easily evaded their attacks while landing strikes from their swords. The weakened and slower setar wolves continued to attack but Thomas finished off his attacker by stabbing it in the chest. Phillip dodged another lunge from his attacker, quickly turned around, and plunged his sword through its neck.

The three setar wolves lay on their sides and turned the white snow into an eerie dark red around them.

The crowd cheered and booed at the small victory the two men achieved. Thomas looked down at his wounds. They were painful but they were not unbearable. Each bite left a six inch wound. Thomas grimaced as he checked himself out but his adrenaline covered much of the pain. A bite had landed on his left thigh, his right biceps, and one clipped his right hip.

“You alright?” asked Phillip.

“I’m good,” said Thomas. “Thanks for getting my back. Let’s keep this up for as long as possible.”

The gate rose once again and a familiar beast walked out from it. A massive detath straight from the depths of hell walked out onto the arena floor. It stood twelve feet in length and was six feet tall. The average detath’s mouth stretched the length of a human arm; this one seemed to be twice as big. The detath took no time to size up its opponents; it began a full sprint at the two men.

Thomas and Phillip dipped and dodged their way out from the oncoming attacks. They consecutively were able to dodge the numerous attacks the massive beast had for them but the two were unable to land any attacks themselves. Thomas would roll one way and Phillip would duck and roll the other way.

The beast was fast, but it was also very large. It took about twenty feet to stop running after its attack. At that point it would turn around, run, and begin its next attack. Phillip observed this attacking form and came up with a plan. The detath ran at the two and they successfully dodged another attack.

“Quickly, get on your hands and knees,” said Phillip. “Stay in its path for as long as you can. I’m going to use you as a platform.”

Thomas got down to the snow covered ground. The detath rounded the corner and began to charge towards the two men. Phillip was ten feet away from where Thomas was kneeling. The ground trembled at Thomas’ hands and knees. Phillip’s timing was impeccable. He ran towards Thomas and then leaped off of his back just as the detath met him in the perfect range. Thomas rolled out of the way as soon as he felt Phillip’s foot leave his back.

Phillip lunged in the air. Both of his arms were stretched behind his head with his sword pointed downward. He was at least ten feet in the air. He used every ounce of strength within him as he descended to drive his sword downwards. The detath looked up; the sword was the last thing it ever saw. It successfully pierced through the center of its skull and immediately killed it. The detath dropped to the ground. Phillip lunged forward and softened his landing with a well timed roll. The detath’s momentum kept it sliding along the arena floor. Its legs twitched as it finally stopped sliding.

The crowd booed once more at the small victory the two men carried out.

The metal gate rose once again. This time twelve warriors equipped with armor and every type of weapon came rushing out of the gate. Thomas and Phillip stood there shirtless with no shields and only one dull weapon.

“Back to back,” said Thomas.

Phillip looked at Thomas, nodded, and then said, “Back to back. Let us show them how true warriors fight.”

As Phillip put his back against Thomas’ the twelve warriors surrounded the two men. They created a circle around them. Six of those men immediately closed in and began attacking the two. They twisted and turned to dodge attacks. They swung and stabbed at their foes. Phillip and Thomas were going mad, showing their speed and precision. Three men swung at them but they were still too quick at first.

They were able to eliminate a couple of foes. They had no problems until the warriors started to take turns at their swings. While they would block one blade another would come in and slash at them. Blood and pain eclipsed both Thomas and Phillip, but they didn’t give up and they surely would not surrender. One by one, they defeated the small army of men and women who dared to attack them. They stuck to their plan of staying back to back and it worked for the most part. They were unable to escape unharmed. They both received gashes from swords and arrows from cowardly archers. The two charged the last men and quickly finished them in one on one combat.

The crowd booed and became infuriated at what they were witnessing. Then they became silent. The two men once again looked up at the balcony as Vicon was preparing to speak.

“That was all fun and entertaining,” said Vicon. “I didn’t expect them to live past the first three rounds, but they were merely tests. We all are here to see them die. This is the last and final round. Enjoy.”

The metal gate rose. Five setar wolves ran out. Four cepiltons came crawling out. Ceplitons were black eight legged monsters with white fangs that could only be found in the darkest corners of Hentrio. They were so tall that their heads nearly reached the gate that stretched over the entire arena. Finally, there were twenty-four more warriors that ran into the heart of the arena.

Phillip and Thomas looked at one another with despair. Their badly injured and tired bodies could hardly take any more. There was no way that they could fight through all of this in the condition that they were in. They limped close to each other.

“Back to back, my friend,” said Phillip.

“I lived a good life,” said Thomas.

“As did I,” said Phillip.

They setar wolves were the first to attack. Thomas and Phillip struggled to dodge the attacks and swing their swords as they had done so easily before. The ceplitons came towards the two men while the wolves took turns biting them. The army of warriors did nothing but surround the beasts and made a large circle around them. They watched as the beasts did their dirty work.

The ground began to tremble. Every warrior looked around at each other in confusion. The setar wolves continued to attack the two men. They had already received numerous bite wounds.

Suddenly, fire rose from the ground and launched high into the sky. The blast from beneath the ground killed ten men who were surrounding Phillip and Thomas. Another blast came from below the ground and eliminated the rest of the men who circled Phillip and Thomas on the other side. The large beasts were terrified of the fire and began to run away from the fiery blasts. The crowd in the arena were perplexed at what they were witnessing. The ground continued to tremble and another blast came right up to where the balcony was. Thomas looked at the balcony. There were no men there. He had to assume that they had already made their escape.

The fire from the depths created a hole in the stands of the arena and caught fire to the surrounding the area where the balcony used to exist. Hundreds of people had to have died in the fiery blast. Two more blasts of fire came from the depths surrounding the already made hole, one on each side of it. The fires raged hundreds of feet into the sky. The crowd in the arena began to scramble and run in fear. People jumped and hurdled over each other, trying to escape. There were only so many small corridors that lead to the outside.

“We have to go to that hole in the arena,” said Phillip. “Someone is trying to help us escape. The fires reached far enough to demolish the whole chunk of arena. If we can find a path then we can walk free into the city.”

Phillip and Thomas limped their way to the three giant holes made by the spewing fire in the stands of the arena. As they arrived at the holes there was a slim path that was created between each hole that they could walk on. There was so much smoke that they could not see the other end of the path. The holes were uniquely separated and spaced out so that they wouldn’t combine to make a single giant hole.

Thomas looked to his right and saw a large piece of stone from the stands fall into what seemed like an endless abyss of the dark hole. The stone fell but he never heard it crash into anything; it just seemed to never stop. Thomas looked back at the path in front of him and continued to limp towards the thick cloud of smoke. Once Thomas and Phillip were deep in the smoke they slowed their pace so that they could safely make it across. They looked down at their feet to make sure that they were indeed still making way on the path instead of taking a step into a deathly plunge into the depths of Hentrio. Finally, they crossed the narrow path and took their first step onto solid ground. It was their first step towards freedom. However, the danger was not over. They gripped their swords even tighter as they prepared for anything.

They stood across a street filled with tight and tiny houses that were connected to one another. They began to run to their left hoping that it would head south towards one of the gates. They were unsure where they were in terms of direction. Not only did the explosions and chaos disorient them, but they also were not native to Genold City. They would normally use the sun as a gauge to what direction to head in but they were also completely unsure of what general time of day it was. Needless to say the sky was also filled with dark clouds and the sun was not to be seen. So they headed left on the hope that their instincts could be correct.

They ran down the streets and were accompanied by hundreds who were also running away from the staggering blasts the arena just went through. This played into their favor once again. They were blending into the massive crowds immediately and felt hopeful about reaching safety. Genold City was a different place from what it used to be, finding safety was as big of a mystery than what had just happened to the arena.

As they ran by a house on their left they noticed two white shirts that were hanging out on a line drying. They grabbed the shirts and threw them on as they continued to run. Now that they were not shirtless anymore they blended into the crowd even more so.

An arrow flew out from nowhere and went through Phillip’s upper chest. Phillip almost flew backwards as the force of the arrow hit him as he was running in full stride. Thomas looked at his friend in shock, then looked forward. There was no one directly in front of them with a bow and arrow. Thomas looked up at a tall ten story building fifty feet in front of them. He saw a Paplon woman standing on the roof wearing green with short blonde hair releasing another arrow from her bow. It whizzed through the air and landed in Phillip’s shoulder.

The woman in green jumped from the top of the roof. Just before she hit the ground her body slowed and was controlled as if time itself was slowing down. A Reza wearing a black hood pointed his arms at the woman. He was using his magic to control her descent.

The snow turned red beneath Phillip. The crowd of people cleared the street in fear. It was just the four of them in what became an eerily silent area in Genold City.

“Let’s run,” said Thomas as he looked at his bloody and battered friend.

Thomas and Phillip turned and ran down an alley between two buildings. The alley went down quite a ways before it turned left. They had just cleared the corner when they heard an arrow land deep into the stone wall. The woman in green and the man in black were closing in on them. The turn in the corridor lead to a dead end. Phillip winced in pain and was having trouble keeping up with the pace Thomas was putting out. They stood at the end of the corridor with three walls; they were trapped. A window that lead into a building stood about ten feet above the ground.

“Quickly; I’m going to bend down and you are going to climb through that window there,” said Phillip.

Phillip got to his hands and knees. Thomas jumped on top of his back and hoisted himself up into the open window. He leaned back out the window and lowered his hand towards Phillip.

“Grab my hand I’ll pull you up,” said Thomas.

“No,” said Phillip. “I am going to buy you some time. You need to run and hide. There is no way out of the city at this time.”

“I won’t let you do this,” said Thomas.

“Don’t let me die in vain,” said Phillip. “Go now!”

Although Thomas was hesitant, he listened to Phillip. He turned around and ran down the hall to what he discovered to be a weapons shop.

Phillip ran back down the corridor from which he came. He heard footsteps approaching the corner. He had his sword in his right hand, his stride was fierce, and his mission was never more clearer. With two arrows sticking out from him, he let out a furious roar. The woman in green turned the corner and let out another arrow. This time it pierced Phillip’s left thigh. Phillip was now in striking distance. He swung his sword multiple times at the Paplon but it was no use. His muscles ached, he was beyond tired, and he was in relentless pain. The woman ducked and dodged at Phillips swings. She hit him on his face with the end of her bow, which sent him flying backwards onto the ground. The man in black stood behind her as she reached behind her head to retrieve another arrow. She placed it on the string and pulled back. Phillip saw the tip of the arrow staring right into his eyes. With his hand still on his sword he quickly flung it at her face. She narrowly escaped the attack but the sword scratched the side of her cheek.