Fantasy of Flight (10 page)

Hale is livid. Crystal gasps as he kicks the unconscious fighter Shard beat moments before.

I sway into the arena when my fight comes around. I smile and wink at the crowds who are screaming my name. I shouldn’t be flattered by how they all know my name, but I am.

The man I’m facing has the look of someone who knows he’s going to lose. He’s lost his mental edge, but I don’t let my guard down. People who have nothing to lose are the most unpredictable. Turns out that’s not the case. It takes mere minutes to put him flat on his back and kick him across the face to knock him out. It’s a low blow, but by the time I reach the bottom of the five steps into the pit, my morality has disappeared. It’s strange to think about how honorable your hits are when you’re here in the pit in the first place. And I could be sure Slay wouldn’t hesitate to fight dirty.

Flurry, Ice, Avalanche and Blizzard make it through, but Flurry gets a bad kick to the head which has me worried about his next fight. He doesn’t seem to be walking entirely straight.

Night must have fallen by the time the third round starts. It’s impossible to tell so far underground. I would have thought the crowd had yelled themselves hoarse by now, but if anything, they’re louder. The drink is most likely to blame for this - and for their increasing state of nakedness.

I get the next draw. “Crap,” I say under my breath. I hand the draw to Shard.

“Crap indeed,” he says. He’s matched with Slay’s brother who I would put in the top ten. Shard’s also in the top ten. If he’d fought him earlier, it would be different. But Butcher has competed in two easy rounds. Actually, most of Hale’s group has ended up with easy fights.

I’m up against one of Tricks’ men, Vice. He’s not as good as Sin, but arrogance or a slip on my part could be all he needs to take the win. There are two other questionable fights for us. Flurry and Avalanche will need to be at their best. I talk over the game plan with everyone during their warm ups and then leave them to finish their stretches. They’re focused and hungering for a win.

Alzona’s a mess.

Her nails are chewed right down. She’s abandoned her ever-present cool demeanor. Crystal does her best to distract the owner, but I suspect she’s having her own trouble with facing Slay after what he did to the woman outside our barracks.

Flurry enters the pit. Is it wrong to be happy when I see his opponent, Jack, is not in the best shape? I decide it’s not and chuckle over the man’s normal name. That is, until he makes his first move. Jack means business. It’s one of the longest bouts yet. The kind of fight which comes down to how much each person wants it.

Jack crashes to the floor after a heel to the jaw. Turns out Flurry wanted it more.

Two fights later, without any warning, Slay grabs a weapon from the wall and kills his opponent. Crowd and competitors alike are stunned at the bloody gore splattered before them. No one dares to boo him. The man he killed wasn’t even in the top five. He shouldn’t have been a problem for Slay. Was there something personal between them? Or was this another message to me? I get my answer when he points his bloody sword my way. I quash down my horror and squeeze Crystal’s hand, making her a silent promise.

Despite their best efforts, Shard and Avalanche are both knocked out by their opponents in the following matches. The fighters who beat them are in better shape after the first rounds, and in Avalanche’s case, the other man is simply better. It takes four men to carry my giant friend out.

It’s a heavy blow for our odds of winning, but after watching Slay murder his opponent before, I decide I’m just glad they’re safe. I hope more than I’ve ever hoped before, that Ice, Flurry and Blizzard don’t come up against him tomorrow. I doubt I’d be able to stand back and watch one of my friends die.

My turn again. The bell rings. Vice dances forward. He’s quick on his feet and stronger than me, like most of the other males here. I watch him move. He’s favoring his right leg slightly. His left must have been injured in a previous fight. I tuck the information away. I bait him until he makes the first move. Normally, I’d exchange a few blows first, but I need to hit hard and fast. The rounds tomorrow are more important than the crowd’s entertainment today. I dodge and kick at his left knee as he makes his move. I don’t need to kick hard enough to break the bone or end his career. A moderate kick is enough to make the leg a liability. I remember how it felt when my leg was broken by my uncle. I’d never do that to anyone. Not even Slay.

The match is over soon after. Vice knows it as well. He limps away and evades a few more hits before I step in front of him and kick my leg straight up underneath his chin - my favorite kick. Out cold. The crowd chants my name once more. I do a couple of flips to keep them happy. Alzona will be proud.

We trudge home, so wearied most of us can’t string two words together.  In a bizarre twist, Avalanche is chattering nonstop after his knockout. I worry about injury to his brain. The first day is over. Four of our fighters are in the top twenty. Our barracks are in third place behind Tricks’, with five fighters, and Hale, who has six. For all of my conviction when encouraging the others, this is the first time I truly believe we can win top barracks.

Everything depends on tomorrow.

The twenty competitors remaining are ranked and the top six are placed evenly throughout the draw. The main priority is to give a good show. This isn’t achieved by accidentally drawing the top two to fight each other. I’ve earned second place. Slay and I have been placed at opposite ends of the draw. Blizzard’s in sixth place. Sin in fourth. Slay’s brother, Butcher, in third place and a man called Thrash from a different compound, in fifth. He’s the only fighter from his barrack in the top twenty.

There is another announcement that the top twenty is now officially the top
eighteen
. Two fighters have dropped out of the tournament under mysterious circumstances. Alzona overhears someone saying their injuries from yesterday were too severe. But there are additional whispers of foul play. I wouldn’t put it past Hale’s group to have taken them out.

I’m almost sick with worry one of the men will be pitted against Slay. Looking at the draw is almost as bad as the first time I took off my veil.

My fear is unfounded. None of them draw the lethal man in the first fight. I’m facing an unknown from Arman’s compound. I haven’t placed him in the top twenty, so either he’s been training hard or he got lucky in one of his fights. He’s short for a Bruma; about Shard’s height. It should work in my favor, but I could count on him having speed.

I’m lucky I’ve worked so hard on my endurance.

The fight lasts for twenty minutes, until I bring him crashing down with a head butt to the nose. I smash his head against the pit to finish him.

Blizzard gets through, beating one of Hale’s men. It gives our group and, judging by the grins, a few other groups, extreme satisfaction. Slay doesn’t kill his opponent in his round either. He must be in a good mood today.

Flurry gets knocked out by Sin. He still wasn’t quite on form after the head knock from yesterday, though Sin would have been a miracle win for him anyway. And when Ice brings Wrath crashing to the floor I’ve never felt prouder. There’s no way he could’ve won without his hard work this month. As the round finishes, we get the rankings. We have three fighters in the top ten. Tricks only has two, now Wrath and two other men I don’t know the names of, are out. Another man, Blight, got lucky in his fight, and Hale has four fighters. The top ten.

Alzona is ecstatic. “Second place so far! That’s a lot better than
last
place,” she says. I can practically see the coins flashing in her eyes. “We’ll expand, get better equipment.”

I tune out as she makes her business plans. We didn’t come here for second place, we came here for first. With our group fight plan and our current ranking, winning is within our grasp. We can do this; we can beat Hale’s barracks!

“We could do it,” Flurry whispers, echoing my thoughts. “After all this time. We could win this thing.”

We have the ranking, but it doesn’t mean today’s fighting is over. There are still five fights to whittle numbers down to the final pair.

The top ten is set out differently. But again, it is beneficial to have ranked high. In second place, I’ll face the man, Blight, in ninth place. And Blizzard will fight Tricks’ second man, Rage, who got lucky in his last fight. Ice, in seventh place will fight Sin. I don’t see how Hale wrangled this draw, but the four competitors from his barracks are facing each other. I would bet my favorite boots the matches will be staged.

They don’t exceed my expectations. Torture gives a couple of halfhearted attempts before he’s knocked out by Butcher. And after I knock out Fury, I watch while Shredder hardly lifts an arm in defense of Slay’s cross. The crowd hates it. They openly boo the brothers, which they’ve never done before. It’s a smart move, though. I’m tired after my fight against Blight, even though it was easier than the previous match. Butcher, who I’ll face next, is fresh after a thirty second, staged round. There are benefits to placing in the top two. Slay and I have one less fight than the others in the top twenty.

The crowd is wilder than I’ve ever seen them as the tension mounts. Sin beats Ice, which we knew was likely. Ice’s job was to wear Sin down so Blizzard is more likely to beat him after eliminating Rage. I know we need numbers in the top five to win, but I can’t help but hope Sin will beat Blizzard. Slay will face the winner of their match and I fear for my friend’s life if he should enter that pit.

Shard laughs as I try to summon a disappointed expression when Sin knocks Blizzard out.

“You still look relieved. Try lowering your eyebrows,” he whispers. I don’t even try to deny it.

I have my work cut out for me with Butcher. He’s ranked third for a reason. I know his weaknesses and he knows mine. He wants to win so he can give Slay the easy victory. And if he can’t win, there’s no doubt the orders are to hurt me as much as possible for the final.

I need to finish this quickly.

The crowd blurs into the background as the bell tolls. I can see their forms jumping up and down. They may even be screaming my name, but I hear nothing except the thudding of my heart in my ears. I only see the small contractions going through Butcher, giving away his movements a second before he makes them. I feel the rhythm of his chest rising and falling, knowing he will take a sharp breath just before striking. Sweat rolls down my face.

He charges and I do the same. Normally I’d dodge him, but he’ll be prepared for this. It’s time for Flurry’s kick.

Butcher punches with his right arm, there’s no weight behind the blow because he expects me to dodge. Instead, I grip his extended forearm with both hands, hardly slowing. Using the momentum from my charge, I swing underneath his arm. I kick off the ground, pushing upward, twisting. My body circles around his arm until it comes to the height of his head. I line up my heel with his jaw.

He’s starting to react when I extend my leg in a rapid kick, all of my weight powering the blow.

Landing on soft toes, I watch as Butcher makes two full circles. He staggers back. He staggers forward. Seriously?

His eyes start to roll back beyond his control. He topples to the side with a resounding boom and stays down.

The bell signals the end of the fight. The cavernous arena is shaking with the force of a Dromeda stampede as the crowd erupts. I’m truly worried the ceiling will cave in. But I keep my expression smooth and circle the pit, interacting with the crowd. I don’t touch them. I just walk past them and try to look menacing. They love it. Frost isn’t scared of anything, not like Olina.

I follow Butcher’s unconscious form as he’s dragged out. I pass Sin, who is preparing for his fight with Slay.

“If I make it through this, will your lips be mine?” he asks in a woeful voice.

I laugh and meet his eyes, hoping he reads my warning there. He lifts one shoulder and smiles wryly before brushing past me to enter the pit. He really didn’t need to brush past. There’s enough space for three people to get through at once.

Alzona rushes to hug me as I approach. Crystal’s next.

“I haven’t won yet,” I mutter into Avalanche’s waist.

“You’ll do it. I know you will,” Flurry says, grabbing me and twirling me around. He’s touching me and doesn’t even go pink.

“Jeez, no pressure, Flurry,” Blizzard says, holding his bleeding head. I lift an eyebrow.

He shakes his head. “It’s not too bad. Sin went easy on both of us,” he says, gesturing to Ice. “Tricks’ guys know they can’t win it themselves now. They want us to outrank Hale’s Barracks nearly as much as we do.”

Tricks’ group still wouldn’t win top barracks, even if they won the group fight. I make a note to thank Sin for not concussing the men too badly. I hear the bell and turn to watch.

Every minute he’s in there, I thank him again in my head. Slay doesn’t dare make a grab for a weapon. Tricks doesn’t own the highest ranking barracks, but he
is
the richest and has just as many fighters as Hale, if not quite as skilled. He could make Hale’s life hell. Also Sin is a crowd favorite. The Outer Rings will bring the roof down if he’s killed. I watch the crowd wondering if they would tear Slay apart.

Then I see something impossible.

Kedrick in the crowd. I shake my head and blink my eyes. I squint into the row of wealthy observers on the second level. No, it’s not Kedrick, but it’s still someone who shouldn’t be here.

Ashawn is in the crowd.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been duped by his likeness to Kedrick. The King’s youngest brother is at an illegal fighting tournament. Jovan can’t possibly know about it. What is Ashawn thinking? If anyone recognizes him it will mean backlash for Jovan and worse, it will make the King furious. Why would he risk it? The mystery clears somewhat as I get a clear line of vision to the person hovering next to him.

Blaine. Out of the Sixth Sector early, I see. I doubt the King is aware of this either. But at least Blaine’s involvement protects Ashawn. Blaine can’t turn Ashawn in without turning himself in. I warn Alzona Blaine’s here and she pulls up the hood of her coat, but doesn’t move. It looks like she’s come to some kind of decision.

Slay wins. And gives Sin a brutal knockout. But leaves him with his life.

“He won’t kill her! Not after seeing her fight Butcher. He wants Frost gone, but not if there’s a risk of him getting slit,” Blizzard says during our walk back to Tricks’.

Shard raises an eyebrow. “Why don’t you just talk as though she isn’t right here?”

Blizzard grins at me.

“I think he’ll try,” Ice calls out. “The girly’s only been up for a few months and she’s just as good as him. He’ll take her out while he can. It’ll be too late by the next time.”

I turn my head to Ice and nod. It’s what I’d do if I were Slay. Then I properly hear what the men are saying. They expect me to stay until the next tournament in a revolution’s time.

They’re saying it like it’s fact.