Chapter 2
Yet again, Elle appeared somewhere in the blink of an eye. She was standing after Hermes grabbed her arm and disappeared using the strange method of travel that caused Elle to feel slightly nauseous as they came to a stop. She frowned as she looked around to find they were back in the large stadium. This time, there was a major difference between when the wives were here versus now. When it was wife training, barely anyone was watching, minus a few spectators and the husbands and fiancés of the women.
Today, the arena was tightly packed in every seat. Thousands of individuals were waiting in the stands. Men, women, and children. Some looked as human as Elle, others with tinted skin ranging the colors of the rainbow. Some people had wings, horse-like bodies, or hideous monstrous faces.
Everyone, however, had the same electricity. Every person was excitedly chanting or talking, making a very large noise echo throughout the massive stadium. A vast majority of people even had different-colored skin that looked to be either mint green or pure violet. They were merfolk or deities as Elle had come to find. She remembered a time her father brought her to a football game at Soldier Field when they lived in Illinois. The roaring noise of the stadium today reminded her of the crowd at that game. The people were loud and boisterous and clearly looking for a good time. A lot of people surrounding the arena in the stone bleachers were dressed in Greek robes and tunics, while a lot of other individuals wore simple clothing you would find any regular person wearing.
Elle felt Hermes’ warm hand on her forearm. “Sorry, teleporting is a lot quicker than anything else. Do you know how long it would take to travel from the North Pole to the isles of Greece without it?” he asked, shaking his head.
Elle unintentionally ignored him as she took in the massive amount of people overlooking the arena. Music boomed from speakers set up under what looked like a massive scoreboard. Considering how amped up the crowd looked, Elle guessed they were all ready for something amazing to happen. What that was, she didn’t know.
“What’s going on?”
“Fight night,” Hermes answered, his eyes glittering with excitement. He happily dragged her by the arm to some unknown destination. Elle used her free hand to pick up her flowing cream gown as not to trip over it. That was when she noticed everyone in the crowd was looking at an enormous scoreboard blazing brightly on the far side of the arena, showing everyone the people participating in the fight along with their titles.
Ajax - God of Sea Animals
Apollo – God of Light
Ares – God of War
Calais – God of Winter Strength
Hephaestus – God of Fire and Forge
Hercules – God of Strength
Jack Frost – God of Winter – Heir to Winter’s Throne
Triton – Sea-Messenger God – Heir to the Sea Throne
Vulcan – God of Volcanoes
Zetes – God of Cunning Winter
There were names of others who did not appear to be gods. They were simply demigods who were gifted immortality. There were at least eight of those names, but Elle was too preoccupied watching the names of the gods on the board to pay attention to the immortal demigods. She was surprised to hear people in the stadium seemed to be placing betting odds against each contender along with who possessed the best odds of winning. “People bet against them?” said Elle as she overheard a woman bet that Hercules would get knocked out in the fourth round.
Hermes had led her up a staircase to a very large bench in a top notch observation deck that had full view of the arena. Elle found there was already a large snack table nearby, to which Hermes happily helped himself by making a large tray of food. After a few minutes, the God returned to sit beside Elle. He was armed with a very big lap-sized tray filled with three large turkey legs, three ears of corn, two double cheeseburgers, three ginormous burrito-type objects, four brownies, and three enormous red apples. Hermes held in his other hand a very large goblet that Elle could swear was full of a pumpkin-smelling liquid. She stared incredulously at the meal, certain that even sharing, the two of them would never be able to finish the monster-sized food on the tray. Everything was much bigger than any ordinary food the real world provided. Hermes spared Elle a semi-guilty glance as he caught her staring. “My bad, I should’ve asked if you wanted anything while up there.” He smiled apologetically. “I’ll grab your food when I go up for seconds!”
“Er…no, no thanks, anyway.”
“Suit yourself,” Hermes replied happily, digging into a meal that even the heaviest of football players in the NFL could not possibly finish. Where the tall and scrawny god was putting it, Elle didn’t know. She glanced at the names of Zetes and Calais. “Jack’s brothers…why are their titles like that?”
“That’s just a nice name they give the idiots because they don’t possess any winter abilities,” Hermes yawned. “Besides being blunt individuals who are talented in strength and fighting, they don’t hold any power compared to their little brother.”
“LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND MERFOLK,” Zeus’s voice boomed with powerful authority. He sat in a tall golden throne surrounded by a few other thrones, who Elle was certain held other powerful members of the godly community. She could make out Hera, Poseidon, Oritya, Boreas, and a few others. Even though he was the one speaking, Zeus spoke loudly while seated on his throne. His voice echoed throughout the entire arena without even needing a microphone. “WELCOME TO ANOTHER WEEKEND OF FIGHT NIGHT. THIS NIGHT WILL BRING A MARVELOUS BATTLE BETWEEN SOME OF OUR FINEST WARRIORS. PLEASE BE SURE TO PLACE YOUR DRACHMAS ON YOUR FAVORITE THIS FINE LATE AFTERNOON FOR A CHANCE AT WINNING.”
“I don’t get it. How do you win? Isn’t this just a training session?” said Elle as Hermes shoveled in another large bite of turkey leg. Zeus’s voice continued to boom throughout the stadium, causing Elle’s ears to hurt.
“REMEMBER, WARRIORS, EVERYTHING GOES. ALL POWERS AND ABILITIES ARE WELCOME, ALONG WITH DECAPITATION—”
“What?” Elle yelped at Hermes. Luckily, it was so amazingly loud in the arena no one could hear her shout. She couldn’t have heard the King of the gods accurately. There was no way possible Zeus could have said decapitation.
Hermes swallowed another large bite of food before grinning at her. “You’re in for a real treat, Elle. This is some of the best fighting you’ll see amongst minor and full gods. This particular group is even more violent than the Egyptians, and they pull eyeballs out!” Hermes explained excitedly. His demeanor was that of a typical teenage boy. He was excited for something that Elle deemed entirely inappropriate. She couldn’t help but gape at him, sickened that he was in such happy spirits regarding something so violent.
“But won’t people get hurt?”
Hermes laughed. “Of course! People even die in horribly gruesome ways.” He nodded seriously, ripping another chunk of turkey flesh from the leg in his hand. He chewed vigorously as he watched the arena with heavy excitement.
Elle’s face paled as she stood from the bench to stare down at the large arena below. The people participating in the battle were all decked out in some sort of armored attire. Most of the gods wore armor that shined bright gold. Others, like Triton and Ajax, wore silver and mint-green armor that was decorated to resemble the sea. Zetes and Calais wore winter-themed armor of silver and white, specifically designed to show off they came from Winter’s Kingdom. Vulcan, who happened to be a son named after Hephaestus, was dressed in blood red armor to resemble a volcano. Apollo, Ares, Hercules, and Hephaestus were decked out in near-identical golden armor. The only differences between their armors were that their helmets were designed with different spikes, horns, or metal to express individuality.
The very last person Elle noticed was a young man dressed in black jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a nicely fitted smoke-blue jacket. Brown hiking boots covered his feet. Elle barely recognized Jack Frost given how utterly normal he was dressed. Gone was his standard uniform. The immortal could now pass as a human man out in reality with ease
. How Elle could see it was actually Jack Frost was his messy frosted-white hair. Even though Jack was dressed in utterly normal attire, he still possessed the presence of someone who held overwhelming cockiness along with zero fear. Jack looked the most confident out of every individual in the arena, and even a little smug.
Elle’s eyes raked over all the other contenders in the arena, specifically noting Jack was the only one not dressed in armor. He didn’t wield a sword, ax, dagger, spear, or bow like the rest. He was unarmed.
“He’s going to get creamed,” said Elle, watching Jack with an incredulous expression. Fear suddenly grabbed a hold of her as she looked toward Apollo down in the arena. He held a bow with a quiver full of golden arrows attached to his back. Apollo caught Elle’s stare. He gently waved in her direction. Elle waved back, feeling terrified for him and yet slightly hopeful that he had really good odds compared to a good majority of people on the board. Perhaps he wouldn’t get too hurt. He was a god, after all.
To Elle’s vast surprise, Jack Frost was the leader of the board with an outstanding score that predicted him as the victor of the fight. She didn’t see how that was possible given he was the least prepared for battle.
“Are you kidding?” Hermes laughed at Elle, biting onto his corn cob. “Frost is a natural. Don’t let the casual look throw you off. The guy likes putting on a show. Newbies don’t expect anything out of him given his appearance. They always wind up surprised by his skill level.”
Elle watched Jack carefully, mentally noting how he looked the most at ease out of all of the fighters.
“It’s always fun when people fight to the death!” Hermes exclaimed with glee.
“Yeah, I can’t imagine a time when decapitation isn’t fun,” said Elle sarcastically.
Hermes did not notice her bitter humor. “I know, right?”
“Evangeline…” a familiar voice whispered nearby.
Elle jumped as Jack’s familiar melodic voice played gently in her ear. Standing up, Elle held onto the railing overlooking the arena. She balanced herself against it as she glanced around. She couldn’t find Jack anywhere. There was no one else beside her and the happily eating Hermes on the large balcony. Returning her gaze to the arena, Elle found Jack was watching her intently from where he stood almost a half mile away, but Elle could easily see it was her alone that Jack was watching.
Elle couldn’t understand how she could hear him given their distance. He spared her a cat-like grin as he brought a pale hand to cover his mouth. “Are you here to cheer me on, Letter?” said Jack, his voice whispering into Elle’s ear.
“What’s the matter, lovely? Do you miss me already?”
Elle was certain a stormy gaze was now on her face as Jack’s musical chuckle sounded in her ear. He could see her perfectly as though he were right in front of her. “Will a smile cross your pretty little face if I promise to kill the other man in your life fairly quickly? I won’t drag it out. We’ve discovered you and I have better chemistry anyway, am I right?”
Mortified fear crossed Elle’s face as Jack cackled softly. She then saw the way his head nodded in Apollo’s direction. Jack then used a long, pale finger of his own to run across his pale neck. He was silently motioning the kill sign from where he was standing.
Elle automatically knew who he was referring to with this silent message. It was watching Jack’s body morph into a full-fledged ice sculpture that caused Elle to cringe in horror. He planned on harming Apollo just to hurt her.
“LET THE GAMES BEGIN!” Zeus’s voice boomed.
Chapter 3
Elle hadn’t known what to expect when the fight began. She was thinking something similar to the training session she had with the wives was about to take place. The only exception was that this version would involve killing.
But Elle was wrong. This fight wasn’t anything like her session with the women. These contenders were far more powerful than their female counterparts, and they weren’t above ripping someone to pieces to express their talents. Blood was quickly drawn as people zoomed around the arena. The testosterone was thick as everyone started really getting into the battle.
“He’s g-going to kill him!” Elle whimpered, covering her mouth with both hands. She wasn’t an idiot. Jack masquerading as Apollo meant he knew perfectly well that Elle had feelings for the god. Jack’s threat to harm Apollo was a specific move designed to hurt Elle exclusively. Elle’s brown eyes welled with tears as she saw a sword whip through the air by Ares. An arm from one of the random immortal demigods flung through the air before landing on the sandy ground in a bloody heap. As someone’s head flew clean off thanks to a mighty ax, Elle thought she would pass out due to the shock. She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.
The crowd cheered with heavy enthusiasm. The fighters in the arena were moving at speeds that blurred everything together, making it near impossible to tell who was who. Hermes randomly wolf-whistled before shooting a fist pump in the air. “Hot damn, did you see that, Elle? The odds are in mah favor tonight!” He grinned stupidly.
“You can see what’s happening?” Elle asked, squinting as she held her breath and prayed for her friend to stay safe. She was amazed by Hermes’ vision. Everyone was running at light speed down below.
Hermes nodded without breaking his concentration. He winced at something he saw down in the arena. “I hate the days that decapitations are allowed,” he muttered crossly. “Ares goes completely overboard backstabbing his own teammates with that move…but I guess it’s their own fault for trusting him.”
“Hermes! Jack told me he’s going to hurt your brother!” Elle said, hopping from foot to foot. “He’s going to kill him!”
Hermes looked up with sudden fear. Genuine worry was behind his hazel eyes. Elle felt relieved that he was finally taking her seriously. That’s when the god shook his head in horror. “Which brother? It’s not one I bet on, right?”
Elle stared at him while Hermes cleared his throat. “See, no one who’s been around for five centuries really bets on Ares. The guy is a little bloodthirsty, but he’s a bit of a coward. He purposely gets killed off in a glorious manner so he doesn’t get killed by someone who would beat him with talent in other rounds,” he explained quickly. “Hephaestus usually dies around the time Triton and Ajax team up, and then they off his namesake son, Vulcan. A lot of the time, Triton then gets killed off by his little brother because he always naïvely believes Ajax won’t kill him. But if Jack wants one of them specifically dead, that just means my whole damn ranking is finite…”
“Why are you talking like they won’t really die when they get killed?” Elle snapped in frustration. She couldn’t understand the goofball attitude he was displaying when this was such a dire situation.
Hermes finally broke his attention away from the arena to stare at Elle with a slack-jawed expression. “Elle! C’mon, do you see any daggers of Delphi anywhere to pierce hearts? No one’s going to genuinely die. Even when they get decapitated, they’ll come back to life! Look at the loser box,” he said, nodding his shaggy blond head toward a certain place.
Elle looked to the direction he was pointing. She found he was right. As Zetes freshly decapitated someone, the body sickly fell to the ground as the dark-skinned head flopped after him. Not long after that, the man killed was suddenly fully reunited with his head and intact. The man sat on a very large stone bench with crossed arms. He looked deeply agitated as he cracked his neck in annoyance. Hercules next ripped both arms off of another random demigod before roughly kicking him to the back. The man obviously died of blood loss before being reunited with his limbs moments later in what seemed to be accurately dubbed by Hermes the loser box.
“I can’t believe this,” Elle muttered, seeing for herself what was happening but not being able to truly believe what was before her eyes. “This is barbaric,” she whispered in horror. Blood and limbs were littering the floor of the sandy arena.
“This is just Fight Night.” Hermes laughed, shaking his h
ead. “That explains why you looked so frightened. You thought they actually die, ha ha!”
“What if Jack kills Apollo?” said Elle worriedly. She didn’t put it past him for a moment that he was capable of such a thing.
Hermes snorted. “I don’t feel sad for my big brother whatsoever. The guy has it coming. Last time I participated, Apollo kicked my decapitated head like a football! Sure, it was seventy-two years ago, but I still hold a grudge.” Hermes soon noticed Elle watching Jack. “You’d be wise to place drachmas on Jack,” said Hermes. “The guy’s a pro. He holds no alliances with anyone, and he nearly never loses. Unless, ya know, he goes up against visiting Egyptians or Chinese Gods or deities. Now those guys fight dirty. I’m talkin’ even dirtier than Athena or Artemis.”
A loud scream of horror sounded as a familiar iced man started to mess around with Calais. Jack Frost just caught his big brother in a trap as the crowd cheered in the stands. Elle watched with disgust as Calais was frozen completely solid from the waist down while Jack formed a very sharp-looking icicle in his hand. After that, Jack quickly shoved the slick-sharp icicle into Calais’ forehead, killing him instantly.
Elle covered her mouth in horror as she grew too afraid to watch. The crowd roared with cheers. Calais slumped to the ground dead before reappearing in the loser box. He didn’t look happy. Blood and body parts littered the sandy floor of the large arena. Instead of looking on in shock or fear, men, women, and children jumped up and down screaming praises along with groans when one of their betting contenders got killed off. They waved flags that held the symbols of the gods they cheered for.
Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set Page 21