Daniel moved away at the last second and brought his fist underneath the armpit of Devlin. He must have struck a rib, because Devlin had now pushed back from the attack and was breathing with gasps. I could see that he was having trouble getting oxygen into his lungs. Daniel didn’t stop there and even though he was a little off balance, he still struck fast and hard. He went after that same spot and when that crack was heard, everybody made a collective gasp at the same time. He pummeled that side of the ribs, until Devlin’s legs buckled out from underneath him. He was now on his knees.
In this position Devlin tried a dirty tactic. He brought his hand up quickly towards Daniels crotch, only to have Daniel grab his wrist and twist it in such a way that it broke like it was made of glass.
“AHHHHHHHHH.” I knew that he was in considerable pain. Devlin’s eyes were now fluttering with a need that superseded his body’s desire to fall into a blissful sleep. He forced himself to stay awake and Daniel grabbed his hair and pulled him up, so that they were now looking at each other.
Daniel lost his balance a couple of times, but he still held true. He aimed his fist at Devlin’s nose. He came in and everybody was on their feet, until out of the blue, Devlin moved his hand up and around to deflect the attack. It hit his shoulder and twisted him around. The force of the impact was most likely going to leave a very nasty bruise in the morning. It was his last ditch effort. He rolled onto his back and looked up at the crowd.
Daniel was about to finish him off, but then the clock began to tick. This stopped him from making any kind of advance.
At the 4 minute mark, everybody was almost half expecting Devlin to make another comeback. He had his eyes closed, but he did try to rise up on his elbows. The pain was too severe to do anything, besides blink his eyes.
“I ALWAYS WIN…don’t you ever forget that.” I could tell that Daniel was having a hard time. He was angry and he wanted to kill him. When the clock began to tick, he had to back down or face expulsion. According to the rules, once the clock began, the person had that 5 minute reprieve.
The 5 minute mark struck and Daniel was the victor. He did not raise his hand, but he did smile, even though he was most likely feeling the effect of that blow to his ear.
“I told you that he rarely gives up. I will admit that’s the first time that I’ve seen him a little off his mark. I guess he wasn’t expecting that shot to his ear. Remind me to remember how Devlin did that. I think that you should do the same thing, Shana.” Daniel had barely made it out of the battle zone, when he collapsed and had to be taken to the medicine man by two of the guardsmen. He would survive, but he was going to need some medical assistance. I’d no idea what kind of medicines they had here. What came to mind was leech’s that would be placed on the wound to draw out the infection.
“Your brother took a bit of abuse. That smile on your face tells that you’re not going to lose sleep over it. Braden, you really should try to mend fences with your family. He may be only your half brother, but there has to be something to say for being blood.” I wanted him to be happy and if at some Point I wasn’t around, then I wanted him to turn to people that would at least understand him. I wasn’t sure if Daniel was the right fit for something like that. He didn’t seem to be all that compassionate to other people’s plights. He really didn’t look like he gave a damn about anybody, but himself and maybe his father.
“I have thought about trying to talk to them, but I just don’t think that they are the family for me. They don’t care about anything. Daniel is the worst of them. He was constantly bullying me and making me feel like I was weak. It was the reason why I left home. I didn’t want anything to do with them. My mother got together with a red warrior. He taught me everything that I needed to know about being a good man. My mother was the one that taught me how to fight, but I think I already told you that.”
It was time to move on to Braden vs. Xavier. This guy didn’t show any kind of emotion and he stayed there with his hands to his side waiting for his opponent to step in and take their best shot. Braden was quite proficient and I had to give him all the credit for learning how to defend himself. He was going to need everything he could find to fight this battle to the end.
Chapter six
“Braden, just between you and me, I really don’t like the look in his eyes. He looks like he has something up his sleeve. If I were you, I wouldn’t take this guy lightly.” Braden was preparing with a little shadowboxing to get him ready for the battle ahead. “He’s not even showing any signs of nervousness. That itself makes me a little suspicious about why he might be, so confident.”
Braden took off his shirt and began to do some stretches just to limber up his muscles. I’d shown him a few different ways to do that from my own world. He was moving his arm across his chest and then doing the exact same thing to the other one. He moved his knee with two hands cupping it up to his chest.
“Shana, the reason why he’s so confident is because he thinks he knows me. He might’ve last year, but this year is a different story. I think that he has become complacent in his own abilities. He hasn’t even begun to assume that I was training diligently all this year. He has no idea that I’ve searched for other techniques that I can use. Let’s say for argument’s sake that he does know that I’ve been researching other techniques. He certainly wouldn’t know the ones that you showed me. That one move should help me defeat him soundly and with conviction.”
“As your Lord, I am now asking for the next two competitors to enter into the arena. Stand at your ready. When I give the signal, you are both going to come out fighting. May the best warrior stay true.” I knew that Lord Vadam would not want Braden to win. I also knew that he probably was counting on the fact that Nicholas could beat me in a fair fight.
The signal was made and I had to wait and watch as Braden hopefully became one of the three left standing. If we could become two of the three, then we would be in the perfect position to give the Red castle a fighting chance at power. To me, it was not as important as the competition. To prove to these people that a woman could stand alongside a man would be worth a lot more than the Red castle getting its hooks into the Black castle. It kind of made me a little bit happy that we would usurp Lord Vadam and bring him down a peg.
“Braden, you are looking well today. I’ve heard of everything that you put yourself through this past year to get ready for this moment. To be honest, I really didn’t think that I would have to dispose of you. I guess it’s all a matter of the odds. I could’ve easily gone against your girlfriend or even Nicholas. If I had my choice, you would be the one that I would want to go against.”
“Let me guess, because you don’t think that I’m not much competition. Just, because you and I tangled last year and things didn’t go exactly well for me, doesn’t mean that there’s going to be a repeat performance.” This was all part of the game. Getting inside an opponent’s head was psychological warfare. They probably didn’t have a name for it here, but essentially they were trying to make the other one make a mistake.
“I’m not saying that you’re not competition, Braden. I’m just saying that you’re not competition for me.” They circled one another, gauging each other’s responses and seeing who was going to strike first. I didn’t like the way Xavier was smiling. It really did put people at an uneasy disadvantage. I just hoped that Braden wasn’t getting caught up in his mind games. If he did, he would feel overwhelmed and would do something that he would most likely regret later.
“I think that you should stop talking. There is something to say for being overconfident, Xavier.” I saw a blur of motion and Xavier was practically in the air with both feet over his head. He stepped forward and caught Braden underneath the chin. It was only a glancing blow, but I think he was just proving a point.
“I’ve been training all of my life. It’s not just for becoming one of the guardsmen. Last year, I came this close to finding that coveted spot. I will not be denied again. This is m
y destiny and whether you like it or not, you’re just an obstacle in my way.” Xavier had these huge hands and his reach was about 3 inches more than what Braden had.
Braden brushed his hand across the spot where Xavier had hit him with his foot. Xavier had done it with such grace and style that it was almost like it was second nature. That was a very difficult move to perform and yet he had done it like it was child’s play.
“That was just my way of announcing my intention. The next few shots are going to be quick and very painful. I know parts on the body that will make you scream, either out loud or inside your head. I’ll see it in your eyes and I’ll know that victory is at hand.” He did not have a normal stance. He basically stood there with his hands clasped in front of him with his head bowed and his eyes forward to look at Braden with a fixed stare.
Braden came in with five shots, including an elbow that briefly ruffled Xavier’s hair. Xavier had no wasted motion. He drove his fist into Braden’s stomach, but didn’t stop there. He continued to press forward, while putting his hand on the back of Braden to get more leverage. He followed that up with a right cross and then two knife edges to his throat. That attack made Braden stumble back and almost fall onto his ass. This guy was deadly and the worst part of it all was that he knew it.
“That was pretty…good. Let’s see what you can do it against…this.” Braden came after him with strike after strike and knee after knee. Xavier was smiling during the whole thing. He deflected each and every one of them. He struck Braden underneath the elbow and I could see the discoloration of his skin and the way that he was constantly rubbing that spot. It was causing him a lot of discomfort.
“It’s funny, Braden. You’ve given me your best shots and I haven’t even begun to show you what I can do.” I think it was about time that Braden tried that move, but maybe he was waiting patiently for that right moment. He couldn’t rush these things and if he did, he would throw his cards out there, before he was ready to.
Xavier moved like he was made of smoke, almost in slow motion, but it was only with a speed that seemed that way. He hit Braden on the jaw and face, while bringing his knees up to strike against his ribs.
He backed away, but Braden was feeling it. I could see the blood trickling from his mouth and one of his eyes had now closed over. It had this black and blue color that made him look like he had gone a few rounds with Mohammed Ali.
“If you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t look too good. It might be time to concede defeat. I would hate to have to kill you, but I will if I have to. I just finished telling you that this is my destiny and not…” He did not get a chance to say anything else. Braden had attacked and made a move that I wasn’t expecting. He leaped with both feet and even though Xavier moved, he did not go far enough.
He got struck on the shoulder and you could see from the way that his arm was hanging that his shoulder was dislocated. He grimaced slightly, but he narrowed his eyes and decided to improvise with the one arm that he did have.
“I told you that you should have shut up.” Braden looked a little too conceited. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to lose the edge that he had just gotten. “You really should know your opponent better than that. Those first couple of years was the perfect training tool to become better than I was. I don’t just use regular moves, I become unpredictable, so that not even you will know what’s coming.” He slapped Xavier across the face. It was not meant to do any harm, but it did throw Xavier off his game or so it seemed.
“Well, it appears that you have been honing your skills. It’s just too bad it’s not gonna make a damn bit of difference.” You would’ve thought with the damage that had been inflicted by Braden that Xavier would’ve been feeling like doing something reckless and careless. I would’ve thought that he would have attacked with anger in his heart, but he didn’t do that.
He once again showed his agility and even with the dislocated shoulder, he stood on one hand and used his feet, as his weapon of choice. It surprised Braden enough that he wasn’t expecting the move to come. He was slammed in the face twice and made to back away before he could do any more damage. His nose was bleeding and that one eye that had been given a shiner was now bleeding underneath the lid.
Braden kicked out in a sweeping motion down on the ground to go against Xavier’s vulnerable wrist. I heard the cracking of the bone and for the first time there was an anguished cry. Xavier crumpled with his head making contact with the ground. It compacted his spine and he would be lucky if he could walk after something like that.
Xavier struggled to his feet, but Braden was on him and then he was Airborne. He could only see through one eye, but it was more than enough for what he wanted to do. He was able to mimic the same move that I had done on him. He had his ankles locked behind Xavier's ears, as he attempted to use his weight and momentum to throw him over top of him. Unfortunately, Xavier grabbed onto his ankles, held him in the air and then planted him into the ground with such force that it actually blew the wind out of Braden.
Since he was on the ground and not moving the clock began ticking. It was a very tense moment, but after the 2 minute mark, he finally stood back on his feet. Xavier had not recovered sufficient enough to amount any sort of attack. He was still nursing his wrist. He was essentially only able to use his feet, because both of his arms were practically out of commission. He showed that that wasn’t going to deter him, as he began to kick straight out over and over again.
He did it for shock value and hopefully to catch Braden off guard. Braden for his part saw it coming and at first, I thought that he was going to be too stunned to do anything about it.
“Not so fast, Xavier.” Braden put both hands up underneath the one leg that was in the air. He pushed up into the air, taking Xavier off his feet. He landed with a terrible thud that everybody could hear. There wasn’t one person that wasn’t standing and taking in this spectacle.
Braden jumped on him and leveled blow after blow against his face and then concentrated his efforts on his stomach. Xavier did his best to try to defend himself, but it became almost painful to watch. Braden had this one track mind to put Xavier out of the competition. He could’ve stopped pummeling him at any time, but he continued, until he was reasonably sure that he wasn’t going to get back up.
If I thought that Braden looked bad after what Xavier had done to him, then it really didn’t compare. Xavier looked like a piece of meat that had been tenderized. His face was pretty bloody and a couple of his teeth had come loose from his mouth and was now sticking in the knuckle of Braden.
“That’s for last year.” Xavier tried to get up, but he was using his bad wrist. When he realized that wasn’t going to work, he tried his dislocated shoulder, but that was a no go. The clock was ticking and it was already up to the 3 minute mark, before he tried to use his feet to get back up. Unfortunately, he was too big and he needed his upper body to succeed at that task. “Never underestimate your opponent. That’s the one thing that you taught me and probably didn’t even mean to, Xavier.”
5 minutes went by and Xavier was carried out of there, but still alive. He most likely would feel humiliated and his ego would’ve been crushed, but the least he was still breathing.
“I think with that we will take a 20 minute recess. That should give you plenty of time to get ready for your next opponent.” He was directing his comments towards me and I felt like he was mocking me in some way. “You’re going to need everything that you can to go on to the next round.” He was purposely not mentioning Nicholas’s name. I didn’t know quite what to make of that, although his sinister stare made me think that I was biting off more than I could chew.
Braden walked over to me looking like he had just gone through the wringer, but he was smiling. “Shana, if I can do it, then you can. Trust in your instincts and in your training. I’ve seen you do some amazing things. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that you’ll be able to take Nicholas out. Nicholas is quick and
he doesn’t lose focus. That doesn’t mean that he can’t be beat. There’s a reason why he stands here and not as part of the guardsmen. I was the one that took him out last year. He might think that it’s going to be easier with you, as his opponent. He doesn’t know what he’s up against.” Speaking of Nicholas, he was making his way over here.
“I just want to tell you that that was some amazing foot work. You surprised a lot of people, not to mention Lord Vadam himself. You may have not noticed it, but he was on his feet the entire time that you and Xavier were going toe to toe. This year is definitely different from other years. We not only know each other better, but we also have the threat of the attacks that have currently happened in Markham.”
“I appreciate what you’re saying, Nicholas. I just don’t think that it’s appropriate, considering that you’re going up against Shana in a few minutes. If you have something to say to her, then now is the time to do it. Once you’re out there, then all bets are off.” I could tell that Nicholas wanted to say something, but I had a funny feeling that it had nothing to do with the tournament.
“Shana, I want to thank you for showing me that new technique.” He was not talking about any kind of fight technique. He was talking about what I had done to him that Braden was always smiling about. “I plan to utilize that technique right after I become one of the guardsmen. I do like you, but do not mistake that for weakness. I will not let that call into play when I’m out there against you. Be ready, because like Braden, I’ve also been researching other techniques for the Garrock.” This was good to know and for him to tell me that only made me feel like he thought that he could beat me.
Alien Romance: The Alien's Bliss: A Sci-fi Alien Warrior Invasion Abduction Romance Page 61