by Peter Glenn
He gave me a wry grin as he unsheathed his katana and held it in front of him. “In the flesh.”
“Wait!” I cried. “Stop the fight!” I let the tip of my sword fall to the ground. “I can’t fight my own brother. That’s madness!”
I heard several boos from the crowd, but I ignored them. They couldn’t be serious about this, could they? Give me another demon tiger any day, but my own brother? Sure, I hated the guy, and okay, maybe I’d fantasized about it a time or two, but I didn’t actually want to kill him.
Did I?
A harsh wail cut through the air, then a mechanical sounding voice boomed throughout the arena. “Proceed,” the voice said. Then it cut out.
“No.” I shook my head and put my weapon away, then folded my arms. “Uh uh. I’m not cool with this. We’re not fighting.”
“What’s wrong, brother?” Taio taunted. “Don’t you want your revenge on me?” He had a weird look in his eyes as he stared me down.
Did Taio want to fight me? But why? What had I ever done to earn that level of ire from him?
“Proceed,” the tinny voice from before repeated. “Fight to the death.”
I stalked away toward the outside of the arena. “No way!” I shouted toward the ceiling. “I’m not doing it. You can’t make me.”
“You must fight,” the voice urged.
I continued to ignore it. Making my way over to the glass, I banged on it near one of the people that was shouting for me to start the battle and kill my brother. I think I spooked him a little because he backed off and went somewhere else.
“Let me out of here!” I demanded, banging on the glass again. “I’ll fight anyone else, but no way am I fighting my own brother. That’s just not okay!”
“Proceed,” the tinny voice demanded again. It was starting to sound urgent.
“Make me!” I taunted it, hands balled in fists and raised in the air.
“Proceed. Or you will both die.”
“Heh. Like you would really kill two of your best…”
My voice trailed off. While I was speaking, I watched as a tiny hose drifted down from the ceiling. Then a whirring noise caught my attention, and I could feel some sort of breeze being emitted from the tip of the hose.
Damn. I had no way to know for sure, but I guessed it was some kind of poison gas. The owner of the tinny voice meant business, after all.
“Fine!” I yelled at the ceiling. I stalked back over to the center of the arena and took out my sword. “Fine, I’ll fight him.”
The hose retracted into the ceiling, and the whirring noise went away as I made my way back to the center.
I tightened my grip on my sword and faced my brother. In the same instant, the buzzing noise in my head went away. It was like the buzzing noise, too, was being controlled by the tinny voice of the arena.
“Scared?” my brother asked me, the corner of his lip curled upward in a half-snarl.
Hell yeah, I almost said. Taio had trained me. He was the better swordsman. We both knew it. There was no way I was walking out of this alive.
But all I did was huff at him instead.
“You better not hold back,” I admonished him as I stared into his eyes.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He feinted with the tip of his blade.
I made my move, then, coming in with a wide swipe to Taio’s left side. His hand moved a fraction of an inch, and his sword moved to block my swipe and knock it away. The way he managed it made my previous effort look feeble at best.
“Straighten up!” Taio barked at me. “Tighten your strokes.”
Pfft. It was a fight to the death, and here he was, critiquing my form. The man was incorrigible.
I came at him again, this time with a low swipe poised to take out his legs at the knees. Let him talk his way out of that injury.
Once more, Taio’s hands moved only the smallest bit, and his sword came whipping down in plenty of time to block my strike.
Growling, I tried another low slice, only to have it deflected just as easily as the last.
“Faster, Li,” Taio said in his condescending tone. “You must be faster.”
I rolled my eyes and lunged. The tip of my blade slid under his guard, and I thought for once I was going to get lucky, but at the last moment, he slid to the side, and my blow went wide.
A loud thwack sounded as he smacked my sword arm with the flat of his blade and got back into a defensive stance, all in one smooth motion. It was like he was one of those guys in the movies that moved with supernatural grace.
I howled as pain shot up my arm, and I almost dropped Grax’thor, but Taio seemed unfazed.
“You should know better than to try a move like that when your opponent is at rest,” Taio sneered. “Really, I taught you better than this, Li.”
I looked at him like he’d grown three heads. He could have killed me right then. I knew it. He knew it. But he’d let me live with nothing but a swat.
What is your game, big brother?
“Humph. I thought I told you not to hold back,” I spat at him.
Taio eyed me coolly. “I did not realize you were so ready to die, Li.”
Ugh. He wasn’t wrong, but still. He could be such a pain sometimes.
I came at him again, this time with a smaller stroke, feeling out his right side. Taio was weaker on the right side. I remembered that much from training with him.
Once more, my blade was deflected, but it looked like it took just a little more effort on his part.
“Good,” Taio said, nodding. “Much better. Conserve your energy for the big advances.”
“Come on, Taio. What are you waiting for? Attack me.”
“Only when you’ve earned it.” He stood there stolidly on his feet and beckoned me forward with one hand.
Boy, he was really getting on my nerves.
I let out a howl of rage and came at him with a couple of swift blows to his middle. Taio moved his own sword about with ease, blocking each blow as it came, but inching backward at the same time.
At least I was having some effect on him.
I came at him with several more blows. None of them connected, but each time, I moved him just a little. It wouldn’t be long before we were at the edge of the arena. Then maybe I could do something more substantial.
My arms were already starting to tire, and I was breathing heavily, but Taio still looked as fresh as possible, like he wasn’t even winded.
“Come on!” I snapped at him. “Attack me already!”
“The mighty bear has no need to fight with the buzzing gnat,” Taio countered, shooting me an evil glare.
“Aah!”
That was it. I lunged again, putting all my effort into it, determined to gut him if I had to just to wipe that stupid, twisted smile off his face.
But Taio was still my better. He moved out of the way at the last moment, and a sharp pain in my back greeted me as he swatted me with the flat of his sword once more, sending me sprawling to the ground.
I slammed into the dirt headfirst. Stars swam in my eyes, and my jaw felt raw. Groaning, I spun around to bring my sword up before Taio could take advantage of my fall, but it wasn’t a sword tip that I found when he came into view, but a hand.
“Here,” Taio said.
I glared at the hand like it was a snake, backing away toward the glass instead of accepting it.
“You should know better than to attack out of anger. Let me help you up, Li.” His voice was calm. Too calm.
“Kill him,” the tinny voice from before demanded.
“Hey!” I snapped at the voice. “We’re having a moment here!”
Taio shook his head. “I will kill him when the time is right,” he told the voice. “You deserve to see a real fight first.”
A real fight? What the hell did he think the last few minutes was? A circus show? I worried that the hose with the poison gas would make a reappearance if Taio didn’t act quickly, but it did not. The tinny voice was letting us have our moment,
much to the chagrin of the onlookers, who were booing harder than before.
Taio extended his hand toward me once more. I stared at the hand for a good minute, then smacked it away and got back up to my feet on my own.
“Pfft. Like I’d accept any help from you.” I threw in a scowl for good measure and got into a fighting stance, holding Grax’thor between us.
“Good,” Taio said, nodding. “You did not fall for my ruse this time. You are learning.”
Huh? So the hand thing had been a ruse? Go figure.
“Yeah, well, now we’re going to fight for real, got it?”
Taio nodded again. “Of course, brother. Come at me when you’re ready.”
Ugh. There he was with the taunts again. I couldn’t figure this guy out. Why did he want us to fight so badly? Did he really hate me that much?
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I came at him with another swipe. This time, I kept it small and simple. Just a quick thrust to his sword arm.
As expected, Taio blocked the blow, but did not advance on me at all. He was still waiting for something. For what? What did he know that I didn’t?
I didn’t have time for his games. I made another swipe for his other side, slicing my blade upward at the last minute to try and catch him off guard. This blow, too, was deflected, but not as cleanly. The tip of my sword scratched his arm, leaving behind a tiny mark.
Taio eyed the cut, then looked back at me and smiled. “Well done, brother. You have scored first blood.”
I got ready to gloat at him and reply with something fancy, but before I even realized what was happening, he made his move. The attack came out of nowhere. I barely brought my own sword up in time to bat his out of the way.
Taio came at me again, slicing in small, practiced arcs, forcing me backward. I hadn’t noticed it earlier, but after my last lunge, we’d switched places, and now I was the one being backed up against a wall.
My mind raced as our blades clashed again and again. His moves were so swift. So sure. And mine were starting to fade as my energy drained from the extended battle. Had this been his plan the whole time? Wear me out, then finish me quickly?
His next strike got past my guard and his katana bit into me, opening up a new line on my abdomen. My poor stomach sure was taking a beating in this place. Blood poured from the wound as pain shot up my core, and I stumbled, barely blocking the follow up strike.
I practically dropped my sword from the shock of the last blow. I was done for. I couldn’t compete with him. I never could.
But in that same instant, Taio stopped his advance, giving me room to breathe and recover.
“Not bad, Li,” he said. “Not bad. For my little brother.”
Something about the way he said little brother just made me want to throttle him right then and there. But I held back. He still had me beat. He was going to kill me. This was it.
But it didn’t have to be it for LaLuna or Bao. He could still go on to save them. I just had to find a way to let him know about my plan and that fae tiger claws could cut through the door’s metal. Maybe if he knew about it, he’d have more success than me.
“Heh.” I raised my sword unsteadily in my hands. It felt heavier than it had any right to. “You think you’ve won, but the tiger always knows when to pounce so that his claws are sharpest.”
Taio cocked his head to the side and raised one eyebrow. “Come again, Li?”
I took another breath to help calm my nerves and slow my heart rate. How could I make him understand? I couldn’t tell him outright about the tiger claws. Tinny Voice was watching and listening. But I had to make him understand.
“Those that underestimate the strength of the tiger are lost indeed,” I added.
He gave me another quizzical look, then nodded. I wasn’t completely sure, but I thought he understood.
Taio would live to fight more creatures. There was a high likelihood they’d have him fight a fae tiger at some point. And when they did, he’d take its claw and use it like I had. It was a slim hope, but it just might mean LaLuna and Bao would be safe someday soon in the future. It was all I could hang my hopes on, at least.
“Now, come,” I told my brother, sounding a lot more certain than I felt. “Let us finish this.”
Taio’s lips curled into a tight smile. “As you wish, Li.”
Outside the arena, I could hear the crowds hooting and hollering for Taio to finish me. To kill me quickly. To see the bloody end to this conflict that they were all hoping for.
Part of me wondered how disappointed Second Guard would be in me that I’d lost him a hundred bucks. Such a stupid thing to worry about when you were faced with your own death, but there you have it. That was my last thought.
“Do it,” I commanded of my brother.
He raised his sword to strike, and I knew it was over.
And then, there right at the end, the most unexpected thing happened. I thought about LaLuna. About how I’d never see her or Grace ever again. Never get a chance to tell her how I really felt about her.
Something about that thought stirred something inside of me. Something I didn’t even know I’d had. But right then and there, somehow, I had a will to live. I could feel that will fighting inside me with the rest of my warring thoughts. I had to live. Not for me, but for her. I had to live to save LaLuna.
My brother’s sword came for me then, and I did the stupidest thing I could think of—I threw myself to the side, out of the way of his blade, tossing my sword away as I went.
“Stupid move, Li,” Taio said, tsking. I could hear him stalking toward me with his sword at the ready. “Now you are unarmed.”
I spun to face him, a grim determination on my face. “Huh. I guess so.”
While he advanced on me, I held out my hand toward Grax’thor. Come on, blade. Come to me like you did in the tiger fight. Come help me.
But the blade didn’t move.
Taio strode forward with a purpose, and I retreated backward as he advanced, keeping him between me and my weapon as I went. I had only one shot at this.
Come on, stupid blade! Shoot into my hand already!
“You should not have dropped your sword,” Taio told me as he kept coming. “I have no choice but to kill you now.”
“Uh huh. You got me.” I gave him a wry grin.
My back smacked into the glass of the arena. I’d played my hand as far as it would go. I was out of time. I reached out toward Grax’thor one more time. I could have sworn I’d seen it move just a little bit. Yes, that’s it. Just a little more. Come to me.
Taio took one more step forward, then paused. He bowed his head slightly. “I am sorry, dear brother. I wish I could have protected you to the end.”
“Ditto.”
He raised his sword to strike, and in that moment, my sword budged. Grax’thor flew toward me at high speed, slamming into Taio’s back point first.
My brother groaned as he looked down at the sword protruding from his chest. It had pierced through his right lung. It was a nasty wound. I didn’t think it would be fatal for one of us fast-healing types, but I couldn’t be sure.
At the very least, it was enough to force him to his knees. His hands finally faltered, and his katana clattered to the ground in front of him as he stared up at me, a look of complete shock on his face.
I stood over him, locking my eyes with his, and I saw a glint of something there that I didn’t expect—happiness. He was glad at this turn of events.
“Well done… brother,” Taio said, coughing. He sounded weak. Weaker than he looked. “Now finish it. It’s okay. I deserve it.”
He picked up his sword in one hand and held it up to me hilt first. He leaned his head downward. “Go ahead… brother.”
I looked down at him for several moments, wondering if I could really do it. Could I really kill my own brother? But what choice did I have, really? Tinny Voice would kill us both if I didn’t.
My fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword. Its weight felt
good in my hand. It was a worthy weapon for a worthy fighter. It was too good for me.
I raised the sword high in the air and turned my head. I had to do it. What would it do to me, though? How could I live with the knowledge that I’d killed him? Even though I’d wanted to do it in my darkest moments, now that I was here, I hesitated. My hand shook.
“Do it,” Tinny Voice commanded.
I scowled at the ceiling, then looked back down at my brother. He looked so calm. So peaceful. It made the whole thing that much worse.
I had no choice. I had to do it. But could I really? My hand was slick with sweat. I gripped my brother’s katana even tighter, then began my strike.
14
“Wait!” Tinny Voice cried.
I glanced down at the blade in my hand. I’d halted it a mere hair’s breadth from my brother’s neck. Had Tinny Voice stopped me, or had I done it by myself? I supposed I’d never really know for sure.
“Now what?” I complained.
“Put down your weapons,” Tinny Voice demanded. “This battle is concluded.”
I blinked my eyes in confusion. “Huh?”
But still, I didn’t actually have to kill my brother, so there was that.
All along the arena, I heard boos and cries of disapproval from the spectators.
“Hey!” I balked. “I still gave you a good fight, damn it!”
The spectators started moving out, and I dropped my brother’s katana, then helped him pull Grax’thor out of his back as carefully as I could. I didn’t want to injure him any further than I already had. I was still determined to escape with all of us intact, and the last thing I wanted to do would be to have to carry him out of here because I’d hurt him too badly.
Try explaining that one to your mother on New Year’s.
With the sword free, I examined the wound. It was bad, but with our improved healing, combined with whatever was making it accelerate even faster in this place, I was positive he’d make a full recovery in a few days.
“Return to your platforms,” Tinny Voice blared. “You are done for today.”
“Thank you,” Taio said, looking up into my eyes.