by KJ Harlow
“This is a no-holds-barred fight. There is only one round. You don’t get toilet breaks.” He paused and cast a sideways glance at Fairshade. “When you die, you die.”
“The winner will be the last man standing. The prize is the throne of Thaylia. Will the combatants please come to the middle.” Neither king budged. Col laughed nervously. “OK then… well… three, two, one…” He chopped a hand through the air. “Fight!” He scurried back and popped out of the ward.
For a minute, neither combatant made the first move. Fairshade then started walking to his left around the perimeter of the ward. Fetter started walking around his right, a devilish grin on his face. He broke into a scamper towards Fairshade, sword suddenly in hand. Fairshade took a step back and raised his left arm. Fetter’s sword clashed into a solid ice shield that materialised just in time.
“Rargh!” He hacked and slashed at the huge hunk of ice before Fairshade charged at him. Fetter jumped 10 feet back, his sword grinding into the ground. Fairshade was standing at full height, mist accumulating in his right hand. Moments later, his greatsword materialized.
“Heh.” Fetter swung up and around four or five times, cobblestones spraying everywhere as jagged spikes of earth punched up through the ground, rippled towards Fairshade. Fairshade’s speed belied his size; he ran forward, dodging left and right as the linear attacks ripped inches either side of him. He drew his arm back and swung horizontally.
Fetter leapt back again and again, tapping Fairshade’s gargantuan blade with his short sword in mid air.
“Compensating for something, Fairshade?” Fetter yelled.
Cal shook his head. Really? A penis joke?
Fairshade changed stance and tilted his blade up. He rolled his shoulders and slammed the great sword into the ground. He yanked at his weapon but it wouldn’t come back up. He raised his shield but not before a sword flashed across his cheek.
-50 Damage!
“Your Majesty!” Cist’s cry of anguish was drowned out by the fake roars of support from Fetter’s soldiers.
The ground let up and Fairshade swung his sword diagonally at Fetter, missing him by inches. The Urath skipped away.
“That looks like it might need stitches,” Fetter snickered. Cal hadn’t even realized it but the minotaur axe was now in his hands. The disrespectful way that Fetter was fighting pissed him off, big time.
“Fight him like a man, you pussy!” The orc roared. Fetter turned around. That was the moment of distraction that Fairshade needed. He charged at Fetter, crunching into his body with a full blooded shield charge.
-61 Damage!
“Hey! No distracting the combatants!” Col was jostling across the square towards Cal. Some of the other soldiers got to him first. Cal roared, lifted his axe and swung down on the hapless soldier lopping her head, right shoulder and arm off. Her eryn took one look at her master’s body then rapidly flapped up, putting as much distance away from the orc as possible.
Critical Hit!
-309 Damage!
“Karst it feels good to be killing again.” Kai drew back his lance; it was painted with blood and gristle. Cist had a knife in each hand. Daggers stuck out of the necks of half a dozen soldiers as they writhed on the floor.
Keep fighting.
The notification popped out out of no where. Cal hesitated and glanced through the ward. C was shrouded in shadow, but she was looking at Cal. He could feel it. As much as he wanted to slay every single one of the soldiers in the square, he wanted to defy her more.
He lowered his axe. “Kai.” The werejaguar looked at him. Cal shook his head tersely. The soldiers and their eryn hovered four or five yards away, weapons drawn.
“Your king is losing, like the loser that he is.” Cal yelled at them. “Come, strike at us. Each will be an opportunity for Fairshade to attack him.”
“Cal!”
The orc turned just as Cist attempted to shove him out of the way. Fetter was standing three feet away, his sword raised. He feet were encased in ice.
“F-f-fuck you fucking fucker!” Fetter swung and gouged Cal in the back.
-45 Damage!
Cal stumbled forward and fell on his knees.
“I am your enemy!” Fairshade boomed. His hand was raised, blue light glowing from his eyes. Fetter heaved and the ice around his feet shattered. “One of your own men told me that he would rather die for me than for you.” Fetter strained and eventually pulled out the other foot. “Don’t attack my people for your own short comings.”
“Bah!” Fetter exploded. “You want me to face you like a man?” He bolted at Fairshade, sword in one hand. Launching himself in the air, he drove his sword down on his opponent. Fairshade raised his sword and blocked Fetter’s attack, bringing his shield to the front and parrying his counter attack.
Cal gritted his teeth. Blood dribbled down his back and onto the ground. His wanted to grab an HP potion, but his hands wouldn’t move. Did Fetter cut into his spine, like he did to the minotaur?
Kai swooped and plunged his furred hand into his satchel and after a brief search, pulled out the curved bottle.
“I can’t grab it; my hands can’t move. You’re going to have to–”
Kai uncorked it and shoved it past his tusks into Cal’s mouth. He spluttered and stood up. “Take it easy!”
“It was easy,” the werejaguar shrugged.
Kai had turned back to watch the battle. Cal looked at Cist, his arms were crossed so tightly around his chest it almost looked like he was in a straitjacket.
“Hey.” Cal put his hand on the Lightblade’s shoulder. He didn’t respond. “Fairshade’s got this.” He patted it awkwardly and Cist grunted.
The two kings were just trading blows now. Hector had said his weakness was battle intelligence but it certainly didn’t show in this fight. He did run around a lot but he could hold his own with a blade in hand.
His attacks were quick and sharp. Just like the laceration across the face, he had nicked Fairshade in other places where his skin was exposed. These were mainly around the head and neck. Fairshade’s size was his strength and his weakness against a fighter like Fetter. He just needed one hit, like a heavyweight boxer loading a knock-out punch to flatten the midget king. Besides the first one, he hadn’t been successful.
This didn’t seem to deter him though. He kept at it, his enormous blade sung as he swung it through the air. Fetter would duck then jump as Fairshade attacked. His attacks were patient, but patience wouldn’t win this battle. The longer you fight him, the higher the chance he’s going to win.
Fetter leapt back one, two, three steps, swinging his sword upwards with each jump. Fairshade saw the spears of rock shoot up and rip towards him. He blocked the first with his ice shield, back spun around the second and presented a flat blade to the third, nullifying the attack.
“This is getting b-b-boring.” Fetter complained. “I was trying to hold off from using it, but looks like Spire M-Maiden will have to save the day yet again.” The smaller king flourished his sword and drove it downwards. The earth beneath them shuddered and one hundred spires rose up, creating a 10 by 10 spire wall behind Fetter.
“Ready or not…” Fetter raised his non-sword hand and pointed at his opponent. “Go.”
A spire whistled out of the middle of the mesh. Fairshade put his shield up. The spire embedded itself into the several inch thick ice, pulling his shield forward. Another spire flew at him. Fairshade dropped the shield and took evasive action, falling onto his back, rolling and immediately getting back up.
“Not bad Fairshade. What about–” Fetter’s cocky expression changed to one of alarm. He looked down. “Oh come on, this is getting old.” His feet were once again encased in ice. He strained against them but this time they wouldn’t come loose. Not only that: the ice was climbing his body at a faster rate.
Fetter swung his sword over and over, launching spire after spire at Fairshade. The king gripped his greatsword with two hands, holding it in front of him. Usin
g it as as pivot, he swung himself around, tapping a spire on its head as it flew past him, cleaving another in two or using the momentum of a previous swing to uppercut another.
All the while he moved closer to Fetter. The ice had now encased Fetter’s torso. Shards of ice fell off his sword arm but it too was starting to get immobilised. He looked up. There were still over 50 spires hovering in mid-air.
“All of you, g–”
The spires hovered in the air, waiting for their master’s command. Fetter was now completely encased his ice, sword arm frozen above his head.
Cal put his hands on ward. Holy shit… was this it? No one else standing around the square dared move.
Fairshade eyed the spires above him as he walked toward the Fetter. Standing in front of him, he looked through the glass-like ice. Fetter’s face was paralysed into a mask of fury.
“You’ve caused enough pain here.”
Fairshade held his arms out, parallel to the ground. The Mist Greatsword and Glacial Shield dissolved with a hiss.
Fairshade then walked around Fetter, hands on his chin, as if he was admiring a work of art. He then stopped circling him, grabbed the ice tomb with two hands and rocked it until it fell into his arms. He hefted it up and shuffled to a point about 10 yards away. He plonked frozen Fetter down and rotated him such that he was facing his spires.
He raised a hand and the ice starting melting from Fetter’s head down.
Fetter blinked chilled water out of his eyes, piecing together what had happened.
Cal smiled. Checkmate.
Fairshade had taken a vantage point behind Fetter and erected a fresh ice shield. “Your move.”
Fetter dropped his head. Then inexplicably, he started laughing, high-pitched shrieks of mirth. His soldiers started shuffling uncomfortably. He collected himself.
“Well played Fairshade, I have to give you credit for pushing me this far.” Unable to look behind him, he swivelled his neck and looked at straight at Cal. “Tell me Your K-kingliness, have you heard of something called an insurance p-policy?” Fetter smiled grotesquely.
Cal narrowed his eyes. What the hell is he getting at?
“It’s something you have in case bad things happen. That way, when they do…” He focused on the ground in front of him. A yellow outline of light enveloped Fetter. It looked like he was concentrating on squeezing out the largest dump he had ever had in his life.
A tremor made everyone around the square lose their balance. Dozens of eryn took flight in alarm. The ground in front of Fetter was caving in now. Seconds later, it was eight feet deep. Fairshade had crafted a fresh greatsword. He raised it, holding it flat to the ground. He rolled out of the way as a spire flew at him, crunching into the ground where he was standing.
Fetter grinned wickedly. “Who says guys can’t multitask?” His face quickly reverted to constipation.
Something was coming out from the hole. Something… large. A head appeared. It looked left, right then straight at Fetter. Blinking gem-like ruby eyes, it tore up more of the earth either side of it as long arms charged up and thudded into the ground, sending more mini-quakes reverberating through the square.
It pulled itself up as it if was trying to get out of a swimming pool. Eventually, its legs came out and it stood at full height.
“Examine,” Kai growled.
NAME: Golem
LVL: 90
AFF: Earth
HP: 995/995
MP: 1,000/1,000
ABILITY: Boulder Crunch
A humanoid creature borne from earth. Moves surprisingly quick for a being that is composed of stone. This being cannot be defeated by usual means.
No shit it couldn’t be defeated by usual means. Cal craned his neck up. It stood at 50, maybe 60 feet tall. Completely forgetting about Fetter, Fairshade walked around the edge of the square, eyeing the gargantuan monster. It didn’t move, staring straight down at Fetter.
“Golem!” He yelled. “Release me from this ice t-tomb!” The golem bent at the knees, wrapped a hand around Fetter and squeezed. The ice cracked and shattered into massive slabs that slid away before dissolving into the air.
Fetter brushed the remaining ice from his body and cricked his neck left and right. “My how the tables have turned.”
“This is unjust!” Cist cried, slamming his fists on the ward.
Fetter laughed an ugly laugh. “Who ever said anything about this fight being j-j-just?” He ran across and pointed his sword at the Lightblade. Cist leapt back, daggers at the ready. “Life is unjust. You can do the right thing and still be punished for it. You know what I say?” He dropped his sword. “Take what you want, because most people will either be too weak to protect it or won’t care until it’s g-g-gone.”
He stared down Cist a moment longer then turned back around. Fetter was crunching his greatsword into the golem’s leg over and over, but it was like trying to hack down an oak tree with a butter knife. The golem didn’t show the slightest bit of pain.
“How are you doing there, Fairshade?” Fetter mocked a yawn and crossed his arms, a dirty smirk on his face. “Since I’m able to summon a golem and you can’t, I’ll try and make things a bit fairer for you. Out of the goodness of my heart, I’ll let you surrender. It would be too easy crushing you I mean look.” He shook his head sadly. “Not even your legendary M-m-mist Greatsword can chip the golem’s leg.”
Fairshade kept hacking away at the listless golem, not paying Fetter any attention.
“No? Well, don’t say that I didn’t give you an out.” Fetter looked up. “Golem!” Its ruby eyes glowed. “Let’s chase Fairshade around the s-s-square for a while. Squash him, but don’t leave too much of a m-m-mess.”
The golem’s fist fell faster than a boulder from the top of a cliff. It crunched into the ground, spitting up cobblestone and dirt everywhere. Fairshade had rolled out of the way, both sword and shield gone. The golem’s other fist came down and he only just managed to leap backwards.
“King Fairshade!” Cist flung his blades into the ward, but they just bounced off it. “Let me in there this instant!” Cal looked past the farce of the battle happening in front of him to where the hooded maiden was.
Her face was still covered but something had shifted. She was smiling, he could feel it. And why wouldn’t she be? She had been planning this all along. And for what? Just to show how smart she was by manipulating a game? For the first time, Cal wanted her to ping him with one of her infernal notifications just so he could hurl obscenities at her.
The ground shuddered as the golem stomped his car-sized feet all over the square. Each time, Fairshade managed to evade the attack. After doing a barrel roll, he raised both hands into the air. Ice formed around the golem’s shoulder and started creeping down its right arm. It brushed the ice off, sending slabs of ice into soldiers and eryn on the south side of the square.
“How are you f-f-faring, Fairshade?” Fetter crooned. “Hope my new pet isn’t too much of a handful for you.”
Cal pulled the minotaur axe out and slammed it into the ward. Just like with Cist’s knives, the attack bounced off it, like a pebble of a gigantic drum.
What are you trying to do?
Cal lost it.
Fuck you! Why are you enabling this godforsaken cuntlord of a human being?
For a while there was nothing. Then a reply came:
:)
“Aaargh!” Cal roared, slamming his axe into the ward over and over. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t break.
“You really have changed, F-Fairshade.” Fetter was walking around the perimeter of the ward, hands clasped together in the small of his back. “You went from being a scared puppet who valued his own life to being all noble and good,” he spat. “You had a chance to live. Sure, it was in a d-d-dungeon like a thousand miles beneath the ground but hey, better than being p-pummelled by a golem, am I right?”
Fairshade grunted as he did another barrel roll. He was beginning to tire.
“Yo
u haven’t become stronger, you know,” Fetter tutted, shaking his head. “By caring more, you’ve become weaker. In the end, it’s just you, and only you. The ones you trust will end up turning their backs on you. Your own mom, your own dad.” He spat onto the floor.
“You’ve become like those people who don’t give a rat’s ass about their own wellbeing but would give everything they had to p-protect others.” He turned his back on the mismatched battle. “I see you have been busy, building up what I’ve torn down.” Soldiers and eryn parted as Fetter stepped out of the ward to run his hand down the side of a house.
“Golem!” He shouted. The golem paused, his foot hovering in mid-air. “Start destroying the houses outside the square.”
“No!” Fairshade exclaimed. Fetter stepped back into the safety of the ward, tossing his head back in triumphant laughter.
The golem put its foot down then stomped over to one of the houses on its left. It leapt 30 feet into the air and drove both feet down on top of the new structure. What Fairshade had spent a fraction of a moonshift doing was demolished in the blink of an eye.
Soldiers and eryn looked up at the golem, trying to predict the next house it was going to destroy.
Cal, Kai, Cist and Fairshade all looked at one particular house at the same time, catching Fetter’s attention.
“Oh hello? Is there someone you’re trying to protect?”
On cue, the door to Hector’s house opened, the new father stepping out. He hurried a frightened woman clutching a bundle to her chest out.
“Why if it isn’t Hector! Is that… a b-b-baby?” Fetter cooed. The soldier stared at the king flatly.
“Fuck off you God damn son of a bitch.”
Fetter recoiled. “My, aren’t we touchy. But I guess that’s what fatherhood does to you. Still, to resort to doing an NPC…” he raised an eyebrow then shrugged. “Whatever tickles your penis.” He cleared his throat. “Golem! Destroy that house. Bonus points if you can kill that sorry excuse of a soldier and his family.”