Cards of Death Box Set

by Tamara Geraeds

  I whistle and shoot a bolt of lightning toward the ceiling. It is soon joined by other forms of light.

  Charlie laughs and gives me a high five. Now that Gisella has put her hand on his, he is able to forget her weak spot for the cherufe.

  Vicky is scanning the crowd with her hawk eyes, just like the rest of the Shield.

  I kiss her on the cheek. “You guys are such great guards. But you’re allowed to enjoy yourself, too, okay?”

  She kisses me back quickly. “I know. I’ll just like it here much better when we all get out alive.”

  My mood darkens a bit, but I shake the feeling off. “We’ll be fine.”

  Her answer is drowned out by the voice of the announcer.

  “Are you ready for the first round?” he bellows.

  I raise my fist and holler along with the rest of the audience.

  He turns to the cherufe and the tengu. “Fighters, are you ready?”

  They slam one fist against their chests and let out a battle cry.

  The announcer steps out of the ring, while one of the banshees climbs the outside of the fence again.

  The fighters take their positions, the banshee throws her head back and the crowd falls silent.

  As soon as the banshee lets out a shriek, the fighters throw themselves forward.

  The cherufe takes a swing at the tengu’s bird head. The Beak moves to the side. The fist misses him, but the flames from the Burning King’s arm grab onto him eagerly. They burn his neck and he shrieks.

  Without hesitation, the cherufe turns and slams both flaming hands into his opponent’s side.

  The smell of burning flesh spreads through the room.

  “Well, this is going to be a short fight,” I mumble.

  Gisella shakes her head without looking at me. “It’s not over yet. Just wait for it.”

  As the announcer fires up the crowd, the tengu spreads his wings. They launch him forward and he knocks the King off his feet with a well-aimed kick.

  While he’s down, the Beak uses his wings to put out the flames in his neck and side. Then he leans forward, the sharp tips of his wings pointing at the cherufe, and roars.

  “The Beak is challenging the Burning King,” the announcer calls out. “Both have already taken a hit, and the fight has just begun.”

  The cherufe pushes himself up onto his legs of fire and moves around the tengu. Two steps to the left, one to the right, one foot forward and then he leans back again.

  The announcer moves around the fence. “Who will be the first to attack now?”

  In the blink of an eye, the giant wings slam together in front of the tengu’s body. They smash into the cherufe’s head and he stumbles backwards. The Beak pats his burning feathers quickly, while the crowd stomps and roars. “Finish him! Finish him!”

  The air is thick with anticipation and I can’t help but join in. Raising my fist, I stand up and shout as loud as I can.

  When the tengu charges again, I’m sure it’ll be the end of the cherufe. But just before the Beak slams down both his wings and his fists, the Burning King rolls away and puts his flaming hands and feet onto his opponent. The tengu roars as his body catches fire. He turns and turns, swaying on his feet and trying to stop the flames from burning off his skin. The King takes one step forward and punches him straight in the head.

  The eagle man drops like a stone and the crowd explodes in applause and shouts.

  The announcer counts back from ten to zero. Meanwhile, the fire spreads over the unconscious man. I’m afraid he’ll go up in smoke before the counting is over.

  But as soon as the announcer reaches zero, the banshees run into the ring and empty two buckets of water onto the smoking body.

  The Beak shoots upright, coughing and spluttering. His opponent holds out his hand and pulls him to his feet. They smack each other on the back and everyone cheers and stomps their feet again. But now there are also shouts of frustration and even people crying. I wonder what they just lost in their bets.

  While the tengu leaves the ring, the cherufe raises his fire hands in the air and bows.

  “Give it up for our first winner… the Burning King!”

  The banshees scream, the cherufe roars and the crowd makes noises I’ve never heard before in my life. My eardrums almost pop, but I ignore it and cheer loudly.

  Vicky is yelling at the top of her lungs, as well.

  “This is great!” I scream at her.

  She gives me a wide smile as an answer.

  When the cherufe leaves the ring, everyone sits down again.

  The announcer blows the ash of the tengu’s feathers around the ring and grins like a maniac. “What a spectacular way to start the evening. Will the rest of the night be as good? Let’s see…”

  He turns to the door on our right. “We’d like to welcome to the ring the only Mage to ever reach a grand finale. He’s our shortest contestant at only five feet and seven and a half inches, but he is already famous. Known as the Shadow of Colorado, kind but competitive, here is the one, the only… Kale Kloster.”

  Vicky and I nudge each other at the same time.

  “That must be him,” Charlie whispers in my ear.

  When I look around, I see the rest of the Shield scanning the crowd with intense stares. It gives me the jitters.

  “Do you think the sand demons will attack him, or us, during the fight?” I ask Vicky quietly.

  “No, their plan might fail if too many people are involved. They’ll keep their heads down for now, but they might try something backstage later.”

  I nod. “So we have to go see Kale after the match.”

  She tilts her head and narrows her eyes at the boy coming through the door. “Yes, if we have that much time.”

  I swerve my head back to her. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, his sin will be violence, right? What better place to commit a sin like that, than in a boxing ring?”

  That hadn’t crossed my mind yet. “So what do we do?”

  She shrugs. “We wait and see. There’s not much we can do here. If we interfere in the match, we’ll be thrown out and never get a chance to see Kale.”

  I clench my fists and Vicky lays her hand on them. “Relax. We usually have a couple of days to prevent it after we receive the Cards of Death, don’t we?”

  I breathe out slowly. “Yeah, you’re right.”

  Still, I have a bad feeling about this fight. The Devil might be a lot of things, but I’m guessing predictable isn’t one of them.

  CHAPTER 26

  Charlie senses my worry and holds out a hot dog. “Nothing will happen during the fight. Just enjoy the show.” He shakes the snack in front of me. “Do you want it or not?”

  “No, you eat it. You might need the fuel.”

  “Okay, no problem.” He pushes half of the bun into his mouth and starts chewing.

  I move away from him a bit. “Sometimes you disgust me.”

  He wipes some mustard from his nose. “I know.”

  Kale Kloster, a.k.a. the Shadow of Colorado, has reached the ring. He reminds me a bit of me. He’s build like the average teenager, slender with a little muscle. He’s a bit taller than me, but has the same short brown hair. He looks a lot more confident than me though.

  As the crowd welcomes him, he seems to vanish for a moment, only to reappear right next to the announcer.

  “Wow, and there it is!” the man calls out. “We lost you for a second. How did you do that, Kale?”

  Kale just raises his arms and bows to every grandstand.

  The other door opens and the announcer holds out his arm. “In the opposite corner, we have a fighter with a hunger like no other. He likes to scurry, snap and eat, he’s here to win his fiftieth match in a row… put your hands together for the ruling world champion, Craig – the Snapper – Archer!”

  Even though I thought the racket in the room couldn’t get louder, it does. A lot louder. The roof tre
mbles and I have to push my hands against my ears to keep from going deaf.

  But I forget about all that when Kale’s opponent steps into the light.

  It’s the strangest creature I’ve ever seen. It has a human lower body, and the upper body of a crab. Its head is a cross between the two. It has an orange glow, but the shape of a human head, although a bit big. When it throws its claws in the air, I notice the ends are actually mouths with sharp teeth.

  Charlie almost drops his third hot dog. “What is that?”

  Gisella turns around. Her yellow eyes are big. “I don’t know. I’ve heard of this guy, but I’ve never seen him before. He must be some new kind of hybrid.”

  Charlie sticks out his tongue in disgust. “Well, I’ve seen all kinds of hybrids in my research, but never anything like this.”

  I nudge him. “How many kinds are there?”

  He takes another bite. “Lots.”

  “Basically any combination is possible,” Gisella says. “But most hide their true form in their everyday lives, so you don’t see many of them.”

  The crab creature has entered the ring. It looks even more intimidating next to the boy, who is almost a foot smaller than him, and I feel sorry for Kale.

  “He doesn’t stand a chance,” I whisper to Vicky.

  She looks me in the eye for a second, then plants a kiss on my cheek. “Don’t judge so quickly. You don’t look very intimidating, either, but you’re very strong.”

  I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right.”

  “Shhh,” someone from behind us says again and we focus on the match.

  The banshee is already climbing the fence, while the two boxers shake hands. Or mouths, I don’t know what to call it. It looks pretty disgusting to me.

  I silently pray for Kale to win. Not just because the Snapper looks menacing, but because I’m afraid he’ll have a violent outburst if he loses. Which will have the sand demons ready to kill him and take his soul.

  With my hands clasped together, I lean forward in my chair.

  The announcer leaves the ring and shuts the gate. The half-naked woman at the top of the fence shrieks.

  It takes Kale less than a second to fade into a dark spot. The Snapper turns around slowly, taking in every corner of the ring. Still, he notices his opponent a fraction too late. Kale jumps on his back, holds on to the edge of his shell and punches him in the face with his free hand. He jumps off just before one of the mouth hands can bite him.

  They circle each other for a while. Blood drips from the corner of the crab man’s mouth. He wipes it away and in the same movement, his arm shoots forward and hits Kale on the chin. The Mage falls onto his back and the Snapper steps closer for the knock-out, but loses sight of him again. He stomps the floor in frustration and turns with his arms and claws raised. “Show yourself!”

  “Okay,” Kale says, and the Snapper looks up.

  Before he can defend himself, Kale drops down from the top of the fence. He lands on the Snapper’s shoulder and quickly wraps his legs around his throat. Punches rain down on the crab’s face as he stumbles around the ring. A snapping mouth misses Kale’s head by an inch as he ducks.

  Both their names echo around the room, as the audience choses a side.

  “Watch out!” I yell, when I see the Snapper’s claws shoot toward the Mage.

  He launches himself into the air, but one of the sharp ends of the claws rips the flesh on his arm. As he lands, blood oozes out of the cut. He pays no attention to it, because Craig is charging him.

  Then there’s a loud shriek and both fighters lower their hands. They give a quick bow and retreat to opposite corners of the ring.

  The banshee I hadn’t noticed jumps down from the fence and the announcer recaps the first round with excessive enthusiasm.

  Charlie raises his hand to order another hot dog and I pull Vicky closer.

  “So what do you think?”

  Her eyes glint with excitement. “I love it. This fight was more of a thrill than I anticipated.”

  “I know, right? I thought that Kale was going to be crushed for sure, but he’s a smart fighter.”

  We both look at the Mage in the ring for a moment.

  “He doesn’t look violent to me,” Vicky comments, just as I have the same thought.

  Charlie holds out a cup to me. “Beer?”

  “No thanks, we should stay sober, in case we have to fight.”

  His smile drops off his face. “Oh, right.” He hands the beer to Gisella, who has already downed hers. Looking at the two hot dogs in his other hand, his grin returns. “Oh well, I still have these.”

  We all look up when another shriek announces the next round.

  Charlie forgets to chew as the fighters immediately attack. “This is so much better than human boxing.”

  I have to agree, but I don’t answer, because at that moment Kale jumps over the crab hybrid and moves into a corner, where he is barely visible. He keeps very still as the Snapper scans the ring with his beady eyes.

  “I can still see him,” I whisper to Vicky. “Does he think he’s invisible?”

  The answer comes when the Snapper charges and Kale doesn’t move.

  “Watch out!” I yell again. “He can see you!”

  Of course he can’t hear me, since I’m not the only one screaming my head off. He does move at the last second, but then it’s already too late. Craig pushes him to the ground and lands on him with his full weight.

  I can see his arm breaking and can hear the snap in my head. Kale hollers and raises his other arm to punch his opponent in the face. But he’s too slow. The Snapper hits him on the nose again and again, and when Kale stops moving, the mouths on his hands bite him in the cheek.

  “Wow!” the announcer bellows. “That’s enough!” He beckons one of the banshees, who shrieks three times.

  The Snapper steps back and raises his arms in triumph as the announcer enters the ring.

  “Fight’s over! Craig – the Snapper – Archer did it again and reals in his fiftieth victory in a row.”

  The rest of his words get lost in the cheering of the crowd.

  Gisella stands up and cheers, but Vicky, Charlie and I just stare at Kale, lying there with his face beaten to mush.

  “Are we sure Kale is the one with the violent outburst?” I say to Vicky.

  “Pretty sure.”

  Charlie has lowered his last hot dog. “That doesn’t look good.” He taps Gisella on the arm. “Is he dead?”

  The yellow-eyed girl is still smiling. “Oh no, they’ll heal him in no time.” When she sees our skeptical faces, she adds, “Trust me, I’ve seen worse.”

  “What a spectacular and unexpected turn of events,” the announcer says, while the Snapper leaves the ring.

  The banshees pick up Kale and carry him back to the door on our left.

  “Let’s review the wonderful fights we saw tonight.”

  Screens are dropped on each side of the ring. They show the first fight in slow motion.

  From the corner of my eye, I see Jeep gesturing wildly.

  “They’ve spotted a sand demon,” Vicky translates. “We’d better leave. We don’t want to get caught up in a fight here.”

  She stands up and starts moving to the end of the row.

  I nudge Charlie. “We have to go. You can stay here with Gisella if you want.”

  He stuffs the last of his hot dog into his mouth and pushes himself up from his seat. “I’ll come with you.”

  I stand up and push him back into his chair. “No, it’s fine. You enjoy the rest of the evening. I’ll call if I need you.”

  “Sure?”

  “Yes.” I bend over him and hold out my hand to Gisella. “It was nice to see you again. I got a call, so I have to go. Thank you for the nice evening.”

  She raises her empty cup. “Thank you, too.”

  Vicky and I leave the room as fast as we can without alerting anyone. The rest of the Shie
ld is already out of sight.

  We stumble into the hallway panting and I look around. “Where did they go?”

  “Maybe they went outside?”

  “We’ve got this,” Quinn’s voice suddenly says in my head. “You go find that fighter. See if he’s okay.”

  “Good idea,” I say.

  When Vicky gives me a questioning look, I point at my head. “Quinn.”

  I scan the hallway for doors. “We need to find the way to the dressing rooms. We have to make sure Kale is alright.”

  Vicky pulls my arm hard and points to the end of the hallway. “There.”

  We hurry to the door at the other end. Before we go through, I listen carefully for any signs of a fight. I gently nudge my power core, in case I need to jump into action. But all is quiet on the other side and we slip through unseen.

  CHAPTER 27

  It’s not hard to find the dressing rooms. We just follow the smell of sweat and blood. And even without that, the agitated voice drifting toward us would have given the location away.

  As we slowly approach, I try to decide whether we need to intervene or not. Is someone provoking him? Will this annoyance turn into violence?

  Before I can make up my mind, we come to a corner. When we turn it, we have a full view of the dressing room, where Kale is pacing, his hair a mess, his fists held tightly at his side. His voice is a mixture of anger and frustration, but that’s not what stopped me dead in my tracks. Watching him sharply, is a minotaur. This one is even more muscular than the one we killed not too long ago. But he’s not fuming and the long, white horns sticking out sideways make him look almost friendly.

  “I’m fine with losing, as long as it’s because my opponent is stronger or smarter. But this…” Kale throws up his hands. “This is not how it should be, coach. I could have won easily. And did he really have to smash my whole face? He could’ve killed me!”

  The minotaur reaches out a hand to stop him from pacing, but Kale shrugs him off.

  “I know it sucks right now,” his coach tells him. “But give it time. In a couple of months, you’ll be the one winning all the fights.”