by Ramy Vance
In every bar, living room, and doctor’s office, people could not ignore the battle happening in “who the hell knows where,” as they were all saying. It was a worldwide phenomenon. All of humanity tuned into one experience.
Much like the rest of the world, everyone in the lab was biting their nails, pacing, doing anything to blow off their anxious energy. At least for the folk who had the common decency not to bet on Terra or the balrog.
The same didn’t hold up for the rest of the world. Terra was obviously the underdog, and more than enough humans had bet against her. But even those individuals were probably still hoping Terra came out on top. If a human could beat a creature like that, what else could humans do?
It was a question Abby couldn’t care less about. Terra losing wasn’t an option. Abby was going to make sure of it. The problem was she only had one way to interact with Terra. The tracker. And more often, the tracker was preoccupied with recording Terra.
Abby sighed, her frustration becoming more apparent to everyone in the room. Not that there was a joyous attitude at all. Everyone was all nerves and shaking legs. Even Anabelle, who usually managed to stay calm—not counting her angry outbursts—was noticeably anxious.
There had to be something Abby could do to help Terra out.
Anabelle crossed and uncrossed her legs as she leaned forward. “Abby is there anything you can do to help?” she asked. “I feel like we’re just filming her. We’re the only people anywhere who can help her right now. Can that thing do anything?”
Abby laughed to herself. Maybe elves could read minds too. “Exactly what I was thinking,” she answered. “But that tracker’s the size of a fly. And weaponless. Can’t seem to think of a way we could use it to do anything other than annoy Terra.”
Then the idea came to Abby. The tracker had advanced diagnostics abilities. If it was able to send video from wherever Terra was, that meant it would be able to send diagnostic data too. And Abby could send signals back. At the very least, Abby could possibly find the balrog’s weak spot.
Abby spun her chair around and slid over to her computer. She grabbed the VR headset she’d used to control her drones the day she ran into Anabelle. It took a few moments for the headset to sync to the tracker, then it was down to business. Abby slid on the gloves to control the tracker and relay commands.
Through the tracker’s eyes, she could see the balrog. It still hadn’t advanced on Terra. Maybe the demon was trying to devise its own strategies as well. Whatever. That just gave Abby time to get in closer and see if she could find anything to use against it.
Abby guided the tracker across the arena and zipped around behind the balrog. She started scanning. Across from her, Creon had taken the hint and was back at his desk, beginning to receive information on the balrog.
“Balrogs got any general weaknesses?” Abby called.
Blackwell was the first to answer, much to Abby’s surprise. “Not any that are applicable in this fight, Miss,” he called out. “Balrogs are susceptible to different kinds of water magic and light magic as well. Any tech that replicates that works.”
The soldier was right. None of those weaknesses applied. Abby had heard humans couldn’t use magic without a ton of loopholes, and they weren’t in a position to exploit any of them. At the moment, all they had to depend on was Terra’s raw strength and determination. They were asking a lot.
Creon was printing out ream after ream of paper, standing on top of his computer monitor and trying to read each sheet as soon as it came out. “That isn’t entirely true,” Creon corrected. “Each balrog is its own…I guess you could say, own sort of demon. Much like humans or goblins.”
Anabelle had started to pay attention to the conversation behind her and briefly broke away from the holoprojector. “What are you trying to say, Creon?” she snapped.
“I mean, each of us has our own weaknesses. Individual ones. I have a bad hip. Blackwell has carpal tunnel syndrome. Things of that sort. We can scan the balrog for anything like that. Figure out what ails that particular creature. Everyone has one. Demons aren’t any different.”
Abby only half-heard what Creon had said. She was busy going through the schematics of the tracker she and Creon had built. There had to be some kind of hardware she could use to her advantage. The only options she could see that were potentially useful were the tracker’s speakers and its small assortment of nanobots.
The nanobots would have been a much more viable option if Creon had listened to Abby and doubled the number the tracker could hold. At the moment, the nanobots weren’t capable of any large constructions. The most they could do was triple the size of the tracker or create a small attachment. Not a lot of room for creativity.
Creon jumped off his computer and ran over to Abby’s desk. “Look at this,” he said, eyes wide. “This balrog has extremely sensitive ears.” Then Creon’s smile faded. “That’s it. That’s its only weakness.”
Abby beamed at the information and slapped her knee. “Perfect. You couldn’t have said anything more perfect,” she exclaimed.
“Oh, really?”
Abby pulled down her VR headset and blocked out everything around her. She directed the nanobots to start building an attachment: a high-frequency speaker to connect to the back of the tracker.
All Abby had to do was keep the tracker out of the balrog’s sight, but that would be easy enough. The balrog was huge and only seemed to be interested in Terra. The two combatants were still staring each other down.
Abby simply hoped it wouldn’t take too long for the construction to finish. She had no idea how the lag between worlds was going to affect the tracker. The fact that it was working so well now seemed like nothing more than luck. And luck never held. That was what Pa used to say.
The VR display showed the completion percentage for the construction of the speaker in the right-hand corner. Only ten percent. All Abby could do was keep watching until the speaker was finished.
Terra wondered why it was taking the balrog so long to attack. She didn’t want to go back on offense. That would just mean tiring herself out faster. Not that she was tired now. She had no idea what her body was capable of here. Back on Earth, she would have been exhausted.
Not here.
Here she was something else.
Something more.
The new strength and endurance were a godsend. Maybe the orcs had a fairer notion of a fight than she’d assumed. Then Terra glanced at the balrog. Nope, she thought. Definitely take that back.
Behind the balrog, the double gates were rising again. Chanting was coming from the darkness of the gate’s hallway. Terra didn’t want to think about what awaited her in the dark. She doubted that she was being sent teammates.
After all, this was entertainment, wasn’t it? What was more entertaining than watching someone defenseless get ripped to pieces? These guys were worse than the Romans at the peak of their bloodlust. Any respect the orcs in the cell had given Terra fell on deaf ears now.
Goblins marched out of the gates. They were large by goblin standards, and each of them wore basic leather armor. They carried hatchets and short swords, their mouths frothing as they screeched and barked, bumping into each other, thirsty for blood.
Terra glanced over her shoulder, hoping the gates behind her were opening. They remained down as she backed up to the wall.
The balrog still hadn’t moved. Must be licking its wounds, Terra thought. Even if I can’t see any blood, I must have hurt the dipshit. I’d probably still have a chance if it weren’t for…whatever the hell those things are. Goblins or something?
Or maybe this was because the orcs believed she had too much of a chance with only the balrog. What if this fight was supposed to have ended a long time ago? What if the orcs were sending more goblins in to give Terra more of a challenge?
That was a much more promising idea, something Terra could hold onto, rally herself behind. The orcs had been chanting her name. They wanted her to win. Or at least they ha
d a semblance of respect for her. There was no way they would want to kill her off too easily. The goblins were here to make things easier for the balrog, not to end her newfound career too quickly.
The goblins were taking a formation in front of the balrog, who was still hanging in the back. There were twenty goblins in total. Terra had no idea how she was going to eliminate them. The fight with the orc yesterday had been her first fight ever.
Fighting twenty people at once seemed out of the realms of possibility. Terra was starting to rethink her formerly cheery disposition.
The first three goblins made a mad dash for Terra, each of them wielding their weapons high above their head. The goblin who made it there first slashed at Terra with his sword. Terra blocked the attack easily, putting a little more force behind the motion and sending the goblin flying backward.
The other goblins stopped as Terra looked down at her shield, surprised by her own strength. She was much stronger than them. She’d forgotten just how strong she was while up against the balrog. This was no fluke. She was strong enough to take a demon one on one. Goblins wouldn’t be anything but an annoyance.
Terra slammed her katar to her shield and shouted, “Fucking break it!” before running at the three goblins. She leapt through the air and landed between the two who hadn’t attacked. One slashed at her and she deflected the strike with her shield, spinning around and using it to bash the other goblin in the face.
The goblin stumbled back, and Terra brought her shield down on its head before slashing it across the throat. Hardly missing a beat, she pivoted and slashed upward, splitting the goblin behind her in two.
Terra strode up to the remaining goblin and stomped its head. She brought her foot down again. And again. The goblin’s head cracked open, brains and blood oozing out like egg yolk.
The arena was silent. She could hear the orc’s wooden seats groaning.
Terra threw her shield down, strutted over to the pair of dead goblins, and picked up the two-armed ax the goblin had used, easily wielding it with one hand. “Who else wants some?” Terra spat, drawing a line in the sand with the ax.
The remaining goblins stared at each other, fear on their faces. They must have believed they were going to come in and tear the human limb from limb. Terra felt stronger. Even stronger than she had before.
Anabelle was breathing down Abby’s neck. Abby couldn’t see her because she was still looking through the VR, but she was certain it had to be the elf. It made her skin prickle, but she pushed her confusing feelings away. “Something I can help you with?” Abby asked.
Abby felt Anabelle pull away, maybe sensing how uncomfortable she was. “How much longer until you implement your plan? What is your plan?”
The construction was at ninety-nine percent. Abby took a deep breath, hoping she could pull this off. The counter flipped to one hundred percent. “Watch the screen and find out.”
The tracker buzzed over to the balrog, who had reacquired its whip with the goblins' help. It flew up to the balrog’s ear and started playing the opening track of a thrash-metal album particularly close to Abby’s heart. The opening feedback-filled guitar started up, and the balrog screeched in pain.
The balrog surged forward, fire and lava spewing from its mouth and its skin. The goblins screamed as the balrog barreled through them, crushing two of them as it swung its whip in a frenzy, driven mad by the frequency in its ear.
Abby kept the tracker close to the balrog but didn’t take her eyes off the action.
The goblins had scattered, forgetting about Terra. But she hadn’t forgotten about them. With the grace of a lioness, she slunk to the side, avoiding the balrog, and pounced on one of the goblins, sinking her katar into the pathetic creature. She stood and threw her ax, hitting a goblin and impaling it to the wall.
Once the other goblins realized what was happening, they mustered their forces. There were fourteen left, and they rushed Terra as the balrog screeched and ran amok.
The first goblin jumped at Terra, and she cut it down with her katar. As she bent to pick up its hatchet, another goblin slashed Terra across the face, sending her stumbling back. She quickly caught her balance and kicked the goblin hard in the chest, shoving him into another goblin.
Terra threw her hatchet into the chest of another goblin and then grabbed another by its collar and slammed it to the ground. She whirled as another goblin slashed her across the arm. Terra punched it in the face and then tackled it to the ground, driving her katar through its throat.
A flash of white-hot pain surged through Terra’s body as the balrog’s whip struck her in the side, sending her skidding across the sand. She felt like she’d broken every bone, and the world threatened to descend into darkness.
Terra grabbed her katar. She focused on the blades. They were bright, catching the light of the triple suns above. She just had to hold onto the katar’s light.
Across the arena, the balrog was still rampaging. It didn’t seem capable of telling the difference between friend or foe. It had already killed three other goblins.
Terra picked herself up, swaying to the side as she tried to catch her balance. She headed to the closest goblin and tackled it to the ground. The goblin held up its spear, the only thing keeping Terra from tearing his head off.
Terra felt an arrow hit her in the shoulder. A goblin standing some distance away had pulled out its bow and arrow. A surge of rage welled up in Terra and she headbutted the goblin beneath its spear, grabbed the bladed section, wrenched it free, and drove the blade through its eye.
The goblin fell to the ground, dead.
Terra pulled the arrow from her shoulder and turned to the goblin who had fired at her. She sprinted to it and rammed the arrow into its throat. When it dropped, Terra turned to face the balrog.
Nearly all of the goblins were dead. The rest had fled to the safety of the corridor they came from. Only the balrog was left.
There was no doubt in Terra’s mind. She knew what she had to do. She leaned over and picked up one of the discarded spears from a goblin’s corpse. “It’s just you and me now!” she shouted.
The balrog screeched once more and took to the air. Fire streaked from its body as it flew at Terra, cracking its flaming whip.
Terra watched it descending toward her. She took aim and launched the spear at the demon.
The spear hit the balrog in the forehead and it veered to the right, trying to stabilize itself. Terra stood her ground, waiting for the impact.
The balrog hit Terra with all of its unrestrained rage, fire flashing from its eyes, black smoke billowing from its open maw. Terra grabbed it by the horns as it drove its head into her.
Fire spread across Terra’s body, searing her skin. She screamed as the pain flooded her senses. There was nothing but the pain, burning through her flesh, down to her bones, cauterizing her soul.
But Terra didn’t quit. She held the balrog with all her strength despite its horns boiling her skin. The balrog tried to pull away, but Terra held it still, her muscles screaming at her as she wrestled it to one knee.
The balrog pulled away, but Terra yanked it back toward her. Then she raised her katar and struck it between the eyes, driving her blade deep into the demon’s skull. Terra pulled the rod, splitting the blade three ways, and they burst out of the balrog’s head. Fire spewed from the wounds.
Terra stumbled back, reeling from the pain. She focused on what was in front of her, ignoring the blackness spreading over her sight.
That was when she heard the chanting. Even louder than before. The crowd was calling her name. “Not-a-Male, Not-a-Male!”
Terra fell to one knee as orcs came running from the gates. Fuck, she thought. I can’t handle any more.
But, the orcs helped Terra to her feet. They led her back to her cell while the orcs and goblins above cheered Terra on.
Cecile was waiting for Terra. A table had been brought into the room. It was covered in bowls filled with medicinal herbs and healing balms.
The tracker followed the orcs and watched as they laid Terra on the bed. “Take care of her,” one of the orcs said. “She fights again in two hours.”
Terra chuckled as Cecile began to rub a cooling minty lotion on her wounds. “At least I get a little break,” she muttered before slipping into unconsciousness.
The tracker hovered, broadcasting Terra’s victory and pain for all of humanity to see.
Chapter Three
The lab was silent as they watched the diminutive goblin soothing Terra’s body with ointments. Abby wished someone would say something. Anything would have been better than watching how much the warrior was suffering.
During the fight, it had all seemed so exciting. Even though Abby was helping out, she couldn’t help but be blown away by how brave and strong Terra was. All her strength and courage was gone now. There was only the broken body of a young woman fighting for her life.
Anabelle finally spoke. “Cut the feed. We’ve seen enough. Everyone out. Everyone except Abby and Creon.”
As the lab emptied out, Anabelle turned to Abby and said, “All right, we gotta figure something out to get her out of there. And we only have two hours to do it.”
Abby couldn’t understand the reasoning of the orcs. “Why have her fight so soon? She’ll get killed. And they seem to like her,” she wondered aloud.
Anabelle was noticeably frustrated by the question, but the frustration didn’t seem to be aimed at Abby. “Who fucking knows. This whole thing doesn’t make sense.” Anabelle threw her hands in the air. “These are the Dark One’s orcs, but the arena makes no sense.”
“Why doesn’t it?”
“Because orcs haven’t been a real society since they started following the Dark One. They had history, even if it was a bastardized version of our history. They still had culture. Then they joined with the Dark One and all that fell to the wayside. But this arena…even if it is barbaric, it’s the old orc way.”
Creon chimed in to help fill Abby in the lost details. “Orcs used to use the arena to choose their chiefs. The strongest would lead their troops.”
