Death Cloud: The Senturians of Terraunum Series (Book 2)

by R. J. Batla

  He hit his forehead with one of his huge, oversized fists. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot. Malstrak asked if it was possible to not kill you... says he’s got some kind of plan or something. Well, don’t you worry, Dragon,” he said with a wink. “I’m pretty sure I’ll ‘accidentally’ kill you. No way I’m throwing a fight. And even if I find a way to not kill you, he didn’t say anything at all about your friends.” He licked his lips as he eyed everyone in the room. “Oh yes, this would be a fun bunch of prey.”

  “Okay, fine, you’ve had your fun,” I said. “Now get out of my room. You’re not welcome here.”

  He shrugged. “Fine, fine.” He put his hand on the couch and completely caved in one side, then did the same to the table. “Oops. Such shoddy craftsmanship.”

  As he stooped under the door frame, barely squeezing through the space, he called back over his shoulder. “It would be better for you if you threw the fight, Dragon! And, really, you know Malstrak’s coming for all your friends. No matter if you win or lose. Have a good day!”

  He lumbered out of the room with a swagger to his step.

  Chapter 44 – Jayton Baird

  “ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE out. It’s time,” I said, shooing everyone out of my room to get to their seats early. I needed everyone to get out a little early today. There was something I needed to take care of.

  “Okay, Mr. Dragon of the East, what’s the big rush?” Royn said, though he looked at me funny as he shook my hand. “Good luck.” Everyone else filed out and did the same, until it was only Leona left. I closed the recently repaired door.

  She jumped into my arms, her lips instantly finding mine. We’d decided to keep our relationship a secret for now, so we had to make time to...you know...be together. And with everyone being around all the time, those times were few and far between. So we took advantage of it when we could.

  I couldn’t get enough of her, couldn’t get her close enough to me. We had two minutes, max. “We should stop meeting like this,” I said, running my hands through her hair, her mouth on mine driving me crazy.

  “You’d better win,” she said, gasping for breath. “We’ve got more to do.” She finally pulled away, holding each of my hands. “Jay, be careful.”

  “I will, Leona. I will.” I kissed her forehead. “Catch you on the flip side.”

  She walked away, my body aching to go with her, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest, but my damn brain made me turn and make the longish walk to the scanner, the now-familiar guard not even looking at me as it dinged.

  “Jayton Baird! The Dragon of the East!” the announcer said, and I set off a few fire blasts as I took my place on the triangle, drawing my sword. Deep breaths.

  “Miles Hedley!” the announcer said.

  A green-and-brown-swirled Senturian stepped out onto his arrow. Dropping down into a ready stance, he nodded at me and I nodded back. At least somebody finally had some respect around here. He had a bow in his hand and knives strapped to every possible inch of his body. Long brown hair blew in the nonexistent wind, making him look like a badass.

  Jerk.

  “Fighters ready?”

  We each raised our weapons, not looking away from our opponent.

  “Fight!”

  I didn’t think anyone could shoot a bow so fast. Ten arrows were in the air before I could think. Good thing I was fast. Dodging left and right, the arrows barely missed me. I slung a fireball at Hedley. He dodged easily and launched more arrows – not in my direction. But I froze as I realized something – all the arrows had surrounded me and hovered in midair. What the hell?

  Guidance Quantum. I had expected something similar to this, and I readied my air power.

  At his command, all the arrows flew me at the same time.

  “Shield!” I said, raising my left hand, the green air stone glowing in my wrist guard. The air solidified around me, stopping the arrows mid-flight.

  I dropped them to the ground with a wave of my hand and sheathed my sword. “Wave Slap!” I said, throwing my hands forward. A surge of water from each source crashed into Hedley. At the last second, I saw an earth shield materialize, negating my attack.

  After the wave passed, he let his earth shield fall, and slung his bow across his back. “My turn. Boom!” he said and slapped his own hands together in front of him.

  His attack was better than mine. A shock wave rocketed from his hands, throwing me off my feet and clear to the other side of the arena. I landed in a heap, my hands on my ears. I’d managed to toss up a small shield just in time, but holy cow, the noise was incredible, still echoing all over the battleground. I struggled to rise and searched for Hedley.

  A small knife clanged against the scale armor of my right shoulder. Another clanged off my chest, another off my back, coming from everywhere at once. Uh oh.

  “What is this?” he said to my left, emerging from behind the boulder pile. “You’ve been hiding something, Jayton Baird! Those knives could only have been stopped by one thing – scale armor!”

  The crowd murmured to themselves at the revelation.

  This fight seemed different from the others. Like it was slower, more meditated.

  Like he was trying to give the crowd a better show.

  And maybe he was.

  Either way, everyone knew my armor secret now, so I grinned and decided to add to the performance. I gave Hedley a bow. “Congratulations, you’re the first one to figure it out! I’ve had scale armor on this whole time!”

  The crowd erupted into conversation and cheers. I waved.

  “Very nice,” Hedley said. Reaching behind his head, he pulled out two long daggers, very thin and pointy, each with a deer antler for a handle. “But that won’t protect you from these two. They’re designed specifically to get through scale armor. What do you say we test them out?”

  I drew my sword and laced it with yellow energy, at the same time forming a small circular shield around my wrist guard. Dropping into a ready stance, I inclined my head at him. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  The crowd loved this, judging by the level of sound they produced.

  He raised the daggers and saluted, then dove at me with those things, looking to skewer me with the first strike.

  “Sand Blast!” I said, combining air and earth into a directional sand blaster. It would peel off his skin if he didn’t defend against it. He adjusted his attack to dodge, so I moved mine again, keeping him away from me. Those daggers had me worried and wasn’t something we had foreseen or prepared for — this is the first time he’d brought them out. “Rock Cannon!” I said, balling my fists, causing two rock cylinders to form behind me which launched fist-sized projectiles at Hedley.

  Which he moved away from him with his Guidance Quantum. Damnit, I’d forgotten he could do that.

  But it kept him occupied, and split his attention, so I closed the distance and engaged with my sword, deciding to chance the daggers. Steel rang on steel when the blades collided, sparks flying as the metal and energy ground against each other. I swung at his midsection, and he dodged backwards. Recovering, he stabbed at my heart. I brought my energy shield to block, returning to the counter attack. Left side, right side, thrust, thrust, parry, overhead strike – we danced across the ground, all the while my cannons firing and Hedley directing the rocks away from himself. His dagger attacks were faster, but my superior reach kept them at bay.

  Another thrust from Hedley and I overextended as I fought off his attack. He saw an opening and took it, stabbing at my left shoulder and connecting, cutting deep. I felt the tendons sever, felt muscle give, my left arm set on fire. My arm dangled almost uselessly. My shirt started filling with blood. Damn those blades. They actually cut through my armor! The bastard wasn’t kidding before. The scale armor was supposed to be my failsafe!

  “Bubble Burst!” I said, a blast of air, water, and energy exploding between us, throwing him back and giving me both separation and time. “Air Cannon! Water Cannon! Rock Cannon!” I one-arm formed
all three, sending the projectiles at Hedley so fast he was forced to counteract them and concentrate only on them. Sheathing my sword, I sent purple energy into my right hand. “Heal!” I said, placing my hand on the wound, sending purple healing energy into the affected area. The blood flow stopped quickly and the pain vanished. Josey would be able to heal the rest of my arm – the ligaments and tendons and everything.

  Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a fight.

  “Earth Energy Shield!” I yelled, the dual spheres of energy and rocks coalescing just in time to deflect all the redirected bullets I’d been firing at Hedley, despite my inability to raise the shield guard on my left arm.

  Hedley didn’t let up. “Flood Ball!” A huge wave came from both water sources, so fast and big, that I was actually underwater. Muffled through the water, I heard, “Ice Picks!” He brought his hands together.

  Ice spears formed all around me. I was about to become a human pincushion.

  Except I was pretty damn good, and I was ready for it.

  Okay, maybe I had the Ignis to help.

  Throwing a lot of power into my Transition Quantum, I mentally screamed, “Sand!”

  All that water, even the rushing spears, turned to grains of sand, and harmlessly fell to the ground.

  Hedley looked at me in amazement, but quickly recovered and slapped his hands together in front of him. “Boom!” Managing to get an energy shield, I was still thrown against the wall of the arena. My shield took the brunt of the force, but I fell.

  “Boom!”

  My shield was still up, but as soon I stood, I was slammed back against the wall and the shield disappeared.

  “Boom!”

  My left eardrum actually burst. Blood oozed down my jaw.

  Arrows and blades flew my way from every direction, even above me.

  “Energy Shield!” I screamed, once again saving my ass with raw power. Knives clattered to the ground and arrows bounced off my shield, only to be redirected again, right back at me.

  A wave of exhaustion washed over me. Shit. My energy was low, way low. The projectiles pounded against my shield, further sapping my energy. I didn’t want to do it, but it was time to use the Old Man’s gift to me. Mentally feeling down my arm, I found my bracelet, the one energy store I was allowed, completely full. Realizing there would be a five percent loss from the transition of power, I initiated it, making it a slow but steady flow. I was going to need it. As the energy left the bracelet and hit my system, I felt a surge of energy and power, rejuvenating me, my awareness sharpening. Ah, much better.

  The pounding on my shield continued. Okay, this was getting ridiculous. “Expand Shield!” Raising my good arm, the shield thinned but expanded a good ten feet around me. “Energy Cannons!” I said, forming three on either side of me. “FIRE!”

  Apparently, the Guidance was limited to elements he could use; the energy shots ran straight and true without interference. Bullets streamed from the cannons, as fast as I could form them, and Hedley had to use his two long knives to deflect them. He was a blur of steel and earth and water, spinning to block as many as possible. But he couldn’t stop them all, and a few connected with his shoulders and legs. Each spray of blood slowed him slightly, thus allowing a couple more to get through, striking him in his midsection.

  “Wet Suit!” Hedley said, apparently tired of bleeding, and the water from the source jumped at his command, forming around him like a suit of armor.

  But it was too little, too late – I knew he was vulnerable to energy attacks.

  “Power Sword!” I said, pulling even more energy from my bracelet and lacing my sword with so much energy it physically hummed.

  Hedley gulped. I could see it even through the distorted view of his water suit.

  Hedley shot water at me, which I deflected with a swipe of my sword. I let loose with all my strength behind a vicious chop at a forty-five-degree angle.

  Clang! He managed to block, but I knocked him back a couple of steps.

  Clang! He was knocked back another couple of steps, and one of the big knives shattered.

  Clang! His second knife shattered, but he’d pulled another dagger from somewhere. He stabbed at my sword hand, the point not piercing the scale armor, but the concussive force sent my sword spinning away.

  My hand still a little numb, I batted the dagger away then kicked him in the leg, but he rolled away from me.

  With the energy from my bracelet, I pushed Strength further. I was on him before he finished his roll and hit him square in the chest with a knee. He flew across the arena, his water suit falling apart around him.

  “Energy Cannon!” I said, setting up two more cannons, the others long dissipated when I lost concentration. The shots kept him busy while I put on some speed to close on him again.

  As I ran, I also launched a fire blast at him, obscuring his vision. While he was blinded, I condensed all the stones from one of the piles in the arena into one big bolder, rolling it toward him.

  He saw the boulder at the last second, and he managed to run around the attack, missing him by inches.

  Except I was running right behind the rolling stone.

  As he rounded the boulder, and I punched him right in the face. He never saw it coming, and with a sickening crunch, his nose broke. With a second strike I kicked him hard in the chest, pushing at the same time with my telekinesis. He flew across the arena, slamming into the wall with a dull thud.

  An alarm sounded, indicating he was either dead or knocked out. The medics rushed from their cubbies – so he was unconscious.

  Didn’t matter. Either way, I’d won round seven. Three more to go. I waved and smiled to the crowd.

  Chants of “Dragon! Dragon!” escorted me out of the arena.

  Chapter 45 – Jayton Baird

  LEONA WAS WAITING FOR me when I got back to the room. “Hey, champ,” she said with a smile, then kissed me. I didn’t care that I was hurting and still probably bleeding internally.

  We heard the rest of the group coming down, so Leona pulled away and laced her hand with purple healing energy.

  Josey was the first in the room. “How is it, Leona?”

  “Not bad. No major damage. You should be able to fix it in no time.”

  Josey nodded and immediately set to work. She’d just finished with my shoulder when my stomach turned over. “I...I think I’m going to be sick...”

  Then I was, and it sucked. Anton had managed to grab a bucket, so it didn’t go everywhere, but the smell was bad.

  Josey shook her head. “I thought that might happen. You pulled from your bracelet, didn’t you?”

  I heaved again and nodded.

  Josey continued, “Makes sense. Sometimes when you use a different person’s power, like the Old Man’s who charged your bracelet, that can be a side effect.”

  “I’ve never got sick before,” I said, finally feeling better and setting the bucket down.

  “You’ve never used that much of someone else’s power, Jay. Plus it doesn’t happen every time, and its effects are usually delayed,” Josey said, energizing her delicate hands and putting them on my stomach. She worked her craft, applying a couple bandages and patches. After another five minutes, I pretty much felt normal again. “You’ll be sore for a little while, but you’ll live,” Josey said. “Keep those patches on and the healing energy will continue to work for you while we go watch Corbman fight. If we leave now, we can hopefully catch some of it.”

  “Oh, I forgot!” I said, and we all hurried back to our seats. We’d just sat down when the crowd started chanting, “Lava Man! Lava Man!”

  We cheered with the rest, as magma burst from the ground and wrapped around Corbman, forming a red hot suit of armor, increasing his bulk and completely covering his body.

  “Lava Spear!” Corbman said, the weapon forming in his hands. His opponent didn’t quite know what to do, as he backed away, then found his courage and charged in.

  One swipe of that spear and the opponent’s s
word fell to the ground. Another and his shield went flying. With a kick to the chest, he was sent sprawling. Corbman calmly walked up to him, placing the tip on the man’s neck, his skin blackening even from such a light touch. The suit was so hot the earth around Corbman’s feet turned into lava too, melting and bubbling.

  “Yield!” his opponent said, and the crowd went nuts.

  Corbman did at least three back flips before bursting his suit in a huge explosion of rock, then bowing deep and exiting to go back through his door.

  “I’m going to go talk to him,” I said, grabbing Leona and moving before anyone could object, Anton and Katy right on our heels.

  We cleared the guards at the tunnel, but there was a second guard stationed outside his room. I hadn’t noticed it before, but there was one standing outside mine too. In fact, there was one outside the few doors that remained in this section of rooms. I hadn’t noticed, but as people were killed or defeated, their doors disappeared. That explained how my room kept expanding — it was taking over the surrounding rooms that had been vacated. And the guards were here because I would imagine with the tourney wrapping up, security must be heightened.

  Walking right up to the guard, I said, “We’re here to see Corbman.”

  “You’re not authorized, Jayton Baird, especially since you’re still in the —”

  “Jayton Baird?” came from inside the room. “Let him in!”

  The guard nodded and waved us through. Upon entering a room that was eerily similar to my own, Corbman threw his arms wide. “Jayton Baird, my old buddy, congratulations on your win!” He shook my hand with both of his.

  “Same to you! That was awesome,” I said.

  “Bah, not too bad. That guy was a pansy. Oh, and the ladies. Hello again!” he said, bowing deeply. Anton and I must have made a face since they both giggled as they shook his hand. Corbman threw up his hands. “Sorry, guys, didn’t know they were taken now. I’ll turn down the heat.”

  “What do you mean...” I started.

  “... taken?” Anton finished.

  “You mean you...” I said.