Fire & Stone_The War for Life

by Luis Robles

  “Thank you, l will do my best for you,” Hellys said softly.

  “I always knew you would make it,” Nuvia said.

  Hellys smiled and held Nuvia, snugging for the rest of the night until she had to return to the Stone Keep.

  * * *

  Crowds gathered outside of the Stone Kingdom’s coliseum, admiring the names of the champions that would participate. The names of the contenders were posted outside the coliseum wall, just above the signatures of the people that signed for them. Most of the names written were highly known for their participation in the previous tournaments or for their known legendary combat skills.

  Hellys’ name, on the other hand, was viewed by most of the people who came at the event as random, and some even laughed to see it. Skeptical comments were heard amongst one another.

  “What is he doing here?” said one spectator.

  “He’s not even going to survive the first round. He is nothing compared to these champions who are true warriors with so much skills and experience in actual combat,” commented one gargoyle.

  “What a loser. Just because he’s in good relations with the royal family doesn’t mean he should enter the tournament,” added the other.

  The comments went on even after the doors shut and the tournament was about to start.

  The coliseum was readily filled up with spectators—gargoyles and humans alike. King Bramma then stepped up to the podium to greet everyone and explain the rules of the tournament. The podium was built high above the arena, and it encased a large stone boulder at the center of it. As usual, King Bramma tapped the large boulder three times with the stone mallet, causing a loud thump that shook the coliseum.

  The crowds in the coliseum silenced and patiently waited for the King to speak. The coliseum was an upwards circular structure that seated the spectators above and around the circular flat arena. Five great pillars, along with the royal podium and the outer coliseum’s walls, held a tent in place, giving the spectators superior viewing of the tournament.

  Using a special voice amplification spell that acted like a megaphone, Bramma spoke to the large crowd. With a strong voice, he said, “Welcome all to the sixth annual Stone Tournament. This is the tournament where stories are made and legends are born. Only the best warriors entered this year’s tournament, and only one shall rise above the rest. The rules of the tournament are simple, and there will be no exceptions. A warrior who touches the coliseum walls three times, by any means, will be eliminated from the tournament. A warrior who is rendered incapacitated to continue will also be eliminated. There will be fifteen consecutive matches, and a winner shall be decided today. In case of an apparent draw, Nimbus and I would choose the victor of the match. There will be no draws whatsoever. Everyone, get ready for the best tournament you will ever see. Let the Stone Tournament begin!”

  The crowd roared in excitement as soon as the King finished going over the rules. After looking around the roaring crowd, he took a seat next to the Queen and the Princess; Nimbus and Fieera also stood near as they were about to witness the awaited event.

  The first eight matches were drawn randomly, and each contender was given a number. For the first eight matches, the participants used a shield and a hammer to make the matches end more quickly. Hellys was in match number eight, with one of the most terrifying giants in the realm. He was thrice the size of Hellys and looked five times as strong; marks of battle covered his body. The armor on the giant was strange. It was asymmetrical, and it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing; it looked heavy and unkempt. Most gargoyles feared this brute called Mortto.

  As the fast-paced matches progressed, the people in the coliseum grew more convinced that Hellys was way out of his league entering the tournament. The matches were vicious, with pieces of gargoyle skin stone and armor from other champions flying everywhere as they blocked the attacks.

  When the eighth match was about to start and Mortto entered the arena, the crowd quieted but murmured amongst each other.

  “The only gargoyle left to fight is Hellys.”

  “Poor guy, he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.”

  “You have to be kidding me. Hellys is going to fight that? I don’t even think any of the other warriors will stand a chance against that. What is Hellys doing?”

  “Hellys is not even going to show up.”

  Mortto waited impatiently for Hellys to enter the arena. Matches did not have an official start: once the contenders were inside the arena, either one of them could start the match at any time.

  Once Hellys entered the battle area, Nuvia got up from her seat and cheered at him, pouring out her heart, “Hellys! It’s time to show them what you can do. Don’t hold back, let them see!”

  Hellys looked up and waved to the Princess in a nonchalant way.

  “You really believe in Hellys, don’t you?” Bramma asked her daughter.

  “I do, Father,” Nuvia replied, with her eyes on the match.

  Bramma smiled and turned his gaze back to the arena.

  Mortto was so irritated with Hellys’ inattentiveness to his presence that he launched an attack. As soon as Hellys turned around to face Mortto, he was already near. Hellys got quickly out of the way without breaking a sweat. The crowd roared back to life as Hellys dodged the attack.

  Hellys thought it was best to end the match as quickly as possible to conserve the most energy. Hellys counterattacked against Mortto, aiming straight for where his ears would be, using the provided tournament hammer. Even though Mortto’s ears were covered by armor, he thought that the hammer would hit hard enough to discombobulate him.

  As Hellys swung the long hammer towards the giant, it flew apart in midair. The hammer’s head flew rapidly towards the arena’s wall and bounced off it, although the hammer’s handle did manage to hit Mortto on the armor outside his left ear. This only made Mortto more aggressive. He managed to grab a hold of Hellys through his shield. As soon as he saw that Mortto had a hold of it, he tried to detach himself. However, the shield’s locking mechanism seemed faulty, and he was not able to let loose out of it. Right away, he knew that someone had rigged the tournament and wanted him to lose.

  Remaining calm and knowing that Mortto’s intelligence was that of a rock, he started using the brute’s force against him. By taunting Mortto into hitting and breaking the shield, Hellys was able to break from his hold. Knowing that it would take a great deal of energy to beat Mortto in hand-to-hand combat, he decided to use Mortto’s own strength and mental weakness against him. Hellys neared the arena’s walls and started taunting and even making fun of Mortto.

  “I’ve always known giants were stupid, but you are another level, my friend. You can’t even catch me! What will your friends say when they find out that you were defeated by a little gargoyle?” Hellys taunted.

  Hearing this, Mortto attacked Hellys blindly, wildly filled with anger, causing him to hit the wall as Hellys quickly managed to get out the way. Besides rendering the giant inert, touching the wall was enough for him to lose the match.

  The crowd cheered at Hellys, but he paid no attention. His mind was loaded with questions: “Who would want me to lose this badly? Who could want to win this enough to stoop to cheating? Who am I a threat to?” Hellys walked calmly away from the arena as the crowd roared for him. When the crowd saw Hellys fight for the first time, many retracted what they had said about him, and many more wished that their signatures were under his name.

  Soon after Hellys exited the arena, the second set of matches was underway. The second set seemed to end even more quickly than the first, as one false movement ended in the champions’ defeat. Hellys went on to win his second match, as well, with little effort.

  However, a formidable opponent was awaiting him for the next round. The third set of matches took longer than anticipated as all four champions in the third set were highly capable warriors. Having to face Sangoi, a long-time field strategist, Hellys had his work cut out for him. Sangoi had studied Helly
s in his two past matches and had a strategy to defeat him. Sangoi thought that Hellys was not a great fighter because he was luring his enemies to touch the wall or crash into it. Sangoi thought that if he could get Hellys to think that he was going to attack him at high speed, he would grab a hold of Hellys and push him to the wall. However, Hellys was much stronger than Sangoi thought him to be. Every time Sangoi tried to push Hellys against the wall, he found himself touching it instead.

  Hellys had made it to the final round, and everyone was impressed.

  “I think he might stand a good chance in winning the whole thing,” Bramma commented.

  “I think there’s no chance he will lose. You still haven’t seen what he is capable of. In all the years that I’ve known him, I don’t think I’ve seen it either,” Nuvia replied with a smile.

  When the last match was about to get on its way, the crowd was heavily divided in two. Some people cheered for Iron Mage, a middle-aged man with a heavy-set armor inscribed with powerful spells. He was famous for his mercenary ways: he only lived for the glory of money or fame. He had attended school of magic, Iridium, but soon dropped out as he found out that it was not the path he wanted to take, only being able to modify his body and armor enhancement enchantments. It was because of him that Iridium no longer accepted just anyone.

  There were many stories about the Iron Mage circulating the crowd. People were asking amongst one another in between cheers.

  “Did you know that he once walked up to a hydra and beheaded her with his bare hands?”

  “That’s nothing! I heard he once jumped into an active volcano to retrieve a treasure.”

  “I heard that his armor gives him god-like powers.”

  When the crowd spoke about Hellys, they had mixed views.

  “Honestly, I am surprised he has made it this far.”

  “Anyone would make it this far if he had the support of the kingdom’s Princess alongside him. I mean, just look at her.”

  “Have you noticed that Hellys doesn’t look tired at all? It’s like he’s used to this kind of thing.”

  As Hellys entered the arena, Iron Mage spoke, “Don’t think you’ll have it easy, boy. I promise you this—if you don’t turn around, you’ll go down as easy as the so-called champions before you. I’m not here to play any games, boy. Turn around now.”

  Hellys paid no attention instead kept walking, thinking, trying to listen. An uneasy feeling took over Hellys, and he knew things were not right.

  “What’s the matter, boy? Are you too terrified to talk? Cat got your tongue?” Iron Mage mocked.

  “Let’s get this over with. But as you said, don’t go easy on me,” Hellys replied, staring directly at him.

  Infuriated with Hellys’ words, Iron Mage attacked him with everything he had. The crowd came to life loudly with mixed cheers. Hellys, however, was paying little attention to Iron Mage’s attacks, easily dodging them and countering him at the same time. Iron Mage called upon his magic time after time, but Hellys was able to see right through his attacks.

  “What are you doing? Fight me! Stop running and face me! Let me finish my job with the pleasure of seeing your face suffer,” Iron Mage screamed, infuriated.

  “Job, what does he mean by ‘job’? Something definitely isn’t right. I should finish this now before something happens,” Hellys thought as he fought.

  Iron Mage raged on, trying to be a match for Hellys. “Just a little longer, and you will see that not every story has a happy ending!” Iron Mage screamed at Hellys.

  Without wasting any time, Hellys attacked Iron Mage with his full force. A two-handed punch in the chest sent Iron Mage flying rapidly towards the arena’s wall, causing him to bounce off it and destroying most of his armor in the process.

  After seeing that Iron Mage was not going to move anymore, Hellys stood still in the middle of the arena, with his hands still smoking and bits of stone falling off. The crowd roared for Hellys. They could not believe he had so much power. Trying to concentrate, Hellys paid no attention to the cheers as he closed his eyes and listened over the noise of the crowd.

  “Amazing! Hellys was able to win it! I always knew he was strong, but I didn’t know he was this strong!” Bramma exclaimed. “But why is he standing there like that? The crowd is cheering for him! He ought to wave back at the very least.”

  “Something isn’t right. I feel that Hellys is looking for something,” Nuvia murmured as she sensed Hellys’ uneasiness.

  Amongst the loud crowd, Hellys suddenly heard a fracturing sound coming from directly behind him. He turned to the origin of the noise, and he was able to see a gargoyle wearing a dark gray cloak running away from the center pillar.

  “It was the pillar all along! My defeat was just meant to be a distraction? Nuvia!” Hellys thought.

  The massive pillar was collapsing with a thunderous crackle, and the massive object was headed towards the unsuspecting royal family.

  Hellys used all his will to fly towards the royal podium and tried as much as he could to stop the massive pillar from crushing the royal family. As the pillar collided into the podium, a great cloud of dust formed.

  A few seconds passed as the dust settled, the spectators noticed that something was wedged between the pillar and the podium. A radiant orange silhouette was visible through the dust.

  Pushing his body to the limit, and with magic playing a huge role in Hellys’ survival, he was able to stop the massive pillar from crushing the royal family. Every Emoree throughout his body burned orange with the massive weight of the pillar leaning on him, crushing him in slow motion.

  As soon as the pillar stopped moving and Nuvia saw that Hellys was wedged in between the pillar and the podium, she reacted. She quickly reached over to grab the King’s stone mallet and, without giving it a second thought, swung it at the pillar using all her strength. Thanks to the imbued magic within the mallet, the massive pillar was pulverized, with small pieces of remnants scattering all over.

  Hellys fell to his knees, exhausted. He looked at Nuvia and relieved that nothing happened.

  “Are you all right? Hellys, talk to me!” Nuvia was worried as she went to grab Hellys to pick him up.

  “He will get away if I don’t go after him,” Hellys said as he flew away from the podium and high above the coliseum to where he would have a bird’s eye view over the area.

  “Where is Hellys going? He is in no condition to fly!” Bramma asked, stricken by the events.

  “He wants to catch the one responsible for all these,” Nuvia responded as she looked up at Hellys.

  Hellys hovered silently over the coliseum, ignoring the noise from the now panicking crowd, as well as his own. Absorbed on looking for the gargoyle with the gray cloak, he heard a rock hit a wall in the same direction he was facing. Hellys quickly flew towards the noise, which was near the coliseum. As Hellys hovered over the area where the noise came from, he saw the gargoyle with the gray cloak sticking his head out from the alleyway looking at the coliseum.

  As the gargoyle was looking out, he heard a voice from behind him say, “Why would you want to hurt the royal family?”

  “It’s impossible! You should have been dead alongside them! How did you find me?” the gargoyle said, shaking in fear and disbelief.

  “I guess I’m just lucky, but you are not so much. You’re coming with me,” Hellys said as he was now standing a couple of meters away from the gargoyle in the gray cloak.

  Meanwhile, in the coliseum, Iron Mage tried to escape in the midst of the panicked crowd and the ensuing chaos. Nuvia saw his suspicious behavior from the podium. With the stone mallet in hand, she jumped from the podium onto the arena floor.

  “And just where do you think you’re going?” Nuvia yelled from across the arena, causing him to freeze in place.

  “Let me be! I have no business here...I lost the match! What more do you want from me? My reputation was ruined,” he replied, injured and with that shortness of breath.

  The gargoyle g
uards wasted no time in bringing the chaos under control before sunset. That night, after everything was back in order, a trial was held in the main hall of the Stone Keep. Nuvia and Hellys escorted Iron Mage and the gargoyle in the gray cloak to the main hall for the King to confront them for their crimes.

  “Potion mixer, come forth and tell us what you can do for us today,” Bramma said, full of authority.

  From one of the halls behind the royal thrones, a known potion mixer entered the main hall. He was carrying a small flask filled to the top with a smoky, silver-blue liquid.

  “This is a truth concoction, my King. Anyone to whom this concoction is applied will speak only the truth when being questioned or talked to. It does not matter how much they want to hide it, they will speak only the truth,” the potion mixer said when he was in front of the throne.

  “Apply the concoction to these two individuals,” Bramma said with contempt.

  Under Nuvia’s and Hellys’ watchful eyes, the potion mixer dripped two drops of the truth potion over Iron Mage’s and the gray-cloaked gargoyle’s heads.

  A white, translucent haze started coming out of the two’s ears. “The magic is ready; you may ask anything you want, and they will tell the absolute truth,” the potion mixer announced some mere seconds after applying the concoction.

  “The one who goes by the name of Iron Mage, what is your role in what happened today?” Bramma asked.

  “When the second set of matches ended, I was approached by this gargoyle. He said he would make me rich beyond belief. He said that all I had to do was keep Hellys from ever getting up again. He said that I had to destroy Hellys,” Iron Mage answered the King’s question without a hint of hesitation or emotion in his voice.