Legacy of Dreams: Freedom

by Thomas J. L. Green

  23

  Luna

  Annie’s Guide to Weapons of Legends?

  SERIOUSLY?? That’s the book for which I am supposed to murder people? This is a children’s book that’s in every library!

  Luna was utterly confused. The man on the roof promised her a book which would tell her about the sword she got from James. This is a children’s book!

  AAARRRGGGGH!!!

  To top it off that idiot Raven is staring at the ceiling and constantly hums something. How did he manage to get this much mud on the clothes? It looks like he was rolling in mud the whole night!

  I WANT TO KILL SOMEONE!

  Luna continued searching through the book.

  Nothing!

  Actually, too much of everything! This book talks about hundreds of weapons, dozens of which are black swords! How am I supposed to tell which one of them, if any, is relevant and which ones are not?

  He wouldn’t give me a useless book, would he? No, he was way too serious and clearly intended to see this bargain through.

  I guess I will have to write down all of them separately and see which one fits mine the best. That will take forever!

  “Are you going to tell me about the plan for tomorrow’s match?” she barked at Raven out of nowhere.

  “Later, I need to see today’s matches to iron out the details,” Raven replied softly, then continued humming.

  “For what? It’s going to be a trap run, so we just run through to the end and get the item at the end,” Luna countered.

  “Like a rat running through a maze for a piece of cheese, ain’t it so, Nibbles?” Raven smiled at his rat friend.

  “How the hell did he get in here?” Luna stared at the rat in Raven’s arms.

  “I snuck him in in a pocket.”

  No wonder he is so comfortable. The cells are all the same, he has his rat friend here and he is going to fight in an arena. In a way, this is the most usual thing he does. He looks like his usual self too. Handsome, but not even a speck of the divine beauty he had yesterday. Was it just my imagination? Was it the drugs? I will need to ask someone about this.

  “Talking about that, we should get going if we want to see the matches,” Luna remarked.

  “I guess,” Raven replied and started getting ready.

  “This is so fucking boring,” Luna remarked when she lifted her eyes from the book to check if something new happened during the match. It didn’t. The two teams were running independently through the trap maze and trying to reach the end. Who grabs the stone at the end first wins. There weren’t many rules to it. The maze was mostly made of wood and formed a loose shell so people could see into and through it. From the other rules, fighting was discouraged, killing was supposed to be done only as an extreme measure since there is something they call the losers bracket. The only interesting rule was that should a team have members registered as monsters; these need to be present in every round no matter what type of round it is, if able.

  That means we can’t get benched, good. Otherwise, it’s exactly like Raven said, mice running through a maze to get a piece of cheese.

  The traps were made to be wounding rather than lethal, meaning she could probably ignore them and just sprint through the whole maze. She would be healing faster than getting wounded. The crowd seemed bored at best. It was the largest crowd Luna had ever seen as the arena was oversold about three times its capacity. That didn’t change anything in the low mood. This is nothing like Illysaeas. Then again… there isn’t Raven in the arena, is there?

  “Now is a good time to tell me the plan,” Luna poked Raven.

  “I just changed it completely,” Raven smiled grimly.

  The disgust on his face is unmistakable.

  “Don’t like the show?” Luna inquired.

  “It insults me,” Raven nodded.

  “Not enjoying the mice-in-maze game for adults?” Luna grinned.

  “Look how bored the crowd is. They came here to see blood and they get… this!”

  “Sounds like you plan to do something about it,” Luna realized.

  “We will. Come, time to prepare our gear for tomorrow,” he rose up to leave. Luna followed.

  Finubar had his part of the team make a model of the maze and were still planning how to run through it as efficiently as possible. Luna was almost impressed.

  Guess they aren’t as useless as they look. Not that it matters.

  She didn’t have much to put on thought. Raven, on the other hand, seemed like he was carrying weapons for the entire team. He had the arming sword from Jean by his belt, a large single-bladed greatsword on his back, two javelins next to the greatsword, over them he had a shield and he was just wrapping over his shoulder a large long chain which had a big metal hook attached to it. Next to him lay a massive two-handed maul. He finished the chain and tried to move, after a few adjustments he finally managed to do so and they headed out to meet Stallington, who had the monstrous beast prepared.

  “Good luck,” Stallington wished them all as he showed them to the platform. Two members of the Rapacious Reavers took the handles of the monster and led it behind them. As they walked, Raven suddenly took out a javelin and stabbed the monster.

  Again?

  It growled in pain and anger. Raven stabbed it again.

  “What are you doing?” Finubar turned to Raven angrily.

  “None of your business,” Raven cut him off and stabbed it again.

  Luna stared at the scene, confused. The stabs weren’t deep; they weren’t meant to kill. Raven kept stabbing it all the way to the arena. When they were close, he dropped the javelin, picked a pouch from his side and threw the contents at the wounds of the creature. It shrieked in pain and shook the chains so hard they almost broke.

  It looks like salt and smells like… lemon? I guess I should start taking his plans more seriously… his attention to detail is almost frightening.

  When they stood in the arena in front of the massive construction of the maze, Luna finally realized how huge it is and how insane Ravens plan is. The maze was like a huge octopus lifting in front of them on various pillars and columns. They could see the opponent team under the maze between the pillars. Their opponents were adventurers, dressed in loosely matching sets of armors.

  “It’s not going to work, Raven, there is no way I will make it,” she whispered.

  “You will.”

  “Remember, we have about eight minutes before Finubar’s people make it to the end. That’s two minutes for the first part and six for the second one. Just remember the timings and try to fit into them,” he repeated.

  How? I can barely tell the difference between two minutes and five minutes. You plan in seconds!

  “I am not sure about it,” Luna kept hesitating.

  “Just get in position, it is almost time,” Raven insisted.

  Right, the announcer just finished introducing the teams and their members. Ah well, guess I will trust you on this one.

  The announcer started counting and Luna got into position. At the count of ten, Luna went in front of Raven.

  6!

  Luna dashed to him and put a foot into his prepared arms.

  5!

  Raven threw her up together with her jump.

  4!

  Luna spun in the air and straightened her body.

  3!

  Raven picked up the massive maul

  2!

  Luna started falling, aiming her body straight like an arrow with her feet pointing at Raven.

  1!

  Raven hit her with all his strength into her feet. The pain shot through her body as the impact catapulted her forward. Luna flew forward. She flew over the massive maze and the entire arena went silent. Even the announcers and commentators went silent. Luna stayed focused on keeping herself straight to control the flight. To control the fall.

  Seems like Raven hit it right, I am just starting to break into a slow fall and I am at about the middle of it. Good!

  She looked at
the group of adventurers who were staring in shock as Luna was flying towards them.

  That girl in robes looks pretty; I will have her first. Wait a second… I am a bit too high!

  Shit ! Shit ! Shit!

  How do I slow down?

  Luna knew she would miss. She could do nothing about it, so she tried to spin midair to slow down, but was still way too fast and way too high. With a thundering crash, Luna smashed into the wall of the arena.

  24

  Raven

  Looks like a reasonable success, Raven evaluated as he started dashing between the pillars that held the maze up.

  I am not going to play a mouse in this silly trap maze! Luna will be up in a second and keep them distracted before I arrive.

  Sudden shrieking echoed through the arena where he was headed. It soon started resonating from the audience as well.

  It sounds like Luna is up. Good!

  He dashed between the pillars.

  That’s the face!

  The adventurers were trying to fend off Luna. Luna’s eyes were white, tips of her fingers had turned into vicious looking claws and her cheeks were split almost all the way to the ears, revealing an unnaturally massive mouth full of sharp teeth. She just slit a man’s belly with her claw, caught him by the head, bent it backward and gripped his throat with her mouth. Crunch sounded as she tore off his neck and went on to chew it before swallowing it while attacking the next man in the meanwhile.

  Raven arrived to the first person, a man with a bow who was shooting arrows at Luna. Not that she noticed. He saw Raven, shouted and spun. The spin took him right on Raven’s blade. Raven’s sword ran through the man’s midsection and all the way through the back.

  This is why you should wear armor.

  Raven kicked the man off, ducked under the blow from his friend and spun, hitting his legs with the shield sideways. The bones didn’t handle the impact and snapped. The man screamed, Raven finished the spin and ran the sword through his chest. The woman next to him tried to fling a blast of fire at him, but he spun to block it with his shield. It crashed loudly into it. Raven raised the man impaled on the sword over his head and hurled him over his shoulder. She tried to catch him.

  Very poor choice of action.

  As she caught him, Raven made few quick steps and slammed his shield into them. The impact threw off her helmet and sent her flying backward. Luna caught her from behind, impaling her with her claws. A shriek filled the air as Luna bit into her head, biting off half of her skull.

  Raven turned to face the four remaining people who were staring at him in horror. Behind him, Luna seemed to have lost interest in the fight and started eating the woman.

  Well done, Luna… enjoy your meal!

  Raven dashed towards the other four. He smiled as he reached the first one, disarmed him with an upward strike of his shield and impaled him on the sword. The other three followed quickly.

  Boring… I overestimated them. Ah well, on to the main event.

  Raven sheathed his sword and dropped the shield. He took out the second javelin, stabbed it into the second pouch filled with salt drenched in lemon juice and took off the eye patch. He made a few swift steps and threw the javelin. It flew gracefully through the air before it dug itself deep into Stallington’s demonic monster. The monster screamed, broke the chains and charged towards Raven.

  It seems that Luna did a good job at sabotaging the chains.

  Now I have some time to enjoy myself.

  Raven looked around the audience. He quickly found them, lost in the stadium was a field of people with white cloth banners painted with the word RAVEN!.

  My fans… excellent… time to honor them.

  Raven smiled and let loose the chain from his shoulder. He dashed forward towards the charging monster and spun. The chain flew up from the ground. The wide swing swished through the air as it flew between the pillars, wrapped around by one of them and hit the monster from the side. The hook buried into its flesh. Raven drew the greatsword after switching the chain to his left hand. He raised the sword above his head. The air was filled with mixed sounds; he could still hear the people of Illysaeas chanting his name. He launched himself at the monster.

  The monster barely registered the hook digging into its body and kept the collision course with Raven. The chimera opened all three mouths as it pounced on him. He slid to the right. The teeth of the massive wolfish head barely missed him. From above, the monster’s tail ending with a snake head was jolting at him. Raven spun to dodge the head, deflecting the vicious long teeth with shoulder plate. Raven pivoted and cut into its neck with a long swing. The monster wasn’t fast enough and the blade cut through the flesh. He cut off the head of the tail. The monster roared. It hit into a pillar, quickly recuperated itself and charged at him again.

  It’s way faster than I expected.

  Raven dodged the second charge and cut at the beast’s side. The blade cut through the flesh but not the bone. The beast expected the dodge this time and kicked him with the back leg. Raven put hands to block, but it wasn’t enough. The sheer force of the impact sent him flying. He gripped the chain tightly and it stopped him midair before he hit a pillar. The beast was upon him again.

  Ouch!

  He tried to duck down, but the monster predicted it and turned its body so the left wolfish head would catch him. Raven pivoted into a massive spin, he swung his blade upwards with both hands. It cut through the bottom jaw and dug into the skull. The jaws missed him, but the body of the beast hit him straight on with a massive impact. He flew backward into a pillar. The impact took the breath out of his lungs. The monster was charging once more, its left head handing limp on the neck. Raven rolled left, he dodged the charge, but got grazed by the body of the monster. He barely kept his balance, but still sprung forward towards the chain he dropped. He caught it seconds before the monster was upon him. Raven slid under the left head, slashing at its belly with the sword while holding firmly onto the chain in his left hand. The monster tried to break and kick him with the back leg. Raven braced himself as he couldn’t dodge it. The kick sent him flying. The chain finally ran out of free length and got stuck, hurling Raven upwards. He hit the bottom of the maze construction. Instantly, Raven pushed himself off it to land on the beast. The monster tried to dodge but was wrapped in chains so it couldn’t move. It roared in pain as he landed on it.

  Right… the weights make me seriously heavy… meh, I was way faster than I expected it to be.

  Raven stood up and swung the sword down, burying it into the middle head of the chimera. It’s knees gave out and it sagged to the ground. Raven stood up on its back and raised the sword above his head.

  “RAVEN! RAVEN! RAVEN!”

  The chant was echoing through the air, loud and deafening. Half of the arena was chanting madly; the other half was vomiting or unconscious. He spread his arms wide, signaling victory. The chants grew even louder. Raven swung the blade once more and crushed the last head of the monster. It finally died.

  “RAVEN! RAVEN! RAVEN!”

  He jumped down from the beast and dropped his weapons to pick up a spear. It didn’t take him long to find Stallington; he stood at the edge of the arena. Raven weighter the spear in his hand; made a few quick steps and threw it. It boomed through the air; it flew fast and strong. The spear shattered inches away from Stallington’s chest.

  I guess the local barrier works just as well as the one at home. Shame.

  “RAVEN! RAVEN! RAVEN!”

  He spun on his heel and headed toward Luna. She was sitting by the wall, eating up a body. Around her lay another six half-eaten corpses.

  It seems that she likes the head and organs the most.

  And it looks like her preferred order is women, younger men, older men.

  He stood before her.

  “We are done here. Let’s go back,” Raven told her resolutely.

  She stared at him, took a big bite and threw away the body. Luna raised herself from the ground. She walke
d beside him to the exit from the arena. The rest of their team had already reached the end of the maze, claimed the victory by getting the stone and returned to the entrance of the maze.

  Their faces were made of a mixture of horror, disgust, disbelief and pure amazement.

  Raven smiled as they were passing them to leave and remarked loud enough to make sure they all hear it.

  “Welcome to the arena.”

  “What the hell was that?” Castien lost his cool and shouted at Finubar the minute after Raven and Luna went to clean themselves.

  “I have no idea,” Finubar conceded.

  “Tell me Sana, did you manage to watch their fight with the Eye?”

  “I did, I already told it all to Nym. It doesn’t make any sense to me though,” Sana replied.

  “Have you managed to figure anything out, Nym?” Finubar asked the old sage.

  Nym took a deep breath, then spoke to the rest of the Rapacious Reavers in a calm but serious voice.

  “I believe that we have had a wrong evaluation of our two team members…despite their appearances and behavior, they are not a slave and a junkie,” Nym started.

  “Bullshit… what are they then?”

  “Raven is someone who just meticulously executed a very complex plan. He got rid of the monster he hated and literally stole all the attention of the audience. Nobody will even remember who ran in the previous matches… and he got to send a message to Stallington. That’s quite an achievement for five minutes of work, isn’t it?”

  “That might be true, but it is not very helpful,” Finubar objected.

  “It might be. Suppose Raven isn’t a strange slave but rather a warrior who has consciously worked on his skills for his entire life. Suppose his inhuman speed and strength aren’t an aberration of nature, but rather a result of a continuous effort to strengthen his body by magic and training. How should we treat such a man to avoid us ending up in the position where the demonic beast was today?” Nym continued unfazed.