“In an impressive display of elemental earth magic…Papillion managed to catch the wizard Mercurius off guard!” Viper said loudly. “Mercurius has yielded! The winner of this match is the fairy Papillion!” A large cheer rose up from the stands causing the fairy to smile proudly.
Mercurius and Papillion exited the arena together. The fairy’s earth magic was impressive and powerful. Ashe began to muse about possible strategies he could use if he ended up facing the fairy in the arena.
“Next up we have a human…Picasso Tremaine! He’s also Lord Christian Tremaine’s son, so I wouldn’t underestimate him, folks! Picasso will be facing the vampire Sethos!” Viper announced loudly. “Contestants…enter the arena!”
“Try not to become lunch, bro!” Knuckles said amusedly, sending a slap into Picasso’s back as he passed Knuckles on his way to the gate entrance.
Picasso flashed Knuckles his middle finger over his shoulder as he continued his way through the gate and out into the arena. Picasso was dressed in a dark blue suit with a matching fedora. The tie he was wearing was dark blue with the pattern of black skulls on it.
The vampire strolled out into the arena a few seconds later, and the female spectators began to squeal loudly. Picasso raised an eyebrow at their reaction. He performed a quick once over of the vampire, and grudgingly had to admit he was handsome. Sethos had long, black hair cascading down past his shoulders, sparkling red eyes, and pale skin. He was wearing a black suit, cape with a high collar and red lining, and a pair of black dress shoes.
“Contestants…fight!” Viper called out.
Picasso eyed the vampire with an almost bored expression on his face. “A vampire, huh? Never thought I’d meet one in real life.” He took out his revolver, removed the six bullets that were inside the cylinder, and started to calmly insert six new bullets.
Sethos grinned widely, showing off his pointed fangs. “Prepare to die, meat-bag!” The vampire ran towards Picasso with lightning speed. The vampire was so fast to most of the spectators he’d become a black blur.
Picasso snapped the cylinder back into place, used his thumb to pull back the hammer, raised the revolver, aimed at the vampire’s chest, pulled back on the trigger, and fired. The bullet whizzed through the air towards the vampire, and hit the monster’s chest.
Sethos hadn’t bothered to dodge the attack because what harm could a tiny little ball of metal do to him? It was laughable. He was an immortal. He was…dying. Sethos’s body was turning to ash. Sethos looked down at his hands that were starting to disintegrate in shock. “What the? What’s happening?” He looked up at Picasso and narrowed his red eyes at the artist. “What did you do? That thing…was it silver?”
“Bingo,” Picasso drawled with a sadistic smile curling his lips. He coldly watched the vampire screaming in horror as its body completely disintegrated and turned to ash. “All too easy.” Picasso spun his revolver around his index finger before returning it to his jacket pocket.
Viper’s mouth was hanging open in bewilderment, as well as the mouths of the live snakes he had for hair. “Picasso Tremaine was able to kill that immortal vampire in just a second using that strange magical weapon of his! Incredible! The winner is…Picasso!”
As Picasso sauntered out of the arena looking smug a few cheers followed him, but there were mostly boos from Sethos’s admirers. Father was right. All the magical races have their weaknesses. And magic’s greatest weakness is weapons from other realms like Earth.
“Next up is Lord Christian Tremaine’s other human son Knuckles!” Viper announced. “He’ll be facing against the skilled, elf archer Alberich! Alberich is known for never missing his mark!”
Picasso passed his brother on his way back into the prep area. “Well, it was nice knowing you, Knuckles. There’s no way you’ll be able to avoid that elf’s arrows. You’re as good as dead,” Picasso sneered, his lip curling in disdain. “Juleka will be mine!” He let out an evil cackle that was dripping with malice.
A dark scowl formed on Knuckles’s face. “We’ll see about that, Bro.”
“Contestants…enter the arena!” Viper called out.
As Knuckles and Alberich entered the arena Knuckles glanced at the elf. He knew that the loud cheers coming from the female spectators weren’t for him. Alberich had shoulder-length, golden-blonde hair, bright green eyes, and long, pointed ears. The elf was wearing a tight, green, leather vest, and matching pants and boots. The elf had a lithe, graceful physique that made Knuckles feel even fatter than he was.
Once Knuckles and Alberich were facing each other on the arena with a few yards between them the emcee called out: “Contestants…fight!”
Alberich wasted no time in reaching over his shoulder to grab an arrow from the quiver that was strapped to his back. He nocked the arrow to his bow, aimed, and loosed the arrow at Knuckles. Knuckles let out a loud roar and began to charge towards Alberich recklessly.
Alberich raised an eyebrow at the man’s fearless charge, and watched as his first arrow hit the man’s left shoulder. Knuckles’s charge didn’t slow down at all, however. A nervous sweat broke out on the elf’s brow, and he quickly sent arrows flying into Knuckles’s left and right thigh. Both arrows hit their marks, but Knuckles was still charging towards him.
Alberich realized his mistake of not targeting Knuckles’s head when it was far too late. The elf was nocking another arrow to his bow when Knuckles was suddenly in front of him. Knuckles grabbed the bow, yanked it out of the elf’s hands, and snapped it in half before tossing both pieces aside.
Before Alberich could react properly Knuckles’s hand shot out, and wrapped around the elf’s head. Using his tremendous grip strength, Knuckles lifted the elf up off the ground, and started to squeeze the elf’s head. Alberich started to scream as his skull was being painfully crushed like an egg.
“Damn you!” Alberich said through gritted teeth as he realized his demise was upon him. He shot Knuckles a defiant glare through the man’s thick fingers, and using the last of his remaining strength he stabbed Knuckles’s eye with the arrow he’d been intending to nock to his bow.
Knuckles yowled in pain as an arrow pierced one of his eyes. But the elf wasn’t through with Knuckles yet, and yanked the arrow back taking the eyeball with it. Knuckles grunted in pain as his eye was ripped right out of its socket. He snarled angrily at the elf, and tossed the elf’s limp body aside.
The spectators watched in horror as Alberich’s body hit the arena floor where it remained unmoving, a pool of blood forming around the elf’s head. “No!” several females cried out from the stands in anger and despair.
Viper strolled over to inspect Alberich’s body and noticed the elf’s brains leaking out onto the arena floor. “Alberich…is dead. Very dead. Knuckles lost an eye, but he’s still standing. The winner is…Knuckles Tremaine!” The gorgon waved a hand in Knuckles’s direction.
The spectators in the stands all began to boo Knuckles for killing the dashing elf Alberich. Knuckles frowned up at the spectators, and let out a huff. He could give a crap what they thought about his methods. The elf had been too dangerous to fight while holding back. Even as the elf was dying he’d managed to take one of Knuckles’s eyes. If the elf had aimed for his jugular instead of his eye, Knuckles would have been killed.
“Next up is the human Ashe Smoldris, also known as the Wielder of the Glass Sword, and Ashe the Merciful! He will be facing against the incubus demon Cupidon!” Viper announced. “Contestants…enter!”
As Knuckles was exiting the arena he passed Ashe. Ashe noticed that blood and gore was gushing out of Knuckles’s eye socket, and decided to take pity on his stepbrother. He removed his cravat and handed it to Knuckles. “Here. Use this. You’re bleeding all over the place, moron.”
Knuckles took the cravat with a grateful look on his face and held it up to his wound. “Good luck out there.”
“Thanks,” Ashe said, a flicker of surprise crossing his expression. It was still strange how he and Knuckles see
med to be getting along lately.
Ashe and Cupidon made their way out into the arena, and faced each other with a couple of yards between them. Ashe took this moment to observe his opponent, and to try and gauge his strength. Cupidon had short black hair that was slicked back over his head, red eyes, and slightly pointed ears.
Two short horns curled out of the top of the demon’s head, and a long tail with a heart-shaped barbed end was swishing back and forth behind the demon. Cupidon was wearing a plain black suit, which was making Ashe feel overdressed in his red suit with its golden embroidery. Ashe had decided to wear the color red because it hid bloodstains nicely.
“Ashe!” “Cupidon!” High-pitched female cheers rose up from the stands. Apparently, both Ashe and Cupidon had fans due to their handsomeness.
Cupidon grinned up at the stands and blew the ladies a flirtatious kiss. Ashe watched in disbelief as a few women swooned as a result.
“Contestants…fight!” Viper yelled.
With a graceful, well-practiced movement Ashe unsheathed the Glass Sword from the sheath hanging from his belt and pointed it towards the incubus demon. The demon grinned fearlessly, and took a fighting stance with his hands out in front of him. Ashe frowned at the weird stance - the demon had his fingers curled downwards.
The demon’s pose started to make more sense as his black nails started to grow until they were a foot long. Ashe wouldn’t have been too worried, but the nails gleamed like onyx and looked razor sharp. All of a sudden, the demon had ten daggers in his arsenal.
Ashe and Cupidon charged towards each other, and met in the center of the arena where they engaged in battle. Ashe swung his sword at Cupidon, and the demon blocked the sword with his claws that were apparently as hard as steel. Cupidon swiftly retaliated, and slashed his claws at Ashe.
Suddenly, Ashe felt like he was fighting against a tiger as he blocked the fierce, deadly claw swipes with the Glass Sword. Ashe’s golden gaze narrowed on the claws, and he noticed that they were surrounded by a malevolent aura that resembled black and purple flames. That aura is probably the demon’s magic. No wonder the claws are so hard and sharp. They’re not ordinary nails. They’re magical. Ashe thought to himself.
“Well, would you look at that, folks! Ashe and Cupidon appear to be evenly matched in both speed and fighting prowess!” Viper remarked as the minutes went by without either fighter landing a blow on the other.
Ashe knew he had to get past Cupidon’s defenses. But, how? Those magical claws were like an impenetrable shield. Ashe realized he had no choice but to try and use his Reflect Moonbeam attack on Cupidon. He hated the idea of using the stored magical energy so early on in the tournament when there were still two elimination rounds left, however. But Ashe wouldn’t beat this demon without that attack. Shit.
Ashe leapt backwards to put some distance between himself and Cupidon before pointing his sword in the demon’s direction. “Reflectunt Lunae Lumen!” A cylindrical beam of silvery-white magical energy shot out of the tip of Ashe’s sword and headed for the incubus.
Cupidon raised his claws before him protectively and conjured an energy shield at the same time. The beam of energy hit the demon’s shield and magical claws, and was successfully blocked. The demon started to cackle triumphantly. “Is that the best you can do, human?” he sneered in a condescending manner. “After I kill you the lovely Princess Juleka shall be mine! I’ll have fun mating with her and feeding off her sexual energy! My powers will increase as a result, and she’ll enjoy every minute of it!”
Ashe saw red. He really didn’t like the idea of this demon having sex with Juleka and feeding off her sexual energy like some kind of vampire. Ashe willed the Glass Sword to pour all the remaining moonlight into his attack. The beam of light increased in size, and power until cracks started to form on Cupidon’s black claws.
“What the?” Cupidon murmured as he looked down at his claws, and noticed the cracks forming in disbelief. Seconds later, the demon’s claws shattered and broke into pieces. Cupidon’s energy shield also flickered out of existence. The incubus was so stunned by what had happened he lost track of Ashe until the man had the Glass Sword pressed to his throat.
Cupidon put his hands up in a surrendering gesture and swallowed a lump of fear. I’m doomed. He’s going to kill me! Cupidon thought glumly.
Ashe was tempted to take the demon’s perverted head. Especially, after the disrespectful way he’d talked about Juleka. “I should kill you.”
Cupidon’s red eyes widened with fear. “Please, don’t. I don’t want to die.”
Cupidon’s pathetic begging snapped Ashe out of his haze of rage. He was surprised at himself and his own inner darkness for having considering killing Cupidon. Had he really been about to kill this demon that he’d already defeated? “Do you yield, demon?” Ashe asked through gritted teeth.
“Yes…I yield,” Cupidon said quickly. As soon as Ashe pulled his sword away from Cupidon’s throat the demon let out a sigh of relief. He watched as Ashe sheathed his sword and rubbed his neck unconsciously. “You know, I may have taken my teasing a bit too far earlier. I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Please, forgive me.”
Ashe blinked and raised an eyebrow at the suddenly submissive demon. “I haven’t won this thing yet.”
A wide, calculating smile spread across the demon’s face. “I plan to bet a significant sum on you being the winner of this tournament. Don’t let me down, Ashe Smoldris.” He sent Ashe a playful wink.
“Demons.” Ashe shook his head with dark amusement.
“Cupidon has yielded!” Viper shouted. “The winner is…Ashe the Merciful!”
“Ashe! Ashe! Ashe!” The spectators cheered loudly while Ashe and Cupidon exited the arena together walking side by side. A faint blush rose to Ashe’s cheeks due to all the attention he was getting. When Cupidon noticed, he playfully nudged Ashe in the side with his elbow.
“The people of Glass Kingdom love you,” Cupidon said in a low voice. “If you win this thing…they’ll be happy to have you as its King, despite the fact that you’re a slave.”
King? Ashe thought. He hadn’t really been thinking that far ahead. He’d been concentrating on winning the tournament to save Juleka from Picasso’s clutches. Ashe hadn’t really given it much thought that if he won he’d marry Juleka and become King. A slave becoming a King? The very idea made Ashe’s stomach tie itself up into knots.
To be continued in…Chapter 14:
Chapter 14:
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached the second-to-last round!” Viper shouted up at the stands. “The first match of this round is going to be Picasso Tremaine facing against Papillion! Contestants…enter the arena!”
Picasso and Papillion, who was currently five-feet-tall, entered the arena, and faced off with a few yards between them. “Contestants…fight!” Viper yelled excitedly.
Picasso whipped out his revolver, aimed it at Papillion, and fired. The fairy quickly transformed into his five-inch-tall form with his butterfly-like wings fluttering behind him. The bullet completely missed the fairy, but Picasso kept firing.
Papillion dodged the bullets, flitting about at top speed. The fairy decided to change tactics. He raised his hand and conjured a magical energy shield that he intended to use to block the next projectile attack that was sent his way from that strange magical weapon Picasso was using.
Picasso grinned as he fired at the fairy again. The bullet sped through the air, hit the magical shield Papillion had created, and then passed right through it. The fairy’s green eyes widened as the bullet simply went past the shield as if it didn’t exist and hit his head. The bullet was nearly the same size as the fairy’s head and caused it to explode on impact. A few screams of horror rose up from the stands at the unsettling sight.
“Rest in peace, fairy,” Picasso jeered as he put his revolver away, and stalked off the arena without looking back.
“Once again, Picasso Tremaine has defeated his opponent with that strange magical weapon
of his!” Viper declared, his snakes hissing with bloodthirsty enthusiasm. “It didn’t appear to be affected by magic at all! Just what is that weapon, really? Papillion is nothing but a splat of blood on the arena floor, and so the winner is Picasso Tremaine!”
Loud boos followed Picasso’s exit from the arena. As Picasso passed Ashe on his way back into the prep area Ashe gave his stepbrother a disgusted look. “Was it really necessary to kill him? He was just a little fairy.”
“I found it necessary to stop Papillion before he used his powerful earth magic against me,” Picasso drawled, a glint in his gray eyes. “I did what I had to do to win. Besides, you didn’t seem to mind when I killed that vampire.”
Ashe shrugged. “Vampires are evil.”
“Not all of them,” Picasso said, raising his eyebrows at Ashe in a condescending manner. “Sethos was apparently a vampire that only drank the blood of animals. But I didn’t really give a shit either way. I’m here to win Juleka’s hand, Ashe, whatever it takes.”
Ashe was starting to tremble with rage. He hated Picasso with a passion in that moment. Ashe was unconsciously stalking towards Picasso when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Knuckles. “Come on, Ashe,” Knuckles began in a chiding tone. “Don’t let him get to you. That’s what he wants. If you fight him now you’ll get disqualified. You should be concentrating on defeating me because then you’ll probably be fighting him officially.”
Ashe nodded stiffly. “Yeah. You’re right. He’s not worth it.”
“Our next match is going to be Ashe Smoldris, who will be facing his stepbrother Knuckles Tremaine!” Viper announced with an unholy gleam in his yellow, reptilian eyes. “Brother versus brother! Will they show mercy to each other…or will brother slay brother? Contestants…enter the arena!”
Ashe and Knuckles started to head towards the open gate. As Knuckles passed Picasso, the artist leered at his brother. “I hope you drop dead out there, fatass. You’ve been getting on my nerves lately with all your goody two-shoes bullshit.”
Ashe and the Glass Sword Page 33
