by Joe Fowler
“Wait. Are these fights to the death?” I asked the obvious question.
“Yes, moron. We’re vampires, everything is about death.” Speedy laughed at me.
“Then shouldn’t I know what can kill us? I have no clue how to kill a vampire.” I reminded them.
“Decapitation is the way to end the fights. Sunlight and fire are the only other ways to kill one of us. Drinking your opponent’s blood will weaken him severely and serves as a bragging right. If you get the chance to drink, then do it.” Trog continued to explain things patiently while Speedy was obviously ready to get started.
“Enough! Let’s get this under way.” Speedy said, forcefully. Trog took the hint and moved out of the way. “Get ready, Newbie. This is going to hurt.”
Speedy moved faster than lightening. I knew instantly why he had that nickname. I was so shocked that I could even follow his movements that I forgot to block his punch until the last possible moment. He stepped back wide eyed.
“Wow! Most wouldn’t even have seen that coming.” Speedy said before he resumed his attack stance.
As we circled, he leaped in for another quick strike. Again I blocked, but I also hit him in the chest knocking him flat on his ass. He sprang back to his feet in surprise and fury. He was about to attack again when Trog stepped in between us.
“Calm down, Speedy. You know what Arria will do if you damage him.” Trog spoke calmly like he was trying to force Speedy to calm down as well. Speedy did back off and walk a few feet away. Trog looked at me and winked. He motioned with his eyes at Speedy and smiled when he spoke again. “I know you aren’t as fast as Speedy but you have some real speed. That is a good thing. You were remaining very calm which is a great thing for these fights. That is why you were able to defend yourself against an obviously better fighter. I am sure if you two spar some more that Speedy will end up winning.”
I caught on to what Trog was doing. He was playing up to Speedy so I wouldn’t be in danger from him. Trog knew something and I couldn’t place my finger on it but I figured I had a friend. As the thought crossed my mind, Trog nodded.
“Can you read minds?” I asked him in my thoughts.
Trog nodded and smiled.
“So I should let him win?” Another nod. I smiled and nodded in return.
“Ok. Speedy you ready for round two?” Trog said out loud.
“Hell yes!” Speedy declared and took his stance. Trog moved out of the way so we could go at it again.
We circled each other. Speedy came in for another of those impossibly quick moves and I fought my instinct enough to almost, but not quite block his punch. I was surprised the blow didn’t hurt more but I let myself fall with the strike.
“Ha! Get back up, Newbie. We are just getting started.” A much happier Speedy told me. He was smiling from ear to ear. Trog, who was behind Speedy now, gave me a nod of approval. I got back to my feet.
This continued for about ten minutes or so. I would occasionally make a block or dodge a strike but I was letting Speedy hit me enough to satisfy his thoughts of superiority. Trog watched all of this with amusement. He knew I could have beaten Speedy anytime I wished. I was glad Trog had told me though. It would be better if I didn’t make an enemy of Speedy.
“That should be enough. He seems pretty tough. He might actually win tonight.” Trog said, after he felt Speedy’s ego had been rebuilt enough.
“Not too bad, Newbie!” Speedy said. He actually patted me on the back before he looked at Trog. “If you don’t mind watching him, I need to speak to Ozone.”
“Go ahead, Speedy. I’ll watch him.” Trog replied. We stood there watching Speedy walk away. “You won’t have any problem with your fight tonight. I never thought anyone but the old ones could be as fast as Speedy and here you are even faster. With the strength it took to do that to your door, you will be a hell of a fighter.”
“Thank you for the help with him. It would have been bad to have him for an enemy.” I spoke as sincerely as I knew how.
“That’s why I did it. Speedy only has two more fights so you might not have to deal with him much more but it would have been bad during that time. Just because we are vampires, doesn’t mean we have to be cruel. Speedy isn’t always cruel but he does have a mean streak in him. Be very careful of Ghost, he is even worse. He is on his seventh fight tonight. He can become incorporeal. There is almost no way to fight him. The rest of us aren’t so bad.” Trog stopped talking and locked his gaze on a pretty woman who was sparring with a huge, bald vampire. They were on the mat beside ours. Trog seemed enraptured by her. “Enraptured is a good word for it. That’s Penny. She and I are in love but you can’t tell anyone. Arria wouldn’t allow that. The old ones don’t like for their fighters to become too friendly with each other.”
“She is beautiful. How do you keep it quiet? This place seems to be too confining for you two to get anytime to speak freely.”
“She can read minds as well. We can talk without anyone knowing about it.” Trog smiled. Penny looked to him and smiled in return. Her eyes darted to me and she must have been shocked by what Trog told her. She then smiled at me and nodded in greeting. “She is as surprised as I am that someone other than the old ones could be faster than Speedy. That speed of his got him to this point. He doesn’t have your strength to go with the speed. You might have it easy on your trip through these fights.”
“Are the old ones very powerful?” I asked.
“They have indomitable strength. Their speed makes Speedy look slow. That’s not even including whatever gifts they were given upon turning. Some of our gifts don’t work on the really old ones. We have to get much stronger for that to happen. The older the vampire, the stronger and faster he is. Arria could kill you, me, and Speedy in less time than it takes you to think about it. That above all else, is why we don’t rise up against the old ones who make us fight. They cannot be beaten except by each other and there are laws in place to stop that from happening.” Trog stopped talking and nudged me. “We need to train some more. Onyx is here and he would tell Arria that we were only talking and not doing anything. He is fighting his tenth and last fight tonight. He is a total kiss-ass who loves any chance to suck up to Arria.”
Trog and I squared off and made a few passes at each other. I could see how he won his fights so far. Any strategy I came up with was known to him as soon as I thought it. I tried to just react to his attacks and did better. He straightened up and motioned me forward.
“If you do find yourself against a mind reader, use your speed to its fullest. Even with a warning, we can only move so fast to defend against you. Your speed will be your best friend through these fights. Remember, Speedy only has the speed and he is having his ninth fight tonight.”
“I understand.”
We faced off again but were stopped when Onyx walked onto our mat. He smiled at me before looking to Trog.
“How is he doing?” Onyx asked.
“He has great strength and speed. He should win easily.” Trog replied.
“Is that so? Maybe I should try him out for myself and see.” Onyx waived Trog back and took his place opposite me on the mat.
I was trying to be prepared for whatever kind of attack came but was caught unaware when he disappeared! I looked around anxiously but couldn’t see him. I felt movement in the air when he grabbed for my throat and out of sheer reflex alone, I grabbed blindly and caught his hand and flipped him over my shoulder.
He stood up, now visible, with an astonished look on his face.
“How did you do that?” He asked.
“I felt the wind off your hand as you grabbed for my throat. It’s like Trog said, I have really good speed. I think it was more luck than anything.” I tried to sound like I was no match for him and had just been lucky. I wasn’t sure if he was buying it or not.
“Luck or not, you will be formidable. Arria will be pleased.” Onyx smiled and with a nod to Trog, walked away.
I looked at Trog wondering what to make
of Onyx’s reaction.
“He was impressed.” Trog waited until Onyx was far enough away before he spoke. Since vampire hearing is so good, that meant a longer wait than I had wished for.
“I was worried for some reason. I got kind of a bad vibe from him for a moment.” I said, hesitantly. I wondered if Trog understood what I meant but then remembered Trog could read my mind.
“I know. He did have a thought or two that was unpleasant. I think it was just the shock of a newbie getting the better of him. He was able to shake it off as luck like you said. He will report good things about you though. He’s right, Arria will be pleased.” Trog returned to the mat and pointed for me to face him again.
We made a few more passes with him telling me what to expect when the fights took place. He described the huge crowds, both human and vampire. Some select rich people were allowed to watch and gamble on the fights. Many of them secretly wished to become a vampire but were unwilling to run the gauntlet of fights. It was a rule among all vampires now. Anyone turned must face the ten fights and win them all before they can be free. This law couldn’t be bypassed no matter how much money was offered.
We stopped sparring when one of the groups got called together. This group was one of the other old one’s fighters. Cindy went with them.
Some of the other vampires walked to the mat where Trog and I were. Speedy and Onyx were among them. I guessed these others were all Arria’s. Since no one bothered with introductions, I just stood there listening to their conversations. Mostly, it was just about past fights and strategies.
Other groups were leaving as well. Before too much time had passed, I was a little hazy on just how much time, we were the only group left in the training room. We weren’t waiting long before a vampire came and led us away. As we followed, Trog answered my unspoken questions.
“That is Cerrus. He is kind of like Arria’s second in command. If he gives you an order, follow it without question. He isn’t as old as Arria but he could kill you easily enough.” Trog was walking behind me as we entered the hallway, still following Cerrus. “We will be paraded briefly in front of the old ones. Once they have taken a look at us, we will be led to the holding pens at the arena where the fights are held.”
We continued to walk for a few minutes. I began to marvel at the size of the place we were in. I assumed we were underground. At this thought, Trog spoke a simple “Yep” to let me know we were.
At the entrance to a larger room, the other vampires in our group began to line themselves up in some kind of order. After a moment, I realized it was the order of our fights since Onyx took his place in front. I knew I needed to fall back to the end of the line. Trog gave me a pat on the back for encouragement. Once I was in the back, I waited for whatever was to come next since I didn’t know and Trog wasn’t there to tell me.
It wasn’t long, it seemed like two minutes at most, before our line began walking again. The room we entered was luxuriously furnished. It was smaller than the earlier ‘lobby’ room where I was first led. I could see seven seated figures. Each of them were dressed like royalty, minus the actual crowns. Arria was one of them. She was smiling as her fighters all came into view for the other old ones to see.
Cerrus led us to stand on a raised platform facing the old ones. He announced each of us by name and level of fighter. I watched them watching us. Mostly, they looked bored. One of them was paying very close attention though. He was vaguely familiar. It dawned on me that he may have been one of the vampires who came into the diner. As I stood on display, I knew I must be right.
“Shall we?” One of the old ones asked. They all stood and began to walk toward a door behind them. All of them except Arria. She walked forward to where we were.
“Well, Onyx, are you ready for your big night? This is your chance at freedom.” She asked with a smile.
“Yes, Arria. I am ready. I think you will be pleased with your newest addition. He will continue the winning trend you have established with us.” Onyx stated.
Arria turned her gaze to me once more.
“Trog, what can you tell me about him? You were over his first sparring. How did he do?” Arria asked.
“He is very strong and extremely fast as well, Arria. His speed could almost match Speedy’s.” Trog replied stiffly. I got the impression that he didn’t like speaking with Arria. That made me wonder a bit at why.
“Really!” Arria smiled, broadly. “That is great news. Speedy, is this true? Could he really be near to your speed?”
“He is near to it, but not quite there. He was able to block punches that most vampires would not see coming.” Speedy spoke begrudgingly. He was obviously still a bit miffed at my besting him early on in our sparring.
“My, my. I can see great things with you then, Ethan.” She smiled at me. I returned the smile as best I could when fighting the nervousness she was causing me. “Take them to the holding area Cerrus.”
We were then led through more dull green hallways. I breathed a sigh of relief when we left Arria’s presence. I wasn’t entirely sure why she caused such a fright within me. Maybe it was the stories Trog had told of the old ones strength and speed that had me in such a state. I wasn’t sure at the time.
The holding area was a concrete lined circle. The round room had maybe a twenty foot diameter. Benches lined the walls all the way around the room. There were two doors, the one we came in and one made of bars that led to the arena itself.
Once we were in the room, Trog broke out of the line we were in to drop back to me. He motioned for me to sit close to the opposite wall of the door to the arena. The arena appeared to be of circular design, like the room we were in. It was bigger though, it looked to have around a sixty foot diameter. Its walls were made of concrete except for several iron barred doors like the one I was looking through. I figured the other groups were behind those doors in rooms like this one. The arena was set down from the watching crowd who sat about ten feet or so above the concrete floor. The crowd could barely be seen from my vantage point in the holding area but I could see the glass partition they were behind. Here and there were what looked to be guards stationed around the glass. I didn’t have to be told that it would be their responsibility to protect the crowd from the fighters.
“Here you will be able to see some of the fighting and get an idea of what to expect.” He sat down beside me while he told me that.
I was getting nervous. Even with Trog’s reassurance that I would do well, there was a few fear filled butterflies in my stomach.
“Try to relax. There will probably be another fight before it is your turn. Since there are seven old ones here, there could be two fights before yours.” He spoke in a soothing manner but it wasn’t helping. I was grateful for the efforts he was making though. “The first one is the hardest. You will get accustomed to this.”
“If I survive.” I muttered.
He laughed and didn’t feel the need to restate his confidence in me. It wouldn’t have helped at this point anyway. I think he knew that.
This was when the realization that I might have to fight Cindy occurred to me.
NO!
Trog looked at me in alarm. He searched my frantic thoughts and saw the problem.
“There are five others that will be making their first fight, not just you. Odds are, you won’t be fighting her. One of the seven old ones will not even have a fighter making his debut tonight. It could be either you or this Cindy that ends up sitting out. You need to quit worrying about it. It is almost time for the first fight and you need to get your head on straight.”
I started to calm down a little. I thanked Trog silently for his help.
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad I can help.” He said in relief. He could see how much calmer I was now.
After our sparring match, I understood why Speedy was named Speedy. I wondered why Trog received his name. I heard his chuckle and looked over at him.
“Arria took one look at me and said I looked like a troglodyte
. The name got shortened down to Trog. I don’t mind. It is unique.”
I started to chuckle along with him when my good mood was interrupted. It was time for the first match.
“Welcome all! We will now begin the night’s festivities! Our first match will put first timers Tony against Cindy! Let’s give a round of applause for our combatants!” After a few moments of polite clapping, Cindy and Tony entered the ring. The announcer continued, “You will have five minutes to place your bets.”
I looked at this Tony that Cindy was to fight. He was a little smaller than my average size. I knew that didn’t really mean much now that we were vampires. He could be child sized and be the strongest in the room.
“You’re learning quickly. Size really doesn’t mean a thing.” Trog reinforced my thoughts.
“I’m trying to adapt my thinking but it may take a while to fully understand what is happening here.” I said out loud.
Trog looked at me briefly but didn’t add a comment.
I watched with growing tension as the minutes passed by, at least I figured it was minutes, I was having some confusion with the time thing. I assumed it would pass. It might be a normal thing for vampires. Normal, there’s a word I need to quit using.
In my miserable life, Cindy and her son were two of the brighter spots. The knowledge that she would never see her son again, no matter what the outcome of her ten fights, brought tears to my eyes. I fought them back as best I could. I didn’t want to show any weakness in this room.
“Weakness would not be advised but it would be overcome. I can’t stress how much tougher you are than most in these fights. Now, pay attention. The fight is about to begin.” Trog said, as he sat forward on the bench.
I took a deep breath and moved forward. My eyes went to Cindy as my heart was breaking. She had always been such a sweet person. Now she was about to fight for her life, unlife, and there was nothing I could do to help.
