Ianna and Kai walk hand in hand like they are walking on the beach, on any normal day, and not down a red carpet being bombarded by flashes. I can see their heads are already in the game, I wish I had their confidence. They are ushered along by the PR people and I know we’re up next.
My palms are sweaty and I can’t seem to get my breathing under control. “Crap, it’s our turn, Ash.”
He reaches out, taking my hand. A calm envelops me, a familiar feeling of connection when two like powers touch, he’s lending me his strength. Lifting my hand, he kisses my knuckles. “Come on babe, this is our moment to shine. Don’t stress about it, these people are here to celebrate you, enjoy it, embrace that love, you deserve it,” He says the last three words slowly, letting them sink in before exiting the car. He reaches back to help me out, and in the blink of an eye we are surrounded with flashes and people yelling at us.
I try to remember what the stylist said, eyes wide, big smile, no one wants to see a picture of you frowning with your eyes closed. Which is easier said than done when cameras are flashing at you. Asher is a natural, at home in front of all of these people. He belongs here, that much is obvious. It’s a beautiful thing watching someone’s dream come true right before your eyes. As much pain as we caused one another I am so proud of him in this moment.
I squeeze his hand and let him lead me along the red carpet. Smiling and waving as we go. Stopping only to sign a few autographs. It was surreal but amazing.
The moment we are out of the spotlight I throw my head back and laugh, “That was amazing.”
Asher smiles, pulling me into a hug. “You were amazing.”
I smile back proudly. “I’m so proud of you. I know that probably sounds stupid but I am. This has been your dream for so long, I’m glad to be here watching it come true.”
His eyes glass over for a moment before he snaps himself out of it. Slinging his arm over my shoulder he tugs me in and kisses the top of my head before the handlers pull us toward the dressing rooms back stage. I’m grateful that even after everything we’ve been through we have made it to a place where we can love and support each other in a healthy way. Lord knows we tried the unhealthy way long enough.
Standing in the hallway back stage, I watch the live feed playing on the TV mounted to the wall. The crowd’s excitement amps up a notch as the announcer steps into view. He walks to the center; the crowd is going wild. His voice blasts throughout the arena.
“Are you ready for the Titans!” he shouts, they respond by chanting, “Titans, Titans, Titans.” They scream with their arms pumping each word. This guy could invoke chaos at a church meeting.
“Are you ready for some blood!” The crowd cheers, “Blood, blood, blood.”
“Let’s bring out your Titans!” He screams, barely audible over the audience losing their freaking minds. “We’ve got an amazing show for you tonight; first up we have the fan favorite, the fireball throwing monster that makes all you ladies hot, Asher Blaze. Teaming up with him is water chaser, Kai Calder, versus fellow water chaser, Niko Lowry and Greg ‘burn your house down’ Norstad. Let’s get it on!” The screams melt away as the lights dim in preparation for their entrance.
Asher is waiting for his cue to walk down, excited. I’m visibly shaken, adrenaline raging through my system. They are powerful and strong, I know he and Kai will be amazing. This is meant to be entertainment but the fact is the fighting is real, they can and will get hurt but Ianna and I will be here waiting to heal them as soon as it’s over, a bonus of having a partner with like powers, we can heal each other. Other healers are waiting in the wings in case of emergencies. Kai walks passed, he winks at me, saying, “Relax, Nyx, it’s just a game. The only thing real is the pain and blood.” With a menacing laugh he fist bumps Asher. “Don’t hold back, I sure as hell won’t.”
“Don’t worry, this is me we are talking about. Pretty sure I can handle myself against anyone they can throw at me. I’ve been kicking ass since before I could walk.” He says in a light playful tone, trying to down play the damage that he could incur. “You get your head on right, you will be up next.” With that they square their shoulders and when they get the cue, they walk out into the chaos, ready and willing to kick some ass.
Ianna is at my side, staring at Kai’s back, worry emanating from her every pore. I take her hand, trying to sooth her worrying, “They will be fine, we will be right here, ready to heal them when it’s over.” She says nothing, simply nods, our eyes turning to the screen above our heads.
The audience goes wild when Kai and Asher appear. Asher the golden boy. He’s all muscle and ink; with flames shooting three feet above each hand. Pure fire chaser glory and I have to smile at the spectacle. Seeing him up there, both of them, it’s pretty amazing. Asher looks like a god; in this place he is one.
When Kai and him reach the center coming face to face with their competitors, Ash shoots flames across the audience. They are perfectly safe below an energy field, the flames bounce off it and they scream even louder when Kai shoots them all with water. The four demigods bump fists before the match begins.
They begin circling each other letting the adrenaline rage through them and the audience. Asher takes the offensive, launching himself at them all ablaze. Shooting flames toward them as he goes. Kai has his back and follows ready to take action the moment the flames drop. Having fought together many times before, they anticipate each other’s actions. The flames drop and the water chaser launches himself at Kai while Asher begins fighting the other opponent who barrels into him, full force. Kai scrambles to his feet, forming an ice ball hurling them in rapid succession at the others, catching them in direct hits. Leaving them staggering to the edge of the ring to recover.
Kai and Ash exchange a smirk, they have this under control, at least that is what I keep telling myself. The other fire chaser hits Kai with a brutal flaming right hook that sends him back, slamming to the ground at the edge of the stone ring. Asher steps up to battle both opponents, giving Kai a moment to steady himself, before walking to Asher’s back. Wiping the blood that is flowing down his face with the back of his hand and smiles at Ash. They are loving this. Kai builds up a huge water orb, launching at the fire chaser’s face, it envelops his whole head and leaving him drowning on dry land, gasping for air and finding none. Asher shoots a stream of fire at the water chaser who retaliates with his own stream of water, they meet in the middle sizzling and dowsing each other’s powers. The crowd cheers at the level of powers being displayed. The fire chaser is clawing at the water drowning him trying to get a breath of air, but it is accomplishing nothing. His eyes start rolling into the back of his head. He only has seconds left before he loses consciousness.
In the last moments, Asher shoots a fireball at the water chaser’s stomach, knocking him to the ground, he jumps on him landing punch after punch, his hands are bloody, their opponents are both unable to move, it’s almost over now. Asher holds his bloody hands up to the audience, they scream for more. The bell sounds, as he shoots a circle of flames around him and Kai, ending their first victory. The moment the bell signals the end of the fight, the water orb and flames disappear as their wrist blockers beep into action. The other two lay unconscious in the dirt. Once the safe guard is in place the staff rush in to collect the wounded, carrying them off the arena into the wings where their healers will be ready to mend any injuries sustained. Asher and Kai stand proud in center ring with their arms raised, are declared the winners. Damn, they make it look easy.
Back stage is a frenzy of activity when they arrive, Both Ianna and I are waiting in the wings ready to take them back to their dressing rooms. Asher comes in limping slightly and his knuckles are a mess but otherwise in pretty good condition.
“You were amazing out there.” I say, nervous that it will be my turn soon.
“All in a day’s work. You good? Cause I wanted to check on Kai,” he asks, eager to check on his teammate.
“Yeah, I’m great. Ready to go.” False br
avado for the win. I sit back stage listening to Adam and Silas take a beating in the ring, I don’t have time to worry about them right now, Imari will heal him. I need to find a way to walk out there without looking like a scared little girl.
I pull Asher away from Kai’s room. “Ianna has him, he’s okay. Let’s get you healed.” We walk into his dressing room, sit facing each other, holding hands and let our shared powers run through us, healing each cut and bruise marring his body. This is only the first fight, how am I going to handle this for the next six months, watching my friends get beaten bloody. I shake my head at the madness that is my life.
The crowd cheering marks the end of Silas and Adam’s bout. I finish up with Ash and hurry to see how they did. Adam is carried past me with Endyra following behind, without speaking, her mind clearly on Adam and his injuries. We are all so worried about the outcomes, even with healers waiting in the wings.
Silas is in bad shape as they hustle him by. I reach out and touch his hand, he isn’t conscious and there is a lot of blood all over his body it’s hard to tell where he’s hurting. Mason grabs my hand, saying, “He will be fine, now go kick some ass, my love.”
I try and fail to shake the image of his bloody body out of my head before I’m shoved out into the open and the crowds screaming at my arrival. The arena is massive. It’s as if a piece of nature was transplanted here. In the middle is a circle of stones about fifty feet across, which will be the battle ground for my fight. Beyond that are the elements for us to drawn power from if needed. It all is so much bigger than I expected. Watching it on TV is one thing but seeing it this close, knowing I’m the one fighting, its like a dream, or nightmare.
With each shaky step I try to regroup. This is my life, my choice, I will get out there and I will fight with everything I’ve got. I’m a damn good fighter and I will win. Nothing can stop me. When I reach the center of the ring I close my eyes and let the flames come to life over my body, raising me up off the ground, floating a few feet above the ground, pure fire and fury. Their reaction is everything I had hoped it would be. I doubt they have ever seen a fire chaser who could do this. I slowly guide myself back down, as soon as my feet hit the ground the audience erupts in cheering my name. Shooting a few fireballs out over the crowd to get them fired up even more. This isn’t so bad, kind of fun actually. Endyra is beside me, her wide eyes darting around the arena like a caged animal.
“Hey, wake up! I can’t fight these guys alone.” Her eyes connect with mine for a minute before landing on our opponents, who are entering the arena. Their powers are fire and earth, just like us.
Walking slowly toward us, a wall of stones the size of my fist hover behind them. They both scowl at us with distain and superiority. The crowd screams about the rocks, the earth chaser peers over her shoulder, glancing behind her, the rocks shift to the side out of her view, she shrugs and keeps walking, pretending she has no idea what the crowd is screaming about. What is she going to do with all those rocks? When they are twenty feet away her arms raise up to urge the cheers, she points at us. Every rock behind her launches at us full force and at speeds that make it hard to see, the game is on. I dodge to the right avoiding most of them but am struck again and again, as is Endyra. But we are both wounded and bleeding thirty seconds after the starting bell rings out.
They are fast and strong and working together like a team, Endyra and I are one step behind their attacks and losing ground rapidly. No matter what we do, what we throw at them, they side step it with grace and power, knocking my fireballs out of midair with her flying rocks.
A rock comes out of nowhere, bashing into the side of my head. Warm sticky blood drips down my temple, past the corner of my mouth. When I touch the wound, my fingers come away dark with blood. Shit, we need to up our game. I cover my body in fire again and steady myself to stand. Leaving no time to react she swings and connects a punch to my jaw. I fall to my knees, before I can retaliate her foot connects with my stomach and all the air rushes out of my body, leaving me gasping. Never let them get you on the ground, rule number one echoes in my head. We have failed in the first five minutes, or has it been longer? Endyra is laying not far from me, already beaten. They are out for blood. I am sorely unprepared for the carnage in the arena. Swaying on my hands and knees, my head is spinning and the edges of my vision are fading into black. Pushing myself up, I refuse to quit. Desperately trying to focus my eyes to see straight.
My hair is pulled back, the roots straining with the force she’s holding me, pain shoots across my scalp. Blow after blow is rained down on my face, three, four, five times before I lose count. My ears are ringing, my lip splits as my mouth fills with blood. I can’t open my left eye at all and when I pry open my right blood blocks my sight. I’m blind and helpless at their mercy. She drops me, thankfully. Collapsing on the floor in a heap of blood and pain, I pray that it’s finally over. The blood running down my throat causes me to choke and cough, I spit out as much as I can into the dirt beside my head.
I feel her circle me. “You call this a Titan!” The audience is wild with blood lust. She walks to my side, when she kneels close by I cringe away from her and the blow I know is coming.
In a low voice she says, “Big brother can’t protect you in here.” Standing up, I breathe a ragged breath of relief rushes out of me. A sudden blow to my stomach leaves me reeling in the dirt with no air left, I try to fill my lungs but it is futile. My body heaves through my coughs and gasps. Game over. It’s such a shame after all my training and preparation I end up being such a loser my first time out.
At the bell, I start crying, it’s finally over. My whole body hurts as I struggle to pull in a breath. Out of nowhere something connects with the side of my face and I’m out, the world shifts into a black fog. Laying there beaten and partially conscious I can hear the crowd cheer for my blood, pleased to have seen so much of it spilled.
In the darkness, Mason’s voice comes thorough, calling me back to life, “Wake up, Nyx, I got you.” The feel of his arms winding around my waist causes me to wince in pain. I open the only eye I can as I try to stand but fail miserably. With his support, I begin my walk of shame. The audience is cheering for my bravery or my death; either way you look at it I have failed my first time out here. A beer can hit the side of my head. A small hit, nothing compared to the beating I just took, but it hurts more knowing these people who I thought were my fans, are enjoying mocking me for my weakness. Fame is a fickle motherfucker.
I’m carried back to my dressing room, with Mason’s help, where I’m placed on the couch. Something is pressed against my head as I wait for Asher to come heal me. Mason stays at my side, touching me, reassuring me, telling me how proud he is of me, how good I did. Sweet empty lies. I know I choked out there, I trained for it and I choked. I cry hard against him until Marcus enters the room.
I ignore the pain in my side, rolling over with my back to him, not interested in listening to him, the man I came here for, he made me do this, made me want this life. I hate him in this instant, for his part in my defeat. All I do is shake my head at every empty comforting word he says, I want to be alone. I want to run away. Beaten nearly to death and this is only the beginning, I have five more fights ahead of me. That thought almost breaks me.
My breathing gets ragged, as a sharp pain rages through my broken body, so much pain I can’t pinpoint what hurts. Why the did I agree to this? I have taken a few hits in my life but nothing compares to this. I was so naïve; my only thoughts were of victory. Not this nightmare I actively chose. There is no way out now. I rock myself slowly as I feel Asher’s presence beside me, ready to put me back together.
“It’ll be okay… I’m here, look at me, Nyx, and I will make it all better,” Ash whispers gently.
I connect with him as he does his magic, healing my broken body, the pain gets less and less with each passing moment. With my body whole again, if a little achy, I feel better, reminding myself that it was just pain. That this is not real life
danger, it is a show and the wounds and pain will be wiped away by a healer at the end of the day. When I was in the moment, pain emanating from every inch of my body it wasn’t so easy to remember.
Standing up fully healed after being beaten bloody moments before is a strange feeling, I felt each blow, each injury, and minutes later I stand here healed. The only remnant of the fight is the blood on my clothes and the migraine currently pounding its way through my head.
“Good as new and ready to fight another day.” Asher states happily.
“Don’t remind me,” I grumble, dreading the next time I am put in the arena.
“Don’t let defeat root in your head, Nyx. It’s one loss, not the end of the world.”
I need to focus and not let the show of brutality distract me from my part in all of this. The show is just one aspect of our lives. “I lost sight of the big picture in the face of defeat. I won’t let it happen again.” I’m stronger than this. We are not on tour to win fights; we are here to win the war. Glancing at the clock, I have two hours until the briefing before we execute our first mission. I’ve never wanted a stiff drink more in my life.
“See you at the brief, slugger,” Asher says before leaving.
Silas peeks his head in, he’s fully healed, the only evidence of his fight is the blood on his shirt, same as me. “You okay?” He asks nervously; he must have watched my epic ass kicking.
“Yeah, a little shaken but I’m good. Not the way I had pictured my first fight going down but I will survive. You?”
He smiles and nods. “I’m good, nothing Imari couldn’t heal. Just wanted to make sure you were all right, that was… brutal. I’ll see you later.”
Mason steps past him as he leaves, he walks straight to me, picking me up in a fierce hug. “It killed me to see you go down. Security held me back from rushing out there to save you.”
Titan Elite (Demigods Duet Book 2) Page 7
