Forced Vengeance (Jake Mudd Adventures Book 2)

by Hal Archer

  Couldn't just be a giant four-armed badass. Could it?

  Jake took another quick look around the arena for anything he might be able to use to fight Zog and his two beasts. The arena floor was barren, just dirt.

  Jake turned toward the grandstand. "Don't I get a weapon or something? The guy's got those two things."

  Jake saw Mayor Beltrax wave his arm.

  The crowd cheered in response. Jake figured they were either sympathetic to him, or more likely, he thought, they felt adding weapons to the mix would take the gore level up a notch.

  A second later Jake was almost struck by a metal halberd. He spotted it as it fell, and he moved out of the way just in time. The weapon landed a few feet in front of him with a clang, kicking up a little dust from the compacted dirt floor.

  "Thanks!" He waved to the mayor, then picked it up.

  A second later another halberd fell in front of Zog, who grabbed it with one of his free arms.

  "I should've expected that, I guess," Jake said.

  He moved the weapon, getting a feel for its balance. It was well made. He glanced at the curved blade at the end of the pole. The edge looked razor sharp. The point above it seemed fine, the metal leading to it ran the top foot of the pole. It looked sturdy.

  Zog took two steps closer to Jake, his beasts stayed with him, one on each side.

  "Wanna talk about it?" Jake asked, then grinned.

  He felt energized from the adrenaline pumping through his body. Facing off against Zog, head-to-head, in a fight to the death was the sort of thing Jake had experience in. It was simple. No double-crossing. No elaborate plans. No second guessing.

  He knew there was always a chance he'd lose a fight such as this. He'd been in a few that almost got the better of him. But right now, standing before Zog with a bladed pole-arm in his hand, he felt like he belonged here.

  Zog grunted and narrowed his eyes as he glared at Jake. He slammed the fist of one of his upper arms into the palm of the one opposite.

  "Not much of a talker, are you?" Jake asked.

  Zog released his hold on the two leashes. Jake watched the thick ropes of leather drop to the ground. When they landed, the two beasts charged Jake, snarling, and snapping their mouths.

  Jeez, did they have a bad case of dog breath.

  Jake stepped quickly to the side, causing one of the beasts to block the other's line of attack. He readied the halberd, lowering it, and cocking his elbow back. When the closest beast jumped for Jake, he thrust the tip of his weapon into the creature, skewering it through the neck. The beast yelped.

  Much of the crowd sounded sighs and gasps, as if the turn of events was surprising and disappointing.

  The creature's yelping was cut short as Jake pushed harder, driving the halberd straight through the beast and out the other side. The beast fell and the weight of its body pulled the end of Jake's weapon down with it. Jake drew his lips in and recoiled his face away from the creature. The smell was bad.

  Trying to keep hold of the pole, he took a deep step forward to brace himself, flexing his forearms to their limit as he tightened his grip.

  When the second beast leapt for his neck, Jake wasn't able to move out of the way. At the last instant, released his right hand from the halberd and swung his arm at the creature as it jumped through the air toward him. He caught it with his forearm under the creature’s chin before the beast's wide-open jaws could reach Jake's neck. Jake drove the black-haired beast back, even as it landed its back legs and snapped and snarled, determined to rip the flesh from Jake with its curved two-inch teeth.

  Jake saw the creature's red eyes glow as it looked at him with a thirst for the kill.

  He pulled on the halberd with his left hand, leaning away from it. It slid out slowly at first, then ripped loose. He fell to his right. The still living beast toppled over backward as Jake's arm, with his bodyweight behind it, shoved against the creature.

  Jake recovered, rolling to a crouched position. He had the halberd in his left hand and eyes on the beast in front of him.

  He was about to swing his weapon at the red-eyed creature, but heard the other halberd slicing through the air.

  He ducked and felt the breeze above him as the weapon passed overhead. He flung the head of his weapon in an arc from left to right, swooping it out toward the hairy four-legged beast. Catching the pole just below the curved blade with his other hand, he held the weapon in front of his chest and dove away from Zog and to the right of Zog's hellbeast, tucking his head under and rolling on his back.

  He came up and twisted his torso, spinning the halberd around to strike the red-eyed creature with the heavy curved blade. The four-legged beast jumped, but not in time. The sharp edge at the end of Jake's pole-arm cut through the back two legs of the creature, taking them clean off. The beast yelped and wailed as it collapsed and writhed in a growing pool of its blood.

  Jake started to turn his eyes to Zog, but he felt a blow to his shoulder which jarred the halberd from his hands and sent him flying several feet to land in a jumbled skid on the hard dirt. The impact with the ground scraped much of the skin from his right shoulder and small bits of rock cut his forearm on the same side.

  His breathing was heavy. He felt the pain from his wounds, but it was more of an irritation than anything. The heat of the battle kept his mind sharp and dulled his body's pain receptors. He pushed his upper body off the ground with both hands against the dirt. Sweat dripped from his forehead and rolled down to his chin.

  Zog bellowed, a loud laugh. Jake looked at his foe and saw that he looked amused.

  He remembered what the blue man Dewey had told him. You win the first fight. He glanced at the two dead beasts Zog brought into the arena. Did he mean Zog or one of them?

  Jake glanced to his weapon, but it was too far to reach in time. Zog ran toward him, holding his halberd like a lance. Jake didn't move. He waited until the tip of the weapon almost pierced his chest, then he turned his upper body, avoiding the metal point, and grabbed the pole below the curved blade and pulled with all his might and swiftness.

  Zog didn't release his grip on the weapon, and with the momentum of his charge, Jake dropped his shoulders to the ground, lifted his feet to guide Zog's body, and used the halberd to throw the four-armed behemoth behind him.

  The crowd fell silent for a moment.

  Jake turned and saw Zog face down on the ground, ten feet away. There was a wooden shaft, three feet long, protruding out from Zog's back. Jake looked at the halberd he was holding. He thought Zog had let go of it when Jake threw him. He saw the weapon had broken. He only had half of it in his hand. The other half impaled Zog when he landed on it.

  Jake looked at Zog for a moment, and saw no signs of life. He threw the broken halberd to the ground and looked up toward the grandstand, turning his palms out and moving his arms a little away from his body.

  "Is that what you wanted?" he yelled.

  The crowd erupted into applause and cheers.

  CHAPTER 29

  T iffin saw the bright lights of the arena through Birdy's feed to the screen on the drone controller.

  "Squeakers, we've got to check this out." She glanced at her mouse which was crawling in and out of the piled equipment inside her backpack. She'd taken the pack off and set it on the ground between her ankles.

  She looked up from the screen and peered into the distance past the other buildings between the roof she was on and the city arena. She'd used her flying machine to get closer to the arena, since the signal to Birdy from her controller wasn't strong enough to cover the distance from the first building she landed on. She saw the glow of lights shining out of the opening over the arena.

  She moved the controls, tilting Birdy around to get a view of the streets below. She needed to make sure the city security forces wouldn't see Birdy's approach. The streets leading to the arena were much less crowded than usual.

  "Looks like everyone's gone to watch," she said. "We have to find out if Jake's in ther
e."

  She pushed the toggles on the controller, flying Birdy closer to the arena. When Birdy got close enough, she could see the layout inside. But she had flown her high, so she was less likely to be spotted. She decided to take her to a closer position, just above and behind the grandstand where the mayor and other dignitaries sat. She knew their focus would be on the action down on the arena floor, and the bright lights would make it hard for anyone to see Birdy from there.

  Setting Birdy to hover in position, she used her controls to zoom in with the camera. A second later, she saw the arena floor as if she were standing just above it.

  "It's him! No! What is he fighting?"

  She flipped on the audio feed from Birdy, but all she could hear was the noise of the crowd in the stands.

  She watched as the large red muscular four-armed creature kicked Jake, knocking him to the ground. She saw Jake's weapon fly out of his hand. He landed several feet away.

  "He looks hurt," Tiffin said, glancing at Squeakers and then back to the screen. "Come on, Jake. Get up."

  He did, pushing both hands against the ground.

  She watched anxiously as the creature charged, holding a long weapon of some sort as he ran at Jake.

  "Jake!" She called out as if he would hear her through the screen somehow. Squeakers scurried deeper into her backpack.

  She tensed up and winced as the weapon nearly struck Jake, but then she saw Jake grab the shaft of the halberd. He dropped backward and lifted his legs into the creature as it flew over him.

  She didn't realize she was holding her breath until she saw the broken weapon thrust out the back of Jake's adversary. She exhaled forcefully, her body slumping, exhausted from the tension she'd just let go.

  She saw Jake gesture, apparently saying something to the mayor.

  The crowd erupted into applause and cheers.

  The mayor's voice came through Birdy's speaker loud and clear. "Let's see if he can survive his next match. Release the death mantis!"

  Tiffin gasped.

  She pulled the license chip from the pocket of her shorts and looked at it. Then she peered down at Squeakers who had come out of hiding.

  "We're going to get him out of there. I don't know how, but we've got to."

  She picked up her backpack, cinched the top closed, and put it on. Glancing at her flying machine, she nodded. "We have to get closer. Maybe we can figure out a way to help him get out of the arena."

  She locked the controls for Birdy and hooked the device onto the side of her backpack.

  "I just hope we aren't too late."

  CHAPTER 30

  J ake saw another gate open at the edge of the arena floor. He slowly made his way to the unbroken halberd and picked it up. With his adrenaline easing down, he felt the pain from the wounds on his shoulder and forearm.

  Before he could indulge in a little self-pity, loud clicking sounds drew his attention to the newly opened gate. He waited to see his next opponent. It came out of the tunnel running at him.

  "You've gotta be kidding," Jake said at the sight of the giant insect barreling toward him.

  The crowd erupted with screams and cheers.

  It was a man-sized six-legged nasty looking thing. No clothes or hands to hold weapons. It was all bug. Jake stood his ground as it approached. He took particular note of the large mandibles, serrated, and fixed on the end with an oversized point. The creature's exoskeleton was hues of brown and green, the latter of which glimmered in the light. Jake felt the stare from the creature's two bulging eyes, each of them a hundred small natural lenses clumped together into one. They were like black multi-faceted mirrored orbs.

  "Eh," Jake said as he shook off a chill which ran up his spine. "Guess this is payback for every time I squished one of those suckers with my boot."

  Jake held the halberd like a bat, ready to swing when the giant insect got close enough.

  The mantis-like creature charged straight at Jake and thrust its head down at him, snapping with its mandibles.

  Jake swung. The long, curved blade on the end of the halberd sliced through the joint where one part of the creature's mandibles connected to its head. The piece was lopped off and flew to the ground several feet off to the side.

  Even as Jake was following through with his swing, a spray of caustic fluid landed on his hands and jacket. The immediate burning of his skin caused him to drop his weapon.

  "Oh, crap! That stings."

  The dirty yellow liquid bubbled on the surface of his hands as it ate into his flesh. He ducked the monster insect's front leg as it flailed out at him. Then he wiped the backs of his hands against his pants. A whiff of some metallic odor made his head spin, but he shook it off.

  A second later, his legs burned where he rubbed some of the bug acid off his hands.

  The pain on his hands and legs distracted him enough so the giant insect's other front leg blindsided him, knocking him to the ground. He landed beside one of the dead beasts Zog brought into the arena. He felt like a couple of his ribs were broken where the creature kicked him, but he knew he had to get up if he wanted to live.

  He pushed on the body of Zog's dead hellbeast, to help himself stand. When he touched the black-haired beast, he realized how long and thick its hair was. He quickly wiped his hands across the carcass, getting most of the caustic yellow bug juice off them.

  He glanced to the insect monster, expecting an imminent attack. It was violently shaking its head and swooping it left and right.

  Must've hurt it more than I thought.

  Jake decided this was his chance to take it down, while it couldn't focus on him. He looked around for his weapon, but saw it was on the far side of the creature. He glanced around for another split second and spotted one of the severed legs of the dead hellbeast. It was thick with muscle and as long as his own leg.

  He shrugged. "Why not?"

  Grabbing the heavy black-haired leg with both hands by its ankle, he heaved it over his shoulder, letting it hang down behind him. The he stood and took a few giant steps toward the disoriented insect creature, starting his swing as he did. Taking a last step just underneath the gyrating wounded head of the monster, he lowered his left knee as he drove his arms over his head and into a powerful downward arc. The bloody thigh-bone joint of the hellbeast's leg walloped the insect's head.

  The creature's left black orb of an eye busted open and its head whipped to the side with such a ferocity it snapped from the creature's body. Jake let the hairy leg bone fall to the ground in front of him. He saw the insect head complete a lopsided roll across the arena.

  "Huh," he said, as the head kept going. Finally, it settled, almost to the wall at the edge of the arena floor.

  CHAPTER 31

  T he arena fell quiet.

  Jake looked up at the crowd in the stands, then once again felt the burn from the bug juice on his hands and a little through his pants on the front of his legs. He walked back to one of the carcasses of Zog's beasts and grabbed a large clump of the hair from its back. Ripping it from the creature's body, he used it to wipe the rest of the acidic insect monster liquid from his pants and then from his hands. He tossed the clump of black hair to the ground.

  Stepping to the center of the arena and facing the grandstand he addressed Mayor Beltrax. "Your rules!"

  He looked back at the different corpses, then faced the mayor again. "Is that justice now?"

  Jake heard murmurs and whispers from the crowd build to a foaming noise.

  Mayor Beltrax rose from his seat. Jake couldn't see the details of his face, but he could tell the man was staring back at him. Beltrax thrust his arms out sideways. "Silence!"

  The crowd hushed.

  "On this day," Beltrax said, his voice amplified and blasted through the speakers around the arena, "Jake Mudd, galactic traveler, visitor to the great city of Eon, has proven himself innocent of the charges made against him. As ruler of Eon, I, Mayor Beltrax, rule all charges against him unfounded."

  Somebody'
s taking himself way too seriously.

  The crowd erupted with cheers. Jake saw people throwing their arms up and tossing things into the air.

  "That's it." Jake gave his head a single nod as he slightly pumped his fist, still at his side. "Time to get the hell out of here," he said quietly.

  A woman stepped out from a doorway below the grandstand and walked toward Jake. She was carrying a tray. Jake saw when she got closer that his blaster was on it.

  Mayor Beltrax raised his arms again. "Quiet."

  The woman stopped, still a third of the way from Jake.

  The crowd obeyed mostly, though some rumblings continued.

  "Jake Mudd," Beltrax said, "you have cleared your name through your valor."

  Man, this guy is pompous.

  "You have won the right to face your accuser," Beltrax said.

  Jake lost the feeling of elation he'd gained when Beltrax announced he was free to go.

  Hyde.

  "You may leave now," Mayor Beltrax said. "Or face your accuser in the arena…"

  Whacko legal system.

  "… in a battle to the death," Beltrax said, marking the words with a flourish of his arms.

  The crowd roared again with anticipation.

  Jake heard people calling for him to take on his accuser.

  Jake thought about Sarah. He knew she was waiting for him to get back to her. But he remembered he still hadn't told her he failed to get what they came for.

  The smart play was to claim his freedom and leave, he thought. He wrestled with the decision for a few seconds, then admitted to himself there was no way he could walk away from facing Hyde. Not after what Hyde had done to him. Knowing Hyde would never stop coming after him. Jake realized Hyde was a threat to himself and anyone he cared about. It dawned on him, he could leave and run again with Sarah, but what would happen to Tiffin and all the others who got in Hyde's way?