by David Aries
It’s good to be back.
The crowd gasped before falling silent, eyes fixed on me.
It feels weird having an entire arena in awe of you. Felt pretty good too. Shame I held them all in such well-earned disdain.
Our opponent’s opinion of us remained consistent. Dinner. They converged on the two of us, arriving from all sides.
“Let’s do this,” I said, unleashing my dragon breath.
The rats I sprayed were toast. No more emerging on the other side like charred rodent zombies. Protecting Titania in the underground caverns had made me stronger. My flame was more powerful than a bunch of blue-level rats could handle.
I turned a chunk of their forces into ash but I couldn’t get them all. They came for my rear.
Titania sliced through a mass of lunging rodents. “I’ve got you covered.”
“Same here,” I said. While my breath recharged, I went in clubbing. My flame-infused punches and kicks squashed the oversized rats. My destructive attacks took no prisoners. Compared to being chased through the sewers, this amount was nothing.
A few minutes of pest control later and we were done. We’d taken a few nips but were still standing. Our opponents were a blue smear caked across the arena floor.
The crowd remained in a stunned silence, staring at the magic man with the burning hands. We did have one vocal fan, but I tried my best to imagine she wasn’t there.
I spread my arms out wide and addressed the aristocratic trash like the hero in some gladiator film.
“What are you doing?” Titania said.
“Sorry, couldn’t resist. When am I gonna get another chance?”
Ramses applauded, cutting through the silence. “There we are. Proof! Have you ever seen a man capable of such feats? He killed demons using his bare hands. He shot fire from his mouth, decimating his opponents. Only a half-breed could perform such miracles.”
I held up my flaming hands. “You caught me. I’m a half-breed. Congratulations.”
“You should have confessed earlier. Obedience would have spared you from this fate.”
“I’d take this any day over serving your loser ass.”
“A decision I will make you regret.” Ramses signaled to his underlings. “Send in their next opponents.”
The gates opened and a trio of thunderhorns rushed out. They didn’t appear to be in a good mood.
“Great. More of them,” I sighed.
“You better not be having second thoughts,” Titania said, jabbing my chest.
“Hell no. I’m in this to the end.” I took a step toward our opponents. “We’re gonna get outta here. Just you watch.”
Together, we threw ourselves into a battle we refused to lose. Any tension that once lingered between us was gone. We were no longer a mismatched duo working together thanks to a mix of desperation and a bossy catgirl. Titania and I were partners, united as one.
***
I leaned over and grasped my knees. Sweat dripped down my body, stinging the cuts my demon power was working to mend.
We’d defeated wave after wave of demons, each more powerful than the last. The dirt floor was dyed blue and covered in half-trodden remains. It was a scene fitting of a massacre.
Titania was in the same state as me. Her weary muscles glistened and her chest heaved, working to refill her lungs.
“You okay?” I asked between deep breaths.
“Great. Just great,” she said, smirking. “I could do this all day.”
“Same,” I said, wiping the profuse dampness from my brow. “Nothing like a light workout.”
Ramses, who had started the occasion wearing a big grin, had developed a face like thunder. His mood had gotten worse with every round we’d won.
It’s what he got for underestimating us. So much for making us beg for mercy.
The audience, on the other hand, had grown more invested. Dessa had planted the seeds for a fan club.
Blair remained stuck in Frederic’s embrace. He was in the king’s camp, cursing our survival with a permanent scowl. She didn’t belong near a guy like that.
After fifteen rounds of humiliation, Ramses jumped to his feet. “Enough of this farce,” he snapped, throwing his composure down the shitter. “The Queen. Send her in.”
“Are you sure that’s wise, Your Majesty?” Magnesia said. “She’s very useful to you.”
“Are you telling me what to do, woman?” Ramses growled. “Are you suggesting she will lose? Have you been supporting your daughter this entire time?”
Magnesia kneeled. “No, Your Majesty. Apologies for my imprudence.”
I grinned. The wheels were coming off. If they were sending in the big guns, they couldn’t have much left. We were almost there.
Ramses scraped together a modicum of poise and addressed the coliseum. “Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you have enjoyed today’s exhibition matches. It is finally time for the main event. These criminals have fared admirably for miscreants, but their defiance ends here. This next demon is nothing like those they have battled so far. She is royalty in the twisted world of demonkind. Allow me to present, the Queen of Rats.”
A gate opened and out stomped the largest rat I’d ever seen. Forget dog-sized, this one was bear-sized. She was an overweight monstrosity of foulness with visibly bloated teats swinging from her undercarriage. Sour milk oozed out, sticking to her matted, black fur. Green slime poured from her foaming trap, highlighting her gigantic buck teeth. One chomp from those could take off a limb.
She didn’t come alone. A smaller swarm of nastiness wiggled around her. Compared to her, they looked like regular-sized rats. I knew better.
“No way,” Titania said, recoiling. “Jake, it’s the queen.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“No, you don’t get it. It’s the queen. The one fucking up the sewers.”
I gave Titania a quizzical look. “What? That doesn’t make sense.”
Titania’s confused expression agreed. Then, a change. She snarled and stomped the floor. “Dammit! How didn’t I realize?!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you fucking get it?! It’s been these bastards all along!” she yelled, pointing at Ramses. “The rats ain’t coming from outside. They’re from here. He’s the one infesting the sewers!”
My skin crawled. “No way, that doesn’t make sense. Why would they?”
“Why wouldn’t they? You saw what happens. The whole place gets cut off.”
The smugglers operated in the sewers. All of Gall’s secret rooms had escape routes down there. You could even use it to sneak out of the city if you could handle the connecting caverns. Free sewers were an ally to the struggling masses that Ramses wanted to control. A rat infestation did that. They were a better deterrent than a guard patrol. Not to mention the two sewers weren’t connected. Rats thrown down below wouldn’t come back to bite Ramses and his rich friends.
For a power-hungry psychopath, who didn’t value the lives of those beneath him, it was a perfect solution.
I growled and glared at the smug goblin. Were there no depths he wouldn’t sink to?
“Let’s kill this bitch,” I said.
Most demons rushed in at the sight of fresh meat. Her royal ratness was an exception. She kept her distance, watching us from behind a wall of her children.
The little ones were a green threat, stronger than those we’d killed in round two. That was nothing compared to their queen. She was a red alert. Never something I wanted to see.
Speak for yourself. I’m sick of finger food. Time for a feast.
More like time to get rid of the monster infesting the sewers. She kept her distance so I made the first move. I sprayed my flame breath.
The queen leaped away and landed on one of the arena’s random pillars. Her living wall split, leaving me cooking nothing but air. They swarmed in a pincer motion, targeting me.
Titania ducked down and prepared to meet them.
They changed course, arcing away. They l
ooped around, heading for our rear.
I grabbed Titania and demon jumped before they converged on my ass.
As soon as we landed, the rats came after us. They split from two lines into small clusters and surrounded us. None of them lunged in like headless chickens. They got into two distinct circles and rotated in contrasting directions.
Keeping track of them all was a pain. Titania and I went back to back so we at least had a shot.
When our attention faltered, the rats approached. As soon as we noticed, they ducked back and another group moved. They weren’t attacking or giving us a break. We were forced to remain constantly vigilant.
“What is this?” I said.
“How should I know?” Titania snapped. “I’ve never seen them act this way.”
All the rats we’d fought previously acted like cornered animals. This horde used tactics and formations. Earlier they’d altered their plan to avoid Titania and strike our weak spot, all on the fly. It was too drastic a chance. There was only one explanation.
“It must be the queen,” I said, glancing at the huge monster watching us from her perch.
“Jake!” Titania yelled, rushing to block the rats attacking my blind spot.
My inspection triggered a chain reaction. When Titania moved to protect me, she opened a window for the rats to attack her.
I lunged in, repaying the favor. It opened another hole that the rats pounced on.
Our composure was in tatters. We raced to stop them overwhelming us. There wasn’t time to think or readjust. I kept spinning, feet sliding in the bloodstained dirt, striking anything which tried to hurt Titania. In my haste, I whipped my leg and swiped Titania’s.
She lost her balance and stumbled toward the rats.
I caught her arm and leaped before disaster occurred.
We flew across the arena and skidded through the dirt. Truth be told, it was mainly I who got to experience that sled life.
The rats were after us before we recovered.
“Jake, up,” Titania ordered, looking at a pillar a meter away.
I pushed and propelled us up. We just about managed to land on our objective. Luckily, it was sturdy.
“This is a pain,” I groaned, looking down at the floor. The swarm was circling like a whirlpool, ready to swallow us if we fell.
“Dammit,” Titania snarled. “They’re only rats. Why are they so tough?”
“It’s got to be the queen. We need to focus on her.”
She sat on the other side of the arena, watching us with her glowing blue eyes. I didn’t know how she was influencing her kind but I was certain she was the cause. A red alert wasn’t to be underestimated.
“Jake,” Titania squealed, tugging my shirt. She pointed at the floor.
The rats had started piling on each other, stacking themselves like stairs.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. No break for us. “Screw this. We’re going.” I held Titania and jumped, launching toward the queen. In mid-air, I opened wide and shot my dragon breath.
Queenie jumped away before it reached, hopping to another column.
As soon as we landed, I went again. I charged after her, spraying fire.
She avoided me each time. For a big girl, she wasn’t cumbersome.
After a few failed attempts, we skidded into the dirt and I winced. My thighs were on fire and not the kind I used to smite demons. All that jumping around was a strain on my muscles. “She’s too fast,” I said, throat reduced to a desert.
“That bitch,” Titania growled from my back. “Stop running away and fight us!”
Her little rats were happy to, whenever the time was right. They’d spread into groups and placed themselves around the arena, giving us less room to land. They were using their numbers to control the battlefield.
“Dammit. If Boss was here she’d know what to do,” Titania complained.
“True. All we’re good for is smashing things.” You know that stereotypical lightbulb moment? This was mine. “Of course! It’s so obvious.” I rushed to the closest pillar and shattered it with a flame-infused kick.
It toppled like a tree meeting a lumberjack’s ax.
“Are you stupid?!” Titania snapped while clinging to my shoulders.
“This is our chance. If we take out the pillars…”
A little belatedly, Titania got the message. Must be one of those energy-saving light bulbs. “Hurry it up,” she ordered, squeezing her knees into my ribs. “I’ll cover you.”
The queen must have figured it out too, smart girl. Her rats changed tactics. They abandoned their strategy and launched an all-out attack.
I concentrated on getting to each pillar as fast as possible. I left defense to the team tank. She hung from my back, swinging her spear like a club, beating the rats away. Thanks to her, I made good time and smashed every pillar apart from two. One of which contained the queen.
She was my next target.
“Jake, you missed one,” Titania warned me.
“No, I didn’t,” I panted. “How’s your throwing arm?”
The queen watched as I approached. She remained until the very last, leaping away moments before I split the pillar in two. With all the others destroyed, she only had one perch to choose from, unless she felt like dirtying her royal feet.
She didn’t. As expected.
Titania roared and launched her spear. It sailed through the air and struck the queen as she was landing. It punctured her side with enough velocity to knock her down to Terix. Not just that, it lodged deep enough to activate the electric crystal fitted in the shaft. The queen got to feel the agony that Shadow had used to restrain me.
The huge demon cried while spasming on the floor. Her army, which was on our heels, stopped. They squealed and frenzied, mirroring their leader.
I turned and went on the offensive, unloading my fire on the vulnerable rats. They didn’t even defend themselves. It was a slaughter I felt zero guilt about.
By the time I was done, only one rat remained. The queen managed to dislodge Titania’s spear and get to her feet. Blue blood poured from her open wound, soaking her black fur.
“What now?” I asked her. “Your kids are dead. No more running.”
She snarled, spraying droplets of venomous green gunk. Her answer was a beastly lung toward us.
Titania jumped in front and caught the headbutt with her shield. The impact knocked us both back with me on the bottom. My partner was wedged against my chest, trying to stifle the attacks of a large pissed-off rat queen.
Her royal hideousness snapped at us with buck gnashers larger than my head. One bad blow and it was over.
“Do something,” Titania wheezed.
I shot my flame breath into the queen’s face.
A direct hit. She squealed and stumbled back, fur burning.
We rolled apart and I pounced on the queen.
She didn’t make pinning her easy. She bucked like the foulest bronco you’ve ever seen.
“Stay still,” I said, punching her head. She looked like a flabby thing but her skull was rock solid.
The queen kept roaring. She jumped higher and higher, twisting her large figure around.
I clung to her fur and lodged my boots into her flanks. There was no way I was letting go.
“Jake, jump!” Titania ordered.
Well, until I was told to. I leaped off in mid-air.
Queenie came plummeting down. Even an elite jumper couldn’t fight gravity. Her landing location was set in stone and it was on top of a ready Titania.
She had her shield up and her spear primed.
The huge rat landed right on top, puncturing her heavy body on that sharp weapon. Another electric shot raced through her trapped body. Her body twitched as the spear crackled, frying her inside and out.
It was time to end it.
I rushed to her front and charged up a devastating punch. Instead of cracking my knuckles against her hard head, I drove my fist into her eye. I reached all the
way through the soft stuff within.
Her infernal squirming stopped.
I stumbled back, pulling my bloodstained arm from her skull. My legs were no longer cooperating and my breathing had gone to shit. None of it mattered. We’d won. The queen was dead.
Titania kicked the corpse over and pulled out her spear. She looked as exhausted as I was, even though I’d been the one piggybacking her around the arena.
“You okay?” I said, dying for a drink.
“Never better,” she responded. “You?”
“Same.” As long as you ignored my drained legs.
The crowd jumped to their feet and roared in delirious celebration. They applauded, whistled, and cheered.
I gawked at the rapturous response. It was the audience’s first time acting like that en masse. We were being celebrated like the home team rather than a couple of outlaws. How had that happened?
This is amazing.
“Don’t push it,” I said to myself. They were still nobles; our enemies.
Not the crowd. The kill. So much power. I haven’t tasted something this delightful in a week. I think we even got a new&emdash;
“No!” A single voice cut through the atmosphere. Ramses stood, green face dyed red. “This can’t be! This is not happening!”
“Give it up,” I said. “We won. Let us go.”
Some of the crowd actually voiced their agreement. Peers supporting outsiders. What was Grabadon coming to?
Ramses didn’t respond to our supporters. He started laughing, as if a switch had been flicked. Madness oozed from him. “You think this is over? No! This does not end unless you bow before me or die!” He looked at Magnesia. “Send it in. Send in the dragon.”
Chapter 21
I was speechless. A second ace in the hole. I hadn’t even considered it. The queen was a perfect boss battle. What was Ramses thinking having another surprise in store?
A gate opened and out came the true champion of the arena. Two powerful forelegs dragged its long serpentine body forward. Charcoal scales substituted for squishy, vulnerable skin. Colossal wings unfolded, no longer restrained by the stadium’s insides. Finally, a head that even I, a visitor from another world, recognized. TV had really nailed it.
