Chapter 24

Nedes and Emeric stood silently behind the barred gate as the watched Jordy being lead into the Dome. There was an ominous click as the chain was locked onto his cuff and a short sword was placed a few feet away from him, just out of reach, as always.

Jordy's bare chest rose and fell with even breaths as he forced himself to remain calm. Calvert had told them to remove their shirts...apparently it attracted more spectators. Emeric highly doubted the theory...he felt naked and uncomfortable.

Emeric, locked behind the bars, felt unsettled to be watching a dome fight. It was his first time. The thought that one of the two men in the dome were about to die, sent chills through him. Because all he could do was stand and watch...His instinct was to go in there and prevent blood from being spilled...

The starting horn blasted, a high pitched, almost squealing note rather than the mournful one at Scoalgeoc.

Jordy acted instantly, flicking at the chain. It only took him three tries before the hidden strength in his arms managed to hurl the chain off of the hook. He hastily grabbed the key and fumbled at the lock. It took him a few tries to undo the chain as his hands shivered with the rush of adrenaline.

"Come on, Jordy." Nedes called out encouragingly through the bars.

With a rusty click, the lock was released and the chain fell to the ground like a dead snake.

Jordy shot a smirk towards Nedes and then grabbed his weapon and charged at his opponent who had gotten loose a few seconds before him.

He was a huge, strong man, apparently in his thirties. He too had a short sword, but in his grasp, the weapon looked more like a dagger.

When Jordy reached his opponent, he looked like a dwarf. The man was utterly massive, beyond anything natural. Jordy swallowed nervously and he tightened his grip on his weapon. Sweat was already starting to trickle down his back.

The crowds were cheering now. The majority of them were from Lachand and therefore their cheers were directed to the giant.

"Manslayer...manslayer...manslayer..."

The nickname was rather disheartening...

The immense shouting set the ground quivering. The words echoed off of the glass dome above and increased the volume ten fold.

As Jordy came within reach of the huge Domer, the giant sliced down with his blade, splitting the air. Jordy leapt forward, into a roll and, like he had planned, ended up behind his opponent.

"Good move." Nedes muttered next to Emeric. The Rogue could clearly see that Nedes was worried for his friend's life. "He'll be alright." Emeric said with as much conviction as he could manage, but his voice held the doubt he was feeling. Nedes shot Emeric a glare, but there was no contempt in it. It appeared almost thankful, as if Nedes appreciated Emeric's attempt to make him feel more at ease.

Jordy sprang to his feet and managed to land a savage slash on the giants thigh before the Domer turned around. With a bellow of fury, the immense warrior swung a deadly cut at Jordy. He brought his own sword up to block the blow, but the power behind it was too much for Jordy to handle.

He was lifted clean off of his feet and flew threw the air before landing in a crumpled bundle a few feet away.

With wide eyed shock, Jordy clambered back to his feet, facing the approaching opponent. The giant swung his blade at Jordy once more. Jordy repeated his roll, which had been successful the previous time, however, this time the giant was expecting it and he savagely kicked out at Jordy.

The blow, hard enough to send Jordy through the air once again, knocked all the air from his lungs. He lay groaning in the soft, white sand while the dull footsteps of the heavy Domer approached.

"Get up." Nedes yelled as loud as he could, slamming a fist into the bars, but the cheers of the crowds drowned his words. Nedes watched in terror as Jordy remained where he lay, unmoving as the huge Domer slowly paced closer.

Jordy blinked his eyes open as a dreadful shadow fell over him. He saw the sword arching down just in time and managed to roll to the side. The sword shuddered as it hit the ground. Had it hit Jordy, he would have been severed from shoulder to shoulder.

He shakily got to his feet and stumbled away from his immense opponent. The sword came slicing down at him once more, however, this time, instead of trying to block it, Jordy angled his own weapon so that he managed to deflect the blow. His knees buckled under the immense strength of the hit, but despite the power behind the blows he managed to stay on his feet.

The rival Domer drove Jordy back as he rained blow after blow down on the small opponent, who desperately deflected each bone shattering blow.

Until finally, Jordy couldn't manage to bring his sword up anymore, his arms were too exhausted. He stumbled backwards and his sword dropped from his slick grip. "No..." he cried out in terror, but his legs gave way under him. Laying sprawled in the dust, Jordy shivered with exhaustion and fear of the inevitable...

"Blood..Blood...Blood..." The crowds called for his death...

Nedes watched in speechless terror as the mountainous Domer came to a stop over the fearful young man and then...

He drove his sword through Jordy's chest...

Jordy let out a choked gurgle as blood ran from the side of his mouth...For a few dragged out seconds he lay choking on his own lifeblood before he let out a sigh of finality...

Emeric swore as he turned away from the gruesome sight in the arena. He pulled his fingers through his hair as he tried, but failed to calm his nerves. The brutal murder of their comrade had driven the confidence out of him. He doubted that he would be any better off against the giant of a man.

"That's one down for the Scoalgeoc Eliminators. A glorious win for Lachand." The voice of an announcer rang through the dome, echoing off of the walls.

As the color drained from his face, Emeric watched Jory's limp body being dragged away, the huge Domer also left at the opposite end of the arena.

"We're dead." Nedes said in a deflated tone of voice as he pressed his forehead against the cold bars of the gate. Emeric didn't reply, he didn't trust himself to speak.

"Behold, the next Eliminators." The announcer called out as a fierce looking Domer was lead out, into the heart of the Dome. A guard had entered the waiting cell behind Nedes and Emeric. Both young men spun around now, shocked at his sudden appearance.

The guard gestured at Nedes with a bored look, "You, come with me." He ordered in a deep, orderly voice. Nedes swallowed nervously as the guard unlocked the gate that lead into the Dome.

It swung open unceremoniously and Nedes hesitantly walked into the Dome behind the guard. Not sure if he would get out with his life.

Shouts of excitement rang through the Dome as the spectators took in the two Domers who appeared to be more evenly matched. They had similar, strong builds and were of equal height.

The battle would last longer this way.

Nedes swallowed dryly as the guard attached the lock to his cuff. He left without any words of encouragement.

Nedes turned to face his opponent and came to the same conclusion that the crowds had...The fight was going to be long and hard.

He took note of the weapon a few feet away. It was a steel curved dagger. Very plain to an onlooking eye. It was short, but deadly.

Nedes shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other as his nerves grew. He met the intimidating glare of his opponent from the other side of the arena. As they stood staring at each other, trying to gauge their weaknesses, the sounding horn blasted.

With one, well coordinated swing at the chain, Nedes made it fly from the hook. He had mastered the move.

He hastily dropped to his knees, snatching the key from the pale sand. It barely took him a second to undo the lock and escape the clutches of captivity.

Before the crowds could grasp what was happening, Nedes had a weapon in his hand and was running full pelt for his opponent, kicking up dust as he went.

The Lachand Domer was still wrestling with his chain when he noticed Nedes racing closer. He flicked the chain harder with vicious strength. Just as Nedes was a few feet away, the Lachand managed to get the chain off the hook, but there was no time to unlock himself.

He dove, with the chain trailing behind, for the curved dagger.

He rolled onto his back and brought the dagger up just in time to block Nedes's deadly attack.

The daggers met with a loud clang before the two warriors broke apart. Nedes's opponent managed to get to his feet and the two Eliminators circled each other like rivalling wolves.

Nedes kept his eye on those of his enemy, predicting where the next attack would come from.

For a brief second, the Lachand's eyes dropped to Nedes's shoulder and then the man stepped forward to attack. Nedes knew exactly where the Eliminator was planning to hit and gracefully brought his own weapon up to block the attack.

As their blades locked, Nedes brought his knee up into the offender's jewels. He grunted with pain, but didn't drop to the ground as Nedes had hoped he would. Angered by his failed tactics, Nedes attacked with more fury.

He slashed left and right in vicious strokes that forced his opponent to retreat backwards...But his attack wasn't strong enough to break through the defender's guard. The man easily brought his own blade up and around to block Nedes's.

Minutes passed and Nedes could feel himself starting to tire. No matter how much effort he put into the attack, his opponent still managed to block his every move with almost no effort. He needed a different approach. All he was doing now was tiring himself...

Emeric watched with scrutinising eyes as Nedes fought valiantly. His attacks were good, but they lacked the cutting edge of a natural blade wielder. He was attacking as if he was wielding a sword, but a dagger required smaller, precisely targeted attacks. They weren't meant for hacking away at the opponent.

The Lachand Eliminator did exactly what Emeric had been visualising in his head. He deflected one of Nedes's blows and then, with a carefully planned and aimed move, he thrust at Nedes's side. The young warrior just barely managed to turn sideways in time, escaping the brunt of the blow...However, he didn't escape unscathed.

The curved blade cut a deep slash across his ribs. Nedes grunted in pain and stumbled away from his opponent, desperately catching his breath.

His momentary relief didn't last long as his opponent took to attacking this time. He attacked with precise moves, coming from angles that made it hard for Nedes to block and deflect the blows. He grunted as the Lachand managed to slice at his arm. Warm blood was already running down his bare limb.

Nedes realised that he needed a different approach if he wanted to escape this battle.

He studied his opponent in a split second, searching desperately for a new tactic...

That was when his eyes landed on the long chain still attached to his opponent's right hand...his dominant hand which held the dagger. A smirk came over Nedes's face as a plan started forming.

He lowered his weapon...

"Blood...Blood...Blood..."

It happened so fast that most of the spectators missed the attack. The Lachand stepped forward and thrusted at Nedes's chest, just as the Chayran had hoped he would.

Mimicking Jordy's dive and roll from earlier, Nedes ducked the attack and ended up behind his shocked opponent.

Nedes grabbed the chain, jerking the Lachand's hand back and then twisted it into a strained position putting tendons and bone under intense strain.

Nedes gave a single jerk and there was an ominous pop followed by a cry of pain from the Lachand. His shoulder was dislocated and his arm hung limply by his side...useless.

Similarly, the dagger had been discarded.

Not wasting any time, Nedes drove his own dagger into his opponent's back. He was dead before he hit the ground.