Chapter 26

As Emeric came to halt in front of the waiting cell he was met with the chuffed face of Nedes.

"What?" Emeric asked, confused by Nedes's grin. The other Domer shook his head, "I can't believe you took a shot at him." Nedes said with a chuckle, "You're so dead."

At the last words, Emeric's thoughts traveled to Kedo, 'No not me.' He though gloomily while praying that Calvert would leave the young Rogue out of this once they reached Scoalgeoc again.

"It was worth a try." Emeric mutter under his breath. Trying to atone for what he'd done.

The silence of the crowd made Emeric uncomfortable as minutes slowly crawled by. The guards should have come for him by now. He sighed with relief when the door behind Nedes opened and half a dozen guards came out.

Emeric stood back so that they could swing the gate open. They did that, but instead of ushering Emeric in, one of the guards grabbed him by the elbow and manhandled him back to the chain while the others checked that everything was in order for another battle.

"What now?" Emeric asked confused, but all got for a reply was the click as the lock was clamped shut over his cuff. He turned and met the confused gaze of Nedes, neither of them had expected this. Emeric frowned when Nedes turned pale. He met Emeric's eye and then pointed to the other side of the Dome.

Emeric slowly turned, but as his eyes landed on the giant of a man a the opposite side of the arena, he felt the color drain from his own face..

"I told you you're dead." Nedes murmured softly as he stepped away from the bars, as if he was afraid that the huge Domer would come for him.

"Not helping..." Emeric fearfully muttered through gritted teeth. He couldn't focus, his mind kept flashing images of Jordy's death, and Emeric felt almost certain that he was about to join the fallen Domer.

As Emeric nervously waited for the starting horn he realised that his opponent was just about tall enough to take the chain off of the hook without having to even go up on his toes.

The horrid sound of the starting horn blasted through Emeric's brain, sending his controlled composure into the past. With desperate heaves he climbed the chain. Few people had the upper body strength to climb like he did, but he knew that he was going to need a lot more than his strength if he planned on defeating the massive opponent.

When he reached the top he shot a tentative glance at his opponent...He was already off of the chain and had a weapon in hand.

Emeric hastily fumbled with the key, but his hands were shivering with anticipation of the battle ahead and he struggled to get the lock off. "Come on..." He urged himself.

After a few dragged out seconds, Emeric finally managed to free himself and dropped back to the ground. He stumbled awkwardly as he came to his feet. 'Focus.' He harshly reprimanded himself, but it was his father's voice that met his ears.

Taking a deep breath to calm his wild nerves, Emeric grabbed the short sword from the ground. He realised that he was holding the blade by which Jordy had died. It was still coated with dried blood.

Emeric grimaced as he sprinted towards his massive opponent. He seemed to grow taller with each second that passed. A sudden wave of awe went through Emeric as he realised how brave Jordy had been to face such an opponent.

With only a few meters between the two Domers, Emeric knew he had to approach with a different tactic than Jordy less he wanted to end up like the fallen Domer.

Remembering a previous tactic that had saved his life, Emeric jumped into action. He stooped down, acting as if he had stumbled. The crowds went wild with cheers as they saw an easy defeat on its way...

Before anyone could see what was happening, Emeric flicked sand into his opponent's eyes with the point of his sword. The huge man had rushed forward while Emeric had apparently fallen, and by doing so he had only made things worse for himself...

The massive Domer howled in fury as the sand hit his eyes, blinding him. Emeric knew he had to act fast if he wanted to stay in the advantage. He moved silently, but swiftly, walking on the balls of his feet until he ended up behind the large Domer...

Just when he was about to attack the mountainous Domer, the huge man spun round faster than Emeric thought possible for a man of such size. The huge fist struck Emeric square in his chest and literally sent him flying through the air.

The Rogue hit the ground in a crumpled position.

Emeric lay groaning on the ground, sucking in desperate mouthfuls of air. He winced as his ribs, which had taken months to heal after his beating, sent stabs of pain across his side.

'Damnit.' Emeric thought. He was almost certain that a few of them had cracked under the vicious blow.

He scrambled to his feet when he felt a shadow fall over him. Emeric barely managed to dodge away as another fist came flying at him. The large Domer was still half blind and stumbled forward when he wasn't met with any resistance.

Emeric, attacking in a blinding move, slashed out with his sword. There was a grunt of pain as the blade cut deep into the Lachand's side. He swung at Emeric again, with his own blade rather than a fist. Emeric deflected the blow and desperately thrusted his sword.

The Lachand blocked the blow, his eyesight slowly returning back to normal.

Emeric started retreating as the offensive was turned against him. He deflected each blow that was swung at him, and also managed to throw in thrusts and side cuts when he saw a gap.

The two men brawled for what felt like ages. Both, after nearly fifteen minutes, were tiring and bleeding from multiple wounds. Emeric stumbled away as the rivaling sword arched down at him. He could feel the strength draining from his numb arms. If things were to continue the way they had, he would be dead with in the next few minutes.

Both warriors took a few seconds to catch their breath as they circled each other. Emeric tried coming up with an idea of how to take down his opponent, but with each thought that came to mind, he grew more hopeless. Each one, he knew, ended up with him skewered by a sword.

That was when Emeric realised, the only way to win, was to accept defeat.

Nedes watched in silent disbelief as Emeric stumbled backwards and fell unto his back...He didn't move. The Rogue had been defeated, all that still remained was for the opposing Domer to take his life.

Nedes wondered why he was saddened by the prospect, he hated the Rogue after all, but something in him felt that they were relatable, and the Rogue was the only other person that Nedes knew in the dome.

"Get up." He muttered under his breath, seeing events unfold just as they had earlier that day. Just like Jordy, Emeric lay in the dust, exhausted and without hope.

The Lachand came to a stop over the young Rogue and raised his sword for the killing blow.

"Manslayer...Manslayer...Manslayer..."

The crowds cheered the Domer on, willing him to take Emeric's life.

It happened so fast that almost everyone in the stands missed it. One moment, the huge Domer had been standing over the Rogue, the next, they seemed to have swapped places.

Emeric had attacked with blinding speed. He had warped his legs around the giant as he came to a stop over Emeric. One leg in front of the thick legs, one leg behind his thighs...It only took a single twist and jerk from Emeric to throw the Domer from his feet, sending him sprawling, face first, into the sand.

Emeric was on top of him in an instant. He drove his sword into the Domers back, not giving him any time to defend himself.

To most men, I would have been an instant killing blow, however, the Domer shoved himself to his feet, sending Emeric flying once more. The giant slowly paced toward the Rogue who scrambled away in the sand, eyes wide with fear...'How is he still alive?' Emeric wondered in terror as he realised that he was unarmed and defenceless.

He managed to get to his feet, still retreating away form his rival. The man's eyes were red with fury.

Just when Emeric thought he was dead for sure, a small trickle of blood snaked down from the large Domer's parted lips. He took one more staggering step towards Emeric, then fell, face down into the pale dust.

The ground seemed to quiver as the giant landed like a fallen tree.

A relieved sigh escaped Emeric's lungs and he too fell to the ground, utterly exhausted. He was bleeding from multiple wounds that would need hasty treatment if he didn't want to bleed to death.

'Thank goodness Aire came along.' Was the last though that went through Emeric's head before he let himself drift into the cold abyss of unconsciousness.