The blade drove right into Xoph’s skull and drew a crack. Ae’dron roared in trumph and-
Wait.
A crack?
Xophorys lay there, looking quite dead with a fracture running down his head as if he was carved from stone. Ae’dron quirked an eyebrow, as far as he could tell his opponent was human, and yet…
Xoph’s eyes snapped open and he used the wildkin’s moment of distraction to twist out from beneath the press of his foot. He knew he had to be quick, and his hands worked with a magicians swiftness to remove the binding that tied up his legs. He discovered he was too late when he found himself picked up from the ground –yet again- and slammed viciously on to his face. He winced, gasping from the impact, but the stoneskin armor that had protected him (the original dart he had injected himself with) from Ae’dron’s finishing blow still maintained.
So Ae’dron slammed him again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
… And Xophorys, fractures spider-webbed across his exoskeleton, knew that his time was running short.
Humans potential is ever-surprising.
King Khoma watched as the audience cheered, laughed, and gasped at the show going on in the arena. He could literally feel their emotions thanks to his crown, and while a few people seemed to scoff at the idea of magic being used in the arena against the great champion, many more were pleasantly surprised by this turn of events. Spellcasters had been outlawed on Valmun for as long as the kingdom had been founded, specifically because of how unpredictable and dangerous magic could be.
This left humans at a distinct disadvantage compared to other races like orcs, dwarves, and wildkin who had physical means to compensate for their lack of magical ability. Seeing what a human could do when allowed to tap into their fullest potential was a rare treat in Valmun.
"Look at how they cheer for the man that defies the beast…” Androva stated with a smile, her red-painted lips visible beneath her alabaster mask. As usual, all heads snapped towards her for speaking without being commanded to. Everyone seemed to hold their breath at that moment, knowing that the king had killed people for less. Androva was unbothered, she knew Khoma wouldn’t kill her; because freedom from him was exactly what she wanted. Besides, Khoma enjoyed his subjects displaying a bit of initiative. Just a little bit, though.
His mouth twisted into a smile under his moustache, and he wondered who would respond to her? He loved the conversation game, because no one knew when he’d decide to punish someone yet they all knew he was waiting for someone to respond.
“Its been a long time since anyone’s given Ae’dron such a challenge,” the response came from a man wearing a mask that many said was sculpted to be the face of the First; the first humanoid designed by the Dragons. Something about his cadence always tickled a primal fear in the bellies of all who heard him, King Khoma included. Like most of the others, Chozun had to prove his worth to make it into the king’s court. Chozun had done so by bringing the king exotic monsters from all over the world, creatures that Khoma’s own hunters (who usually either captured slaves or wild animals) could have never acquired. Valmun’s profits had been on a heavy decline from stale matches before Chozun had arrived.
In fact, this entire event had been Chozun’s idea.
“that is why I’d suggested something that neither the crowd, nor the champion, could see coming.” He said, never turning his attention away from the fight. His stance always seemed unnaturally still, unbreathing as if he was a walking corpse. He had no discernable scent, and the little bit of his skin that was visible beneath his mask, armor, and cloak showed a pale gray-brown. Ilyac, the king’s disenchanter, couldn’t help but interject “A foolish risk,” he stated, turning his attention to Chozun with a frown. “of course, we should have expected as such from someone who’s value to our King is quickly growing stale.”
Chozun, who hadn’t moved until then, very slowly turned to face Ilyac.
He didn’t say anything for the first few seconds, just stared. Khoma interjected. “Speak.” Because gods knew that silent stillness was creepy, even to him. Chozun began, “Is the crowd not roaring? Is the gold not still flowing higher than before I had arrived? I think the only thing ‘stale’ here is a Disenchanter who is never actually pressed to do his job. Is this ‘risk’ just your way of saying that you are not sure if you can contain that man’s magic?”
Ilyac’s glare was visible even though his mask obscured his eyes. “As a Disenchanter my main duty is making sure no gold gambled is counterfeit and no magical weapons or other items make it into Valmun. Unlike you, who’s only job is to provide pleasant distraction the rest of us have roles here that extend far beyond the arena!”
“Then what are you afraid of? Just do your job…” Chozun said evenly.
Ilyac’s grip tightened, he opened his mouth to speak. “Silence!” Khoma demanded, and his entire court obediently bowed their heads and dropped to one knee. The king hadn’t even heard their dispute, Ae’dron’s slave collar had erased a reforming memory and sent it directly to him. Khoma –always curious about details on the Leo’s past- digested it eagerly...
“Ya really can’t do this?” The young feline wildkin asked, holding one finger up. With a flex of his hand, a sharpened knife-like nail slid out from his fingertips moments before slipping back into his skin. He stood in an open field under a cloudless sky, the grass came up to his knees and made movement difficult; exactly why he’d chosen this place.
“No…” The human child responded sourly. “I can’t do that, my nails don’t move. My ears don’t move. I can’t see in the dark or jump ridiculously high or none’ve that.” He said while leaning on a makeshift spear, trying to catch his breath. The two of them had just finished play-fighting and as usual the human had found himself defeated, with claw marks and bruises across his body.
“Wow,” the wildkin responded with a grin that hinted at a mouthful of fangs, “so how haven’t you all died off yet?” he asked with a laugh, but halted at the surprising answer.
“Community.”
“Huh?” Ae’dron blinked, confused. The human looked at him, a hint of pride in his expression. “Well, think about it. Wildkin families establish territories and live semi-nomadically inside of them.You pass down your knowledge mostly by word of mouth and -I don’t know- some kind of instinct, so a lot of what you know is kept in between relatives. Some humans do that too, but the most powerful among us have settled and formed kingdoms allowing many families to live together in one place and build on each other’s knowledge. ”
“Naw, that can’t be it,” Ae’dron argued. “we don’t have build towns and we live better than you do. Yall can’t hear, smell, or see anything around you and are some of the weakest creatures I ever seen.” The human shrugged, his wounds were glowing. “Everyone has something different.We live longer than you do though. A wildkin only lives 60 cycles, humans closer to 80. We learned what you know, and what everyone else knows and we share that to everyone.
… And I can outrun you. Humans can outrun anything.”
“Um. What!?”
“Yeah.”
“Yer not serious right now”
“What? We can, well.. I can. I mean I guess some people are slower than others and all but-“
“Yer not faster than me.”
“I didn’t say that,” The human returned with a smirk “I said I could outrun you. You’d tire out way sooner than me.”
Such a claim couldn’t go untested, and so the human and wildkin boys were soon lined up to race. The human ducked low, hands reaching the floor and legs ready to spring. He could see out the corner of his eye how the wildkin’s arms and legs shifted to better accomodate his run. He wanted to complain, but knew it was just a natural way their bodies worked. Besides, he thought with an eager smile, he’d still win.
“On the third call..” the wildkin said, referring to the caws of the hunting birds circling overhead. It was an uneven, unpredictable count, but that was exactly the point. On the first bird’s cry the both tensed, focused. The second caw had their hearts beating quicker, breath steadying the rising anticipation in their stomachs.
On the third, they ran.
The wildkin kicked up dust and grass in his wake, launching from the ground on all fours and running straight ahead. They had no target, but it didn’t matter, all he had to do was get far away enough, fast enough so that his opponent couldn’t keep up. The bones and muscles in his pelvis had shifted feline, matching his flexible spine and facilitating running on all fours. He didn’t have to look behind him to tell the distance between himself and the human, his other senses gave him an accurate measure of how quickly he was outpacing. Five minutes became ten minutes, became twenty, and after an hour of nonstop running the wildkin was panting so hard that he felt himself getting dizzy. His body took on a more humanoid shape while he fought to catch his breath, finally stopping.
He had proven his point a half hour ago, the rest was just showing off- but damn it felt good! When he squinted, he could see his opponent way off in the distance behind him and knew he had a moment to rest before the human caught up. After some time, though he was still a little tired, the wildkin sprinted far ahead of the human.
But not as far.
And the human, covered in sweat, caught up again. As the race went on, Ae’dron found himself starting to fall behind. His amazing willpower had brought him this far but his body couldn’t keep up for much longer. The human had an annoying smirk on his face even though he was breathing heavily. He had kept the same consistent pace the entire race, slowing just enough to keep his muscles from burning. Now he was gaining the lead, and the both of them knew that the wildkin wouldn’t be able to keep up. Ae’dron’s body had reached the limit of it’s stamina.
So he leapt.
The human saw his shadow expanding, but that wasn’t enough of a warning before the two hundred pound lionkin pounced on him. They hit the ground in a tumble, and untangled with Ae’dron standing above the human with his foot on his chest. “Ha! Got you!” The lion declared through gasps. The startled human tried to get up, “That wasn’t..- What?! We were racing!” He protested, but Ae’dron shook his head.
“You said I couldn’t catch you.”
“I said you couldn’t OUTRUN me!”
The wildkin scoffed, “Tch! That don’t even mean anything outside of yer dumb game! A fly is faster than a person and it’ll still get swatted when its attention slips,” Ae’dron lifted his leg so the human could rise, only to push him back down to the ground. “but at the end of the day all your books and technicalities can’t change the fact that humans are still just prey!” The proud lion roared. “Who cares how far you can run when you’re just going to get snuck up on anyway? Humans pretending stupid stuff like that is important is exactly why yall care more about things like how many coins you have and how pretty you are instead of how to survive outside of your dens.”
The human seemed just a bit demoralized, it took second for him to respond. “Okay, so… What? I’m food? Just meant to provide energy to something more vicious than myself?” Ae’dron grinned and helped him up, “Nah, never that. Ya may be scrawny but you’re useful, and more importantly, you’re my brother.”
“That’s nice I gues-“
“Until there’s nothing else to eat.”
“…Oh.”