Shadow's Rising {Wing 5} Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Brains and brawn, King and pawn

The next event was held in the dragon dome while the other participants were on their return journey. A circular raised platform was brought about the width of two dragons. In this fight the rules were simple. Using magic or muscle each participant had to force the other out of the arena or make them concede defeat.

Airel was up against the brawniest of Red Squad, Brokkr. He was average height, but his arms and legs were thick with muscle. Both participants stretched and warmed up. As they were doing so, Brokkr called to Airel.

“Hey. I heard you aren’t very good with magic, and I want to have a good brawl. How about we make a gentleman’s agreement that we won’t use magic? It would be a shame to burn you before getting the chance to feel that body of yours. Heh, heh.”

There were a few boos and laughs from the crowd. Jarid could tell how angry that disgusting taunt had made Airel, but she gritted her teeth and just smiled.

“Who am I to refuse an advantage so readily given. We are agreed. Besides, if you want to feel my body so badly, I promise you will get to feel my fist against your face.”

Her reply was met with cheers from the crowd. Brokkr grinned and got into a wrestling stance. “I look forward to it.”

The official stood between them and held out his hand. “Stand you ready?” Both gave their accent.

“Very well… Begin!” the announcer cried while raising his hand.

Brokkr charged forward and Airel stepped in to deliver a punch to his face, but Brokkr dodged and made a grab for her. Airel ducked under his grab and slipped behind locking her arms around his waist.

“Ha! You think you can suplex m-” Brokkr started to laugh before he was lifted clear off the ground and slammed on his head.

Brokkr rolled backward to gain some distance and recover. His cocky smile was now gone and he eyed Airel warily. It was clear that he now regarded her as a threat. But Airel wasn’t going to give him time to think about his mistake. He had barely risen to his feet before she was leaping towards him, knee flying towards his chest.

Brokkr blocked with both hands and grunted as her blow was strong. Then she went to punch him in the face, but he grabbed her leg and started to lift it to block. Airel was expecting this however and extended her leg, so her foot jabbed him in the gut. Brokkr shoved Airel’s knee and backed up to give himself room, but Airel was relentless. She chased him down with a flurry of lightning fast jabs.

Brokkr was blocking and slowly retreating as he recovered, but just as he was about to counter attack Airel feinted a punch into a kick on the same side. The break in rhythm caused Brokkr to react instinctively to block the kick but that had been a feint too as she continued her original punch which landed square on his cheek.

Airel took a step back to breathe and regain her composure. “I… told you. You… would feel… my fist… on your face,” she commented with a dry smile.

Brokkr rubbed his face before standing tall and bowing to Airel. “I fear I must apologize, my lady.”

“For what?” Airel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I underestimated you because you were a woman. I see now that it was foolish to do so. In recognition of this I’m afraid I must rescind my earlier offer. I will not be able to act in a gentlemanly way in our bout anymore.”

With that Brokkr raised his hands and a wall of flame the length of the arena erupted from the ground.

Jarid felt a twinge of anxiety. Brokkr was only a few steps away from the edge of the arena. If Airel had gotten in one more good push, she might have won.

Brokkr sighed as he began to push the wall of flames forward, intending to drive Airel out of the arena. “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but the world is cruel. Some of us are just born with more magic ta-” his speech was interrupted as Airel’s fist slammed into his face once more, sending Brokkr flying out of the small arena.

While Brokkr had been talking, Airel had conjured a small shield of water around herself and leapt through the wall of flame. She may not have been able to extinguish the flames, but she was able to make it through the wall with only a few minor burns.

“That is the end of this event! The winner is Airel of Black Squad!” The official announced as the crowd cheered and began talking loudly among themselves.

There were a few medical staff on standby, and they quickly checked on Airel and Brokkr. Airel was given cool clothes and a medicinal drink of some kind. Brokkr was given an ice pack and helped to his feet. He silently made eye contact with Airel and nodded respectfully before walking back to his squad.

Jarid was relieved to see that Brokkr didn’t seem to have any animosity towards Airel.

Dominic could learn a thing or two from him, he thought.

They took a brief break while Felicia returned, and the officials cleared the arena for the third round. This time it was set up to look like a giant chess board with tall podiums on each side.

“The next event will be Mage’s Chess!” The official announced. “Will the participants Eldr and Ethan please draw straws then mount your podiums.”

Ethan saluted everyone and waved as he walked forward. They both drew straws and Ethan drew the longer one which meant he would be going second. Then he and his opponent mounted their podiums.

The official cleared his throat. “This game is quite similar to normal chess, except the pieces will be made of the user’s own magic power. If at any point a piece on the board ceases to keep its form, it shall be counted as removed from play. You are not allowed to move from your podium nor use magic for anything other than the sustainment of your pieces. Each piece must be at least this size.”

The official created a pillar of flame in the likeness of a horse that was about the size of a man.

“Now, create your king and army!” he announced.

Flames covered one side of the board and ice covered the other. The shapes of the pieces quickly formed. Jarid could tell the strain of keeping all those pieces in shape would not be easy.

“And, begin!”

Eldr quickly started things off by moving his pawn to E4. Kings pawn was a classic move for a nobleman. Ethan responded by playing his pawn to C5. Also a classic response. They each continued for the first few moves playing out normally. Eldr moved his knight to F3 and Ethan moved his pawn to D6. Eldr continued pushing into the center with a pawn to D4 which Ethan took with his C5 pawn. Then Eldr took that pawn with his knight. Ethan responded by playing his knight to F6 to put pressure on Eldr’s remaining pawn. Then Eldr moved his second knight to C3 to guard his pawn.

Ethan smiled as he moved his pawn to G6. Jarid smiled too. It was a new move they had thought up together to throw the opponent off and play more aggressively.

Eldr frowned and tried to castle as quickly as he could, with Ethan following suit. Eldr was thinking hard and suddenly his castle started to flicker. It disappeared for half a second and Jarid turned to the official for the call but he said nothing, so Jarid decided to point it out.

“I think Eldr’s castle just flickered out for a second there. Should he not remove it since it disappeared for a moment?”

The official gave Jarid a disapproving glance. “That’s what flames do. They flicker. I’m watching in case one of them goes out, don’t worry.”

Eldr, having heard Jarid’s words, decided to go for a gambit. With his knights already out and his king castled into A1 he decided to open up his back line by allowing all his pawns from F2 to H2 to disappear. This would allow him to move in quickly and conserve his magic. But Ethan kept his cool and continued to slowly advance across the board.

With his aggressive strategy Ethan was forced to sacrifice pieces to make progress but he made smart trades and used his pawns effectively to block the movements of his opponent’s pieces. Ethan was beginning to sweat from the strain and cracks were appearing in a few of his pieces. He was forced to let go of some larger pieces in order to maintain concentration. Thankfully he had already taken those same pieces off his opponent’s board.

As Eldr was slowly backed into a corner he became desperate and using his extra mana reserves, he increased the heat of his flames to melt the nearby pieces. Ethan gritted his teeth but was forced to move his pieces back.

Eldr smirked, thinking he’d won. Then he noticed Ethan had one last pawn that had a clear shot to his backline. Both of them had long since sacrificed their queens. Eldr tried to move in close but he couldn’t get any of his pieces in a position to take out the pawn. The best he could do was get a bishop right next to it. Ethan confidently moved to further entrap his opponent, but for some reason Eldr wasn’t making his next move.

Jarid’s eyes widened with shock as he realized that this was the result of Eldr’s earlier gambit. He could simply wait until Ethan’s mana reserves forced him to start removing pieces, then he could stop the pawn from advancing!

Jarid looked to the official, who said nothing. After almost a minute of this stand off Ethan looked at the official and sighed, but Jarid saw the slightest hint of a smile on his cheek.

Ethan waited another 30 seconds and seemed to quickly become exhausted. He seemed to realize he wouldn’t be able to last and dissipated all his pieces except the castle protecting his pawn and the pawn itself.

Jarid wondered why he had given up so many pieces but Eldr took advantage and moved in. Each turn felt long as each of them stood panting on their pedestals and planned their next move.

Finally, Eldr seemed to have Ethan surrounded and took out his pawn, but Ethan just smiled as he stood up straight and let his castle disappear as well. It took a few moments for Eldr to realize what he was doing and quickly allow all his pieces to disappear as well, but by then it was already too late. He had wasted too much magic sustaining his pieces and since the official had not called his earlier strategy of simply not taking his turn, that meant he couldn’t call Ethan on it either. All Ethan had to do was lower his opponent’s magic reserves to the point he could outlast him.

After that it was a lot of intense waiting until one of the two contestants could no longer maintain their king. After an agonizing few minutes Elder’s king finally sputtered and went out as he collapsed against his podium. Ethan’s own king crumbled soon after as Black Squad’s cheers rang out along with those of the spectators.

Ethan shakily dismounted the podium and was immediately surrounded by the rest of Black Squad with pats on the back and joyous exclamations. Meanwhile Eldr was lowered from his pedestal and Red Squad helped him sit down while trying to cheer him up.

The official announced an intermission for a meal and a break while the next few events were prepared. Jarid shared a meal with Black Squad where they discussed their strategy for Ben and Steven’s events. As they were heading back to the arena, one of the nearby staff dropped a box he was carrying. Jarid paused to help him and called to the others that he would catch up. The man thanked him and continued on his way, but as Jarid turned to catch up with the others he was confronted by Dominic.

“Well, well, peasant. It looks like you were able to cheat your way to the finals. I honestly wish I had the chance to face you in front of everyone.”

Jarid frowned. It had been some time since he had last seen Dominic. Ever since the night he had accidentally gone through his dragonthro transformation after witnessing his abuse of Smolder, Dominic had avoided him as much as possible.

“Why have you stopped me Dominic? I am going to the arena to support my squad.”

Jarid’s voice was stern but Dominic paid it no mind.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There is someone who wants to meet you in the forest nearby. They were also the one who revealed the trick you pulled on us that day in the dragon stables, so don’t think you can deceive me again. They sent me to retrieve you, and to provide a little extra incentive, we captured that Red Squad fool who disgraces all nobility by considering you an equal. Don’t worry though. We’ll be sure you get back in time for your match,” he finished with an evil grin.

Jarid knew that there was a high chance that Dominic was merely bluffing and the noble superiority faction had prepared something to keep him from competing, but he just couldn’t risk it. Besides, he felt confident that with Brazor’s training he could escape any trap they had prepared for him. There were two matches before his, and each one should take a long time.

With a growl of annoyance Jarid agreed to follow Dominic.

After sneaking out of the academy, Dominic led Jarid down the mountain and some distance into the nearby forest. Jarid kept his magic barrier up in case of a sneak attack. Eventually they came to a clearing and as they approached the opposite side a rider and dragon emerged from the shadows. Dominic stood beside the rider with a confident smirk.

The dragon was a Flame Wing and though a bit on the shorter side, it had large wings and muscles of steel. This was fortunate since its rider was a large man with thick muscles that nearly burst from his Flame Wing armor. The armor itself bore many scars. A sign both of the numerous battles it had been in, and the recklessness of its owner.

“Hello, boy. It would seem you are just as foolish as ever. But I suppose I shouldn’t have expected so much from a commoner.”

Jarid’s barrier faltered as he stared in shock. He hadn’t recognised him before with his armor on but there was no mistaking that voice. The deep, cutting, cruelty could only belong to one man.

Lt. Briar cracked his knuckles and his neck. “I’ve come to teach you one final lesson boy, and this time, I won’t be holding back. Don’t worry about paying attention either, because I am about to pound noble superiority into your worthless skull!”