Blood Oath (Book 2 of Alfireán age)

UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

"Hervey, get off the ground," a melodious voice scolded from behind Alf.

Alf started to turn, but before he could, someone wrapped their arms around his and Olivia's neck and said, "Hey Alfy, about time you got here."

He and Olivia stared in awe at the beautiful women standing between them. Leather gladiator sandals wrapped around long, shapely calves, and manicured toes painted ruby red stood in bright contrast to the green grass below. "How's it going Olivia? Manage to unravel any of the world's secrets yet?"

"Uh," Olivia muttered.

"Hey, I see you brought Drake and the girls as well."

Life flooded back into the supervisor's face, and he scrambled to his feet. "Oh, they're your friends." He breathed deeply. "Thank God, I thought my time had come."

The women let go of Alf's neck and sashayed over to Drake. "Still as sour as ever I see," she said and rubbed his head in affection. Fiery red hair fell in soft waves around the woman's heart-shaped face, and that's when Alf suddenly realized...

It was Zaphaniea, the grand champion!

Drake pulled away and glared at her. With a small chuckle, Zaphaniea winked at him and turned to the supervisor. "They're all old friends of mine. The big guy here is Alf. She," she waved at Olivia. "Is Olivia. The boy here is Drake—he fancies himself a strategist; then there is the sisters. The eldest is Silver, then Scarlet, and the short one is Pony."

"Pony?" Alf heard an incredulous voice whisper under her breath. "I'm not a pony."

"In that case," Hervey dusted himself off as the six of them stared agape at the grand champion. "Nice to meet you," he said nodding at them. Then his eyes narrowed. " Wait just a moment," he said and turned on the grand champion. "Why did you basically have them sneak in? If they're you're friends, there's no reason for them to be down here mucking around with me."

"Well froggy told me you needed help, so I thought it'd be nice for them to offer you some assistance."

"Uh huh," the supervisor said, not in the least bit convinced.

"Fine, you got me. I think Alf here has what it takes to defeat the vice champion, but I wanted to train him a bit first before I told anyone."

Hervey's eyes grew wide with excitement "Really!" His eyes darted to Alf then to the men Alf had pushed off the field. "By the dragon's teeth, I would love to... Hey! wait, You can't give him private coaching! That wouldn't be fair to the other contestants."

Zaphaniea shrugged and dusted off her shoulder. "What other contestants? I don't see any other contestants. They all look like fodder to me."

Hervey frowned. "No, you know all the vice champion's weaknesses. If you teach him it's like you rigging the fight," he said crossing his arms. "That's no good. I'd rather watch him fight him right now when he is completely new to the arena. It'll make the match a whole lot better." His eyes lit up as he latched onto the thought. "You know what? I'm going to talk to the vice champion and see if I can arrange a special fight between them before your next round."

"Don't you dare."

Instead of trying to argue with the grand champion, the supervisor dashed to the closest medical hatch and jumped through.

As the man disappeared down the chute, Zaphaniea turned to Alf, her ivy green eyes flashing with mischief. "Well, it looks like you're going to be fighting the mysterious vice champion before my next fight."