Blood Oath (Book 2 of Alfireán age)

BATTLE IN THE ARENA

He smiled.

But as the sound of a sword clicking back into its sheath sounded in the air, Alf's heart jumped. He had mere milliseconds to act. His thoughts flicked to the pre-prepared ice spike hovering by his left calf, and with a crunching hiss, it shot away into the ground.

The vice champion pivoted once again and started to shoot away just as the mixed magic spell exploded. Glistening water and dusty earth combined in a clash of blues and browns as the earth exploded into dust and flooded with water.

Alf's chest pounded with excitement as the vice champion's foot slipped and he tumbled to one knee. Immediately, his second pre-charged spell shot into the ground, freezing it solid and locking the vice champion in place.

He had won!

Or not! Alf's mind screamed as the green warrior's sword sprung from its sheath once more. He had trapped his foe while he was still in range to strike, he realized in panic as he threw up his sword to deflect the oncoming attack.

The backside of his damaged weapon smacked into the side of his face, the long curved blade of the champion's sword hovering only centimeters away from his neck.

Again, the warrior's sword shot away only to swing back around, this time headed straight for his legs.

Alf tried to step back, but his own feet were frozen solid in the mud. Gripping his hilt with both hands, he thrust the blade down, barely deflecting the third attack, but again the warrior's sword rebounded into another attack, and it was all Alf could do to block it.

Time blurred, and an eternity seemed to pass as Alf's every thought and motion focused intently on protecting himself as the vice champion rained down blow after lighting fast blow.

The attacks didn't have much force behind them, thanks to his opponent's awkward position, but the sheer number of them became too much for Alf to handle, and the attacks started to score small nicks and scratches. Slowly, Alf's arena shield drained away.

Just when it looked like he was doomed to lose the fight, the Stone of Kay said in a weird female voice, "Skill extracted. New skill obtained. Name of skill is," there was a slight pause, "Defender."

From his link with the Stone of Kay, new information flooded into Alf's mind, and as he watched the vice champion's sword swing towards him, he instantly knew how to position his blade to deflect the attack.

As if seeing a scrying in slow motion, Alf watched his arm effortlessly move his weapon into position, sending the green warrior's sword in a wide swing and forcing him to regain control over it before he could attack again. This time, as the blade came back around, Alf's sword was already in place to send it flying wide once again.

"What in the world?" the vice champion muttered.

"I think I have a new skill," Alf exclaimed. And with that, he knocked the warrior's blade wide one last time. Taking advantage of the moment of respite, he used his left hand to charge the ground around his feet with earth magic.

With a muddy slurp, his feet broke loose, and he back flipped away from the vice champion. Standing on solid ground, Alf sheathed his sword, raised both of his arms, and the small ice crystal hovering above his right shoulder sprang to life.

Tiny, razor-sharp ice daggers shot towards the ensnared vice champion.

The crowd gasped then sighed in relief as the green warrior effortlessly batted each ice spike out of the air with his sword.

"You will have to do better than that," the vice champion shouted.

"That's pretty impressive," Alf admitted. "But let's see you stop this." Alf dropped to a crouching position and held his hands off to his right as he started charging a fireball. As the flames grew in size, he fully expected the warrior to use the opening to try and break free of the ice ,but instead, the vice champion leaned his head back and began to sing.