Eros

The Red Reaper - 32

Alora ran after Kaido. He clashed with the two sisters when she spotted a third member of their team; the suave man with the narrow sword. He held his hand up and aimed it at Kaido. Currents of air flowed in a spiral around his arm, gathering into a sphere at his open palm.

A magus. She was unsure of what he was casting exactly, but had no doubt it would be unpleasant. The sphere in his palm spun like a cyclone as it drew in more and more air, condensing into the point of violent instability. Gritting her teeth, she changed the course of her dash.

The magus crushed her rising hope to catch him unawares when his gaze shifted to her two of steps before she was upon him. She leapt, scimitar lashing forth, and he swung his hand to her direction, unleashing the sphere. It rocketed forward and hit her midsection with the gravity of a boulder. The air amassed within burst outwards with the collision, blowing her body back like a weightless ragdoll on a gale of raging wind. She twisted in the air and threw her legs over her head just as her back connected with the ground, rolling into a crouch.

Fuck. She struggled drawing the first breath, and every inhale that followed was painful and labored. Ache throbbed across her back and pounded mercilessly along her ribs. One or two were probably fractured.

"Hm, what do we have here," Alex examined her, his hair and his undershirt's collar fluttering in the wind that swirled into his grasp. "I'm afraid you chose the wrong event to leave the woods for, elf."

"I am thankful though," He continued, the air balling inwards, spinning faster and faster. Alora could tell it was nearly prepared for release. Her muscles tensed readily. "If it weren't for your interference, the girls would've eaten my head for days over how I stole their kill."

He flicked his hand and she sprung into a roll sideways. A split second later, the air-orb blasted a small crater into the ground she had crouched upon, raising puffs of sand to the air, and she was racing to Alex.

"I hate it when they're dodgy." Alex grumbled quietly, his fist tightening around the hilt of his sword. A current of air spiraled along the length of his blade and gushed forth in an unnaturally powerful gust of wind as he swiped it against Alora's scimitar. She tilted her weight forth to maintain her balance as she was wafted backwards, her boots dragging several steps across the sand.

He swung his blade again, the arc it drew in the air sped towards her as a wave of wind. Yet to regain her balance, she failed to dodge it. Its larger layout made it less destructive than the orb, though it proved potent enough as it struck her, nearly lifting her from the ground and winding her into stumbling. He flourished his sword once more, and another wind slash rushed upon her, finally succeeding to shove her off her feet and into a harsh thud against the ground. Her stricken back screamed in protest to her quickness to rise, and the pain in her ribs burnt so agonizingly she felt as if her every breath set them aflame.

How the fuck can I reach him? In frustration, she sent out her senses again, unsurprised when her third search for wilderness was no more successful than the previous two. The air about his sword whooshed into a thickening spiral, indicating of a heavier, deadlier wind slash to come.

"Alora!" Her gaze shifted as a call of her name came from behind Alex. Kaido stood there, bloody. The twin sisters laid dead at his feet. He inclined his foot in a step forward, and with a flail of his arm, released one of his swords into the air. Droplets of the blood that coated the blade were winded off in its flight, marking its aerial trail towards Alex's back. Alora ran as fast as her legs allowed her.

Alex turned with a whip of his sword, discharging the wind that engulfed it to ward off Kaido's thrown blade. When he whirled back to Alora she was mere steps away, the verdant haze of her eyes glowing thick and vivid. He swung his sword frantically, stretching a horizontal wind slash and flying it to her. Alora kicked her legs forward and slid underneath it, scraping her leather trousers against the sand. She ran her scimitar across the side of his thigh as she drifted past him, carving bone-deep through muscle and flesh. He cried out as his cut leg buckled, dropping onto a knee.

She dug the heel of her boot in the sand before her and spun upon it as she rose. Her scimitar whirled with her body, and she drove it into the back of Alex's head. A cracking thump echoed, and he toppled over, limp. Pink mush peeped amongst the red oozing out his split skull.

The adrenaline faded, rendering her defenseless to the horrid pain of panting with fractured ribs.

Looking aside, she discovered Kaido was already fighting again. The gladiator he faced was on constant retreat, stepping back over and over and cowering behind his large shield. He hadn't dared to strike a single time, and failed to even notice the figure that cut off his retreat behind him

A gargantuan, gleaming, plated bulk of a man, wielding a greataxe so heavy it could've been a mace. The wielder swooped it in a broad cleave, sinking neatly into the gladiator's hip, and bursting bloody out the other. In an outpour of blood, the gladiator's torso parted from his waist, trailing in the air after the greataxe. It fell to dirty the sand with severed guts shortly after the legs. A freezing chill ran down Alora's spine.

Bogs, the last member of Alex and the twins' team, stepped over the bloody remains, swung his greataxe overhead, and down at Kaido. The blade landed it in a flash, burying into the sand as Kaido sidestepped. He thrust his sword towards the eye slit. Bogs shifted his shoulder, deflecting the blade with his pauldron, then tore the greataxe from the ground and heaved it in a diagonal arc. Kaido darted backwards as the axe soared before his chest, and lunged forth with a swing of his sword as it ascended past his shoulder. He struck the helmet, barely scratching its surface, though rattling it with the impact.

The tenacious tin-man stood strong. He moved his hand farther up the greataxe's shaft, adapting his grip to closer range and greater maneuverability. With it, he hacked towards Kaido's neck, his body turning along with the swing of the greataxe. Kaido ducked beneath the blow's arc and stepped behind him. He thrust his hands one after the other, the first pushing up the helmet's rim and the second sliding his sword through the gap. The blade pierced into the back of Bogs' head, and his limbs slumped, lifeless. Kaido ripped it out, and Bogs' armored body fell to the ground, blood trickling from beneath his helm.

The crowd's constant, rumbling shouts and cheers became a thunderous roar. Alora blinked and glanced around the arena. Bodies by the dozens laid in crimson patches across the sand. Nobody remained standing but her and Kaido.

It's over. She looked at him. Cuts laced his armor and blood painted his face and sword.

The trumpets blew and the crowd fell silent. A single man's laughter and clapping echoed throughout the arena.

"What a show, what a show!" The Black Prince ceased clapping his hands and spread them in the air.

"None of us saw that coming, am I right, my fellow sinners?" He grinned from ear to ear.

We just made that bastard a load of money, Alora connected his words with his gloating. Nobody had possibly bet on our team.

"This guy..." He laughed again, waving his hand in a gesture towards Kaido.

"He comes here unnamed, kills all our cherished gladiators, and also finds the time to smooch his pretty girlfriend..." An uneasy tension fell on the arena as the prince surveyed it.

"I don't know about you gentleman, but I think this fucking guy needs a name!" He declared, and the crowd cheered. The prince stuck his lip out in thought, then smiled a smug smile.

"The Red Reaper." He uttered, and the crowd chanted after him, fists raised in the air.

"Red Reaper! Red Reaper! Red Reaper! Red Reaper..."