Chapter 10: How the Mighty Fall.
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the end!
The man in the black and cold coat stood over his chessboard with his signature smug grin wide across his face. He watched with fascination as the events folded out before him, the molten gold of his eyes shining with mirth. No sadness ever deeply affected him when any of his pawns disappeared but instead he felt the sadness akin to when a favourite character dies in a movie. It was there, but it was very temporary, little more than a momentary recoil and a slight hiss. His quiet brown haired apprentice stood on the opposite side, watching with a blank expression. She was not known to get the same kind of joy from these games as he did. Instead, she saw events as more of a character study. Often, she would use the information she gathered for aid when creating the next arena, twisting rules to make things more entertaining.
"The others wish to head down to watch the final 3," she muttered, breaking Ridgedog's captivation, "Will you be going with them? I will stay here and observe." The overseer nodded his head and walked over to the Observer, brushing a stray strand of her long hair behind her ear, ignoring her blush when he did so,
"Thank you kindly, My Dear," he responded, walking by her and donning his invisibility, whistling as he went. There could only be one winner. Now was finally the time to see who that would be.
–
Rythian breathed slowly. He watched with a small amount of horror as Sjin's blood slowly evaporated off the blade, the raw red matter slowly boiling it. There was only three of them left now: Xephos, Lalna and himself. All of them had nothing left to loose. That made them the most dangerous men. He shakily got to his feet, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end. He got the feeling that he was being watched. He could feel breath on his neck, hushed voices in the gloom of the tree line and pairs upon pairs of eyes watching his every movement. He was one of the final three, of course the others had decided to watch first hand, they did so every time.
Slowly, he walked along the shoreline, past where the Crooked Caber sat proudly on the ocean. He knew where he was now. His strides were long but not to be confused as a sign of determination. He just wanted this horror show to end and if that meant only one of them was left standing, then so be it. Suddenly, the dome lit up. It was well into the night, so this wasn't the fallen. Besides, no one extra had died, had they?
"For those of you remaining, the Fallen," this time, it was a female voice. Rythian looked up, perplexed.
The first thing shown was Nilsey's death. He ran up behind Minty, panting from running too far, before Sjin pecked his girl on the cheek and fired a single shot into his head. Then it was Honeydew, looking down onto the entrance to Blackrock from the second floor, talking merrily to the man he thought was his friend. Rythian faintly heard rustling and saw Xephos emerge from the forest's edge. They met eyes for a second before they both looked up to the sky. This could be settled later. Their eyes were met with Honeydew's contorted body, a bloody, broken mess on the floor outside the Blackrock doors.
Then it was Hannah. She seemed to be scouring a chest when an arrowhead suddenly protruded from her forehead, blood spraying over the camera lens.
"Wouldn't have felt a thing..." he heard Xephos mutter from over his shoulder. The spaceman closed his blue eyes and accepted the truth, before turning his gaze back up. Rythian hissed as he saw Zoey die. The laser creating a hole in her chest, her final word dead on her lips, but the ghost still danced in the air around her and he saw it:
"Rythian"
They witnessed Xephos sneak up on Teep and stab his diamond sword through his stomach, leaving him to bleed to death on the forest floor. A revenge for his sweet Lomadia. This was followed by Martyn and Toby creating a trap for the terrified Sips then slicing his head clean from his neck, blood decorating the Sapling Blade like leopard print. Then it was Pandora smiling as Lalna rested her hand back and settled her onto the forest floor, finally letting her go. Rythian briefly wondered how long it took her to die and he sent out a silent wave of sympathy to whatever limbo she was currently in.
The familiar haunting silhouette of Toby hanging from the great oak followed, then Minty falling to her death, Sjin giving Martyn the death he wanted, and finally Rythian himself plunging his sword through Sjin's throat. Rythian wiped hidden tears from his eyes and turned to Xephos in the early morning light.
"We have to end this now, don't we?" Rythian declared, turning to the Spaceman. His blue eyes shone out of the gloom, not glowing, just shining.
"I am afraid so, my friend," he replied, looking down. He seemed to be deep in thought for a moment.
"If we must die, let us at least end it with dignity," he muttered, as if it was a well versed quote, drawing his sword and holding the blade flat towards him. Rythian was stunned for a moment. He'd expected many things, this had not been one of them.
"Are you challenging me to a duel?" he replied, drawing his red matter katar.
"I am," he responded, his eyes never once faltering, "We shall not die like pigs stepping up for slaughter," Rythian nodded solemnly. He could hear the disgruntled mummers of the others who stood around them. They must have been unsure how to feel about this decision.
Slowly, they began to circle each other. Xephos had clearly learned his steps well, each foot placed with an ease only developed over years and years of training. His sword was held at exactly the right angles, every move he made was perfect. Rythian, on the other hand, moved haphazardly. Some could confuse it for clumsiness or inexperience but that would be their downfall. Rythian taught himself to fight, so maybe he didn't have the textbook style but instead he had developed his own. He was just as adept as Xephos but in a very different way.
Xephos, being the challenger, lunged first bringing his sword in an upward arc. Rythian relied on years of well developed instinct and parried the blow, the blades clashing with a hiss of red matter. He didn't want to kill the Spaceman but he wasn't really giving him much of choice. The Enderborn pulled his sword back before swinging it low, aiming for the spaceman's stomach. Predictably, Xephos jumped back, a slight smirk gracing his features. The diamond sword swung again, this time aiming low for where Rythian did not have any defence. He dived back, not loosing his footing, Xephos did not leave him much choice. He had to swing to kill or not at all. He grabbed a handful of sand and threw it up into the Spaceman's eyes, hoping to blind him.
Xephos took a few flustering steps back, clawing at his eyes in a vain attempt to purge the grains. Eventually, however, before Rythian could get a hit in he stabilised himself and let out a low, dark chuckle,
"Bad move, Rythian, bad move." he mumbled, assuming his stance. The Enderborn was unsure on how to proceed. Unlike Xephos, Rythian had never had never been trained to fight blind. What Rythian had thought to be an advantage was actually his biggest mistake. Slowly, like the creature of the End he was so akin too, Rythian crept around the back of the spaceman. He could hear the invisible crowd urging him on, tugging at his clothes,
"Kill, kill, kill..."
He pounced, like a tiger, toward the Spaceman's back hoping to catch him from behind but Xephos had been trained well. He felt the shift in the sand below his feet and heard the movement as he lunged allowing him to turn around and block the blow. The spaceman saw his opportunity and followed up with a barrage of attacks. Being blind had never stopped him, he had all the other (more powerful) senses to rely on.
Ridge watched from the shadows of the tree line, arms crossed, a wide smile on his face. Dying men did put on quite the show when he lit a fire under their feet. He watched as his companions urged on the doomed men. Some placed bets or took sides. They fought valiantly in the face of demise, he gave them that. He silently sent up a message to the Observer. He had an idea.
Within seconds, his companion was beside him. She watched with a smirk, a small spark in her eye, perhaps the brunette was getting a taste for this after all.
"You called," she muttered, her eyes following the vicious battle on the shore before them. Xephos had finally purged the sand and was fighting with renewed vigour.
"They fight well, do they not? Perfect entertainment!" He exclaimed. The Observer gave a hum of approval, well and truly fixated on the battle before them, "I think they deserve some... Recompense. If you understand my meaning."
The Observer gave a solemn nod. She'd been waiting to test this for a while, but hadn't had the chance to. She was overjoyed Ridge had given her the opportunity, but she would never show it. When Ridge looked back, the Observer had returned to the dome. She had an experiment to do.
Xephos knew how to handle a sword, Rythian gave him that. He'd been wearing him down. Where Rythian was aggressive, Xephos was precise and calm. He acted so assured of his victory. Rythian was unsure if he should admire this quality or despise it. They broke away yet again, breathing heavily. Both sides were giving it everything, afraid of defeat. That's when the ghosts came.
The first ones arrived with the beams of the rising sun, thin wisps of blue against the vibrant reds and yellows. They both watched, their duel paused, as these wisps took shape. The first turned into a short translucent figure with an orange hue. The figure appeared to grow horns but then the Spaceman realised it was just the helm of Honeydew, the dwarf. He opened his mouth to speak to Xephos, as he appeared to be the only one he could see, only to find no sound came. Ridge had granted them visitors, but only in shape, not sound. The dwarf took to walking up to Xephos and patting him on the back, a silent `well done, Friend`.
The second one that landed took a green form. Rythian watched as his precious dinosaur appeared before him and he suddenly understood why the other players could not see them. They were only seen by who they were visiting. He was lucky; he did not need to provoke the Spaceman further. Teep was used to being mute so he simply took his place off to the side of Rythian, becoming again his ever-silent protector.
Three more wisps landed next. The third one went off to the side, but the other two landed softly in the sand. One took a red shape, the other teal. Two gasps were drawn from the men as Zoey and Hannah appeared before them. Sweet smiles spread across their faces as they walked over. They seemed to understand that they could not speak. Zoey wasn't subtle as too her joy and threw herself at Rythian. He only felt a shudder as she phrased through him. Apparently there was no touching either. Hannah smoothly walked up to Xephos and sadly brushed her ghostly hand across his cheek. This seemed to trigger some emotive part of him as he began whispering over and over again,
"I am so sorry, I failed you, I'm sorry." The Owl Queen shook her head and smiled at him. Her mouth moved to create the words,
"It's okay."
Over to the side, only slightly along the beach, sat another two figures. One mortal, the other ghost. If the others had looked over to them, they would have seen the ghost too, as she was here to visit them all. This one had a brown hue and sat watching the sunrise with a very haggard Lalna. They understood the reality of these games. Pandora smiled at her Scientist and then leaned over and wrote in the sand:
`The Observer wont let us stay. We have to go now. You know what to do. DON'T LET HIM WIN!`
Almost as soon as this was written, all of the figures evaporated, leaving only the three men alone on the beach.
At first both men were at a loss as to what to do but eventually the two picked up their swords and resumed their fight. This time, they had purpose. They had people to fight to get home too. After a while it became apparent that the two were evenly matched. Rythian had the endurance to push past Xephos' goading and Xephos had the patience to combat Rythian. It appeared they were going to enter a never ending duel.
Ridge could see how this was going. He'd seen many duels like it, where both opponents were equally matched. Every time, someone had to intervene or the match would never end or worse, they would call a draw. That didn't make for the entertainment his guests required. He dove into the inside pocket of his coat and withdrew one of his chess pieces. He had bought them all with him, should they be required. This one was a bishop, a glorious red colour, representing Rythian's precious apprentice. He smiled at the piece before throwing it towards the duo. He hoped it would have the effect he needed.
–
Rythian bought his sword back, preparing to clash with Xephos yet again. He supposed he could use his magic to win, but duels were about honour and that would be cheating. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw a red stone approaching the space between the two of them. When it hit the sand, red wisps seethed from it. In a second, the ghostly form of his apprentice stood before him, mouth dropped open in shock. Rythian froze, all colour draining from his face. Xephos could not see this, so took it as a moment of sudden exhaustion. Without thinking twice, Xephos ran the Enderborn through before stabbing him in the head.
BOOM
Xephos sighed, watching the Enderborn's body evaporate. He could hear the cheers of half of the crowd. This wasn't right. He had no quarrel with Rythian, he had no reason to kill him. At least he had tried to give him a noble death.
"So it's just us left then, is it?"
The spaceman turned to see Lalna approaching him. He had Pandora's musket swung over his shoulder and his hands in his pockets. In all of their time working together, Xephos had never seen the man so very tired.
"Don't tell me I have to duel you too." he gasped, wiping sweat from his brow. As if expecting drama, rain began pouring down around them. It cleaned the diamond sword in the Xephos' hand, creating a red circle around where he stood. A red spot, the sign of a killer. The sand around Lalna's feet remained pure. He hadn't actually killed anyone.
The scientist shook his head and proffered his best broken smile.
"Thankfully, that wont be necessary." he muttered. Steadily, he reached over and carefully lifted the tip of the diamond sword to sit at his chest. Xephos looked aghast,
"Wha-"
"Rythian and you didn't get it," Lalna interrupted, his eyes hard and focused. The rain hammered down around them but neither noticed,
"You gave into the necessity of killing. You fed Ridge exactly what he wanted of you, you're letting him win. Martyn was the last one to understand this, and Pandora before him," he continued, not pausing for breath, "Don't give him a show. Give him an ending."
Xephos looked at his friend for a moment, slowly understanding his meaning. This was his friend, the wisest, why did he have to kill him?
"Why should I kill you? Why not myself, that would also work to your design," he said aloud. Lalna shook his head,
"Because I made promises to other people and I failed. I cannot go on to win having failed them so severely,"
Xephos swallowed loudly, bracing himself, before nodding. Lalna closed his blue eyes, filling his ears with the sounds of the other's outcry. This was how this was going to end. No more survival. No more revenge. No victory. Just an end and nothing else. With a final push, the spaceman shoved his sword into his friend's chest, tears in his eyes.
BOOM
Ridge watched, a bitter taste on his lips. All of his friends stood in shock, unsure of what to say. He sighed, shook his head and cursed the scientist for truly winning. Putting on his best smile and emerging from the forest no longer invisible, he approached Xephos who was on his knees in the pool of blood crying,
"Congratulations," he declared, "You, Xephos, are the winner!"
AN: AND IT'S FINALLY DONE!
I would put a long note here, but how about I save that for the epilogue, eh?
Yes, there is an epilogue.
Well, don't you want to know what happens when they wake up?
No?
Well I do, so deal with it.
(I eagerly await your recording Miss Wolf ;) )
