Chapter 9: Swallowed by Shadows
Lyss stared up in horror as the monstrous doll backed her into a corner. She pressed her back against the cool stone wall that separated the audience from the fighters. Lyss dodged Abby's black claw, but her momentum sent her head-first into the wall. She sat in a daze for a few seconds as the world spun around her making her sick. She felt the back of her head and saw blood on her fingers. She couldn't see straight at all so when Abby threw another slash it ripped into her back. The wound wasn't deep, but clearly hurt as Lyss fell to her knees in agony. Dante' stared on in terror. "How can she beat something that's 4x her size?" he thought to himself as Abby held Lyss' throat and lifter her 15 feet off the ground. It threw her 10 more feet into the air and, much to Dante's dismay, caught her in its mouth. Dante's stomach went inside-out when Abby swallowed her whole.
Down a dark slimy path Lyss fell as she tried to recover from her head injury. Her back was also burning from the slash Abby had driven into her spine. The 4 cuts were much thicker than they were deep, so they still bled all over her clothes. She landed in a dark chamber with a soft wet floor. She stood up and held her head.
"What happened", she thought to herself. "I feel like I got hit by a truck." She tried to look for any crevice or a hole she could get out through. She heard a loud buzzing sound that grew louder and louder. Lyss looked up in horror as a dark, half man-half insect…..thing.
"Another fighter, mmm you look a little thin, but I guess you'll taste fine all the same", the voice was slow and had a slight buzz to it, obviously coming from the insect half of him. Lyss was about to speak but was cut off by a front roundhouse delivered by the bug-thing. "I'm Zelno, the real face of the brat's doll. She wanted to fight with her father Halifax in the tournament, but had no physical powers. So she found me and cast a gypsy curse on me. She told me that I would get all the food I could eat; all I had o do was help her kill all her opponents." After finishing his story Lyss stared at him.
"Why are you telling me this?" she asked as he tried another roundhouse. She was prepared for this one, and ducked under it. She tried to use a spinning trip maneuver as she hit the ground, but Zelno was too quick. He put his foot on her head and drove her face into the ground.
"I always tell my prey why I kill them, it builds up their fear; I love the taste of fear my dear, but I sense none in you, aren't you afraid of me?"
"The only thing I'm afraid of is your breath", Lyss said trying to insult Zelno, thinking his anger would cause him to make a mistake. He smiled, and then spat on her back wounds. The saliva felt like acid as it burnt through her skin. Lyss screamed in pain as he grabbed her hair and pulled her to her feet. He held her a few inches off the ground and punched her in the ribs. She fell to the ground once again and looked up at Zelno's grave gaze as he drew a long, organic-looking sword. He lifted it over his head and Slashed down at her. She closed her eyes and waited for the cool metal to pierce her skin. She heard a loud clang and opened her eyes. She stared up at Dante' with his sword drawn and meeting Zelno's in a burst of sparks. She stood up and noticed Dante' was semi-transparent. He looked around at her and nodded. Once she was recovered from the acid he sliced a wide gash in Zelno's ribs. His ghostly figured faded and vanished as Zelno cried out in pain as green blood poured from his ribs. Lyss knew the only way to destroy the monster was to kill him, so she ran in and jump-kicked him in he jaw. He stumbled back and spun slightly to his right. Lyss struck and grabbed him arund the neck. She hadn't intentionally killed anyone yet, so she closed eyes and twisted her forearms. She felt a snap in his neck and let go. He fell to the floor and released a large sum of blood out of his mouth. The monster tumbled over and broke down before the crowd's eyes. The vision of Zelno dimmed and vanished, but then turned to Moonlily. She looked up at Lyss and a tear fell from her eye. Lyss returned her tear with a grave look and a shake of her head. Moonlily's head fell back and she died. Lyss turned away and left the the arena of screaming fans. "How can you enjoy the senseless slaughter of others". She thought to herself. "This has to stop."