67th Day of Spring, 508 AV
Elias winced as the boot found his ribs again.
Nothing felt broken yet but that did not mean it wasn’t agony. He closed his eyes in a vein attempt to make the pain go away, but no matter how he tried to ignore it, the throbbing in his ribs refused to go away. Another fresh bloom of blistering pain exploded across his side and Elias balled up into a fetal position in an attempt to protect him from more harm. He heard laughter around him just before more shots rained down against him from seemingly every-which direction.
Questions began to run through his blurred mind: What was going on? Why were they hurting him? Then, as the beating continued, he began to return to his senses. His name was Elias. He was a petitioner. This was happening… because he had asked for it? Yes, that was right. He had wanted this -demanded it even. The match had been arranged at the last minute to be a handicapped one by his own hand. He remembered quite clearly now that he himself had picked out the opponents as well. Two of the meanest, nastiest looking men on the line up the pit master had to offer. Neither of them would be baring any weapon save for their fists, just like Elias himself. This match was to be a bare hands fight only.
To his mounting shame, he had gone down quickly after the bout had begun. One of them had a sloppy guard and so he had pressed the attack in his arrogance. A few of his blows had connected but he could not get out of the way of the second opponent’s fist as it sailed from seemingly out of nowhere and impacted the side of his face. The blow had dazed him long enough for his two assailants to move in and begin delivering their punishment. He managed to deflect a few, but it had only taken one lucky hit on the edge of his chin to make the young stryfer in training to realize what a mistake this had been. His vision had swam for a few moments before the second blow had come in and everything in the world faded to nothing. The next thing he knew he was being kicked about in the ribs.
The two men did not seem to be in any hurry to finish playing with their food. That was a mistake. If he were in their shoes Elias would have never allowed them to have woken back up until the next day at the very least. In fact, considering what they had done, he wasn’t sure if either would survive today. Every moment he kept breathing was another moment their lives were in jeopardy.
Elias adjusted his body slightly to guard his vitals better as the two men continued to laugh and assault their victim. They did not seem to notice or care that they were no longer doing as much damage with their strikes. They had simply taken his squirming as another feeble attempt at trying to get away from them. One of them said something to the other that elected a harsh, guttural laugh from both.
The petitioner did his best to lay still as they continued to strike at him, but under the cover of his arms Elias clenched his teeth. It did not matter if he was protecting his vitals. After this he would be bruised for days. That was of course, if he survived. Thankfully, his chance to escape the dire situation he was in presented itself when one of the assailants had stopped kicking him. "Is he dead?" he heard blurted out from overhead. The other man hesitated and stopped his kicking as well. At the same time, the newly initated flux novice began to feel around for the magic beneath the surface. Scratching and clawing at the elusive creature that he still didn't quite understand.
Now was the time...
With the speed of a serpent, the Caldera uncoiled his body and struck. Arms shot out in both directions, each of his hands wrapping around both of their ankles as bloodied fingers eagerly found their marks. Elias yanked on both with a roar, djed rushing through his arms and into the very muscles of his body, filling him with a surge of energy that could hardly be described with words. With a startled yelp, the two fighters collapsed to the ground in a jumble of flailing limbs.
Now came the real fight!
Nothing felt broken yet but that did not mean it wasn’t agony. He closed his eyes in a vein attempt to make the pain go away, but no matter how he tried to ignore it, the throbbing in his ribs refused to go away. Another fresh bloom of blistering pain exploded across his side and Elias balled up into a fetal position in an attempt to protect him from more harm. He heard laughter around him just before more shots rained down against him from seemingly every-which direction.
Questions began to run through his blurred mind: What was going on? Why were they hurting him? Then, as the beating continued, he began to return to his senses. His name was Elias. He was a petitioner. This was happening… because he had asked for it? Yes, that was right. He had wanted this -demanded it even. The match had been arranged at the last minute to be a handicapped one by his own hand. He remembered quite clearly now that he himself had picked out the opponents as well. Two of the meanest, nastiest looking men on the line up the pit master had to offer. Neither of them would be baring any weapon save for their fists, just like Elias himself. This match was to be a bare hands fight only.
To his mounting shame, he had gone down quickly after the bout had begun. One of them had a sloppy guard and so he had pressed the attack in his arrogance. A few of his blows had connected but he could not get out of the way of the second opponent’s fist as it sailed from seemingly out of nowhere and impacted the side of his face. The blow had dazed him long enough for his two assailants to move in and begin delivering their punishment. He managed to deflect a few, but it had only taken one lucky hit on the edge of his chin to make the young stryfer in training to realize what a mistake this had been. His vision had swam for a few moments before the second blow had come in and everything in the world faded to nothing. The next thing he knew he was being kicked about in the ribs.
The two men did not seem to be in any hurry to finish playing with their food. That was a mistake. If he were in their shoes Elias would have never allowed them to have woken back up until the next day at the very least. In fact, considering what they had done, he wasn’t sure if either would survive today. Every moment he kept breathing was another moment their lives were in jeopardy.
Elias adjusted his body slightly to guard his vitals better as the two men continued to laugh and assault their victim. They did not seem to notice or care that they were no longer doing as much damage with their strikes. They had simply taken his squirming as another feeble attempt at trying to get away from them. One of them said something to the other that elected a harsh, guttural laugh from both.
The petitioner did his best to lay still as they continued to strike at him, but under the cover of his arms Elias clenched his teeth. It did not matter if he was protecting his vitals. After this he would be bruised for days. That was of course, if he survived. Thankfully, his chance to escape the dire situation he was in presented itself when one of the assailants had stopped kicking him. "Is he dead?" he heard blurted out from overhead. The other man hesitated and stopped his kicking as well. At the same time, the newly initated flux novice began to feel around for the magic beneath the surface. Scratching and clawing at the elusive creature that he still didn't quite understand.
Now was the time...
With the speed of a serpent, the Caldera uncoiled his body and struck. Arms shot out in both directions, each of his hands wrapping around both of their ankles as bloodied fingers eagerly found their marks. Elias yanked on both with a roar, djed rushing through his arms and into the very muscles of his body, filling him with a surge of energy that could hardly be described with words. With a startled yelp, the two fighters collapsed to the ground in a jumble of flailing limbs.
Now came the real fight!
