Omega Series: Omega Part 20

"I can't remember why I saved you all those years ago," he said finally. "Did you deserve it?"

"Dude, I was six." I shifted under his intent look. "Truce for now?"

"I don't do things without a reason and I can't decipher why I should spare you."

"It's a feeling."

"Instinct."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. You just know you can't hurt me because we're bound somehow."

"Yes."

The gates at one end of the arena rolled open, and the crowd hushed in antic.i.p.ation. I stared into the depths of the doorway. I wasn't feeling as enthusiastic as usual about the prospect of fighting someone. Whatever was there had four ribbons. Not that I had a clue what that meant. Adonis had five.

"C'mon, Adonis. Just tell me we have a truce so I'm not paranoid about you stabbing me in the back."

"None is needed." He stepped forward and tested his swords again.

"Stop with the mind games!" I snapped. "I just need a yes or no. That's it!"

"The Supreme Priest had one chance to win you with his trial. I ceded it to you. Do you think I'm going to kill you now?"

"No offense, Adonis, but I don't have a clue how your mind works." I withdrew two knives and faced the direction he was. "What in Hades is that?" I stared as some ... thing began to emerge from the darkness of the doorway. It wasn't human, and it was huge. Just when I thought my world couldn't become any more foreign to me ...

Chapter Fourteen.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.

Aristotle "Is that a manticore?" My mouth was open.

"Yeah," Adonis answered. "Big one, too. Their breeding program is getting better."

"Breeding ..." I couldn't think let alone ask. The male version of a sphinx had a s.h.a.ggy human head, the body of a lion and bat-like wings. He was also the size of a Clydesdale with fangs and talons that were twice the length of my index fingers.

"The beast games are the Triumvirate's covert way of keeping local citizens focused on this side of the wall. Largest gambling events in the world. Technically illegal and secretly supported by the Triumvirate."

"That's impossible," I managed finally, watching the creature emerge from the depths of the arena.

"I'm beginning to think you grew up in a hole in the ground, not in a forest."

It was the worst time possible to tease me. I was about to pa.s.s out.

"Snap out of it." He nudged me. "It's just a fight. You're good at fights." Adonis was focused yet not worried.

I was. I'd seen a tiny monster in a dreamland that didn't exist. I had no idea monsters were real. "Okay. I can do this," I murmured and drew a breath.

"Can you use a sword?"

"Normal people don't use swords, Adonis."

"Not sure where I learned. I can't remember that far back yet." A smile pulled up one side of his mouth. "You're far from normal. Try it." He handed me one of his.

It was well balanced but somewhat awkward and a bit heavy. But considering the distance I'd need to be to wound the beast with a knife ...

"You're enjoying this," I said, studying him.

"I need the outlet."

We both did. From strangers and enemies to a shared history where we were besties, I doubted even sharp Adonis knew what to think. My shock began to wear off as I evaluated the creature for weaknesses.

"It doesn't bother you that your boss sends you to fight monsters when he's mad?"

"No."

This guy is something else.

The monster roared and the packed auditorium cheered.

I handed the sword back, eyed the beast standing outside its gate, and jogged to the weapons. Tucking knives in a cargo pocket and one at my waist, I hefted two swords and returned to the center of the ring beside Adonis.

"Any tips?" I asked. Aside from begging Ares to bless us.

He moved a meter away then two. "Beware the tail. Keep its attention divided. You have the speed and ability. If we can coordinate our attacks, keep it off guard, one of us will have a kill shot."

I didn't have time to thank him before the beast was upon us.

It charged towards me first and swiped with a paw the size of my torso. I arched back and watched razor sharp talons soar inches over my head. Instincts kicked in, and I smashed one arm into it to keep its momentum from shifting back. It rounded on Adonis.

The whip like tail smashed into my calves and knocked me onto the ground. I rolled, the world a blur of dirt and monster, and leapt to my feet, ducked a second swipe and slashed a scratch in its side.

"Tail!" Adonis called.

I jumped up. The tail swept beneath my legs, and I was starting to feel somewhat smarter than the beast when the manticore donkey kicked me with one leg. I sprawled onto my back, the air knocked from my lungs.

Its tail sailed over my body as Adonis kept it occupied.

"You alive?" he called.

It took a moment for air to reach my lungs once more. "Yeah." I climbed to my feet.

He was moving and fighting with the agility I envied. The crowd roared when the manticore knocked him off his feet. Adonis rolled away.

"Hey!" I shouted to the ugly creature. With some timing and a whole lot of luck, I plunged a sword into its writhing tail. It snapped the tail another direction, taking one sword with it.

The manticore rounded on me, and I glimpsed its fanged mouth up close. With a roar, it began swiping and snapping.

Pure adrenaline drove my reflexes. It was all I could do not to get smashed by the creature, and I focused on movement rather than striking.

"On your left." Adonis' words were quiet, half a second before I smacked into him.

He steadied me with one arm, lashing out with the other, and nudged me back to my feet. He bore a red streak down one arm.

"New plan. Move with me!" he ordered.

We maneuvered and faced the beast. It withdrew to study us, paced and then launched again. I stayed with Adonis, finding it easier than I thought to fight at his side. I didn't have to look at him or worry about whether I was about to crash into him again. His enhanced instincts kept us in tandem, and my sense of connectedness gave me a sixth sense about where he was.

I finally began to see where I had a shot to attack rather than deflect and duck and made my first effort to slash at the beast. I cut it across the cheek. Rather than retreat like I had hoped, it roared and flung itself at me instead. This time, its speed was more like Adonis' than mine, and all I could do was watch it leap in slow motion, immobilized.

The beast was fast; Adonis was faster. He smashed into me milliseconds before the enraged beast. One of its talons tore down my back, and fire spread throughout me.

We hit the ground and rolled, landing side by side, Adonis on his belly and me on my blazing back. I cursed, unaccustomed to this level of pain.

"You overextended," he said and hopped to his feet. He hauled me up.

The beast was pacing once more, blood seeping from several wounds into the dirt. The crowd was at a roar, and both of us were now hurt.

Adonis spun me to check my back. "Superficial. Will bleed a lot," he said after a quick a.s.sessment. He stepped in closer, until his body met mine, and gripped my wrist. "Quick lesson in sword fighting. The blade is an extension of you." He moved my arm through several motions. "You're not used to having a six foot reach but you need to use it. Here" he stabbed "not here." He did it again, this time pulling me off balance. "You need to feel the s.p.a.ce between you and the tip of the blade. Got it?"

I nodded.

His warmth left my back but not my body entirely, and I faced him and the beast, not understanding the draw or why his touch stirred up something inside me. Grimacing, I stretched back. The wound was hurting bad, and blood trickled down my pants.

"You remember how Bellepheron defeated the cerebus?" he asked.

"Yes! He flew away! Are you going to turn into Mismatch soon?" I asked, excited.

"No. I was thinking you could be the one who flies." The gleam in his eye was new, and I didn't know him well enough to know if it was humor or ... opportunity that caused it. Or maybe he was having fun fighting a monster because his boss was mad.

"Explain."

"I'll launch you onto his back. You ram a sword through the back of his skull."

The beast was starting towards us again. "That's your plan."

"You got a better one?"

Sadly, I didn't. Reading my expression, he whipped off his belt and looped it around my hand and the sword hilt.

"Not that I don't trust you to hang onto it," he said. "Ready?"

"Sure." My heart was flying, my back burning, and I had the urge to push reset on everything that had happened the past few days.

We both looked towards the creature barreling towards us. Adonis bent, and I placed one foot firmly in his clasped hands. He twisted us to where my back was to the creature.

"We're a good pair," I said, needing some affirmation when my heart was ready to leap out of my chest. I wanted to trust that he wasn't going to feed me to the charging beast I couldn't see.

I could hear it, though, even above the roar of the crowd. It sounded like it was on us.

Adonis gave me an odd look, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Heat warmed my cheeks. We really weren't on the same page, despite being trapped here fighting monsters and our shared experiences in the past.

"Or whatever. Just throw me."

"Land on your feet." It was the only warning he gave. One moment I was holding my breath, afraid of having my head snapped off and the next, I was soaring through the air. He hefted me high enough that I did a flip and watched as he slashed at the beast and ducked below it as it leapt.

I didn't land on my feet. I pancaked onto its back and grabbed the mane with both hands, grateful Adonis had thought to tie the sword to my wrist. I straddled the beast just as it reared and clung to it with thighs and hands. It bucked the moment its front legs. .h.i.t the ground, and I was flung forward.

The jarring ride left me thinking I'd never have the ability to steady myself.

"Ready in three."

Startled, I sat up the best I could at his countdown and managed to grab the flopping sword.

"Two!"

Holy Hades! There's no way I "One!"

I gripped the hilt with two hands, pushed my torso as far back as I could, and planted the sword at the base of its skull. It reared, impaling itself, and suddenly went limp.

Tumbling off the back, I hit the ground hard and heard it hit the ground beside me harder. The crowd was going nuts, screaming and air horns blaring. I stared at the pipes running across the ceiling.

Adonis crouched near me. "We'll make a good team after you learn a few things."

I twisted my head. "What in the name of Olympus does that mean?" I groaned and pushed myself up.

He didn't answer. The man lived to be enigmatic. Standing, he held out his hand. I glanced up at him and took it. He pulled me up easily, and we both turned to gaze at the dead beast.

"So do we win? Is your boss no longer angry?" I asked hopefully.

"Too easy to appease him." His gaze went around the crowd and settled on the gate on the opposite side of the arena from the one the manticore entered. "Yeah. Too easy."

"Just tell whoever runs this place who you are."

"This was ordered by the Supreme Priest. Who I was to him stopped mattering when I refused to fight you."

Of everything he'd said, this. .h.i.t the hardest. "You potentially walked away from your job and him for me?"

"Come on. We need what rest the crowd will give us." He started towards the gate yawning open. "You need a few lessons in sword fighting, too."

I watched him, unable to shake my astonishment. I thought him undecided about a.s.sisting me when the opposite was true. He was all in.