ONE
I gazed out across the large empty floor.
I was standing in what was basically an oversized fighting arena. It was easily three times the size of an average boxing ring—nearly 60 feet per side. The floor was made of a solid wood that seemed to have some give to it. It appeared to be a normal floor until I noticed the subtle runes carved into the surface.
I should’ve known better than to expect normal.
There was nothing normal about this place.
I couldn’t read most of the runes, and the ones I could read all seemed to enhance inherent abilities. That could easily be a double-edged sword.
I wouldn’t mind the assist of having any abilities I used enhanced. The downside, from what I could decipher, was that it was a blanket enhancement.
My opponent would have her abilities enhanced as well.
That meant I had a fighting chance if I moved fast.
Faster than I had ever moved in my life.
The edges of the floor were cordoned off from the rest of the space with what appeared to be a thin steel cord. The cord was glowing a soft violet which led me to believe that touching it would result in something painful.
Which actually made sense.
After all, I was in the fighting hall of the Midnight Echelon Headquarters; pain was par for the course. In fact, knowing these Dark Valkyries, if pain wasn’t part of the equation—something was wrong. I stepped a little closer to the thin steel cord and felt an unusual amount of energy pulsing out from it.
It screamed definite pain.
Diagonally across from me, standing in the opposite corner was a group of Dark Valkyries. They glanced over from time to time to my corner where I stood. Nothing about their looks gave me any confidence that this was going to be a friendly fight.
Standing in the center of the group was Nan.
She towered over most of the Dark Valkyrie, her massive frame impressive in its height and width. If there was one Valkyrie I would never want to face in battle—it was Nan.
Yet here I was doing exactly that.
Her armor for this fight was pared down, probably to give her greater mobility to pound me into a memory. I noticed the upper half of her combat armor resembled a thick leather rune-covered tank top.
This stood out because it meant that she would have access to her wings. It meant she would be able to fight on the ground and, if she chose, she could take to the air and attack me from above.
This was a definite advantage for Nan, since to date, I had not been able to master self-propelled flight. All of my very short moments of being airborne were caused by outside influences that usually ended with my face getting introduced to some hard surface at velocities meant to end me.
Her weapon, Stormchaser, was a mace-axe combination that did damage no matter which end she hit you with. I was either going to get crushed with the mace, or bisected with the axe. I don’t think she had much of a preference of which end she hit me with—only that she would be able to hit me…repeatedly.
In my corner, stood Monty and beside him my amazing hellhound, Peaches. I quickly realized how lopsided this fight was going to be.
I had faced larger, stronger, faster, and determined opponents in the past. I had even faced opponents that were immune to magical energy.
The problem here was that Nan was all of these things wrapped in one lethal, unrelenting package. There was a reason why she was called the ‘tip of the spear’ of the Midnight Echelon.
I had personally experienced Nan being sent in alone into the worst of battles, not because the other Dark Valkyries feared the enemy, but because Nan disliked sharing targets.
She thrived in battle, it was where she always wanted to be. I remembered hearing her laugh as we leapt into lethal danger, all the while chastising me about improving my battle cry.
That was the opponent I was facing today.
I glanced over at my corner team.
I was surrounded by my hellhound and my bond brother Monty who was trying very hard to make it seem like he wasn’t worried, but if the amount of times he straightened his suit sleeves, followed by removing the invisible dust was any indicator, he was ultra-worried for me.
The rules as I understood it were simple. Last one standing won the fight. Simple, not easy. Nan was a powerhouse of might. Not only was she on the industrial size of Dark Valkyries—they were all oversized, except that Nan made them look almost tiny by comparison—but unless I had access to some truly off-the-charts power or weaponry, this fight was over before it began.
I glanced at Monty again who stepped close to me.
“She understands that this isn’t to the death, right?” I asked as Monty gestured and covered me in silver symbols. “You told her this wasn’t to the death?”
“I told her, Vi told her, the entire Midnight Echelon told her,” Monty said. “She knows it’s not to the death.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely certain,” he said with a brief nod and another sleeve pull. “That doesn’t mean she won’t try to hurt you.”
I gave him a wary look.
“Hurt me or kill me?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about her killing you,” he continued, glancing across the large, empty floor. “Her weapon is formidable, but it’s not a kamikira. It will hurt, but it won’t kill you…at least not permanently. Though it may feel like she is killing you, try not to focus on the pain. Remember, pain is only weakness leaving the body. You can do this.”
I stared at him for a few seconds.
“That’s your idea of a pep talk?”
“I have every confidence that she won’t kill you,” he said with a nod. “She may break a few bones, but you heal fast. Try to keep your distance from her fists and her axe-mace, or is that mace-axe?”
“Stormchaser is a mace-axe,” I said. “I am pretty sure it has abilities of its own too.”
“Hmm, that could pose some problems,” he said, rubbing his chin. “I was going to suggest using ranged attacks, but it is quite possible her weapon could blast you. Have you seen her use it in battle?”
“It’s not pretty for whoever is on the receiving end.”
“I see. In any case, do your best to utilize a guerrilla warfare strategy, there’s a good chance you can wear her out and she will forfeit from exhaustion.”
“Guerrilla warfare?”
“You are familiar with the concept of a smaller force attack on a greater force?” he asked. “Asymmetric warfare? You do know the concept?”
“Of course I know the concept,” I snapped, looking across the floor at Nan. “How am I supposed to use guerrilla warfare against her? Do I have an environment I can use? Is there a way for me to ambush her or use hit and run tactics? You’re a battlemage, is that the best you’ve got—‘use guerrilla warfare’?”
“Battlemages usually have more tools to work with,” he said. “Fortunately this is a battle to the last one standing—perhaps you can trip her and ensure she remains on the ground somehow?”
“Did your fighting strategy actually work in combat?”
“Yes,” he said. “But this is not combat,. If you don’t avoid her, this will be a rather lopsided pounding. However, she is rather large, sustaining all that mass in a protracted battle will be taxing. There is a good chance you can outlast her.”
I glared at him.
“One hit and I’m done.”
“Which is why I suggested avoiding her,” he pointed out. “Are you listening?”
Monty usually defaulted to the facts when he was overly concerned. I knew he was doing his best to paint the best possible picture of this situation; the truth was that there was no angle I could look at in this fight that would give me the best possible picture.
Every angle only showed me a catastrophic, agonizing outcome. With me on the receiving end of the agony.
