ROSE ARENA | EVENING. 66th Roalis, 2720
The next fight was a spirited affair between two hot blooded galdori gentlemen who had fallen out over a gambling debt and had both also ended up in debt to Hawke.
They fought with sabres, for Hawke had forbid the use of mona on a whim, preferring to see these proud young fools fight as 'lowly humans' instead. The crowd loved it, the humans and wicks jeering at both duellists and laughing or cheering when one or other of them was struck. In the end one fell to the gritty bloody floor, never to rise again, his heart pierced with a sabre blade.
The victor stood blood staining his silk shirt, vacant eyes staring at the bright crimson on his sabres blade, he was ushered out and the dead man was dragged from the arena as the crowd bayed for more blood.
Boriand on his platform raised his hands high for silence. Eventually the crowd hushed enough for his satisfaction.
“Now oh connoisseurs of carnage, you gluttons for blood, I sense you have room for one more offering tonight?" He paused for the raucous roars of assent. "Then you are in luck! We have arrived at tonight’s finale! A battle between the local boy you know and love. The gentlemen brawler, Bertold ‘Breaker’ Cooper!”
With that the crowd's noise redoubled and filled the arena like thunder, as Breaker entered the arena. He wore black close fitted knee breeches, red stockings, steel toed hobnailed boots and red sash was wrapped around his waist. He was shirtless, his broad thickly muscled upper body, arms and bullet head shone slightly under the lights, his back was covered by the tattoo of a black sailed pirate galleon under full sail. His only weapons were a pair of thick leather gauntlets, they were fingerless and reinforced with steel, especially across his knuckles.
“And the mysterious and Deadly Yaz Twins!”
Then there was a gasp of surprise from the crowd as two Hoxian’s burst from the right hand tunnel. They were a brother and sister, they were close to identical.
Their thick dark hair tied in top knots, and the brother sporting a thick beard. They both dressed in grey trousers bound and the ankles and short blue tunics tied with black sashes.
However what drew the eye was their strange weapons, the Sister carried a glaive, the long shaft was topped with a wide curved wickedly sharp blade. The Brother slowly spun a length of chain, with an iron fist sized ball attached to one end.
Before Boriand had even finished shouting 'Fight!' The Twins attacked. They may not have looked particularly strong or imposing, but they moved like lightning, and the strength of their sinewy limbs was clear in that speed and precision.
The Brother rushed forward and past Breaker, the weight at the end of the chain whistling out at head height, in his wake. At the same time the Sister lunged forward explosively, the wicked blade of her glaive aimed and Breaker's guts.
Breaker brought up an armoured hand to deflect the ball as he dodge away, even though it had been a glancing it numbed his arm from knuckles to elbow.
Almost before he could recover he just saw the glint of light as the glaive sliced through the thick air of the arena.
He put the momentum of his dodge into a full dive, he hit the grit with a shoulder and rolled up into a low fighting crouch.
Once more the Twins were on him, he sprung back as the Brother's iron ball came crashing down to slam into the floor, just where Breaker had been.
However before Breaker could move the ball flew away as the Brother yanked the chain, using his body to change the angle. He sent the ball back in a savage arch which caught Breaker in the meat of chest and sent him reeling.
As the big man was staggering he was blindsided! Sister had used her glaive to launch herself up and into the air, where she smashed a foot into the side Breaker's face sending him staggering as bloody spit flew from his mouth.
The crowd bayed and roared with the sheer bloody joy of this spectacle! First blood had gone to the Twins.
Breaker's head snapped to the side, but did not fall. Instead he set his feet and grinned with red bloodied teeth and beckoned them on.
His blood was up now and he could hear it sing in his head, that same old dark thumping music that drove him in a fight like some ancient battle drum.
A mad grin started to pull at his bloody lips as he ducked under a whistling glaive slash and charged the Brother. Who was mid spin with his chain, but before he could let fly, Breaker's big shoulder slammed into his waist and his arms circled the man and raised him in the air, only to slam him back to the sandy floor.
Breaker raised a big hobnailed boot to smash it down on the winded Hoxian’s face when the roar of the crowd and a flicker of movement made him dodge aside. The glaive trust that had been aimed for his neck instead left a bloody gash across the top of his left shoulder instead. He turned, the mad snarling grin was well established now, and the fires of rage danced in his dark eyes.
As the Sister whirled her polearm around Breaker swung his meaty right fist at her face, she just avoided the blow, though the studs on the back of Breaker's gauntlet left a gouge across her cheek. She danced away, bringing the glaive around and down in a blow meant to split Breaker from the crown down.
He raised his arms, the thick leather and metal beneath held, though only just.
Breaker pushed the blade up and away, leaving the Sister exposed. He charged across the sand, his big right fist coming back to strike a crushing blow, when a length of chain wrapped around his throat from behind and he was yanked backwards.
As he was dragged back Breaker whipped round and grabbed the chain in both fists and pulled. Against all the force in the big brawler's powerful frame the Brother was pulled forward as Breaker went ro meet him, his forehead smashing full force into the Brother's face.
The Sister gave a cry of rage as she lunged her glaive at Breaker, who grabbed the stunned Brother spun and threw him bodily into her path.
As they collided and sprawled, Breaker unlopped the now slack chain from around his neck.
His heart sang! This was a fight! He had not had a fight like this in ages!
"COME ON!!" He roared in challenge arms wide in savage welcome, the chair hanging from one big fist. A wild and mad grin full of bloody teeth.
The Brother came to his feet first, he saw his chain, now in the hands of this Anaxian barbarian. He sprung forward, pulling a knife from behind his back as he went. While the Sister untangled herself from her glaive.
Breaker had expected this, he stepped forward to meet the charge, pushed the knife hand away and slammed his heavy hobnailed boot up between the running man's leg with enough force that the man's feet briefly left the sand.
Before the Hoxian could double up with the terrible agony that filled him, Breaker looped the man's own chain round his neck, kicked his legs from under him and yanked back with all his strength as the Brother dropped. His neck broke with a terrible wrenching crack.
The Sister saw this, and watched her twin's limp corpse drop to the sand, discarded like so much rubbish.
With a cry of rage and anguish she leap forward, glaive wildly slashing and stabbing at Breaker.
It took all of his considerable skill to avoid and deflect the strikes as he was pushed back across the sand.
Finally the Sister stabbed low aiming for Breaker's ankles, that is when he struck. He brought one booted foot down on the haft of the polearm while the blade was still on the floor.
The snap on the wood was loud as a pistol shot, the Sister was knocked off balance and before she could recover Breaker had closed the distance.
His left fist smashed into her gut, the air whooshed from her mouth as she doubled up. Her face coming down to meet Breaker's right knee, snapping her head back, face bloody and eyes unfocused she staggered, trying to bring up her guard.
Breaker's big gauntleted right fist powered through her guard as it hurtled as it flew like a cannon, with all his weight behind it, that impacted her face with a sound like a house brick smashing an apple.
The crowd hushed as she hit the sand, her face a broken red horror and body unmoving. Boriand jumped down from his platform as he motioned for the arena sawbones, though it was clear both the Yaz Twins were beyond help.
Boriand stood beside Breaker, whose body was sheeted in blood and gore, from dozens of wounds, his black eyes seeming dimmer now as the fires of blood lust rage faded.
Boriand took Breaker's bloodied right gauntleted hand and raised it high.
"Your winner, BREAKER!"
The roar of the crowd was fit to lift the roof off the Arena.
