EA Chapter 28 - Luna Knows Hunger

If the bout between Kiharu and Gravide had excited the cadets then he brawl between Luna and Aryn had been enough to send waves of rapture racing through the crowd.

The two duelled back and forth across the arena, the prince’s tides of steel being repeatedly encountered by an assortment of spells dancing at the tips of Luna’s fingers. Anyone looking at the Citadel from afar, beyond the boundaries of the high wall, would perhaps image the kaleidoscope of flashing lights being from some manner of fireworks show.

And while Luna managed to land many hits, Aryn seemed unwilling to slow his relentless assault. And Luna, by degrees, was feeling fatigue steadily building in her muscles.

She jumped high, avoiding two great slabs of metal that sprouted from the earth hat tried to crush her. Luna narrowed her eyes, watching intently as those same constructs twisted and bubbled, unleashing a flurry of metal shards at her. She raised a hand, creating a field of vectors around her body that repulsed the needles into the ground beyond the platform.

The rune on her arm was slowly throbbing. It had taken a few hard knocks already, the power within it steadily approaching a limit.

She swept toward Aryn, avoiding his projectiles, and watched as he swung a hammer-shaped fist her way. She twisted around it in mid-flight, striking him with a passing bolt of telekinesis that shattered the tiles beneath his feet. He grunted, glaring defiantly at her.

“Try harder!” he spat.

He whipped an arm at her, a great length of liquid metal elongating his forearm until it became a steely flail. Luna ducked low and hurled herself to the side, avoiding a series of whipping slashes that came her way. She could feel the air screaming in resistance around Aryn’s arm.

She struck him again and again, explosive waves of force erupting from her mind, tearing chips and chunks from his armoured hide. Now she could see that he too was starting to lose some of his strength, each summoned piece of metal coming out with more effort than the last. But in a war of attrition... could she outlast someone with such naturally vast qi?

Well, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bait more and more power from the fool. And, if Kane’s advice was worth a damn, that wouldn’t be hard at all.

Another burst of air launched Luna few meters skyward, just out if reach of his lashing steel whip. “Is that your best?” Luna called out, a mocking laugh rising in her throat. “I was expecting more from a so-called prince. Is this really the best you can do?!”

Aryn snarled, summoning another slew of hovering steel spheres. They raced toward Luna in the air whirling and whipping around her, trying and failing to strike her as she danced through the air.

She spun around, firing streams of lightning from both hands. The prince acted as she expected, drawing out more steel spheres to divert the attacks. They glowed bright and then exploded apart in the wake of Luna’s power.

She grinned, eyes blazing with power, as if to summon forth another burst of energy from them. Again, Aryn did what she hoped he would do. He swept his hands up, causing a wall of thick metal to sprout up only a few paces ahead of him. A barrier that went unused, as Luna dimmed the glow in her pupils.

The wall melted away when no attack came, and Aryn rushed her with a club-like fist. Much of the armour on his upper body had melted away, revealing patches of skin beneath his torn clothing. Metal exploded from the ground behind her, pushing Luna forward.

He swung wildly at her as she was flung her way. Yet Luna, smiling all the while, released a slew of ghostly afterimages of herself at him, leaving Aryn flailing at phantoms that exploded into mist whenever his club made contact. Luna’s counterattack was swift, a single explosive burst from her eyes that sent Aryn skidding back across the arena, shredding away more of his armour.

She raced toward him, aiming to knock him on his back. But, as she drew near, more of Aryn’s armour melted away as he fought to summon another construct with what little qi he had left to spare.

A great writhing tendril of metal exploded from the ground, intercepting Luna as she drew close enough and coiling around her like a serpent. She hissed, writhing in place, but the metal grew taught around her and became incredibly dense. She had to form another barrier on the fly, lest the pressure crack her ribs.

Aryn sneered as he moved closer. “Where are your smart remarks now, Hick?” he mocked, leaning in and meeting her gaze all the while. “Feel like surrendering?”

Luna sucked a harsh breath through her teeth. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying out. And she’d felt worse pain, besides.

“Not... on your damn life.”

“Yeah? We’ll see how you feel when you get desperate.”

The coil tightened again. Luna grit her teeth, hissing. Desperate? What did a little royal prick know about desperate? Oh Luna had sat on a throne for many years, but it was a throne she had earned of her own power and drive. Claimed through a lifetime of struggle, strife, and conflict.

Before that she had crawled in the criminal underbelly of great cities, fought along unscrupulous mercenaries, survived pogroms and war as they swept her homeland. And a burning desire to live had pushed her to survive the worst of it, no matter how long she had to sink to do it.

Aryn could not begin to grasp what true desperation was, the things it pushed a person to do.

Aryn leaned in closer, while Luna was left grimacing and writhing, focusing her qi on pushing back against the crushing claw of steel.

“I know something... you don’t,” Luna hissed.

“Oh?” Their noses were nearly touching by now. “And what’s that?”

“What human flesh tastes like!” She jerked forward with a sudden rush, burying her teeth into Aryn’s exposed collarbone. He screamed as blood gushed along Luna’s lips, skin and muscle tearing under the force of her bite. Startled gasps and screams echoed from the stands, but Luna was only barely aware of them. She simply focused on the meat in her grasp and bit harder.

The metal wrapped around her body melted and broke apart, and Aryn struck Luna to knock her back. The young woman stumbled, her torso aching immensely, but she managed to maintain her balance. She spat a chunk of bloodied skin to the ground and raced at Aryn, while the prince was still panting for breath.

A hard sweeping kick knocked Aryn’s feet out from under him, and he quickly tried to scramble up again. But Luna was faster, catching one of his arms and twisting it behind his back.

“You wanna talk desperate?” she growled, royal blood frothing between her teeth. Her grip tightened, pulling Aryn’s arm back further and wrenching another howl from the prince. This was a simple grapple, one taught early on in the basic drills. But simple was often more than good enough to get the job done. She was mindful of where she positioned her feet, keeping an angle that he couldn’t kick at her from. And with the intense pain screaming from his shoulder, it was doubtful he could focus enough to channel his qi.

“Then we’ll see how desperate you are to get out of this hold.” Luna narrowed her eyes. “Surrender. Or I’ll pop your arm out of the socket.”

She pulled it another degree further, just as a warning. She saw the faculty from the corner of her eye, saw the anxiety and dread washing over their faces (save for Old Scratch, who was trying very hard not to laugh) and revelled in it. She had not broken any rules, she knew. Even biting an opponent was not strictly forbidden.

The referee, similarly, seemed frozen in place. He perhaps should have called the match by now, but could not bring himself to do so. It would reflect rather poorly on him if he cost the prince a match prematurely, and no doubt the fear of royal reprisal was high. The prince had become a victim of his own privilege.

Aryn huffed for breath, his eyes wide with a combination of agony and fury. “There’s... a pit waiting for you... in the lowest depths of Damnation,” he snarled.

Luna hummed. “Well, I gave you a chance.”

And pop went the arm.