Chapter 29 – Surviving the Onslaught

"He better get back soon, or they might make us throw the fight," Jordan said as he and Petra walked out onto the arena sands and away from the wrought iron gate that now stood proudly open to allow them entry onto the field of battle.

They’d not stopped to think that Titus might not be coming back at all, with the Blue-Ranker having been very convincing in his act indeed.

"Yeah, I don't think they're going to make us throw the match," Jordan said. "That's not something that I've ever seen happen in the arena anyway. What's more likely is that they're going to make us fight without him, and that's almost as bad."

"Just the two of us?" Petra asked with widening eyes. "How can that be fair?"

"It's not particularly fair," Jordan said. "But the crowds are here for a reason, and if they don't see an arena fight, they can get pretty unruly."

"Unruly after we're offering up our lives to fight for their entertainment, and to keep their streets safe from monsters?"

"I don't make the rules," Jordan said shrugging. "It's just the way things are."

Petra turned her attention back to the arena, the sounds around her, and the crowds, who had begun cheering and whooping at the sight of the two new Blue-ranked Contestants. But it was little comfort because she knew that they’d prepared to face this thing as a three and not as a two.

She was glad, though, that she had her newest weapon in the shape of her short, sharp stiletto that Titus had given her the money to be able to afford. Next to her, Jordan cast an imposing figure, with his round, wooden shield held at the ready and a short steel sword held behind it.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, spectators and season ticket holders!" Miss Kane's voice loudly announced as she took her place in the Grandmaster's box. "I trust that you are well warmed up and ready to view the spectacle that will be another group of new Blue-Rankers once again here to protect the city from the ferocious monsters who lie and wait just outside our walls!"

The crowd returned their usual cheer at the announcement of more Contestants ready to fight.

"It looks like the three Blues who'd prepared to partake in this next match have decided to face it as a pair instead! Isn't that… wonderful!" Her words didn't sound sincere at all to Petra, who could detect more than a little concern in her tone. But there was nothing anyone could do.

"What're we going to do?" Petra asked out of the corner of her mouth.

"Fight," Jordan replied. "Just... we're going to have to do it without our little Healer on our side. It doesn't change the game plan. Make sure you stay out of the way and stay safe. I'll keep the thing occupied, and you only make your hits when it's safe to do so. Don’t take any risks, don’t be a hero and we’re going to get through this."

And then something hit Petra, and she looked back up at Miss Kane.

"Didn't that guy come running to take Titus away to see the Grandmaster?" she asked.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Jordan grumbled. "So either we're about to see him appear behind her or we've been set up. I hope he's having a great time relaxing while we're out here doing all the hard work."

Petra didn't look convinced. Nor did she presume that Titus was having a great time wherever he was. But she had bigger things to worry about right now, and by the sounds of Miss Kane's speech coming to an abrupt end, this was the moment they'd been preparing for.

On the far side of the arena sands the iron bars began to lift from the ground, and a moment later she took in the beast that immediately hurtled towards them from the darkness beyond, crossing the distance in mere seconds.

Petra was fast, but this monster looked like it could match her own speed. She still managed to analyse the boar as it approached, something that could've been seen as a waste of time, but Petra knew that knowing your enemy was paramount.

Deadlands Boar

Level: 2

HP: 110/110

"Get ready," Jordan said over his shoulder as the pair watched the charging boar, its deadly-looking tusks lowered and ready to impale them in but a moment.

But Petra didn't need to wonder how deadly those tusks were or how much it would hurt to get struck by one; that was something she'd already experienced.

"Now!" Jordan shouted as he almost pushed Petra out of the way. He hadn't needed to though, because the agile Rogue had already decided to make her move, and just before the boar crashed into Jordan, she spun away to the side.

She managed to turn just in time to see the Deadlands Boar crash into Jordan's shield. Had the shield not been there, Petra knew her friend would've taken a mighty blow.

As it was, the loud crunch of tusk against wood echoed around the arena, and Jordan was thrown into the air and back by a clear three feet. He was not able to stand his ground against the rampaging monster like they'd seen happen in the arena before; rather, the boar just hit him and kept going like he was merely an inconvenience.

Petra came back to herself when she realised that the boar hadn't stopped, but it had now changed its target.

She waited for a moment as the boar's hooves thundered across the sand as it barreled towards her. She knew there was no way that she'd be able to stand up to the creature, so again, she waited until the last moment to leap out of its path, this time choosing to dive headfirst into a roll and return to her feet a moment later.

The boar was certainly as fast as Petra in a straight line, but the Rogue was so agile that she could at least dodge where the boar didn't seem able to make any quick turns or adjustments.

"Petra! We need a better plan!" Jordan shouted as the pair now stood together again and watched the boar as it turned in a wide arc ready to charge at them once again.

"Got any ideas, Mr Expert?" Petra called back, her breaths beginning to come short and sharp.

"Time to use what we've got," Jordan said. "I can taunt the thing so it comes for me, but you're going to have to put that weapon of yours to good use. The first charge hurt quite badly, but I think I can deal with a few more. You good with that?"

"What, let the rampaging monster attack you and try to nick it with my poisoned blade? Yeah, sounds good to me," Petra said.

"All right, here it comes again!" Jordan said as he braced himself behind his shield, doing his best to plant his feet into a stable fighting position. "Get back and let it hit me; when you see an opening, don't hesitate, take it."

Petra nodded, moving a short distance behind Jordan, trying to gauge how far back the Deadlands Boar was going to throw her friend this time.

The boar wheeled and again presented with Jordan as both the closer and larger target, it lowered its horned nose to the ground and charged, huffing and snorting all the way.

Jordan gritted his teeth ready for the impact, and Petra had to fight not to turn away. But she knew she needed to give this all of her attention.

The boar reached Jordan and again as the creature impacted his shield, a shattering clash of tusk against the wooden shield rang out around the arena. This time though, Jordan had readied himself far better than before and he wasn't thrown back and onto the ground. He remained on his feet, having been pushed back just a few paces.

The boar wheeled away from the shield again and this time it was much slower because of the loss of its momentum due to Jordan's better footing.

"Is that sword just for show?" Petra called out, but Jordan was far more occupied with something else: timing his one and only ability for the best effect.

Jordan watched as the boar slowly tried to increase its speed again, but now it was between the two Contestants it had a new target to aim for. After it'd taken no more than two steps towards Petra, however, Jordan finally, and for the first time, called upon his one and only skill: Taunt.

Raising his shield high off the ground, Jordan beat his steel sword against it and willed his ability into being, and like a shockwave that cascaded away from him he watched as the sound reached the boar.

Then the creature immediately put on its brakes and came to a dead halt not two feet away from Petra.

"Now Petra, now!" Jordan ordered, and as the boar turned to return its attention to the Defender, Petra flicked out an arm with her new stiletto in hand.

As the boar started to run again, the blade barely nicked the creature, but Petra could already see the changes to the monster's stats.

Deadlands Boar

Level: 2

HP: 105/110

Poisoned

And there it was. Her tiny cut had only managed to inflict a minute amount of damage but it had served its purpose and with the boar poisoned, it now stood to lose one point of health every five seconds. That meant barring the boar managing to rid itself of the poison, it now had a maximum of five hundred and twenty-five seconds to live. And that, Petra knew without even trying to work it out, was less than ten minutes.

Of course ten minutes was an eternity in a fight, especially in one where a single mistake could cost you your life, but it was still a small victory, a target to aim for.

But Petra hadn't been paying enough attention to the fight as she'd analysed her handy work because the boar had once again impacted Jordan, glancing off his shield and punching him back again. Even through the wooden shield, the boar had inflicted another ten points of damage. And that meant Jordan only had three more hits left in him before he was out of the fight.

"You can't keep letting it hit you!" Petra shouted.

"I know!" Growled Jordan.

"Then have you tried moving out of the way?"

"I'm not fast enough, it'll hit me."

"You have to do something!" Petra replied.

Jordan again steadied himself and watched the arc of the boar as it began to circle back again.

"Alright Jordan," the Defender muttered to himself. "This is what you've been training for, you can do this."

He barely believed his own words as he uttered them, but Petra was right. He had to do something.

The boar lined up again, and charged as it had already done so many times.

This time Jordan didn't set himself on the ground. This time he readied himself to dodge out of the way.

The boar closed in on him and Jordan mentally counted.

Three.

Two.

One.

Now!

And he pushed as much power into his legs as he could manage, throwing his large, heavy body to the side at the very last second.

He'd done it. He was home free!

But then he felt something. It was odd, almost like a burning sensation and when he looked down to his legs, he saw that one of the boar's tusks had hit him, tearing into the flesh of his shin and sending him spinning through the air. He barely had a chance to close his eyes and brace himself for the hard landing.

Petra screamed as her friend was tossed aside by the boar and as she watched, his health points reduced to single digits, sapping away in that very moment. Nine. Nine health points were all her friend had left before he would be of this world no longer.

Petra knew she had to act. If the boar focused on Jordan again, even if he managed to get back to his feet and bring his shield up, then it wasn't going to be enough. So she did the only thing she could think of. She started to run.

Not away from the boar this time, but straight towards it.

The creature didn't see Petra at first, but when she opened her mouth to scream, it finally turned its attention to the Rogue. She was only pleased that the effects of Jordan's taunt skill had worn off.

Now the boar charged and the pair were locked in a game of deadly chicken. But Petra alone knew what she had planned. She couldn't afford to get hit by the creature, and its tusks were so wide that if she chose to dodge too late, then she would suffer the same fate as Jordan.

The distance closed in an instant, and the boar squealed in excitement as it tasted its upcoming victory.

But Petra knew what she had to do. At the last second she leapt high into the air straight over the boar's nose and she dove between its deadly tusks. The boar raised its head to try to run Petra through with its tusks, but Petra had chosen the one place where it couldn't reach to leap through.

Then, as she vaulted over the body of the beast, Petra extended a single arm and the point of her thin blade to again cut into the flesh of the Deadlands Boar.

The boar squealed and Petra smiled as a trickle of blood sprayed up from the boar's back. But when she landed, she didn't look back to see what damage she'd caused. She landed and kept running to put as much distance between her and the boar as possible.

Jordan had returned to his feet just in time to watch Petra pull off her acrobatic manoeuvre and it gave him an idea of his own.

"Get him between us!" Jordan shouted. "I've got an idea!"

Not having the time to ask what her friend had planned in detail, Petra looked back at the boar to make sure it was still focused on her, which thankfully it was. She could also see that her attack had caused another five points of damage to the creature, but that the poison effect hadn't changed in any way. She assumed that it therefore wouldn't stack with multiple inflictions.

The boar's health had slowly been depleting and as Petra watched, its health points fell below the halfway mark. They were almost there; they only had to hold on for a few minutes longer.

But a few minutes against an enemy they were having trouble even really damaging, whilst it seemed able to seriously hurt them with each and every attack.

Petra took heed of Jordan's instructions and started to run so that the boar would chase her down and end up between the pair again. She assumed that Jordan was about to pull the same trick as he'd already tried once so that she could get another hit in on the boar, but if things went the same way again it would mean Jordan's health pool would be depleted.

‘But he knows that, doesn't he?’ Petra thought to herself as she turned again to face the boar head-on.

Again, the creature charged at her and again she felt her pulse quicken, even from its already quickened state.

She held her stiletto ready, ready to strike out when the boar was close enough to her. But she also prepared to dodge just in case their plan didn't work for a second time.

Pulling his sword and shield to the ready, Petra watched Jordan as he once again cast his Taunt.

The boar put on the brakes again, and Petra plunged her blade into the meatiest part of the creature she could safely reach.

But it wasn't enough.

The boar still had a handful of health points left, and there wasn't going to be enough time for the poison to work to down the monster.

Jordan was in trouble.

"What have you done? You can't take another hit!" Petra cried.

"I know!" Jordan replied. "But it'll be OK, just watch!"

As Jordan spoke and as the boar charged, gaining more and more speed with every passing second, he knelt down on the ground and covered himself with his round wooden shield. In any other circumstance, Petra might've laughed at Jordan, like he was a bear trying to hide behind a narrow tree trunk. But looking at him now, all she could see was the last moments of her friend's life.

Her heart froze.

Petra couldn't move. She could do nothing to save Jordan, even if she had the ability to.

A second or so to go.

Petra glanced down at her knees. Her legs were shaking and her hands were wet with sweat. She could also feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

Boom.

The boar hit the shield, and then the wooden thing went flying high up into the air. Petra inhaled sharply and felt the first tear fall down from the crest of her cheek onto the dry sand beneath her. All that she could think about was how things might've been different if Titus had been there with them.

The boar had just five health points left, and now Jordan...

She looked to where the boar had just crashed into Jordan’s shield and where she'd been expecting to be greeted with her friend flat on his back surrounded by an expanding pool of blood. But what she saw made her heart skip a beat.

Jordan hadn't sat behind his shield in the hope that he could take the blow from the boar. In fact he'd thrown his shield at the last minute and rolled to the side, avoiding the momentarily blinded creature altogether.

"Jordan!" Petra squealed. But her excitement was to be short-lived because the boar was already wheeling, turning to make another pass. And Jordan was still between Petra and the boar.

Jordan looked briefly at his shield, which was a veritable mile away from him. He looked at the sword in his hand and then back at the boar, which was lining up its final charge. It didn't have enough health left to survive much longer, not even for another attack, and it looked to Petra like the creature knew this.

"Run!" Petra shouted. "Get away from it! You just have to hold on for a few seconds!"

Jordan blinked, dropped his sword, and broke into a sprint.

The large Defender wasn't exactly the most agile fellow - certainly not as quick as Petra but he’d certainly had some training - but he could see just as Petra had that a few additional meters between him and the boar could very well mean the difference between life and death.

Petra this time was not rooted to the ground. Coming back to herself, she too began running towards Jordan. She could see the look of utter terror crossing his face, the sweat beading off his wet hair as he tried to force more and more energy into his hurting and fatigued muscles.

Then she saw the snout and horns of the boar approaching from behind Jordan.

It wasn't going to be enough.

The boar would hit in a matter of seconds. It would kill Jordan, and then it would die, overcome by her poison. And she would be alone.

Petra pushed more effort into her sprint, running faster than she thought she'd ever run before. She had no idea what she was going to do if she made it to Jordan or the boar, but she wasn't going to let her friend go down without at least trying to do something, anything.

But she already knew she was too slow.

There was nothing she could do. This fight had clearly been beyond their ability to win.

And as she thought that, the word 'ability' stuck in her mind, and she did the one thing she hadn't yet contemplated in this fight. She activated her Blink Step.

The world around Petra turned silent and still.

But that wasn't right. It wasn't still. Everything was simply moving unbelievably slowly. But she could still move. She knew she didn't have long to make her move, and she'd already been told that she couldn't mount an attack at the same time as the Blink Step ability because hitting anything solid would result in her shattering every bone in her body, but if she timed it right…

Jordan watched as Petra sprinted towards him, just out of reach with nothing but fear and sadness written across her face. And then he blinked and she disappeared. It was like she was there one moment and simply gone the next.

And then he heard the squeal of the boar from behind him, and he turned to see Petra on her knees with her stiletto outstretched and the Deadlands Boar on the floor with a long bloody gash down one side, and an empty health pool.

They'd done it. She’d done it. Against all odds they'd managed to beat a beast more powerful than either of them, and they'd done it together.

But it had almost gone so wrong. As Jordan appraised the new stillness, he saw that he had just nine health points remaining, and Petra had twenty.

It could all have gone so differently.

But somehow they’d won.