Page 51 of Xeda

The small arena was located near the one where he'd had his first game. Here, they pretended to be outside in the wilderness, with trees and grass, something they had little of on the outside. So, they pretended. And made him and the others do the same, controlling everything.

Somewhere above, Ophilia was pretending too. But she was far better at it than him. Soon, he thought he might break, if only he could tear down everything he saw. Instead, he watched the fighters. Watched them beat each other for everyone's entertainment.

This was only the first day of this “bullshit,” as Ophilia would call it. He just wanted to get this over with, get to the next game. But he was forced to entertain his so-called sponsors.

He would rather eat them alive.

They had brought in several groups of bastard champions from different districts. Most fought each other, but they had a few spar off against Tazyn just for fun. It was part of his showing. As Xeda watched the atrocious fool smile at the crowd, he wanted to take the nillium's bladed weapon and shove it down his throat.

If the others thought he seemed more pissed off than usual, they were smart enough to stay clear of him. He'd been on edge since last night. He had worked himself to exhaustion in the training center, then took a tonic Ophilia offered to help him sleep. The dreams...by the elders, the dreams were more wild, more unhinged than the last. And when he woke up, he felt groggy, his body throbbing, his blood running hot through him. He was in a cranky-ass mood that morning and was only able to quell it a little for Ophilia.

"I have a surprise for you," she'd said with a smile as she came into his room. Oh, he had several ideas of what that could be, and his mind played out each one of them in turn. She went to the door and opened it to reveal two large chests. She rolled them inside and lined them up for him. "Go on, open them. They are for you."

Hesitantly, he approached. He eyed her first with a quiet need, then pushed the feeling away to bring his focus to the chests. He opened the first and peered down. It was another set of kelva outfits and a full suit of grivhide armor. A row of spikes went down the sides and across the shoulders. Atop the armor was a set of blades. Not scythes, as even those would be too hard to find, he was sure, but these were curved steel with twin points on opposite ends, the handle carved into the middle. He picked them up and found the weight to his liking.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked.

He flipped the weapon in his hand. He wasn't prone to using blades, but he would certainly find these useful. "It's no scythe, but I'm impressed enough. The grivhide, however, that is quite something."

"Do you like it?"

He glanced back at her and saw she eagerly wanted his answer. "Yes, it’s...beautiful." He didn't take his eyes from hers as he set the blade down, and he saw her face turn a little red in color. She cleared her throat and moved to the next.

"Now this one." She tapped the lid.

He moved to the next and opened it. Inside was a rack full of colored glass bottles. "What are they?" he asked.

"Enhancers." She picked one out and showed it to him. "If you want to use them. They are temporary, and before you say anything, know all the other fighters will be taking their own too. Even Kaxek. One can be for more strength, another for agility. Most fighters only get a couple, but you have the set to choose what you like. Just know, you can't use more than two at a time." She set the glass bottle away and closed the lid.

"What happens if you do?" he asked.

"You go into cardiac arrest and die probably." She shrugged. "A high chance at least. I'll let you think over which you'd like to use for the next game."

He watched her roll the chests to one wall, taking note of her backside. "Where did you come by them?" he asked, trying to keep his mind clear.

"I bought them with the credits from your sponsors. I told you those would come in handy. And so I was able to get these for you."

He felt awkward standing there, not knowing what to say or what to feel except grateful, which was rare, especially for him. It was the only moment so far today that he hadn't felt tense or angry. And the second time he felt compelled to close the distance between them and embrace her. She was too nice to him. And he didn't deserve it.

Once he stepped into the arena and was forced to stand around and wait to perform for these people, he felt it all come back to him. The tension, the anger, and the need to kill someone or something before he lost his mind.

On the field, Tazyn did a flip before cutting the chest open of one lygin warrior, sending him flying back. The crowd cheered and, as Tazyn landed on his feet, he took a bow.

By Rikasha, how much he wanted to take his head.

Xeda shut his eyes and tried to calm. It didn't help that he felt the heat pull at him again, growing worse, only making him more on edge. He shifted on his feet and took to pacing to try and work off the tension. He could smell Ophilia above him, and he wished badly they could have at least conjured up a fake fucking breeze to clear the air. She was nervous too. He could tell by the fear lingering in her scent. And he could only guess who was making her nervous. Those little meatbags that were Sal's witless kin. They made comments to her every so often to get some kind of reaction from her, but she shot them down each time. They would laugh, and the cycle would continue.

That nearly sent him over. And then there was Kaxek. He was nowhere to be seen. Somehow, he had been exempt from the showing or the fights. Probably only because he was champion. It was still utterly rage inducing to know he had the arrogance and entitlement to set himself above them, and it made Xeda want to fight him right then and there, if he only knew where he was.

Another low end fighter walked past him and, unthinkingly, he hissed at them to get out of his space. Thankfully, they had the good sense to do so. The heat made him unpredictable, and he might lash out at someone who even looked at him wrong. He needed to let loose, but the only way to do that was by fighting.

Tazyn finally ended his showing, and it was the fyrien's turn next. Aeriz, he’d learned was his name. The fyrien took a stance some paces away from a set of moving dummy targets that hovered over the ground. He shot his blades out, landing one right in the center of a dummy's chest, then another right in the head. He performed this act several times at longer distances and with smaller targets that moved at quicker speed. The people loved him.

When he was through, they had him fight a pair of grex who worked as a team. Xeda studied them as well as the other bastard champions and could see they looked wary. He could smell the fear scent on them. They were being forced into these fights just like any other, only this time they didn't expect to win.

When Aeriz was through with them, the grex could hardly stand. They were carried out and sent to the medical bay along with those Tazyn had fought as well. Neither Aeriz nor Tazyn had been wounded badly which showed the difference in their power against the others.

With Aeriz finished, it was Xeda's turn on the field. Ophilia had given him a brief idea of what he was to do, and it sounded simple enough. He waited for the staff to set everything out, then when it was ready, he stalked out into the open.

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