Page 152 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
He smiled casually at the audience, saying something to Luke that made the fox shifter sigh.
“It looks like the guild master is ready to go!” the announcer said. The roar that followed was intense, and I shivered. Both contestants nodded at each other before taking position.
Luke placed his palms together in front of his chest and squared his stance. His whip appeared in his hands, and he slowly lifted the hilt, bringing the tail down with a snap, moving into the first stance.
Guild Master Warren rotated his shoulders and cracked his neck, then he balled his fists and crouched.
The announcer’s voice carried over the square, “Let the final battle … BEGIN!”
CHAPTER 92
One of the Grimalcat’s Lives
Brownie
Brownie dropped her question and turned her full attention to her cousin. Part of being in a big family was showing up and supporting each other. It was one of the few things that could have dragged her outside today, when she would otherwise have just climbed back into bed with a cup of tea and a pastry.
“Go, Luke, gooooo!” she hollered with the rest.
She still felt bad that she’d rejected her family name, but promises were promises, and she’d traded her life of knife for music.
If anything, having Rufus as the secret leader of her fan clubeasedsome of her worries. Having the commander general of the Dark Lord’s army coming out to every show was a real morale booster … especially today, when she needed it.
While she was pretending to be fine, Donna’s betrayal had hurt her deeply … even if she understood the ridiculous need her mare had for unfettered freedom. Her unhinged and chaotic stance had left Brownie in trouble on too many occasions to recount.
And this time worst of all.
Brownie knew Donna wouldn’t think twice about doing whatever she wanted … but this was different. It was different because Donna shouldn’t have done it, and she knew she shouldn’t have done it. The mare could argue the importance of confidentiality until she was blue in the face; it wasn’t going to change the fact that Brownie could not do anything to even remotely connect her to her family business.
She also knew about Momo and Brownie, and her promise to the grimalcat. It was just not the right thing to do, especially when you were running around with one of the grimalcat’s lives.
Donna might think that acting on her own wasn’t breaking that promise … but Brownie didn’t feel that way.
The battle began, and the fighters were almost evenly matched.
Sure, Cousin Luke was pretending indifference as he whipped out into the space where the guild master had been, while Warren dodged the whip and attempted to go in for closer quarters.
“I thought you said this was going to be a knife fight?” Rufus asked.
Brownie flicked her eyes to her date then back to the arena. “Warren usually uses knives. Maybe he’s saving his mana for the penalty bouts? I could also just be wrong.”
“You?”
“It’s alright to be wrong sometimes!” She turned her attention back to the fight. “It happens!”
The guild master finally managed to wrap a hand around a part of the whip long enough to yank it. Luke was thrown, but a bolt of silver electric power he’d inherited from their grandmother’s side blazed up the whip and paralyzed Warren’s right arm.
Warren took a step back, rubbing his arm and grimacing. It wasn’t for long, though, as his face burst with an intrigued smile.
There was plenty of time for him to pop a potion while Luke landed and retook his stance, but no such potion was produced. Her cousin quirked an eyebrow at the choice then flicked his whip gently, sending out sparks.
“I have a spare antidote,” Luke told the guild master, “if you need one.”
It was meant to be an insult, but Warren visibly perked up. “Really? Thanks. I’ll take it after the battle, though. For now …”
Brownie flinched as the guild master suddenly crouched and flexed. His eyes started leaking a bright purple aura, and gravity started to warp as his hair rose into the air and his clothing billowed. One arm hung limp, but the other was tense and bulging with ever-growing muscles. He was suddenlyhuge. Not like a giant huge but like a bodybuilding-musclehead-that-spent-all-his-time-in-the-training-yard huge. The crowd went wild.
“[Spirit Blast],” Warren said, activating a spell.
