"Kaliel...that can't be you." I whispered.
"NO....LIGHT!" He roared, swinging forward, cracking his blade down where I stood, as I narrowly managed to swing the massive sword I'd stolen. The two metals clashed, echoing through out the arena with a loud clang.
I pushed against him, swinging my weapon as to throw him off, and putting some distance in between us. The beast steadied itself again, crouching down into his stance. "Dammit..."
"I'm sorry Kaliel, if that is you, but-" I steeled my hesitance, and brandished the massive sword. "You've become a threat. Regrettably..." I ran towards him, letting my sword trail behind, tiny sparks flying from where the metal contacted the stone.
He jumped again, raising the weapon high above his head. This time, however, he suddenly plummeted, stabbing downwards with his blade, and coming down at an alarming speed. I brought my weapon up as quick as I could, letting the tip of his stab into the cheek of my blade.
I swung to the side, carrying him and my weapon to smash into the ground next to me. The impact kicked up dust and debris, but the creature stood seconds after like nothing had happened. In his moments of recovery, I pulled my weapon back, and slashed at him, cutting through his black form. He brought his weapon up faster than I expected, however, and deflected the attack before it could do any serious damage.
I swung around in rebound, and stabbed forward, hoping to catch him again, slicing his side a bit before he deflected it again, preventing significant damage once again. This, after those two swings, revealed to me his speed, however. Knowing that, I could devise a simple plan.
if he couldn't react to me fast enough to stop an attack completely, then using my own speed I could overcome him. He could do nothing if I simply overwhelmed him.
I swung, attacking him again and again, little by little chipping at his massive form. Pretty soon, a strange liquid started to spill from the wounds, a luminescent silver sludge, trickling down the black of his body.
His movements became sluggish as his injuries increased, and it became easier to slip past his defense. I stabbed forward once more, burying my weapon into his torso, all the way down to the crossguard.
The beast made a terrible squealing noise as he was pierced, going limp on my blade, and crumpling to the ground. I pulled my sword away, letting the beast fall completely, silver slime spraying out all over, and covering the creature. It seemed to dissolve the black, shrinking it down to a much smaller stature, one more accurately human, until Kaliel sat in the center, coughing and sputtering.
I dropped my weapon, and ran over to him. "Captain, are you alri-"
"Stay away from me, Lightborn!" He snarled, as I felt something drive into my stomach, hard, and folding me over an extended arm. I felt the bile rising in my throat, trying my damndest not to throw up from the blow. "Ka-Kaliel, why...?"
"Why?" Something hard came down on my head, knocking me to the ground. "Why, you ask?" he repeated, swinging back, and kicking me in the stomach. "Because I despise that light you carry. I despise that the people, the KING think it some sort of heroic symbol, as something that will save our kingdom. As if we NEED saving."
He drove his foot into my stomach again, and it felt as if the whole organ apparatus in my belly was trying to squeeze into my throat. Kaliel swung his leg back again, and brought it forward to drive it into my ribs.
I gripped his boot with my left hand, stopping him from delivering any more abuse. "Kaliel...stop, this isn't you-"
"Shut your mouth!" He tore his foot from my grasp, stumbling back on the cracked tiles of the arena. "Don't tell me who I am or am not, FREAK!" He shuddered, a crazed glint in his glare. "I planned to kill you from the BEGINNING. I was just waiting for the right moment."
"But that moment never arose. You were coddled by the royal family, and constantly under watchful eyes and sworded guard." He swung his arm out, the blackening appendage cutting through the air. "I thought when your arrogance pursued becoming a knight, I'd have the perfect chance; but then they assigned your training to ME!" He jabbed a tarred finger to his chest, his breathing slowly corrupting to a rabid panting. "I couldn't kill you if I was with you all the time, they'd know exactly who did it."
Kaliel shook his head, lips parting to draw in breath, coughing out as the air hit his throat. "No, no I had to come up with a plan. I HAD to get rid of you, and I was going to." A low chuckling bubbled up from his throat, and his lips creaked as they twisted up in his black tooth grin. "And I will."
"This whole fight was ALWAYS a ploy to kill you." He breathed, his body stretching out as more of it shifted. "I'd strike you down, in front of the entire kingdom. They'd see how useless your 'light' really is, that you're not special at all. Just a freak."
Slowly, I pushed myself to my a knee, propping myself against the massive blade of his weapon. "Bu Kaliel...the only freak, or monster I see is what you've become." I managed to speak in between coughs, still reeling from his assault on my torso.
The arena rumbled at his guttural laughter.
"Indeed, I have become a monster. I had to sacrifice my humanity to erase you." He spoke as if he regretted it, but there was no regret in his twisted smile. "But it was a necessary thing to keep our world. A world without a foolish 'messiah', and a world with no light." He lifted his arm, reaching to the side and picking up his discarded weapon, dropped when he'd turned human.
But now that he was almost entirely beast again, it seemed he was ready to fight again. "Our world....needs no light! AND IT DOESN'T NEED YOU!"