...right then that his voyage on the field was over. He fell to his knees and bowed his head, shivering at the pressing truth. His fist clenched and the scream he'd been holding in for so long let easy and he groped and sobbed, but nothing or no one was taking him back to that game. The worst he could be was melodramatic.
His cradle powered down and somehow the staff were relieved that the overheating could be more controlled now.
He brushed his hair out of his face and he was given the exemption of being shown who his rival was. "Huxley?" He disputed and his lips thinned, brushing a hand on his face. He stormed out unable to handle the loss.
He had to come to terms with a number of misfortunes and this was top of the list.
"Yeah yeah, better luck next time," Sebastian said to him and his head lowered ambling toward the exit, he didn't want to leave yet he didn't want to live the bitter truth here.
The company was offering them a lift and the chauffeur took care of his things tossing them in the back and shoving the booth down.
"Oh, hi Chad," He said without cheer.
The dimness etched his face on the other side back to the window, and the death stare his twin brother passed to him from the backseat. He detested that the thorn on his flesh just lost the game but was more displeased at his despondent look while he entered and shoved the door closed. The car hummed down the streets.
...
Yupik's bar turned grey on the board and then there were four. Donnie checked the time he had devoured in the game. Eve watched the bar shuffle.
"Bones was Yupik," Guy shrugged "Who woulda thought?"
"Who bloody cares about what anyone thinks? Better yet, who cares what you think, bitch boy?"
"This time he's gone for good," She said and Kane sneered but then he remembered even the Topyx jewel had limits, just like magic, he was only deemed to use the 'time-lapse' spell three times and that was that. XX_
He sighed those two chances weren't coming back.
Guy's head veered around after the notification. Eve rested her head on his shoulder, her sunken eyes lowered and they sat on the brim of a grey room with white poultice one-way glass mirrors. They were lodged in a bowling alley with wooden floors and the alley was large as they overlooked Kane pacing about, he was furious about the new wager.
"These people are impossible!" He shouted.
Guy sighed "Tired?"
"Mmm," She nodded, her head felt like it belonged on the ground, it seemed bleak that she was going after this goal and she didn't want to confide in the others but what did it matter?
"Please just do the honours and be my partner, Sebastian said something about alliances,"
"This is bullshit!" Kane thundered through the alley and their eyes followed him.
"Statistically a doubles match is likely to succeed significantly," Donnie said with his arms propped on his crossed legs.
"And likely to fail," He barked.
"Usually, I'm one to take initiative and I want to win, so are you in?" She held up her hand.
"Definitely," He grinned and shook it just for the courtesy and he was surprised at how cold it was, he clutched it and she held her wrist.
"Nothing to be worried about,"
"It's not like we can pretend that you're not sick all the time,"
She sniffed "Just leave it alone. So who's your avatar?" She whispered.
"Zenith, you?"
She shook her head "I thought it would be that evident,"
"It'll be best if you didn't pretend that I already knew that, chuffing hell," He scoffed.
She boiled and exhaled. "It's Grisla,"
He mentally analyzed their chances of succeeding. "I like the sound of that,"
"Great,"
Donnie lurched at the death stare Kane was giving him.
"Guess it's you and me tubby,"
"I'm a little prudent about my weight okay?"
"It can be helped, Maelstrom, don't forget the name," He retorted.
He squinted his eyes at that and sat alone while Kane left. "Hmm, what were the odds?" It wasn't hard to figure out the other duo.
"Good luck," Eve waved to him and he groaned crawling upright taking his bottle with him.
...
The 'Crescerarena' stood ten hundred feet tall and fifty hundred feet wide, the walls were made of a wet mix of a grey paste reinforced with stones. They had never been to an enormous place like this one, it was an uncharted part of Zin or a ploy to keep them off the planes. Zenith was on his toes as he ventured into the strange hall picking a torch, flailing it in front of him, he was tenacious and lowered it to the trail of water, he raised it to the wooden door and it groaned heavily telling of its weight and pushed it aside.
"Grisla, Grisla," He whispered and screamed at the giant bat dragon, its ears vibrated when it snarled. He fanned it over its face and its beaded eyes only wavered and it wandered away in the labyrinth.
He stirred at the creature that just whiffed past him.
"I'm here," She said and he saw the flicker on the rocky surface, her eyes opened and she stepped out as a Voltagnan beastie, the same as the Viperess and her serpentine hair hissed and snapped into the darkness.
He put a fist to his mouth.
"Take your time," She said when he held his breath with tears and he shook his head.
"This is what happens to me when I leave the borders," She said and the serpents hissed, her arms were covered with dressings too, she was in a brass and silver armour with the rest of the metal shaped like a skirt, notched where she wore tweeds and dressings from her calves down to her feet, and her dark skin had scale markings. Not as coarse as regular serpents but in a humanoid nature like tattoos.
"It's fine," He sighed and tapped his knee cracking up. "At least you've got your war face on...or war snakes," He poked one.
"Can we just get what we came for?"