After leaving the Ilfvan medical station, Nero was escorted back to his room by two guards, who were responsible for not letting him escape. He wasn't foolish enough to even try, they had extremely high-tech deadly weaponry which could eradicate him, entirely from the face of Medeis.
The three made their way past the arena, its vast shadow engulfed the shoddy building where the Ilfvan 100 were imprisoned for the duration of the so-called war. Half of the lights were burnt out and the few that did properly work spat out sparse lumination that barely covered the corridors and rooms.
'At least it's quiet these days.' Nero thought as he recalled the wailing of the damned when the prison was at a fuller capacity.
They reached the corner of the building which housed his room and once he was securely locked inside the guards departed leaving him in solitude.
He lay down on his bed and allowed his thoughts to take him away into a dreamful sleep.
- - - - -
'?dloc ti saW !dloC'
"!stsoc lla ta niW .niW !yrotciv fo tnemeveihca eht rof tsul ,lufrewop emoceB .uoy rof gnitiaW .gnitiaw ma I"
'?toh ti saW !toH'
- - - - -
He woke in a cold icy sweat and sat bolt upright, gasping for air. He held his hands to his face and tried to recall his dream. 'What the hell was that? It's slipping now but ... dammit I can't remember it at all. But it was so contorted, so very backward. What was 'it' saying?'
A loud banging on his door snapped his focus away from his thoughts.
"Oi you elf scum it's time for your next match, get your arse in gear, you have a minute then we're coming in." One of the guards yelled.
The other chimed in jeering, "Yeah we won't be very gentle with ya if you don't come willingly."
Nero shook his head, closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. 'Okay, it's game time.' His eyes shot open and he wiped the sweat from his brow, grabbed his knives that had been placed on his desk by the guards while he was being healed and slung his cloak around his shoulders, it had a few more rips in it since his fight with Victor. He breathed out and waited, facing the door in anticipation for it to open.
- - - - -
"Okay folks well that's them, Lilith versus Nero let's get this underway." Franz's voice consumed the arena again after both warriors' entrances.
"Today I've been told that we will have a rather interesting battleground, one that might just turn up the fire for this fight." He paused to see what the arena was going to become grinning at the reveal, 'Oh this will be fun, I get to watch that elf boy freeze.' He thought before continuing. "Well maybe not, on second thoughts the heat is going down. For you see the combatants will be dropped into a dense snowy forest!!! Sheer strength won't be enough to win in these conditions."
Once the last word left his lips the stands were pushed back and the plain desolate ground was replaced with large pine trees, the temperature nose-dived and artificial clouds swept over the sky covering the red sun's evening glow.
Snow was a very alien experience for the Ilfvan spectators because, for most, it was their first experience of a weather phenomenon similar to this.
The humans on the other hand had a very mixed reaction, some who hailed from polluted factory worlds looked up in wonderment, only having heard of snow in stories. Those who came from frozen worlds (which were used as giant reservoirs for the needs of humanity) were on the other hand unamused considering that they came here to escape life below zero.
Very soon a layer of cold white powder had built up to Lilith's ankles. 'These silly acts of showmanship are hindering my fighting capability.' She thought, barely looking over Nero's information. 'We're both C rank fighters, so this will be a match of cunning and endurance, I can work with that.'
The forest had now grown large enough for the combatants to be blind to each other's position. The Ilfvan warrior's smirk never faltered throughout the minute or two's silence, he barely glanced at the human's status, his focus was entirely on how he could use the field to his advantage. 'Those trees are very easily climbable, and this cold stuff though absolutely freezing my toes off will become a useful indicator of my opponents' movements. I can make this work. I'll draw this out. With her body being smaller than mine she will succumb to the cold long before I do. It won't be fast or easy but I should sustain much less damage than I did yesterday.'
All either one could see were snow and pines, but nevertheless the enemies were both poised and prepared for Franz's cue:
"Alright, then announcements and statistics gawking over, let the battle between the 97th and 26th commence!!!"
With that Nero darted his way to the nearest tree and hoisted himself up into the maze of interlocking branches and sharper-than-expected pine needles. It took a while to get good at quietly moving from one viewpoint to the next but once he'd nearly felled a few saplings and weaker trees he learned to look for thick clusters of at least thigh-thick boughs.
At the indication to start Lilith rapidly back peddled, effortlessly dodging the vegetation behind her. She had to make sure to watch to see that the elf didn't make a beeline for her starting position. Then after putting a substantial distance between where she believed her enemy was, she piled up some snow around the trunk of a particularly thick pine creating a shelter of sorts.
The snow on the ground within her makeshift fort was scraped away by her dragging her boot along the ground, she then took off her outer layer and spread it across as much ground as possible.
'The ground will sap away my body heat before the surrounding air does. I must ensure I can outlast that elf and prove myself. I will win this then the company will surely be mine, neither Mother nor Father will be able to dispute my competency after this victory.' She thought as she tucked her knees to her chest trying to fight back the shivers.
During this time Nero too had decided on a similar tactic, holing himself up in a sheltered tree hollow, he wrapped his cloak around his body resolving to weed out the human girl and save his own strength.
Neither knew what the other was doing, yet both were sure of their own absolute victory.
- - - - -
One whole day had passed, already throwing the schedule of the human's war awry. The drones couldn't navigate through the densely forested battlefield and so the spectators and those tuning in from afar were left with the odd outburst from the commentator and a picturesque view of a snowy pine forest.
To say the least, they were very bored. For all they knew both fighters were dead. In hindsight, this truly was a big mistake by the tourney officials.
Franz announced after roughly an hour of nothing that the arena would be retracted if nothing at all happened for two days and if both were still alive they would simply stick them in a cage to finish the matter. Although if there were any casualties the war would just progress and it would be business as usual.
The short commentator's nose was red, and the heating regulator in his booth had malfunctioned, causing his originally decently cosy station to become a frigid hellscape. He sniffled and having long since ran out of tissues, resorted to wiping away mucus with his sleeve. 'Thank god there isn't anybody I fancy around here, this is so unflattering.' He sighed, then scrunched up his face for a sneeze, which then didn't come but still felt like it could explode his face off at any given moment.
"After this" *sniff* "I'm going to go and live" *sniff* "somewhere warm!" He sniffed again and then declared rather loudly. "It's fucking freezing, I hate this so much!"
- - - - -
Lilith grew more sick of waiting than being bothered by the cold, and so her initial wall around the tree trunk had transformed into a mighty castle (of snow). She was rather pleased with her creation, in all honesty, she had somewhat convinced herself Nero had already died from hypothermia and so this would be fine, after all, it had been years since she'd played in the snow. Of course in case her theory was incorrect her fortress still had practical uses. There were a handful of places to take cover and strategic battlements from where she could launch the stakes she had whittled from the surrounding branches. Her spear wasn't the best tool for making these but a sharp object is a still sharp object, the job was done.
"Well even if I didn't end up killing an elf this match, I believe this is a very good testament to my constructive prowess. Another reason for the company to go to me. Ha, why would they choose anyone else? Compared to my talents any candidate falls short." She said to herself.
Lilith was 17 years old and yet even though at this point she was technically an adult, by the standards of her world, she'd never really been allowed to indulge her childish side in her life, what she considered 'just passing the time' and 'a tactical addition to the battlefield' was really just her letting loose.
'This is actually quite thrilling.' She thought. 'I've never focused on anything but achieving my goal of owning the family company. But there's not really been much difficulty or danger. Even when I was training in weapons combat, not a soul managed to beat my natural talent. My not knowing whether I'll live or die and the slight discomfort of the cold, it all just rather excites me, although I do have this in the bag, there is still the slight possibility the elf is still alive, not that that even matters considering in a one on one nobody can best me.'
As the darkness of night descended, she chuckled away to herself, scheming and prepping all the while not realising the pair of grey eyes that were now trained on her.
- - - - -
The numbness that had been accumulating in Nero's toes had spread up through his entire body, in fact, he couldn't actually feel his toes, no surprise considering his footwear was more suited to traversing the great forest expenses of his world rather than the alien snowy hellscape he found himself in.
"That's it." He exclaimed. "I'm out of here, that human should be in a similar condition to me, hopefully worse, but I'll most certainly win if I pull off a surprise attack from behind."
He planned, then unsuccessfully attempted to pull himself out from the hollow he'd been hiding in. It took him a handful of tries but eventually, the pins and needles in his legs subsided and he was perched on a bough, ready to start his hunt.
Or not.
A sharp cramping pain shot down his body from his shoulders to his feet.
'Oh for fucks sake!' He thought as he lost his balance and fell into a deep snow drift below.
A shivering rather pissed off Nero emerged from the snow. "S-s-hitting humans, w-w-why the hell d-did they think this would b-b-b-be a suitable battle g-ground?" He grumbled to himself, cursing the aliens the whole time it took for him to ascend the pines again and begin his search for the enemy.
The teeth chattering was getting on his nerves, every time he'd consciously clench his jaw to stop the incessant noise but find it had returned moments later.
'I thought the chills of the night on this planet were unbearable, this has really raised the bar.' The Ilfvan thought to himself.
Branch to branch, bough to bough he swung and lept through the trees, his eyes darting everywhere, searching for some trace of disturbance on the ground, a colour different from the near monochrome of the dark brown bark and the white snow.
'Nothing. Nothing! NOTHING!' Nero's patience was running thinner by the minute.
The initial warmth he felt from the exercise was becoming less effective at beating back the chills, at this point his smile looked more like a grimace as he begrudgingly wondered where the human girl had hidden.
"Where in the hell is she? Surely she's holed up somewhere, even if she initially set out to find me, by this point that girl must've got tired, or at least been worn down by the cold enough so that she'd have to rest. So where is she?" He mumbled.
It was getting dark, the pale light in the sky was dimming, Nero found himself a particularly thick branch and decided he'd rest for a bit to give his limbs a break. He threw his cloak around himself planning to sleep until the clock ran down, if he hadn't found her by this point then she was surely dead.
However, a slight rustling caught his ear.
The Ilfvan carefully and quietly turned towards the sound. There she was.
'Lilith... That damned human, so freaking elusive. This is my chance to strike from behind and win!'
'Well then, never mind, I'll kill her here.' A sickening smile stretched across his face from one pointy ear to the other.
"You're mine!" Nero screamed as he lunged toward his unsuspecting opponent.
Lilith glimpsed a sudden movement from the corner of her eyesight, something coming from her left.
'Wait, what the hell?!' She thought, whipping her head around to meet the incoming attack, but he was too close.
In that split second her heart sank as her mind raced to a conclusion: 'I'm too flat-footed to dodge. My spear arm won't get there to block quickly enough, I'll die! I have to do something! I have to do something! I have to live! Oh god.'
He plunged his blades into her flesh, shattering bones and tearing through muscles.
But it was not a killing blow. In that small precious time she had to react, the girl had come to realisation that she had to make a sacrifice.
Her left arm.
The only thing she could have done to prevent the Ilfvan's knives from ripping into her chest was raise the nearest limb and have it take the hit.
Nero yanked his blades out from her appendage going straight back in for the kill.
"I didn't expect you to react to that." He maniacally cackled.
"Hey wait up!" The human was already taking off, her arm hanging useless at her side.
'Run, don't stop running. You can still do this, just a minor setback.' Lilith's mouth opened as wide as possible in an attempt to draw in as much air as possible. Of course in the riches of her family and the technology of that age, her arm would certainly be able to be replaced with a far superior augmentation, however, the psychological effect of losing mobility in an appendage was something impossible to negate, especially in the heat of battle.
She had to draw her mind away from the pain and blood and focused on exactly how she'd painfully mutilate this elf for its discrepancy.
"You will pay dearly for this!"
She tightened the grip she had on her spear and using her cybernetically advanced vision sought out a perfect clearing in the pines to counter the elf with a flurry of immobilising martial techniques.
Nero gave chase viewing her retreat as one of fear rather than tactical reasoning.
He was gaining on her, his longer strides taking him past her into a clearing where she'd run straight into his blades. 'There's no way she can do much with only one arm.' He determined.
'He's there already.' She mused. 'This is perfect. Thank you very much for your idiocy.'
The girl reached the clearing a couple of seconds behind her opponent and they both came to a halt. Each knew this was where one of them would die. And with that in her mind Lilith rushed forward and thrust her spear toward her enemy's stomach.
Nero stepped to the right but she was faster than he had anticipated. The spearhead glanced off of his side taking a small chunk of his shirt and flesh with it. Leaping to action he used the momentum of her strike against her to swivel around and planned to kick her defenceless back.
Once again she surpassed his expectations and he found himself having to correct his leg to miss the blunt shaft of the weapon that was aimed to knock him off balance.
The cyborg spun on her heel to face him and released a terrifyingly accurate combination of jabs and swipes. It took all Nero had to ensure none of his vitals were hit. She left no room for a counterattack. She was the one in control here, not him.
'Thank Medeis I found her when I did. If this had dragged out and we were forced instead to fight in a cage match, I'd be dead. I can only imagine how difficult this would be if she could use both arms.' He was grateful for his luck and got to work trying to come up with a plan. He needed an opening, some chink in her metaphorical armour to present itself to him.
The onslaught of attacks had the Ilfvan backed up to the edge of the clearing which gave him an idea.
'I've got to get this timing perfect, but it's the only thing I can think of, so here goes. Three. Two. One.'
With his back an arms reach away from the tree he managed to catch the spear between his knives. He simultaneously gathered all his strength and energy into his legs before jumping back onto the trunk and using that to propel himself over his opponent's head, he landed cleanly behind her.
Surprised by this sudden acrobatic display Lilith fell back on old habits in an attempt to keep her control over the battle and switched her spear to her left hand in order to get a better angle on the spinning thrust she was about to unleash.
The spear fell to ground and Nero span around and not wanting to waste the opening he'd been hoping for shoved his knives into the left side of the girls neck in a manner resemblant to a snake bite.
Her body began shaking in pure rage, mostly directed at herself.
'H-how could I forget? Dammit, d-dammit.'
As her thoughts became more broken and unintelligible her enhanced eardrums forced her to listen to everything the elf behind her had to say, in her dying moments, she consciously heard and understood it all.
"You fought well human, but in the end your fatal flaw was not being able to fully adapt when I broke your arm. If hadn't caught you off guard you may have just beaten me. Mark my words your kind won't get this planet." He pulled out his knives -letting the girl's body drop- and wiped them in the snow.
"I won't let you!" He insisted as he walked away, leaving behind the bloodied clearing of scarlet snow.