A slice from a hurled blade opened on his back as a thrown weapon barely missed its mark. Hot blood soaked through his shirt, but it was a superficial wound.
He felt his Infala flare hot in his chest and saw Maureen visibly sway as hers responded in kind. The pain left his body completely. This feeling was different. This was good. Bodok pulled open his shirt and looked inside. His Infala had healed fully, locking into its final shape.
Maureen’s cheeks remained flushed but she grew steady on her feet. The sensation had changed. They were bonded. They were one.
Bodok sensed Maxxis coming for him and made his choice. He had no other option.
Maxxis swung his sword, not frantically but with great precision, the edge grazing Bodok’s leg as he dove aside. It was going as he had planned, a death by a thousand cuts. The blue man didn’t stand a chance, and the adoring fans would love it.
Bodok’s dive took him to a short sword, which he snatched up just as Maxxis’s blade swung down at him. Bodok managed to barely deflect the blow aside but Maxxis attacked again immediately. This time, however, Bodok countered, stopping his sword mid-swing and delivering a powerful kick to the larger man’s chest, sending him sliding backward from the force.
Maxxis twirled his sword and grinned. It seemed this one had a little fight in him after all and the prospect of getting some resistance from his prey was a welcome treat. He would slay him regardless, but now it would be fun.
Maxxis picked up a small axe from the ground and began spinning it around him along with his sword creating a windmill of deadly metal. Bodok glanced to either side. Smaller blades lay close, but a longer, curved sword was just out of reach. He crouched and quickly snatched up a knife, throwing it at Maxxis.
He swatted it aside with a laugh and charged.
Bodok was already on the move, running for the curved weapon. He dove, just avoiding Maxxis’s swinging blades, rolling to his feet, the new sword in his hand rising fast to counter the incoming barrage.
Metal rang out loud and sparks flew as Maxxis moved in for the kill. But then something happened. Something unexpected. He found himself forced to step back. To defend rather than attack. And the crowd took note, a shocked murmur mingling with their cheers.
It was unheard of, and yet the passive newcomer was not so passive at all, pressing his advance harder and faster, driving Maxxis back, pummeling him with a blinding flurry of attacks. A shocked hush fell over the crowd as the realization set in. The coward had been holding back. But he was holding back no more.
Maxxis had been doing the same, toying with his prey, but now it was very much a life and death situation and it would require every trick he knew to come out on top. He combined attacks, using blades, feet, elbows, and every combination thereof.
Bodok withstood the barrage, countering with his own combinations.
The crowd roared. This had just become the most exciting tournament in memory and they were the lucky ones present for it. The great Maxxis was being tested as never before, two master warriors locked in battle for their entertainment.
Bodok was oblivious to all of that, the entirety of his attention focused on the man trying his best to end him.
Maxxis swung his axe and sword in unison, driving his challenger back with the force of the attack. Over and over his blows rained down. He shifted abruptly, turning the axe at an angle, the hooked blade catching one of Bodok’s swords, yanking it from his grasp and sending it flying.
The time to toy with his opponent was long past, and he quickly moved in for the kill, his sword arcing for Bodok’s head, but Bodok did the unexpected. Rather than retreat, which would have taken him right into the blade’s path as the trap closed, he dropped to one knee.
Maxxis’s sword flashed through the empty space where his head had just been. It shocked him, but not as much as the dagger Bodok had snatched from the ground and jabbed into his ribs. Maxxis registered the pain and realized he would need to adjust his strategy. Drastically. This one was crafty, and his improvisational combat skills rivaled his own.
The thought was just processing through his head when Bodok’s other blade snuck past his hampered defense, separating his head from his neck and sending it tumbling to the ground in a spurt of blood.
Maxxis’s head rolled until it stopped against the wall with a wet thud, his body twitching its last a good distance away.
A silence fell over the crowd, soon followed by a massive roar. The champion had fallen. It was a bout that would be talked about for ages. Bodok ignored it all, only one thing mattered now.
The announcer hurried out to him—accompanied by his personal guards, of course—and keyed on his mic. “The new victor! The new champion!” he shouted, driving the crowd into an even bigger frenzy.
He muted the device and turned to Bodok, a curious look on his face. He gestured to the bloody sword. “I thought you said you didn’t know how to use them.”
A tiny flicker of amusement flashed through Bodok’s eyes. “I never said that I didn’t know how. I just chose not to.”
The announcer laughed, and for once it was a genuine one. “Well played, Bodok. Well played.”
The new champion looked over at his love then back to the man in front of him. “Now, declare me a free man, as is the law.”
“Are you sure? You’ve got the skills. If you fight more, you could make us both alotof money.”
Bodok shook his head.
“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me,” the man said, keying on his microphone. “Dear friends, I present to you Bodok, winner of the championship and a free man!”
