cloaked hearts↝ᵇˡᵃᶜᵏᵗᵃⁿ

03

I don't need no light to shine

•

𝐏 • 𝐉

I shouldn't have come here.

I shouldn't have listened to Kai. The place is a hellhole. Music blasting from not particularly anywhere.

Magic. I remind myself.

Men and women both dancing to the beat, laughing and drinking. I wonder how many of these know they are going to become liquid lunch for others.

People are a lot more... exciting here.

"Watch your feet everyone, its 'bout a change!" the announcer's voice echo through the place.

For a second I wonder what He's talking about, I haven't been long here, anyway. It could be from unicorns serving us drinks to us drinking their blood. I hear a whirring sound coming from underneath. The others don't seem to be bothered by it; maybe I'm the only one who can hear it; being a vampire and all. The markings on the ground glow and one by one, they move. The ones furthest to the ring rises high enough to look like the top seats of a stadium—oh. oh—

 The ceiling isn't there anymore, in its place, the sky. 

Next to me, a man with electric green hair cheers and the others roar with him.

"That's right, let 'em hear ya!" the announcer drawls.

"First, we have Helvar, the best of the best!" The first to walk out onto the white sand is announced as Helvar. The video screen blares a clear picture of the warrior, and noone needs to tell me he is going to squish his opponent. He has arms like tree trunks, corded and veined and straining against his own skin. When he smiles, I can see all his teeth are gone or broken. Maybe he ran afoul of his own toothbrush whenhe was a growing boy. 

"And here we have his opponent, straight from Hellgate , Taeyong!"  For a minute the crowd cheers so loudly, I think I'll lose my hearing, but as soon as he appears, everyone stops . He looks pale and weedy next to the human-shaped hunk of muscle, but his eyes are the color of the last drops of creme-de-menthe dripping out of the upside-down bottle. They were obscure and with a glint of mischievousness.

"Champions, set your feet." They do, digging in their heels on opposite sides of the arena. It seems guns aren't allowed in arena fights as Helvar draws a short blade from his pocket. I doubt he'll need it. Taeyong produces no weapon, his fingers merely twitching by his side.

It looks like a bloodbath right away. Helvar barrels forward like a bull, kicking up sand in his wake. Taeyong tries to dodge , using his shoulder to slide around his opponent, but the muscular one is quick. He gets hold of Taeyong's leg and tosses him across the arena like he's made of feathers. The subsequent cheers cover Taeyong's hiss—not a roar—of pain as he collides with the cement wall, but it's written in his face. Before he can hope to stand, Helvar is over him, heaving him skyward. He hits the sand in a heap of what can only be broken bones but somehow rises to his feet again.

"Is he a punching bag?" someone behind me laughs. "Let him have it, Helvar!"

"Poor fool," I mutter. It seems he is right. Nothing but a punching bag.

Helvar pounds through the sand, sword held high, eyes on fire. And then he freezes midstep, his armor clanking with the sudden stop. From the middle of the arena, the bleeding man tilts his head at Helvar, with a stare to break bone.

The crowd goes silent. Taeyong lets out what was almost laugh. Helvar looks like he has seen his worst nightmare. 

"they're not breaking eye contact... he's one of those monsters!" someone in the crowd cries. Nobody listens to her, they erupt in cheers for Taeyong.

He, instead of charging at Helvar, steps back and does something unbelievable.

He sits down and snaps his fingers and he's gone. But in his place—I kid you not—is a serpent.

____

and please leave some sort of comments, a keyboard smash will work, i just need to know ya'll are reading this (horrible choice, really) and if you like it or not

but serioulsy the fight took a while to write so it'll mean the world to me