The Touch of Demise │18+

35: One Man. One Woman.

GRACE

Grace stood at Demise's side as lines of enforcers were ready before them. Beside Demise was Goliath. Demise looked over the rows of people, men and women, standing still. Standing straight. Standing with no other goal than to be chosen to represent the Kingdom of Wolves.

Now that she knew Demise, she could tell that behind that stone facade, was insecurity. If they walked onto this field and those soldiers fell from him, what would that mean about the expedition? No soldiers meant Goliath, Demise, Xerxes, and possibly her went alone. There was no definite knowledge that Demise's gift would work against the fae and four against whatever numbers were waiting for them was concerning. Fae had powers that her Kingdom did not. They had to go in strong - resilient.

She reached for Demise's hand and then hesitated. Maybe she couldn't display affection here amongst these warriors. Demise looked at her and held out his palm. She grabbed it and he pulled her hand to his lips where he laid a kiss on her. She blushed.

Demise planned on offering two positions to travel through the portal and a hundred auxiliary to remain on Lycanthrope land which could be called upon at any time. There must have been a thousand wolves here from all the lands across the Kingdom.

They took a breath and walked forward through the ranks and as they did so, they realized that not one person fell. Not one person was weakened. Not one's energy was removed. They were alive, healthy, and well. Demise looked at her, and as she looked at him with happiness, he looked at her with confusion. Goliath shared his expression and the two men looked at one another.

"What?" she asked.

"Your mother was lycanthrope?"

She nodded at Goliath.

"What about your grandmother?"

"I think everyone in my family is lycanthrope."

"Have you ever had...any additional powers present?"

Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Demise looked at Goliath. His second-in-command nodded at the silent question.

"We'll talk later," Demise whispered.

They stopped in the middle of the field and as she looked at the ground, she realized the grass browned wherever they went.

"How will we choose who to bring?"

"Many of them have fought and have been granted a ranking. There are two brackets. Brackets will spar at the same time. The winners will advance, and the losers will not. Today is the third round of fights. There are seventy-five contenders for the positions to enter the faelands."

"Very well." Demise found Grace's hips and pulled her in front of him. With an arm around her waist, he began speaking to the masses. "I send my gratitude for your travels to the capital. There is nothing but honor in fighting for your people and although most of you will not be chosen to come to the faelands with us, we respect and appreciate your effort nonetheless." There were howls of approval. Grace found herself looking up at her mate. "As you all know, you have all placed into brackets. One person will spar with one other person at a time, but multiple matches will occur simultaneously. Segundas Goliath, myself, and your prima-"

She jumped as howls erupted throughout the fields again, this time louder and in between shouts of excitement. She smiled, both proud and surprised by the encouraging welcome.

Demise didn't crack a smile and continued. "Goliath, myself, and Prima Grace will be walking to assess your abilities. Any questions?"

A slender hand rose above the crowd. From Grace's spot, she couldn't see who it belonged to, but she could see the black nail polish that covered them.  "Your majesty," a feminine voice began, cool and assertive. "Goliath said that he was unsure whether or not women will be included if any made it to the final round. Honestly, Primus Demise, I don't want to participate if I don't have the same chance as the men here."