Warmatch

10

"Contestants, welcome to the semifinals of the one thousand one hundredth annual Warmatch Interplanetale! The Board of Warmatches congratulates you on having made it this far. From now on, your challenges will grow progressively more difficult and more gruesome. Six of the original ten teams remain in the competition, four of which have not lost any members. Of these, only two teams will progress to the finals. Unlike in previous competitions, we will not be opening the spots of dead finalists to members of losing teams." The holographic projection of Selaeyah Valior explained. 

"You will begin your fourth task trapped at the bottom of a pit. The only way out is a single rope ladder. Remember, the more people that make it out before you, the fewer points are added to your score, so a large kill count is beneficial to all remaining contestants. Also, the floor of the pit will open up at random, sending slow contestants plummeting to their deaths in the torturous inferno of molten rock beneath it. Good luck, my Rhenan swine!" 

"Good luck to you too, my evil Lessaenite poodle," a younger boy close to the back of the mob of contestants stuck out his tongue, giving the projection an exaggerated mock salute. 

"What did you just say!?" Shade hissed. In less than a second, she had dragged the boy to the center of the shelter and pushed him to the floor with her knee. 

"Give me...a break!" He gasped for air. "We're...Rhenan! We say stuff like that...all the time!" 

"Doesn't mean we should," Shade shook her head, carving a long slice in his face with her dagger. "You have such nice skin," she clucked disapprovingly. "People who insult the greatest warmatch designer in the Empire don't deserve skin like that, boy."

"My name's not boy, you Iceheart lover! It's Caylan!" 

"Still haven't learned your lesson, have you?" Shade spat. "Looks like we'll have to fix that nice tan of yours." 

Caylan screeched as she slipped the tip of her knife into the cut in his cheek and began to peel the skin off slowly and methodically, in strips. Her expertise was frightening- she skinned the boy alive with an ease that suggested lots of practice. 

I was sure that the sight would scar me for the rest of my life- which was probably going to be very short- but I couldn't bring myself to look away. I felt that calmly minding my own business while Caylan was screaming his head off, begging his attacker to stop, would somehow be disrespectful.

He choked on his own conglomerating spit as Shade finished the left side of him, throwing the useless pieces of severed skin to the floor as she stepped back to admire her work. Caylan looked like some kind of grotesque sculpture, with half of his face looking perfectly normal and the other bright red, swollen, and oozing blood. He whimpered as tears streamed down his now nonexistent left cheek, probably causing the burn to intensify. 

"Ever insult Chief Valior again, and I'll finish the job," Shade said calmly, standing up as she casually wiped her bloody hands on her pants. 

Almost as soon as she turned her back, Toya rushed to Caylan's side with a damp strip of cloth in her hand. 

"Help him and you will suffer a similar fate!" Shade snarled mercilessly. Toya immediately returned to the safety of the mob. 

"You know, Shade," I lashed out, fueled by my disgust at her actions, pity for Caylan, and a sudden burst of bravery. "I used to think Chief Valior was the most sadistic person in the Empire...until I met you." 

"Do you really think I'm more sadistic than Chief Valior? " Shade gasped, her eyes sparkling with pride as she approached me, walking through the crowd, which parted willingly for her passage. 

"Yes," I confirmed. 

"That's so nice of you...it almost makes me want to spare your life," Shade cocked her head to the side. "And I would, under different circumstances." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Your death secures my future," she said brightly. "And considering who I am, that's not good for you at all. Don't worry, I'll definitely give you a shout out at the end of this match." 

"I wouldn't kill you for anything. And besides, if you kill me now, you'll be disqualified."

"But not if I kill you during the task, which is going to start in less than two minutes," Shade grinned evilly. 

"Chief Valior will hate you forever!" I hissed. "She'll have you tortured for turning your back on your own team...her team." 

"Actually, she won't." 

"How do you know?" 

"I just do." 

"Contestants, exit your shelter to begin the fourth task," an automated voice instructed. 

My stomach turned as I looked back at Shade, her gaze fixated on me with the killer precision of a bird of prey.

Lumys, help me.