The Champion's Exam (On Hold Until Further Notice)

Chapter Twenty One

Eko grunted as he got to his feet, able to catch his breath as he staggered over to Nira, who sat there with wide eyes staring into space. "Nira? Nira... Nira!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, her eyes registered him, stared straight at him, but she appeared absent, looking at something beyond him. 

"What did you do to her!?" Eko had never raised his voice before, he had never needed to. But he was outraged, beyond livid.

Fable sucked in a deep breath as he released a chuckle. He walked over to Eko and pick him up, Eko too weak to object. He held him by the front of his shirt, "Gotta hand it to your friend there," he said, forcing Eko to look over to Nira, "She managed to land a hit on me before you did."

Eko gritted his teeth, "Put me down."

Fable didn't obey straight away. He dropped Eko back to the ground, but the boy barely had the physical strength to breathe as he immediately crumbled into the ground. Eko winced in pain as he started to rasp again, coughing as he hunched over.

He heard crying.

Eko lifted his head and watched as tear after tear dripped down Nira's face, consistent streams dripping off her face as she spluttered and sobbed. Eko called out to her again, "Nira? What's wrong?" She wasn't listening to him, just continued to cry, forcefully wiping her eyes at times and eventually hunching over and sobbing louder, mumbling his name.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Fable's words were heartlessly amused.

Eko glared at him, his whole face revealing his contempt for the man. Aaron smirked, "That's a sour face, Eko."

Hearing his name come out of that man's mouth made Eko cringe, but he ignored it. "What did you do to her?" He repeated his question.

Fable smiled as he kneeled beside the weak Eko and grabbed him by the arm, pinning it behind his back, effectively immobilizing him, "Don't you find it fascinating how sometimes you don't need to get physical to break someone?" Fable said forcing Eko to watch his friend as she continued to sob. "All this right here, is pure emotion, unadulterated fear of her own mind." Eko watched as Nira continued to deteriorate, taking short sharp breaths only to continue crying again. "What she sees and hears right now, is what she fears the most in this situation." Fable whispered in his ear, "Funnily enough it's all about what she can't do."

"What is she seeing?" Eko asked, although he feared the answer.

"Now where's the fun in telling." Eko grunted as he was kicked violently by Fable, sending him crashing amongst the grass, momentarily disappearing amongst it. But he had no energy to flee. He leaned heavily on the ground, still wheezing for air. "Your little girl friend there surprised me to say this least," he commented as he approached, "She knows how to conceal herself, I had no clue she was there." Fable picked Eko back up, "Granted I wasn't looking for her, but that's a fault on my part."

Eko was thrown again, this time he managed to land it, but unconsciousness was heavy on his mind and he fell over in the grass again, stretching his hands in the grass to feel for a rock or a stick or anything.

Fable was enjoying himself.

"Come on, island boy. You haven't landed a strike on me yet. Only that girl has," Fable sighed as he came upon Eko. He was lying face down in the grass, his limbs occasionally twitching. Fable smiled as he squatted at his feet and rested his chin in his hand, happy to watch the young applicant slowly shuffle forwards. Aaron wasn't one to mock, or at the very least was never unnecessarily scornful, and remained a patient man as he moved slowly with Eko to see what he would do.

Eko could feel him so close behind him, his body felt so weak, to move he gripped handfuls of grass and pulled his weight across the mud, hoping the grass wouldn't uproot. A clump of grass uprooted, a ball of mud still attached to the root hairs. Eko grumbled as he managed to shuffle forwards, still blindly searching for something.