Forgotten prophecy

Chapter 46

He wasn't sure where Gina, or whatever the monster that was impersonating her was called, had gotten off to. Moreover he wanted to know why a high and mighty goddess had not figured out that the demigod that was right next to her was not a demigod at all. The thought gave him pause, something that was extremely unlike him, and he momentarily doubted his judgement. Ryker shook off the momentary indecision and fell back on the instincts and senses that had served him well for years. They roared in his mind that he was correct, that Gina was not in fact Gina. He had just begun to comb the camp when someone grabbed him from behind and yanked him off balance. "I thought I told you to come get your claws back?" Victoria whispered in a rather husky tone. She shoved him away and watched as Ryker stumbled away and quickly regained his balance. "Or did you think that those claws would suit you well enough from now on?"

"You!" Ryker barked, recognizing the Amazoness that had stolen his clawed gloves from him as an apparent prize. He glowered at her, temporarily forgetting all about Gina in favor of the challenger that stood before him, and scowled. "What do you want?"

"I thought I made that very clear the last time that we met." Victoria said, smirking. She reached into the pockets of her leather jacket and withdrew Ryker's gloves from their depth. She held them up for his inspection and then hid them away in her pocket again. "I told you to come get them from me. Or are you too scared to try?"

"What did you just say?" Ryker hissed, his position slightly shifting into a ready stance out of sheer force of habit. Challengers had to be met head on. He growled at her and Victoria's smirk widened into an arrogant smile. "Are you sure you know what you are doing, challenging me?"

"I don't think you are that much of a challenge." Victoria sneered, rolling her eyes and further infuriating Ryker.

Unable to take much more antagonism from the Amazon, Ryker lunged at her and summoned his claws in the same instant. He had crossed the distance between them and was less than six inches away from her throat when Victoria snapped her fingers and Ryker's hands were jerked down to the earth. Temporarily at a loss for what just happened he tried to keep his attack going but his hands would not move from where they were pressed to the ground. Victoria laughed softly in the face of his glare and pointed down at his hands. "You aren't going anywhere unless I say so." She told him, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder carelessly. Ryker looked down at his hands and his lip twitched into a snarl. His claws had vanished and the metal bands that encircled his wrists, the ones given to him by the Amazons themselves, were now glowing brightly. He tried to move his hands again, but the metal merely glowed brighter and refused to budge. "I thought that I should give myself all the advantages I can have with you." Victoria said, a very smug smile on her face.

"Let me go." Ryker warned. He hated being trapped. He hated being trapped, he hated being trapped almost as much as he hated losing. This girl had effectively beaten and trapped him with one trapped gift. The Romans gave them curious glances as they passed whilst the Amazons beamed at Victoria in pride. A few even congratulated her on her accomplishment. "Let me go now."

"No, I don't think so." Victoria said after a moment's contemplation. "Not until you ask nicely."

"Not a chance." Ryker said immediately, recognizing the request for what it was. Submission. By giving into her request he was effectively giving her power over him and that was unacceptable.

"Suit yourself." Victoria said with a careless shrug. She put a hand on her hip and smiled pleasantly down at him. "I can wait for as long as it takes. Besides, those gloves are tailored specifically to my specifications. No one else can release you."

"You aren't going to win here." Ryker snarled at her, pulling at his hands again. Unsurprisingly they showed zero movement.

Victoria smiled and rolled her eyes at his declaration. She crouched down next to him and placed one hand under his chin. Ryker was forced to raise his eyes to hers and she smirked down at him. "I always win. But you'll learn that soon enough."